Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I)
by Augustus F. Lindley · English · Gutenberg #39180 · 939,832 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (Volume I)
Author: Augustus F. Lindley
Release date: March 17, 2012 [eBook #39180]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TI-PING TIEN-KWOH: THE HISTORY OF THE TI-PING REVOLUTION (VOLUME I) ***
Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed
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[Illustration: Chinese writing]
[Illustration: COMMISSION Received By The Author From HIS HIGHNESS,
LE, CHUNG-WANG (Faithful Prince) COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE
TI-PING FORCES. &c
A Translation [of the Chinese writing on this page] will be found
immediately after the Title page]
[Illustration: Chinese text of the title]
TI-PING TIEN-KWOH;
THE HISTORY OF
THE TI-PING REVOLUTION,
INCLUDING
A Narrative of the Author's Personal Adventures.
BY
[Illustration: Chinese text of the author's name]
LIN-LE.
FORMERLY HONORARY OFFICER, CHUNG-WANG'S GUARDS; SPECIAL AGENT
OF THE TI-PING GENERAL-IN-CHIEF; AND LATE COMMANDER OF THE "LOYAL
AND FAITHFUL AUXILIARY LEGION."
LONDON:
DAY & SON (LIMITED), LITHOGRAPHERS & PUBLISHERS,
GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
1866.
COX AND WYMAN,
ORIENTAL, CLASSICAL, AND GENERAL PRINTERS,
GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.
THE GENERAL OF THE CHIN-CHUNG (truly faithful) ARMY,
CHUNG-WANG LE (The "Faithful Prince" LE),
Hereby certifies that the undermentioned Foreign Brother, LIN-LE,
aforetime traversed the country between Shanghai, Ningpo, &c.,
conducting and managing military affairs (or ships of war).
He has traversed the whole country, and from time to time has been
actively engaged, and has collected commissariat (or military) stores,
neither sparing pains nor valuing difficulties, but directly managing
the affairs.
After this he proceeds to Kia-hing (or Cha-shing) prefecture to conduct
operations (with regard to organizing an auxiliary force, &c.), and to
receive and use, from Ting-wang, certain moneys for affairs in which he
succeeded (or may succeed).
We therefore hereby command those in charge of the military posts on the
frontier to examine this closely, and to allow him to pass to and fro
without let or hindrance.
This is an Express Commission!
Dated: The Celestial Kingdom of Ti-ping
13th year, 10th month, 26th day.
"TI-PING _is pronounced_ Tye, _or_ T'hi-Ping; _the first word_, Ti,
_going into the broad English sound like the noun eye_, _or as_ ti _in_
ti-tle. _The pure Chinese tone rather resembles_ T'hi _than_ Tye."
TO
Le-Siu-Cheng, the Chung-Wang,
"Faithful Prince,"
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE TI-PING FORCES,
This Work is Dedicated,
IF HE BE LIVING;
AND IF NOT, TO HIS MEMORY.
PREFACE.
This work has been written in accordance with instructions received from
the leaders of the great Ti-ping Revolution in China.
Besides an account of my own personal adventures and practical
experience during four years' military service and social intercourse
with the Ti-pings, the following pages contain:--
A complete history of the Revolution: its Christian, political,
military, and social organization; an accurate description of its
extraordinary leader, Hung-sui-tshuen, and his principal chiefs; the
rise, progress, and present circumstances of the movement, together with
its bearing and influence as well upon the welfare of the 360 million
inhabitants of China, as on the general interests of Great Britain; with
a thorough review of the policy of the British Government towards China;
including the intervention with and hostilities against the Ti-ping
patriots, who, by accepting Christianity and abandoning idolatry,
revolted against the Manchoo-Tartar Government.
In writing this work I have been prompted by feelings of sympathy for a
worthy, oppressed, and cruelly-wronged people; as well as by a desire
to protest against the evil foreign policy which England, during the
last few years, has pursued towards _weak_ Powers, especially in Asia.
As a talented writer has just proved,[1] "It is not once, nor yet twice,
that the policy of the British Government has been ruinous to the best
interests of the world. It is not once, nor yet twice, that British
deeds have aroused the indignation and horror of 'highly civilized and
half-civilized races.' Disregard of international law and of treaty law
in Europe--deeds of piracy and spoliation in Asia--one vast system of
wrong and violence have everywhere for years marked the dealings of the
British Government with the weaker nations of the globe."
Entertaining similar opinions to these, I have endeavoured to produce a
complete history of the wonderful revolution in China, and an accurate
narrative of the forcible intervention of the British Government against
it. As this subject has never been properly placed before the people of
England; as it forms one of the last acts of interference with the
internal affairs of another State which was undertaken by Lord
Palmerston's Administration; and as I have had peculiar opportunities of
becoming acquainted as well with the Ti-pings as with the terrible
effects of British intervention in this instance,--I feel it my duty to
afford the fullest information to my countrymen, so as to assist them in
forming a correct opinion on a question of such vast magnitude.
Deploring, as I do, the apathy with which the great majority of
Englishmen regard the foreign policy of their rulers, and lull
themselves into a self-satisfied and indolent state of mind, because of
the _present_ internal prosperity of their country, it is with hope of
some good result that I offer my testimony against an hitherto
uncondemned national crime; and, by illustrating the iniquity of our
last hostilities in China, join the small array of those who strive to
arouse their countrymen from what may prove a fatal lethargy.
During the last thirty years, all the great nations of Europe have acted
in a way more or less antagonistic to the only principle which insures
the peace of the world, viz., that "No State has a right _forcibly_ to
interfere in the internal concerns of another State, unless there exists
a _casus belli_ against it." Consequently it is apparent that the
existence of international and treaty law must be in a very precarious
position.
When we consider British armed intervention in the internal affairs of
the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Afghanistan, &c.; the three
wars with China; the wars with Burmah, Persia, and Japan; together with
the forcible demonstrations against Ashantee, Greece, Siam, and Brazil;
it cannot fail to be seen that England has not been the most backward in
violating the above true principle of international law, nor the least
guilty in following up unjustifiable impositions upon unoffending
belligerents by actual _force_.
It is not, however, with the cases here mentioned, but with the late
unproclaimed war against the Ti-pings, and with the general effect of
the policy in question, that this work is concerned.
With regard to the first subject, it is shown that British interference
has caused a tremendous destruction of human life; that it has been
carried on with fire and sword against the first Christian movement in
modern Asia; that it has been directed against a mighty national
religio-political revolution which in no way concerned England; and that
every incident of this forceable intervention, from beginning to end,
was totally unjustifiable and iniquitous.
With regard to the second subject, if the explanation of the first be
considered together with the general effect upon the world which has
been produced by England's policy towards some of the States mentioned
as those with whom she has interfered during the last thirty years, it
is probable that further light may be thrown upon "two remarkable
phenomena which now puzzle this nation," described at p. 270, part iv.,
of the admirable work entitled "Intervention and Non-intervention," as
follows:--
"(1) That the reign of force, without any real moral antagonism,
is now established throughout all the four quarters of the
globe.
"(2) That Great Britain is no longer honoured and trusted as she
was, her statesmen having lost that moral influence which, quite
as much as physical fear, serves to restrain unscrupulous
governments in a career of wrong-doing."
He will indeed be a bold casuist who can dispute the truth of the above
propositions, or the fact that they are the natural consequence of such
acts as the intervention against the Ti-pings, &c., which have been
perpetrated for the sole object of forwarding our _own_ interests and
"commercial transactions," without the slightest regard for the
principles of right, justice, and international law.
The history of the world proves that every great nation which has been
founded by aggression and the sword has ultimately fallen,
notwithstanding its power and grandeur, through the exercise of the same
illegal violence against itself. Now those who utterly condemn any
political action having for its basis expediency, temporary interest,
commercial extension, place-holding, or any other mercenary or selfish
motives, at the sacrifice of rigid equity and honour, believe that under
Providence England will never fall from her exalted position while
adhering unchangeably to the eternal principles of right and justice. If
the future and the ultimate fate of a nation be not preordained, but are
really dependent upon itself, let us believe that its destiny will be
determined by an immutable law which only rewards or punishes according
to deserts. Then will all who love their country be jealous of its
honour, whilst those who are rather intent upon immediate and personal
aggrandizement will imitate the acts of the robber, who cares not for
the crime so long as he can enrich himself.
Mingled with the more serious parts of this work, the reader will find
much information regarding the vast Chinese empire; the character,
customs, and position of its interesting people, especially so far as
the Ti-pings are concerned. As these are subjects which have come
largely under my personal observation, I have connected them with my own
travels and adventures in the form of a narrative, so that each
alternate chapter should treat exclusively of the history of the
Ti-ping Revolution until both could be combined together.
At present civil war is raging in every part of China, and if the
natives--as represented by the Ti-ping, Nien-fie, or other
insurrectionists--should succeed in overthrowing their Manchoo
oppressors, a vast field will be thrown open to European enterprise, and
the opportunity that will exist for civilizing and Christianizing the
largest country in the world cannot be exaggerated.
A. F. L.
_London, 3rd February, 1866._
* * * * *
ERRATA.
P. 546, _For_ the word "whom" _read_ "with."
P. 689, _read_ last paragraph, commencing at the twenty-seventh
line, as follows:--"Yet, on the other hand, there are people who
have the obstinacy to review this and similar affairs, and
observe that in other parts of the world a very different policy
has been enacted, where it could be done with impunity, which
affords sufficient evidence that the pretended adoption of a
non-interfering policy is neither more nor less than an
unprincipled truckling to strong powers, and an aggressive
bullying of the weak."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "Intervention and Non-intervention," by A. G. Stapleton.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Arrival in Victoria.--The Happy Valley.--Hong-Kong.--Tanka Boat
Girls.--Chinese Boatmen: their Evil Propensities.--Captain
Mellen's Adventure.--Canton Girls.--Amusements in China.--Cafés
Chantants.--The Exhibition.--Temple of Lanterns.--Chinese
Character.--Piracy in China.--The "North Star."--Fate of the
Crew.--Tartar Cruelty.--Adventure with
Pirates.--Sporting.--Duck-shooting.--Chinese
Hospitality.--Mandarin Barbarity.--Whampoa.--Marie the
Portuguese.--Marie's History: her Escape.--Description of Marie:
her Excitability: her Jealousy 1
CHAPTER II.
Hung-sui-tshuen.--Clanship in China.--Hung-sui-tshuen's
Genealogy: his Education.--Extraordinary Visions: Description of
them.--Description of Hung-sui-tshuen: his Early Days: his
Visions Explained: his Conversion: how
effected.--Hung-sui-tshuen's Preaching: his Religious
Essays.--The God-worshippers.--Destruction of Idols.--Progress
of God-worshippers.--Numbers increase.--Hostilities
commence.--God-worshippers Victorious.--"Imperialist"
Cruelty.--Bishop of Victoria.--Chinese Dynasty proclaimed 31
CHAPTER III.
The Manchoo Party.--The Ti-ping Party.--The Ti-ping
Character.--Conflict with Manchoos.--Chinese Gunboats.--First
Ti-ping Position.--Its Appearance.--Ti-ping
Hospitality.--Ti-ping Country described.--Effects of
Intervention.--San-le-jow.--Ti-pings Superior to
Imperialists.--Ti-pings and Chinamen.--Ti-ping Costume.--The
Honan Ti-pings.--The "Chinese Paris."--Interview with
Chung-wang: his Appearance: his Religious Feelings: his
Penetration: his Policy.--Commission from
Chung-wang.--San-li-jow.--A Ti-ping Army.--Its Friendly
Bearing.--Arrival at Shanghae 55
CHAPTER IV.
Organization of the Ti-pings.--Hung-sui-tshuen's
Manifesto.--Hung-sui-tshuen Emperor.--Proclamation of
Rank.--Ti-ping Titles.--Siege of Yung-gnan.--Ti-ping
Successes.--Their Moderation in Victory.--King Yang's
Proclamation.--Tien-Wang's Proclamation.--Cruelty of
Imperialists.--Cause of the Revolution.--Chinese History
Reviewed.--Corrupt Government.--Tartar Rule.--Manchoo Barbarity 81
CHAPTER V.
Shanghae to Han-kow.--River Scenery.--Silver Island.--The Salt
Trade.--Nin-gan-shan.--Tu-ngliu.--Its Auriferous
Soil.--Kew-kiang.--River Scenery.--The Yang-tze River.--The
Braves of Han-kow.--Chinese Politeness.--Manchoo Policy.--Fire
and Plunder.--A Chinese Rudder.--Scenery around
Ta-tung.--Appearance of the Country.--Chinese Chess.--Perilous
Adventure.--Crew of Mutineers.--Critical Position.--Gallant
Rescue.--Explanation.--Alarm of Pirates.--Plan of
Operations.--Its Advantages.--The Result.--Another
Alarm.--"Imperialist" Pirates 106
CHAPTER VI.
Fall of Nankin.--Manchoo Cowardice.--Immense Booty.--Sir George
Bonham's Arrival at Nankin.--"The Northern Prince."--The Ti-pings
fraternize.--Sir George Bonham's Dispatch.--The Ti-ping
Reply.--Further Communication.--Its Friendly Nature.--Ti-ping
Literature.--Its Religious Character.--Bishop of Victoria and
Dr. Medhurst's Opinions.--Ti-ping Publications.--The New
Testament.--Monarchy Established.--Occupation of Nankin.--A
Fatal Mistake.--Imperialist Advantages.--Advance of the
Ti-pings.--Manchoo Operations.--The Tsing-hae Army.--The
Retreat.--Tien-wang's Mistake--His Opportunity Lost.--Manchoo
Tactics.--Imperialist Outrages.--Ti-ping Moderation.--The Triad
Rebels.--They evacuate Amoy.--Captain Fishbourne's
Description.--Triads capture Shanghae.--Imperialist
Aggressions.--Jesuits' Interference.--The French attack the
Triads.--Shanghae Evacuated.--British Interference.--Its
Consequences 136
CHAPTER VII.
Home.--Its Desolation.--Intelligence of Marie.--Consequent
Proceedings.--Preparations for Pursuit.--River Tracking.--In
Pursuit.--The Lorcha Sighted.--Stratagems.--Alongside the
Lorcha.--On Board the Lorcha.--Critical Position.--A Friend in
Need.--Failure.--Lorcha again Reconnoitred.--Increased
Difficulties.--Another Attempt.--Alongside the Lorcha
again.--Marie discovered.--Marie rescued.--Safe on
Board.--Marie's Explanation.--The Lorcha in Pursuit.--She gains
on us.--The Lorcha opens Fire.--Safe among the Ti-pings 177
CHAPTER VIII.
Ti-ping Operations.--Chinese Apathy.--The Ti-ping
Difficulty.--Popular Feeling.--Opposed to the
Ti-pings.--England's Policy.--Her Motives.--Dr. Bridgman
describes Ti-pingdom.--His Description of the Ti-pings.--X. Y.
Z.--Ti-pingdom in 1857.--Its Internal Economy.--Lord Elgin at
Nankin.--Gallant Exploit.--Its Interpretation.--Hung-jin arrives
at Nankin.--Hung-jin's Adventures.--Mr. Hamberg's
Narrative.--Hung-jin's Pamphlet.--Hung-jin Prime
Minister.--Nankin Invested.--Resumption of
Hostilities.--"Indemnity" demanded.--Conditions of Peace.--Cause
of Wars with China.--England's Foreign Policy.--The Opium Wars 204
CHAPTER IX.
The Sz-wang's Domestic Life.--Approach to Nankin.--Interior of
Nankin.--A Ti-ping Banquet.--Maou-lin, the Chung-wang's
Son.--The Chung-wang's Palace.--The Chung-wang's Levee.--Ti-ping
Chiefs.--Chung-wang's Appearance.--Council of War.--The
Review.--Cum-ho.--The March.--The Ti-ping Army.--Its
Organization.--Selection of Officers.--Equipment of the
Army.--Its Formation.--The Enemy in View.--Their
Retreat.--Preparations for Attack.--A Night Attack.--A Stockade
carried.--Charge of Manchoo Cavalry.--The Repulse.--The Enemy
retreat.--The Pursuit.--Complete Rout of the
Manchoos.--Maou-lin's Bravery.--Return to Nankin 234
CHAPTER X.
Prospects of the Ti-pings in 1860.--Their Operations.--Relief of
Nankin.--Rout of the Imperialists.--Ti-ping Successes.--British
Interference.--Ti-pings advance on Shanghae.--The Chung-wang's
Address.--Mr. Bruce's Notification.--Mr. Bruce's Despatch.--The
Future of China.--The Chung-wang's Despatch.--Mr. Bruce's
Inconsistency.--Missionary "Holmes."--His Statement.--His
Uncourteous Behaviour.--His Inconsistencies.--Suppressed
Missionary Reports.--Rev. Griffith Johns' Report.--Newspaper
Extracts.--The Shanghae Massacre of Ti-pings.--Newspaper
Extracts.--The Author's Reflections thereon 266
CHAPTER XI.
Ti-ping Polygamy.--Ti-ping Women.--Their Improved
Position.--Abolition of Slavery by the Ti-pings.--Its Prevalence
in China.--Moral Revolution effected by Ti-pings.--Their
Religious Works.--Their Conduct Justified.--Jesuit
Missionaries.--Consul Harvey's Despatch.--Apathy of
Missionaries.--Its Consequences.--Chinese Antipathy to
Christianity.--Christianity of the Ti-pings.--Their Forms of
Worship.--Ti-ping Marriages.--Religious Observances.--The
Ti-ping Sabbath.--Its Observance.--Their Ecclesiastical
System.--Forms of Worship.--The Mo-wang.--Ti-ping Churches 300
CHAPTER XII.
Ti-pingdom in 1861.--Its Armies.--The Foreign Policy of
England.--Its Consequences.--Admiral Hope's
Expedition.--Comments thereon.--Its Results.--Lord Elgin's Three
Points.--Official Communications.--Secret Orders.--Evidence of
such.--Their Object.--Official Communications.--Mr. Parkes'
Despatch analyzed.--Newspaper Extracts.--Official Papers.--Mr.
Parkes' Measures.--His Arrogant Behaviour.--Result of the
Yang-tze Expedition.--Ngan-king Invested.--Modus Operandi.--The
Ying-wang's Plans.--His Interview with Mr. Parkes.--Sacrifices
his Interests.--Sketch of the Ying-wang.--Hung-jin's
Adventures.--The Chung-wang's Operations.--The Results.--Siege
of Hang-chow.--Its Capture.--Manchoo Cruelties.--Position of the
Ti-pings in 1861 325
CHAPTER XIII.
Life in Nankin.--Ti-ping Character.--Its Friendly
Nature.--Religious Observances.--Cum-ho.--Curious Adventure.--A
Catastrophe.--Love-making.--Difficulties.--Trip to
Shanghae.--Reflections.--On the Yang-tze River.--Life on the
River.--An Adventure.--The Deserted Lorcha.--The Murdered
Crew.--"Mellen's" Fate.--Arrival at Shanghae.--Return
Voyage.--Sin-ya-meu.--A "Squeeze Station."--The
"Love-chase."--Fraternizing.--Wife-purchasing.--The Grand
Canal.--China under Manchoo Rule.--Its Population.--The Manchoo
Government 360
CHAPTER XIV.
Ti-ping Revolution in 1861.--Official Correspondence.--Its
Review.--Professions of Neutrality.--How carried out.--Captain
Dew's Interpretation.--Ti-ping Remonstrance.--Cause of British
Hostility.--Mr. Bruce's Assertions.--Mr. Bruce's Second
Despatch.--Mr. Bruce's Difficulty.--His Inconsistency.--Despatch
No. 3.--Inconsistent Statements.--Ti-pings approach
Ningpo.--Interview with Ti-ping Chiefs.--Mr. Hewlett's Interview
with "Fang."--General Hwang's Despatch.--General "Fang's"
Despatch.--Capture of Ningpo.--British Intervention.--Ti-ping
Moderation.--Open Hostilities commenced.--Commander Bingham's
Despatch.--Ti-ping Reply.--Commander Bingham's Rejoinder 392
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS.
Chinese Commission _Frontispiece_.
Hong-kong Boat Girls _to face page_ 6
Marie (_portrait_) " 28
Ti-ping Army going into Action " 68
Silver Island " 108
Ke-tow " 114
Escape from the Lorcha " 203
The Chung-wang's Council of War " 243
Defeat of the Tartar Cavalry at the Battle of Hu-kau " 261
Sale of a Chinese Girl, as witnessed by the Author, at
Etching, on the river Yang-tse-kiang " 304
Teaching the Lord's Prayer in a middle-class Ti-ping
household " 318
Map, showing the position of the Ti-pings at the close
of the year 1861 " 359
A Ti-ping Church " 360
A Mast-head view of Nankin from the river, as it
appeared on the morning of departure " 372
WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
Sing-song Girl _page_ 30
Chung-wang's Head-dress " 73
Ti-ping _versus_ Imperialist " 80
Chess Board " 123
Chung-wang's Crown " 244
Ti-ping Ladies of rank " 324
A Manchoo Squeeze Station " 384
THE TI-PING REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER I.
Arrival in Victoria.--The Happy Valley.--Hong-Kong.--Tanka Boat
Girls.--Chinese Boatmen: their evil propensities.--Captain
Mellen's Adventure.--Canton Girls.--Amusements in China.--Cafés
Chantant.--The Exhibition.--Temple of Lanterns.--Chinese
Character.--Piracy in China.--The "North Star."--Fate of the
Crew.--Tartar Cruelty.--Adventure with
Pirates.--Sporting.--Duck-shooting.--Chinese
Hospitality.--Mandarin Barbarity.--Whampoa.--Marie the
Portuguese.--Marie's History: her Escape.--Description of Marie:
her Excitability: her Jealousy.
In the summer of 1859, I arrived before the town of Victoria, on board
the good ship _Emeu_, and cast anchor in the blue waters of its shaded
harbour. Victoria is the only town in the island of Hong-Kong, and,
viewed from the bay, presents a very imposing appearance, in many
respects resembling Gibraltar.
Like the city of the "Sentinel of the Straits," it is built from the
very edge of the sea to some considerable distance up the mountains
which constitute the principal portion of the island, and is almost
entirely hemmed in by towering masses of time-worn granite, that
constitute a grand and effective background to its princely buildings.
Many of these noble edifices--the dwellings of European merchants and
officials, and the British Government works--in the higher parts of the
town are well ornamented by gardens; which, with several verdant little
valleys in the hollows of the mountains, some low hills covered with a
feathery semi-tropical foliage--Green Island, with its dense bushes on
one hand, and Jardine's, crowned with a noble mansion of that firm, on
the other--together with the multitude of junks and European shipping at
anchor, and those under weigh crossing and enlivening the scene, afford
a charming and picturesque tone to what would otherwise be the
unrelieved massiveness and sterility of the place.
There is one particularly beautiful spot in the "Island of Sweet
Waters," as it is poetically termed by the Chinese, that well repays the
trouble of a visit. It is situated some five or six miles from the town,
and is named Happy Valley. It is surrounded with luxuriant Asiatic
foliage, from the midst of which occasional farm-houses peep out. A fine
grassy level forms the centre of the valley, around which is constructed
the Hong-Kong racecourse, and this is bounded by a broad carriage-road
completely encircling the whole plain; while on the edges of the distant
rising ground the burial-place of those Europeans who never return to
their home rears above the surrounding evergreens its monumental
sculpture.
Happy Valley is surrounded by mountains whose sloping sides are thickly
clothed with vegetation; the trees, although of a stunted species, are
thickly interlaced with undergrowth and an innumerable variety of
evergreen bushes, through which murmur many mountain springs, that
become in the rainy months swollen into torrents. Although a favourite
resort of European residents, I hardly consider Happy Valley a good
sanatorium; for, when visiting it at early sunrise, I invariably found
thick, damp vapours shrouding it, slow to be dispelled by the morning
sun, and strongly significant of fever, and "Hong-Kong fever" in
particular.
The colony of Hong-Kong represents most perfectly the success of British
enterprise in commercial matters; and, what is far more important,
points to the true mode by which Christian and civilized nations may
communicate with the Pagan and semi-civilized ones of Asia.
The less said about the cession of the island to England the better;
for, although in the year 1841 the Imperial Commissioner, Keshen,
coerced by the presence of British troops, agreed to cede it, his
Government repudiated this unauthorized agreement, and yet the British
made that a _casus belli_, and afterwards compelled them to sanction and
endorse the concession. Many people will, doubtless, say that England
was compelled to make war upon the Chinese at that time, in order to
defend her subjects and protect their trade and property; but it does
not appear that either trade or property had ever been threatened,
except through the nefarious opium traffic. The Chinese Government took
the best measures to prevent the introduction of this injurious drug
into their empire, but the British Government laid themselves open to
the charge of wishing to protect the smugglers and forward the lawless
trade.
The colony of Hong-Kong is in many respects to be admired, and it is to
be regretted that the ministers of the present day do not appreciate its
many advantages. In former days England possessed more statesmen and
fewer politicians than now. Of all the blunders which have recently
marked her foreign policy, the late intervention in China is the worst;
there we find neither the courage nor intellect which, in former ages,
by talent, energy, and success redeemed even acts of aggression; neither
do we perceive any desire to forego that system of unjustifiable
interference which is so much calculated to render this great nation
contemptible.
Hong-Kong is a free port, and in that lies the secret of how to
establish relations with the Chinese, Japanese, or any other exclusive
Asiatic people. As the late Mr. Cobden very correctly stated, during the
debate upon China in the House of Commons (May 30, 1864), "We have only
to establish free ports on the coast of China, withdraw ourselves
altogether from political contact with the people, and we shall have a
trade with them quite as much, if not more, than if we penetrate into
the country and assist in destroying their civilization in a vain
attempt to plant our own, for which they are not yet fitted." There is
no necessity whatever to _force_ trade, and when such policy is
persisted in, the results are always calamitous. To apply the idea
personally: How would any of us like a stranger (foreign to us in every
respect) to come and thrust himself into our house, determined to
_compel_ us to trade with him, openly professing his intentions to alter
our religion, ancient institutions, &c., with his goods in one hand
(principally a poisonous drug) and a sword in the other? But let the
stranger establish himself close to our house, without aggression or
loud-mouthed professions of interference with our domestic and public
policy, and then, whenever we become aware of the benefit to be derived
from him, is it not certain that we should flock to him willingly, and
take him amongst us as a friend?
I caught the first glimpse of real Chinese life directly the anchor fell
from the _Emeu's_ starboard cathead; for although at Singapore and
Penang there are many "Celestials," yet their peculiar manners and
customs do not forcibly obtrude themselves upon the notice of a "bird of
passage." They seem, at both places, to be leading a subdued, unnatural,
very un-Celestial sort of existence; and, besides, very few Celestial
ladies are to be seen about. The _Emeu_ was scarcely moored when I was
startled by the appearance of those amphibious creatures, the Chinese
boat and laundry women. The Tanka (boat) girls lead an almost entirely
aquatic life, and are actually born, live, and die, on board their
floating homes. Their time seems fully occupied in rowing, or sculling
with a large oar over the stern of the boat; and this incessant labour
makes them strong and well-figured. Until married, it cannot be said
they are either paragons of virtue or modesty; but when married, or
betrothed--that is to say, bought by a long-tailed Benedict--they, at
all events, seem far less amiable towards the exiled "Fan-Kwei" (foreign
devil), as, in common with most Chinese, they politely designate all
foreigners.
The personal charms of these first seen of the Chinese fair sex are by
no means so contemptible as Europeans generally imagine. Their long and
intensely black hair, brilliant and merry though oblique black eyes,
light-yellowish brown and often beautifully clear complexion, and lithe
robust figures, constitute a charming and singular variety of feminine
attraction. They are a gay thoughtless set these boat-girls;
unfortunately, to mar what would otherwise often be a very handsome
face, many of them have the flattish nose typical of South China, though
the high and more European formed one is by no means uncommon. Through
constant exposure to the sun, they are mostly tanned to a regular
olivaster gipsy hue, and wicked little gipsies they often are,
especially when making a young greenhorn, fresh from his mamma in
England, pay six times the proper fare.
The Tanka girls are free in all things unconnected with their work; but,
as many are purchased by aged individuals, owners of boats, they are
slaves in so far as their occupation is concerned. Very different is it
with their unfortunate sisters, the slaves of the washerwomen, who are
bought when quite young, and trained to an evil life.
It is a usual thing to see, the moment a ship has anchored, several old
laundry hags, each with an attendant retinue of fascinating nymphs,
"taking charge" and establishing themselves in possession of all
quarters of the vessel, from the skipper's cabin to the black cook's
galley. Of course, these little witches make sad havoc of the sailors'
hearts, and generally of their clothes.
It is a singular fact, but no less singular than true, that invariably
upon pay-day the number and affection of these pretty damsels seem to
increase and multiply in a surprising manner; and by the very
perceptible metallic chinking when they take their departure by the
gangway, it would appear that their sweetness of disposition had not
been exerted unsuccessfully.
The boat and laundry women are peculiar to the South of China, being
only met with at Macao, Canton, Whampoa, and Hong-Kong. They seem to
have become a distinct part of the population of China since the arrival
of Europeans to its shores, as employment by the latter affords their
principal means of livelihood. Throughout the year they constantly amuse
themselves in the water, swimming and disporting themselves about the
above-mentioned harbours, like so many young porpoises in a gale of
wind.
Besides the Tanka boats, there are others at Hong-Kong manned by
Chinamen; but until quite lately, and until the establishment of a
water-police, they formed a very dangerous mode of travelling at night,
the crews having frequently robbed and murdered their passengers.
A friend of mine was once very nearly killed by a boat's crew when being
taken to his vessel by them; and although, as it will appear, upon that
occasion he managed to escape, he was afterwards brutally murdered by
the Chinese. But that terrible affair I will relate at its proper place;
for I found his mangled corpse, together with those of his wife and
child, some years afterwards, in another part of China.
My friend Mellen was captain of a vessel belonging to himself, and, just
after the last Canton war, was at anchor in Hong-Kong harbour. Returning
on board late one night, the boatmen--seven in number, six pulling and
one in the stern-sheets steering--soon after leaving the shore, instead
of steering directly towards his ship, seemed to be keeping away from
her. He, of course, endeavoured to make them steer in the right
direction; but with that half-complying, half-defying shuffling of your
true Chinaman, they managed to persist on the wrong course until
reaching some little distance outside all the shipping. At this moment,
and while still a considerable way from his own vessel, which happened
to be lying outside all the others in port, he was suddenly struck with
some heavy weapon by the man behind him, who was steering. Through a
forward movement which he made, the blow luckily missed his head and
struck him on the shoulder. Mellen very fortunately had a small revolver
with him, and at the moment when the rest of the boatmen started from
their seats and rushed to attack him, he turned and shot his first
assailant, had just time to face them, firing again and wounding the
foremost, when they were upon him, armed with formidable knives and the
heavy thole pins used to fasten the oars. In an instant he received
several wounds, though providentially his assailants were too much in
each other's way to use their murderous weapons effectively; but his
revolver being self-acting, without a pause, he was enabled to shoot
dead another, and severely wound a fourth. At this, seeing four of their
number _hors de combat_ almost within five seconds, two of the remaining
robbers lost heart, and jumped overboard to swim for it; the last, a
large powerful fellow, closed with Mellen in a fierce and deadly
struggle. My friend's revolver was empty; so, abandoning the weapon that
had already rendered such good service, he grappled with his adversary,
endeavouring to wrest away the knife with which he was armed.
[Illustration: HONG-KONG BOAT GIRLS.
London, Published March 15^{th} 1866 by Day & Son, Limited Lithog^{rs}
Gate Str, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Day & Son, Limited, Lith.]
In the meanwhile, the reports of the pistol and the noise of the
struggle had reached the wakeful ears of my friend's wife, who was by
good chance on deck, waiting and watching for her husband's return.
Piercing the darkness of the night with eager eyes, she faintly
discerned a boat in the distance, outside all the other ships, and
naturally concluded it must be bound for their vessel. In agony for her
husband's safety, she aroused the crew, seized a pistol from the cabin,
and set off in the gig to overhaul the boat which had attracted her
attention. The gig's crew pulling fast, arrived at the scene of conflict
not an instant too soon; for Mellen being in weak health, was succumbing
to the superior strength of his antagonist, who, with one hand grasping
him by the throat, was making fierce efforts to release the other, and
plunge the dagger it held into my friend's breast.
Just at this critical moment, Mrs. Mellen and her boat's crew arrived
alongside, and, seeing all the danger, she presented the pistol at the
Chinaman and fired; the ball passed directly through his head and laid
him lifeless at her husband's feet. This gallant act was but one of many
instances in which that courageous woman had saved her husband's life,
and in defending which she eventually lost her own--a fruitless though
noble sacrifice.
After landing and reporting myself at head-quarters, I finished my first
day in China by seeing as much of Celestial life as my uninitiated state
permitted. A sedan chair, the usual and aristocratic style of travelling
in China, was hired, which for upwards of three hours transported me all
over the town. The Chinese--their country--in fact, all about them--will
afford an observant stranger an inexhaustible fund of study and
amusement; yet, as a rule, Europeans are singularly neglectful of the
country and most interesting traits of the peculiar people they sojourn
amongst. They go to China with the sole idea of making a fortune, and
too often in its blind pursuit all other principle is sacrificed. Their
whole existence seems a feverish dream to obtain dollars enough to
return home wealthy; and very seldom, if ever, are any found
sufficiently disinterested or philanthropic to study the welfare and
future of the immense Chinese empire.
At first, as foreigners generally are, I was considerably disgusted by
the unnatural appearance of the men my lot was cast with, consequent
upon the shaved head and monkey appendage. This frightful custom in no
slight degree adds to the naturally cruel expression of their oblique
eyes and altogether peculiar features; in fact, hair is absolutely
required to tone down the harsh and irregular contour of their faces.
While wandering through the town, I was much struck by the appearance of
many Chinese girls wearing European shoes on naturally formed feet, and
head-dresses of brilliant Manchester pattern, in the form of
handkerchiefs, folded diagonally and once knotted under the chin, the
ends projecting on either side by a particular and almost mathematical
adjustment. I soon became convinced that the European proclivities of
the Canton girls went much further than this. These young ladies, before
marriage or obtaining a "massa," wear their front hair cut short and
hanging over the forehead, which gives them an expression between that
of a London street-preacher and a person just dragged through a
haystack; their back hair is gathered together and plaited into a long
tail, which, when loose, strangely resembles the tail of a black
Shetland pony. To the best of my knowledge, the Chinese women never cut
their hair, and their system might be beneficially imitated by
foreigners, for their tresses are certainly much longer and more
luxuriant than those of the women of Europe.
I arrived during the Chinese New Year holidays, which, throughout China,
are celebrated with extensive merry-making. At Hong-Kong the new year is
welcomed with much festivity, and during many days the cracking of
fire-crackers, the roar of petards, and the clanging of gongs is
incessant; which, being continued all night, renders sleep difficult.
I visited numberless sing-songs, or theatres, in all of which I found
the most persevering of instrumental and vocal performers. Some
exclusively confined themselves to musical (Chinese) entertainment,
while others were devotees of the Chinese Thespis, and, of the two, I
think the latter preferable; for, although their principal hits consist
of a tremendous crash of gongs, drums, horns, &c. (which invariably
places the audience in ecstasies of delight), there is not so much of
the shrieking falsetto of the singers, or the scraping of that
excruciating tympanum-piercing instrument of torture--the Chinese
fiddle. The nation has certainly obtained its knowledge of musical
concord from the vicinity of Pandemonium, its idea of discord must come
from somewhere considerably beyond that place.
Some of the sing-songs combined creature comforts with those more
intellectual; but these were permanent institutions, and not simply for
the occasion. These establishments are open free of charge, but care is
taken to have a select audience. The female performers considerably
outnumber the male, and have the cramped small feet. After shrieking
themselves hoarse, in a higher pitch of voice than I ever heard before,
they approach the visitors to receive largess. Now, their manner of
doing this I denounce as the most revolting specimen of self-distortion
and pedestrianism imaginable. I can think of no juster simile than a
frog trying to walk upright with half its hind legs amputated and stilts
fastened to the stumps. Why the deformed feet should ever have been
termed "small" I am at a loss to imagine, all that I have seen being
quite the reverse. The bottom of the foot, it is true, is bandaged, and
compressed into a hoof-like smallness, with the toes all forced into the
sole, and on this the shoe is fitted; but look at the ankle, instep, and
heel, and you will see nothing but an immense shapeless mass, closely
resembling the foot of an elephant.
Whenever the Celestial vocalists have hobbled up to you and taken a
seat,--perhaps on your knees if they should happen to take a fancy to
you,--the polite thing is to order supper for the company _ad libitum_,
and by this means the proprietors and musical talent of the
establishment recompense themselves; for although there is no
entrance-charge, by George! they _do_ make you pay for supper.
It is a pity some of the members of teetotalism do not undertake a
proselytizing expedition to China, for in these intellectual
entertainments of the people they would find a fair field for their
labour. The etiquette of the sing-song is that a man must never refuse
the wine-cup from the hand of one of the attendant sirens, and I am
quite sure the sirens use the strongest persuasion and their most
fascinating arts to ply it. It sometimes unfortunately happens that a
victimized Chinaman becomes unduly elated, and attempts to steal a kiss;
and when this happens, as the ladies are thickly befloured and daubed
with paint, the poor fellow quickly assumes a floury appearance, while
the lady's countenance becomes variegated with irregular lines of
commingled colour.
The Chinese have another polite mode of making beasts of themselves,
consisting of a sort of forfeit game, in which one holds up his fingers
and the other, before seeing them, quickly guesses the number held up,
the loser's penalty being to swallow a cupful of wine or _samshoo_, and
then, to show his superior breeding and capacity, to hold it aloft,
bottom up, after each draught.
The professional ladies are always open to an engagement, and are
usually invited to attend evening parties, to enliven the guests by
their melody and flirtation. Upon these occasions each siren carries a
fan, upon which is inscribed her list of songs, and this is handed round
the company to select from. The wives and daughters of the host are
never present at these _soirées musicales_, for they, poor creatures,
being only upon a par with the goods and chattels, are considered
unworthy to mix with their lords in public. In all affairs but the most
private domestic ones they are entirely ignored, and it would be the
greatest breach of good manners for one Chinaman to ask another after
his wife's health, and would be vulgar to talk of female relatives at
all. Of course, where woman occupies such an inferior position, her
rights are frequently usurped; and it is no uncommon thing for one of
the singing ladies to monopolize a man with several wives.
While at Hong-Kong I had the satisfaction of visiting a grand New Year
exhibition that only takes place once every ten years. It consisted of
an immense building of bamboo and matting, after the general style of
Chinese theatres. The people excel in this style of building, and will
finish one of these temporary structures in a few days, and without
using a single nail in the work. The walls and roof are simply bamboo,
lashed together with rope, then thatched with rushes, and covered with
matting; the whole completely watertight, and strong enough to resist
the wind and weather. That which I visited was designated the Temple of
some long-named Chinese divinity, and was of vast extent, covering
several acres of land. The interior contained a little of every
production of China, a fair sprinkling of European articles, and an
endless variety of shows and amusements. Some parts were devoted to
stalls of raw produce, while others contained every kind of manufactured
article. One of the most attractive scenes for the Chinamen was a show
of models of a great variety of wild animals, comprising almost
everything, from a mouse to a camelopard. Although this dummy menagerie
gave the greatest satisfaction and elicited numberless "Hi-ya's!" from
the astonished Celestials, I am pretty certain that many of the supposed
representations could never have found an original, and I am quite sure
that had a tiger seen the tremendous monster intended for himself, it
would have certainly frightened him. Theatres, sing-songs, lecturers,
quack-doctors, mountebanks, tumblers, jugglers, fortune-tellers, all
were to be enjoyed for the sum of two dollars paid at the door.
The Temple was said to contain 1,000,000 lanterns, and was altogether
remarkably well got up. I met the Chinese jugglers for the first time at
this place, and I must say they are remarkably dexterous. One of the
best tricks I saw them execute is this--the performer, after showing the
audience that he has nothing concealed about him and going through a
series of gymnastics to convince them, will suddenly stop, stoop down,
and from under his ordinary Chinese robe produce an immense bowl filled
to the brim with water; so full, indeed, that the slightest movement
would spill some, yet the trick is executed without a drop falling to
the ground.
While lounging through the "palace of 1,000,000 lanterns," I found the
first opportunity to study that absurd jargon, "pidgeon English." I was
watching one of the most expert jugglers, when a fine, portly, evidently
well-to-do Chinaman came up, and addressed me with--
"Hi-ya! this piecee man belong numbah one. Can do so fashon? ga la!"
More by good luck than comprehension, I happened to hit upon his meaning
that the man was very clever, and his inquiry as to whether I approved
of the trick. After a few more general and equally ambiguous remarks, in
which some of my interlocutor's friends joined and made a worse
confusion, he thought we had had enough of the wizard, and invited me to
partake of some Chinese good cheer in these words:--
"S'pose you no wantche look see, mi wantche you come along mi catchee
samshoo."
Having nothing better to do, and thinking it a good opportunity to
ascertain a little of Chinese character, I accepted his proposal, and we
adjourned to a restaurant department close by, where I spent a short
time very pleasantly--telling the Chinamen about railways, balloons,
submarine telegraph, &c., and receiving in return copious information
upon _pidgeon_ (business) and the Chinese politics of Hong-Kong. My
friends were loud and unanimous in praise of the colony, and declared
it, and all pertaining to it, "numbah one;" while they quite as heartily
expressed their dissatisfaction with the state of their country and its
Manchoo Government. At last, I was obliged to leave them in a hurry,
having a confounded middle watch to keep, and we parted with mutual
protestations of good will, amidst which might have been prominently
distinguished, "Engleman numbah one," "Chinaman numbah one," "Chin-chin,
ga la!" &c.
Hong-Kong is highly appreciated by the Chinese, who, to escape from the
tyranny and rapacity of their Manchoo rulers, stifle their national
pride, and flock to it in great numbers. Those who have preferred
British jurisdiction to the unendurable state of their own country are
mostly respectable men; but, of course, there is another and a
disreputable party. Hong-Kong, besides affording shelter and advantages
to the honest and worthy, has been quite as useful to bad characters and
criminals from the mainland; and as these latter have not been slow to
avail themselves of its protection, the result is that gangs of robbers
and pirates have become located amongst the large native population.
Until quite lately, a walk at evening, outside the precincts of the
town, was likely to terminate unpleasantly, as these fly-by-night
gentlemen were often hanging about with an eye to business. Many
Europeans have returned from a late walk considerably edified upon this
point; some have never returned, for the Chinese marauders are
particularly unscrupulous. A couple of philanthropists one night thought
to relieve me of the burden of my purse while I was taking a moonlight
stroll barely beyond the houses of Victoria; but the arguments of a
Penang lawyer proved so effectual--thanks to Sergeant-Major Winterbottom
and its own toughness--that they were glad to forego their unwelcome
attentions and decamp, leaving a memento of the meeting in the shape of
an ugly-looking rusty knife.
This sort of thing, however, is becoming less frequent, in consequence
of the increased police force; but there is another and a much greater
evil, almost as bad as ever--that is, piracy. The whole coast, for
several hundred miles north and south, is infested with pirates, and the
peculiar formation of the land about Hong-Kong, (with its many bays,
creeks, inlets, and rivers of every description,) affords them a
rendezvous with the most perfect means of concealment. Many piratical
craft carry on their depredations quite within sight of the colony; some
vessels have even been plundered, and their crews massacred, upon its
waters, with a large fleet of British gunboats lying uselessly almost
within gunshot-range. Some of the wealthiest Chinese in Hong-Kong have
been discovered to be in connection with the pirates, and even Europeans
have been implicated.
About five years ago a large English brig was captured, and many of her
crew murdered, in full sight of the signal-station at Victoria Peak.
This case happened to come under my own observation.
The _North Star_ sailed from Hong-Kong early one morning, bound for
Japan, in ballast, but carrying some 12,000 dollars in specie. Her crew
consisted of seventeen persons all told, including two passengers, to
whom the treasure belonged. The wind being very light, the vessel made
but little progress, and towards evening became nearly becalmed about
seven miles from the anchorage. About this time the Chinese pilot left,
and was observed to communicate with a native junk which had followed in
the wake of the brig all day, unfortunately without exciting the
apprehension of those on board.
Soon after the pilot's departure, the Chinese steward brought the
captain his revolver, and asked him if he wished it to be cleaned;
unsuspectingly he discharged all the barrels and returned it to the
steward. At this moment the junk--which had gradually been edging down,
the light airs sensibly affecting her broad lateen sails, though the
brig was almost stationary--having approached within fifty yards,
suddenly became alive with men, although only two or three had
previously been visible. Putting out large sweeps they commenced pulling
rapidly towards the brig.
The captain of the _North Star_ perceived the danger too late, and
rushed to the cabin for a musket (four of which comprised the whole
armament), calling upon the crew to arm themselves as best they could,
and get the watch below on deck. The pirates crashed alongside, and
instantly cast a shower of stink-pots on the deck of their prey, killing
the man at the wheel, and severely burning two others of the crew. Fore
and aft the pirates boarded in overwhelming numbers. The captain ran on
deck with a musket, and with him, similarly armed, the two passengers
and the second mate. At the same time the mate, in the fore part of the
vessel, had snatched up a deck handspike, the carpenter an axe, and the
rest of the crew whatever they could lay their hands on. The captain and
his supporters levelled their pieces, and with care and coolness pulled
the trigger, the caps snapped--but that was all. The steward, after so
cunningly inducing the captain to empty his revolver, had filled the
nipples of each musket; he was, of course, the accomplice of the
pirates, and jumped on board their junk directly she touched the sides
of the vessel he had betrayed.
In a moment the captain, second mate, and one of the passengers were cut
down, shockingly wounded by the swords and spears with which the pirates
were armed, while the remaining passenger jumped overboard. Meanwhile,
overpowered by numbers, and without arms to defend themselves, the
remainder of the crew, with the exception of two or three who escaped,
had been massacred. The mate, after desperately defending himself with
his heavy handspike, and breaking the skulls of several assailants,
received a fearful gash across the face, destroying both eyes. The
carpenter buried his axe in the brain of one pirate, but, before he
could recover himself, was cut down by another. In a similar way all
the crew, except two men and a boy, were stretched dead or dying on the
deck. The three who escaped and afterwards gave evidence, saved
themselves by climbing up the forestay and hiding in the top. They were
part of the watch below, and directly they emerged from the hatchway saw
one of their shipmates lying half under the fore trysail (the halyards
of which had been let go by the pirates while seeking ropes to make
their junk fast alongside) weltering in his blood; this, and the horrid
noise of the slaughter taking place abaft, warned them to seek safety
aloft, while the trysail screened them from observation.
After getting the treasure on deck, and placing it on board their junk,
the pirates plundered the _North Star_ of everything of value, and then
left her, sweeping themselves rapidly to seaward. When the junk was a
long way off, the three survivors descended from their place of
concealment, did all they could to alleviate the sufferings of the few
yet alive on deck, and steered in for the harbour with a light breeze
that had sprung up. After midnight the wind fell again; and, lowering a
small boat, two of the three got into her, and pulled for the shipping.
They reached my ship first; and, sending them on to the next vessel
(H.M.S. _Impérieuse_) for a surgeon, we manned a cutter, and set off for
the _North Star_. We soon reached the unfortunate bark, and then gazed
upon a fearful scene of butchery. The mate and three of the crew were
still living, but appeared too horribly mangled for any chance of
recovery; the rest were all dead, some being literally hacked to pieces.
The boats from the _Impérieuse_ soon arrived, and we took the brig in
tow. The surgeon pronounced every case but one hopeless. Out of the
sixteen Europeans on board at starting, only five escaped; the four
sailors, and the passenger who jumped overboard. The escape of the
latter was something marvellous; while in the water, the pirates threw
three bamboo spears at him, which did not strike him, but even
furnished a means of support. They then paid no further attention to
him; so, swimming close under the stern of the brig, he remained there
perfectly hidden for some time. Being a capital swimmer, he at length
determined to push off and attempt to reach the shore, although fully
seven or eight miles distant. He did so; and, after being in the water
for nine hours, reached land, and was carried to Hong-Kong by fishermen.
During some months I made voyages on the north-east coast of China, from
Hong-Kong to Swatow, Amoy, Foo-chow, and Shanghae. I mixed as much as
possible with the natives at each place, and found all alike heartily
disgusted with their present rulers. Much of the cruelty and duplicity
generally attributed to the natural character of the Chinese is the
consequence of the evil government of the Manchoo dynasty.
From infancy the people have become habituated to scenes of blood and
torture, similar to those inflicted upon their ancestors during the last
two centuries by the Tartar conquerors. Made callous and degraded by the
ceaseless persecution of their authorities; unnaturally branded with the
shaven-headed badge of slavery; their spirit broken and debased by a
system of grinding tyranny; their lives and property at the mercy of the
most merciless officials in existence, and of judges solely influenced
by bribery; "cut into a thousand pieces," according to law, or otherwise
cruelly tortured to death for any rebellion against their foreign
Emperor's unrighteous sway; frequently decapitated upon bare suspicion,
but always if related to a rebel--how can it be a matter of surprise if
the Chinese seem imbued with cunning and deceit, the usual resource of
the weak and sorely oppressed?
Since the colony of Hong-Kong was founded, the natives, through
intercourse with foreigners, have become acquainted with the superior
laws, governments, &c., of those they have been taught to consider
"outer barbarians." This has tended to make them more dissatisfied with
their own national constitution; can we, then, feel astonished at the
exclusive policy of the Manchoo government? Why, seclusion is their
salvation; too surely they know that their power consists in the
weakness, ignorance, superstition, and degradation of their Chinese
slaves. The great Ti-ping revolution proves their fears are well
founded, from the fact of its originating entirely from the contact of
Christian civilization with China.
As for fishermen, pirates, and wreckers, the whole coast of China is as
thick with them as the fabulous Straits of Baffleman is with
monkeys--where they say a ship's yards cannot be squared on account of
them. Upon one occasion, while anchored in foggy weather off the island
of Namoa, close to Swatow, I had a capital opportunity of noticing the
remarkable keenness with which those light-fingered gentry are ever on
the alert for plunder. Early in the morning, before daylight, while in
charge of the deck, I suddenly heard a distant and wide-spread splashing
of the water. At first I naturally supposed it to be a shoal of
porpoises; but as the noise became more distinct, I fancied I could
distinguish the regular sound of oars. Directly I became convinced of
this, I made the gunner load a couple of guns, and turned all hands out.
In a few minutes the fog cleared a little with the dawn of day, and I
was able to discern an innumerable fleet of boats pulling and sailing
rapidly towards the ship. I had scarcely discovered them when they
suddenly ceased rowing, and rested on their oars, having, I fancy,
perceived the smoke issuing from our funnel. Seeing their hesitation, we
gave them a blank cartridge, and this, with the noise of our men at the
capstan weighing anchor, frightened them off; for they immediately
"topped their booms," and soon disappeared in the surrounding mist.
In the neighbourhood of Swatow the people are much excited against their
government, and at one place--within twenty miles of that city--they
have been in open rebellion for many years. The Viceroy of the province
having several times had his troops defeated by them, found it much
easier to make an arrangement by which they were to govern themselves,
while nominally under the Manchoo _régime_; therefore, at the present
day, the Goo-swah men, who inhabit a mountainous part of the sea-coast,
live, to a certain extent, independent of the Manchoo rule.
While thinking of the north-east coast, I must not forget the capital
shooting I have had at Foo-chow. Wild water-fowl are found at this port
in vast quantity, in fact, in numbers such as I have never seen equalled
in any part of Europe, Asia, Africa, or America, that I have visited.
The whole river and surrounding country literally swarm with an infinite
variety of wild swan, geese, duck, curlew, and water-fowl of every
description. During six months of the year, sometimes more, this game is
found in plenty, generally appearing about the commencement of October,
and departing by the end of March. The best shooting-ground about
Foo-chow was the false mouth of the river and the adjacent country. This
became my favourite haunt, and comprised a broad sheet of shallow water
full of mud and sand-banks; low land on each side, marshy and
intersected by creeks and canals, with many bamboo or reed swamps, and
here and there a few hills. I generally started from the ship, at the
anchorage, about midnight, in a covered native boat, with two or three
Chinamen to work her, my Chinese boy, and a Malay, as body-guard and
general assistant in the work of slaughter upon the feathery tribe.
Reaching my destination generally before daylight, I had ample time to
make all preparations, amidst the quacking of ducks and the constant
rushing sound of innumerable wings. At the earliest peep of dawn, or a
little before, I got ashore upon the sand-bank to which the boat might
be fastened, and almost always found myself within shot of immense
flocks of wild fowl.
Sometimes I had the misfortune to land upon a bank of treacherous
consistency, and upon such occasions became stuck fast in the mud; and
Chinese mud is of a wonderful stickiness and tenacity, as those who have
had experience of it can well testify. There is often considerable
danger in such a fix, for every effort to extricate oneself simply tends
to make a deeper immersion. The only sure plan is to use a plank on the
surface of the mud; so that I always carried several with me for
emergencies of such a muddy nature. For the first shot I usually had a
long musket, loaded with grape cartridge, and a wire one; the effect of
this amongst a closely packed flock, often within sixty yards, may be
easily imagined. I frequently bagged five or six brace of duck, or
several geese, as a commencement. The swans and geese were generally
off, after the first alarm; but I often had several shots, with the
double-barrel which my Malay carried after me, amongst the ducks or
teal. As for snipe and curlew, I have many a time seated myself in the
centre of a sand-bank, and, with the Malay loading my guns as fast as he
could, kept up an incessant fire upon them in flocks eddying round and
round the shoal, but unwilling to leave it, until the rising tide
compelled their flight, or my guns exterminated them. After this
I would return to the boat for "Chow-chow," and when it was despatched,
cross over to the mainland, probably getting a few brace of widgeon
on the way. Early morning, or about twilight, I always found the best
time for sport; during the day the birds are very wild. I have tried
all sorts of dodges to get close. I have dressed as a Chinese
field-labourer--umbrella hat, rush waterproof, and everything; but
although such a Chinaman can be seen working within thirty yards of the
birds, I could never get so close by a long way. The abundance of game
about Foo-Chow is almost incredible. I have sometimes shot curlew in
the dark, guided by the noise they made, and finding them by the cries
of a wounded bird. I have shot wild swans so large, that when a Chinaman
carried one with the head over his shoulder, its feet draggled on the
ground; and very seldom returned to my ship without a boat literally
loaded with spoil.
During shooting excursions and my frequent intercourse with the Chinese
country people, I have nearly always found them exhibiting traits of
character we give them little credit for; but only when they are
completely by themselves, and none of the Manchoo troops, officials, or
_employés_ of any description are in the vicinity, have I found them
particularly friendly to foreigners--very inquisitive, although not so
outwardly, by reason of their great politeness and calm behaviour;
hospitable and obliging. To qualify this, yet to render still more
interesting the _natural_ disposition of the people, it is easily
perceived they have a sort of undefined dread of, and dislike to us,
caused by the lying teaching and bitterly hostile reports circulated by
the entire body of Manchoo officials concerning the "foreign devils,"
which, for my part, I have always done my best to expose wherever I have
wandered amongst the deeply interesting natives. But few Europeans are
aware of the entire misrepresentations the Manchoo Government circulate
about foreigners, much less of the monstrous atrocities attributed to
them; and I dare say, if propriety allowed me to mention some I have
been told by the Chinese, most people would disbelieve them, especially
since the British Government has entered into _alliance_ with the
Manchoos.
I was eye-witness to a fearful specimen of the so-called "paternal"
Government's displeasure at Foo-chow some years since. It appears the
Viceroy of Fu-keen issued an edict to prevent the Cantonese ascending
the river to trade, for some fault they had committed. Before, however,
this edict could have become generally known, three Canton lorchas
sailed up the river laden with merchandise. They were fired upon by the
batteries about the mouth of the river, yet, regardless of this (for the
Cantonese are a brave, obstinate race), they passed up and arrived
within a short distance of the European shipping. At this point, about
sixty of the Mandarin gunboats (row-galleys), without any warning or
communication whatever, opened fire upon and pulled for the lorchas.
Apparently, the first two allowed them to board unresistingly; and this
no sooner took place than a savage slaughter of their helpless crews
commenced. Some were cut down and brutally mutilated upon the decks,
their heads being chopped off and their bodies thrown overboard; others
jumped into the river, only to be there killed by the soldiers in the
gunboats, who followed them wherever they swam, spearing them, and
thrusting them under water. The crew of the third lorcha, seeing the
terrible fate of their comrades, endeavoured to prevent the government
troops from boarding, and made a gallant resistance. Their defence,
however, though desperate, was unavailing. The gunboats surrounded them,
and poured in showers of grape and canister; the lorcha had but three
guns of small calibre to reply with, and soon lost so many men that
those remaining could no longer beat the enemy off. At last, being
boarded, some of her defenders jumped overboard, and the rest, fighting
and disputing inch by inch, were quickly dispatched. Some of the
European shipping sent boats to try and rescue the poor wretches from
the water, and, fortunately, managed to save a few. Thus, for breaking a
proclamation of which, very probably, they were ignorant, these
unfortunate men were all massacred, and the ships, with their cargo,
confiscated to the Mandarins.
After some voyages upon the coast, my vessel was ordered to Whampoa, to
be dry-docked and her bottom overhauled. Before entering the dock, and
while lying at anchor on the river, I was one evening surprised to see
a san-pan (literally three planks, _i.e._ a little boat) containing two
Chinese girls, and a third, neither Chinese nor European, hanging about
the ship; its occupants evidently desirous to communicate something, yet
half fearful to venture. The lady of the unknown nationality seemed
endeavouring to attract my attention. I was alone on the quarter-deck,
with the exception of an old weather-beaten quartermaster. I beckoned
her to come alongside, and descended the gangway ladder. As I was going
over the side, the old quartermaster came up to me and exclaimed--
"Keep your weather eye lifting, sir; she's a pi-ar Portuguee."
"Well," I replied; "what if she is?"
"Well, d'ye see, sir, them Portugees is awful wild craft. I've got a
remembrancer here," touching his ribs; "one of 'em gave me in Rio, just
because she thought I was backing and filling with a chum of hers."
"If a Rio girl fell in love with you, and you made her jealous, you old
sinner, what has that to do with a Whampoa girl? Besides, we shall have
no time for falling in love here."
"Ay! ay! you don't know 'em, sir; the breed's the same all over; and, as
for time, why, they'll be in love with you afore you can say 'vast
heaving there."
"You're out of your reckoning for once, quartermaster; call Mr. ----, if
I am not on board by eight bells;" and with this I disappeared over the
side.
Directly I jumped into the boat, it was shoved off, and dropped astern
with the tide.
My attention was, of course, directed to the lady designated a "pi-ar
Portuguee" by the quartermaster; I at once discovered that she was a
Macao Portuguese, very handsome; and, to all appearance, in great
affliction. For some time she made no reply to my inquiries as to what
was the matter, but commenced sobbing, and crying as if her heart would
break. At last she ceased, and related the cause of her trouble to the
following effect:--She was the daughter of a rich Macanese, who was
principal owner of one of the Whampoa docks, and was also Portuguese
consul at that port. Her mother was dead, and her father had determined
to compel her to marry a wealthy Chilianian half-caste; in fact,
everything was arranged for the marriage to take place in ten days'
time. She hated the fellow, in spite of his dollars, which, it appeared,
was her father's idol, and was resolved to suffer anything rather than
submit. She came off to my ship to try and obtain a passage down to
Hong-Kong, where she had friends who would take care of her. Here was
the deuce to pay, and no pitch hot, as the sailors say. In a moment,
almost, I was to become the champion and protector of this forlorn
damsel. However selfishly I tried to reflect, I could not help being
sensibly impressed with her extreme beauty and utter wretchedness. The
_piquante_ style of her pretty broken English, as she implored me to
give her a passage to Hong-Kong and save her; the knowledge of the cruel
fate which awaited her--the entire confidence which she was only too
willing to repose in me--her unprotected position and passionate,
ingenuous, ebullition of feeling--all conspired to interest me deeply in
her favour.
The longer I listened the more interested and determined to help her I
became. She was very young, and it seemed irresistible to sympathize
with and pity her. At last, in the midst of a protestation of assistance
on my part, and of fervent thanks on hers, we were interrupted by one of
the China girls thrusting her head under the mat cover of the boat, and
exclaiming--
"Hi ya! missee! more bettah go shore,--belong shih tim cheong" (ten
o'clock).
The poor girl seemed quite alarmed to find it so late, and told the
boatwomen to pull ashore as fast as possible.
We soon reached the bank, but my interesting friend would not allow me
to land with her, stating she lived close by; however, she promised to
meet me at the spot we then occupied, the next evening. The China girls
quickly pulled me off to my ship, and then I was alone to think over the
singularity and probable issue of the adventure.
Poor Marie! would that I had never met her--that she had accepted the
Chilianian, or some prophetic spirit had whispered a warning in time to
save her from her sad fate. However, it was ordained otherwise, and all
that is left me is her memory. True to her promise, she saw me the
following evening; then the next; and so for several consecutive days.
It happened that, fortunately for the fulfilment of our appointments,
Marie's father never returned from the docks, at the opposite side of
the river, till late in the evening. We were thus constantly thrown
together, and who can wonder that we insensibly allowed ourselves to
become deeply attached?
Upon the ninth day after our first meeting, my ship was undocked, and
prepared to sail for Hong-Kong in the morning; the morning, too, that,
as Marie told me with tears in her eyes, would usher in her bridal day.
Although Marie and I had never till then spoken of love, we both knew
that it was mutual, and at this moment of peril and uncertainty we threw
off all disguise and expressed our true feelings for each other. She
felt no regret at sacrificing all other ties for my sake--I was but too
anxious to risk anything to save her. On the evening of this, the last
day that was to separate us, Marie entered her cruel father's dwelling
for the last time; and, having quickly made some slight preparations,
rejoined me in the boat with which I awaited her.
This boat was the same in which I had first seen her, and the poor girls
who worked it being slaves of one of the old Whampoa laundresses, I
determined to rescue them from their doubtful future, and prevent them
making any disclosure as to Marie's escape, by carrying them down to
Hong-Kong with her, and there giving them liberty.
I had already made every preparation on board, and had taken the gunner
and carpenter into my confidence, as I had decided to stow them away in
the sail-room; and to do this rendered it necessary for them to pass the
berths of those officers. About midnight, sending the quartermaster of
the watch off the deck upon an errand to get him out of the way, I
smuggled the girls aboard and secreted them at the back of the sail-room
well hidden by spare topsails, &c., piled up before them.
Early in the morning we lighted fires, and soon after daybreak, with
steam up, commenced to get under weigh. Just then, as I fully expected,
off came Marie's father and the old laundress--the one to look for a
daughter who vanished on her bridal morn, the other for her poor slave
girls--with warrants from the British consul for the delivery of the
three girls if found on board. I was in charge of the deck, and took
care to receive the bereaved parties at the gangway. After hearing their
complaints, I reported the case to the captain, and received his orders
to have the ship searched. This duty I took upon myself, rousing all
hands out, and searching every part of the ship except the sail-room,
which I took care to allow no one to approach. By the time the
unsuccessful search was concluded, the anchor had been weighed, and we
immediately commenced to drop down the river.
When we reached Hong-Kong, Marie landed and went to reside with her
friends. She had become my betrothed, and seemed truly happy in the
thought that nothing now could cause our separation. Little either of us
thought at that happy time how ruthlessly all these bright prospects
would be altered, and what sadness was yet in store for us. Alas! how
little at that happy time either thought how soon the ruthless destroyer
would annihilate a bond we had sworn should last for ever.
Marie was very lovely. Rather darker than the generality of Macao
women; her complexion was a beautifully clear deep olive; the skin
delicately soft, with the rich blood mantling through upon the slightest
emotion; her eyes large, jet-black, lustrous, and almond-shaped, as
those of the Spanish creoles of South America--eyes which can form a
language of their own, so deeply expressive, so ever changeful, and
heart-speaking--were exquisitely fringed with long silken lashes and
arching brows; her hair, dark as the raven's wing, waved in rich
profusion round her finely tapered shoulders; the Grecian nose and
delicately formed nostrils spoke of her high caste; while a short full
upper lip, so richly coloured, adorned a mouth small but singularly
expressive, and studded with teeth of pearly whiteness. This young
creature, nurtured in a southern clime, could scarcely number sixteen
summers, and yet her _petite_ figure, lithe and graceful as it was, had
attained its full development. She was, in truth, an unsophisticated
child of nature--ardent, passionate--the very creature of impulse.
In a small secluded dwelling, shaded by evergreen foliage, in one of the
prettiest parts of Hong-Kong, every moment I could spare from my ship
was devoted to Marie. We were supremely happy. We had no thought or care
for the morrow, we were too fully absorbed in the present. The old
quartermaster's warning proved his experience, although, with one
exception, it was unnecessary in my case, yet the exception was
sufficient.
To many of those warm impassioned temperaments of the East love becomes
as necessary as life itself. Marie was one of these. Natures like hers
could be moulded by love to any form. The house of Marie's relatives was
one of two built together; but for this it would have been in total
seclusion, the bend of the hills it rested on hiding all other buildings
in the distance, and entirely screening it from observation. The next
door and only neighbours consisted of two Portuguese sisters and an
Englishman, the husband of the eldest.
[Illustration: MARIE.
London, Published March 15^{th} 1866 by Day & Son, Limited Lithog^{rs}
Gate Str, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Day & Son, Limited, Lith.]
The Portuguese being natives of Macao, were slightly acquainted with
Marie, and we gradually became intimate with them. The youngest of the
sisters was very good-looking, and being of a very merry disposition, we
often had great fun. Now, it so happened that Marie's love was so
intense, so selfish, and so exacting, she could not bear me to pay the
slightest attention to another. So at last, to realize the old adage,
that "true love never did run smooth," she took it into her passionate
little head to become jealous. This jealousy may be a very mild affair
amongst our colder Northern women, but with a fiery little piece of
impetuosity like Marie it was more serious. With such temperaments,
jealousy instantly generates an all-consuming passion for revenge.
For a little while I had noticed Marie's more than usual excitability,
accompanied by occasional bursts of grief, without any apparent cause;
but, knowing her extreme sensitiveness, I thought but little of it. At
last the cause was revealed, and this history nearly terminated in its
revelation.
The house had a verandah in front, connecting it with that adjoining,
from which it was simply divided by a wooden partition. One evening I
and Theresa, the unmarried Portuguese, were conversing from the
respective balconies. I fancied Marie had received me rather crossly
that day, and to vex her thought I would have a little fun with her
pretty neighbour. This thoughtlessness very nearly resulted in a
tragical termination. After laughing and chatting with Theresa for some
time, I went close up to the partition between the verandahs; and,
leaning round it, pretended to kiss her. Instantly I heard Marie, with
an exclamation, rush towards me. As I withdrew, I fortunately caught the
shadow of an uplifted hand on my own side of the partition; and, while
turning, I rapidly threw up my arm, just in time to arrest the
descending blow, aimed by Marie with a stiletto. I received but a
slight scratch, and soon took the weapon from my fierce little love, who
instantly, with characteristic revulsion of feeling, threw herself into
my arms in a passionate burst of grief. We were soon reconciled; this
was Marie's first and last jealousy.
[Illustration: SING-SONG GIRL--_page_ 10.]
CHAPTER II.
Hung-sui-tshuen.--Clanship in China.--Hung-sui-tshuen's
Genealogy: his Education.--Extraordinary Visions: Description of
them.--Description of Hung-sui-tshuen: his Early Days: his
Visions Explained: his Conversion: how
Effected.--Hung-sui-tshuen's Preaching: his Religious
Essays.--The God-worshippers.--Destruction of Idols.--Progress
of God-worshippers.--Numbers increase.--Hostilities
commence.--God-worshippers Victorious.--"Imperialist"
Cruelty.--Bishop of Victoria.--Chinese Dynasty proclaimed.
Hung-sui-tshuen is a name now familiar in most parts of Europe as that
of the chief--or King, as his followers term him--of the great Ti-ping
revolution in China. Unfortunately much misapprehension exists as to him
and his cause. Such information as I may give my readers, that has not
come under my personal observation, has been derived from the actors
themselves, especially all relating to the origin of the Ti-pings, their
progress until I met them, and the description of their great leader--in
fact, my knowledge of Hung-sui-tshuen has been obtained principally from
his Prime Minister and cousin (Hung-jin), his chamberlain, and many of
his chiefs and own clan. Since my return to England, I have had the
pleasure to peruse, for the first time, the admirable little work of the
late Rev. Theodore Hamberg, missionary of the Basle Evangelical Society
to China--"The Visions of Hung-sui-tshuen, and Origin of the Kwang-si
Insurrection." This, and the pamphlet entitled "Recent Events in China,"
by the Bishop of Victoria (published some nine or ten years ago),
coincide in most particulars with the information I have gathered from
direct sources; and, as all my journals, notes, and memoranda fell into
the hands of the Imperialists during my service with the Ti-pings, I
have found them very useful in recalling facts I might otherwise have
forgotten.
Hung-sui-tshuen was born in the year 1813, at a small village in the Hwa
district,[2] some little distance from the city of Canton. His
ancestors, originally from the north-east boundary of the Kwang-tung
province, soon after the complete subjugation of the Chinese by the
Manchoo Tartars, A.D. 1685, with many other families loyal to the Ming,
through the persecution and exactions of the invader, abandoned their
homes and sought refuge in the southern parts of Kwang-tung and
Kwang-se, the two most southerly provinces of China. Here, to the
present day, their descendants are known by the name of Hakkas
(settlers) by the Punti people (natives of the soil).
The genealogy of Hung-sui-tshuen's family is one of the most ancient in
China. During ten centuries, until the era of the present dynasty, they
trace members of their house occupying the most exalted stations in the
empire. So far back as the Sung dynasty, A.D. 1000, many of the Hungs
were prominent literati; from that time till the Manchoo invasion,
numbers of them have been members of the Han-lin College--the highest
literary rank in China. For many generations the dignity of Minister of
State was attained, and this was particularly the case throughout the
sovereignty of Sung. During the Ming dynasty (the last Chinese one)
likewise, the Hungs invariably numbered men of renown and literary
attainments among them. They became allied to the Imperial family by
marriage; and it was one of the Hungs who, as generalissimo of the
Chinese forces, fought the last battle in defence of Nankin and the Ming
prince. The prince was treacherously killed by some of his own
followers, while the general perished with the greater number of his
troops, being totally defeated by the Tartars, who thus destroyed the
last attempt to keep them north of the river Yang-tze-kiang.
Like most countries, China has had her feudal period, the earliest and
last authentic records of which refer to the ninth and tenth centuries.
In this, as in many important events, the Chinese have been before
western nations, their feudal system having terminated anterior to the
meridian of that of Europe. A system of clanship, however, prevails in
many parts of China; all persons of the same surname, though frequently
numbering tens of thousands, being considered near kindred; and,
singularly enough, not being allowed to marry amongst themselves. I am
inclined to believe this is much lessened at the present day, for I have
generally found that members of a clan or kindred do not reverence any
one head of the entire name, but one much more nearly related to
themselves, and who is seldom elder, or chief, of more than some
hundreds. Previous to the incursion of the Manchoos, Hung-sui-tshuen's
kindred formed a vast and powerful body; their stanch support of the
last struggles for the Ming dynasty, and the sanguinary persecutions
they, in common with other obnoxious families, suffered from the
invader, greatly reduced their number. Upon the outbreak of the Ti-ping
revolution, the Hung clan was supposed to number upwards of 20,000
persons; subsequent to that event the greater part were massacred by the
Imperialists, simply because they were the connections of a rebel! Of
Hung's immediate relatives, who, to the number of five or six hundred,
peopled his native village under the authority of his father, not one
remains; men, women, and children, all who were unable to join him, were
mercilessly slaughtered by the ruthless Manchoo, and their very
dwellings swept from the face of the earth.
Now, although the honourable and ancient lineage of Hung-sui-tshuen has
never been disputed, some persons, with a mendacity truly astonishing,
have amused themselves by designating him the "Coolie King." Not only
was Hung of good family--a secondary consideration in China, where
personal rank is everything[3]--but his own position, as a member of the
literati, was one of the most honourable. These are qualifications, it
is probable, the persons who styled him "Coolie King" do not possess.
For many generations Hung's progenitors had been the chiefs or elders of
their clan. His father fulfilled this capacity, and governed the affairs
of his own and many surrounding villages. In spite of Hung's line of
ancestry and his father's eldership, they were far from being well
supplied with the good things of this life; in fact, their freehold was
barely sufficient to support them. The family mansion was by no means
suitable to the former dignity of the name. An ordinary Chinese farmer's
cottage, containing nothing but the simplest articles of use, was the
birthplace of one of the greatest men the empire has ever produced. At
the earliest age, Hung exhibited a remarkable aptitude for study, became
an inmate of the village school at seven years of age, and in less than
twice that time had become proficient in the usual course of Chinese
education; besides which, he studied by himself the history of China,
and the higher branches of Chinese literature. Even at this early
period, he was universally distinguished for his extraordinary talents,
which were so highly appreciated by his teachers and relatives, that
they united in defraying the expense of his further education. At
sixteen years of age the want of means put an end to his studies; within
a year, however, a young fellow-student took him as a companion. After
this, when eighteen years of age, he was appointed schoolmaster of his
native village, by the unanimous wish of the people.
About this time Hung commenced to attend the public examinations at
Canton. These examinations confer upon successful candidates one of four
literary degrees, commencing with a district examination, leading to a
departmental one, to a provincial one, and finally to a Pekin
examination, from which members of the Han-lin college are selected.
Although Hung-sui-tshuen was always one of the most distinguished at the
district examinations, through the corruption of the Manchoo officials,
to whom bribery alone is a passport, he was unable to obtain his degree.
At last, upon another visit to the public examinations, about the year
1836, an event took place that ultimately, in no slight manner, affected
his future career. This I cannot do better than give in the words of the
Rev. T. Hamberg:--
"In the streets he found a man dressed according to the custom
of the Ming dynasty, in a coat with wide sleeves, and his hair
tied in a knot upon his head. The man was unacquainted with the
Chinese vernacular tongue, and employed a native as interpreter.
A number of people kept gathering round the stranger, who used
to tell them the fulfilment of their wishes, even without
waiting for a question from their side. Sui-tshuen approached
the man, intending to ask if he should attain a literary degree,
but the man prevented him by saying, 'You will attain the
highest rank, but do not be grieved, for grief will make you
sick. I congratulate your virtuous father.' On the following day
he again met with two men in the Siung-tsang street. One of
these men had in his possession a parcel of books consisting of
nine small volumes, being a complete set of a work, entitled,
'Keuen-shi-leang-yen,' or 'Good Words for Exhorting the Age,'
the whole of which he gave Hung-sui-tshuen, who, on his return
from the examination, brought them home, and after a superficial
glance at their contents, placed them in his bookcase, _without
at the time considering them to be of any particular
importance_."
Once more, in the year 1837, Hung-sui-tshuen attended the examinations.
Upon this occasion, after being placed high on the list, his rank was
afterwards lowered. This, with the gross injustice and partiality of
the examiners, so affected him, that he returned home very ill. His
illness lasted for a considerable time, during which he underwent a
marvellous series of visions or dreams.
In the account of Hung's visions and earlier life, it will be necessary
to quote frequently from Mr. Hamberg's little work, he having received
in detail many important facts I only had in substance from Hung-jin. I
feel the more confident of the indulgence of my readers from the fact of
the interesting nature of all I shall quote, and, moreover, the absolute
necessity of doing so in order to enable them to form a correct judgment
of the noble character and almost superhuman career of the Tiping-wang.
It must be remembered that in a country like China, where literary
distinction, until Manchoo corruption altered it, was the recognized
path to honour and fame, everything tended to excite the hopes and
ambition of Hung-sui-tshuen, who was more than usually intellectual, and
whose failure to attain eminence, through the degenerated policy of the
Manchoo dynasty, who no longer observe the rights of the literati in
their selection of public officers, must have been accompanied with a
degree of mortification and bitterness never experienced by Europeans,
who have a variety of paths to distinction.
The visions of Hung-sui-tshuen, as related by Hung-jin, are thus
published in Mr. Hamberg's account:--
"He first saw a great number of people, bidding him welcome to
their number, and thought this dream was to signify that he
should soon die, and go into the presence of Yen lo-wang, the
Chinese king of Hades. He therefore called his parents and other
relatives to assemble at his bedside, and addressed them in the
following terms:--'My days are counted, and my life will soon be
closed. O my parents! how badly have I returned the favour of
your love to me! I shall never attain a name that may reflect
its lustre upon you.' After this he lost all strength and
command over his body, and all present thought him about to
die--his outward senses were inactive, and his body appeared as
dead, lying upon the bed; but his soul was acted upon by a
peculiar energy, so that he not only experienced things of a
very extraordinary nature, but afterwards also retained in
memory what had occurred to him. At first, when his eyes were
closed, he saw a dragon, a tiger, and a cock entering his room,
and soon after, he observed a great number of men, playing upon
musical instruments, approaching with a beautiful sedan-chair,
in which they invited him to be seated, and then carried him
away. Sui-tshuen felt greatly astonished at the honour and
distinction bestowed upon him, and knew not what to think
thereof. They soon arrived at a beautiful and luminous place,
where on both sides were assembled a multitude of fine men and
women, who saluted him with expressions of joy. As he left the
sedan, an old woman took him down to a river, and said, 'Thou
dirty man, why hast thou kept company with yonder people and
defiled thyself? I must now wash thee clean.' After the washing
was performed, Sui-tshuen, in company with a great number of
virtuous and venerable old men, among whom he remarked many of
the ancient sages, entered a large building, where they opened
his body with a knife, took out his heart and other parts, and
put in their place others, new and of a red colour. Instantly
when this was done, the wound closed, and he could see no trace
of the incision which had been made.
"Upon the walls surrounding this place, Sui-tshuen remarked a
number of tablets with inscriptions exhorting to virtue, which
he one by one examined. Afterwards, they entered another large
hall, the beauty and splendour of which was beyond description.
A man, venerable in years, with golden beard, and dressed in a
black robe, was sitting in an imposing attitude upon the highest
place. As soon as he observed Sui-tshuen, he began to shed
tears, and said, 'All human beings in the whole world are
produced and sustained by me; they eat my food and wear my
clothing, but not a single one among them has a heart to
remember and venerate me; what is, however, still worse than
that, they take of my gifts and therewith worship demons; they
purposely rebel against me, and arouse my anger. Do thou not
imitate them.' Thereupon he gave Sui-tshuen a sword, commanding
him to exterminate the demons, but to spare his brothers and
sisters; a seal, by which he would overcome the evil spirits;
and also a yellow fruit, to eat which Sui-tshuen found sweet to
the taste. When he had received the ensigns of royalty from the
hand of the old man, he instantly commenced to exhort those
collected in the hall to return to their duties to the venerable
old man upon the high seat. Some replied to him, saying, 'We
have indeed forgotten our duties towards the venerable.' Others
said, 'Why should we venerate him? let us only be merry, and
drink together with our friends.' Sui-tshuen then, because of
the hardness of their hearts, continued his admonitions with
tears. The old man said to him, 'Take courage, and do the work;
I will assist thee in every difficulty.' Shortly after this, he
turned to the assemblage of the old and virtuous, saying,
'Sui-tshuen is competent to this charge.' And thereupon he led
Sui-tshuen out, told him to look down from above, and said,
'Behold the people upon this earth! hundredfold is the
perverseness of their hearts.' Sui-tshuen looked, and saw such a
degree of depravity and vice, that his eyes could not endure the
sight, nor his mouth express their deeds. He then awoke from his
trance, but still being under its influence, he felt the very
hairs of his head raise themselves, and suddenly seized by a
violent anger, forgetting his feebleness, put on his clothes,
left his bedroom, went into the presence of his father, and
making a low bow, said, 'The venerable old man above has
commanded that all men shall turn to me, and all treasures shall
flow to me.' The sickness of Sui-tshuen continued about forty
days, and in vision he often met with a man of middle age, whom
he called his elder brother, who instructed him how to act,
accompanied him upon his wanderings to the uttermost regions in
search of evil spirits, and assisted him in slaying and
exterminating them. Sui-tshuen also heard the venerable old man
with the black robe reprove Confucius for having omitted in his
books clearly to expound the true doctrine. Confucius seemed
much ashamed, and confessed his guilt.
"Sui-tshuen, while sick, as his mind was wandering, often used
to run about his room, leaping and fighting like a soldier
engaged in battle. His constant cry was, 'Tsan-jau, tsan-jau,
tsan-ah, tsan-ah! Slay the demons, slay the demons!--slay, slay;
there is one, and there is another. Many, many cannot withstand
one single blow of my sword.'
"His father invited magicians, by their spells, to drive away
the evil spirits he thought possessed his son; but Sui-tshuen
said, 'How could these imps dare to oppose me? I must slay them,
I must slay them! Many, many cannot resist me!' As in his
imagination he pursued the demons, they seemed to undergo
various changes and transformations, at one time flying as
birds, at another time appearing as lions. Lest he should be
unable to overcome them he held out his seal against them, at
the sight of which they immediately fled away.
"During his exhortations he often burst into tears, saying, 'You
have no hearts to venerate the old father, but you are on good
terms with the impish fiends; indeed, indeed, you have no
hearts--no conscience more.' He often said that he was duly
appointed Emperor of China, and was highly gratified when any
one called him by that name; but if any one called him mad, he
used to laugh at him, and to reply, 'You are, indeed, mad
yourself; and do you call me mad?' When men of bad character
came to see him, he often rebuked them and called them demons.
All the day long he used to sing, weep, exhort, reprove by
turns, and in full earnest."
The following is the description of Hung-sui-tshuen, given by his cousin
Hung-jin, upon his return to health:--
"Sui-tshuen's whole person became gradually changed, both in
character and appearance. He was careful in his conduct,
friendly and open in his demeanour; his body increased in height
and size; his pace became firm and imposing, his views enlarged
and liberal. His friend describes him as being, at a later
period, a rather tall man, with oval face and fair complexion,
high nose, small round ears, his voice clear and sonorous. When
he laughed, the whole house resounded; his hair was black, his
beard long and sandy, his strength of body extraordinary, his
power of understanding rare. Persons of vicious habits fled from
his presence, but the honest sought his company.
"From his youth, Hung-sui-tshuen was generally liked by all,
because of his open and straightforward character. He was gay
and friendly, but not dissolute. Being superior in talent to
most of his fellow-students, he often used to make sport of
them, and cause them to feel his sharp wit; but still, his
friends were fond of listening to his remarks, as they generally
contained true and noble ideas, and acknowledged his superior
intellect. After his sickness, his whole person became changed,
his manners noble and dignified. He sat erect upon the chair,
his hands placed upon his knees, and both his feet resting a
little apart, but never crossed upon the ground, without leaning
backwards or to either side; and, though sitting for hours, he
never appeared fatigued. He did not look aslant or backwards;
his pace in walking was dignified, neither quick nor slow; he
now spoke less and laughed seldom. After he had begun to
worship, he was very strict in regard to his own conduct. In his
words he was often severe, and easily offended others. He liked
to sit down and talk with honest and sincere men, though they
were ever so poor and of low estate; but he could not bear with
the profligate, even if they were ever so rich and high in
station."
The visions of Hung-sui-tshuen, marvellous as they were, and deeply
significant upon many important points, could never have led to any
earthly result but through the medium of some earthly key. This came at
last, and the whole train of circumstances admit of no other
interpretation than the will of a divine, inscrutable Providence. It is
doubtful whether any one impressed with a sense of the awfully
mysterious power of an Almighty Creator can dispute the cause of
Hung-sui-tshuen's visions, conversion, and ultimate career; or that they
rival many of the miracles of old which have been handed down to us,
dimmed by the obscurity of time, and rendered difficult of
comprehension by the subtleties of language as well as by the figurative
style of the ancients.
For several years Hung-sui-tshuen continued his studies and acted as
village schoolmaster. On one occasion, while engaged as teacher at a
village some ten miles distant from his native place, a cousin, Le,
while searching his bookcase, chanced to come across the small volumes,
"Good Words for Exhorting the Age." Le inquired the nature of the works,
but Sui-tshuen was unacquainted with the contents and lent them to him
to read. It is stated by the Rev. T. Hamberg:--"These books contain a
good number of whole chapters of the Bible according to the translation
of Dr. Morison, many essays upon important subjects from single texts,
and sundry miscellaneous statements founded on Scripture."
Le read the books and returned them, stating their contents were very
extraordinary, and differed entirely from Chinese books. Sui-tshuen then
took the books and commenced reading them closely and carefully. He was
greatly astonished to find in these books what he considered an
explanation of his own visions of six years before, and that their
contents corresponded in a singular manner with all he had experienced
at that time. He now understood the venerable old one who sat upon the
highest place, and whom all men ought to worship, to be God the Heavenly
Father; and the man of middle age, who had instructed him and assisted
him in exterminating the demons, to be Jesus the Saviour of the world.
The demons were the idols, his brothers and sisters were the men in the
world. Sui-tshuen felt as if awaking from a long dream. He rejoiced in
reality to have found a way to heaven, and a sure hope of everlasting
life and happiness. Learning from the books the necessity of being
baptized, Sui-tshuen and Le now, according to the manner described in
the books, and as far as they understood the rite, administered baptism
to each other. They prayed to God, and promised not to worship evil
spirits, not to practise evil things, but to keep the heavenly
commands; then they poured water upon their heads, saying, "Purification
from all former sins, putting off the old, and regeneration." When this
was done they felt their hearts overflowing with joy, and Sui-tshuen
composed the following ode upon repentance:--
"When our transgressions high as heaven rise,
How well to trust in Jesus' full atonement;
We follow not the demons, we obey
The holy precepts, worshipping alone
One God, and thus we cultivate our hearts.
The heavenly glories open to our view,
And every being ought to seek thereafter.
I much deplore the miseries of hell.
O turn ye to the fruits of true repentance!
Let not your hearts be led by worldly customs."
They thereupon cast away their idols and removed the tablet of
Confucius, which is generally found in the schools, and worshipped by
the teacher as well as the pupils.
In a little while Hung-sui-tshuen returned to his native village. He
soon converted to the religion his cousin Hung-jin, and an intimate
friend, Fung-yun-san, also a teacher.
While at home, Sui-tshuen and his friends attentively studied the books,
which Sui-tshuen found to correspond in a striking manner with his
former visions--a remarkable coincidence, which convinced him fully as
to their truth, and that he was appointed by Divine authority to restore
the world--that is, China--to the worship of the true God.
I must particularly recommend to the notice of my readers the sound
reasoning and wisdom of Hung-sui-tshuen's own explanation, and the high
and exalted determination his subsequent acts have so nobly fulfilled.
"These books," said he, "are certainly sent purposely by Heaven to me,
to confirm the truth of my former experiences. If I had received the
books without having gone through the sickness, I should not have dared
to believe in them, or have ventured, on my own account, to oppose the
customs of the whole world; if I had merely been sick, but had not also
received the books, I should have had no further evidence as to the
truth of my visions, which might also have been considered as merely
productions of a diseased imagination."
Then he raised his voice and spoke in a bold manner:--
"I have received the immediate command from God in His presence: the
will of Heaven rests with me. Although thereby I should meet with
calamity, difficulties, and suffering, yet I am resolved to act. By
disobeying the heavenly command, I would only rouse the anger of God;
and are not these books the foundation of all true doctrines contained
in other books?"
Under this conviction, Sui-tshuen, when preaching the new doctrine to
others, made use of his own visions and the books, as reciprocally
evidencing the truth of each other. He revered the books highly, and if
any one wished to read them, he urgently told them not to alter or mark
them in any manner, because, said he, it is written therein, "Jehovah's
word is correct" (Ps. xxxiii. 4).
The small volumes, "Good Words for Exhorting the Age," that have
exercised such a wonderful effect upon a great proportion of the
Chinese, through the individual acts of Hung-sui-tshuen, were the
production of Liang Afah, one of Dr. Milne's Chinese converts.
Consequently it may be argued that contact with Europeans has been
instrumental in producing the great Ti-ping revolution, and that to Dr.
Milne and his convert, Liang Afah, may be attributed the honour of being
agents in converting Hung-sui-tshuen and in originating the first
Christian movement in modern Asia.
Although, through the foreign idiom, want of commentaries, and use of
pronouns (unintelligible through the absence of the relative),
Hung-sui-tshuen, as well as his earlier converts, misunderstood some
parts of Liang Afah's volumes, still it is indisputable that the grand
truths of Christianity were fully and completely appreciated by them. As
the Bishop of Victoria has written:--"Stung with a sense of injustice,
and feeling the full weight of disappointment, he found his knowledge of
Confucian lore no longer the road to office and distinction. It was at
such a critical season of the future _hero's_ career that the truths of
the Holy Scriptures were presented to his notice, and the pure doctrines
of Christianity arrested his mind."
Hung-sui-tshuen, after some time, again returned to his teachership in
the other village, leaving Hung-jin to expound and study the new
doctrine. Sui-tshuen's own relatives were soon converted from idolatry
and received baptism.
With his few followers he now experienced the usual worldly effects of
devout opposition to the sinful and idolatrous practices of neighbours.
Hung and his friends lost their scholastic employment and became very
poor. Unable longer to maintain themselves at home, they determined to
visit other districts and preach the true doctrine, hoping to support
themselves by the sale of a few articles they carried with them for the
purpose.
Hung, Fung-yun-san, and two other friends left their native villages and
started upon a proselytizing mission to the independent tribes of
Miau-tze. Passing through the village of Hung's relatives, the Le
family, they converted and baptized several of them. Afterwards Hung-jin
was engaged as teacher at this place (Clear-far), and in course of time
baptized upwards of fifty persons.
Sui-tshuen and his friends continued their journey, everywhere preaching
the new doctrine, teaching men to worship the one God, Jehovah, who sent
his Son to atone for the sins of the world; and in every place they
found some willing to accept their words. Into the wild and mountainous
regions of the Miau-tze, Hung and Fung-yun-san journeyed alone, their
friends having left them. They were fortunate enough to meet with a
teacher who kept a school for Chinese instruction to the aborigines.
Being ignorant of the Miau-tze dialect, after converting the
schoolmaster and leaving a few tracts with him, they continued their
journey to a part of Kwang-si where Hung had relatives.
Hung at last reached the village of his cousin Wang, and at this place
preached with such devout eloquence as not only to convert hundreds to
Christianity, but to cause many to believe that he and Yun-san were
descended from heaven to preach the true doctrine.
To relieve his cousin from the support of so many guests, two converts
of the Hung family having likewise arrived, he ordered Yun-san and the
others to return to Kwang-tung. Fung-yun-san, however, was moved to
continue teaching the Gospel; therefore, although the two returned, he
remained preaching by the roadside. Meeting with some workmen he knew,
he journeyed with them to a place named Thistle Mount, where, assisting
them in their work, he at the same time taught them the way to immortal
life.
Some of the workmen, convinced by Yun-san's preaching, went to their
employer and informed him. The master engaged Yun-san as teacher of his
school, and was himself soon baptized. Yun-san remained in the
neighbourhood of Thistle Mount several years, and preached with great
zeal and success; so that a large number of persons, whole families of
various surnames and clans, were baptized. They formed congregations
among themselves, gathering together for religious worship, and became
soon extensively known under the name of "the congregation of the
worshippers of God." In the meanwhile Hung-sui-tshuen returned home, and
greatly displeased Fung-yun-san's relations by having returned without
him. During 1845-46 Hung remained at home, employed as village teacher.
He wrote many essays, discourses, and odes upon religious subjects, all
of which were afterwards improved and printed in the "Imperial
Declaration of Ti-ping," at Nankin.
Hung-sui-tshuen unceasingly continued his preaching of Christianity,
baptizing many people who had learned to believe in God and our Saviour.
He often met Hung-jin, still a teacher at the village Clear-far, once
expressing his hatred of the tyrant Manchoo thus:--
"God has divided the kingdoms of the world, and made the ocean to be a
boundary for them, just as a father divides his states among his sons;
every one of whom ought to reverence the will of his father, and quietly
manage his own property. Why should now these Manchoos forcibly enter
China, and rob their brothers of their estate?"
Again, at a later period he said:--
"If God will help me to recover our estate, I ought to teach all nations
to hold every one its own possessions, without injuring or robbing one
another; we will have intercourse in communicating true principles and
wisdom to each other, and receive each other with propriety and
politeness; we will serve together one common heavenly Father, and
honour together the doctrines of one common heavenly Brother, the
Saviour of the world; this has been the wish of my heart since the time
when my soul was taken up to heaven."
It is a pity the monarchs of Europe and their statesmen possess not the
sentiments of the "Coolie King."
In the latter part of the year 1846, a Chinaman named Moo arrived at
Hung's village from Canton. He informed him missionaries were preaching
the true doctrine in that city. Sui-tshuen and his cousin Hung-jin were
unable to visit the city, being engaged by their schools. Moo, upon his
return to Canton, mentioned to a Chinese assistant of Mr. Roberts
(missionary) the existence of the God-worshippers. This assistant having
written and invited Hung and his cousin to Canton, in 1847 they visited
that city, and studied Christianity under Mr. Roberts and other
missionaries. Upon the expiration of one month they returned to their
village with two converts; they all preached here a short time, and then
went back to Canton, Hung-jin remaining at home. For some time
Hung-sui-tshuen continued his studies in Canton; but at last, through
the intrigues of some of Mr. Roberts' assistants, who became jealous of
his superior talent, he left that city, and started upon a tour to
Kwang-si, in search of his friend Fung-yun-san.
After a journey of much suffering, by reason of his poverty, Sui-tshuen
at last reached the abode of his cousin Wang. He soon heard of Yun-san's
earnest and successful career at "Thistle Mount;" and, rejoicing, joined
him, preaching the Gospel and teaching everywhere.
These primitive Christians soon numbered two thousand, and were
increasing day by day. Rapidly the surrounding country came under the
influence of the new doctrine. "Men of great influence, and graduates of
the first and second degrees, with great numbers of their clans, joined
the congregation."
Hung-sui-tshuen, upon his arrival, immediately replaced their former
books with copies of the Bible he had brought from Canton; reserving
only such parts as were of the New Testament.
Ere long commenced the iconoclastic impulse that has since proved one of
the greatest characteristics of the Ti-ping revolution. In the
department of Siang, Kwang-se, an idol named "Kan-wang-ye" had long been
celebrated, the natives far and near believing in its power.
Hung-sui-tshuen becoming acquainted with their grossly superstitious and
ignorant veneration for this idol, was greatly enraged, and with three
friends, including Fung-yun-san, started for the temple. Reaching the
place, they found the idol of a dreadful and imposing aspect; nothing
daunted, Sui-tshuen with a stick dashed the idol to pieces, destroying
its fine raiment and the vessels of spices and incense.
When the people became aware of this desecration of their idol, they set
about apprehending the perpetrators. A young boy becoming, as they
thought, possessed by the demon, told them not to molest the destroyers.
The people therefore desisted, and this event greatly advanced the
reputation of Hung-sui-tshuen, soon leading to an important addition to
his followers.
The iconoclastic zeal thus introduced was quickly followed up by the
destruction of many images. Upon this the officials, for the first time,
came into contact with them, and Fung-yun-san and another were
imprisoned, mainly through the malignancy of a rich graduate named Wang,
who bribed the magistrate for that purpose. Eventually, the
God-worshippers induced the same official to release their friends, but
only Fung-yun-san was restored to them; the other had expired in prison,
through the brutal treatment of his Manchoo jailers.
About this time--the latter part of 1848--Hung-sui-tshuen's father died,
at the age of seventy-three. He had long given over the errors of
idolatry, and had received Christian baptism. Upon his death-bed he
admonished his children, saying:--"I am now ascending to heaven: after
my decease, you must not call any Buddhist priests, or perform any
heathen ceremonies, but merely worship God, and pray to him."
At the end of 1848, Hung-sui-tshuen and his friend Fung-yun-san left the
congregation of God-worshippers at Thistle Mount, and returned to their
homes.
About the middle of 1849 they again set out for their friends in
Kwang-si. At the end of this year, during his absence, the first son of
Hung-sui-tshuen was born; at the instant of his birth the following
singular circumstance took place:--"Thousands of birds, as large as
ravens and as small as magpies, made their appearance. They continued
long hovering about in the air, and finally settled in the trees behind
the dwelling of Sui-tshuen. These birds remained in the neighbourhood of
the village about one month, to the astonishment of the people, who said
that the crowd of birds came to do homage to the new-born king."
Upon their arrival, Hung-sui-tshuen and Yun-san were joyfully received
by the God-worshippers. They now heard of singular occurrences having
taken place among the brethren during their absence. It appeared that,
often while engaged in prayer, one or other of them was seized by a sort
of fit, and falling to the ground in a state of ecstasy, was moved by
the spirit, and uttered extraordinary words of exhortation, reproof, or
prophecy. The more remarkable of these rhapsodies were noted down, and
reserved for the inspection of Hung-sui-tshuen. Those he principally
pronounced as true were uttered by one Yang-sui-tshin, who afterwards
became one of the principal Ti-ping chiefs. This same Yang was said to
possess the power of healing sickness by intercession for the afflicted,
many having been cured in a wonderful manner, after prayer to God.
Hung-sui-tshuen compelled his followers to observe strict order, and
although Fung-yun-san was the original chief and founder of the
congregation, they all, with one accord, acknowledged the superiority of
the former; electing him as their leader, as well for his personal merit
as his extraordinary ability to command and organize a strict discipline
among so heterogeneous a multitude as themselves.
At this time, Hung prohibited the use of opium, and even tobacco, and
all intoxicating drinks, and the Sabbath was religiously observed. About
the same period he sent to Kwang-tung for his whole family, giving as
his reason, that a pestilence would shortly visit the earth, and carry
off the unbelievers. Singularly enough, some parts of Kwang-si were
visited by a malignant distemper, whereby the number of his adherents
was greatly increased, many believing they escaped disease merely by
joining the God-worshippers.
About the end of the year 1850, a civil war broke out between the Punti
men and the Hakkas. Although at first the Hakkas were victorious, being
a more hardy and adventurous people than the Puntis, the superior
numbers of the latter soon prevailed, who, not contented with defeating
the enemy, followed up the victory by even destroying their habitations.
In dire distress, the Hakkas sought a refuge among the God-worshippers,
willingly adopting their religion.
So great a celebrity had the God-worshippers attained in Kwang-si, that
not only the Hakkas came to them, but many outlaws, who refused
allegiance to the Manchoo; and all persons in distress, or in any way
afflicted, together with their families.
With a far-seeing discernment, Hung-sui-tshuen had long expected the
course of events that at last resulted from the presence of so many
various elements, for the most part obnoxious to the Government. His
plans were arranged, his resolution fixed, and he only awaited a
favourable opportunity to act. The following ode, which he composed
about this time, affords an index of his intentions:--
"When in the present time disturbances abound,
And bands of robbers are like gathering vapours found,
We know that heaven means to raise a valiant band
To rescue the oppressed and save our native land.
China was once subdued, but it shall no more fall.
God ought to be adored, and ultimately shall.
The founder of the Ming in song disclosed his mind,
The Emperor of the Han drank to the furious wind.
From olden times all deeds by energy were done,
Dark vapours disappear on rising of the sun."
This ode is highly significant to the Chinese. Hung alludes to the many
bands of robbers rising like the vapours on the mountain tops; he
expresses his intention to allow them to fight and fatigue each other,
when he would easily become their master,--such being the plan expressed
by the founder of the Ming dynasty in his song--comparing himself to the
aster, a flower that only begins to blossom when others have passed
away; and, after they have ceased to contend, remains undisputed master
of the field.
The defeat of the Hakkas ere long realized Sui-tshuen's predictions. The
God-worshippers gradually became involved in the quarrels of their new
allies, and at last were not only accused of annoying the worship of
others, and destroying their idols, but also of helping the outlaws and
fostering rebellious intentions against the usurping dynasty. Sui-tshuen
and Yun-san at this period left "Thistle Mount," and retired to the
privacy of a friend's house situated in a mountainous recess. The
Manchoo soldiers were sent against them here; but, afraid to enter the
glen, contented themselves with blockading the pass, sure of the
ultimate capture of the inmates. "At this critical moment it is reported
that Yang-sui-tshin, in a state of ecstasy, revealed to the brethren of
Thistle Mount the impending danger of their beloved chiefs, and exhorted
them to hasten to their rescue." A considerable body marched against the
soldiers who watched the pass, routed them with ease, and Sui-tshuen and
Yun-san were carried off in triumph.
Hung-sui-tshuen now concentrated all his followers, who had already
converted their goods into money, and formed a common treasury. They
were thus prepared, if necessary, for the emergency of flight. Fear for
the safety of themselves and families quickly brought the entire
congregation of the God-worshippers together. "Old and young, rich and
poor, men of influence and education, graduates of the first and second
degrees, with their families and adherents, all gathered round the
chiefs. Wei-ching alone brought with him about one thousand individuals
of his clan."
Previously to this, the God-worshippers had suffered much persecution
from the local authorities, many being imprisoned and killed by want and
ill-treatment. Soon the jealous fears of the Manchoo officials led them
to send troops against a native movement which they knew full well they
had good cause to dread by reason of their own tyrannical rule.
Hostilities having once commenced, a bold and energetic course became
imperative. A strong body of soldiers being on the march for their
present position, Hung-sui-tshuen prepared to receive them. Abandoning
Thistle Mount, he took possession of the market-town Lieu-chu, close at
hand. This small city was surrounded by a broad river, protecting it
from sudden attack, which Sui-tshuen soon fortified so strongly that,
when the soldiers arrived, it was impregnable. From this place
Sui-tshuen sent messengers into Kwang-tung, calling upon the remaining
relatives of the two clans, Hung and Fung, to join him in Kwang-si.
Before they could do this, Sui-tshuen, from want of provisions, was
compelled to move his camp. This he effected in a fine strategic manner.
To deceive the Imperialists as to his real intentions, he placed a
number of women and boys belonging to the town in a house close to the
river, and in the direction of the besiegers' camp, ordering them to
beat the drums throughout the following day; while he, with his entire
force, evacuated the place at night without giving the foe the slightest
suspicion of his movement.
The Imperialists, as soon as they discovered the trick that had been
played upon them, detached light troops in pursuit; but these, venturing
too closely upon the rear of the retreating forces, were repulsed with
severe loss. The Imperialists now, according to their usual habits,
commenced to vent their cowardly rage upon the unoffending inhabitants
by burning several thousand houses, and plundering indiscriminately.
They slaughtered numbers of the townspeople upon the slightest
suspicion that they were God-worshippers, or even friendly disposed
towards them.
"Many of these unhappy victims evinced great self-possession, and
resignation to their fate. One named Tsen said to the soldiers, 'Why do
you delay? If you are to kill me, then do so,--I fear not to die.' He,
with many others, refused to kneel down, and received the death-blow in
an upright posture. These cruelties greatly incensed the populace; and
many, who otherwise would have remained quietly at home, desirous to
worship God without taking part in the insurrection, were thus forced to
leave their abodes and join the army of Hung-sui-tshuen."
After evacuating the town of Lieu-chu, Hung took up his new position at
a large village, Thai-tsun, and at this place received very considerable
additions to his force. Two _female_ rebel chiefs of great valour, named
respectively Kew-urh and Szu-san, each bringing about two thousand
followers, here joined him, submitting to his authority and adopting the
religions opinions of his people. About this time eight chiefs of the
San-hoh-hwui, or Triad Society--a confederation of many years' standing,
sworn to expel the Manchoos and free China of their hateful
presence--entered into negotiations with Hung-sui-tshuen to join his
army, which he agreed to upon condition that they would conform to the
worship of the true God. He sent teachers to them, and when they were
sufficiently instructed, permitted them to join him.
Unfortunately, it now happened that out of sixteen teachers, one of the
number was found guilty of peculation, by having withheld from the
public treasury his share of the presents they had received from the
Triad chiefs for their instruction. Having often before been convicted
of violating their regulations, this last offence was no sooner proved
against him than Sui-tshuen and his own relatives condemned and punished
him, according to the full rigour of their law, by decapitation. When
the chiefs of the Triads found that one who had just been their teacher
was capitally punished for so slight a transgression, they became
uncomfortable, and said:--"Your laws seem to be rather too strict; we
shall, perhaps, find it difficult to keep them; and upon any small
transgression you would, perhaps, kill us also."
Upon which, seven of them departed with their men, and afterwards
surrendering to the Imperialists, turned their arms against the
God-worshippers. One chief--Lo-thai-kang--preferred remaining with the
latter.
The varied elements of his followers--the simple God-worshipper, the
discontented Hakka, with Triads, outlaws, and other known opponents to
the Manchoo rule--were all destined, by Hung-sui-tshuen's comprehensive
mind, soon to establish for themselves an important political existence.
The Bishop of Victoria wrote:--
"The literary talent, the moral greatness, the administrative
ability, the mental energy, the commanding superiority of the
latter soon won for him the post of leader and director of the
movement; and Hung-sui-tshuen became, by universal consent and
the harmonious deference of Teen-tih (Fung-yun-san) himself, the
chief of the insurgent body. He found in the tumultuous bands,
who, inflamed by civil discontent, had been engaged in
hostilities with the provincial rulers, the nucleus and the body
around which the persecuted _Christians_ gathered as a place of
refuge and safety. He transformed a rebellion of civil
malcontents into a great rendezvous and rallying-point for his
oppressed co-religionists. He rendered the insurrection a great
religious movement--_he did not transmute a Christian fraternity
into a political rebellion. The course of events, and the
momentous interests of life and death--the dread realities of
the rack and torture, imprisonment, and death--drove him to use
in self-defence all the available means within reach, and to
employ the resources of self-preservation_. He joined the rebel
camp, preached the Gospel among them, won them over to his
views, placed himself at their head, and made political power
the means of religious propagandism.
"The adoption of the Imperial style, at so early a period as
1850, shows the grand projects and the vast designs which
speedily unfolded themselves to the view of the new leader.
Nothing but an expulsion of the hated Man-chow tyrants, the
subversion of the idolatrous system, and the incorporation of
the whole nation into one empire of 'universal peace,' as the
servants of the one true God, and the believers in the one true
Saviour Jesus Christ, with Taeping-wang himself, the political
head and religious chief of the whole--could henceforth satisfy
minds inflamed by enthusiasm and animated by past success."
Before the close of the year 1851 the standard of a national revolt was
raised, and a Chinese dynasty proclaimed. Hung-sui-tshuen again moved
his camp, marching upon and capturing the city of Yung-ngan. He was here
elected Emperor by the enthusiastic acclamation of his followers. It is
said Sui-tshuen offered the supreme dignity to each of the four chiefs,
Fung-yun-san, Yang-sui-tshin, Siau-chau-kwui, and Wai-ching (the last, a
powerful leader of some thousands of his own clan); and that, only after
their refusal and unanimous election of himself, he accepted power,
appointing them princes of the four quarters; the position in which they
afterwards became known to Europeans. From this period the style
God-worshippers became relinquished in favour of the title of the new
dynasty, Ti-ping-tien-kwoh.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] _See_ Map of China.
[3] The Chinese place little value upon hereditary rank; but, in lieu
thereof, have the extraordinary custom of ennobling a meritorious or
successful person's ancestry, though the honours are not inherited by
his descendants.
CHAPTER III.
The Manchoo Party.--The Ti-ping Party.--The Ti-ping
Character.--Conflict with Manchoos.--Chinese Gunboats.--First
Ti-ping Position.--Its Appearance.--Ti-ping
Hospitality.--Ti-ping Country described.--Effects of
Intervention.--San-le-jow.--Ti-pings Superior to
Imperialists.--Ti-pings and Chinamen.--Ti-ping Costume.--The
Honan Ti-pings.--The "Chinese Paris."--Interview with
Chung-wang: his Appearance: his Religious Feelings: his
Penetration: his Policy.--Commission from
Chung-wang.--San-li-jow.--A Ti-ping Army.--Its Friendly
Bearing.--Arrival at Shanghae.
About the beginning of the year 1860 the rapid success of the Ti-ping
revolution excited considerable attention. From the unfavourable
impressions I entertained with regard to the Manchoo Imperialists, I
felt very desirous to become acquainted with their adversaries, whose
professed intention was not only to subvert the tyrannical foreign
dynasty, but to overthrow national idolatry and establish Christianity
throughout China. I therefore determined to relinquish my profession for
a more unfettered life on shore, which would afford me an opportunity of
seeing something of the Ti-pings--a resolution which gathered strength
from the fact that Marie and her relatives were about to leave Hong-Kong
and take up their abode at Shanghae.
I had long observed that although the majority of people condemned the
revolution, they were infinitely less worthy of credence than those who
supported it.
The anti-Ti-ping and pro-Manchoo party comprised:--All persons who were
in any way connected with the iniquitous opium traffic; all British
placemen and officials who represented Lord Elgin's politics or Chinese
treaties; all foreign mercenaries, whether interested in the Chinese
customs or army; all Roman Catholics, but especially Jesuits and French;
all missionaries who felt jealous of the Ti-ping Christianity, because
they could not arrogate to themselves a _direct_ credit for its
propagation; and, lastly, all merchants and traders, who, trusting to
make a fortune in a few years, and, being philosophers of the "After me
the Deluge" school, cared not at all for the future of China, or the
vast question of its regeneration and Christianity, because the
execution of those glorious reforms might interfere with their traffic.
The friends of the Ti-pings comprised:--Many humble, devout
missionaries, who rejoiced at the result of their _indirect_ contact
with the Chinese; many large-minded, large-hearted men, who admired the
cause of a people and the welfare of an oppressed nation more than the
favourable articles of the Elgin treaty; all persons who deprecated
Europeans becoming the hired mercenaries of the most corrupt Asiatic
despotism in existence; and all merchants not addicted to
opium-smuggling, but satisfied with more honourable and righteous
branches of commerce.
I thus found that interested persons were adverse to the revolution,
while those who were favourable to it were disinterested. This is no
psychological phenomenon. The explanation is very easy. It was simply a
question of selfishness and dollars _versus_ philanthropy and
liberality. I must confess that, until I became personally acquainted
with the Ti-pings, the reports of their maligners (preposterous and
exaggerated as they were) made me very suspicious of the people they
abused, although I had already begun to sympathize with them.
Before resigning my appointment, I obtained a berth as chief mate in a
small steamer which was under the command of an old brother officer of
mine, who had lately quitted the same service. I consequently embarked
and proceeded with Marie and her friends to Shanghae. The little
steamer I joined was employed upon the inland waters of the Shanghae
district, trading to the Ti-ping territory for silk, so that my wishes
for a meeting were soon to be gratified. The owners of the steamer were
Chinese, though nominally British, in order to obtain a register, and so
we had things very much our own way on board.
The evening before we were to start for the interior, a boat-load of
cargo came alongside--at least, what I imagined to be such. To my utter
amazement, when I mentioned its arrival to the skipper, I found out that
the cargo was no other than boxes of specie.
"What!" I exclaimed, "carry treasure amongst the rebels?"
"Why, of course we do; what in the world should prevent us?" said the
skipper.
"Well," I replied, "it _is_ singular for any one to send boxes of
dollars right into the hands of people they term 'hordes of banditti,'
'bloodthirsty marauders,' 'desolators,' &c."
"My dear fellow, that's all bosh: don't you see if outsiders are made to
believe the Ti-pings to be so bad, they will not trust themselves, or
their money, amongst them; so those who know better are able to
monopolize the silk trade."
"What! are all those reports about the Ti-pings false, then?" I asked.
"To be sure they are, or how do you suppose any silk could be obtained?"
This reply satisfied me completely. If the Ti-pings were "desolators,"
it was certain no silk could be left, or produced, while, if they were
"marauders" and "brigands," it was equally certain no one dare carry
large sums of money into their territory to trade. I was not a little
pleased with this conclusion; before long I had ample proof of the total
injustice and gross falsehood of nearly every charge brought against
the revolutionists.
I received on board about 40,000 taels (over £13,000 sterling) during
the evening, with a Chinaman to negotiate for the purchase of the silk
when we should arrive in the silk country.
Early in the morning we got under weigh, and proceeded on our voyage,
past Shanghae and up the Wong-poo river. We no sooner got clear of the
shipping and crowd of junks anchored above the city, than I received
orders to have all our armament put in order and ready for immediate
use. For so small a vessel she was very well armed with a 9 lb. pivot
gun on each broadside, a swivel 4 lb. in the bow, and another right aft.
Our crew consisted of eight European seamen, myself, captain, second
mate, and engineer; besides four Chinese firemen, a Chinese engineer, a
cook, and our European steward; we also carried a member of our European
firm as supercargo.
The Wong-poo river for some fifty miles preserves an average breadth of
about 250 yards, after which it rapidly decreases, and loses itself in a
series of interminable lagoons. The whole country in this direction (due
S.W. of Shanghae) is flat and alluvial, everywhere intersected by creeks
and canals, and mostly in a high state of cultivation.
The tide being strong against us, we did not reach the last imperialist
city, Soong-Kong, about twenty miles from Shanghae in a direct line,
till mid-day. Soon after leaving port, the Manchoo troops commenced
their annoyance. Every station we passed the gunboats would come off and
attempt to stop us, their crews shouting and yelling like fiends,
sometimes even firing blank cartridge to arrest our passage. One
squadron, bolder than the rest, after we had passed Soong-Kong and were
approaching the limits of Imperialism, thought fit to send us a dose of
iron, and although we took the previous saluting very quietly, this was
rather too striking an example of their favour to pass without return.
I therefore brought one of our 9-pounders to bear, and gave them its
warning message just over their heads, not wishing to hurt them unless
compelled, especially as all their shot passed wide of us, excepting one
that cut a funnel stay. Not satisfied with this, the whole
squadron--some seven or eight--put off from the bank and pulled after
us, each opening fire with its bow gun. Our captain called all hands to
their stations, those not employed at the guns being armed with Sharp's
rifles; and, suddenly changing our course, we put right about, gave a
cheer, and steamed at the Mandarin boats full speed. Directly this was
done, and the Imperialists saw so many Europeans, and heard our terrific
yell, they thought no more of "loot," or seizing us; but round they
went, turned tail, and pulled off as desperately as they could, while
those astern dashed to the bank and tumbled ashore one over the other in
dire confusion and alarm, leaving their boats to take care of themselves
or become the prize of the "foreign devils."
To give them a lesson, we contented ourselves by taking all their flags;
and, setting the boats adrift on the stream, proceeded on our course.
These Chinese gunboats, when well manned, form very effective mosquito
flotillas. They are about fifty feet long and seven broad, are manned by
about twenty-five men, and pull from ten to twenty oars a-side. They are
usually armed with a gun (from 4 to 24-pounder) mounted upon a platform
in the bow, and another in the stern. They are very shallow, sit light
upon the water, and pull very fast; they are also furnished with the
usual bamboo sails, but only go well before the wind. These war-boats
are almost innumerable, being found in large numbers all through the
rivers and inland waters of China; and since the British arsenals have
been thrown open to the Manchoo government, they have become formidable
from the guns they have been supplied with, and the instruction their
crews have received from English artillerists in using them.
When we came to the narrow part of the river, we were exposed to
continual insult and annoyance from the Chinese on the banks, who, not
content with assailing us with every opprobrious epithet in their
vocabulary--the least being "Yang quitzo" (foreign devils), frequently
pelted us with mud and stones. Soldiers, gun-boat _braves_, and
villagers seemed striving to emulate each other in illustrating their
hatred of the foreigners who, having allied themselves to the Manchoo
government, had only just succeeded in driving the Ti-pings away and
re-establishing the rule of the Tartars; placing our miserable
assailants in possession of territory they could never have reconquered
themselves--and this is how they displayed their _gratitude_!
The British and French had but lately made war upon the Ti-pings, having
driven them from Shanghae and its neighbourhood, therefore the least we
might have expected was common civility from our allies; they, however,
seemed to think otherwise, by treating us as enemies.
Towards dusk we approached the last Imperialist station, between which
and the first Ti-ping outpost stretched a neutral ground of a few miles.
As we could not reach the Ti-ping territory before dark, it was
necessary to anchor for the night; but this we dare not attempt while in
the Imperialist jurisdiction. Since the reinstatement of the
Imperialists, piracy had become incessant, so much so, that a silk boat
could scarcely ever make a trip without being attacked, many having been
plundered and the Europeans in charge murdered. The whole country
swarmed with robbers, and the river with pirates; the first being the
Imperialist soldiery, and the latter mostly Imperialist gunboats. In
consequence of this, we determined to reach the neutral ground, the
commencement of which was a small and shallow lake, where we could lay
comparatively safe from enemies, whereas, if we remained on the river,
we should be at the mercy of any who might attack us from its banks,
here scarcely sixty yards apart.
Amidst the curses and yells of the last outlying picket of Imperialists
we shot into the lake, and anchored in its centre to wait for daylight.
The night passed over without any particular excitement, though the
watch on deck had frequently to warn off with a shot or two some boats
hovering about. Getting under weigh in the morning, we soon came to the
first Ti-ping position--a few houses with a palisade round them, and a
gingall battery held by a small detachment of troops. I was much struck
by the pleasant style in which they communicated with us. In place of
making an offensive demonstration of force, and conducting their
inquiries with the gross and insulting arrogance of the Imperialists,
they simply put off a small boat, from which one officer boarded us, who
behaved in a strikingly friendly and courteous manner while pursuing his
investigations. When satisfied as to our intentions, he gave us a pass
to proceed, and took his departure, leaving me with a very favourable
impression of my first interview with a real, live Ti-ping.
After passing several small villages, in all of which the inhabitants
were busily at work gathering in their crops, and apparently much better
off than the Imperialist peasantry on the other side of the lake, we
came to the extensive village of Loo-chee, some sixty miles from
Shanghae by the river. At this place there seemed a large and varied
trade. Silk boats, country boats, and Shanghae boats, were moored off
the village in great numbers, all filled with merchandise, for which
there seemed a good and ready market. The crowds of people about were
all well dressed, the shops were fully stocked, and in every way the
village seemed in a most flourishing condition. One singular
circumstance which I noticed was the total absence of mendicants; though
an ordinary Chinese market village of the same extent and prosperity
would have swarmed with them, here not one was to be seen. Outside the
village, the fields were alive with labourers gathering in the rich and
heavy crops, it being harvest time; while far as the eye could reach
stretched plains covered with the ripe grain, glistening and golden in
the morning sun. In vain I gazed around for some trace of the
"desolaters." If I looked to the village, I saw nothing but crowds of
well-to-do, busy, complacent-looking Chinamen, and great piles of
merchandise just landed from the boats; if I looked to the country, I
perceived nothing but the richness and beauty of nature; yet this was a
part of Ti-pingdom, and all the people I saw were Ti-pings or subject to
them. At last, a little outside the village, I noticed a heap of bricks,
such as the Chinese build their houses with; going up to it, I found the
track of the "desolaters" after all; for this proved to be the remains
of an immense joss-house they had destroyed--not a stone was left
standing upon another; in their iconoclastic zeal they had literally
crushed the Buddhist temple into the dust, for I could not find one
whole brick amongst the _débris_, although it covered more than an acre
of ground. Here and there, amongst the tall, rank grass, peeped out the
mutilated remnants of the former divinities of the temple. I began to
think this "desolating" and "murdering" _à la_ Ti-ping not quite so bad
as some parties had represented.
We remained at Loo-chee a few hours, while our supercargo and
interpreter made inquiries about the silk. I observed but few Ti-ping
soldiers in the village; the six or seven who rowed an officer off to us
constituted quite half the garrison. They were all attached to the
Loo-chee custom-house, and the officer who boarded us was _le chef de la
douane_. While strolling through the village I was astonished by the
very friendly and unrestrained manners of the people; I was seized upon
and carried into many houses to partake of tea and Chinese wine, the
Ti-pings actually struggling with each other to get me into their
respective dwellings. The kindly behaviour of the soldiers was the more
remarkable from the totally opposite conduct of the Imperialist
_braves_, whose feeling towards us we had so lately experienced. Yet the
Imperialists were our allies, and we were assisting them against the
Ti-pings. It was even possible that friends or relatives of these
Ti-ping soldiers had been killed by the British and French before
Shanghae; still, anomalous and incredible as it must seem, our friends,
the Imperialists, treated us as though we were enemies, and our enemies,
the Ti-pings, treated us as friends.
At last, amid the hearty _adieux_ of the natives, we steamed away from
Loo-chee for another village, some twelve miles farther inland, where we
expected to find silk.
Some three years later I visited Loo-chee again. A letter which I wrote
upon the occasion appeared in the _Friend of China_, a Shanghae
newspaper, and in the month of October, 1863, was reproduced,
accompanied by the following observations:--
"At this juncture, when Gordon declares the Taepings to be incapable of
government (he never had an opportunity of judging, or knowing anything
about them, except how they could fight), it is not out of place to
reproduce the writing of the only respectable foreigner we know in the
Taeping fighting service--a service of which, in so far as intercourse
with the Taeping goes, he has had several years' experience."
The letter referred to was as follows:--
"The general appearance of the country lately wrested from the Ti-pings
by the British, and again given up to Imperial rule, cannot be passed
without a feeling of pity for its sad alteration. Throughout the whole
extent of this country, Europeans are now exposed to insult, the natives
being as constrained and repulsive as is usual in Mandarin localities.
Indeed, they are a vagabond and scanty lot, many large villages now
exhibiting hardly one person to each house. The crops alone are in a
flourishing condition--reared by Ti-pings for the Imperial
commissariat--a rich harvest indeed.
"Custom-houses, or rather squeeze-houses, are springing up in every
direction, and the poor Chinese trader is in a perfect whirlwind of
mystification as to whom he ought to pay and whom not. The baneful
effect of all this is very visible. There is an indescribable gloom and
stagnation over the land, and everything on it. Even the birds appear
less happy, for they do not chirp as of old. Of trade--there is none.
The extensive village of Loo-chee, about sixty miles from Shanghae by
water, is the last Imperialist station in this direction. When I was
last here, some two and a half years ago, all was joyous as a marriage
feast. It was a place of much trade and importance; now the only things
to be remarked are a few piratical war-boats, with their usual
villanous-looking crews, under the Imperial flag. Where formerly
exuberant life and happiness were found, all now is wretchedness.
Between Loo-chee and the nearest Ti-ping station comes a neutral ground
of some ten miles in extent. This is almost a desert, and well it may
be, when the Imperialists scour over it. At last we reached the first
Ti-ping outpost. What a contrast! Now, indeed, all is smiling happiness.
In place of insult we meet kind looks and salutations of welcome. Even
the children run along the banks with cries of delight. Poor little
things, they know not but that they may soon be homeless, bereft,
perhaps, of parents, or even life itself."
When the above letter was written, the Imperialists, with the assistance
of foreigners, had only lately succeeded in recapturing the village of
Loo-chee; shortly afterwards I again passed the place, and the only
change to be observed was a new Buddhist temple in course of erection
upon the ruins of the old. A striking example of the effect of British
intervention: the Ti-pings destroy the heathen temples and establish the
Holy Scriptures on their sites, but the Manchoos build them up again,
and exterminate the worshippers of the True God.
So great a confidence had my friend, the Captain, in the Ti-pings, that
directly we came to their territory he told me I might discharge and
clean all our arms, and put them away until we re-entered the
Imperialist lines.
Before arriving at our destination, we passed many villages, all
thriving and apparently doing considerable trade; one especially
attracted my attention--it was a very large walled village, named
San-zar, and seemed to be the centre of an immense commerce. This place
was fortified and well garrisoned. We stopped there and took in a supply
of provisions, which were very cheap. I particularly remember San-zar,
because I found in it the best sponge cake I ever tasted in China. The
village was very extensive, containing upwards of five thousand houses;
the shops were numerous, and at the time I first visited it every
article of Chinese consumption was to be found in abundance. I passed
through it lately--upon my return to England--and found everything sadly
changed; the Imperialists were close at hand, and the inhabitants had
fled away; the shops were closed, excepting here and there where some
trader, more venturesome or avaricious than his fellows, seemed
determined to drive his business till the last; the streets were silent
and trafficless; in some parts the depopulation was so complete as to
strongly remind me of Goldsmith's "Deserted Village."
Shortly after leaving San-zar, we arrived at San-le-jow, the termination
of our voyage, a fortified position, three Chinese miles (one English)
from the city of Pim-bong. San-le-jow is situated within the silk
district, into which we should have proceeded further, but the creek was
spanned by a bridge too small for our vessel to pass. We were therefore
compelled to remain at anchor, and send boats in for the silk. All the
specie was placed in them, comparatively unprotected, only the
supercargo and two of our crew going in charge of it; and yet it was
taken into the very heart of Ti-pingdom in perfect safety.
We remained about three weeks at San-le-jow, while our supercargo was
absent purchasing silk; and during this time I determined to see as much
of Ti-pingdom and the Ti-pings as possible. I constantly visited the
neighbouring villages to endeavour to ascertain what feeling the country
people entertained for the Ti-ping rule. I was pleased to find them in
every instance completely happy and contented; and was particularly
struck by the gratified manner in which they would attract my notice to
their long hair--the emblem of the Ti-ping and freedom, as opposed to
the Manchoo and the shaven-headed, tail-wearing badge of slavery they
inflict upon the Chinese. During my rambles I took my servant, A-ling,
with me, and, as he was a capital interpreter, I was enabled to fully
investigate all I cared for or found interesting.
As San-le-jow was only about twenty miles distant from the important
provincial capital, Soo-chow, I engaged a boat, took A-ling with me,
and, reaching the city, spent seven or eight days there very pleasantly.
I have visited many parts of Asia, but never in my life, not even
amongst people of my own race, have I met with the kindness,
hospitality, and earnest friendship I experienced from the Ti-pings. I
shall never forget the deep impression I received at the moment I first
met them: it was instantaneous, I required no further knowledge or
explanation; I felt a mysterious sympathy in their favour, and, from
that day to this, my frequent intercourse with them has only
strengthened and cemented my first opinions.
The testimony of persons who have themselves seen the Ti-pings is
unanimous as to their striking superiority over the Imperialists. Not
only is their personal appearance infinitely more pleasing, but their
entire character, physically and morally, exhibits the same wonderful
superiority.
All Europe has for many years considered the Chinese the most absurd and
unnatural people in the world; their shaven head, tail, oblique eyes,
grotesque costume, and the deformed feet of their women, have long
furnished subjects for the most ludicrous attempts of caricaturists;
while the atmosphere of seclusion, superstition, and arrogance, with
which they delight to surround themselves, has always excited the
ridicule and contempt of Europeans. Now, among the Ti-pings, these
things, with the exception of the physiognomy, have all disappeared, and
even their features seem improved--probably through their mental and
bodily relief from thraldom.
One of the most remarkable contrasts between the Ti-pings and their
enslaved countrymen, the Imperialists, and the first to attract the
observation of foreigners, is their complete difference of appearance
and costume. The Chinese are known as a comparatively stupid-looking,
badly-dressed race; the disfigurement of the shaved head not a little
causing this. One presents a type of the whole--a dull, apathetic
countenance, without expression or intelligence, except what resembles
the half-cunning, half-fearful manner of slaves; their energies seem
bound, their hopes and spirits crushed by wrong and oppression. The
Ti-pings, on the other hand, immediately impress an observer by their
intelligence, continual inquisitiveness, and thirst for knowledge. It
is, indeed, utterly impossible, judging from their different
intellectual capacities, to come to the conclusion that they are both
natives of the same country--a difference more marked cannot be
conceived. The Ti-pings are a clever, candid, and martial people,
rendered peculiarly attractive by the indescribable air of freedom which
they possess. Where you would see the servile Tartar-subdued Chinamen
continually cringing, the Ti-pings exhibit, even in the face of death,
nothing but the erect, stately carriage of free men.
It is a singular fact that the handsomest men and women in China are to
be seen in the Ti-ping array. This may possibly be partly the result of
their difference of dress and of wearing the hair, but the main cause is
undoubtedly the ennobling effect of their religion and freedom. The
dress consists of very broad petticoat trousers, mostly of black silk,
bound round the waist with a long sash, which also contains their sword
and pistols; a short jacket, generally red, reaching just to the waist
and fitting tight to the body, forms their upper garment. But it is the
style in which they wear their hair that forms their principal ornament:
they allow it to grow without cutting, it is then plaited into a queue
at the back of the head, into which is worked a tail of red silk cord,
and it is always worn wound round the head in the form of a turban, the
end, a large tassel, hanging down on the left shoulder. Their shoes are
of varied colour, with flowers and embroidery worked all over them (the
boots of Imperialists are quite different, being not only slightly of
another shape, but always plain).
During my subsequent intercourse with the Ti-pings I found the above
costume the summer one of the soldiers; the body-guards of the different
chiefs wear their own particular colours, the edges of the jacket being
always embroidered and braided with a different one, forming a regular
uniform. In the cold weather they mostly wear fur-jackets, or other warm
garments. The colours of their clothing vary much, in some cases the
jacket being black silk and the trousers white, and in others blue,
black, white, red, or yellow, according to their different corps. Yellow
is the colour of only the highest chiefs, or of their king. The chiefs
all wear long outside dresses, reaching to nearly the feet, of either
blue, red, or yellow silk, according to their rank. On the head they
wear a silk scarf, or hood, with a jewel fastened to the front as the
badge of their position. In hot weather one and all wear large straw
hats very prettily embroidered, the crown quite small, and the brim
about a foot broad, which gives them a very gay and singular
appearance.
[Illustration: A TI-PING ARMY GOING INTO ACTION.
DAY & SON, LIMITED, LITH.]
The great chiefs, who are titled Wang (generalissimos, or governors of
districts), have a much more costly and elaborate dress. Upon all
occasions of importance they wear their state robes and coronets, and
the appearance they present when so arrayed is really magnificent. Being
almost invariably men of a very energetic and expressive mien, when
attired in their long robes, covered with ancient Chinese designs,
fabulous animals, or fancy patterns, all worked in gold, silver, and
jewels, with their jewelled coronets, and with their gold embroidered
shoes, it would be utterly impossible to imagine a more splendid or
effective costume.
Many of the Ti-pings come from the province of Honan, and the Chinese
say the natives of that part are the handsomest in China. The truth of
this I fully believe, for having made it a particular point of inquiry
to ascertain the native place of every Ti-ping I have met of more than
ordinary appearance, I have invariably found the best-featured were
either Honan men or came from the hilly parts of the Kiang-si province.
Honan forms a central portion of China, and has long been remarkable for
producing some of the best soldiers; but it is especially its _braves_,
who man great numbers of the Mandarin gunboats which are used all
through the inland waters, that are celebrated for their courage. The
Honan people are easily distinguished by the lightness of their
complexion; the shape of their nose, which is high and well-formed like
the European; the largeness, and little approximation to the oblique, of
their eyes; and their superior stature. In a few cases I have met men
not inferior to any race in the world for beauty, while it would be
difficult to imagine a more picturesque bearing than they present with
their dark massive hair wound around their heads by scarlet silken
fillets, so as to form a shade for their expressive eyes and animated
countenances. Some of these youthful Honan Ti-pings are as well featured
and handsome as an Andalusian beauty, their black eyes and long lashes,
olive complexion, and beardless faces rendering the resemblance more
striking.
Upon my arrival at Soo-chow I received the kindest reception, and
obtained an audience of several of the principal chiefs in the city. But
little trace of the former magnificence of the "Chinese Paris" remained;
its present possessors had only captured the city a few months, and the
sad traces of civil war were everywhere around. The Imperialist troops
had themselves burned and devastated the once rich suburbs, and the
Ti-pings, in their usual manner upon the capture of a city, had
destroyed all public and private buildings of the Manchoo construction,
or any that tended to remind them of the hateful Tartar occupation. New
suburbs, however, were springing up in every direction, and a
considerable trade likewise, all commerce being carried on outside the
walls. Within the city itself, the destruction had been extensive, and
numberless workmen were employed erecting handsome new dwellings, those
for the principal chiefs being of the best description. No trade was
permitted within the walls, a very necessary precaution in China, for
otherwise the place would be instantly filled by numbers of the enemy
disguised as traders, &c. In this the Ti-pings have only acted as every
other dynasty during its commencement, all (the present Manchoo
included) having pursued the same policy. Many persons ignorant of this,
after visiting Ti-ping cities, have reported that the inhabitants never
return to them from fear of the new rulers; but we must remember the
late war in America and the occupation of Atlanta by the Federal
troops, who _compelled_ the inhabitants to leave the city; it will then
be seen that the military occupation of fortified towns by the Ti-pings
is much about the same as it is with people of our own race. Outside the
ramparts a crowd of soldiers and labourers were hard at work throwing up
fortifications, while, inside, others were converting the remaining
streets into extensive barracks.
I found the chief in command was the Chung-wang, Le, who for the last
few years had held the supreme position of Commander-in-Chief of all the
Ti-ping forces. He very kindly granted me an audience, and made me live
in his palace while I remained at Soo-chow, although he had only lately
been driven from Shanghae, and hundreds of his men killed (rather say
murdered, for they were slaughtered without the slightest justification)
by the British.
I had long felt a desire to behold the celebrated leader of the Ti-ping
forces, who, until the intervention of England, had been invincible, and
now my wish was gratified. I no sooner found myself before the
Chung-wang than I respected him--he appeared so unmistakably a master
spirit, with the innate nobleness of presence of one born to command and
govern.
For a chief of so exalted and powerful a position, and who, moreover,
had received ample provocation to treat Englishmen as his deadliest
enemies, Chung-wang received me with remarkable condescension and
kindness. Whereas the meanest official understrapper of the Manchoo
government would with the most insulting hauteur receive any foreigner
(unless under coercion, as when the treaties have been arranged), and
consider himself degraded by any contact, the Chung-wang, generalissimo
of some four or five hundred thousand men, second personage in the
Ti-ping government (being only inferior to the Tien-wang, the king), and
Viceroy of the whole territory (at that period more than twice the size
of England, and containing more than 70,000,000 inhabitants), advanced
from his vice-regal chair, and shaking me by the hand in English style,
made me be seated close to himself. He seemed about thirty-five years of
age, though the trace of arduous mental and physical exertion gave him a
rather worn and older appearance. His figure light, active, and wiry,
was particularly well formed, though scarcely of the Chinese middle
height; his bearing erect and dignified, his walk rapid but stately.
His features were very strongly marked, expressive, and good, though not
handsome according to the Chinese idea, being slightly of a more
European cast than they admire; the nose straighter than usual among
Chinese; the mouth small, almost delicate, and with the general shape of
the jaw and sharply chiselled lips, expressive of great courage and
determination. His complexion dark; but it was his brow and eyes that at
once told the observer he beheld a great and remarkable man. It was not
alone his singularly high and expansive forehead, but the eyebrows and
eyes, which, instead of being placed obliquely, as is the usual
characteristic of the Chinese, were quite dissimilar: the eyes were
nearly straight, the only Chinese part being the shape of the eyelids;
and the brows, placed high above them, were almost even, the inner, in
place of the outer, ends being slightly elevated. This peculiarity I
have never seen so prominent in any other Chinaman; I have seen a few
natives of Honan approach to it a little, but it gave the Chung-wang an
un-Chinese look.
His large eyes flashed incessantly, while the lids were always
twitching. From his very energetic features, and the ceaseless nervous
movement of his body (some part being continually on the move and
restless, either the legs crossing or uncrossing, the feet patting the
ground, or the hands clasping, unclasping, or fidgeting about, and all
by sudden starts), no one would imagine he could possess such perfect
coolness in battle; yet I have often since observed him in action, when,
in spite of his apparent excitability, his self-possession was
imperturbable, and his voice--always low and soft, with a musical flow
of language, slightly affected by a wound he received from a piece of a
British shell before Shanghae, in the month of August, 1860--unchanged,
save being more rapid and decisive in moments of the greatest danger.
When I obtained my first interview with the Chung-wang, I found him
rather plainly dressed. Instead of the long robes and large coronets,
constituting the state dress of all the superior chiefs, he was simply
attired in an ordinary scarlet quilted jacket. On his head he wore a
scarlet hood, of the usual shape, surmounted by a kind of undress
coronet peculiar to himself, consisting of a large and valuable jewel in
the front, with eight curious gold medallions, four in a row on each
side.
[Illustration: CHUNG WANG'S HEAD-DRESS.]
While in Soo-chow I became one of the congregation of Ti-pings during
their performance of divine service on Sunday. The Sabbath is observed
not upon the same day as in Europe, theirs being the Saturday of our
reckoning. My interpreter was with me, and translated every part of
their service. Their numbers, and apparent devotion, could not have been
objected to by the most orthodox Christian.
I shall ever remember with feelings of the liveliest pleasure the first
few days I spent with the Ti-pings at Soo-chow. I could not move through
its streets without experiencing the excessive friendliness of these
warm-hearted converts to Christianity and civilization, thousands of
whom were afterwards destroyed by a nation whose religion and civilized
institutions they were earnestly striving to imitate.
Nor can I ever forget the eager manner with which, the moment I was
seated in his house, my entertainer for the time being would give a copy
of the Bible to my servant--waiting impatiently with the book in his
hands till the etiquette of presenting me some tea had been
observed,--asking if it was the same as mine; and his satisfaction,
when, after hearing parts of it translated, I assured him that it was.
The conversation I had with the Chung-wang naturally touched upon his
late repulse from Shanghae by the British and French. He seemed to feel
that event very deeply, and deplore the suicidal policy of those he had
always striven to make his friends. The points of his communication
were:--Why had the English and French broken faith with him? the English
particularly, whose solemn written guarantees of neutrality the Ti-ping
government held. The Ti-pings and the English worshipped the same God
and the same Saviour, and were consequently of one religion and
brotherhood, why, then, did they assist the common enemy, the Manchoo
imps--the idol-worshippers and enemies of our Heavenly Father and Jesus
the heavenly elder brother? By what right or law did the English
soldiers take charge of the native city of Shanghae, preventing him,
their friend, from capturing it, and defend it for the very Manchoos
with whom at the time they were themselves at war?
Neither shall I ever forget the noble, enlightened, and patriotic
designs, which absorbed them:--to propagate the Bible, to destroy idols,
to expel the Tartars from China, and establish one complete and
undivided native empire; to become brothers with the Christian nations
of the West, and introduce European sciences and manufactures--seemed
always their principal wish and determination.
He continually inquired: "Why are the English inimical to us? Have we
ever done them the slightest harm? Have we not always acted with good
faith and friendship?"
"Cannot your foreign nations see," he said, "that the imps of Hien-fung
(the Manchoo Emperor of China), knowing you are of the same religion and
family as ourselves, are plotting to establish a connection with you in
order to produce trouble, misunderstanding, and separation between us?
To do this they will tell many lies, pretend to be very friendly, and
for the time let you do much trade to fool you."
This observation of the Chung-wang's is a good proof of his penetration
and judgment; he only forgot to notice the fact that the Manchoo
government had been compelled to pretend friendship, to allow increased
trade, &c., by the British occupation of Pekin, in the first place; he
was, however, undoubtedly right as to their after intrigue.
Another very important remark the Chung-wang made, was:--"If you take
Shanghae and a few _le_ round it into your protection, how will you be
able, in such a limited space, to dispose of your merchandise, or carry
on any traffic with the interior, if I, in retaliation, choose to
prevent you?"
When I told him any such policy on his part would probably lead to a war
with the English, he replied:--
"Never! unless you reckon upon my forbearance; I have all the silk and
many tea districts in my possession, and I can stop all your trade in a
moment if I am so inclined. If I beat you, in event of hostilities, I
shall then make you reasonable and cause you to mind your own affairs
without interfering in our endeavours to expel the Manchoo; but if, on
the other hand, you beat me, who can prevent my destroying all the silk
and tea plantations, and so removing for ever the only thing you come to
China for, and the only cause you would fight about? My soldiers are
brave and innumerable, they cover the silk and the tea lands."
These arguments of the Chung-wang were perfectly just and unanswerable.
What honest-minded man really acquainted with the facts of the case can
deny it?
With all his shrewdness and foresight, the Chung-wang was himself too
enlightened and large-hearted to hit upon the true reason for British
hostility. It did not occur to him that at the close of an expensive war
which had resulted in the legalization of the opium trade, and had
otherwise benefitted the English, it would not suit their
policy--however beneficial it might prove to the Chinese--however
imperatively it might be demanded by the sacred voice of humanity, to
interfere with the advantages derivable from the Elgin treaties, the
indemnity, and the traffic in opium--the use of which is prohibited upon
pain of death by the Ti-pings.
The kindness I experienced was disinterested, genuine, and without a
motive. Though some persons have considered their striking friendliness
to foreigners has been the carrying out of a plan in order to secure the
non-intervention of the European powers, all I saw of the Ti-pings,
their earnest religious enthusiasm, patriotism, and generally noble
sentiments, impressed me seriously. Before leaving Soo-chow I became
warmly attached to their cause, than which--all my future intercourse
has convinced me--a more righteous, or holy, never existed upon earth,
and I therefore determined to aid and advocate it to the utmost of my
power.
When upon the point of returning to my vessel, I informed the Chung-wang
of my intention, and volunteered my services, at the same time
requesting him to furnish me with some document or pass that would
enable me to return, or travel, to any part of his dominions. The
Chung-wang, after a short conversation with some of his chiefs, told my
servant to inform me he would give me an honorary commission upon his
staff, and then I should be able to act in whichever way I might find
best, and to traverse every part of Ti-pingdom without let or
hindrance.
At last my commission was made out, the Chung-wang affixed his seal, and
amidst the congratulations of the surrounding chiefs I became an
honorary Ti-ping officer. I afterwards learnt that in consideration of
my being a foreigner, and the nature of the commission, the usual
formalities of investiture had been foregone; such as examination upon
the Bible, swearing allegiance to the Ti-ping wang, and to expel the
Manchoo.
After taking leave of my new friends and comrades, I discharged the boat
I had arrived in, taking my departure on board a gun-vessel the
Chung-wang had kindly placed at my disposal. While on my passage, I
observed many people apparently returning to their homes in the
neighbourhood of Soo-chow; I halted at some of the villages on my route,
and found in all of them huge yellow placards, which my interpreter read
as Ti-ping imperial proclamations calling upon the people to return to
their homes without fear, to remain quiet, and lawfully to render a
certain amount of tribute (a little over a third of the Manchoo
taxation) to the Ti-ping general treasury. At the gateways of Soo-chow,
and at several villages I passed, I saw heads hung up with notices
attached, stating they were those of soldiers decapitated for plundering
the country people, one for smoking opium, and another for carrying off
a villager's daughter.
It was a singular fact that about every fourth village had been
completely burned and destroyed. Sometimes I passed three villages, the
two outside ones perfect and the central one entirely gutted. Upon
inquiry, the country people said the Imperialists had been the
destroyers; others said the inhabitants having run away and gone off
with the "imps" (Imperialists), they had punished them by burning their
habitations; while some said the destroyed villages had been fortified
and defended by the Manchoo troops, and so, when captured by the
Ti-pings, had been destroyed. This last I had reason to believe the
correct account, for I noticed in all the ruined villages various
traces of strife, and some seemed to have been surrounded with a wall or
stockade and the houses loopholed; while, here and there, half hidden
among the _débris_ and tall rank weeds, lay some human skeletons.
When I reached the steamer, no silk having arrived, I had time to see
more of the country. In one direction, some few miles from San-li-jow, I
found a considerable tract of land perfectly desolated, not a dwelling
nor habitation of any sort standing, and the fields untended, with the
rice or paddy growing wild.
It appeared this part had been severely contested by the Ti-ping and
Imperialist troops, and between them it had become a solitude. I made
several trips to this locality with my gun, and always returned well
recompensed with golden plover and pheasants, which I generally flushed
among the ruins of what had once been houses. The paddy-fields about
here were impenetrable, being mostly a perfect jungle six or seven feet
high, and full of ugly-looking green and yellow diamond-speckled snakes.
In the villages around San-li-jow I particularly noticed the exactitude
with which the Ti-ping soldiers paid the country people for everything
they required. I was told in one that a soldier dare not so much as take
an egg without paying for it, and the villagers all stated it was "good
trade" with the Ti-pings, because they gave a better price than the
Imperialists.
In a few days after my return from Soo-chow the silk arrived, and while
we were busily employed taking it on board, a large Ti-ping army came in
sight. Some were marching along ashore, but by far the greater number
were being transported by water; for miles, as far as the eye could
reach, the sinuosities of the creek were covered with the sails of the
vessels. I counted the number of boats passing within half an hour at
one hundred, and the numbers in each at a fair average of twenty;
therefore, the flotilla continuing to pass for seven hours, I estimated
the approximate strength of the army at 30,000 men, including those
ashore. Many of the leaders came alongside in their boats, and spent a
few minutes on board with us; amongst them I found one or two I had met
at Soo-chow, who informed me they were proceeding to attack the
important provincial capital, Hang-chow. All who boarded us were very
eager to purchase firearms, and I was sorry we could not muster half a
dozen stand for them altogether. Many brought guns on board with the
locks out of order, and by repairing these our engineers reaped a
munificent reward. During the whole time the flotilla was passing we
received many salutations and friendly remarks, and I did not hear a
single insulting or depreciating expression made use of towards us;
whereas, amongst Imperialist troops it would be impossible to venture
without being subjected to the grossest insult and contumely.
It has been the invariable habit to immensely exaggerate the strength of
the Ti-ping armies, and this force upon the march for Hang-chow was
supposed by Europeans to number several hundred thousand. It was
commanded in chief by the Ting-wang, Prince of the Eastern Provinces.
When all our silk had arrived, we gave the chief of San-li-jow a
farewell dinner on board, he having treated us with much hospitality and
kindness during our stay; and after an exchange of presents (we gave him
a few bottles of cherry brandy, some boxes of percussion-caps, a couple
of muskets, and a few other things; and in return received a present of
some pigs, fowls, ducks, and pieces of silk, a much more valuable one
than ours) started for Shanghae.
We returned to the Wong-poo river, and Imperialist territory, by a
different route to that by which we had left it, and in this direction,
likewise, found one of the most prominent changes in the country--the
total destruction of the idols and Buddhist temples. The desolating
traces of civil war were also more visible.
We anchored for the night preceding our re-entry into the Imperialist
lines, getting all our arms in readiness. Starting early in the morning,
we fortunately caught the ebb tide, and so, after running the gauntlet
past our _allies_, reached Shanghae safely the same afternoon.
Of course, my first moment was devoted to Marie. The relations she was
living with--the poor relations of the family--acted with great kindness
towards us; they were completely estranged from Marie's miserly father,
and looked favourably upon our attachment. Fortunately my occupation was
very much of a sinecure; so, often during the day I found time to fulfil
our almost hourly assignations. Each night I returned to my ship with
Marie's whisper "Till to-morrow" dwelling in my heart.
A short half-month of unmingled happiness soon passed away, and again
came the hour of separation. We were to part--not with the whispered
promise upon our lips, not with the anticipated pleasure of the morrow
in our hearts; but for long weeks, perhaps even months: the very
uncertainty was painful.
Mournfully sounded the last "adios" from the shore, but more mournfully
still the echo that followed me over the waters from the little boat
fast disappearing in the gloom of night, as we steamed out of the
harbour--"adios!"
[Illustration: TI-PING _versus_ IMPERIALIST.]
CHAPTER IV.
Organization of the Ti-pings.--Hung-sui-tshuen's
Manifesto.--Hung-sui-tshuen Emperor.--Proclamation of
Rank.--Ti-ping Titles.--Siege of Yung-gnan.--Ti-ping
Successes.--Their Moderation in Victory.--King Yang's
Proclamation.--Tien-Wang's Proclamation.--Cruelty of
Imperialists.--Cause of the Revolution.--Chinese History
Reviewed.--Corrupt Government.--Tartar Ride.--Manchoo Barbarity.
The Ti-ping Revolution, even during its earlier stages, when emerging
from the obscurity of mere local insurrection, was conducted in a very
systematic and organized manner.
Just four months after the first outbreak, and four months previous to
the capture of Yung-gnan, the Manchoo governor of the province
(Kwang-si), whose letter is translated and quoted by Consul Meadows,
wrote as follows:--
"Both Hung-sui-tshuen and Fung-yun-san are skilled in the use of
troops. Hung-sui-tshuen is a man of dangerous character, who
practises the ancient military arts. At first he conceals his
strength, then he puts it forth a little, then in a greater
degree, and lastly comes on in great force. He constantly has
two victories for one defeat, for he practises the tactics of
Sun-pin (an ancient Chinese warrior and celebrated tactician).
The other day I obtained a rebel book, describing the
organization of one army. It is the Sze-mar system of the Chow
dynasty. A division has its general of division; a regiment has
its colonel; an army consists of 13,270 men, being the strength
of an ancient army, with the addition of upwards of a hundred
men. * * *
"The rebels increase more and more; our troops--the more they
fight the more they fear. The rebels generally are powerful and
fierce, _and they cannot by any means be likened to a disorderly
crowd, their regulations and laws being rigorous and clear_."
Thus it appears that even before the rebellion attained a political
status, its organization was perfect, and that, too, within four months
of its commencement. In spite of the mass of trustworthy evidence on
this point, and the latterly improved constitution of the Ti-pings, some
persons have foolishly declared the Ti-pings possess no organization
whatever. The partisan spirit of such people carries them altogether
beyond their mark; for any one, _not totally ignorant of Chinese
character_, is perfectly well aware that for any body of Chinese to
exist without organization is impossible. We have only to look towards
Java, Australia, California, India, or wherever a body of Chinese may be
found separate, to see they are invariably organized. The colonies
formed in the above countries are all governed by chiefs of their own
electing. At Batavia and various other parts of Java, Borneo, &c., these
chiefs and their inferior officials, hold a recognized position in the
Dutch administration. From their very cradles precepts of order and
submission are so well engrafted and inculcated, that no nature is so
amenable to control as a Chinaman's.[4]
Hung-sui-tshuen, previous to the capture of Yung-gnan, issued the
following reply to the celebrated Commissioner Lin's summons to
surrender:--
"The Manchoos who, for two centuries, have been in hereditary
possession of the throne of China, are descended from an
insignificant nation of foreigners. By means of an army of
veteran soldiers well trained to warfare, they seized on our
treasures, our lands, and the government of our country, thereby
proving that the only thing requisite for usurping empire is the
fact of being the strongest. There is, therefore, no difference
between ourselves, who lay contributions on the villages we
take, and the agents sent from Pekin to collect taxes. Why,
then, without any motive, are troops dispatched against us? Such
a proceeding strikes us as a very unjust one. What! is it
possible that the Manchoos, who are foreigners, have a right to
receive the taxes of the captured provinces, and to name
officers who oppress the people, while we Chinese are prohibited
from taking a trifling amount at the public cost? Universal
sovereignty does not belong to any one particular individual, to
the exclusion of all the rest. And such a thing has never been
known, as one dynasty being able to trace a line of a hundred
generations of emperors. The right to govern consists in
possession."
In this manifesto the insurgents claim the throne, from the fact that,
being Chinese, to them by right it belonged.
This document, from which the above is an extract, proved such an
effective and injurious one to poor Commissioner Lin, that he never
rallied from the shock. Before dying, he memorialized his Emperor,
informing him the rebels professed Christianity, and derived their
origin from the hated "barbarians" (Europeans).
Hung-sui-tshuen effected the capture of the city of Yung-gnan by a very
extraordinary stratagem:--
"The insurgents advanced quickly to the walls, which are not
very high, and by throwing an immense quantity of lighted
fire-crackers into the town, the continued explosion of which
brought confusion among the soldiers within, and caused them to
retreat, they easily succeeded in scaling the walls and entering
the city."
Hung-sui-tshuen was no sooner proclaimed first emperor of the new
dynasty of Ti-ping (Extreme Peace), with the title of
Tien-teh-Ti-ping-Wang (Heavenly Virtue Extreme Peace King), than he
immediately issued his manifestoes in imperial style.
During the first two months, the framing of new regulations, electing of
officers, and bestowing rewards upon those who had previously
distinguished themselves, were attended to. Proclamations calling upon
the soldiers to fight bravely, and promising them reward, were issued,
in one of which the seventh commandment is rigorously enforced by the
following passage:--
"There shall assuredly be no forgiveness, and we expressly
enjoin upon the soldiers and officers not to show the least
leniency, or screen the offenders, lest we bring down upon
ourselves the indignation of the great God our Heavenly Father."
The following is the proclamation bestowing upon the five principal
leaders their rank and title:--
"Our Heavenly Father, the great God and supreme Lord, is one
true Spirit (God); besides our Heavenly Father, the great God
and supreme Lord, there is no Spirit (God). The great God, our
Heavenly Father and supreme Lord, is omniscient, omnipotent, and
omnipresent--the supreme over all. There is not an individual
who is not produced and nourished by him. He is Shang (Supreme).
He is the Te (Ruler). Besides the great God, our Heavenly Father
and supreme Lord, there is no one who can be called Shang, and
no one who can be called Te.
"Therefore, from henceforth all you soldiers and officers may
designate us as your lord, _and that is all_; you must not call
me supreme, _lest you should encroach upon the designation of
our Heavenly Father_. Our Heavenly Father is our Holy Father,
and our Celestial _Elder Brother_ is our Holy Lord, the Saviour
of the world. Hence our Heavenly Father and Celestial _Elder
Brother alone are holy_; and from henceforth all you soldiers
and officers may designate us as your lord, _and that is all;
but you must not call me holy, lest you encroach upon the
designation of our Heavenly Father and Celestial Elder Brother_.
The great God, our Heavenly Father and supreme Lord, is our
Spiritual Father, our Ghostly Father. Formerly we had ordered
you to designate the first and second ministers of state,
together with the generals-in-chief of the van and rear, royal
fathers, which was a temporary indulgence in conformity with the
corrupt customs of the present world; but, according to the true
doctrine, _this was a slight encroachment on the prerogative of
our Heavenly Father, for our Heavenly Father is alone entitled
to the designation of Father_. We have now appointed the chief
minister of state and general-in-chief to be designated the
Eastern King, having charge of all the states in the Eastern
region. We have also appointed the second minister of state and
assistant general-in-chief to be designated the Western King,
having charge of all the states in the Western region. We have
further appointed the general of the advanced guard to be
designated the Southern King, having charge of all the states in
the Southern region. And we have likewise appointed the general
of the rear guard to be designated the Northern King, having
charge of all the states in the Northern region. We have
furthermore appointed our brother Shih-tah-kae to be
assistant-king, to aid in sustaining our Celestial court. All
the kings above referred to are to be under the superintendence
of the Eastern king. We have also issued a proclamation
designating our Queen as the lady of all ladies (Empress), and
our concubines as royal ladies. Respect this!"
The above document was translated by Dr. Medhurst. All words commencing
with a capital letter are placed in the proclamation certain degrees
higher than the rest. All words used to denote the Almighty being
elevated _three_ spaces, those denoting the chiefs _one_ space.
By observing the passages in italics, it cannot fail to be understood
that the appellation "Elder Brother" has not the blasphemous tendency
some persons have imagined. Even had it, is that a reason why thousands
of Christians in error should be slaughtered by a cruel intervention?
Why, the very idea is monstrous! Yet some have been found who made the
term "Elder Brother" an excuse for exterminating the Ti-pings, instead
of doing their duty by teaching them better if necessary. There is
another and more important reason why, had Hung-sui-tshuen, or rather
the Tien-wang--as we shall for the future, in conformity with his title
amongst his followers, term him--literally called himself the brother of
our Saviour, Englishmen should be the last to throw stones at him; for
have they not their Unitarians, _who deny his divinity altogether_? Why,
then, do these war Christians go to China to defend the _name_ of the
Saviour, when here in England their zeal is more required. If people are
to be massacred for making a wrong use of the attributes of our Saviour
(when they do so through ignorance), then the slaughter should commence
at home, with those who have every opportunity of acquiring a more
correct knowledge. It would be as reasonable to suppose that
Hung-sui-tshuen arrogates to himself the attributes of God by his title
Tien-wang (Heavenly King), as that he considers himself the equal of
Jesus, and one of the Trinity, by his style of "Younger Brother."
His titles, Tien-wang, Younger Brother, &c., are no more to be literally
understood than any of the extravagant designations of the Manchoo
Emperor (Celestial Ruler, Monarch of the Universe, Brother of the Sun,
&c.), the Llama of Thibet, or any other Asiatic ruler; but is only the
usual Chinese metaphorical style of naming their princes, and setting
forth their dignity and high position. The Ti-pings are themselves the
very last to entertain any other idea; and often when I have questioned
them, they have ridiculed such an heathenish and absurd belief as that
their chief was more than mortal. Their replies have always been
essentially practical; such as--"He is but a man like themselves, though
a very great one." His prophecies, however, were believed to be
inspired; his divine commission to earthly sovereignty and propagation
of the Faith was likewise universally believed, though the blasphemies
attributed to him, and circulated by interested European maligners, are
without foundation. "Younger Brother" is the usual and touching Chinese
figurative style of expressing an affectionate and dependent situation.
The Tien-wang, when using it, simply expresses that relative position he
wishes his people to believe he occupies, as our Saviour's faithful
servant and disciple.
The Ti-pings, as we may now fairly call them, were allowed but short
respite in the city of Yung-gnan. A large army of Imperialists, under
the command of a celebrated Tartar general, Woo-lan-tae, invested the
city upon every side, reducing the besieged to fearful extremities;
till, at last, death by famine or the sword seemed their only fate.
During November, 1851, all their outposts had been driven in with great
loss, their spirits were damped, and the close of their existence seemed
near at hand.
At length, after enduring incredible sufferings from famine and
sickness, and a close siege of five months, during the night of the 7th
of April, 1852, the Ti-pings sallied out from the city in three
divisions, and after severe fighting, in which their losses were very
heavy, succeeded in cutting their way through the besiegers and marching
to the north-east, unfortunately leaving many of the sick and wounded
prisoners, all of whom were barbarously tortured and put to death.
Shortly after their escape from Yung-gnan, the Ti-pings laid siege to
the provincial capital, Kwei-lin, but being unprovided with guns or
sufficient powder to mine the walls, after a month spent before the
city, they raised the siege, and marched into the adjoining province of
Hoo-nan. At this time the total strength of the Ti-pings, men, women,
and children included, numbered less than ten thousand persons. After
capturing the city of Taou-chow, in the southern part of Hoo-nan, during
the next three months they pressed steadily northward, capturing many
cities on the way, and overthrowing all opposition. Early in September
they arrived before the capital city of the Hoo-nan province, Chang-sha,
and intrenching themselves, commenced a regular siege, which lasted more
than two months. Upon this important place all the Imperialist forces
were immediately concentrated, and the plains before the city became the
battle-ground of many severe actions, generally favourable to the
Ti-pings. During the months of September, October, and November, the
latter made several attempts to carry the city by assault, but were each
time severely repulsed by the garrison, who held out with determined
bravery. Upon the 29th of November, the last assault upon Chang-sha was
repulsed with heavy loss to the besiegers, and upon the following day
the siege was abandoned, and they moved off in a north-westerly
direction.
The next movement of the Ti-pings was attended with better fortune, for,
reaching the Tung-ting lake, they carried the city of Yoh-chow, which
was situated at the junction of the lake with the river Yang-tze-kiang,
by storm. Considerably enriched by the granaries and treasury of that
city, they changed their line of march and proceeded in a north-easterly
direction, down the course of the Yang-tze, conveyed by the large fleet
of junks and war-boats they had captured on the lake. Upon the 23rd of
December they reached the city of Han-yang, upon the north bank of the
river. Capturing this place with but slight opposition, they crossed to
the south side, and invested the vice-regal city Wu-chang-foo. After
mining the walls and making a practicable breach, upon the 12th of
January they assaulted and carried the city, the lieutenant-governor of
Hoo-nan falling in its defence, together with a large number of his
officers and troops. Collecting immense booty from these two cities and
the adjoining unwalled emporium, Han-kow, early in February, with a vast
fleet loaded with men and stores, they proceeded down the river. On the
18th, the large and important city of Kew-kiang, situated close to the
junction of the Poyang lake with the river, fell before their arms. The
city of Ngan-king, capital of the province of Ngan-Hwui, was captured on
the 25th. On the 4th of March Wu-hoo was taken, and on the 8th the
Ti-ping forces sat down before the walls of Nan-kin.
These successes of the insurgents were followed by the degradation of
all Imperialist leaders who should have prevented them. The court of
Pekin deprived the imperial commissioner Keshen of his rank of
Lieutenant-General of Tartar bannermen; Sae-shang-ah, the general of the
Imperialist troops in Hoo-nan, was sentenced to be decapitated; Sin, the
Viceroy of the two Kwang, was deprived of his vice-royalty and two-eyed
peacock's tail; while all their property was confiscated to the
government. Meanwhile the Ti-pings, by their moderation and success, by
their kindness, and protection of the country people who did not oppose
them;--by controlling their troops and followers from committing the
usual excesses and crimes--the scourges of war, even in civilized
countries; had obtained for themselves the goodwill and confidence of
the people in a very large degree. Reinforcements poured in from every
side; all those in local revolt, or in any way aggrieved by their
tyrannical authorities; all who were in any manner dissatisfied with the
foreign dynasty, or felt a spark of patriotism, flocked to the
Tien-wang's standard. And now, as the Bishop of Victoria has said,
before the ancient capital of the empire, a body of some 100,000 men,
bound together by one religious hope and by one political aim,--the
highest and most noble purposes of human ambition--those of civil and
religious liberty--were congregated; following implicitly the guidance
of a leader they believed sent by divine authority to expel their
foreign masters, and overthrow idolatry throughout the length and
breadth of the land. Marvellous and unparalleled beyond conception was
this rising-up of the people,--as a psychological phenomenon it stands
unrivalled in extent and magnitude in modern history. To behold leagued
together, not only the effeminate Chinese, but even their women,--wives
and daughters fighting by the side of their husbands and fathers,
inspired by one common hope and ardour--all animated by a great
religious and political object, for the attainment of which they had
suffered and fought many years,--is an event never before realized in
the history of China.
The Bishop of Victoria thus writes of them:--
"Throughout their long line of march, for 1,500 miles, over
fertile and populous districts, plunders, murder, and rape, the
usual attendant curses of Asiatic warfare, were denounced and
punished by death. With more than Puritanical strictness, they
waged an internecine war with the most dearly cherished sensual
habits of their countrymen. The ten moral rules of the Decalogue
were enforced, _and a stricter interpretation attached to its
terms_. Amorous glances, libidinous songs, and all the common
incentives to profligacy, were prohibited and abandoned. The
drinking of wine, the smoking of tobacco, gambling, lying,
swearing, and, above all, _indulgence in the fumes of opium_,
were denounced and abolished with a moral determination which
permitted no half measures."
During the triumphant march of the Ti-pings from
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