CHAPTER I HONG KONG I EXPERIENCED sensations of deep interest and expectancy on descrying the coast of China, that extraordinary empire which is supposed now (1901) to have a population of more than four hundred millions, an empire whose origin is lost in the mists of antiquity, and whose national characteristics may be succinctly described in one word-stereotyped. It has existed for at least four thousand years, and its laws, manners and customs, language, mode and fashion of its dress, go on century after century without undergoing any material alteration. A description therefore of what I saw in China forty years ago would answer fairly well for what might have been seen four hundred, or what might be seen now; yet this is no longer so true, as there are signs that recent stirring events and increasing intercourse with civilised nations are at last penetrating the crust of exclusiveness which has so long enveloped the Celestial Empire. Although there can be little doubt that the Chinese were a nation fully as far back as 2000 B.C., yet their authentic history scarcely begins before the time of Confucius, the great sage and reformer, who flourished five centuries B.C., and not till about 250 B.C. does that history become at all developed. Twenty-two dynasties are enumerated, and it is a curious though well-known F fact that the present rulers are not Chinese at all, but Tartars from Manchuria. In 1643 the Chinese, being hardly pressed by a rebellion, invited the assistance of the Manchoos, who responded with alacrity to a call so much to their taste, both present and prospective; for when, after a successful issue of their undertaking, it was hinted that the time had come to retire into their own country, they declined, and instead seized the throne of Pekin, which they have held ever since under the title of the Ts'ing, or Pure Dynasty-the pigtail, soon to become to ourselves so familiar a sight, having been imposed at the same time, and remaining as a badge of conquest. So in China we find two distinct strata of peoplethe Manchoo, imperial or governing, and the Chinese, native or governed race, although there is some interlocking, a proportion of the mandarins and officials being Chinese, but the Imperial government is entirely Manchoo. Yet the Chinese have become so accustomed to the yoke of the usurper that on the whole they accept the situation as a matter of course with occasional spasmodic efforts to shake it off, on the part, not of the nation at large, who trouble themselves very little and know very little about the matter, but of political agitators. In our own country, except in its briefer duration, we had an exact parallel in the Norman conquest. Existing troubles which led to the Tribune having changed her station so suddenly and unexpectedly had arisen from an unredressed outrage at Canton in 1856 on the British flag, under which a lorcha called the Arrow sailed. The flag was hauled down and twelve of the crew seized-perhaps with the contention that the vessel was virtually a pirate. Lorchas are curiously composite three-masted craft, which originated among the Portuguese of Macao, of European build, but very much of Chinese rig. What soon became widely known as the "Lorcha Arrow Incident" was, however, but the culminating event of a series of troubles and disturbances at Canton which had prevailed during the previous fifteen years, not altogether creditable to Great Britain, though latterly in a measure due to the obstinacy of the Viceroy, Yeh Mingchin, popularly known as Yeh, in persistently refusing to meet Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, and formerly Superintendent of Trade at Canton. Sir John, consequently, on his own responsibility, ordered that city to be bombarded-"a proceeding which excited grave displeasure at home and nearly upset the Palmerston Ministry."1 That bombardment took place 1 Even at this distance of time, and although the incident has been eclipsed by subsequent events, it will be interesting to historical students of AngloChinese relations to read the following opinions of some of the leading lawyers and statesmen on this affair, which I extracted from the newspapers of the day : "In a time of profound peace, without a declaration of war, we have captured the forts and destroyed the residences-we have bombarded and shelled an unoffending and commercial city."-Lord Derby. "Our late proceedings in China were in no way to be justified by the law of nations."-Lord Lyndhurst. "A war of injustice, not founded on right, a war prosecuted by a Government with one pretext on their lips and another in their hearts."—Lord Car narvon. "A war which is folly and crime."-Lord Ellenborough. "I feel shame for my country."-Lord Malmesbury. "Unable to find any justification for what we had recently done in China. Sorrow, shame, and indignation at the bad faith and cruelty of Great Britain." -Sir F. Thesiger. "The proceedings of our representatives in China-atrocious and unjustifiable-of course the Government will immediately repudiate the acts of their officials and recall the persons who had brought this disgrace on England-the |