40 POWER AND POLITICS IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA STABILIZING ZHILI:FIRST YEARS,1901-1903 41 recovered both quickly by striking a bargain with the British, stored,the port of Tianjin would suffer permanent injury."Yuan whose influence dominated the forces occupying Tianjin and the warned that much of Tianjin's old trade might be lost to the Yangzi railway. ports.Only a governor-general with control over all Zhili and Early in December 1901,during his first visit to Beijing as Zhili hence with greater resources at hand could restore Tianjin.Yuan governor-general,Yuan asked the Powers to return Tianjin to "was anxious to be in a position to discharge his functions as Chinese control.The representatives of the Powers refused to Viceroy,and restore tranquility and confidence to the principal city consider the matter until the Empress Dowager and her Court in his jurisdiction."s returned to Beijing.5 Once the Empress Dowager arrived on Janu- The foreign community in Tianjin was also impressed by the ary 7,1902,serious negotiations about Tianjin began.During the responsible image that Yuan's new administration projected.The rest of January,Yuan concentrated on the subject in talks with the Peking and Tientsin Times,published in English in Tianjin,reflected Powers'representatives in Beijing.Their favorable response made the interests of the foreign community there.Initially,the paper a quick return of Tianjin seem possible.By the end of January there opposed rapid return of Chinese administration to Tianjin,arguing was general agreement among the Powers'diplomatic representa- that even the Chinese residents of the city agreed that a Chinese tives for a speedy withdrawal.However,some Allied military com- government would be incapable of maintaining order and public manders in north China,especially the German,feared a Boxer works(such as the dredging of Taku Bar and paved roads)suffi- revival and were more reluctant to withdraw their troops.Only ciently for the reestablishment of Tianjin as the thriving com- after heavy civilian pressure was applied did the Allied commanders merical capital of north China.However,esteem for Yuan's ad- agree on April 12,1902,to the restoration of Tianjin,and then only ministration grew;by the summer of 1902 the paper was optimistic after insisting on a list of twenty-eight conditions and two recom- about the prospect of having a Chinese administration in Tianjin mendations.These conditions were pared down by Western diplo- run by Yuan Shi-kai.10 mats,and Yuan Shi-kai accepted them in July,1902.On August 15, In addition,there was a trade-off between regaining Tianjin and 1902,the Powers'Tianjin Provisional Government formally handed letting the British have their way with the Beijing-Shenyang Rail- the city over to Yuan Shi-kai.? way.Having loaned the capital for construction,a British corpora- Yuan was personally persuasive and impressive in his talks with tion had controlled the Beijing-Shenyang Railway under cover of a the Powers,giving special attention to the British minister in nominally Chinese administration since 1898.From 1900 to 1902 Beijing,Sir Ernest Satow.In talks with Sir Ernest,using the Ameri- British and Russian military forces occupied sections of the railway can-educated customs daotai of Tianjin,Tang Shao-yi,as his inter- southwest and northeast respectively of Shanhaiguan.During the preter,Yuan argued that only he himself "would be able to keep spring of 1902 the British sought to negotiate their withdrawal order in Tianjin,foster trade,and maintain the best relations with from the section of the railway they occupied,and obtain a new foreign nations."The commercial health of Tianjin was vitally administrative agreement for the railway which would insure Brit- important to the Powers because its customs revenues serviced ish control over the railway more clearly than the 1898 agreement.11 foreign indemnities.Tianjin was important to britain in particular Yuan and Hu Yu-fen had been associated,directly or indirectly, because her trading interests there were the largest of the Powers. with the Beijing-Shenyang Railway since 1898.Hu Yu-fen had Civil disorder and economic depression in the area around the city been the principal Chinese administrator of the railway between were destroying confidence in Tianjin as a trading center.Yuan 1898 and 1900.One of Yuan's closest associates,Tang Shao-yi,had "was very much afraid that,unless confidence was quickly re- 8.FO 405/118(conf.print),February 1902,no.54;memorandum of an interview 5.FO 405/118 (confidential print),February 1902,no.54. between Sir E.Satow and Yuan Shi-Kai,Dec.2,1901,nos.24 ff. 6.FO 405/117 (conf.print),January 1902,nos.47,63,64,82;Pnpers Relating to the 9.PTT,April 12 and June 15,1901,and Jan.4,1902. Foreign Relntions of the United States:1902 (FRUS)(Washington,1903),p.184. 10.PTT,April 26,May 17,July 26,and Aug.2,1902. 7.YSKZZ,pp.646-48:The International Relations of te Chinese Empire,vol.3,pp.364- 11.Arthur Rosenbaum,"Imperialism and Chinese Railway Policy:The Peking- 65;FRUS,pp.184-200;FO 228/1464,Consul-general Hopkins,no.43. Mukden Railway,1895-1911,"Ch'ing-skik ie-I'i 2.1 (October 1969):38-70
名 POWER AND POLITICS IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA 5TABILIZING ZHILI:FIRST YEARS,1901-1903 43 been chief of Hu's foreign-language secretariat (Yangwen zongban). In the process of recovering Tianjin and accommodating the Brit- One source indicates that Yuan himself had also been active in the ish over the Beijing-Shenyang Railway,Yuan became,in the words administration of the railway after 1898.1z At any rate,early in of London Times correspondent G.E.Morrison,"in closer touch with January,1902,the British insisted that Hu again be made one of the us than any official has been for many years."17 Formal and in- Chinese administrators of the railway.On January 10,1902,the formal contact was frequent,with each willing,as we shall see,to Court appointed Hu and Yuan to be administrators-general of do the other favors,small and large.To the British,Yuan was their the railway,empowered to negotiate a new agreement with the man;they now cared enough about him to intervene directly at British.13 Court in his defense if necessary. The agreement that Yuan and Hu signed on April 29,1902,gave The battle between the Powers over the Beijing-Shenyang Rail- the British what they wanted and angered the Russians,for in way caused Yuan to be attacked at Court.After the Russians addition to getting clearer administrative control over the existing lodged a strong protest with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over railway,the British seemed to gain control over all new branch the April 29 agreement with the British,Prince Qing and Grand lines.The Russians had just agreed on April 8,1902,to withdraw Councillor Qu Hong-ji drew up a memorial which denounced Yuan from their section of the railway within the next six months,and and Hu for conceding too much control over branch lines of the they were angry because they had been led to believe that they railway to the British.An edict was said to have been drafted could construct and hence control at least one of the railway's secretly that reprimanded Yuan and Hu and demoted them in proposed branches(preferably the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line).14 rank.18 As a result,the Russians did not wish to hand over their section In response,Satow,the British minister in Beijing,met per- of the Beijing-Shenyang Railway to Yuan,whose partiality for the sonally with Prince Qing,stating that any attack on Yuan was an British they believed had been demonstrated in the April 29 agree- attack on him.Prince Qing assured Satow that Yuan and Hu would ment.They delayed the railway's return on the pretext of the not be given any kind of official reprimand or punishment.19 Work- seriousness of the bandit problems between Shanhaiguan and ing in Yuan's favor,in conjunction with British pressure on Prince Shenyang.Then suddenly,in late September,1902,the Russians Qing,was the factional struggle at Court.Prince Qing and Qu decided to hand over the railway at Shanhaiguan to Zeng-qi,the Hong-ji now openly opposed Yuan;but Yuan's staunch defender Tartar General of Fengtian (then Shengjing)province.Yuan im- and patron,Rong-lu,rallied the other three members of the Grand mediately protested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sent his Council-Lu Chuan-lin,Wang Wen-shao,and Na-tong.20 In the own representative,Yang Shih-qi,to Shanhaiguan.On September end,Yuan and Hu emerged unscathed. 29,1902,Zeng-qi,who was worried about incurring Yuan's wrath, Ironically,the Russian protest and the denunciations by Prince received the formal transfer of the railway from the Russians and Qing and Qu Hong-ji had the effect of turning the Beijing-Shen- handed it to Yang Shi-qi.On the same day at Shanhaiguan,the yang Railway situation into a personal triumph for Yuan.During British transferred their section of the railway to Yang Shi-qi.1s the summer of 1902 when negotiations over the railway's new Later,in what was apparently an effort to improve relations with the Russians,Yuan travelled to Shanhaiguan and returned with bribes from the Russians at about this time;see Rosemary Quested,The Russo-Chinese Russian officials to Tianjin where he entertained them at a series of Bank,pp.59-60. 17.Lo Hui-min,ed.,The Correspoudrnce of G.E.Morrison,1895-1912 (hereafter cited banquets.16 as Morrison Correspoudentce)(Cambridge,1976),p.177(Morrison to Bland,Feb.1. 12.Jiaotong Bu,Jiaotong shi (Nanjing,1930);Luzheng bim,7:145.171. 1902). 13.FO 405/118 (conf.print),February 1902,nos.71,113;DHXL,jnmnt 171:1b. 18.FO 405/123 (conf.print),July 1902,nos.23,24. 14.FO 405/122 (conf.print),June 1902,nos.14,16,98;405/123(conf.print),July 19.FO 405/123 (conf.print),July 1902,no.20. 1902,no5.20,23,24:DHXL,jmmm173:3-4a. 20.DHXL,jman 174:2b.It is indicative of the strength of the alliance between 15.YSKZZ,pp.704-07;FO 405/127 (conf.print),November 1902,nos.76,78: Yuan and Rong-lu that when Rong-lu was attacked for alleged pro-Boxer sym- 405/128 (conf.print),December 1902,nos.24,55. pathies,Yuan vigorously defended him;YSYZY,jmmt 12:1-3;FO 405/119 (conf. 16.PTT,Oct.11 and 18,1902.It is also possible that Yuan may have accepted print),March 1902,no.10
44 POWER AND POLITICS IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA 5TABILIZING ZHILI:FIRST YEARS,1901-1903 45 branches were reopened because of Russian pressure,the British relinquished control over the projected branch line from Beijing to In Zhili,the recovery of Tianjin and the railway put Yuan in a Zhangjiakou on the condition that it be built solely with Chinese much better position to deal with the province's financial crisis.His capital.21 Thus by September,1902,when the railway was formally attention was now drawn to other impediments to the exercise of returned,Yuan could take credit for its safe return,as well as full military control over the province. the plan for a Chinese-owned and operated Beijing-Zhangjiakou Military Rivalry and the branch. Suppression of Peasant Insurgents But Yuan also paid a price for British support and cooperation. He now had to tolerate British interference in the internal affairs Concurrently with negotiating with the Powers over Tianjin and of Zhili province.For example,during the summer of 1902,Yuan the Beijing-Shenyang Railway,Yuan Shi-kai tried to quiet local tried to remove a corrupt and incompetent old crony of Li Hong- unrest which was continuing in Zhili.Yuan considered "bandit zhang,Mei Dong-yi,who still commanded a small force at Cang- suppression"an urgent matter,if only to convince the Powers that zhou.At the instigation of local salt merchants and gentry in the there was no longer any danger of Boxer-type insurrections get- Cangzhou area,the British minister in Beijing applied friendly ting out of control,and thus that withdrawal of their troops was pressure on Yuan,citing Mei's protection of missionary lives and justified.In southern Zhili,Yuan was eventually successful in property in 1900-01.Yuan was forced to retain Mei and to recom- quelling unrest by the ruthless application of scorched earth tactics mend his reward for meritorious conduct during the Boxer period.22 by units of his Newly Created Army.But in northeast Zhili,where Regardless of such costs and the long-term political consequences, equally serious banditry and religious sect uprisings had been en- Yuan's pact with the British brought immediate political dividends. demic since the 1890s,he could do little.Authority for "bandit In Beijing the Empress Dowager was delighted with Yuan's success suppression"in this region remained in the hands of General Ma in negotiating the withdrawal of foreign troops from Tianjin and Yu-kun and the Yijun.With the recovery of Tianjin and the Beijing- the Beijing-Shenyang Railway.Late in 1902 she allegedly made the Shenyang Railway,Ma Yu-kun's and Yuan Shi-kai's rivalry for following comment about Yuan and another favorite,Cen Chun- military control of the province became open. xuan: In southern Zhili,the "allied villagers"(lianzhuang hui)insurrec- tions that had troubled Li Hong-zhang's administration in 1901 Who would have thought that with the events of the year of continued to occur in 1902,presenting Yuan with much the same 1900 which swept me up in disaster would be the opportunity kind of problem that Li had faced.These insurrections originated as for me to find two such loyal officials,one being Cen Chun- xuan,the other being Yuan Shi-kai.Both were brave,cour- local protests against the levy of additional taxes said to be needed ageous,and young.In the south,Cen pacified the distur- to meet the province's quotas for Boxer indemnity payments.24 The bances in Guangdong and Guangxi for me;in the north,Yuan deall first outbreak of this sort during Yuan's administration occurred in with the foreigners for me,recovering Beijing and Tianjin.Although April,1902,when an uprising of villagers at Jingding on the Bei- their years are very few,they are really able to accomplish jing-Hankou Railway line was swiftly suppressed.25 In the next things;for the next twenty years,I can rest easily without month,May,an uprising in southwestern Zhili developed into the worrying.23 most serious disturbance faced by Yuan while governor-general. 24.Y5KZZ,pp.539,718-19;PTT,June 29 and July 27 (supp.),1901.Southwest 21.FO 405/124 (conf.print),August 1902,nos.43,75;also Rosenbaum,"Impe- Zhili had long been a hotbed of peasant organization and insurrection;see Susan rialism and Chinese Railway Policy." Nacquin,Millenarinn Rebellion in China:Eigh Trigrnms Uprisings in 1813 (New Haven, 22.PTT,Aug.2,1902;FO 405/118(conf.print),February 1902,no.59;YSKZZ 1976),and Dai Xuan-zhi,Yihetuan yanjin (Taibei,1963).On similar uprisings at about pp.718,721,2181-83.For background on Mei Dong-yi,see Liu Feng-han,Wiori jun, the same time in neighboring Henan province,see Roger Des Forges,Hsi-linngnd pp.305-06. Chinese National Reoion,pp.28-30;and on liazi in general,see references in 23.Liu Hou-sheng,Zhang jian zhuanji,p.121,emphasis added. Jean Chesneaux,ed.,Popular Mooements md Secret Societies in Chimn,1840-1950. 25.PTT,May 3,1902 (supp.)
46 POWER AND POLITICS IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA STABILIZING ZHILI:FIRST YEARS,1901-1903 47 The Empress Dowager had passed through southwestern Zhili style Huai and Green Standard Army soldiers marched from Nan- on her way back to Beijing at about the time that signs of serious gong,a nearby prefecture capital,to avenge Bao;but they too were unrest in Julu,Wei,and Guangzong xian were first noticed.The badly beaten.Then,on April 26,a French Catholic priest and some area(east and southeast of Shunde,near the Shandong-Zhili bor- converts were killed;his head hung on the south gate of Jinian,a der)was one of the poorest in the province and recently had been small village not far from Shatusi.By May,insurrection swept the suffering from poor harvests.26 In contrast to such poverty,the area,with its center the district capital of Julu.Quite possibly,as opulence of the Empress Dowager's passage through the area was many as 20,000 men took up arms against the government.31 outrageous.Indeed,a connection may have existed between the It was Jing Ting-bin's leadership which gave the insurrection spectacle presented by the Empress Dowager and her entourage cohesion and force enough to become a full-blown rebellion.A and the rebellion that erupted in these three districts a few months native of Guangzong district,by then in his mid-50s,Jing had a later. military juren degree.He was deadly earnest and a fatalist about the The immediate causes of the rebellion,however,were oppressive rebellion.Anticipating defeat even before raising the cry of revolt taxes and Yuan's military conscription campaign.Guangzong,Wei, -"Sweep out the Qing and destroy the foreigner"(sao-Qing mie- and Julu xian had been almost completely free of Boxer activity in yang)-Jing killed all members of his family to spare them torture 1900.Yet,in 1901 and 1902 opium,sugar,and tea taxes were raised and execution by the state.Little wonder that in radical student and new cigarette,liquor,stamp,and special assessment taxes were circles of the time,Jing was admired as a revolutionary hero.32 added,allegedly to meet Zhili's quota of Boxer indemnity pay- Today Jing Ting-bin is depicted as a social as well as political ments.27 In Guangzong the xian magistrate also levied a heavy extra revolutionary,suggesting that his rebellion involved class war- tax on each mou of land.28 As early as the fall of.1901 in the fare.33 Jing was a local elite or gentry member himself.Together Guangzong,Wei,and Julu area,there was considerable local indig- with other local gentry,he initially met with the local magistrate to nation about the new taxes.29 By the spring of 1902,when a severe complain about oppressive taxation.Only later,toward the end of drought seemed to portend another poor harvest,the situation 1901,did Jing break with his gentry associates and call for rebellion, became serious.Hostility was directed mainly against the govern- leading a growing number of peasant insurrectionists through the ment;but foreigners,too,became targets because of the indemnity incidents narrated above.34 No information has been found as yet issue.Moreover,Yuan had announced his intention to enlist 100- on how the rebels treated local gentry in areas that they controlled. 140 men from each xian in Zhili for a new division of his army. Thus the class character of the rebellion is not clear and requires Clearly the threat and fact of forced conscription was also a cause further investigation. of the rebellion.30 One of the first incidents was the massacre of a Unquestionably the rebellion led by Jing Ting-bin alarmed the local recruiter and his men. Court in Beijing.During May,1902,apprehensive grand council- The rebellion itself developed out of incidents which occurred in lors repeatedly assured representatives of the Powers that the late April,1902.On April 21 a Lieutenant Bao,who was in Wei xian situation in southwestern Zhili was under control.The man re- recruiting troops for a new division,unwittingly entered the small sponsible for controlling the situation,of course,was Yuan Shi- village of Shatusi which a small band of determined insurrection- kai.35 ists led by Jing Ting-bin had just succeeded in capturing.Bao and Yuan reacted quickly and decisively.On May 7 he dispatched a sixty of his recruits were killed.Three days later,1,500 of the old- trusted deputy,Duan Qi-rui,to the area with about 4,000 of his best Western-drilled and armed troops.Duan won a large battle at 26.YSKZZ,pp.539,553;FRUS,pp.167-69:PTT,May10,1902. 27.Yihefunn yundong shi lmcong,p.52. 28.Gunngzong xianzhi (1933),jnan 1:11a. 31.YSKZZ,p.533;FRUS,pp.167-69;PTT,May 10 and 17 (supp.),1902. 29.YSKZZ,Pp.414-16,474,623-24. 32.YSKZZ.pp.604-09;Yihcluan yandong shi luncong,pp.56-58. 30.YSKZZ.p.629;PTT,May 10,1902.For more on the army and conscription, 33.Yihelun yudong shi lncong,pp.56-58. see Chapter 4. 34.YSKZZ,p.623
48 POWER AND POLITICS IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA STABILIZING ZHILI:FIRST YEARS,1901-1903 Julu and by the end of May,through scorched earth tactics,had too lenient with the rebels,who were irreconcilable,unsavory suppressed the rebellion completely.36 Late in July Jing Ting-bin types(here Yuan cites the rebel slogan:"Sweep out the Qing and was captured in northern Henan,executed,and his head displayed destroy the foreigner").Yuan criticized local gentry for at first in the xian capital of Guangzong.37 representing the rebels'grievances to the local officials.Yuan fur- Yuan and the foreign press applauded the behavior of Duan's ther insisted that the taxes local officials were asking the people to troops in the disturbed areas because they refrained from pillag- pay were not onerous.In Guangzong,for example,a significant ing.38 However,the basic situation did not improve;it grew worse. portion of the amount required was raised from sources such as By applying scorched earth tactics against the rebels,Duan had existing surpluses of educational and salt monopoly funds.Yuan devastated much of Guangzong,Wei,and Julu xians.39 By October, related how at the time of the Empress Dowager's trip through 1902,the area was in desperate economic condition,plagued by southwestern Zhili he had gone to the disturbed area and dismissed marauding gangs of disbanded soldiers,and neglected by Yuan's incompetent officials.But local officials and gentry again proved administration.40 weak,permitting Jing Ting-bin and his gang to prosper.Finally, On July 13,1902,the Grand Council commented to the throne when the old Huai and Green Standard Army units stationed in the that they had received complaints about Yuan's severity in han- area had completely failed to cope with the situation,Yuan had to dling of the Jing Ting-bin rebellion.41 The substance of the com- send Duan Qi-rui with his troops.Duan quickly defeated the rebels plaints was that oppressive taxation was the chief cause of the and executed their principal leaders.Yuan ended the memorial by rebellion;hence,blame lay with local officials.More leniency,it was stating that now,with the rebellion thoroughly suppressed,he was argued,should have been shown toward the people upon whom ready to request tax exemptions and relief funds for the stricken unjust exactions had been forced.The grand councillors asked that area.43 the offending officials be punished severely.Although indirect, The brutal suppression of Jing Ting-bin's rebellion ended the these complaints constituted an attack upon Yuan's policies toward string of popular uprisings that had occurred in southern Zhili the rebellion and may well have been initiated by his enemies at since the summer of 1900.Simultaneously a series of campaigns Court,Prince Qing and Qu Hong-ji. were launched to bring order to northeast Zhili.But this task the Yuan Shi-kai answered the charges in a long memorial to the Empress Dowager entrusted to Ma Yu-kun,not to Yuan Shi-kai. throne.42 Comparing the Jing Ting-bin rebels with the Boxers and During the first year of Yuan's administration in Zhili,the mili- the Taipings,he argued that in the past it had been necessary to tary power of Ma Yu-kun and the Yijun was nearly equal to Yuan's. deal severely with rebellions.Yuan's models were Zeng Guo-fan Li Hong-zhang had relied heavily upon Ma for military aid and had and Hu Lin-yi.He quoted Hu Lin-yi as saying:"If military resolve is given him considerable military power in the province before Yuan not firm,then good people become contentious;how much more is was in office.Although nominally a subordinate of Yuan as Zhili's it true for unruly people [luan-min]!"In this case,Yuan continued, commander-in-chief,Ma was independent because of the personal punishment of local officials for their oppression of the people favor he enjoyed with the Empress Dowager.Ma had accompanied would be ludicrous.The problem was that local officials had been the Empress Dowager on her flight from Beijing,and Ma and Yuan had shared responsibilities as protectors on her return trip through 35.FRUS,pp.168-70;PTT,May 10,1902;DHXL,jmer 172:20b. Zhili.In January,1902,the Empress Dowager awarded Ma the title 36.YSKZZ,pp.533-37,538-40;Wu Ting-xie,Hefei zhizheng miampu(1938),jen 1:5b; of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent,the same title she had PTT,May 17 (supp.),1902. bestowed on Yuan a month earlier.In February,Song Qing died 37.PTT,Aug.2,1902. 38.YSKZZ,p.625;PTT,June 21,1902 (supp.). and the Empress Dowager made Ma formally head of the Yijun, 39.FO 228/1464.Consul-general Hopkins to Satow,telegram no.5,May 26, about 8,000 to 10,000 men stationed at Tongzhou (some fifteen 1902. 40.PTT,Aug.2 and Oct.11,1902. miles east of Beijing).In addition,the Yijun was not dependent 41,DHXL,j48N174:2b. 42.YSKZZ,pp.604-09. 43.See also later memorials,YSKZZ,pp.622-25