42 THE ARMY THE ARMY 43 capital and endangering the throne.The blame lies with those serving His Majesty.In order to maintain peace,it is necessary to protect the of seeking Yuan's help,and it is utterly inconceivable that he sovereign.Since it is already midnight,I ask permission to leave and would attempt to induce Yuan into such an important undertak- promise to return tomorrow.The next morning,His Excellency comes ing with only a copy of the document. to see me instead.It is then that I report everything.to him in detail. Third,in both accounts above,Yuan willingly pledged his sup- Jung-lu turns pale and cries,"If I have any intention of assassinating the Emperor,Heaven may condemn me to death!..."I plead with him, port to the emperor and promised not to betray the reformers' "His Majesty had nothing to do with this at all.If anything happens to trust.According to him,he did not tell Jung-lu about the re- him,I will take poison!"28 formers'plan until the morning of September 21,after the con- servatives had staged a coup in Peking,imprisoning the emperor Liang Ch'i-ch'ao records the same incident in his biography of and ending the reform.But the question remains,what did he T'an Ssu-t'ung: and Jung-lu talk about from sunset to midnight on the zoth? On the evening of September 18,he [T'an]went to the Hua-fa Temple (One source reports that Yuan arrived at Tientsin even earlier to see Yuan.He asked him openly,"What do you think of His Majesty?" that day,on the g:oo p.M.train.30)Every account except Yuan's Yuan replied,"A great and sagacious ruler."T'an asked further,"Do you know about the plot behind the forthcoming military ceremonies in agrees that he went to see Jung-lu right away and made a full Tientsin?"Yuan said that he did.Then Mr.T'an showed a confidential report on the activities in the capital.According to the'Shanghai edict to Yuan and said,"You,Sir,are the only man who can help our newspaper Shen pao,Jung-lu immediately telegraphed Yuan's wise Emperor.The decision is entirely yours."Mr.T'an also touched his alarming news to the empress;many other sources say that Jung- own neck with his hands and added,"If you decide against.it,please go lu left for Peking by train to appeal to the empress personally for to the Summer Palace to report to Her Majesty.You will get wealth and power there."Yuan retorted sternly,"What kind of man do you think I action.There was time for either or both. am?We both serve our sovereign and receive his favor.The duty of pro- On September 21,the empress went from the Summer Palace, tecting him is not yours alone.Tell me what to do."T'an went on, about six miles west of Peking,to the imperial palace,interned "Jung-lu's scheme will be carried out at the military ceremonies.Your the emperor,and proclaimed her second regency.With the help army and the two commanded by Tung and Nieh are under his control. of British and Japanese friends,K'ang Yu-wei and Liang Ch'i- He is going to use you all as instruments in his plan.But Tung and ch'ao escaped abroad,but six other reform leaders were arrested Nieh are nothing;only you,Mr.Yuan,are a strong man.You can crush the other two armies and protect His Majesty.The decision to restore and put to death.The offices that had been abolished were re- authority to His Majesty and establish order at the palace is completely stored;the changes in the examination system were reversed;all yours."Yuan declared,"At the ceremony,if His Majesty rides into my the reformers in the civil service were dismissed and punished. headquarters and gives me the order to execute the villains,I shall cer- The reform came to an end. tainly do my best,together with you and your friends...."Mr.T'an asked,"Will it be easy to deal with a cunning man like Jung-lu?"Yuan On September 25,Jung-lu was recalled to Peking.Yuan Shih- replied with anger in his eyes,"When His Majesty comes to my head- k'ai took over theviceroyalty and commissionership until Yu-lu quarters,I shall kill Jung-lu as if slaughtering a dog." was.appointed three days later.On September 29,the empress richly rewarded Yuan;he was to remain her henchman until her Yuan's account differs considerably from Liang's and from other death in 1908. records as well.Several points of interest emerge. First,although a radical,T'an Ssu-t'ung would not resort to the threats Yuan described.They were simply not in keeping with his character.Furthermore,he would have known the futility of threatening a man renowned for his bravery and physical strength. Second,the confidential mandate shown to Yuan was very likely a genuine one in the Vermilion Pencil.T'an was a strong advocate
THE GOVERNOR 45 FOUR and wipe out the foreigners,"might have won the sympathy of many reformers.One eyewitness of the movement,Sir Robert Hart,described it as "patriotic in origin and justifiable in its The Governor,1899-I9oI fundamental ideas."Another,Putnam Weale,described it as a "blight"attacking the foreigners:"We are accused by the whole population of North China."C.F.Remer was even more explicit: "The movement may be regarded as evidence of a growing feeling of national patriotism in China."a But the similarity between the Boxers and the reformers ends LIKE the Hundred Days'Reform,the Boxer Uprising was a direct here.The reformers were all scholarly gentry,well versed in China's traditional political philosophy and acquainted with result of foreign aggression.It began in the peninsular province of Shantung.Shantung had escaped much of the foreign interference Western statecraft.They argued their case in a highly literate man- suffered by the other coastal provinces since 1840.But the arrival ner.They had little trust in those in power and wanted to replace them with a new kind of official.In contrast,the Boxers were un- of missionaries to set up churches in the villages led to cultural sophisticated,crude,and violent.Their main tactics were slaugh- confrontation,resentment,property disputes,and litigations.The situation was aggravated in the spring of 1898,when Germans ter and plunder.They had little trust in the gentry,proposing instead an alliance between the court aristocrats and the peasantry. came to build railways and to mine.. The movement began to attract official attention early in 18g8, The Shantung peasants were renowned for their physical and mental toughness.(Most of Yuan Shih-k'ai's recruits at Hsiaochan but the provincial authorities took no effective steps against it. In terms of doctrine,it was regarded as no more heretical than the came from this province.)At the same time,they were superstitious Christian churches;nor was it considered politically subversive. and backward.Apart from the experience of endless hardship, their main sources of knowledge were rudimentary,often heretical From May 18g8 to March 1899,the Boxers gained substantial pop- ular support for their brutal activities.Among their victims were religious tenets preached by popular sects,and myths.During the second half of the nineteenth century,stories and myths became Christian missionaries and converts and foreign engineers.The situation took a sharp turn in March,when Germany sent troops to increasingly popular in China as an escape from ugly reality-a Ichow in southern Shantung to protect her missionaries.The development made possible by the introduction of the modern printing press.Many Chinese believed in such phenomena as Peking government,fearing unpleasant consequences,cashiered physical invulnerability,the emission of lethal lights from the the governor,Chang Ju-mei,and appointed Yui-hsien,a Manchu, eyes,the nostrils,and the fingertips,and the existence of invisible in his place.The new governor soon fell under the spell of the generals and armies far stronger than the visible ones.As the for. Boxers.Instead of suppressing them,he became an enthusiastic sponsor of the movement.The Boxers went on killing and burn- eigners'weapons became,in the words of a Chinese epithet,"in- conceivably and obscenely advanced,"the magic tricks of the Chi- ing,violence for which the central government had to pay com- pensation.The Germans demanded 100,o00 taels for the loss of nese grew more elaborate and allegedly more powerful.Although life and property at Ichow,and another 60,ooo taels for damages some considered this extreme belief in-magic absurd,it reflected to the Tsaochow churches in the summer of 1899.Toward the strong popular feelings toward the foreigners.The Boxers based their policy on these beliefs and feelings. end of the year,clashes between Boxers and Christians became The Boxer Movement and the Hundred Days'Reform had a even more frequent.On December 6,1899,Yu-hsien was recalled, similar goal:the strengthening of China's central government.If and Yuan Shih-k'ai was appointed acting governor of Shantung, phrased more elegantly,the Boxers'slogan,"Support the Ch'ing a post that soon became permanent. This important appointment was not unexpected.Yuan was
46 THE GOVERNOR THE GOVERNOR 47 already a senior official-a vice-president of the Board of Works since June 1899.After the collapse of the reform,Yuan's horizon Yuan proposed both long-range and short-range measures had widened considerably,perhaps a sign of the empress's increas- against the Boxers.In the long run,he hoped to promote under- ing reliance on him.Military training remained his primary re. standing between the common people and the Christians;more sponsibility;and in 1899 he made two major defense proposals, immediately,however,he was determined to maintain law and or- that the empire's modern forces be increased to 10,000 men,and der and to liquidate the bandit elements and the Boxer leaders. that the army be made self-sufficient in military supplies.But his He was firmly against the government's plan to organize the rebels memorials now covered an extensive range of topics,including tax into militia units: reform,coal-mining,and foreign relations.+The government had Leaving aside the impossibility of reassembling those already dispersed been consulting him for some time about the Boxer problem.In and restoring those already suppressed,it would be difficult for the gov- July 1899,he submitted a memorial on the religious incidents in ernment to find capable people to lead the militia.Qualified officials and gentry simply.would not undertake such a task.Even if they could be Shantung,suggesting that the unrest there could be stopped by persuaded,how could they understand the feelings and aims of the Box- sending a well-disciplined force to police the area.He also sug- ers,who after all practice a heresy and use magical incantations?How gested that local officials be informed of the provisions in China's could they control them?Further,the militia has always been financed treaties and agreements so they would be in a better position to by the ordinary people.To organize hundreds of thousands into new militia units would require a huge sum of money.Where would it come deal with foreign representatives.Yuan himself was the only man from if not from the people?Please allow me to speculate on the evil with the experience and the military force necessary for the job. consequences of all this.As soon as bandits can use the name of militia Further,he knew the province and its people well. and heretical sects are given legitimate authority,they will operate Two corps of Yuan's troops had been dispatched to Shantung openly;it will be impossible to disband them again.Unchecked,they in May 1899 for the ostensible purpose of a joint maneuver with will seize the opportunity to satisfy their own selfish ends.How then can the provincial garrison.On his appointment,Yuan took the rest general chaos and widespread suffering among the common people be prevented?7 of his division with him.But this does not mean he was to wield a heavy hand;on the contrary,his instructions from the throne Yuan's suppression of the movement was both severe and thor- were to proceed with caution.He was to see that conflicts between ough,prompting the anxious dowager empress to demand that he the common people and the Christians were handled fairly,and be more lenient.The situation in Shantung had quieted down, he was not to rely solely on military force,"lest the people be however,especially after the famous Pingyuan incident of October frightened into revolt."(Yuan received the opposite advice from 1899.The rebels fled to the more open province of Chihli.During a former local official in Shantung,Lao Nai-hstian,who had made the turbulent year of 1goo,Yuan laid a foundation of stability in a special study of the Boxers and felt that they should be sup- his province.As Putnam Weale recorded,"Shantung is all right, pressed at any cost.) never fear....The provincial governor is a strong Chinaman, The first thing Yuan did was to test the Boxers'claim of invul- one Yuan Shih-k'ai." nerability.A number of Boxers willing to put themselves to the To suppress the Boxers,Yuan requested that his division be ex- test were killed by his firing squad.Previous demonstrations had panded.In response,Peking instructed him to reorganize the 20 reportedly left the Boxers unscathed(proving only,'one supposes, corps of the provincial garrison into a vanguard for his army.Feng that Yuan's marksmen were more accurate than their predeces- Kuo-chang,who,like Tuan Ch'ijui and Wang Shih-chen,now sors).Yuan charged that even in force the Boxers were ineffective, held a rank equivalent to prefect,was placed in charge of this nothing that once 400 to 500 of them attacked a single church and work.The morale of the officers and men was high,thanks to their failed to take it."How can they wipe out foreigners?Even if they success against the rebels.Yuan's Right Division was far stronger could recruit millions of people and roam around everywhere, than any of the other divisions of the Imperial Guard Army- spreading like bush fires,what effect would they have?" Jung-lu's Central,Sung Ch'ing's Left,Nieh Shih-ch'eng's Front, and Tung Fu-hsiang's Rear divisions.It also had the good fortune
48 THE GOVERNOR THE GOVERNOR 49 to be stationed some distance away from the Metropolitan.Prov- haps the best contacts with foreigners in Shanghai,where he re- ince,where the Boxer War broke out in 1goo. sided but was in the enviable position of not being a local official. Once the Shantung Boxers entered Chihli,they received support from many Manchu dignitaries,including Yu-lu,the viceroy. Thus Yuan sent the telegram to him instead of directly to Liu or Through these officials,they won the favor of the august dowager Chang. Yuan's first message was ignored,but the second fell on sym- empress.Rebels and officials collaborated in attacks on Christians pathetic ears.Dissension between Peking and the southeastern and all those suspected of foreign contacts.Killing and plunder- ing were the order of the day.Hu Yui-fen,the commissioner for provinces inevitably grew,as the capital looked on the Boxers as railway affairs,was nearly killed and had to flee to Yuan Shih-k'ai an effective force against foreign encroachment and the provin- cial leaders saw them as members of an absurd but dangerous for protection.Tung Fu-hsiang's Kansu Army was particularly ac- movement.Provincial criticism was temporarily silenced,however, tive in supporting the Boxers.Nieh Shih-ch'eng,who questioned by a Boxer victory. how effective the Boxers'magic was and what good the movement Sir E.H.Seymour,the British naval commander at Tientsin, could do the country,tried to oppose the rebels.After receiving a severe rebuke from the empress for what she called rash action, was anxious to lift the siege of the legations and,with some 2,000 Nieh backed down.Jung-lu was of two minds.He was afraid of soldiers,attempted to fight his way to Peking.From June 1o to June 18,his force clashed with the Boxers and Nieh Shih-ch'eng's what might happen if the Boxers continued to provoke the foreign and Tung Fu-hsiang's divisions.The British were compelled to powers,but he was also afraid of the empress's wrath. In June 1goo;the Boxer forces besieged the legation quarter in retreat after suffering heavy casulties.To many conservatives,this proved the Boxers'abilities.The empress atonce called her offi- Peking.The embassies expected reinforcements on the 11th. cials to the palace for a conference;here they resolved to award When none came,hope soon dwindled to despair.A chancellor of the Boxers 100,000 taels of silver and to set up altars of worship the Japanese legation volunteered to break through the blockade everywhere.They also decided to attack the legations.Jung-lu to find out what had happened.His driver soon returned to report was appointed commander of the operation.Still indecisive,he that the chancellor had been decapitated and his body mutilated wrote to Liu K'un-i in Nanking,forecasting the lamentable results by Tung Fu-hsiang's army near the Temple of Heaven. News of the murder and the siege reached the capital of Shan- of a weak country's provoking several strong ones. By then eight nations-Austria,Britain,France,Germany,Italy, tung on the 13th.Yuan sent a telegram to Jung-lu,exhorting him either to protect the legations or to evacuate all the diplomats from Japan,Russia,and the United States-had formed a loose alliance and had dispatched forces to Taku.On June 17,the strong fortress Peking.At the same time,he telegraphed Sheng Hsuan-huai in Shanghai:"About 8,o00 foreign troops near Tientsin and Peking; there fell,exposing Tientsin to attack.But in the capital,provoca- tions continued.The German Minister von Ketteler was murdered 10,000 more on their way.Dare not surmise what will happen. at the order of a Manchu prince on June 20,and the next day Please advise me.Do Viceroys Liu K'un-i and Chang Chih-tung the empress declared war.A battle for Tientsin began soon after- have any good suggestions?"As the junior governor,Yuan was ward.General Nieh Shih-ch'eng died in action on the outskirts of not in a position to advocate an independent policy and assume the city on July 9,and five days later his troops were completely leadership.But this telegram strongly hinted to the other provin- scattered.The Left Division was now under the command of Gen- cial leaders that something must be done to secure southern and eral Ma Yu-k'un,who firmly believed in the Boxers'invincibility eastern China,something more than the talk of reinstating Li and ordered an attack with disastrous results.On August 5,when Hung-chang as viceroy of Chihli.It also implied Yuan's willing- ness to cooperate with them in a conceried action.Sheng,Li Hung- the city of Tientsin fell,his division was put out of action.With the city went the biggest arsenal in northern China.On the same chang's lieutenant aud a key man in economic matters,had per- day,the viceroy of Chihli,Yu-lu,committed suicide. 1法，5
THE GOVERNOR 50 THE GOVERNOR 51 most prestige at home and abroad and the greatest seniority and The victorious expeditionary forces then drove toward Peking, experience,not to mention a large number of henchmen hold- where on August 13,outside the city wall,they engaged in a fierce battle against General Tung Fu-hsiang's troops.The empress,in ing key posts all over the empire.Chang Chih-tung and Liu K'un-i were also possible choices,for they too were senior officials with a desperate attempt to rally her supporters,called a conference in their own military forces.However,if security was the supreme the palace on the 14th,but no one attended.The next day,only hours before the expeditionary forces entered the city,the em- consideration,Yuan's army might just tip the balance.At all events,its destruction woul have eliminated him from consid- press,the emperor,and their entourage fled in disguise.The siege eration. of the legations was lifted,and the infamous sack of Peking began. When the empress commanded Yuan to dispatch troops to Tien- While disaster fell on Tientsin and Peking,peace reigned in the southeast.Local authorities declined to follow Peking's lead and tsin on June 17,he sent only a token force of 3,o00 men under the command of Sun Chin-piao.After reaching Tehchow in northern adopted a policy of protecting their own territories.In a memorial to the throne on June 19;Yuan recommended this policy as the Shantung,they were ordered to return because Yuan heard of their lack of discipline;he replaced them with six battalions under best way to save the empire from catastrophe and to protect the economic resources of the southeast,which were vital to the dy- Hsia Hsin-yu's command,which were not units of the Right Divi- sion.These delaying tactics gained a day or two of precious time. nasty.Through Sheng Hsuan-huai,he arranged a rapprochement On June 20,two days after Seymour's defeat,the empress confi- with the British based at Chefoo.He and his senior colleagues, notably Li Hung-chang of Kwangtung,Chang Chih-tung of Hupei, dently ordered Yuan to recall Hsia's troops.This was swiftly done. Two days later the situation changed,and urgent calls for help and Liu K'un-i of Kiangsu,maintained a friendly attitude toward the foreign powers throughout the whole episode.Yuan's initial came from Peking.Yuan replied that Hsia's troops,having just diffidence gradually gave way,as he perceived the urgent need for returned,could not be sent again.Sheng Hsiian-huai begged him to reconsider,but Yuan remarked,"The critical illness is under- action to preserve peace in the southeast.Having advocated the recall of Li Hung-chang at the beginning of the Boxer troubles, going a change.Better not hurry with medicine." Sheng Hsuian-huai now wrote Yuan in a telegram dated July 14: .At the beginning of July,when Li Hung-chang himself urged "Ho-fei [Li Hung-chang]is too old:Sir,you are the man of Yuan to lead his troops to Chihli to suppress the Boxers,Yuan destiny." replied,"If I lead my troops to save the foreign ministers at Peking without imperial sanction,I am afraid I shall be defeated on the Day by day,Yuan's position became increasingly important.His way.This I really cannot do."1s When Sheng Hstian-huai entreated office in Isinan,close to the capital,was the center of telecom- munications between the court,the provinces,and the Chinese him again,he replied,"The less we talk about it,the better." legations overseas.He was not only the best-informed man in the However,as a gesture of Yuan's loyalty to.the throne,Hsia Hsin- empire but also the strongest,since by now the four other divi. yu's small contingent eventually arrived at Peking,only to be sions of the imperial army had been destroyed,leaving Yuan's swept away in the tide of events. force the only modern army in northern China.The stage was To persuade the empress of his undying loyalty,Yuan was the cleared for his entrance;supreme power was suddenly within his first to send money,silks,and even food to the imperial traveling grasp. lodge.Although Shantung was a relatively poor province,his con- Power did not just fall into his hands;his own astute judgment tribution to the igoI indemnity was to be the second-largest from helped.It was clear that after the Boxer crisis northern China a provincial governor.When there was talk that the foreign powers would once again be a power vacuum,as it had been after the should demand the termination of the empress's regency,he was downfall of Li Hung-chang five years earlier.The much coveted the first to oppose the idea.He left no room for anyone to stand viceroyalty of Chihli would have to be given to a strong man. between him and his mistress. It would be unfair to blame Yuan alone for lack of action in Among those eligible for the post,Li Hung-chang himself had the