China, her history, diplomacy, and commerce : from the earliest times to the present day.

Front matter

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A

Division

Chapter I

Accurate notions of Chinese geography — Eighteen Provinces and natural limits — Natural movements of population — Significant distinction between east and west parts — Its bearing upon British commerce — China has spread outwards : we regard her inwards — Original movements of ancient Chinese — Changes of Yellow River stream — Early Chinese capitals — Supposed Babylonian origin — Attacks by nomads — Line of Chinese further advance — Dialect areas — Non-Chinese populations in China — How distributed in northern and southern halves, and in eastern and western halves — Frontier tribes — Lolo tribes and their system of writing ; the Mission d’Ollone ; — M. Jacques Bacot and the Moso tribes — The Kachyns — Mrs. Bird-Bishop on some Tibetan tribes — Cave-dwellers of Sz Ch’wan — Shans in Hainan ; Rev. Samuel Clarke’s book — Spread ofj early Chinese through Yang-tsze Valley — By way of the lakes to Canton — Rise and erratic course of Yellow River — The loss region, and von Richthofen’s theory — Navigability of Yellow River ; Mr. Rodney Gilbert’s travels — Corruption in repairing its banks — China’s real “Sorrow” — Chinese engineers and the dykes; recent American plans — Source of the Yang-tsze — Chinese ideas on the subject, and their reason — Limit of navigation — Rev. S. Chevalier’s great charts — The Irrawaddy sources — Skill of steamer pilots — True sources of Upper Yang-tsze — Once a region competed for by Siamese and Tibetans — The Canton or West River — Its trade and the treaty port Wu-chou — Chinese have advanced along fines of least resistance — Its commercial significance — Salt trade ; Sir R. Dane’s reforms — - Yang-tsze Valley — Mountain ranges — Barrier between Tartars and Chinese — Between Tartars and Tibetans — Between Yang-tsze and West River valleys — Other ranges — Dr. Bretschneider’s excellent map; modern changes in city designations . . Pages 1-15

Chapter II

Insipidity of earliest annals — Confucius’ “ Spring and Autumn ” history — The destruction of the old literature — M. Chavannes and Sz-ma Ts’ien’s great history — Interest begins with foreign relations and nomad wars — The “ First Emperor’s ” unification of China — xv

XVI

The monosyllabic races of men — Roman comparisons — Comparisons with the states and territories of America — hirst news of Japan — The Han dynasty — The Hiung-nu (Huns or Turks) — Corea — The_old Canton kingdom, ^and Wu Ti’s conquest — The old Foochow kingdom — Conquests in Turkestan — Buddhism and India — Burma and Roman ships during later Han dynasty — New division into provinces — The “Three Empire” period — Sundering of North and South interests — The West drops into oblivion — Ts’in dynasty, ideally “ Chinese ” — -Tartar movements and displacement of dialects — Comparison with the Latin languages — “North and South” dynasty period — Comparison with the Empire of Charlemagne — Confusing succession of ephemeral dynasties — Unification under the Sui dynasty — The Franks — The nomad empire of the Jeujen — The Turks — Corean complications — Annexation of Annam — Japan’s new name and pretensions — Siam — Loochoo — Formosa — West Turks — Tibetans — T’ang dynasty replaces that of Sui — “ Men of T’ang ” — Rules from Persia to Corea — Turks succeeded by Ouigours — Stone inscriptions still extant — Tribal names applied to kingdoms — Arabs — Tibetan inscriptions — Tibetan and Siamese ambitions — Kashmir, Balti, Nepaul, and India — South Sea peoples — The Franks again — Hiung-nu and Turk ; repetition of history — Ephemeral dynasties follow that of T’ang — The Sung dynasty : its character — The Kitans — The N lichens — Old China and the Tientsin trade area — North and South empires once more — Displacement of populations — The Mongol conquests : general transformation — Kublai’s vast empire — The Ming dynasty replaces the Mongols — Great marine activity in the South Seas — Japanese piracy and Loochoo — Growth of the Eleuth power — Manila — The Franks coming by sea — Dutch and English — Abandonment of the Chinese in the South Seas by the Ming and Manchu dynasties — Ming influence in Asia weak — Miserable collapse of the dynasty — How the Manchus gained headway— Nurhachi’s wars with China — His son Abkhai — Wu San-kwei and the Chinese rebellion — The Manchus seize the opportunity — Utilise Mongol troops — Conquest of China completed — Conquest of W estern Mongolia, Tibet, and Turkestan — Climax of Manchu power — Submission of Nepaul — Annam, Burma, and Siam — Japan and Loochoo — Sulu — Manchus no aptitude for the sea — Land power compared with that of Kublai — Manchus better than Mongol — The “Boxers” ........ Pages 16-41

Chapter III Early Trade Notions

Interest begins with relations abroad — Chinese contempt for traders — - Early ideas on trade — Tribute and trade — Indifference to wealth — Growth of desire for gain— Early currency — Wars and scarcity — Rough treatment of traders — Army contractors — Salt and iron monopolists — Arbitrary sumptuary laws — Trade staples — Chinese standards of wealth — Diplomatic trade — Fans and horse trade— Tungusic trade — Turkestan and Canton trade — Syrian trade with the Far East — Pliny and Ptolemy — Where was Kattigara ? — Limited number of possible ports — Romans got silk and iron from China — — Land trade vid Parthia — Traders by sea and by land not always identified — Chinese agents on the Persian Gulf — Chinese priests make the round tour by land and sea — Division into two empires accounts xvii

for much ignorance — Hindoo and Arab colonies — Peaceful international relations — Roman traders at Nanking — Probable Irrawaddy and Momein route — Authors repeat the same stories — No question of duties or taxation — Arabs and Pranks — Attempt of the Emperor to reach the Franks — Anachronisms in national names — Active Arab trade — Arab and Persian attack at Canton — Turkish land trade — The iron trade again — Tea — Nestorian Stone and foreigners at Si-an Fu — Decline of Canton monopoly — Rise of Hangchow and Ningpo — Marco Polo’s Zaitun — Rare book on trade by a royal Chinese — Chinese trade in Indian Ocean — “ Faifo ” as a place of call — No trade with Tonquin — Sumatra ports — Marco Polo’s accounts : amply corroborated by Chinese — Colonel Yule’s splendid work — Eunuch emissaries from China to the Indian Ocean . Pages 42-58

Chapter IV

Two main branches of the great road to the West — Karakoram Pass not to be confused with Karakoram city — Sir Aurel Stein — Supposed “ land-compass ” and trade road to the South — Discovery of West River by Chinese — Hosie and Ainscough — Hu Nan route to Canton — Parthian and Indian road measures — Trade junction at Kokand — Has a 2,000 year history — No silk went by sea until the Parthians drove it thither — The Burma route — The travels of the monk Fah-hien — Cosmas on sixth-century trade — Hiian-chwang’s travels and Sir A. Stein — The Haiathala, or Ephthalites — Tokhara and the Arabs — Chavannes’ translation of other monks’ travels — Proof that trade routes existed — Mongols kept to northerly routes — Justin’s mission to the Turks — Persia and the silk trade — Persian and Arab sea trade — Persian appeal to China — Arab and Persian struggles round Kokand — Arabs work their way to the Kokonor region — Arabs and Ouigours — Rodney Gilbert — Arab alliance with Tartars of North China — Arab missions by sea : their route — Nestorians and Jews at this period — Chinese sea trade; Hirth and Rockhill — Canfu and Zaitun — Arabia and African coast — Persians and Nestorians confused — Parallel confusion later on between Franks and English — Conquests of Genghiz Khan — Roads followed by his messengers — And by Rubruquis, Haiton’s brother, etc. — First Mongol Mussulmans— Marco Polo’s route — Burmese routes again — Tonquin railway — Where was Zaitun ? — Parallels in nomenclature— Marco Polo’s sea route — Ibn Batuta’s voyage to China — Nestorian evidences — Takakusu’s discoveries — Chavannes, Pelliot, Tachibana — Turkish and Ouigour evidences — Carpini, Rubruquis, Odoric, Monte-Corvino — Marignoli, Pascal, and other Franks — Missions to and from Tamerlane— Goes was the first to identify “China” with “Cathay” — Lieutenant Wood — Ming eunuchs’ sea routes — Early name for Formosa — Land routes to Nepaul and Tibet — Manchu discoveries — Kalmuck wars, and consequent Manchu conquests — Roads to and from Tibet — Khotan road — Kokand and the Kashmir trade — Abb6 Hue’s route — Nepaul and Lhassa roads — British expedition of 1904 — Sources of Irrawaddy — Chinese pilgrims to Mecca — Mongol, Manchu, and Corean roads — Spread of railways in Mongolia — Annamese roads and trade — French railway to Yiin Nan — General conclusions and principles — Progress : is it of happy omen ? ...... Pages 59-86 xviii

Chapter V Arrival Of Europeans

St. Francis Xavier, the first missionary, dies at Sanciano — Founding of Macao — Arrival of Ricci — “ Franks ” at last identified — The first Portuguese traders — Mission to Peking ends in disaster — Frank guns, and how Macao was founded — Mendez Pinto, Ningpo, and Zaitun — Restrictions on trade — Rivalry of Dutch and Japanese — Portuguese settle quietly down — Macao’s degeneracy — Spaniards and Manila — Spaniards and Portuguese one realm — Massacre of Chinese at Manila — Koxinga threatens it — Chinese in Manila — The Dutch — Earliest known Chinese settlements in Formosa — Japanese rivalry — Koxinga drives out the Dutch — Dutch mission to Peking — Chinese obtain Dutch aid against pirates — Chinese incorporate Formosa with Fuh Kien — Dutch tribute to China — Van Braam’s mission — Dutch remain quiet till 1863 — Coolies for Sumatra — Dutch policy — Chinese demands after “ Boxer ” war — Ricci’s death and successors — The Manchus and Schaal — Verbiest makes cannon — Religious dissensions— Queen Elizabeth and China — English attack Canton, and are mistaken for Dutchmen — English at Amoy before 1730, and even earlier at Ningpo — Earlier still at Canton — Opium War of 1840-2 — History of opium — Chinese also to blame — Reforms since 1906 — Friction concerning right of entry into Canton — A Chinese junk visits England — Second war— More treaty ports — Russia takes advantage — Extension of missionary rights — British influence first — Japan looms to the front — Germany pushes forward — French influence declines — Murder of Margary — Chefoo Convention and more ports — Opium Convention — Sikkim Convention — Burma Convention — Convention of 1 897 — Kiang-hung Convention — Kowloon and Wei-hai Wei agreements — England has her fair share — Expedition to Tibet in 1904 — The Russians — Serve Mongols as body-guards — Pinto meets Russians — Russian captives at Peking — Incidents of Russian political intercourse — Kalgan trade convention — Ili question— China’s weak Manchurian policy — Changed — Siberian railway and Cassini Convention — Manchuria now Russian — New “ all-Russian ” railway — Manchuria and division of “rights” with Japan — France and Mangu Khan — Franks and Fulin — French “ ferocity ” and self-effacement — Treaty of Whampoa — Taiping religious rebellion — France and the second war — Cession of Saigon — Explorations in Indo-China — Gamier killed by Black Flags — Riviere’s similar fate — Tonquin rebellion — Hostilities with China — Fournier Treaty — Haiphong trade — Inland “ ports ” — Benefit to Hongkong — The Yiin Nan railway through Tonquin — Sz-mao opened to French and English trade — French occupy Kwang-chou Wan — Germany an unknown quantity — Prussian treaty — Rising pretensions after Franco-German War — Frederick the Great’s venture — Sides with the strongest after the Japanese War — Claims reward at Kiao Chou — Evil example — Japan ejects Germany — The United States — Surrender of Terranuova — Treaty of Wang-hia — American support at Taku — Treaty

of Washington — Chinese immigration — Honest broker attitude — Conscience money given back to China — Good influence in Corea — Lack of force — The Manila white elephant — Belgium — Portuguese position at Macao — Sr. Branco’s activity — Japanese aloofness — Perry’s treaty — Lord Elgin opens Japan to British trade — Japanese revolution — Transformation — Treaty of 1871 with China— Formosa dispute — xix

Loochoo — Japanese rights in Corea — Chinese intrigue — War with China — Shimonoseki Treaty — Opening of Soochow and Hangchow — The “ Boxers” give Japan her opportunity — She becomes a first-class Great Power, and annexes Corea — Denmark — Spain — Policy at Manila — Cuba coolie question — Exchange of envoys — Loss of Philippines— Senor Cologan’s services — Italy and the Pope — “Cultured barbarians” — Treaty of 1866 — Italy and Corea — Demands in the Cheh Kiang province rejected — Austria — Baron Czikann a “ brilliant second” — Swiss — Red Cross and Postal Convention — Peru — Brazil — Mexico and ill-treatment of Chinese — Congo State — Sweden — Mr. Carl Bock — Turkey’s fiasco in the Far East — Serbia, Rumania, Corean “Empire,” Uruguay — List of Treaties, etc., to 1906

Chapter VI Siberia, Etc

The Tartars — Hung equally over Europe and Asia — Russia occupies their place — Two main civilisations, Roman and Chinese — Russia caps the pair — Zones separating both Rome and China from Hyperboreans— Hiung-nu Empire, Huns, and Avars — Tungusic Empire replaces Hiung-nu — Never included Turkestan — Japanese captives — Rule North China— Fail as a nomad power — Comparison with Mongols — The Jeujen Empire — Not Avars — The Turks— Earlier, Later, and Western Empires — The Siberian tribes — The Ouigour Empire — Their Manicheism and the Chavannes-Pelliot documents — Tungusic power reappears — Kitans and Nuchens — The old Puh-hai kingdom — Kara- Kitans — Mongols — Kipchaks — Alans — Bulgars — Russians — Ancient Wusun and mediaeval Ephthalites — — Who are the Hungarians ? — Novgorod Republic — First ideas of Siberia — Kalmuck or Eleuth power — -Tamerlane and the Kipchaks — Realm of Sibir or Issibur : Tobolsk — Ivan the Terrible and the Yugurs of Sibir — Chinese and Russians in accord concerning the Khan of “ Catch ’em ” — The Strogonoff and the Cossack Yarmak — His raids and discoveries — Contract with the Kalmucks — Prudent Policy of the Czars : “ Heads I win, tails you lose ” — Hiatus in Kalmuck history — Russian missions to Altyn Khan on the Kem River — Alleged Chinese mission to Russia, 1619 — The first tea— Russian advance to the Amur — Little danger in the extreme north — Attempt to explore the Sungari — Albazin conflict — Treaty of Nerchinsk— Kiachta tea trade — Aigun treaty secures the Amur to Russia — Peking treaty secures Ussuri province to Russia — Tibet — Nepaul — Manipur — Burma — Siam — Japan — Corea . Pages 126-140

Chapter VII

Old co-hong system — East India Company — Life at Canton — Nature of Trade — -Treaties of Nankin, Tientsin, etc. — Comparison of 1880 trade with the trade of 1899 and 1913 — The Tea Trade — Good position of Great Britain — Revenue : its relation to trade — Cotton goods — Opium disappears — Woollens and metals — Russian imports — Mackay treaty of 1902 — British Textile Commissi oner — France and silk — Revolution of ideas caused by kerosene and flour — New

XX cigarette trade — Foreign clothing — Aniline dyes — Demand for luxuries — Curious sugar finance — Exports — Soya hispida and beancake — Straw-braid — The new feather and albumen trades — Hides, skins, and tobacco — Mats, hemp, oils, spirits, leather — Shipping — Foreign population — Pakhoi trade — Hoihow trade— Lappa and Kowloong — Large silk filature trade at Canton — Li Hung-chang’s intelligence — Transit-pass Nemesis at Wu-chou — Rival provincial capitals — Swatow trade — Amoy or “ Zaitun ” — Disappearing tea trade — Bad government in Fuh Kien — New port of Santu Ao — Foochow’s decline — Wenchow trade— Ningpo transformations — Railway bickerings — Hangchow trade and likin understandings — Summer resort of Ruling — The Poyang Lake and the railway — Shanghai the great centre — River trade — Chungking — Novel conditions of trade — Branch at Wan Men — I chang and its transhipment trade— Sz Ch’wan railway — Tea and hides — Shashi, a failure — Railway to Hu Nan — Yochou and its possibilities — Ch’ang-sha and its antimony — Hankow’s central position — Tea still flourishes — Kewkiang trade fairly flourishing — Wuhu and its great rice trade — The port of Nanking, a great railway centre — Chinkiang and its prospects — Great increase in the Newchwang trade — Port Arthur not now a treaty port — Ta-hen Wan as a railway terminus — Tientsin : enormous development of its trade within recent years — Ranks almost next to Shanghai — Great wool trade with Mongolia — Great area served by Tientsin— Advantages of Ts’in-wang Tao as an ice-free port, coal export — Kalgan, Kia-yuh Kwan, and the Russian land trade — Chefoo and her extended trade — Kiao Chou as a limited “ free port” was entirely German — Wei-hai Wei’s doubtful status as a port — Corean trade now Japanese affair — Shanghai the great centre — Caution in estimating trade totals — Tonquin trade and railways — Mengtsz — Lungehow — Sz-mao — Kwang-chou Wan — Soochowand the Shanghai-Nanking railway — Kongmun and Kumchuk — Other miscellaneous quasi-ports, on various frontiers, making up the F oreign Customs total of forty-seven .... Pages 141-176

Chapter VIII The Government

Central Government not essential — Eighteen Provinces — Old names still used — Comparison with French provinces — Theory of provincial government — Changed relations of former Viceroy and Governor — Memorials to the Emperor have now become “ submission ” to the President and Boards — Division of labour not yet quite definite — Judicial and executive governments — Reorganisation of each province separately — Jehol and other extra-mural governments — New relation of province to province — Each a state — Mongolia, Manchuria, Turkestan, Tibet — Disappearance of Banner cantonments— Modern development of armies and Salt Gabelle — The Board and provincial revenues — New taxes under the Republic — System of budget finance — Give-and-take principles — China one' vast democracy — Manchu privileges and disabihties abolished — In spite of revolutions and failures, China and Peking have both really advanced — Caste distinctions now abolished — The Men is the real unit of government — Number and size of Men districts — Largest towns may append to a small Men city — Personal associaxxi tion with native city — The Men like the Lord Mayor — Embodiment of “ the State ” — “ Father and Mother,” or factotum for the people — His staff of secretaries — Not so black as he is painted — Judicial and executive distinction has deprived him of much power — New police system for all China — Full description of the “ good viceroys’” efforts and of Yuan Shi-k’ai’s example at Tientsin — Means of obtaining office — How he raises money — Reforms introduced after “Boxer” war — -Ill-defined duties of a fu ; this nebulous official now abolished along with his imaginary “ city ” — The anterooms of a Governor — -The pickings of a former prefect — Distribution of patronage — K’ang Yu-wei’s contemptuous view of ronds de cuir in 1898 — Description of taotais' functions — Now styled taoyin — But things all round are still (1917) in a state of flux- — Other special, salt, and grain taotais — Illustrative table . Pages 177-190

Chapter IX

Ancient population extensive — History of the Census — Unnecessary to go back beyond, a.d. 600 — Relative statistics for China and Corea — Mouths and households— Dr. Lionel Giles on the Census — Proof indirect from army statistics — Population during the eleventh century — Freemen, villeins, and serfs — North and South extremes to be excluded — Population of Tartar-governed China in twelfth century — Proportion of households to acres — Negative estimates for South China — Mongol populations — Before and after Bayen’s conquests — Manzi and Cathay — Marco Polo’s estimates — Fearful ravages of war — Hon. W. W. Rockhill as an authority — Depopulation of Sz Ch’wan — During 1,500 years, an average of 50,000,000 souls — After the Tartars had all been ejected — Artificial decrease of population — Manchu statistics — Steady rise — Great prosperity and liberality — System of levying land tax — K’ang-hi’s reforms — - Free heads — K’ien-lung’s new way of looking at things — Enormous increase — Effects of Taiping rebellion — Difficult to slay millions — Chinese official statistics the sole evidence — Opinions alone are worthless — Special conditions of Sz Ch’wan — Did not pay to be a mandarin there ... ... Pages 191-204

Chapter X

Revenue regarded as food for government — A tithe of produce — Salt comes next — Customs more modern — No space now for elaborate detail — Consider the Manchu dynasty alone — Revenue 250 years ago — Corruption existed — Prosperity of the eighteenth century — One tael equal there to one pound here — Balances, surpluses, and sale of titles — Peking share of the revenues — Nothing done until after the “ Boxer ” war — Crushing effect of “ Boxer ” indemnities on the public — Expenditures — Waste on the Yellow River — Real revenue and expenditure at least double the nominal— As much once more for “ squeezes” — And once more again for local rates — The decrees of the Board of Revenue — Specimen of an old appro-

XXII priation “ bill ” — Great military expenditure — General financial confusion — Very little improvement under the Republic — Foreign loans and novelties—" Boxer ” affair of course did still further confound matters — Defence against Russia and France — Contributions to other provinces — Specimen of annual revenue-receipts table — The measure of the nominal appropriations — Underlings at headquarters— Expense of remitting — Curious contrasts — Specimens of Republican budgets ...... Pages 205-221

Chapter XI The Salt Gabelle

Illustrative of natural geography — Earliest excise on salt — Description of the Two Kwang salt system — Annual yield of revenue — Corners of other provinces supplied — Irregularities — Swatow and part of Fuh Kien — Fuh Kien salt system — The supply of salt to Formosa — Enormous clandestine trade up the Wenchow River — Old administrative divisions for Cheh Kiang salt — Sir Richard Dane’s reforms — Geographical reasons affecting An Hwei — The island salt supply — Price of salt now increased throughout the empire — Large revenue receipts — Clever engineering in the Hwai salt region — North and South varieties — Compromise with the Sz Ch’wan industry — Description of the system — Field for native investments— Serves the Yang-tsze Valley — Sz Ch’wan salt and hydrogen wells — Fuel supplied by nature — Three Yang-tsze viceroys used to manage the salt revenues — Sir R. Dane and Republican changes — Personal experiences — Salt serves as small change — Sudden changes deprecated— One exit only from Sz Ch’wan — Area served — Yiin Nan and Kwei Chou arrangements — Tibet’s position — Supplies Nepaul — Black salt wells in Kublai Khan’s time — Wu San-kwei and the Panthay Mussulmans exploit the salt — Muang-u salt — Manchurian salt — Changes since “ Boxer ” war — Mongolian salt — Goes east to Peking and west to near Russian frontier — Possibly the salt industry of 2,000 years ago — Revenues very small — Old China — Geographical significance once more — Chinese a Yellow River people — China’s Sorrow — The oldest salt industry Shan Tung — Two branches of the salt trade — Used to be one with the Tientsin salt syndicate — History of first Chinese salt administration — Salt and iron monopolies — The Tientsin or “ Long-reed ” salt industry — Merchants are heavily “ squeezed ” by the Government — The recent farce of Government “ faith bonds ” — Divided condition of Ho Nan in her salt supplies — Shan Si or Ho-tung salt system — Its history in Tartar hands — Achmac, the villainous minister of Kublai Khan — Commissary lives at P’u-chou— Sir R. Hart’s land-tax scheme fails — Chang Kien proposes all-round increase in price of salt

Chapter XII

Origin of likin — A special levy on tea and salt to support troops operating against Taipings — Extensions of the idea — Tax becomes an imperial one — Shanghai likin and foreigners — Our own weakness causes the"_trouble — Chinese recognise its unconstitutionality — Ho xxiii

Nan likin — Evidently likin was a voluntary “ benevolence ” at first — Taku and Tientsin levies for “ Sam Collinson’s ” troops — Chefoo likin — Charges levied on native opium — Mr. Wade and Mr. Lay — Native opium in Yiin Nan — Likin in Manchuria — Li Han-chang collects for Liu K’un-yih’s troops — Chungking likin — Likin along the Cheh Kiang trading routes — Kwang Si accounts — Kiang Nan charges — Definition made precise — Our responsibility is double — The foreign howl of anguish — Sir Brooke Robertson’s deliberate policy — Blocks the way until his death — Sir Brooke condoned — Peking rapacity — Effect of the Foreign Customs — Effect of Taiping rebellion upon the land-tax — A big combine — Compromise necessary— All share the plunder — The Republic no better — A huge Tammany Hall — National conscience— Proposal in 1902 to abolish likin in exchange for increase in import dues — Comparison of Chinese and French exactions on Yiin Nan trade — Under the Republic the semi-independent military governors practically are law unto themselves at present — Sir Robert Hart’s salt likin arrangements of 1898 — The estimated likin revenue in 1911 and 1913 — The redoubtable General Chang Him and his army feeding on the country— Opium likin a thing of the past — Effect of likin on the railways — British and American protests — China’s lack of public disinterestedness — General considerations — Increase of duties — -What is wanted ........ Pages 245-255

Chapter XIII

Manchu military organisation — Niichen and Kitan banner organisation the soul of it — Manchu, Mongol, and Chinese banners — Bought out by the President of the Republic — Civil and military “ domiciles ” — Strength of the banner army — •“ Stiffeners ” at the conquest — Provincial banner garrisons — Jealousy caused — Drain on the provinces — Contrast with India — Degeneracy — The Green Flag, or Chinese Army — Provincial and brigadier generals — Changes of titles under the Republic — Service in one’s own province — Relative rank — Corruption and peculation — Distinction between “ soldiers” and “ braves ’’—All a question of honesty — Efforts at reform previous to the Japanese War — Effects of the Japanese War — Difficulties in the way of reform— German occupation of Kiao Chou — The young Emperor’s reforms — The Empress-Dowager is egged on to interfere — Endless circle of savings and waste — Yuan Shl-k’ai’s effective army — The “ Boxer ” fiasco — Recent reforms — Viceroy Chang denounces the Green Flag and drills foreign-trained troops — The new military spirit turns out a Frankenstein monster — Central control over armies and railways wrecks the dynasty — Provincial generals and pronunciamentos — New armies of 1905 and 1911, with new nomenclature — Chinese soldiers not entirely Gilbertian, but have a bottom or fundament of good qualities Pages 256-270

Chapter XIV Personal Characteristics

Rev. A. Smith’s excellent book upon this subject — Personal opinion upon Chinese character — Observations upon Manchus — Marriages xxiv with Chinese — Manchu officials and princes — “Mean whites” among the scions — Drinking habits — Comparison of Manchu with Chinese bravery — Bravery generally — Manchus and Chinese — Different groups of Chinese — Distinctions — Take the common Chinese view of ourselves — Republican sumptuary changes — We take the same general but inaccurate view of the Chinaman — Question of truthfulness — Distinctions in lying — Not much worse than we are ourselves — Question of thieving — Ordinary care and common honesty — Practical honesty of thieves — Cleanliness and dirt — More definitions and distinctions — Great fidelity — Respect for justice — Politeness — Effect of the Republic — Definitions and comparisons — Cruelty and callousness, and their explanation — The Viceroy Liu disapproves of it — A true bill — Commercial rectitude — Recent degeneration — Government credit — Libidinous nature — Marriage and concubinage — Puritanical virtue — Chinese women — Position improved under the Republic — Local reasons — Infanticide — Virility — Treatment of children — Inferior position of girls — Recent improvement — Hold-off attitude of parents — Mothers are petty tyrants — Patria potestas — Children and pigs — Temperance in eating and drinking — Theory of gluttony, vice, opium, and drink — Distillery laws — Aphrodisiacs — Industry a ruling virtue — Artificial light, and effect of latitude — Sagacity in money making — Official smugglers — The handy man — A cold time for barbers — What the Chinaman can not do — Time will show effect of change