THE

wAWAKENING OF THE EAST

SIBERIA —!A'

PA N—CHINA

PIE RRE LE RO Y - B E A U LIE U

TRANSLA TED BY RICHA RD DAVEY

With a p reface

H E NR Y NO R M A NA UTHOR OF

‘PEOPLE A ND Pou '

t res 0? THE FA R EA ST , THE REA L JA PA N ,

’

EN .

LONDONWI LL I A M H E IN E M A NN

1 900

PREFA CE*

M. LEROY-BEAULrEU’s work appears in English at a singular ly

appropriate moment, and I believe that those who knowmost about the Far East will be the warmest in i ts prai se.

Its personal observations are acute, i ts statistics have beenconscientiously gathered and carefully collated, they are

scrupulously restricted to the part icular matters they ar e

intended to illuminate, while most valuable of all i s theauthor ’s politica l sagaci ty, and the detachment , so to speak,of his attitude as an observer and investigator. If one may

say so without offence, this i s rare in a writer of M. LeroyBeaulieu’s national ity. A Frenchman i s usually so good a

Frenchman that he cannot divest himself, even for an hour , ofthe preferences and prejudices of his own land and race.

When, however, you do find a Frenchman who by temperament, research, and travel has attained to a cosmopolitanimpart ial ity, then nobody dwell s in so cool and clear an

atmosphere as he. The present volume, I venture to say, i s

Mr . Richar d Davey is r esponsible for the tr anslation of this work , butI have added a footnote her e and ther e (signed by my initials) , and I haver ev ised the spelling of the proper names to br ing them into accor dance

with English usage. To forestall the charge of inconsistency, I may saythat I have acted on the pr inciple generally adopted in the spelling of

Eur opean pr oper names, that is, I have r etained impr oper spellings con

sec r ated by long custom—for instance, Chefoo , Suchow, Hankow, Kowloon,just as we wr ite Florence, Munich , Naples, Moscow. But names not yet

r egular ly Eur opeanized I have spelled according to a consistent and morer easonable system of tr ansliter ation—as Kiao -chau, Pe-chi-li, Kwei-chau.

The Fr ench spelling of Chinese pr o er names looks very str ange to an

English eye, and would convey a who ly false impr ess ion to an English ear .

V

PREFA CE

an example bf this, for if there were no name on the title-page,and the.Word ‘we ’ were not used of the French people, i twouldxbe impossible to discover the writer

’s nat ional ity fromh1sWork tHypercr iticism might perhaps remark that M. Leroy

Beaulieu i s j ust a l ittle too ready to welcome as fact mal iciousl ittle anecdotes directed against ourselves, such as the

'

1ngenious

fiction that the Briti sh admiral saluted the Japanese admiral’sflag outsideWei-hai-wei before sunrise in order that the gunsshould awaken the sleeping Chinese seamen to a sense of theirperil, not to ment ion his ready acceptance as typical of the‘ insat iable British publ ic ’ of the amusing boast of some un

named Engl ish newspaper that we might, if it pleased us, builda rai lway from the mouth of the Nile to the mouth of theYang-tsze. But, on the whole, he probably approaches as nearto the ‘ impartial spectator of an old-fashioned philosophicalhypothesis as i t i s given to anybody in th is prejudiced world todo ; and assuredly the brilliant abil ity with which he hasanalyzed and summarized national and international si tuationsof the greatest delicacy and complexity speaks for itself.Beyond question the future of the Far East i s the gravest

matter before the civil ized world to—day. For many generationsthe Eastern Question caused Sovereigns to turn restlessly intheir beds and diplomatists to start at a footfall ; but, as LordRosebery was quick to point out , there arose not long ago a

Far Eastern Question much more embarrassing, much morecomplicated, much more pregnant with disaster. It presentsi tsel f at this moment under three chief aspects the approaching completion of a Russian continuous l ine of rai lway fromEurope to the China Sea, the frontier of Korea, and the gatesof Peking ; the startling entry of Japan into the comity ofpeoples as a great naval, military, and civilizing power ; andthe course of events which has led to the occupation of theChinese capital by the all ied forces of eight nations. It i sprecisely with these three topics that M . Leroy-Beaulieu deal s ,and there will be no need to recommend them to the earnest

VI

PREFA CE

attention of British readers if the latter real ize—as they should—that behind the third there looms without doubt the appall ingspectre of a EuropeanWar .

The Trans-S iberian Railway has been greatly hindered bythe Chinese ris ing in Manchuria. For practical purposes itcan hardly be said to exist beyond Irkutsk, for although theline i s completed as far as Stretensk, there is yet a lack ofrolling-stock, and the dreary voyage by steamers of differentdraughts down the Shilka and A mur rivers to Khabarofsk ,where the line to Vladivostok is met

,deprives the railway

route as yet of all i ts advantages over the sea-route from Europe.

The last passengers who came from Vladivostok to Moscowbefore the interrupt ion of traffic spent thirty-eight days on thejourney

,and i t will have been noticed that by far the larger

part of the reinforcing Russian troops, horses, and matér ziel

were despatched to the Far East from Odessa,no small port ion

in British transports. The Manchurian section of the greatrai lway has from the first

,even in t imes of peace, presented

great d ifficulties of climate,lack of supplies , and hostil ity of

the nat ive populat ion, but now a considerable part of the workexecuted has been destroyed

,the Russian forces have not yet

succeeded in clearing the country of the Chinese troops and

i rregulars, a large garrison wi ll have to be maintained toprotect the works in hand, and a long delay over the originalestimated dates of completion is inevitable. A ll this, however,i s nothing but a question of date . In national strategic enterprises of this kind Russia works with speed and tenacity .

What has been destroyed will be built more solidly thanbefore i t i s even probable that recent events, as they willundoubtedly give Russia a freer hand, will enable her tosecure a shorter, and therefore more effective

,route from her

Siberian l ine to China. It will not, in any case, be manyyears before Port A rthur and Peking will be within a fortnight ’srailway journey of Moscow. Before then that rai lway will havedeveloped agricultural and mineral weal th along its route to a

vu

PREFA CE

degree undreamed of by those who have not studied its prospectson the spot, and i t will be defended and served by every kindof protective and paternal legislation . Moreover, when needarises . every mile of the l ine, every stat ion and warehouse andwater-tank , every station-master

,every engineer, every con

ductor, every patrolling convict, every locomotive , everycarriage and every waggon , will be placed by a stroke of thepen at the absolute disposal of the Minister of War , whileevery railway in European Russia will be called upon to Supplywhatever may be lacking . Russia has one great advantageover other countries in t imes of cris is—private interests ceaseto exist. It must not be forgotten , also, that the TransS iberian Railway is only one of Russia’s great strategic l inestowards the East . Before i t i s finished, her Trans-CaspianRailway, which i s already not only a military , but positively acommercial success, will be joined to it, and will have broughtthe

'

front iers of Persia and A fghani stan, and another frontier ofChina, within a week of the mil ita ry centre of EuropeanRussia. Whether from the point of view of inter-communication , of commerce , or of diplomacy and arms , no s ingledevelopment so significant and so far -reaching in its con

sequences has occurred in the modern world.

The second aspect of the Far Eastern Question i s at lasthappily appreciated by all. The child of the world ’s old age,

’

Japan, has grown to manhood. It i s exactly eighteen yearsthe age at which Sovereigns attain their maj ority— since CountInouye first proposed to the sixteen treaty Powers—includingPeru and Hawai i l— that Japan, in return for certain concessionsto foreigners , should be endowed with a measure of j udicialautonomy. Great Britain, to her honour be it ever remembered,led the way in this , and Japan i s now a nation as independentas ourselves—the first Oriental people to be placed absolutelyon a par with the conquering and j ealousWest. In no respecthas she shown hersel f unworthy of the faith placed in her . In

ar t alone has she retrograded, but that will not be held a

vii i

PREFA CE

special reproach to her by those among us who look back six

centuries for their artistic inspiration. In finance, in law, inscience, in education , in manufacture , she has already attaineda higher level than many so-called civil ized nations, and she isprogressing fast. In directions unfortunately still more calculated to compel the respect of other peoples—a very powerfularmy and navy

,perfectly equipped , admirably discipl ined, and

inst inct with the magnificent courage of the old feudal warr iorsher advance has taken the unthinking world by surprise. But forher prompt and unselfish action in China, and the large forcewhich her fir st-rate military system enabled her to despatchwithout delay, Europe and A merica would to-day be mourning the most horrible massacre of modern history. A t thismoment Japan and Great Britain are the only nations striving,and, i f necessary, probably ready to fight

,to keep China inde

pendent and undivided, open to the trade of all the worldon equal terms, without selfish reservat ions on the one hand,and without trembling before party recriminat ions on theother.The Far Eastern Question

,however

,holds the stage at this

moment by its third aspect. China, the eternally unoriginal,has repeated herself once more, as every student of the FarEast has foreseen she would . This time the repetit ion i s extraordinarily exact , as a reviewer of the new edition of Lord Loch

’sPersonal Narrat ive of 1 860 has just pointed out. It i s impossible, ’ he says , ‘ to read it without being struck by the re

semblance, down even to details, between the s ituation in

China and that of exactly forty years ago. Then, as now, a warparty led by an Imperial Prince was in the ascendant a war

was forced on European Powers by a gross breach of a solemntreaty , two A mbassadors on their way to Peking being fired on

and obliged to return the armies of those Powers had to marchon the Chinese capital ; the Chinese authorities in the provinces were frantic in their eagerness to negotiate so as to stopthe advance of the all ied army on the capital. Li

,then only a

ix

PREFA CE

provincial Governor, had his l ittle proposals for settling everything to his own satisfaction. The Emperor had fled from thecapital , and the lady who is now Empress-Dowager had fledwith him

,and in many other respects history is j ust now

repeating itself with curious But forty years ago

there was no occupation by eight nations , and no five greatPowers endeavouring to checkmate one another’s plans .Indeed, there was then no Far Eastern Question at all. But

though we have changed, China remains the same . Her

rooted hatred of foreigners , her treachery, her lies, her sickening cruelty, her utter inability to reform herself

,to eradicate

corruption , to form an army or a navy— to be , in a word, anation—remain precisely as they. have always been. Writerswith no fir st-hand knowledge of China have not unnaturallyfallen into the error of thinking that because small-bore riflesand Krupp guns have been found in the hands of the Chinesetroops

,who have used them with effect in beating back for a

t ime foreign forces, therefore China has at last laid to heartthe lessons of her defeat by Japan

, and has become a militaryPower to be reckoned with .

’

r It i s a complete misapprehension.

The Boxers fought recklessly , l ike the Mahdists, from a

belief in their own magical invulnerability ; but the regulartroops hardly even attempted to withstand a foreign attack inanything like equal numbers , except from behind strong wal ls ,and not always then. Describing the capture without a shotor a blow of several forts and magnificent guns, that had neverbeen fired since they were bought , an eye-witness says Onlythe most complete demoral izat ion, utter rout, and headlong

The Tz’

mes, September 13th , 1900.

For example, the wr iter signing himself Diplomaticus in the

mgfitly Remew for September , 1900, air ily dismisses as‘ illusions ’

the

belief that China was gr adually c r umbling to ru in, that she was incapableof organized r esistance to the foreigner , that her millions were unconscious

of a national spir it and incapable of progress.

’Each one of these ‘ illusions

’

is an elementary fact about China, except so far as for eign help and

guidance may al ter it.

PREFACE

fl ight of the Chinese could explain the abandonment of suchvaluable guns, gear, andI dwell upon this point because there is great danger of it

being overlooked at the present crisis—by some from ignorance,by others from design. A s the missionary said to M . LeroyBeaulieu , Those who most despair of China are those whoknow her best ’; and the author’s own conclusion that ‘

any

reform from the inside is out of the question, no matter fromhow high the initiat ive starts, ’ is the conviction of all studentsof China, except those who have never been with in ten thousandmiles of her coast. This very weakness

,coupled with her

malleabil ity, even to the profession of arms—witness the gallantconduct of the Chinese Regiment from Wei-hai-wei under itsBritish officer s— i s the kernel of the danger of the presentsituation, for the nat ion that should be free to organize Chinawould be a menace to the rest of the world . Those who aimat conquest are therefore playing for a high stake, and theirinspiration is more cogent than that which urges others to thedefence of mere trading opportun it ies . The course of thecoming century depends upon the result of this trial of statesmanship. Woe betide England if her leaders fai l her now

HENRY NORMAN.

The Times special corr espondent, September 1 l th, 1900.

XI

CONTENTSPA GE

INTRODUCTION

PA RT 1 . SIBERIA

CHA PTER

1. THE ORIGINS OF RU SSIA N EXPA NSION 1N SIBERIA A ND 1 11 1:

NA TU RA L CHA RA CTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY

11. THE LA ND OF SIBERIA A ND ITS INHA BI’

I‘

A NTS

III. A GRICULTU RA L SIBERIA A ND THE RURA L POPU LA TION

IV . MINERA L RESOURCES A ND INDU STRIES

V . SIBERIA N COMMERCE A ND THE TRA NSPORT OF TEA

VI. SIBERIA N TOWNS

V II. IMMIGRATION

VIII. MEANS OF COMMUNICA TION IN SIBERIA

IX. THE TRA NS-SIBERIA N RA ILWA Y

X . THE RA ILWA Y THROUGH MANCHURIA

XI. THE A LTERED RELA TIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE FA R

EA ST RESULTING FROM THE TRA NS-SIBERIA N RA ILWA Y 76

PA RT II.—7A PA N

1. THE ORIGIN A ND PA ST H ISTORY OF JA PA N

11. JA PA N A ND THE REVOLUTION OF 1868

111. MODERN JA PA N

IV . JA PA NESE INDUSTRY

V . RURA L JA PA N

V I. DEVELOPMENT OF JA PA NESE COMMERCE

VII. THE FINA NCES OF JA PA N

VIII. THE DOMESTIC POLITICS A ND PA RLIA MENT OF JA PA N

IX. JA PA N’

S FOREIGN POLICY A ND HER MILITA RY POWER

X. THE FUTURE OF WESTERN CIVILIZA TION IN JA PA N—RELA

TIONS BETWEEN JA PA NESE A ND FOREIGNERS

x ii i

CONTENTS

PA RT 111.—CHINA

CHA PTER

I. THE CHINESE PROBLEM

11. THE CA PITA L OF CHINA

111. THE COUNTRY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PEKING

NUMEROU S SIGNS OF THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE

Iv . THE LITERA RY A ND MA NDA RIN CLA SS— PRINCIPA L CA USES

OF THE DECA DENCE OF THE EMPIRE

v . THE CHINESE PEOPLE A ND THEIR CHA RA C TERISTICS

v1. FOREIGNERS IN CHINA —THE A TTITUDE OF THE CHINESE

TOWA RDS WESTERN CIVILIZA T ION

THE POSITION A ND WORK OF FOREIGNERS IN CHINA

CHINA A ND THE POWERS

RU SSIA , FRANCE , A ND ENGLAND IN THE FA R EA ST IN 1895 -97

x. CHINA A ND THE POWERS 1897 -99—‘SPHERES OF INFLU

ENCE ,’

A ND THE‘OPEN DOOR

’

THE FUTURE OF CHINA —MA INTENA NCE OR PA RTITION OF

THE CELESTIA L EMPIRE?

INDEX

xiv

INTRO DUCT ION*

THIS book is the result of personal observations made in thecourse of a j ourney through Siberia, China, and Japan, lasting over a year, and i s supplemented by information derivedchiefly from official and carefully collated documents . A sia,the largest of the five Cont inents, i s still the most densely populated ; but after being the cradle of civilizat ion, i t has been formany centuries dead to all progress. It is in the awakening ofthis vast Continent through the influx of men and ideas fromtheWest, by the application of modern science to the exploitat ion of its wealth , that consists the phenomenon which weare witnessing at the present time, and to the examinat ion ofwhich the author devotes the following pages.The effect of European action in A sia does not, it i s true,

date from our time ; i t began as soon as the A siat ic invasionof Europe had ceased. In the sixteenth century, whilst theRussians were settling in Siberia, we find the Portuguese landing on the coasts of India, China, and Japan . For a long time

,

however,the influence of the West was merely superficial.

By the middle of the nineteenth century i t had scarcely reachedIndia and a few points on the coast of A sia M inor all the restof A sia remained obdurate. S iberia was almost a desert

,un

explored,without any commun icat ion with the outer world ;

China a stranger to all progress and Japan hermetically sealed.

Thus , all the temperate zones of A sia, those best suited to thewhiie race, as well as those inhabited by the most numerous,

Wr itten especially for the English ed ition by the author .

XV

INTRODUCTION

industrious, and vigorous populations, regarded from whateverpoint of view, were fifty years ago completely outside ofEuropean influence. A t this moment two facts of vital importance have become prominent, which have been passedover almost unnoticed by European nations , greatly pr eoccupied by other questions . In 1 85 4, Japan began to openher ports to foreigners and Russia, descending almost s imultaneously from the glacial sol itudes of the Okhotsk Sea,

seized, at the expense of China, the banks of the A mur, thuscoming into actual contact with the Celestial Empire, whichhitherto she had only reached through deserts

, advancedher frontier up to the boundaries of Korea , and acquired a

port on the Pacific (lat itude free of ice nearly all the yearround. This was the moment when that awakening of Northernand Eastern A sia began which has become more and moreactive, especially during the last ten years.Immediately after the conquest of the Province of the A mur,

Count Muravief - Amur ski, one of the prime movers in theexpansion of Russia, foresaw under what conditions the Mus

covite Empire could make its power felt in the Far East, andsuggested the construction of a Trans—Siberian Railway , which,thirty years later, was undertaken by A lexander III. In bui lding it, his main idea was to Open a strategic route to facilitate thepassage of his troops into China. The Trans-S iberian Rai lwaywas thus constructed far less in the interests of the country ittraversed than for those of the countries at its opposite ex

tremities . But it was presently discovered that the southernport ion of S iberia through which the line runs possessed a

climate scarcely more severe than that of Manitoba and of thefar west of Canada , an equally ferti le soil, with even betterirrigat ion and still greater mineral wealth, the development ofwhich was only prevented by the complete absence of any

means of communicat ion .

Now Siberia, instead of being shut off from the rest of theworld, will be traversed by one of the most frequented routes

xv1

INTRODUCTION

in the universe, and i ts southern zone will become one of therichest possessions of the white race. The Russian peasantshave a natural tendency to emigrate, and since the abolitionof serfdom have been invading S iberia in great numbers,and rapidly settling there. More than emigrantsarrive there every year, and the births greatly outnumberthe deaths, so that the population of the A siat ic domainsof the Tsar i s annually increased by more thanRussian coloni zation doubtless has its drawbacks , the mostserious among which are lack of capital and absence ofeducation and enterprise among the labouring classes . In

sp ite of this one fact remains : thanks to the Trans-SiberianH1ailway, a numerous white population i s already occupyingthe whole North of A sia, from the Ural s to the Pacific ,and thus Russia can meanwhile make the full weight of herpower felt in the Far East, which will certainly prove of incalculable benefit to the advance of modern civilizat ion throughout A sia.

While S iberia was being colonized, and the Trans-SiberianRai lway was assuming definite shape , Japan was accomplishing her extraordinary transformation? In 18 54 the Powers ,under threat of bombardment

,forced open the gates of this

feudal State, whose customs differed from ours more than thoseof any other A s iat ic country , and the entrance to which wasforbidden to foreigner s under pain of death , and which forten years was the scene of numerous outrages against them .

Forty - five years later new Japan deals on a footing ofequal ity with the European Powers ; i ts admission to thenumber of Civil ized States is signal ized by the suppressionof the extra - territorial privileges of the Europeans, and i thas become a centre of great industry, whose cotton stuffscompete in China with those of India, A merica, and GreatBri tain. European steamers supply themselves from hercoaling-stations her foreign commerce amounts annually to

sterl ing ; her soil is intersected by milesxvi i b

INTRODUCTION

of rai lway ; a crowd of little steamers, Often native built, plyalong her coasts, whilst regular l ines of steamers fly her flagin the ports of Europe, A merica, and A ustral ia ; her fleet isthe most powerful in the Pacific ; her army, which crushedChina five years ago, formed the bulk of the internationaltroops that recently marched to the relief of the foreign Legations threatened by the Chinese. Before these real i ties thescepticism of those who have so long jeered at these A siat icsplaying at being Europeans must perforce turn to admiration.

Many people, however, find i t difficult to believe in thedurability and the sincerity of Japan’s transformation . Withoutconceal ing from ourselves that the prodigious work which hasbeen accomplished in Japan has sometimes been premature,that imitat ion of Europe has occas1onally been pushed to excess ,that it has even been directed in some points where it wouldhave been wiser to have remained faithful to nat ional traditions,we bel ieve—as one of the best informed Japanese we have evermet assured us—that the great wind from the West which isblowing upon this country has corne

'

to last . We find thisconvict ion confirmed both by observat ion of the Japan ofthe present and in the lessons taught by her past. Wherethe changes have been carried too far , certain unassimilatedand unessential scoriae will be eliminated, but the better partof the work will remain and a new Japan be the result , in manypoints similar to Europe in the scientific and material sense ofcivilization—profoundly modified and brought nearer to theWest, yet differing from us from the social and moral point ofview . In short, we have confidence in the future of Japan, i fshe only takes the lessons she has received to heart, and ifshe be not over-proud of being the Great Britain of the FarEast, ’ and is not carried away by a spirit of aggrandizementthat may exhaust her resources . The prudent pol icy whichshe appears to have adopted in the face Of the present crisisin China i s, however, of a Character well calculated to reassureher friends .

xviii

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INTRODUCTION

whose undeniable defects are compensated by an endurance,perseverance

,and commercial ability of the highest order the

attitude of this people towards Europeans and their Civil ization,the part hitherto played by the latter, their trade in the ports,and the quite recent beginnings of great industries in thesevery ports ; the concessions for various undertakings grantedduring the last four years to these very Europeans who are atlast emerging from the few acres in which they had hithertobeen penned at infrequent points along the coast or on thebanks of the Yang-tsze, and who are abandoning their exclusivedevotion to trade in order to carry out a system of real colonization by applying Western methods to the real izat ion of thewealth of China ; and finally the disquieting Spectacle of thePowers in rival ry around this decrepit Empire, on which nonedare lay a too heavy hand lest it crumble away and they losethe best pieces, which each of them dreams eventual ly ofannexmg.

S ince thi s book was published in France, in A pril this year ,a part icularly grave crisis has arisen in China. The mostviolently react ionary faction in the Court of Peking has seizedthe reins of power and has headed a movement for the exterminat ion Of the foreigner the regular army

,making common

cause with the fanatical adherents of secret societies , has besieged in their Legations the Ministers of all the nat ions, andhas opposed the onward march of the troops despatched totheir rel ief ; hundreds of missionaries and thousands of nativeChristians have been butchered throughout the Empire, andeverywhere

,even in the Treaty Ports, the security of Europeans

has been menaced. These appall ing events have, i t wouldseem

,taken Europe quite unprepared, although warn ings were

not wanting. A perusal of a fi le of the Hong Kong and

Shanghai newspapers will easily prove that great uneasinessprevai led as far back as last spring, if not in the Legat ions, atany rate in the Treaty Ports.The present crisis will, it i s true, not be a matter of muc h

xx

INTRODUCTION

surprise to those who have studied China . The reader willnotice several passages in thi s book in which we are remindedof the necessity of proceeding with the utmost caution in introducing progressive measures into the ancient Empire , i f wewish to avoid an outbreak culminating in a sanguinary upheavaland the possible collapse of that worm-eaten structure . It

would appear, however, in fact, that during the past threeyears the ill-advised action of Europe has done everythingto bring about such a disaster.TOO numerous rai lway and mining concessions , prel iminary

works commenced simultaneously in a great number of local it ies

,without sufli cient regard for the superstitions of the nat ives

,

the invas ion by foreign engineers and foremen with overbearingmanners, could not but irritate the Chinese, and prepare theground for agitators and agents of the secret societies and

(unemployed) l iterat i who swarm everywhere. The violentaction of Germany at Kiao-chau , followed by the seizure ofmany points on the coast by the other Powers

,readily in

duced the Court and l iterat i to believe that the ForeignPowers intended to partition

“

China, and treat her as a con

quered country.

The govern ing classes among the Chinese have little patriotism

, as we understand it, but they tremble for their salariesand privileges, and, in common with the populace

,they

beheld with horror the prospective violat ion of their ancientcustoms. They could not therefore be expected to represswith any energy disturbances with whose authors they were Incordial sympathy. A gain, the dynasty of foreign origin whichreigns in China is now worn out and tottering it knows thatany concession made to the foreigner will be turned to its disadvantage, that the best means of recovering prestige is topose as the enemy of the Western civil izat ion ; it has even tofear that any great opposit ion on its part to popular prejudicemay one day lead to its being swept away.

What wonder, then, that under the rule of the old DowagerxxI

INTRODUCTION

Empress—an energetic Sovereign , perhaps, but ignorant, l ikethe harem recluse she is, and, moreover , passionate, l ike mostwomen—the Court viewed benignly the organi zation knownas the l -fzo-c/man

,almost l iterally, League of Patriots,

’

which we cal l ‘Boxers,’ who first spread themselves over Shan

tung,where the foreigners had displayed the greatest brutality

and tactlessness'

l The creatures of the Empress,narrow

minded and brutal Manchu princes, mandarins of an ultrareactionary type, who, having never been brought into contactwith Europeans, are ignorant of the latter

’s strength— all thesepeople whom the Palace revolution in September, 1 898 , exaltedto power

, and who exercise it without control since the exileof Li Hung-Chang to his distant Viceroyalty of Canton, havenot learned how to observe the precautions which at one timeguided that wily old fox .

Imperial edicts have favoured the Boxers, ‘ those loyal sub

jects who cultivate athlet ics for the protection of their families,and who bind together different villages for the purpose ofmutualprotection.

’In this association, affiliated with other secret

societies , it was sought to discover a prop for the dynastyboth at home and abroad . A rms were. procured from Europe

,

intended either for the rebels or the regular army, and then ,

as always happens with feeble Governments in times of trouble ,i t was found impossible to stem the torrent so easily let loose,and increasing violence soon got the upper hand . The

Empress even appears to have been overwhelmed by factionsmore reactionary and fanatical than herself—factions at whosehead stands Prince Tuan, father of the recently adopted heirpresumptive.

Such is the genesis of the present crisis. What are to bethe consequences ? They would be very grave if the Chiefs Ofthe movement hostile to foreigners removed the present Em

peror to some distant place , and refused to negotiate on any

th ing like reasonable terms, or if, leaving him in the hands ofthe Europeans , they should raise a competitor against him .

xxi i

INTRODUCTION

The Emperor , whose access ion to the Celestial throne is, in any

case, according to Chinese ideas, irregular , and who has exas

perated the mandarins by his attempts at reform , would thusr un a great risk of being considered a usurper , both in the eyesof the people and the literati. What could the Powers do insuch a case ? We hardly dare dream of such a laborious,costly

, and deadly undertaking as would be an expeditionfive or six hundred miles from the coast into the heart of acountry like China , devoid of good means of transport, andwhere a large European army would find existence diflicult.Besides, in the midst of complete anarchy and civil war , thePowers, whose union i s already so unstable, would be forcedto interfere

,with the risk of irreparable disputes aris ing between

them all at the finish .

Even i f the Court should come to terms and no competit ion for the Empire arise, the situat ion in China willnone the less present great difliculties. The installation inPeking of an Emperor surrounded by council lors approved bytheWest and watched by a foreign garrison, which would bethe most desirable end of the present acute crisi s , would not

suffice to restore order throughout the Empire . A ll the elementsof agitat ion are now at boil ing-point , and it i s even to befeared that ere the all ies ar e able to act vigorously on theoffensive, the anti-foreign movement will have gained groundin the provinces . The prestige of the Manchu dynasty,greatly damaged already, will be sti ll further lowered whenthe Emperor is exhibited as the puppet of theWest . A mbitiousaspirants of all sorts, Chinese patriots inimica l to bothManchu and foreigner, even legitimate representatives of theancient M ing Dynasty, will all of them seek to profi t by thisstate of things, and , fishing in troubled waters , cause therebya general recrudescence of insurrection

,fomented by the secret

societies. Wi l l the Chinese Government succeed in repress ingthem by its own forces ? This is not at all certain, and in thatcase will Europe charge herself with all the political, military,

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INTRODUCTION

and financial risks involved in the exercise of such an avocationand become the police of China ?It will perhaps be sa id that if the Manchu Dynasty can no

longer maintain i tself, i t may be best to leave it to its fateand allow it to be replaced by another . A new, popular, andstrong Government would then appear upon the scene

,which

would find i t easier to observe the engagements imposedupon it

*

But apart from the fact that this new Government mightperhaps be very hostile to

‘

foreigner s and difl‘icult to bringto reason, the Manchus are not yet stripped of all power,and their overthrow would not be effected without a devastating civil war , lasting probably many years. Europe i snow too much interested in China to encourage such a catastrophe.

On the other hand, nobody desires the partition of theCelestial Empire. To begin with, the chief eventual rivals arenot ready Russia has not completed her Trans-Siberian Rai lway ; England is hampered with her interminable war in SouthA frica ; the Un ited States , with a large portion of its populationopposed to outside extension, insists that no part of the M iddleKingdom shall be closed to them— in other words, that i t shallnot be dismembered Japan has not completed her armamentsher finances require careful attention, and she feels

,besides

,

that she cannot act alone. France has every reason for averting a partition, in which her share (the provinces adjoiningTongking) would be a very poor one ; and finally

,the present

insurrectionary movement should prove to the world—includingGermany, who took so indiscreet an initiat ive at Kiao-chau

-that it would not be easy to govern the Celestials after

The position of the Manchu Dynasty in China is somewhat analogousto that of the Shogunate in Japan, which was also caugh t some fo r ty year s

ago between the na tional sen timen t and the for eigner . But in Japan,when the Shogunate fell, ther e r emained the divine Emper or , whose

pr estige cover ed all the r eforms which enlightened statesmen car r ied out.In China, after the Manchu Dynasty, nothing r emains but chaos.

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INTRODUCTION

Europeanmethods, and that the mere task of establishing orderin a large colony carved out of China might be beyond thestrength even of the European Powers .This being the case

,the on ly policy possible for all countries

is to abandon for the present their personal aims , and toendeavour in uni son to patch up the Manchu system . To

depart from this l ine of action is to proceed to disaster. But

the Powers will have to display some wisdom for a few yearsto come if this bolstering process is to have the least chanceof success . The Court and the populace of the capital shouldbe given a not-easily- forgotten lesson : let the instigators ofthe proposed murders of the ministers be delivered up and

made to pay for their Cowardly conduct ; i f necessary, evenlet their bodies be left unburied

,which , in the eyes of the

Chinese, is the most terrible of all punishments ; let the oldEmpress be exiled i f i t shou ld appear necessary to remove herfrom power. Bu t after all thi s i s done , let the legal order ofsuccession be respected . While putting pressure on the Courtto appoint moderate or even slightly progressive men to thehead of afl’air s, avoid a too direct and a too evident interferencein the selection of rulers, which would be perilously inadvisable.

On the one hand, the Powers would soon cease to act in

unison,each considering such and such a grand mandarin

more or less its friend and such another its enemy ; and on

the other h and , the men chosen would lose all auth ority, asthey would be looked Upon as agents of the foreigners. A gainstthis , i t is absolutely indispensable that Peking and T ien -ts inshould be occupied during several years by a strong garrison,

otherwise i t wil l be said that the foreign soldiery have departed through fear, and that the permanent fort ificati on ofTa-ku should be forbidden.

These last measures doubtless involve certain inconveniences,

gr anting the difficulty of maintain ing harmony between thevarious Powers , but if they should be neglect ed the lessonwould risk being too soon forgotten, as were those of 1 860 and

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INTRODUCTION

1 894-

95 moreover, they would provide a means of permanentpressure on the Chinese Government.Nevertheless, i f i t i s important to strike hard at the centre

,

the more reason have we to refrain from any act ca lculated tolower in the provinces the prestige and the authority of a regime,the sources of whose weakness are already numerous. The

threat of popular risings will cont inue one of the seriousdangers of the position in the Far East ; to avoid them ,

wemust not seize upon the first incident that arises as a pretextfor demanding concessions, the extortion of which disturbsand estranges the mandarins, whilst their execution irritatesthe people . If we do not accept such a course, we run therisk of creating permanent anarchy. The surest way of Obtaining tranquilli ty in China would be a formal, or at any rate a

tacit, international understanding binding the Powers for someyears not to support at Peking any demand for a concession as

long as the greater number of rai lways now under construct ionare not completed. That would, moreover, enable Europeancapital ists , who have not been very eager to take up Chineseloans , to ascertain the value of their investments in the MiddleK ingdom . We believe that the business and practical sense sohighly developed in the Chinese will induce them to becom ereconciled to the material s ide of our civil ization, but by multiplying simultaneously in every direction preliminary works , say,for rai lways, we annoy them and wound their susceptibilitiesbefore giving them a chance to appreciate the advantage ofour innovations, not to mention the economical disturbancearising therefrom.

In conclusion, although patriotism is at a low ebb in theMiddle Kingdom and the military spirit still lower, we might,by worrying the Chinese too much, end by creating the one

and resuscitat ing the other . In any case , if the Chinese makebad soldiers— chiefly because they have detestable officer s

they are fir st-class rioters . Wherefore any idea of dividingChina, either now or at some future time, seems to us ill

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T H E

AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

PA RT I .—SIBERIA

CHA PTER I

THE ORIGINS OF RUSSIAN EXPANSION IN SIBERIA AND THE

NA TU RAL CHA RA CTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY

A ntiquity of Russian expansion in A sia, wh ich is contempor ary with that ofWester n Europe in the NewWor ld—A nalogy between the Nor th of

A sia and the Nor th of A mer ica—The thr ee natur al Zones of Siber iaTheir climate, extent and capabilities—The Polar Zone is absolutelysterile and uninhabitable—The For est Zone—The Mer idional Zone,wh ich is both cultivable and colonizable.

No sooner had Russia shaken off the yoke of the Tatars whichweighed upon her for three centuries, and left its mark sodeeply impressed as to be stil l vis ible, than, reformed and

united , she began to expand beyond her natural confines . In

this she only imitated the example of Spain , which a shorttime previously had been delivered from the Moors and un itedunder the sceptre of Ferdinand and Isabella. Being essentiallya cont inental country

,without easy access to the sea, and

having no difficult frontier to bar her expansion to the Ea st,Russia turned her attention in that direction , and, defeatingher

_

old masters, annexed the Tatar kingdoms of Kazan and

A strakhan . This conquest extended her frontier to the immediate neighbourhood of the Ural Mountains . In the secondhalf of the sixteenth century T sar Ivan the Terrible found

1 B

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

himself possessor of vast but sparsely-peopled regions,at a

great d istance from his capital , and extremely difficult of directadministration .

It is a remarkable coincidence that under these circumstances an organ ization should have been formed in Russiaalmost spontaneously with others of the same kind which wereto prove of such great utility in theWest a great coloni zingcompany, under Imperial charter. The Str ogonofs, very richmerchants, who had extended their sphere of trading Operations as far as the basin of the Kama, the great aflIuent of theVolga , addressed in 1 5 5 8 a petition to the Tsar, in which theydemanded a concession of the lands in that region

,promising

at the same time, in consideration of the grant, to build a

city, develop the resources, and defend the country aga instthe attacks of savage tribes. Ivan the Terrible accededto their request

, accorded them divers trading privileges, andconferred upon them the right to administer justice and tolevy troops . Thus was organized a regular chartered companyanalogous with the East India Company and with those morerecently formed in South A frica and on the banks of the Niger..The company in question began the conquest of Siberia.

The Strogonofs , once established on the Kama, experienced,as generally happens when a civilized people finds itself incontact with barbarous tribes, the necessity of extendingfurther eastwards at the expense of their Tatar neighbours,i f only to protect themselves from their depredations . In 1 5 8 1

the Tsar gave them permission to employ a celebrated Cossackpirate, Ermak Timoféef,* who seized the city of S ibir, or Isker,then capital of Khan Kuchun

,the principal Tatar Chief of

Western Siberia . Six years later the present city of Tobolskrose on the site of Sibir.We will not attempt to narrate the history of the conquest

of Siberia,‘which strongly resembles the taking of North

A merica by French pioneers at about the same time. Whenthe Tatar tribes of the West had been driven towards theSouthern Steppes , the Cossacks encountered little oppositionfrom the poor hunters and fishermen whom they found in thedistrict. In summer these Cossack adventurers navigatedthe rivers in canoes, whilst their winters were spent in block

Yermak , ’ the millstone, was the nickname given to Vassil , son or

Timothy , a tr acker of the Volga , because he ground the co rn for h is pa r ty.

He was not a Cossack by bir th , but joined theDon Cossack pir ates.—H. N.

SIBERIA

houses,or oslr ogs, surrounded by palisades not unlike the forts

erected by the Hudson Bay Company. Soon they becamevery numerous , being attracted from the more civilized parts ofRuss ia by the growing profits of the fur trade . In 1 636 theyhad reached the mouth of the Y enissei, and a year later arrivedon the banks of the Lena. In less than two years— tha t is

, in

1 639— they had discovered the shores of the Okhotsk , and fifty

years later the whole continent had been traversed from end toend . In 1 648 the Cossack adventurers A lexief and Dezhniefdoubled the eastern extremity of A sia, and arrived at Kamtchatka, and in 1 6 5 1 the A taman Khabar of established himselfon the A mur, where he discovered other adventurers, who hadalready descended this river in 1 643 . A t this juncture theRussians found themselves face to face with the Manchus, whohad j ust conquered China, and notwithstanding the heroicdefence of their fortress at A lbazine on two occas ions

,they

were obliged in 1 688 to abandon the middle and lower basinsof the A mur to the Sons of Heaven in accordance with thetreaty of Ner tchinsk , a territor y which they only reconqueredfrom the degenerate Chinese in 1 8 5 8 .

To the west as well as to the east of S iberia the Russianfrontiers remained scarcely altered until about the middle ofthe presen t century. It was only in 1 84 7 that the Tsar

’stroops were able to cross the arid zone of the Kirghiz Steppes .The policy of Peter the Great was directed towards Europe ,and his dream was to extend Russia towards the West by theconquest of Constant inople— a fact which accounts for theextinction of zeal on the part of Russia with respect to herA siatic possessions, which were now treated merely as penalsettlements or as fields for scientific investigation , wheneverthe Sovereigns took it into their heads to become speciallyinterested in such mat ters. The increase of Imperial authorityand the more regular organ ization of the State had in themeantime subdued the adventurous and enterprising spiri t ofthe Cossacks , and that part icular class of men , half soldiers ,half brigands

,who had proved themselves such hardy pioneers

at an earl ier epoch , now disappeared, and in the middle ofthe eighteenth century S iberia was Opened as a field of colon ization. In spite of the many obstacles which the system ofserfdom in Russia placed in the way of peasant emigration , in1 8 5 1 the population of S iberia had reached a figureWt h

, although not very large considering the immensi ty of3 B 2

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

the country, was in excess of the populat ion of Canada at thesame period, which numbered only souls. Fromthis point of view the Russians had no reason to be ashamedof their colonizat ion , and , as a matter of fact

,have none to

day. A ccording to the census of January , 1 8 9 7 , there wereS iberians living on a territory of square

miles , whereas in 1 8 9 1 there were only Canadiansinhabiting the square miles known as the Dominion .

The density of the population of Northern A sia is not muchinferior to that of British North A merica, and i t must not beforgotten that the conditions of life in S iberia are greatlyinferior to those of Canada.

A comparison of the natural conditions existing in thenorthern regions of the old and the new world shows thatthey are nearly identical . Both consist for the most part ofvast expanses of flat country, often covered with magn ificentforests , and quite as frequently barren . Siberia, l ike Canada,i s i rrigated by noble rivers , which under a milder climatewould constitute a superb network of in tercommun ication ;but unfortunately both countries are hampered by an extremelyrigorous climate , which imprisons these fine rivers duringmany months of the year under an impenetrably thick coat ingof ice. In the north of S iberia as well as of Canada thecountry is so intensely cold as to render agriculture impossible.That part , therefore, of both countries which i s capable ofexploitation i s of extremely l imited extent, consisting both inRussian A sia and in Brit ish North A merica of a ribbon-l ikezone some miles in length and from 2 5 0 to 300 in width.

If Siberia resembles Canada in some things, i t must be confessed that the . latter country has every advantage in point ofbeauty and position . In the first place, Siberia is more to thenorth that portion which approaches nearest to the Equator issituated about 43° latitude— that i s to say, a l ittle more to thenorth than the extreme south of Upper Canada, and , being onthe Pacific, i t i s most distant from European “

Russia, whereasthe corresponding part of Canada i s the nearest to England,and washed by the A tlant ic , the St. Lawrence, and the greatlakes. On the other hand, that part of Siberia which is closestto Russia i s covered to the south by barren steppes or bymountains which confine the centres of civi lizat ion between5 4

°and 5 7

° lat itude . Moreover , whereas the coast of Canadaon the Pacific enjoys a much milder climate than the country

4

SIBERIA

situated on the other s ide of the Rocky Mounta ins, the region sof S iber ia which border the Great Ocean are j ust as frigid as therest of the country. The heigh ts which separate the basin ofthe A mur from that of the Lena are not sufficiently elevated toform a barrier against p iercing north winds , and the JapaneseA rchipelago interposes itself between the coast and the warmwaters of the Black Current , which plays the same part in thePacific as the Gulf Stream in the A tlantic. Thus it happensthat the climate of Trans-Baikalia, where the rivers which ,when uni ted

,form the A mur take their source, i s one of the

most rigorous in S iberia, and the sea i s covered with ice in theport of Vladivostok , which l ies in the same lat itude as Mar

seilles , whereas , opposite on the A merican coast , seven degreesnorthward

,the winters of British Columbia are not more severe

than those of Holland or the West of Germany.

Notwithstanding its terrible climate, S iberia is not entirelyuninhabitable indeed

,even on the borders of the A rctic

Ocean humanity is represented by a few aboriginal Polartribes

,who wander from place to place in sledges drawn by

dogs,and usual ly followed by a numerous herd of reindeer.

The white man , however , cannot endure the condition s pr evai l ing in the extreme north

,and i t i s therefore necessary

with a view to colonizing that one must learn to distinguishbetween the different par ts

'

of S iberia.

The country has been j udiciously divided into three zones ,which ar e, proceeding from north to south, the Tundra (orA rctic Moss) Zone, the Great Forest Zone, and lastly theA gricultural Z one ; the south and south-west of the lastnamed includes the steppes

, as well as the A ltai and SayanMountain s . It would be impossible to trace a l ine of exactdemarcation between these different zones , for the transitioni s extremely gradual but

,speaking generally, the land situated

north of 63°and 64

° lat itude i s barren of all vegetat ion except~ing mosses and l ichens. The subsoil i s eternal ly frozen, butthe surface thaws in summer very slightly, thereby turn ingthe country into one vast marsh . The rivers remain frozenduring n ine months of the year. Under these circumstances,cultivation i s out of the question. To the south-westernl imit of th is zone, at Ber iozof on the Obi , the medium temperatu re all the year round is 5

°C. below zero

,and in winter

it goes down to The average in summer is and

that of the hottest month which i s about the same as

5

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

the heat in Paris in July but the warm weather lasts so shorta t ime as to be useless for agricultural purposes . To theeast the Cl imate becomes rapidly severe, and at Verkhoyansk, avillage situated in the Yakutsk district , lati tude one of thecoldest regions in our hemisphere is reached. The averagethroughout the year i s 1 7

° C . below zero ; during the threewinter months i t i s and in January The minimum isabout 6 8° below zero. What characterizes this dreadful regioni s that to the extreme cold in winter succeeds a very short butrelatively warm summer. The medium thermometrical readingduring the warm season i s which rises to 1 5

° for the monthof July, during which the mercury sometimes rises to 2 5

° in

the shade. The difference between the temperature of thewarmest and the coldest months of the year is about thati s to say, four times what i t is in Paris . It i s very remarkablethat in whatever di rection you go from Verkhoyansk , evennorthward, the climate becomes less rigorous , thanks to thecomparat ive mildness of the winter. A s to the summer, i tscarcely merits the name , fa ll ing to 9

°and even to 3

°

C . on theborders of the A rctic Ocean.

In such unfavourable conditions,i t i s not surprising that

the square miles which comprise the Tundra Zoneonly support between and inhabitants, mostlySamoyeds , Ostiaks, Chuckchis, Lamuts, and other miserableA rctic tribes, among whom l ive , or rather vegetate , a few

Russian oflicials and a fairly numerous group of exiles. The

reindeer, whilst serving as a means of transport , i s also used as

food, and its hide furn ishes the natives with Clothing . Therei s no other domestic animal excepting the powerful Polardog which drags the sleighs. Whether thi s part of S iberiawill ever become of any ultimate use is at present hard to say,but we may take it for granted that i t will only be through thediscovery of a mineral wealth , the existence of which is unknownat the present time

,that the Polar Zone of Siberia will ever

attract even a temporary settlement of colon ists .To the South of the Tundra begin the Great Forests. A t

first the trees are sparse and stunted , and only an experiencedbotanist can recognise the distinctive characteristics of thelarch ; the trees

,however

,become loftier as the climate

moderates and the summer lengthens . The larches, firs andpines rise to a great height , and become at last so thick as toprevent the sun drying the damp soil of the Taiga , or primeval

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

before the corn has had suffic ient time to ripen. A t Ner tchinsk

in Trans-Baikalia the winter i s often much more rigorous than atBer iozof on the Obi , and yet corn ripens in the neighbourhoodof the fir st-named town, for the simple reason that the temperatUr e between May and September, although not many degreeshigher, remains equable much longer. It i s rather to thebrief period during which the sun has any power than to theintensity of the heat or the excess of cold that may be attributedthe difficul ty of rendering these extreme northern regions ofany agricultural value . Notwithstanding that the cultivablezone of S iberia is so extremely limited

,i t covers an area five

times the size of France and equal to half the cultivable sphereof Russia in Europe, which is also affl icted with glacial andsterile zones. This more fortunate section of S iberia may, anddoubtless will , offer for a long time to come an admirable fieldfor Russian emigrat ion .

CHA PTER II

THE LAND OF SIBERIA AND ITS INHA BITA NTS

S iber ia a pr olonga tion of Russia in Eu rope—Mar ked r esemblance in

scenery and climate between the two countr ies—Insignificance of the

indigenous population, especially towards theWest—Facilities of coloniza tion—Preponderance of the Russian element in the agr icultur alzone—Ind igenous elements : Polar tr ibes diminishing ; Mongol pOpulation inc reasing, but much mor e slowly than the Russian—A siaticimmigration to the east of the cultivable zonefl Heterogeneous elementsimpor ted fr om Europe

—Jews and Raskolniks.

A FTER crossing the beautifully wooded valleys and the chainof hills known as the Ural Mountains, the traveller arrives at

Cheliabinsk, s ituated in' the Great Plain, and can scarcely

believe that m iles of rai lway separate him from Moscow,so striking is the resemblance between the scenery aroundhim and that of Central Russia, notably in the Governmentsof Tula and Riazan . In the open spaces rise tufts ofdelicate verdure, beyond which , here and there, appear thegray outl ines of some village, consisting of rows of woodenhouses surrounded by fields . The only strik ing difl

'

er ence

between the appearance of this country and Central Russiaconsists {in the predominance of the birch between the Uraland the Obi. For nearly miles no other tree shades theabsolutely flat country. It i s the same with the wild flowers

,

among which I noticed the Kabor skz’

tcfiaz’

,with its long pink

spiral blossoms, which recall those of the digital i s. It i s not

surprising that a Russian territory bearing such a singularresemblance to the mother country should prove attractiveto Russian emigrants. The winter here, however , i s un

doubtedly both longer and colder ; the summer is a l ittle hotter,and the mosquitoes much more troublesome ; but, on the otherhand, land is freer , and the peasant i s no longer confined

9

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

in the very narrow space granted in the old country tohis father at the time of the emancipation of the serfs

,

and which, at his death , he has been obliged to share withhis brothers. If one is su rprised to notice during the first fewdays’ j ourney by the Trans~Siberian Railway so few villages,the reason i s not far to find . The line passes a l ittle to thesouth of the colonized region, and borders the insufficientlywatered steppes where the Kirghiz graze their cattle. Fromt ime to time the traveller perceives in the plain the circularhuts and even the tents of these nomads

,and not unfrequently

at the stations he may meet wi th a number of them,with their

beady black eyes , their yellow complexions , and their closelyshaven heads contrasting picturesquely with the fair locks andlong yellow beards of the red-shirted Muj iks . A l ittle to thenorth, after passing the Obi, the Kirghiz disappear, althoughthe town of Tomsk still possesses a mosque, said to be themost northern in the world.

It i s estimated that these Tatars do not exceed The

majority profess Islamism , whilst a few have been converted tothe Orthodox faith , and a smaller proportion sti ll rema inpagans. On ly a fraction dwell in the towns. Besides thisTatar tribe, some Mongols, ca lled Kalmucks , inhabitthe A ltai Mountains . In the north may still be found otheraborigines of a very inferior type, known as Ostiaks. They aresupposed to be of Finnish origin, and do not exceed in

number, and are exclusively engaged in hunting and fishing .

It is stated that at one t ime they were fairly civi lized , but theyhave been gradually driven back by the Russians into theA rctic and sterile regions, and have become decimated bydrink and other vices , the unfortunate result of contact with a

superior race. Further north of the forest - l ine and theTundra region wander a few Polar tribes called Samoyeds,who

,owing to the extremely arid nature of the soil and the

rigour of the climate,have never come into contact with

European civi lizat ion . There are about of them , and

owing to the unfavourable social and Climatic conditions underwhich they exi st, i t i s not l ikely that they will increase . The

purely Russian population , to whom the agricultural zonealmost exclusively belongs, forms about n ineteen-twentieths ofthe inhabitants of Western S iberia, which itselfcontains three-fifths of the population of all Siberia.

The richest section of the Government of Tobolsk consi sts1 0

SIBERIA

of a narrow band of land runn ing between the marshes of thenorthern regions and the sterile steppes of the southern . A t

Tomsk this cultivable zone widens when it passes the Obi , andthe character of the scenery changes to pleasant hill s and valleys,in which latter the earth i s still sufi‘iciently thick and rich toentirely cover the rocky format ion below. The leaf-bearingtrees are finer

, and are interspersed with splendid specimens ofS iberian fi r and the extremely picturesque S iberian cedar-tree.Occasionally these trees group themselves together

, and forma sort of wood or plantation ; at other times they grow singlyalong the roadside

,being thus cultivated in order to supply

sleepers for the ra i lway or as superior fuel. The fields are

full of beautiful flowers, and the general appearance of the

country i s that of a fine park, forming a very agreeable contrastto the monotonous Barabinsk Steppe, with its infrequent andstunted birches. The plateau which stretches between thetwo rivers Tom and Chulym, afliuents of the Obi , at a heightof between 800 and 900 feet above the level of the plain, i sextremely fertile, the vegetat ion being most varied , and thewhole region i s vastly superior in point of picturesqueness toany h itherto visited. The valley of the Y enissei, dominatedto the east by mountains and traversed by the magnificentriver , i s extremely beautiful. The water runs rapidly, i s r e

markably Clear, and in more than one place the maj estic streamwidens to over yards .Once the traveller has passed the Y enissei, he leaves the

tedious plains behind him,and finds h imself among pleasant

hill s and valleys , which ar e rapidly becom ing highly cult ivated.

The post-road, which crosses from the west to the east, fromTinmen, at the foot of the Ural, to Stretensk on the A mur,sometimes follows the course of the rivers

,and at others rises

to a considerable height above them . On either s ide riseveritable wall s of gigantic S iberian pines , with red trunks ,sombre verdure , interspersed by magnificent larches of a

l ighter shade of green and of more regular shape , and byfir - trees and cedars

,whose cones contain those little seeds which

the Siberians are so fond of chewing. On the banks of themor e important rivers

, and at every ten to twenty miles’ distance ,

the traveller now passes numbers of little towns and villages,surrounded by arable land , which form ,

however,but very in

significant oases in the midst of these in terminable forests . It is,however, along this post-road , in the valley of the Y enissei, and

1 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

on the banks of two or three other rivers, that almost the entirepopulation of Central Siberia i s concentrated. Here

,as else

where, the Russian element predominates ; for out of theinhabitants of the government of Y enissei there are

not more than natives,who

,moreover, l ive principally

in the forests to the north .

The populat ion of the Government of Irkutsk includes aboutinhabitants, of whom are Buriats , mostly

shepherds and farmers . They were originally Mongols , and

still practise Buddhism , and l ive principally on the slopes ofthe Sayan chain of mountains

,which runs close to the Chinese

front ier. To the east of the great Lake Baikal , which is 440miles in length by 30 to 60 in width, and which by reason of itsmountainous shores recall s the lakes of Scotland, i s a regionthat contains the only really beautiful scenery in S iberia. Thissection of the country has always entertained close relationswith China. Trans-Baikalia in former t imes supplied theEmperors at Peking with their finest game . The whole districtof the Verkhne-Udinsk, comprising the basin of the Selenga,the principal affluent of the Baikal, is frequently and not in

appropriately called Russian Mongol ia. On the summit of theA hmar Dabam, a Chain of mountains which dominates LakeBaikal , I perceived for the first t ime a fetish- tree with itsbranches bedecked with part i-coloured rags. On the easternslope I also discovered a Lamasery. The scantily cultivatedplateau to the north , which i s watered by the Vitim ,

a tributaryof the Lena , was , i t appears, not populated at the time of thearrival of the Russians , and even to-day i t only contains a fewvillages peopled by wretched Muj iks . This region before theannexation of the right bank and of the lower valley of theA mur was used as a sort of military encampment. A t thepresent time it i s governed by a mil itary régime, whose ad

min istration i s concentrated in the hands of a Governor, invariably a general in the army . Of the inhabitants ,one- third are natives, one- third peasants, or inhabitantsof i ts gloomy little towns , and the other third consistsof Cossacks, who are on ly distinguishable from the peasantsby wearing a yellow band on their caps and trousers. Insteadof paying taxes, they have to submit to certain military obligations . A lthough they are Cossacks by name and by race,they possess none of the brilliant mil itary qual it ies which distinguish their European kinsmen. The two territories annexed

1 2

SIBERIA

by Russia in 1 8 5 8 at the expense of China, the Province ofthe A mur, and the southern portion of the Littoral Provincethe only one which i s of the least value— ar e scarcely inhabited ,and were even less peopled at the time of the arrival of theRussians, when they possessed not more than Manchus

,

and about as many natives, engaged in hunt ing and fishing,and belonging to several declin ing tribes . The Manchus haveremained and are prospering ; the other tribes are graduallypassing away . Some or Korean and Chineseemigrants have settled in the neighbourhood of Vladivostok .

The Russian immigration, however, forms at least five-sixthsof the inhabitants of the Province of the Amur, andmore than two-thirds of the of the coast province, ofwhom natives l ive in the A rctic regions, where thewhites leave them in peace. The newly—acquired Chineseterritory includes at least Russian s out of theinhabitants . It must, however , be remembered that thisremarkable maj ority i s main ly due to the concentration oftroops which has taken place since the Chino-Japanese War ,

which so profoundly modified the political condition of theFar East .The following table is formed from official sources— chiefly

from the censu s taken on January 28,1 89 7 , and marks the

area and the total populat ion of the nine S iberian provinces

Tota l Popula t ion .

$32nY enissei

Ir kutskYa kutskT r ans-Baikalia

A mu r

LittoralIsland of Sakhalin}

Total

The southern agricultural region of Siberia, in contradis

t inction to the frozen zone to the north , i s mainly inhabi ted1 3

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

by European settlers . The proportion of these over thenat ive populat ion i s greatest in the west, and decreases towardsthe east, where, however , i t st ill remain s superior by abouttwo-thirds

,so that we need not hesitate to conclude that

out of the people living on th is long strip of land,

more than four million and a half are of European origin .

Nevertheless, it must not be forgotten that the indigenousMongol and Turki population, which i s immensely superior tothe poor tribes of fishermen and hunters who wander aboutthe northern zone , does not dimin ish, but continues to increase,much less rapidly , however, than the Russians, who are con

stantly being reinforced by emigration . Fortunately thefeeling between these two distinct elements i s excellent ; theRussians, being of Oriental extraction , do not hold those racialprejudices which are so marked among the A nglo-Saxons .

The rel igious question, which i s of course an obstacle to anyattempt at a fusion between the Orthodox and the Buddhistpopulation, i s also not very intense or intricate. The

Russian i s essentially tolerant , in opposition to his Government

,which is the reverse. The Orthodox emigrants have

no Objection to a Pagoda or a Lamasery being erected alongside of their own churches and monasteries. I rememberseeing, while travelling from Cheliabinsk to Omsk , the Metropolitan of the last-named town, who happened to be in thetrain,

'

get out at a certain station to visit a church which wasbeing built, and to bestow his benediction upon a crowd ofMuj iks who had assembled for the purpose of receiving it .Whilst the ceremony was in progress , a few feet further on fiveTatar travellers had stretched their carpets, and, with theirfaces turned Meccawards, were going through the elaborategymnast ics connected with Mussulman devotion. The Muj iks ,who were crowding forward to kiss their priest’s hand, neverdreamt of disturbing the Mohammedan worshippers, butwatched them quite respectfully. I doubt very much whetherin any part of Europe three centuries ago, when the populacewas not more developed in the intellectual sense than are thesepoor Muj iks , such a scene of tolerance could ever have beenwitnessed . TheRussian Government accords the utmost l ibertyto its subjects in A sia in matters of religion. The origin ofRussian ofli cial intolerance in Europe is in the main purelypolitical

,and i f i t considers Buddhists and Mussulmans in

S iberia less objectionable than Catholics and Protestants, it i s14

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

seventeenth century. This,however

,i s , needless to say, a

purely Russian contingent. The Raskolniks ex ist in every partof S iberia, but in the province of the A mur they form about atenth of the population , and ar e also very numerous in TransBaikalia . They are mainly the descendants of people belonging to this particular sect, who were originally exiled fromRussia in the eighteenth century. Their Chief peculiarityconsists in their love of temperance and horror of every sort ofinnovat ion . Nothing would induce them to take even a cup ofcoflee or tea . In our time the members of certain curioussects

,that of the Eunuchs

,for instance

, are exiled into Siberia ,and confined to a village in the territory of the Yakutsk, in theTundra Zone. A ccording to the belief of these eccentricpersons

,Napoleon I. was a reincarnation of the Messiah, and

they bel ieve he rests in the sleep of death on the shores ofLake Baika l until a t ime when an angel shall awaken him and

place him at the head of an amazing host destined to establishthe reign of God in all parts of the world. The Raskoln iks,owing to their temperate habits and their industry , are generallyconsidered to be a very valuable element in the population ofthe country.

1 6

CHA PTER III

AGRICULTURA L SIBERIA A ND THE RUR'A L POPULA TION

Enormous pr eponderance of the r ur al and peasant population in S iber iaSiber ian Muj iks—Their r ude and pr imitive manner of life—E xcellentquality of the land, and backwa rd met hods o f cultivating it—Medioc re

and ir regular manner of r aising cereals—The necessity and d ifficul tyof impr oving agr icultu r al operations—The absence of large and enter

pr ising owner ship in Siber ia a disadvantage.

SIBERIA resembles Russia not only in the matter of its immensity, its loneliness , the duration of its winters , monotonous expanse of its plains and enormous forest lands, butalso in the leading characteristics of it s peasantry ; but inA sia and Russia these seem accentuated, possibly by reasonof the peculiarity of the surroundings among which they are

compelled to live. Even more than in Russia i s th is Class ofthe people essentially rural the exploitation of the gold-minesis the only other industry of any importance , and i t employsrelatively few people in comparison with its yield.

In S iberia great landlords are conspicuous by their absence.

The only nobles ment ioned by the official stati stics are a fewfunctionaries whose lands will be found on the other side of

the Ural , and the only rich people in the country are themerchants residing in the towns, who occas ionally add totheir incomes , mainly derived from trade

,by a cer tain interest

in min ing speculat ions . Some of these worthy people buildthemselves handsome country houses , but they do not takemuch interest in agriculture. A few concessions of land weremade in the middle of the century , but they have long sincepassed out of the hands of their orig inal owners into those of

the Muj iks, to whom they have been ‘ let, ’ but these do not

appear to care about their prosperity. A ll the rest of the land1 7 C

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

belongs either to the Government or to small farmers, who ren ti t from the Crown .

The Siberian peasant l ives exactly as do his brethren in

Russia, in villages or hamlets. Isolated houses are rare, theagglomerat ion of dwellings being an absolute necessity of theconditions of that collective and communal proprietorshipwhich prevai ls throughout the Tsar ’s dominions. A S iberianvil lage is, therefore, a reproduction of a Russian village. On

either side of the road is a succession of low, one-storyhouses built of dark wood , and separated from each other byyards , at the back of which are the stables. The appearanceof these dwell ings is exceedingly dreary , for they are invariablybuilt of rough wood, blackened by age. Occasionally , however,some few planks are painted a vivid white. The usual dolefulaspect of these villages i s sometimes enl ivened

,especially in

the larger ones,by the presence of a brick Church

,with

cupolas painted a vivid green . In the hamlets these chapelsare only outwardly distingu ished from the rest of the fiber : byan i ron cross.If anything

,the general appearance of these S iberian

villages is even more dreary and depressing than that of thei rcounterparts in European Russia, where the houses are oftengaily painted. Here they ar e built entirely of unhewn wood ,l ike the log-huts of the Far West. Then, the few domesticanimals to be seen wandering about the roadway are not

reassuring,for the dogs look l ike wolves

, and the enormousblack pigs l ike wild boars . Nevertheless , I am of opinion thatthe S iberian peasant i s better off than his Russian brother.H is z

’

séas are certainly more spacious, al though , to be sure, six,

seven , and even ten , persons are usually crowded into two orthree tiny rooms , the immense stove in the centre of which, inwinter, i s usual ly used as a bedstead by the enti re family, whereby whatever air otherwise might be admitted is hermetical lyexcluded . For all that, I have never seen in S iberia any ofthose miserable hovels to be found in Russia, but undoubtedlythe manners and customs of the Siberian peasants are evenmore primitive than those of the Russians. They possess lessknowledge of hygiene and cleanliness

,and are absolutely

ignorant of everything calculated to render life in the leastdegree agreeable or rational . During the six winter monthsthe S iberian keeps hi s house rigorously shut, excluding even a

breath of air ; in summer he does the same , for the double18

SIBERIA

windows of the two or three very smal l sleeping - roomsare never opened on any pretext . These S iberian peasantsare, moreover, aston ishingly lazy and apathetic. Their onlypleasure in l ife consists in dreaming away the time whilstsmoking their pipes , and in drinking vodka , not to enl iventhemselves

,but simply to get dead-drunk . Whilst the men

are at the public-house the women stand by their Open doors,listless and gossiping, indolently watching their fair-hairedchildren , who , with only a red shirt on , fabricate the timehonoured dir t~pies of un iversal Childhood in the mud or elseroll about in the dust .

’

Work is limited to what i s absolutelyindispensable, and the S iberian peasant i s much happier doingnothing than in working to obtain what h is fellows in othercountries would consider the necessaries of l ife, but which helooks upon as ludicrously superfluous. Every village possessesa herd of cows , which you may watch in the early morninghours straggling off to the pastures, driven along by two orthree Old men or urchins , and although you can always getexcellent milk

,butter i s very scarce , and Cheese unknown . A s

to a garden, even for the cultivation of necessary vegetables, Ihave never seen one in the hundred villages I have vis ited,excepting, indeed , in Trans-Baikalia, where I perceived one ortwo attached to the siam

'

tr as belonging to some Cossacks . It i snot because vegetables will not grow , but because the peasantswill not cultivate them . In the towns in the A mur district,such as Blagovyeshchensk

,Khabarofsk, and a few others , vege

tables ar e to be obtained, but even these are brought over bythe Chinese from the opposite bank of the river.In addition to laziness

,the Siberian peasant adds the most

surprising obstinacy,which is not precisely a bad quali ty, when ,

as in the case of the English, i t serves to increase their doggedactivity ; but in S iberia i t is simply another incent ive to donothing. Once a Siberian peasant has made up his mind toplay do/ce f a r m

’

ente, no power, Divine or human , will inducehim to budge . I have often heard Europeans say that S iberiai s the only country where you cannot get work done even formoney ; and th is i s perfectly true, for on certain holidays i tmatters little what you may Offer, you will not get a coachman

to take you a five-mile drive . The Siberian would rather losemoney than earn i t against his will .If inertia i s happiness

,then the S iberians mut be the

happiest people on earth . They disdain progress and would1 9 C 2

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

rather die than better their condition. Their motto is, Whatsufficed for our fathers i s surely good enough for us

,

’and this i s

the invariable answer a peasant will give you if you venture tosuggest any sort of Change for the better in his condition . H is

favourite texts from Holy Scripture are those which flatter hishabit of intellectual stagnation

,those which preach resignation

and abstention, but certainly not those which teach action and

effort. ‘He who is contented with little will not be forgottenby God , ’ was the text I once saw stuck up in the wait ing-roomof one of the dirtiest stations in Trans-Baikalia. It struck meas being part icularly appropriate

,both to the place and the

people . The prevai ling lack of energy and perseverance, whichhas been noticed by travellers in every part of the Tsar’sEmpire, seems to me to be one of the radical characteristics ofthe Russian nature . It may possibly derive its origin from theinfluences of Tatar blood, which was so largely infused amongthe lower classes of Russians from the thirteenth to the six

teenth century at the time of Tatar domination . Then, aga in,it must be remembered that extreme cold, l ike extreme heat ,produces apathy, especially upon the men , who are thereby condemmed to remain for many months inactive

,and whose minds,

owing to their excessive ignorance,are a blank .

S iberian peasants are supremely ignorant. In 18 94 theGovernment of Tobolsk, the most progressive of any in respectof education, numbered only children frequent ing theschools out of a population of souls . In the townsthe proportion of scholars was 4 6 3 per 100, but in the countrydistricts i t did not rise to 1 0 5 . One must not, however, betoo severe on the Siberians for showing so poor an educat ionalresult

,for we must not forget the enormous distance between

village and village, and the d ifli culties of obtain ing schoolmasters, owing main ly to the excessive ignorance in which thelower orders of Russ ians are plunged. Notwithstanding thevery considerable progress which has been made in this d ir ect ion in the last few years, there i s probably no country in theworld where reading and writing would be of greater advantage,for during at least one half of the year the Siberian has

l iterally nothing to do but to think, or, better, to dream , hislife away.

Serfdom has never existed in Siberia, which accounts for theMuj iks having a much more independent air than their brethrenin European Russia . They have

,however

,in common with

20

SIBERIA

these latter, that peculiar sort of Charity which has been wellcalled the ‘ pity of the Slav.

’It is

,however

,not an active

virtue , but a sort of dreamy pitifulness which induces thesepoor people to help each other

,but does not prevent them

from being exceedingly suspicious of strangers . They will ,however, invariably leave on the s il l outside thei r Windows a

hunk of bread or a jug of milk for the benefit of some escapedconvict or some wretched outcast. Unfortunately , however ,the extreme ignorance and the innate laziness of these peopleprevent the ir extracting from the soil much that , at a verysmal l cost of labour , would greatly increase both their weal thand their comfort.The soil of S iberia i s exceedingly rich . The famous

tc/zer rzozz'

zmz, or black earth of Southern Russia, covers a greatpart of the Meridional Zone of the provinces of Tobolsk and

Tomsk . The upper valleys of the Obi and the Y enissei,sheltered from the north -winds , enjoy a milder climate thanthe plains , and are excellent for the growth of all sorts ofcereals . On the borders of the A ngara , the great tributa ry ofLake Ba ikal and on that of the Lower A mur

,and i ts tributary

rivers and its afl‘luents,which are marshy, there ar e enormous

tracts of extremely fertile land , but the methods of cultivationar e of the most primitive. Then

,aga in

,the vast maj ority of

the rural population obstinately refuses to work in the fields .A ll along the great postal h ighway , which stretches from theUral to the A mur

,and beyond to Kiakhta , the manner in which

the peasants earn their l iving i s considerably modified. Theyexist by tr afli cking along this main road, along which passmanufactured goods imported from Europe

,which are forwarded

to Central Siberia, the great caravan s of the tea-merchants, thegangs of exiles , and lastly the ordinary travellers . A s thisroad i s the only one which goes from west to east, it is veryanimated . Even in summer

,when the traffi c is not so active

the tea caravans only pass in winter— I have rarely seen fewerthan 1 00 transports of one sort or another per day. A lthoughevery postmaster i s obliged to keep no fewer than forty horses ,and each carriage rarely requires more than three, occasional lyi t is imposs ible to secure a conveyance , and one i s obliged toask the peasants for assistance , which they are very ready toafford, making you pay from three to four roubles (six to eightsh illings) for a relay of twenty-five ver y/5 (sixteen miles ), a sumwhich, i f they see that they have to deal either with somebody

2 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

who is in a great hurry , or with a wealthy traveller, they persistently increase in the most barefaced manner. In winterthe transport of tea also enables them to make considerablesums of money.

Thus i t is that the countr y folk in these lat itudes neglectagriculture , considering i t merely as an accessory. In theneighbourhood of the villages you will find a few fields and

pastures,where the cows, horses, and sometimes a few black

sheep , are sent out to graze under the care of two or three boysor old men ,

or sometimes without any Shepherd at all. A

wooden bar rier prevents their escaping into the neighbouringforest .The number of horses in Siberia is very great. In the

government of Tomsk in 1 894 there were horses toa population of only that i s to say, 80 horses per1 00 inhabitants . In the government of the Y enissei theproportion i s over 90 per 1 00 inhabitants, and the sameproportion prevai ls in the government of Irkutsk. A lmost theonly other country where there ar e almost as many horses asmen is

,besides Russian Central A sia , the A rgent ine Republic,

where there are 1 1 2 per 1 00 inhabitants . In the UnitedStates there ar e but 2 2

, and in France on ly 7 . The proportion of horned cattle is also very cons iderable, being about60 per 100 inhabitants

,rising in Eastern S iberia , in Tobolsk

and Tomsk , to 80 . whereas in the Y enissei and Irkutsk districtsthere are about 3 beasts per family. The greater part of theseare cows . Bullocks ar e very scarce, not being employed eitherfor food or burden . It i s only along the Kirghiz Steppes , inthe country traversed by the Trans -Siberian railway betweenthe Urals and Omsk, and the region immediately below thisl ine, that milk is used . The rain falls in this region veryslightly , and the land is not cult ivable, but purely arable , andas the Kirghiz are extremely capable herdsmen , the results are

very sat isfactory , and they export their cattle largely intoRussian Europe , and even beyond . I remember comingacross a train full of bullocks which were being conveyed toSt. Petersburg

, and I know of at least one large house inMoscow which receives weekly from the little town of Kurgan

,

s ituated on the rai lway l ine, many thousands of pounds ofbutter, a great part of which i s exported thence to Hamburg.

If one wishes to become acquainted with the real Siberianfarmers, one must leave aside the highroads and plunge

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

peopled, does not produce a total of more thanbushels . Wheat, generally sown in spr ing,

'

and oats formeach about 30 per cent. of the total cereal product of S iberia.

The balance i s made up of rye, barley and buckwheat . The

arable land has to undergo , especially when first reclaimedfrom the steppe, the usual process of preparation, manuring,etc. The Siberian peasants have not acquired even the mostrudimentary knowledge of agricultural science, and, conse

quently, often have to abandon their farms . On the o therhand , in certain favourable regions, in the Governments ofTobolsk and Tomsk, where the earth is exceptionally rich, thepastures have gone on fairly well for over a hundred yearswithout any sensible diminution in the excellence of their grazingproperties . However, land is so abundant in Siberia that oftenthe peasants

,when they find after they have reclaimed it that

i ts productive qual ities decrease, rather than be bothered witha repetition of the processes of manuring , etc . , pack up theirtraps and migrate elsewhere

,l iterally, to ‘ fresh woods and

pastures new,

’ where probably the foot of man has never trod .

In Siberia, as stated already , great landowners are non

existent . The soil is, therefore, exclusively in the hands of thepeasants

,but up to the present the mz

’

r collective communalpropertyship , as i s found throughout Russia, i s quite exceptional,and then only in the more sparsely peopled parts of the west.S ince 1 89 6 , however, the Government has decided to introduce,i f not practically, at least theoretically, the mz

'

r principle as

i t exists in European Russia . Nevertheless , in S iberia thecommune is not supposed to possess property , but simply tohold it on the principle of usufruct, the whole land belongingto the Crown . In those parts of the country which are nearlyun inhabited the za

'

z'

mka system still holds good,whereby a

peasant, although he may be a res ident in a village, is allowedto build himself a but on the steppe or in the forest where hepasses the summer , and where he can cultivate and evenenclose one or two large fields which are supposed to belongto him

,and which he can sell or give away as he pleases , and

which, in point of fact, he owns by right of being the first

occupant ; but thi s system is only provisional . With theincrease of population i t gives place to another , whereby thepeasant i s not considered an absolute proprietor, but only forso long as he chooses to cultivate his land properly. Fromthe moment he ceases to comply with this condition another

24

SIBERIA

man can take his land. Everybody is allowed to cut hay inthe prairies where he likes , and the pastures and woods are

common property. On the other hand, i t i s forbidden toenclose any forest or pasture-land.

The cl imate of S iberia i s natural ly opposed to the cultivationof cereals, which have to s truggle against droughts, autumnalfogs

,and late and early frosts . During the last ten years some

very interesting meteorological observations have been made atIrkutsk, whereby it has been discovered that July i s the onlymon th in which it never freezes . Then, again, in the governmentofTobolsk, and to the west of that of Tomsk, in addition to theseclimatic drawbacks, the crops are often devastated by myriadsof koéy/ka r , a sort of locust or grasshopper which comes fromthe Kirghiz Steppes . Under these circumstances , agriculturein S iberia may well be said to be an even more arduous wayof earning a l ivel ihood than i t i s in Russia proper. It not

unfrequently happens that the crops fai l utterly,and during

the last ten years i t has been noticed that these d isasters aremainly due to increasing impoverishment of the soil . The

irregular condition'

of the crops is all the more disastrous inS iberia because of the lack of means of communicat ionwhich impedes the easy transport of corn from one district toanother

,and results in enormous fluctuat ions in prices , that

often spell ruin to the unfortunate peasants. The introductionof the rai lway to Irkutsk occasioned a notable reduction in theprice of bread in Eastern S iberia, but, on the other hand, theprincipal l ine, unfortunately, transports agricultural productsfrom S iberia to the region of the Volga.

Bu t a matter which i s even of greater importance than thatof intercommun ication are the extremely ant iquated methods ofcultivat ion which the peasants insist upon retaining . In the firstplace , their notions of preparing the reclaimed soil for cultureare absolutely barbarous . A ll they do is to scratch up theimmediate surface of the earth with a sort of plough whichdates from the Iron A ge, and then sow thei r crop . When thefield is exhausted , which, not having been properly manured

,

i t very soon i s, i t i s abandoned for a period of years until i trecovers some of its reproduct ive qual ities . With improved agricultural implemen ts the earth could be more deeply ploughed

,

and at a very little distance beneath the surface i t i s almost invariably extremely rich . The question i s how to induce thepeasants to change methods which have been handed down to

2 5

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

them from their ancestors through the ages. It is of coursemuch to be regretted that in Siberia there exists no great landowners wealthy enough to introduce modern improvements , andthus teach their humbler neighbours the value of progress bypractical il lustration ; but unt il means of communicat ion are

facilitated and improved it will be difficult to induce men ofwealth and education to settle in a country which, howevernaturally rich it may be , i s, to say the best of it , exceptionallyunattractive . Even in Russia, where so many noblemen, owingto the great losses which they sustained at the time of the emancipation of the serfs, have abandoned their lands to the peasants,and have retired to the larger towns, there are yet to be foundmen who have had the courage to face reverses , and who havetaken their estates in hand on scient ific principles , introducingthe latest improvements in agricultural implements

, and therebyhave influenced for the better the peasantry by even inducingsome of them to abandon their primeval methods of agriculture This desirable state of affairs, however, cannot exist inS iberia, at least for the present. Then, again, there 15 anotheradvantage which would accrue from the presence of rich landowners in Siberia , namely, contact with persons of superioreducation and culture, which in the end would doubtless affectthe peasantry for the better. In Russia the peasantry form a

compact body which , by reason of its singular position in thesocial sphere , is absolutely unable to receive or absorb anyinfluences from the more educated classes. This is a state ofaffairs which it is highly desirable should cease in the A siaticcolon ies , where at present i t i s even more strongly markedthan in Russia itself. The problem of the future of Siberia isthe possibility and feasibility of inducing important land ownersto settle in the country.

CHA PTER IV

MINERA L RESOURCES A ND INDUSTRIES

Impor tance o f the Siber ian mines—The gold mines— Insu fficiency of

o rganiza tion pr incipally due to unfavour able climatic influences—Railway ex tension would br ing abou t an inc r ease in the value of the miningindustr ies—Silver , copper , and ir on mines.

HOWEVER productive Siberia may eventually become, i t cannever solely depend for its prosperity upon i ts agriculturalresources. Happily, the subsoil is richer than the upper crust,on account of the great abundance of ore of various kindswhich it conceals. The gold and silver mines, however, alone,up to the present . have been worked to any extent, al though a

few of the iron mines have been slightly exploited . Even inthe case of gold

,however , only the al luvial mines have been

touched in those valleys where gold exists , and nowhere havethe rock veins been opened . More can hardly be expectedin a country which is nearly destitute of the proper meansof transport ; hence the extreme difficulty of conveying thenecessari ly heavy and elaborate machinery required forthe extraction of the gold from the rock. Then

,again,

the rock ore is only to be found at great distances frominhabited centres in unexplored forests and mountainousregions . The diggings , on the other hand , are much easier,demanding no other implements than a sieve and a spade .

The siftings have been exploited in great numbers from end toend of Siberia , their takings proving , since 1 895 , equal to twothirds of the gold product of the whole of the Russian Empire ,the fourth largest gold-centre in the world , coming immediatelyafter the Uni ted States

,A ustral ia, and the Transvaal. The

amount of gold abstracted from the Siberian mines since 1 8 95amounts to not less than and thi s figure, high as

2 7

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

i t i s,is , in all probabil ity, much under the mark , the miners

very often retain ing a good deal of their findings for themselves .The Government i s the only buyer of Siberian gold. It has

the right to claim on purchasing the gold from the minersbetween 1 5 and 20 per cent of the ore . This system of taxation i s extremely pernicious , S ince it tempts the miners

,as

already stated , to conceal the real amount of their takings .A n increase in the surface tax would compensate for the suppression of the official claim upon the net product, and wouldput an end to a great deal of fraud. I have been assured thata reform in this sense may

‘

soon be expected. The enforcedobligation of selling to the State becomes , in the long- r un

,ex

ceedingly irksome to concessionaires, because i t forces them tosend their gold to a great distance

,to the laboratories at Tomsk

and Irkutsk , where the official agents analyze it to determineits value

,whereas, of course, it would be much s impler to send

it direct to Europe, and there sel l i t to speculators who would

promptly pay the price demanded. A nother drawback in thepresent system i s that the miners have often to wai t a longtime for ready cash

,which is absolutely necessary to them in

their business . Sometimes the Government keeps them waiting until their gold has reached St. Petersburg , and they areultimately obliged to discount i t according to the very hightariff rates prevai l ing in S iberia . The transport of the metal toEurope by the State i s as expensive as i t i s troublesome

,s ince

i t has to be conveyed to Moscow and St. Petersburg in chargeof a military escort . I have on several occasions seen betweenthe Y enissei and Lake Baikal carts bringing gold from themines , escorted by three or four soldiers ready to fire on theleast signs of possible attack . A nother drawback to theS iberian mining industries ar e the primitive implements usedin abstracting the ore from the soi l

,which

,as M. Levat, a dis

tinguished engineer, very tru ly observed to me, were of a sortthat apparently dated from the days of Homer. Under thesecircumstances , i t i s the custom in Siberia to work the surfaceof the mine only , and after enough ore has been extractedfrom it

,to abandon the place entirely.

Owing to the geological formation of the country, the moreimportant Siberian mines will not be found , as in Cal i fornia,on the mountain slopes , but at depths covered by marshlands .Their exploitation , therefore, i s much more costly, as it i snecessary before commencing Operat ions to cart away an

28

SIBERIA

immense quanti ty of the upper surface of the earth . Hence ithappens that if a mine is ' disturbed at the surface, and thenabandoned by the miners , it i s, so to speak, spoilt , as anyattempt to work it again in all probability will result in disappointment. For this reason

,many excellent mines in the

basin of the Obi and of the Y en issei have been already exhansted , and the centre of the m in ing industry in these regionshas been transferred to the banks of the A mur and the Lena,and this notwithstanding the many diff iculties the miners haveto face, as the soil hereabouts i s invariably frozen for abouttwenty yards in depth

, and work can only be pursued for about1 20 consecutive days in the year. The miners’ salaries , too,ar e exceedingly high. In the diggings at Olekma, an affluen tof the Lena, wages are 3 5 . 4d . per diem , that i s to say, doublewhat they are on the Y enissei, and eight times as much as in

the neighbourhood of Senipalatinsk, where the Kirghiz workmen receive on ly fivepence. Notable progress , however, hasbeen made in these regions during the last few years, as themines are gradually leaving the hands of adventurers and smal lassociat ions, to be concentrated in those of important companies, financed by the richer S iberian merchants, and even bylarge Russian firms. The great mining company of Olekmaextracted in 1 880 worth of gold , and maintainedits reputation at in 1 896 , proving thi s mine to beone of the richest in the world . With the introduction ofproper means Of transport , and, above all

,a l iberal reform in

the legislation,doubtless the S iberian mines would become

infinitely more valuable than they are at present.A lready European capital i sts are paying attent ion to A siatic

Russia, and one or two important groups of French min ingengineers during the past three years have been inspectingthose parts of the country which are said to be richest in ore .

I was never more surprised than to find on board a boat on

the A mur two English engineers , whose acquaintance I hadmade in December, 1 8 95 , in the far -away goldfields of theTransvaal. A ll that the mines of S iberia need to become ofenormous value are sufficient capital and up

- to-date methodsof working them. The s ilver m ines of Ner tchinsk , which inold times had an unenviable reputa tion as the s ite of the mostterrible S iberian penal settlement, are now of little value . On

the other hand , copper, iron , and coal beds are distributed ingreat abundance in various parts of the country, and seem to

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

const itute its principal and most permanent source of wealth .

The copper mines have not been exploited at all,but are

known to exist in the Upper Y enissei, in the districts of theM inusinsk

,celebrated throughout S iberia for its agricultural

prosperity others may be discovered more to the west, on theIrtysh . Iron i s found in great quantity in the western regions,in the A l tai Mounta ins

, on the borders of the Y enissei, and inthe valley of the A ngara, and to the east in Trans-Baikalia,where its iron mines have been fairly well exploited , but hithertonot on any considerable scale . Coal will certainly be found inconsiderable abundance in the western plains, and in the lastfew years a vast coal area has been found , beginning about1 5 0 miles south of the Trans-Siberian l ine near the town ofKuznetsk , and extending to the Upper Obi. In 1 88 7 a new

and still larger field was discovered at about 80 miles east ofTomsk, and , moreover, close to the ra ilway line. A t the extremity of Siberia, near Vladivostok, and , consequently, closeto the sea, other coal-beds have been opened of late .

S iberian industries are at present very limited , and consist ofa few un important distilleries , breweries , brick-kilns, matchmanufactories, etc. It i s therefore evident that for some longtime to come the inhabitants will be compelled to devote theirattent ion and energies to the development of the natural products of the soil . A ll new countries are forced to do this inthe fi rst stages of their civilization

,and since the Un ited States,

New Zealand, and A ustral ia fa iled in manufactures in theirearl ier days , S iberia may surely content herself by following intheir wake .

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

over again until the decoction ends by being only straw-colouredwater. This explains the fact that whilst the Russians drinkthree times as much tea as the English , the quanti ty of itimported into Russia i s at least two-thirds less than that whichChina and India send annually to Great Britain .

It was by the overland route that the Russians first came incontact with the Chinese somewhere towards the end of theseventeenth century , and their commerce with the CelestialEmpire continued unt il the middle of the present century exelusively overland . A lmost all the tea which enters Russia hasto pass through the town of Kiakhta, about 1 80 miles southeast of Irkutsk as the crow fl ies

,but 430 miles by the postal

road , which is only used during two short periods of the year ,the first in December and the second in spring , when, owingto the quantity of ice on Lake Baikalia, navigation is impossible . During the rest of the year the tea i s transported acrossthe lake, in winter on sledges , and in summer by steamers ,whereby not less than 93 miles ar e gained . Occas ionally,as, for instance, on the banks of the Solenga , the road rises toabout feet above the level of Lake Baikalia. Here thescenery becomes extremely fine, and the traveller obtainsbetween the branches of the magnificent trees glimpses of thebeautiful lake far below, forming a very welcome change to themonotony of the plain in which the caravans spend the greaterpart of their journey . Kiakhta consists of three parts : thetown of Troitskosavsk, about two miles north of the RussoChinese Frontier ; the town of Kiakhta proper

,which is

on the immediate frontier,but on Russian territory and sepa

rated from the last only by a strip of neutral ground a hundredyards wide is the Chinese town of Maimatchin. Troitskosavski s the most important of the three, and off ers an exceed inglyagreeable aspect to the traveller who has been obliged to climbup the reverse side of the steep and barren hill overlooking thetown. The houses l ining the road are of wood, comfortable,and painted a light colour. Even the latera l streets are wellkept , and i t is, taking it for all in all, the cleanest town I haveseen in all S iberia. One soon real izes that the tea tradeSupplies the whole population with ample means of earn ing a

l ivelihood, and also that the wealthy take an interest in their

town . On one side of the road, for instance, is the communalschool

,built out of funds originally intended for the erection

of barracks, but, soldiers not being required, the place was3 2

SIBERIA

converted into a school,munificently supported by the merchants

of the city. The children pay a smal l entrance fee. Oppositestands another very large educational establishment, also supported by voluntary contribut ions .The dwellings of the principal tea merchants ar e situated at

Troitskosavsk, whose population numbers quite souls ;but i t i s at Kiakhta,* on the front ier, that the tea-leaves are

man ipulated . The two towns ar e l inked by an excellent road,which passes between desolate- looking sand - hills , sparselycovered with wretched fir - trees . The blue outline of themounta ins of Mongolia Closes in the horizon to the south. The

houses of the wealthier inhabitants are painted white , as i s theChurch

,the interior of which i s extremely rich with massive

silver candelabras and a gorgeous iconostase. Beyond a groupof z’séas

,where the workmen dwell

,and half hidden by the

cupolas of the Church , stands the vast but very low one-storiedbuilding of the Tea Warehouse. Such is Kiakhta, throughwhich passes annually into the Russian Empire fromto pounds of tea , cost ing, before the Custom dutiesare paid , between J6 1 , 500 , 000 to The followingare the figures obtained from the tea registers during the lastfive years

,kindly suppl ied to me by the authorities at Kiakhta .

Year . Weight of Tea . Va lue of Tea.

The tea begin s to pour into Kiakhta in winter from themonth of November to February . In December i t is not at

all an uncommon thing to see as many as boxes delivered

A ll that par t of S iber ia situated east o f Baikalia forms a sor t of neutr a lground fr ee of the Custom-house. Only spir its, tobacco , sugar , miner al

oils, lucifer matches, and in gener al all ar ticles of the same char acter which

ar e subject to excise du ty in Siber ia pr oper , pay Cu stom-house duties when

they a r e sent fo r sale to the Siber ian por ts on the Pacific. A ll other goods

have only to pay ‘customs

’if they ar e forwar ded to pa r ts of the Empir e

west of Baikalia , and these ar e paid at Ir ku tsk , th r ough which everyth ingis obliged to pass. Tea going fr om Kiakhta pays du ty at Ir ku tsk .

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

daily. The total number of boxes of tea which passed theCustoms in 1 8 96 was

The tea harvest in China takes place generally in spring,the first gathering of the leaves occurring in A pril , the fourth andthe last in June . The latter is compressed into bricks, i s ofvery inferior qual ity , and bought only by the poorer people .

The gr eat tea-market is Hankow on the Yang-tsze. A ll thegreat Russian houses have representatives who arrive hereannually to purchase

,and expedite the tea either by sea , via

Odessa,or overland by Kiakhta. We must not, however ,

imagine that caravan tea,which the Russians consider to be the

finest,is all carried overland . Far from it, but then the purchasers

ar e not supposed to know this , as there exists a prejudice tothe effect that tea which travel s by water i s thereby deteriorated ,which is nonsense

,since all tea must perform a j ourney by

water of greater or less length. Even that which i s destinedfor Kiakhta i s sent by boat to T ien- ts in

,whence it has to

ascend the Pei-ho on j unks, and it i s only packed on thecamels ’ backs at Kalgan , at the foot of the GreatWall . Thenceit has to perform a journey of not less than 900 miles acrossthe desert before it reaches Urga, the sacred town of Mon

golia, which is situated at a distance of 1 60 miles south ofKiakhta . Transport can only take place in the month ofOctober, when the roads begin to get hardened by the firstfrosts , and the camels have returned from the pasture-landswhere they pass the greater part of the summer. Thesecamels are hired from the Mongolians, and there is greatcompetition among the merchants to secure them , the Russiansendeavouring to obtain the greater number of beasts beforeanybody else so as to secure the first crop of tea. A certainquantity of tea i s also brought to Kiakhta on l i ttle Mongoliancarts

,which invariably return home carrying with them three

pieces of wook , an article which is almost valueless in S iberia,

but very dear in China, where i t i s resold at a profi t.The camels ar e unloaded at Kiakhta

,and the wicker-boxes

or baskets , each containing from 100 to 1 60 pounds of tea, ar edivested of the light covering of camel’s hair which sufficed toprotect them during the journey across the Desert of Obi , whererain i s almost unknown . For the rest of the journey throughS iberia i t i s necessary to screen them with awaterpr oof coveringmade of camel ’s hide , the hair being turned inwards . Whilstthe process of enveloping the boxes is proceeding it i s almost

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imposs ible to bear the intolerable stench . The tea, Compressed into bricks, each weighing two pounds and a half

,i s

next sorted, dusted , and those which have been in any degreedamaged are separated from the rest and sold at a low price .

Then the whole of the tea , be it in leaf or brick, i s packed on

the sleighs and conveyed, as already stated,across country ,

partly by water, partly over the routes already described. A t

Irkutsk , however, the Custom-house officers examine a few ofthe cases , and stamp the rest with a leaden brand

,and the

caravan is allowed to proceed to its destination.

The earlier teas which arrive are conveyed by sledge toIrbit, a town on the eastern slopes of the Ural, but beyondthe confines of S iberia, and in the Government of Penn .

Between February 1 st and March I st Irb it i s the scene of animmense fair, which attracts merchants from all parts of S iberia.

The principal goods deal t in are Chinese tea , furs from thenorth and east, and light manufactured articles from RussianEurope. The total sold in the year 1 880 amounted to

which has been considerably exceeded since .

The principal tea caravans do not arr ive in the region of theObi before the beginn ing of A pril , the sleighs proceeding veryslowly

,and the stoppages by the way being frequent . Boats

convey the fragrant merchandise between Tomsk,Tura, and

Tiumen , terminal stations on the Ural Railway,whence they

are conveyed to Perm . Here they are shipped up the riverKama, and finally embarked on the Volga and taken to NijniNovgorod , the chief centre of the tea trade in Russia. Thencethe rai lways distribute the merchandise over the empire. The

results of the tardier crops arrive at Irkutsk , where they a re

embarked on the A ngara and conveyed by boat to the meetingof that river with the Y enissei, where, as i t i s impossible toascend the latter , the rudely-constructed boats in which i t hashitherto performed the journey ar e broken up and sold forfirewood. By this road only 3 30 miles are performed byland to Tomsk . Some of the merchants, in order to avoidas much as possible the overland route, take a much longerone by water via U liasu tai, a city in Western Mongolia on

the Upper Y enissei. The above will suffice to give thereader an idea of some of the exceptional difficulties which thetea merchants have to encounter in conveying their very perishable freight across Northern A sia into Russia, the journeytaking not less than a year from the date of the gathering of

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

the leaves . The following official data, registered in 1 893 , of

the expense incurred in conveying a single pood , or thirty-sixpounds (English) , of tea from Han-Keou to Nijni-Novgorodwill suffice to afford a fair notion of the great cost of transport.

1: s. d.

Fr om Han Keou to Kiakhta via Tien tsin and U rga o 15 5Manipulation at Kiakhta and t ranspor t to Ir kutsk o 6 4From Ir kutsk to Nijni (by sledge to Tomsk , water to Tiumen,

r ailway to Perm, and thence by water )Insu r ance from Tien-tsin to Nijni, 21per cent.Interest on capital

Total £1 19 65

On the other hand, the same quantity of tea transportedfrom Hankow to Nijni , via the Suez Canal and Odessa , andthence by train to N1j ni, costs only thirteen shillings. Fromthese facts it can easily be understood that the great commerceof Kiakhta is purely art ificial and abnormal, and exists simplythanks to the enormous difference between the Custom-houseduties at Odessa and those at Irkutsk. A t the former placethe duty is £ 3 6 5 . per pood

,or thirty-six pounds, for all kinds

of tea,whereas at Kiakhta it i s only 2 on leaf tea and

5 s. 4d . on brick. The insignificance of thi s latter tax i s veryimportant, because brick tea i s the only sort which i s used inS iberia east of the Volga, the greater part of the leaf tea beingforwarded to Russia. On the other hand

,notwithstanding its

many inconveniences , the tea transport across Russia i s a mostimportant factor in S iberian existence, s ince i t furnishes themeans of l ivel ihood to thousands of people living along thegreat postal-road , and indeed is a sort of subvention which theRussian tea-drinkers pay to S iberia, and one which the Government very wisely keeps up by maintain ing the high tari ff atOdessa. It i s interesting to follow the increasing value of apood (thirty-six pounds) of tea on its way from Irkutsk to Nijni.On entering S iberia at the former place from China i t onlycosts £ 2 5 5 . By this time it i s already paying the cost of itstransport from Hankow, the expenses of insurance, etc. ,

costingabout £ 1 3s. , the Custom -house duties amount to about£ 2

,that is , £ 3 2 5 . credit , and the transfer thence to Nijn i

will add about thirteen shillings to its value so that when wetake into account an interest of three Shill ings on the capita lemployed we find that a product which cost less than ten

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SIBERIA

roubles where it grew and where it was first purchased , by thetime it reaches the market costs forty-eight roubles, nearly fivetimes its original value. On the greater part of the leaf teawhich passes through Odessa, the Russian pays on every poundof tea at 3 5 . 2d . he purchases r s. to the Treasury. The

total amount of Custom-house duties paid on tea at Irkutskamounted in 1 8 96 toIndependently of tea, the land commerce between the Russian

Empire and China i s, comparat ively speaking, insign ificant, andrarely exceeds The principal object of importi s Russia leather , and the chief article from China i s a verylight but strong sort of s ilk

,much worn in S iberia during the

summer. For the rest,the trade between S iberia and Russia

consists mainly in cereals and flour,but it i s difficult to obtain

exact statistics on accoun t of the many lines of communica

t ion which have been recently opened since the introductionof the rai lway.

3 7

CHA PTER VI

S IBER IA N T OWN S

Scar city of towns and their slight impor tance—Their administr ation and

commer ce—Resemblance to the towns in the Russian provincesIntr oduc tion of telephones and electr ic light— Intellectual pr ogressU niver sity at Tomsk—The d r ama at Ir kutsk—The cr isis th r oughwhich these towns ar e passing.

THE absence of large manufactures doubtless accounts in a

measure for the fact that S iberia, according to the census of1 897 , only contains eleven towns inhabited by oversouls . E ight of these (including the two cities of Tomsk andIrkutsk , which have each inhabitants) are situated on

the postal- road which passes from the foot of the Ural toT inmen

,to terminate on the shores of the Pacific at Vladi

vostok ; Omsk is situated somewhat to the south of the oldpostal -road

,at the point where the Trans-Siberian Rai lway

crosses the Irtysh ; Tobolsk , the old capital of S iberia, whichhas greatly declined in our day, is built at the meeting of theIrtysh and the Tobol , and also close to the junction of the twogreat highroads . Barnaoul, on the Upper Obi, is the on lyS iberian town of any importance which is not within easy reachof either the rai lway or the postal-road , but then i t has theadvantage of being situated in the centre of the most highlycultivated part of the country . There exist , also

, a numberof other small towns, situated on the two main arteries and inthe more fertile valleys. A ll of them are centres for the distr ibution of manufactured articles imported from Europe, andalso depOts whence the products cultivated in their neighbourhoods are collected and expedited . A ll these towns are seatsboth of admini strat ion and commerce, and the local capitalsare always, with the sole exception of Tobolsk

,the biggest

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

one at every corner . ‘

Standing at the centre of the cathedralsquare at Irkutsk, I was able to see no less than seven at a

glance. They are all exactly al ike,usually painted blue or

rose-colour,surmounted by one big cupola, and surrounded by

a lot of smaller ones b rightly gilt or silvered, and producean excellent effect in the sun or on a clear moonlight n ight.Internally they possess all the barbaric Splendour of Russianchurches , and are a blaze of gilt icon s and crystal chandeliers .Take them for all in all, Siberian towns are far pleasanter to

visit than one might imagine. The streets , as a rule, possess awooden pavement , but after a heavy rain ‘ they are very apt tobecome impassable. A gentleman at Tomsk once assured methat on one occasion when the snow melted a bullock wasdrowned in the surging mass of water rolling past his door .Bu t

,after all, the streets of Chicago and New Orleans are not

very well kept, and where the cl imatic variat ions ar e so extreme,i t is doubtless almost an impossibility to keep the streets inanything l ike proper order . Otherwise, the telephone is to befound in all the more important towns, and when the vi sitorlooks up and sees such an amazing number of wires stretchingacross the streets from pole to pole , he might readily imaginehimself in A merica. The electric light has also been introducedeven at Tomsk and Irkutsk . Means of locomotion have by nomeans been neglected, and you can hire a quick -going littleRussian cabriolet for twenty kopecks , or Sixpence the fare !What aston i shes one most , however, i s that, as in Russia , thereis scarcely any movement in the streets of these towns, notwithstanding that they ar e centres of a very active commerce.

Educat ion has made considerable progress in the towns ofSiberia, and the wealthier Classes are not behindhand in assisting the Government in this direction . A t Tomsk a Universityhas recently been established in an immense and very handsome edifice, which contains at present some 5 00 students.A dmission has been wisely rendered much more easy than iti s in Russia, and i t i s expected that before long a faculty ofLaw will be established, in which the students will be ableto study the new legal reforms which A lexander II. introduced some years ago into the judicial system of Russia.

Other professorial chairs wil l be introduced before long inaddition to that of Medicine, which is already very wellattended. The l ibrary contains over volumes, thegreater part gifts from private benefactors , and not a few of the

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SIBERIA

rarer editions of French and English classics must haveoriginally belonged to l ibraries dispersed at the t ime of theFrench Revolution . A number of comfortable houses havebeen built in the park attached to the Un iversity (only a veryshort t ime ago virgin forest) for the benefit of students, whocan there receive board and lodging at a very moderate price.In addition to the Un iversity, another huge educat ionalestabl ishmen t , an Inst itute o f Technology, i s in progress ofconstruction. Tomsk, although it i s somewhat out of the wayfor commercial purposes, appears to me destined to becomebefore long the intellectual centre of S iberia.

A ll the S iberian towns possess a theatre . The one at Tomskwas built by a rich merchant some years ago, and during thewinter months two permanent troupes give on alternate n ightsrepresentations of opera and drama . Troupes of Russianactors occasionally vis it S iberia, and I remember once seeingtwo artists , who enjoy great popularity at Moscow, give at

Krasnoyarsk a representat ion in Russian of Shakespeare 'sTaming of the Shrew,

’and on the following evening an excel

len t performance of Madame Sans-Géne.

’ These plays wereattended by large and highly appreciative audiences . A t Irkutskthere is a really magn ificent theatre capable of accommodating athousand persons , the erection of which cost not less than

It was built ent irely by public subscription , at thehead of the list being the Governor. The prices of admissionare— stall s 6s . 8d . in the front row 2S. 2d . in the back seatsI s. in the first row of the second gallery

,and 6d . in the third.

These latter are the Cheapest seats,

in the house . U nfor

tunately, of late years, the wealthier classes show a distincttendency, thanks to facilities of travel, to spend their money inRussia, and even in Paris, and the r ich merchants are no longerinclined to dazzle the S iberians by a somewhat barbaricdisplay of their wealth. A t Moscow and Petersburg, doubtless,they find a greater variety of amusements, and no need , inorder to spend their money , to follow the example of a certainS iberian mill ionaire who used to wash his chamber-floor withchampagne . Other times

,other manners. If the principal s

go to St. Petersburg , their representatives remain behind, andalthough they are unable to make any very ostentatiousdisplay, nevertheless, they contrive to live comfortably. The

posit ion also of the officials , owing probably to the increasedfacilities of communicat ion and the spread of education

,has

4 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

lost a good deal of its former importance, and governors ofprovinces , who were in days of yore kings or demigods, are

no longer looked upon with any sense of awe,everybody

being aware that they receive their daily orders by telegraphfrom St. Petersburg. Irkutsk , which in former times was thecapital

,i s now on ly a large provincial city. The grand old

Siberian hospital ity is disappearing rapidly, and there are not

wanting, even in S iberia, old- fashioned people who curse theTrans-S iberian Railway , which is destined sooner or later torevolutionize the manners and customs of Northern A sia.

4 2

CHA PTER VII

IMMIGRA TION

Causes of Russian emigration to Siber ia—Its incr easing impor tanceA bsolute necessity for S tate intervention in the colonization of A siatic

Russia—Roads followed by the emigr ants—Land concessions—Pr o

vinces towards which they dir ect themselves—Colonization of the

Pr ovince of the A mu r and the Li ttoral — Vladivostok -Chinese,Koreans and Japanese—E xiles and convicts—Conditions for the development of S iber ia

—Favou r able and unfavou r able elements—Neces

sity of employing for eign capital.

THE immigrants who arrive in Siberia are almost withoutexception peasants. A ccording to the census taken las tJanuary, there were in Russian Europe , exclusive of Finlandand Poland, whose inhabitants rarely, if ever, emigrate, only

inhabitants scattered over a surface ofsquare miles, that is to say , fifty inhabitants per squaremile. One would imagine, therefore, that there was ampleSpace for all the subjects of the Tsar in his European territories ;but the great northern Governments of A rkhangelsk, Vologda,and Olonetz, which occupy over a quarter of this area, and inwhich agriculture is almost impossible

,do not contain more

than inhabitants in square miles. Then ,again ,

a great number of the Governments si tuated to thenorth of Moscow consist of only very inferior marsh-lands,and ar e but poorly populated, and, what i s more, seem un

l ikely ever to improve . The maj ority of the inhabitants ofthe empire are therefore concentrated in the south, where thepopulation i s relatively dense

,especially in the Governments of

Kursk , Penza , Tambof, Orel, Voronej , and notably so in LittleRussia, which i s all the more remarkable when we considerthat these regions are exclusively agricultural , and that themethods of farming are still very primitive. Notwithstanding ,

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

however, the rapid development of industry in Russia , manyyears will pass before these regions will be capable of supporting a population equal to that of Central or Western Europe,where the natural conditions are more or less identical . It i snot therefore very surprising that a fraction of the population ofRussia should go in search of better cl imes, and direct itselftowards Southern S iberia, a more attractive and fertile count rythan Northern Russia.

Emigrat ion , i t must be borne in mind, is but a small i tem in

the natural causes of the increase of the Russian population.

The annual excess of births over deaths ri ses to aboutin the whole of the Empire, and i s from toin European Russia (Poland and Finland always excepted) .The emigration towards A sia has up to 1 89 5 scarcely exceededa tenth of this figure, and does not even now reach morethan a fifth or a sixth . A ccording to an official work publishedat the end of 1 896 , the ‘ Statesman ’ s Handbook to Russ ia, ’we find that during 188 7

-

95 , families, forming an ag

gregate total of persons , established themselves inS iberia. The average therefore would be about soulsper annum,

but the last few years have witnessed a visibleincrease . The above figures do not apparently includeemigrants who ar e destined for Central A sia (general Governmen t of the Steppes and Turkestan) , to which the total rarelyexceeds per annum. A ccording to informat ion receiveddirect from Siberia, about emigrants arrived in 1 894over the Ural from European Russia. On the other hand ,

entered Siberia by sea , landing in the great LittoralProvince on the Pacific . Lately the emigration movementhas become much more active, and we should not be far outof our reckoning if we estimated the number of emigrantsinto S iberia for the years 1 89 7 and 1 8 98 as about foreach year . The number of persons who seek permission toleave Russia for Siberia i s becoming greater every year. Many,however

,are discouraged and even refused the necessary

papers , so as to avoid burdening the newly-settled country witha superfluity of people who generally arrive without a penny intheir pockets. It i s natural in a country where the peasantryare still so primitive and ignorant as in Russia that the Government should closely watch the movements of emigrants , whomight, on finding exaggerated promises and i llusions dispelled ,become troublesome and even dangerous . The following is

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the manner in which these matters are generally organ izedin European Russia . When several families belonging to a

710105 ! express a wish to emigrate they are requested to determine in what part of S iberia they desire to establish themselves . If the applicants are deemed suitable, two of theirnumber, selected as delegates , vis it the parcel of land which hasbeen allotted to them , and on returning they ar e able to informtheir friends as to the exact nature of the place to which theyare destined . Formerly, the emigrants were allowed to choosetheir own land, which , as they were almost invariably very inexperienced, was usually quite unsuited to their requirements,and they either went further afield or, disgusted, returnedhome. In order, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of this unsatisfactory state of affairs, the sensible system of sending on

two delegates or pioneers has been established.

The method selected by emigrants entering S iberia was, unt ilquite recently, to ascend the Kama, and take the Ural Rai lwayat Perm for T inmen thence , at this terminus, they embarkedeither on the Tobol, the Irtysh , or the Obi for Tobolsk , whichused to be a great rendezvous for the emigrants. In 1 8 93 theS iberian Rai lway had not reached Omsk , and out ofemigrants, had entered A sia by the T inmen, andonly had taken the Trans-Siberian Rai lway to Kurgan. A mongthe first , followed the water-way which I have justdescribed, and performed the journey in carts . To-daythe greater number are transported by the railway to the stationnearest to the town selected for their future res idence

,or to the

extreme limit of the line , i f they are going farther east. Therethey ar e obliged to take the telega , a sort of Russian cart,shaped l ike a trough , on four wheels . I have often met on thehigh-roads in S iberia long lines of these carts , each conta iningseveral persons , men , women and children , with their labouringtools and household belongings. The scene is very picturesque,especially towards evening, when the worthy folk encamp on

the highroad the men unsaddling the horses, the women goingto the well for water

, and the Children playing about, whilstsome old man , seated on the wayside, reads the Bible out aloudto a group of eager listeners . Sometimes the journey exhauststhe resources of the family , and I have seen in Trans-Baikaliaa caravan of Little Russian s come to a ful l- stop for wan t o fmoney, and the good people

,encamped on the highway,

quietly await ing the arrival of the district Immigration A gent , to4 5

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

obtain from him the suppl ies necessary to enable them tocontinue the journey. Emigrants who travel by telega fromtheir old home in Europe to the new one in A sia oftenconsume as much as a whole year in the journey from Li ttleRussia to the A mur, albeit the travellers frequently spend as

many as three months at a t ime working on the rai lway,in

order to add a l ittle to their scanty supply of cash .

The majority of the emigrants arrive in spring. In theprincipal towns on the route refuges have been organized fortheir shelter . A number of these are to be found at Chelia

binsk at the foot of the Ural . I visited that at Kansk, thecentre of a much - frequented region in the Government ofY enissei. Twenty z

'

ou r dz’

s,or enormous huts

,built on the

model of those used by the Kirghiz and from ten to twelve feetin diameter and n ine feet in height, with an extinguisher-shapedroof covered with camel’s -hide, were here erected for destituteemigrants . A spacious hospital, kitchens and a Russian bathwere at the time nearly completed. A winter habitation with animmense stove had also been erected , but there are not manyemigrants travelling during the worst months of the year. A ll

these buildings are of wood,after the fashion -of most Russian

houses, and seemed fairly comfortable . Three young women

from the town acted as voluntary nurses attached to the hospital .Emigrants who come from the same district in European

Russia ar e as a rule grouped together in the same village, and ,as far as poss ible, everything is done to prevent the crowdingtogether of people who come from divergent provinces, whichmight give rise to trouble. Thus , the officials always endeavourto avoid mixing the Li ttle Russians with the Great Russians, ’and never to introduce new-comers into villages alreadyinhabited by old S iberians , who do not look upon emigrationin a very favourable light , for the s imple reason that formerlythey could occupy as much land as they liked and redeem as

much of i t as they chose, whenever their own fields becameexhausted, and they could, moreover, even tramp off in anotherdirection in quest of better land if the spirit moved them so todo. The arrival of a great number of new people has naturallyput an end to these irresponsible movements, and consequentlygiven rise to a grea t deal of discontent .The following are a few rules which have been adopted

recently for the formation of fresh settlements, on the mirsystem of Russian collective communal proprietorship , which

46

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

has hitherto assisted colonization in the basin of the A mur,has

refused until quite lately to extend the movemen t to the regionof the Y enissei, being poss ibly under the impression that anexcessive scattering of the new populat ion ought as muchas possible to be avoided. Now that a considerable part ofthe richer lands of Tomsk is occupied

,i t has been deemed

advisable to make an advance towards the east ; therefore, in1 896 colonists were settled in the Government of theY enissei, notably in the districts of M inusinsk, on the upperriver, which enjoys nearly the same advantages as the UpperObi , and Kansk more to the east, which is now the mostactive centre of settlement . The Government of Irkutsk,which apparently contains a lesser supply of likely land, willdoubtless attract official attention later on .

Settlers who have been for some considerable time in

S iberia appear generally satisfied with their lot , and althoughthey may not endorse the Optimistic affirmations of theofficial world

,the maj ority of their vi llages appear more pros

perous than those they abandoned in Russian Europe. It

could hardly be otherwise if they worked hard , s ince they areallotted abundance of good land and a small pecuniaryadvance to assist them with preliminary expenses . Never theless

,a number of them return to Europe every year. In 1 8 94

as many as went back , and , I fancy, i f the truth wereknown

,a great many more. I once asked an official in charge

of the emigrants at Kansk, a very amiable, well- informed man,

who takes a great interest in his duties , why so many of thesegood people wanted to go home again . He replied that not afew peasants emigrated into Siberia under the il lusion that theywould be much better off , and not have to work so hard, butwhen they found that they had to labour as hard as ever, theysoon got tired

,packed up their traps, and returned home.

Others complain of the Cl imate, not so much , as we mightimagine , of the winter as of the summer , when the mosquitoesare a perfect plague . Some sufl

’

er from home - sickness,especially the women, who regret their former surroundings ,and who by incessant complaints and lamentations end byworrying their husbands to return . This , however, is not

peculiar to S iberia or to the Russians, for i t has even beennoticed in the United States, where young colonists are oftenobl iged to give up their farms because their wives find an

i solated country l ife insupportable.

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SIBERIA

In the greater part of S iberia the populat ion, as we havealready observed, i s exclusively Russian . The nat ive elementmay almost be described as non-existent. From the ethno

logical point of view,the region from the Obi to the Y enissei i s

already, and tends to become more and more so, a prolongationof European Russia. In the government of the A mur it i s,however

,otherwise

,for the Russians have to face ‘ a native

population, and the colon ists who have come from the

European dominions of the Tsar find themselves obliged tocompete with a rather formidable A siatic contingent . On thisside the centre of Russian influence is at Vladivostok , a townwhich was only founded about forty years ago , but which theTrans-Siberian l ine will eventually l ift to extreme importance.The on ly shadow in the picture is that during three or fourwinter months the harbour is covered with ice. The noblebay, which the English formerly named after Queen Victoria,and which the Russian s have now placed under the patronageof Peter the Great, i s one of the most magn ificent in the world ,

in which the whole Russian fleet could easily find shelter but,unfortunately , although it is in the same lat itude as Toulon

,

i t freezes very eas ily.

* For this reason Vladivostok may sufferconsiderably from the greater attractions of Port A r thur , whichis even better placed at the head of the line of communicationtowards the Celestial Empire, and is , moreover , free from icethe whole year round. .Nevertheless, the town will remain theseat of many important military establishments , which are

already in existence,and which it would be exceedingly ex

pensive,and by no means easy, to remove elsewhere.

Splendidly s ituated at the head of a pen insula about twelvemiles long , separating two deep bays, whose shores, however ,are absolutely sterile

,Vladivostok faces the principal and the

more eastern of the two ports, which happens, also, to be thesafest. The town contains a number of stone houses severalstories high, built on the rather steep sides of the hills, and

presents quite an imposing appearance, especially after thelittle wooden-housed town s in the interior of S iberia. A lthoughit lacks the extraordinary an imation of its contemporaries ,Vancouver

,Tacoma, and Seattle

,for in stance, on the other

side of the Pacific,it s streets ar e the l ivel iest I have seen

between Moscow and Nagasaki . It soon becomes evidentBy means of an ice-br eak ing steamer vessels ar e now able to leave o r

enter Vlad ivostok harbour at any time.

49

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

that one is in the Far East here. The streets are crowded withpigtailed Chinese in blue, with Koreans in white, and Japanesein their national costumes. A mong these A siat ics move soldiersand sailors, so that the European civilian costume is scarcelyrepresented at all

,and the maj ority of those who do wear it

are Japanese. The day after my arrival happened to be thefeast of St. A lexander Nevsky, one of the great Russian holidays ,which coincided with a Chinese festival , so that the whole placewas a blaze of Celestial bunting , gold-edged yellow triangularshaped flags, emblazoned with heraldic dragons, far out-numbering those of the Russians . Figures confirm the impressionsof experience

,and the following show the manner in which the

population of Vladivostok was subdivided in 1 895

Women. To ta l.

NoblesPr iests and their familiesRussian civil population

Soldier s and familiesE x iles and familiesOther Eur opeaJapaneseChinese

Kor eans

In 1 895 the population had considerably increased, mainlyin consequence of the barracks and of the increase of Russianand A siatic emigrat ion. It has been observed that since theChino-Japanese War the Koreans have developed a distincttendency to establish themselves on Russian soil.A s in California and A ustral ia, the Chinese who arrive In

Vladivostok do so without bringing their wives. They are

main ly engaged as workmen, domestic servants, boatmen , etc.When they have amassed a small fortune they return home .

Many of them ,indeed ,

pass the winter in Shan-tung, In theneighbourhood of Chi-fu ,

of which latter place they are nearlyall nat ives. The Japanese are, l ikewise , engaged in petty trade,and a considerable number of them are hairdressers . It i s alsowhispered abroad , and pretty freely, too, that not a few of themare spies. A high code of morals would condemn the mannerin which the majority of the Japanese here gain their l iveli

50

SIBERIA

hood . A s to the Koreans , being very strong, they are betteradapted for hard work, and have supplied a number of handson the railway. They are more numerous in the environs ofVladivostok than in the town itself— and they are highly appreciated by their employers, the administration affording themsmall allotments on account of their industrious and peacefulhabits.It i s not only at Vladivostok that the influence of the Far

East appears, but throughout the entire government of theA mur. From the moment one enters Trans-Baikalia one i sbrought into immediate contact with the Mongol tribe of theBuriats . A s already stated elsewhere, the Yellow Race predominates in this region , and throughout Trans-Baikalia thefollowers of Buddhism form about a third of the populationin 1 895 , out of A dvancing towards the East ,and leaving aside the older Russian possessions in order toenter the provinces annexed in 1 8 5 7, we find that the territoryof the A mur contains Manchu Buddhists out of a

populat ion of according to the census of 1 897 . TheseManchus were about the on ly occupant s of the country at thetime of its annexation, and not a few have remained subj ectsof the Chinese Empire . Opposite to Blagovyeshchensk therei s a large Chinese village, whence almost every morning a

number of people bring fruit and vegetables to the Russ iantown .

In the territory of the Li ttoral, in that broad zone whichextends from 4 2

° to 70° north , i t was estimated in 1 895 thatthe Russians exceeded in a populat ion ofthe rest being composed of natives, Chinese,Korean s and Japanese, and about Jews . A ccording tothe census taken in 1 897 , the population has very considerablyincreased . It records inhabitants , but these have notbeen subdivided into classes, and , moreover , the Europeanimmigrat ion has not been ver y considerable in the last twoyears . A curious obser vation has been made as to the preponderance of the male sex over the female, there being

men as against women . The reason for this i snot far to seek, and i s mainly due to the fact that the Russianimmigrants general ly arrive with their families, whereas themilitary element , exceeding in the Littoral Province,and the Chinese are not encumbered with women-folk.

Khabarofsk , essentially a garrison town, and the capital of the5 1 E 2

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

government , has out of a population of onlywomen. Its appearance is, therefore, quite mart ial , and it spicturesqueness is considerably improved by the presence of anumber of Chinese junks in the harbour , that, as i s the caseat Blagovyeshchensk , Sydney and Melbourne, bring excellentvegetables from the fertile kingdom of the Son of Heaven.

A part from the troops,the Koreans , the Chinese and the

Japanese form at least a quarter of the population of theLittoral, and , combined with the nat ives , reach a total which isonly slightly overtopped by the Russians . There ar e not

want ing those who disapprove of this high proportion of theYellow Race in the three territories forming the Government ofthe A mur, but without any justifiable reason . The Buriats,for instance, are by no means a decreasing element in thepopulation , and the Russians are distinctly prolific

,whereas

the Chinese immigration , if i t ever takes place on any con siderable scale, will have to cross the Desert of Gobi , an obstaclewhich will delay it for a long time to come. In the othertwo territories, the indigenous populat ion, mostly fishermenand hunters of a very primitive sort

,i s undoubtedly visibly

diminishing , excepting in the ice-bound regions of the Okhotskand Behring Strai ts , whither, too , Manchus , Chinese and

Koreans are flocking in considerable numbers. A ll theseA siatics are hardworking, l ive upon less than the Russians ,and are much more industrious and often hire from theEuropean immigrants strips of land which they cultivate withmuch better results . The small trade of the towns is almostent irely in the hands of the Yellow Race. A lthough theChinese immigration i s more or less of an ephemeral nature,i t i s very likely to become exceedingly numerous

,especially

in the towns and their suburbs, and might in the course oftime render the competition of the Whites extremely difficult,and necessitate interference on the part of the RussianGovernment to limit the sphere of Chinese labour. In anycase , i t is quite certain that i f Manchuria, as a consequenceof the introduction of the railway, ever comes under thedominion of the Tsar

,i t is highly improbable that its so doing

will increase the immigration of the Russians , mainly on

account of the surprising activity of the Chinese in colonizingthis part of thei r empire. A t the present time the Government is more preoccupied with the European than withthe A s iatic immigration, and , whereas it never refuses a grant

5 2

SIBERIA

of land to the Koreans, i t very frequently does so to theEuropeans , excepting by special and exceptional favour. I

am obliged to admit that the Government has, as a rule, beenvery indulgent towards the French

,several of whom have

obtained grants at Blagovyeshchensk, although a refusal wasgiven to a Frenchman to buy land notwithstanding that hehad l ived in the country for over th irty years . A s to the goldmines

,their exploitation i s only granted to Russian subjects.

The whole country east of Baikalia , that i s to say, the Government of the A mur

,is at present freed from paying Customs

duties , excepting on spirits, tobacco, sugar and other articleswhich in Russia pay excise duty. This part of S iberia is neverl ikely to become attractive to Europeans of other nationali tythan the Russians . On the other hand , undoubtedly, in thecourse of time, European capital will be much employed inthis part, and some enterpri sing merchants and engineers mayeven eventually establish themselves in the country

,which will

surely prove to its interest, and not to its detriment .Independently of voluntary immigrants, S iberia used to receive

annually a great number of political and other ex iles and convicts.By a ukaz

,i ssued in 1 899, Tsar Nicholas II. put a stop to

the old and cruel system of exiling suspects and convicts intoSiberia,* which ought undoubtedly to result in much good ;for when a country begins to be thickly peopled with free immigrants it i s unwise to continue to use it as a penal settlement.These exiles may be divided into two principal groups firstly,political , often very honest and amiable people, such as

students who have taken part in a man ifestat ion hostile tothe Government Poles, compromised in recent insurrection s ;Catholics and Protestants who have displayed too much zealin the affirmation of their religiou s opin ions ; and Raskoln iks ,whose peculiar theological opin ions have already been described .

The second category includes less estimable people : youthsof good family of by no means i rreproachable character , whohave been sent to meditate on their shortcomings for a certainnumber of years, and repent of their follies at thei r leisure onthe pleasant banks of the Obi or the Y enissei ; and certainfunctionaries of good family who have been guilty of appropr iating money official ly entrusted to them. Of these un

The Tsar appointed a Commission to inquir e into the whole questionof tr anspor ta tion to Siber ia , with a view to its cessation. The Commission

is now under stood to have r epor ted in th is sense.—H . N.

5 3

THE AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

fortunate people, those who have been guilty of minor offencesare sent to Western S iberia, where they often obta in employment as servants and coachmen. On the other hand, thosewho - have committed graver offences

, and who have beencondemned to hard labour

,undergo their punishment in

Eastern S iberia, in Irkutsk, Y enissei, or in Trans-Baikalia, andmust remain there. Inveterate criminals

,murderers , and

escaped galley-slaves, are sent to the island of Sakhal in, oppositethe mouth of the A mur, where, even at the expirat ion of theirterms , they are obliged to end their l ives . Those politicalexiles who are not pun ished for grave off ences are also relegatedto the west, where the Cl imate i s fairly temperate. The graverthe charge and the heavier the sentence , the farther are theysent eastward , even to the icy territories of Yakutsk, Verkhoyansk, Nijne Kolymsk , and Ust-Yansk. To these regionsare also relegated the members of the strange sect of Eunuchs .The majority of these people, unless indeed they ar e verygravely compromised

, after being obliged to reside three, oreven ten, years in a village

, are allowed to settle in a town , togo freely all over S iberia, and even at the expiration of a certainnumber of years to return to Russia . They not infrequentlymake themselves extremely useful. Many Poles become innkeepers, and I know of one at least who is a Doctor of Law, andwho speaks excellent French. A t Irkutsk one can get goodbeer , a beverage elsewhere execrable, a boon entirely due tothe enterpri se of an exile from the Baltic provinces . In

the extreme north not a few exiles employ their t ime withscientific and meteorological studies . Here Imay observe thatI have never seen any of the exiles in S iberia il l-treated , andeven the chain which some of them are obliged to wear didnot seem to me very heavy. The great prison of A lexandrofsk,near Irkutsk, i s admirably managed

,its rules being very mild.

Nevertheless, I must confess that I only visited what theofficials chose to show me. A ll I can say is that , according tomy experience

,i f there are exiles who are habitually badly

treated, they must be very few in number. Of course, I cansay nothing in extenuation of the system of transporting a

young man or even a young woman to languish in a drearyvillage buried in the depths of a forest or the Tundra, merelybecause they happen to have taken an over-prominent part insome political or students’ demonstration.

One curious fact connected with this system of Russian5 4

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CHA PTER VIII

MEANS OF COMMUNICA TION IN SIBERIA

A bsolute insu fficiency of the present means of transpor t—Coaches and

sleighs—The tar antass : pr ice, length and conditions of tr avelling by

this means of locomotion—Naviga tion— Scheme for penetr ating intoSiber ia by the A r ctic Ocean and 115 r ecent success—A bsolute necessityof more r ailways.

IN order to form a fair idea of the revolution which the TransSiberian Rai lway is likely to bring about in the economical andpol itical conditions of Northern A sia, i t will be as wel l to glanceat the actual conditions of the present means of travel andtran sport in the country. The most rapid means of locomot ion at the disposal of travellers only yesterday, as i t were, wasin summer the stage- coach , and in winter the sleigh . Twentyyears ago, to go to Vladivostok miles distant) thetraveller took the coach at Kazan , on the Volga, the journeyoccupying not less than two months in the more favourableseason , when a coat of snow, as sol id as marble and as smoothas velvet , replaces the usual mud and slush on the S iberianroads . Later on,

with the progress of navigation and the construction of a railway across the Urals, the starting-point forthis j ourney was removed further on to the most eastern pointtouched by the steamboats

,in the bas in of the Obi at Tomsk.

In summer this route shortened the j ourney via Krasnoyarsk ,Irkutsk, and Chita about miles

, at the end of which one

reached the A mur, where navigation recommenced . S ince1 8 96 the Trans-Siberian has passed Tomsk , and now thestarting -point of the road j ourney has gone gradually fartherafield, and i s now daily receding more to the east.In the summer of 1 8 97 the rai lway had already reached the

little town of Kansk, about 1 60 miles beyond the Y enissei, andi t was here , or at the Kluchi station, some 6 5 miles further on ,

5 6

SIBERIA

that one hired a coach . It i s , however, wiser to buy one’s

tarantass , in order to avoid the trouble of unloading luggageat each stage , and , again, the coaches hired out by the postmasters are much less comfortable.

The stat ion-master at Kluchi, to whom I had been r e

commended,l ike many other subordinate officials in S iberia,

was an exile , who in better days had been a captain in theartillery, and , moreover, the cashier of his regiment. One fine

day, in a fi t of over-generosity,he unluckily lent a sum of

money, abstracted from the cash-box,to a comrade who had

lost very considerably at the gaming-tables . Fate avenged theregiment in the shape of an inspector, who inopportunelyarrived upon the scene

,examined into affai rs , and forthwith

ended the military career of the unlucky officer . A fter fourteen years’ exile in Siberia this indiscriminately good-naturedindividual has become chief inspector of a l ittle rai lway-stat ion,and adds to his smal l income by letting out tarantasses totravellers. He sold me for £ 1 8 the best of his vehicles ,which , Iwas assured, had recently been used by a distinguishedofli cial, but, nevertheless

, I had to get rid of it, when I tookthe steamer on the A mur two months later

,for about £ 7 .

Jules Verne,in ‘M ichael Strogoff , ’ has introduced and

popularized the tarantass . It is a vehicle without Springs, witha body about six feet long , l ike a trough supported on threebroad planks of wood

, and mounted upon two very lowaxles n ine to ten feet apart. A n immense hood protectsthe back part of the carriage from the rain, and by buttoning the leathern apron fixed to the front

, one can keepone ’ s self almost hermetically screened from the weather.The tarantass, i f i t is not particularly comfortable , has theadvantage of being very strong . It possesses nothing in theshape of a seat, and one i s obliged to lie full- length on a l itterof hay or upon the luggage , unless, indeed, from time to time,in order to change position, one cares to sit on the edge ofthe vehicle or else alongside the coachman . The horses ar esupplied by the postmasters at the rate of three copecks, orthree farthings, per verst for each horse , and , moreover, one hasto pay a fixed tax of about fivepence per horse at each relay.

The team con sists usually of three horses , and the relays are

found at a distance of about sixteen miles apart. The expenses, therefore, for this short di stance amount to about fiveshillings , inclus ive of a tip to the coachman , so that there

5 7

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

i s not much to complain of in that respect . The same tariffapplies in winter, but in the intermediary seasons, fromMarch 5 to May 1 5 , and from September 1 5 to December 1 ,

when the thaw sets in and the roads a re very heavy, a

fourth horse is needed,and the expense is increased about

one quarter. I used frequently to ask Si berians how manymiles could be performed in this sort of vehicle. Of course,almost everybody gave me a difl‘er ent answer. One highofficial in Tomsk informed me that i t could undertake as

many as 400 versts in twenty-four hours . Do not imagineyou can go more than from sixty-five to eighty, ’ said thestation-master

,and as it was he who had sold me my tarantass,

I came to the conclusion that h is rather dismal prognostic wasthe true one. A s a matter of fact

,everything depends upon

the condition of the roads , and also as to whether the travellerhas supplied himself with a pozz

’or oj ne, an official document

usually granted to Imperial cou riers and to high officials , andwhich enables its possessor to avoid being detained at th evarious stat ions on the road . Fortunately

,as I had one of

these documents,I was able to make between 90 and 1 20

miles in twenty-four hours .

I cannot describe the scenery by the way as particularlyinteresting. The road cuts through the forests of pines and

lat ches , and i s , as a rule , fairly well kept, and about as broadas the best of our nat ional routes in France . From time totime the wall of verdure opens out to give way to a clearing,along which one perceives rows of wooden houses, indicatingthe existence of some village or other, the name of which isprinted on a post

,that also supplies information as to the

number of inhabitants of each sex. One soon gets tired of thebeauty of the trees

, and , to be truthful, also of the rathermonotonous convoys of telegas loaded with merchandise,waggons with gold , escorted by soldiers , and of the interminable caravans of emigrants. A s one passes the Baikal theroad becomes less and less frequented, and more and moremonotonous and dreary , especially in the dismal steppe , withits stunted growth, through which flows the Vitim , an affluent ofthe Lena. The road now meanders through marshy prairies ,and is merely indicated by the line of gray telegraph-postsstretching off towards the horizon .

In order to break the intolerable monotony of these verylong journeys , it i s usual to invite one or two other travellers

5 8

SIBERIA

to share expenses , and these are not difficult to find , for theRussians are naturally sociable and quite free from stiffness orconventional ity. I was rather surprised on one occasion tofind the wife of an official in Ttans-Baikalia who , to join herhusband, had performed the journey from Vladikavkaz,miles by rai l and miles by road, in the company of an

oflicer with whom she was only slightly acquainted. The

Russians were not more aston ished at this than A mericanswould have been. The general insecurity of the country isprobably responsible for the ease with which people makeacquain tances . Those who like to deal in horrors are by nomeans behindhand in relating appall ing stories of travellerswho have been waylaid by escaped convicts and murdered inthe heart of the forest . Have you your revolvers P’ asked thepostmaster, on the evening of my first j ourney in my tarantass,and j ust as we were about to start. ‘Three travellers wereassassinated on thi s relay on l y fifteen days ago,

’ continued he,

and then he gave us a horribly detai led account of the circumstances . I had no revolver with me, and never had anyreason to need one, and I rather doubted the authenticity ofthese gruesome stories. The real danger which travellers inS iberia have to encounter is that of having the rope whichattaches their luggage to the back of the tarantass artfully cutand their portmanteaus carried Off . A ccidents ar e rare, as thetarantass is generally very strongly built. It i s somewhatalarming, however, when at the head of a steep incline , towatch the coachman exciting his horses into a gallop by thewildest gesticulations

,but one soon learns that the danger in

thi s case i s merely apparent .Considerable patience i s certainly needed on these S iberian

j ourneys , for the roads ar e often appall ingly bad , especiallywhen the inundat ions set in after a thaw,

when even thebridges ar e carried off by the. torrents . Then, again, what i sparticularly exasperating is the pass ive air of resignationassumed by all concerned , postmaster and coachman , and

even by one ’s travelling companions . A ccustomed as thesepeople ar e to l ive in a climate in which the forces of Naturedefy the ingenuity of man , they are very apt, especially as theyhave noth ing on earth else to do

,to shrug their shoulders at

the inevitable , and to avoid with supreme skil l troublingthemselves about the ways and means of bettering things. I

remember on one occasion,after having been assured at

5 9

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

Kiakhta and Chita that if I persisted in continuing my journeyI was exposing my life

,being landed in a ford into which one

of the wheels of the tarantass stuck . To extricate i t, we hadto work for over an hour in the cold water and in the dimdawn, and even then we were only able to do so with the helpof two Buriats who were passing that way, and who lent ustheir horses to ass ist us in getting out of this unpleasant fix .

With the sole exception of thi s m ishap I had very little tocomplain of. It i s in the post-stat ions

,however

,that one’s

patience i s put to the test and that one real izes the force of atruism made by a certain English author , who

' began a bookon S iberia with the following singular aphorism :

‘ In Siberiatime is not money .

’

One crosses the threshold of these ratherdoleful- looking houses

,which become more and more lugubrious

as one advances eastward,with a feeling akin to dread .

The postmaster is almost invariably to be found seated infront of a very dirty register

,and generally grunts out his

answers to your inquir ies as to whether he has any horsesready, ‘You will have to wa it two or three hours, possibly untilthe next morning

,

’

after which pleasant piece of informationyou pass into the common waiting -room

,usual ly furnished

with a few chairs, two or three tables and one or two Old sofas .

On the wal l hang an ikon or so,the inevitable portra i ts of their

Majesties, and a few frames with the usual printed instructionsand regulations . Then comes a sort of glorified bill-of-fare,from a perusal of which you learn the names of a number ofsucculent dishes

,but

,unfortunately, the last l ine informs you

that the postmaster is only obliged to supply you with blackbread and hot water, the last article being intended to maketea, with which , together with sugar, every traveller supplieshimself before starting . Nearly always, however, one findsexcellent eggs and milk. It i s wise in travelling in TransBaikalia to take a supply of preserves , which you can procurein any large S iberian town .

The travellers, however, whom one meets in these resortsare generally exceedingly friendly, very willing and even eagerto share their provisions . Seated round the great Coppersamovar, conversation becomes cordial and intimate, everybodycall ing each other

,regardless of age or sex, by their Christian

names , ‘Nicholas Petrovitch , ’ ‘Paul Ivanovitch , ’ ‘ E l isabethA lexandrovna ,

’and so forth . Constantly, when on the journey,

one often falls in with the same people,and thus acquaint

60

SIBERIA

ance soon ripens into int imacy . But, although these gatheringsround the samovar are ver y agreeable, and enable one to studythe pleasanter qual ities of the Russian people, i t is not advisableto pass the n ight in any of the hostelries along the road , for allthe insecticide powders ever invented will not insure a quietn ight .However interesting , therefore, a cross-country j ourney

through S iberia may be, i t i s not exactly of the kind one wouldrecommend for a pleasure trip , al though many Russian ladies ,even of the highest rank, frequently undertake it, but I do not

recommend it to delicate people. When supplied with a

poa’or oj ne and the weather i s fine the journey is pleasant

enough , but i t must not be forgotten that i t takes seven weeksto go from the Ural to Vladivostok . In winter the journey bysleigh from the Volga takes two months, but i f it takes so longfor a traveller, what must i t be for merchandise ! Commerce,therefore, on accoun t of the backward condition of the landroutes

,is obliged in S iberia to make use of the splendid water

courses , but even these are paralyzed during seven months ofthe year by thick coat ings of ice , and , what i s stil l worse, theyall flow towards an ocean eternally blocked by icebergs .Recently some very hardy experiments , crowned so far with

part ial success , have been made to penetrate to the heart ofSiberia by the Polar Sea when navigat ion i s free during certa inweeks of the year. It will be remembered that it was by theWhite Sea that European commerce , represented by an

Englishman named Chancellor, first en tered Russia in thesixteenth century . It i s therefore not to be wondered at thatattempts have been made to penetrate into Siberia by themouths of the Obi and the Y enissei, which are situated at no

greater distance than to miles from the northernmost part of Nor v

‘

vay, where the sea i s a lways free from ice .

M . Sidorov, a Russian gentleman of ample fortune, in themiddle of the present century , devoted himself to carryingout this scheme, and notwithstanding that he was discouraged by the leading scientists of the day, who consideredit impracticable, he promised a very ample reward to thecaptain of the first ship which should enter the Y enissei. Two

expedition s,attempted in 1 86 2 and 1 8 69, fai led ; but in 1 8 74

an“

Englishman named Wiggins,capta in of the D iana , suc

ceeded in passing the Straits of Kara, which separate NovayaZemlya from the continent , on the frontiers of Europe and

6 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

A sia, and thus was able to effect a passage into the estuary ofthe Y enissei. More successful attempts were made in thefollowing years, and in 1 8 78 iron, groceries, machinery, andother articles, were landed at the mouths of the Obi and theY enissei. In 1 8 8 7 an English company was formed to carryon a regular service at the close of each summer betweenEngland and the North of S iberia, but unfortunately the firs tyear was not successful , the goods not being of a profitablecharacter. On the succeeding voyage the vessel could not passthe Straits of Kara , and had to return home . Subsequently anew company was formed, but with disastrous results. Theseineffectual attempts , however , did not discourage the Engl ish ,

and the scheme for navigating the A rctic Ocean was reassumedon a larger basis in 1 896 , when three steamers entered theY enissei and ascended that river to Turukhansk , about 600miles from its estuary

,where their goods were transferred to

large barges and conveyed to Krasnoyarsk . The merchandise ,which included seven steam-engines, was sold for a fair profit .This English company has now installed an agency at Krasnoyar sk, and the Russian Government , in consideration of thegreat services which it has rendered at great risk in attemptingto create a regular service through the A rctic Ocean intoWestern and Central S iberia, has reduced the customs dutieson all goods introduced by it by one half

,and indeed has

completely abandoned its claims on a number of art icles suchas grocery and machinery. Moreover, so pleased has theRussian Government been by this courageous attempt that ithas granted some very valuable mining concessions on thisriver. In 1 897 six Engl ish steamers returned to Turukhansk,and quite a fleet of them was directed to the mouth of the Obi,hitherto somewhat neglected on account of the shallowness ofthe water. Moreover, an attempt has recently been made tocreate an export trade between S iberia and England, and a

cargo of corn brought by the company’s barges to the pointwhere their ships are anchored was soon afterwards happilytransported to Europe. In 1 898 the same company met withidentical success. Thus far this enterprise has been veryfortunate. Needless to say, the Kara Sea and the straits whichborder upon i t are, up to the beginn ing of A ugust, blocked withice

,concentrated there by the different currents, and the

season during which navigation i s possible lasts only from six

weeks to two months,between A ugust and September . The

6 2

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CHA PTER IX

THE TRANS-SIBERIA N RA ILWA Y

O r igin of the Tr ans Siber ian Railway- A t fir st considered only from the

s t ra tegic and political point of v iew—Completion of the U r al Railway-Pr oject o f u tilizing the navigable r outes to unite Russia to the

A mu r—D ifficulties encounter ed owing to the sever ity of the climateA lexander III. in 189 1 decides to lay a line between the U r al and thePacific, and determines the conditions of its constr uction—The va r ioussections of the line and its deviations across Manchur ia—Condition of

the wor k s in 1892 , and the speed with which it has been constr ucted—Russia now possesses (1900) a line of mixed communication byt rain and boat passing fr om the U r al to the Pacific , and in 1904 a

complete line will pass dir ectly fr om the U r al to Por t A r thur , a

d istance of over miles—The monster fer ry-boats in cou r se o f

cons tr uction to convey passenger s across Lake Baikal—The success ofthe enterpr ise.

THE idea of making an overland road from Russia to the FarEast and the Pacific probably germinated in the fertile brain ofVoltaire

,who, in a letter to Count Schuvarof, dated Femey,

June 1 1 , 1 76 1 , said that i t ought to be possible to travel fromRussia direct to China without having to cross any considerablemountain-pass, j ust as one can go from St. Petersburg to Pariswithout leaving the plain.

’

The matter was even morepractically defined , nearer our own t ime , by Count Mouravief

A mu r ski, who, after he had annexed the province of the A murto Russia

,favoured the idea of building a Trans-Siberian rail

way, and, in the meantime, encouraged the creation of a postalhigh- road from the Urals to the A mur, which, he considered,would greatly strengthen Russian prestige on the shores of thePacific .

The Trans-Siberian Railway, i t may he remarked, was not

originally designed merely in the interests of Siberia, but as a

means of unit ing Europe with the rich countries of the Far64

SIBERIA

East , in such a manner as to avoid the necessity of passing anylength of time in the rude and sparsely-peopled intermediaryterritories . Even after the project was defin itely accepted byA lexander the polit ical and stra tegical considerat ions ofthe problem were deemed of far greater importance than thecommercial ; but presently it transpired that S iberia was not

quite the forlorn country hitherto imagined, but that i t posses sed certa in resources of great value, which might easily bedeveloped , provided rapid commun icat ion with the rest of theempire was organ ized.

The first step in the right direction was the constr uction ofthe Ural Rai lway, opened in 1 880

, which un ited Perm on theKama with T inmen on the Tobol , a river flowing into theIrtysh . The increasing necessity of developing the importantgold and iron mines in the Urals was doubtless the principalmotive why thi s line was completed ; but presently i t provedto be of vast importance to the rest of S iberia ,

s ince,by

combining the river with the land routes , i t became poss ible,at leas t during five or six months of the year

,to reach Tomsk

in a relatively short period.

A t that t ime it was thought the opening of this trunk l inewould be detrimen ta l to the scheme of a complete Trans-S iberianra i lway, for once the junction of the navigable tributa ries ofthe Obi with those of the Volga was accomplished

,i t was

deemed desirable to connect Russia with its possessions in theFar East by uniting in the same manner the bas in of the Obiwith that Of the Y enissei, and finally the latter with the affiuentsof the A mur , and so with the Pacific . A rai lway from the Obito the Y enissei was not thought necessary, a canal being all

that was required. In 1 8 8 2 , therefore, the construction of acanal was undertaken between the Ket, a tributary of the Obi ,and the Kass , an affluent of the Y enissei, the distance not

being more than 1 26 miles. The canal in question,which

traverses a series of virgin forests, when completed, un

fortunately, however, did not real ize expectation . To the eastof the Y enissei i ts promoters encountered formidable obstaclesfrom the ice and from the numerous rapids that disturb the

current of the A ngara, and all attempts to ascend that riverhave hitherto failed.

Notwithstanding these difficulties, the enterprising engineershoped to the last to be able to modify some of them , but havenot succeeded in so doing. Thus , i t soon became evident

6 5 F

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

tha t if any practical means of commun ication was to existbetween Russia and the Pacific, i t could only be by somemethod independent of climatic irregularity. The late T sar ,A lexander III. , very readily understood that the mixed rai land river system , with its many inconveniences of loading andunloading, and its ice blockades , was, comparatively speaking,useless . Hence the great encouragement and assistance whichhis Imperial Maj esty gave to the creat ion of the Trans-S iberianRa i lway, in which he took the deepest interest, being quite ofopin ion that i ts completion was of vital importance to the

improvement and well being of an immense section of hi sEmpire. In less than eight years from the day he signed theImperial decree authorizing its immediate execution trainsbegan to r un over miles

,uniting the upper region of the

A mur with Europe and the lower section of that river with thePacific . Wi thout entering into further particulars of thevarious routes proposed and subsequently given up, suffice it tosay that at present the excellent idea of creating a l ine runningalong the shores of Lake Baikal from Irkutsk to Misofsk hasbeen temporarily abandoned , and that a short l ine of forty-fourmiles between Irkutsk and Listven itchnaya now runs to thewestern shores of that lake , where the trains will ere long beshunted directly on board ferry-boats built on the well knownA merican system , and thus travellers will be able to continuetheir journey to the Far East without leaving the train .

The Trans-S iberian Rai lway between Cheliabinsk and Vladivostok now includes a main l ine some miles in length ,plus two branch lines, one 1 04 miles and the other 4 10 milesin length , which un i te with the Upper and Lower A mur.The Western S iberian Railway was finished in 1 8 95 the

Central S iberian and the section between Irkutsk and Baikalin 1 8 98 . Trains can now r un over miles of rai l . The

4 78 miles of the Ussuri line, ofwhich 6 7 miles belong to the trunkline

,were not opened until 1 8 9 7 . The many difficulties of the

Trans-Baikalian l ine, which somewhat retarded its completion ,

having been overcome, i t was inaugurated quite recently,whereby miles out of the total miles were renderedfree for traffic. The l ine to Ussuri was fini shed three yearsago , and the ra il having been laid between Onon and Stretensk,the Russians have now ( 1 900) a complete land and river systemof intercommun ication to the Pacific.

For some years pasta number ofRussian oflicer s and engineers6 6

SIBERIA

have been quietly exploring Manchuria, with very interestingresults . In 1 8 95 the Chinese Government, after the ChinoJapanese War , accorded , as a token of gratitude to Russia forher share in the combined intervention with France and

Germany in her favour, the privilege to build a rai lway throughthi s important province, and, moreover, to occupy the countryduring its construction

,the better to protect both works and

workmen . This Circumstance brought about a great modification in the original route of the Trans-S iberian l ine . The

section in the A mur from Stretensk to Khabarofsk was

abandoned and replaced by a Trans -Manchurian Railwaywhich leaves the stat ion at Onon, 1 04 miles east of Stretensk,to rejoin the original l ine at Nikolsk, about 6 7 miles fromVladivostok, and thus has a mixed route of rai l and river beencreated which brings Europe and the Pacific into directcommun ication during the summer months . The train now

conveys travellers from the Ural to Stretensk thence by boatto Khabarofsk, whence the line continues un interruptedly toVladivostok . A s to the great Manchurian l ine, i t cannot becompleted

,even according to the letter of the concession , before

1 904 , so numerous and so very great ar e the natural and otherObstacles which have to be overcome . A notable modifica

tion has, however, already been made in the original plan .

Vladivostok is now no longer to be the main terminus,which wil l

be transferred to Port A rthur, 5 30 miles further south . The

advantages to commerce to be derived from this project willdoubtless soon and amply compensate for the extra labour andexpense.

The great difficultie s of constructing the Trans-SiberianRai lway were mainly due to its abnormal length . Whereasthe A mericans had only miles to cut in creating theirl ine between the M iss issipi and the Pacific, the Russians thirtyyears later had to lay down more than miles of rai l inorder to reach the same ocean from the Ural. Otherwisetheir difficulties were very much less formidable than thosewhich at t imes nearly baffled even the ingenuity of theA mericans . Happily there are no Rocky Mountains or S ierraNevada in S iberia to traverse at a great height , but on lycomparatively low ranges like the Yablonovoi, or A pple-TreeMountains , ’ so called from their rather dumpy shapes . Then ,

again, although S iberia i s at present not more densely inhabitedthan was the Far West from 1 860 to 1 8 70 , i t contains no such

6 7 F 2

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

desolate regions as the plateaus of Utah and Nevada. It may,therefore, be safely affirmed that from the engineering point ofview the task was a comparatively easy one, although the linehas to pass over an exceedingly varied country after leaving theUral, and through interminable plains, to reach the undulatingregions between the Obi and the Y enissei, where i t ascendsa chain of hills at an altitude of not less than feet on theroad from the Y enissei to Irkutsk. On the eastern shore ofthe Baikal the rai lway gradually ascends to an altitude of notless than feet above the level of the water

,whence it

descends in rapid zig -zag into the valleys of the Ingoda and

the Chilka, cuts the abrupt spurs of some very high moun tains,and passes into marsh lands where, by the way, the engineershave had to overcome their greatest obstruction, mainly dueto the unstable condition of the soil. When, therefore, we takeinto cons iderat ion that between the A mur and the Ural thereis not a single tunnel , we may safely conclude that, if i t werenot for its enormous length , this now famous line has not beenfrom the engineering point of view as arduous an undertakingeven as have been, for instance, some of the much shorterl ines nearer home, across the A lps and the Cevennes .The bridges , on the other hand, are very remarkable and

numerous, and some of them required great skill in theirconstruction, s ince they span the more important rivers ofS iberia, which , with the exception of those in the basin Of theA mur, invariably flow due north. There are four principalbridges

,of which two cross the Irtysh and the Obi respectively ,

each feet in length ; the other two span the Y enisseiand the Selenga, and are about feet in length. Thesefour bridges were exceedingly costly, necessitat ing the erectionof stone piles of prodigious strength, capable of resisting theshock of the enormous masses of floating ice. The minorbridges

,some of them 700 to 900 feet in length, are very

numerous, but, beyond the difficulty of fixing them firmly a

great distance on either side of the rivers, owing to the marshynature of the soil on the immediate banks, i t needed no

superlat ive skill on the part of the engineers who super in

tended their erection .

A ltogether the most remarkable feature of the l ine will bethe manner in which the trains are eventually to be transportedacross the Baikal, the largest lake in A sia. In A merica and in

Denmark the system of running a train on to a monster ferry68

SIBERIA

boat, crossing considerable expanses of water, . has now beenin practical u se for many years ; but the distances hithertohave never exceeded seventy miles . TheToledo, A nn Harbour,and Northern M ichigan Railroad possesses a service of ferryboats that convey the trains across Lake M ichigan, a distanceof about seventy miles . The Per eM ar quette, the biggest ferryboat in the world

,so-called in honour of the celebrated Jesuit

missionary and explorer , i s 344 feet in length by 5 4 feet inwidth

, and possesses four lines,whereby it can carry thirty

freight cars and sixteen very up to-date passenger corridorcarriages. The difficulties to be surmounted with respect toLake Ba ikal are happily less than those to be encountered on

Lake M ichigan . The distance from shore to shore , to beginwith

,i s considerably less . Between Listvenitchnaya, otherwise

the Larches,

’ to Misofsk i s only forty miles . Notwithstandingthe excessive cold

,the Baikal does not freeze unt il quite late

in January, on account of its great depth,

feet, of whichfeet ar e below the level of the sea, forming a prodigious

volume of water which takes a very long time to freeze, and an

almost equally long time to thaw , for its temperature rarelyrises , even in summer, above 5

°C. During eight months of

the year Lake Baikal i s free and navigable, and i t i s believedthat two crossings a day, always in the same channel, mayeventually reduce the thickness of the ice in winter.The building of these enormous ferry-boats has been en

trusted to a well-known A merican firm.

* They are to belarger than the P ér e M a r quette, and provided with specialcontrivances for cutting the ice as they force their passagethrough it , and they ar e, moreover, intended to go at the rateof thirteen and a half knots an hour in free water , and fourknots when cutting through the ice. The passage will taken ine hours in winter and about two and a half hours in summer.Unfortunately , storms ar e very sudden and frequen t on LakeBa ikal , and , moreover, in summer travelling is often impededby dense fogs , and i t occasional ly happen s that boats are

detained for hours and even days at a time before they dareventure across. It will certain ly be very unpleasant for the

The au thor is misinformed her e. The Ba ika l, the gr eat ice-br eak

ing, tr ain-car rying steamer , and the A nga r a , a smaller passenger -boat,

have both been designed , const r ucted , and set up on Lake Baikal byS ir W. G . A rmstr ong, Whitwo r th and Co. , Ltd. , of Newca stle-on-Tyne.

—H . N.

69

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

passengers to be kept for many hours at Listvenitchnaya orMisofsk waiting for the weather to clear. However

,they can

take heart of grace ; for not so very long ago they might havebeen detained for days at some out—of- the-way post-house, incompany with a regiment of most unpleasant and unnameablebedfellows !The difficulties of obtaining workmen for building this

railway were not so gr eat as might have been expected, thanksto the nomadic habits of the Russians , who think very little ofleaving their wives and belongings at home, and going hundreds,even thousands, of miles away in search of employment. Then,aga in, there were already a considerable number of workpeopleto be obtained on the line itself ; for, as already stated, thepopulation of Siberia i s concentrated on the old postal-road,which runs in many points parallel to the rai lway . Convictlabour was not greatly used, and when it was i t proved un

sat isfactory, and was soon more or less abandoned. The l ine ,however

,has taken an unusually long time to finish , because

the only season during which work can be carried on in Siberialasts but six months but this probably proved attractive to theRussian and A siat ic workmen

, as i t gave them ample time,when the ground was thickly covered with snow, to return totheir cabins and indulge in those day-dreams so dear to themand to all Orientals.It i s difficult to estimate the exact cost of the line, but it

was at first reckoned at over sterling ,* of whichunfortunately a considerable percentage was absolutely wasted,i f not worse. Grave charges have been brought against a greatnumber of people in connection with this l ine , and doubtlesswith reason ; for i t must not be forgotten that the notions ofhonesty entertained in A siat ic Russia are apt even now to bedistinctly Byzantine . However

,be this as it may, Russia can

be congratulated upon having completed a brilliant achievement

,which no other nation , except perhaps England or

A merica, would have dared to undertake, especially in SO shorta t ime.

96 The official estimate of the total cost of the r ailway is o verof which over wer e spent by the end o f 1899.

—H . N.

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il‘HE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

M ini ster of Finance. The Russian Government guaranteespayment of the interest and the redemption of the bonds.The company is managed by a committee, comprising a

President and n ine members, of whom one i s Vice-President,divided between Peking and St. Petersburg. The President i schosen by the Chinese Government only the other membersof the committee are usually elected at a general meeting of’theshareholders . The chief duty of the President is to witchover the interests of the Chinese Government . The VicePresiden t i s supposed to interest himself exclusively in' themanagement of the company . The Russian Government hasa right to superintend the progress and development of theworks , both during the period of construction and of exploitat ion . The Russian M in ister of Finance has, moreover, theright to rati fy the nominat ions of the Vice President, chiefengineer, and of all other officials , and to approve or otherwise of any modifications which may be suggested during theconstruction of the line.

’

These and other regulations, to which we need only allude,prove the preponderating influence of Russia in the undertaking, and we should, moreover, remember that the majorityof the shares are in the hands of the Russian Government.It i s therefore obvious that the Chinese President i s bu t a

mere figurehead , and that the whole enterprise i s exclusivelyRussian. A s a matter of fact, the only important reservat ion made in the interests of China i s the following : ‘ A ftera lapse of thirty-six years from the date of the completionof the line, the Chinese Government wil l have the right to re

purchase it, and to assume all the responsibil ities of the saidcompany.

’

If China does not avai l herself of this right ofrepurchase, she will not enter into possession of the l ine andits dependencies unti l the conclusion of the eighty years fromthe date of its inauguration originally stipulated , under whichcircumstance she will certainly have a very long time to wa it .The statutes also declare that the works must begin not laterthan A ugust 1 6 to 28

,1 897 , and that they must be fini shed in

six years , that is to say, in 1903 , but, as a matter of fact , i t i snot likely that everything will be ready by that time, owing tothe many obstacles the engineers have to overcome .

A ccording to a project accepted in 1 8 97, the Manchurianl ine from Onon to Nikolsk will be miles in length

,of

which 8 90 miles will pass through the Celestial Empire , and72

SIBERIA

3 10 miles through Russian territory. The total distance byrail from Chel iabinsk to Vladivostok will be miles insteadof as stated in the original scheme, including the 40miles across Lake Baikal .Chinese Manchuria i s composed of the two basins of the

Sungari,the great affluent of the A mur, which joins th is river

between Blagovyeshchensk and Khabarofsk , and of the Liao-ho,which flows into the tr eaty port of Niu -chwang in the Government of Pechili . Between these two basins lies a zone ofsteppes, quite destitute of water, an eastern prolongation of thegreat Desert of Gobi, and 1 30 miles in width. To the east ofthe north and north-west of Manchuria rises a chain of loftymountains

,which separate the valleys of the A mur and i ts

tributaries, the A rgun and the Ussuri , from the great inlandand very marshy plain watered by the Sungari and it s tributar yrivers.The new l ine will , after leaving Onon , have to cross a lofty

chain of mountains south of Trans-Baikalia, 26 5 miles inlength

, at a height of over feet, and then descend intothe valley of the A rgun , to finally enter an absolutely desertedmounta inous region

,unexplored unti l the arrival of the engineer

ing mission, some I 30 miles long. Thence i t will have to becarried over a height exceeding even the feet abovementioned, and for another 330 miles will r un at a heightvarying between 300 to 600 feet above the level of the Sungariplain, to again rise to feet in order to cross another loftyrange before redescending to Nikolsk , which i s 1 30 feet abovethe level of the sea. To the difficulties thrown in the way ofrapid progress by the great height and precipitous nature ofthe Manchurian Mountains must be added those created bythe unstable condition of the soil , which , according to sometravellers of my acquaintance who have explored th is district,consists of one immense lake of mud. Fortunately, however,i t seems that at about three or four feet below this objectionable surface exists a solid bed of gravel, which may afford an

excellent foundat ion for the line . These unfavourable con

ditions were at first deemed so insurmountable that at one

t ime many pessimists were of opin ion that it would be wiserto abandon the Manchurian scheme altogether, and return tothe original plan of passing through the valley of the A mur.The Tsar

,however, held firm to his purpose, and the order

was promulgated by His Maj esty in 1 898 to forthwith under73

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

take the construction of that port ion of the line between Ononand the A rgun situated in his own territory . The waterwaysin Chinese territory have been utilized precisely as those inS iberia.

_In order to ascend the Sungari a number of flat

steam - tugs were ordered from Newcastle -ou -Tyne . Theyare unusually shallow,

on ly drawing two feet of water, are

supplied with engines of 5 00 horse-power, and intended toconvey the rails. These are brought from Europe, viaVladivostok, over the Ussuri l ine. I remember in Septemberbeing at Iman , where the Vladivostok line reaches the Ussuri ,and watching with great interest one of these immense boats inprocess of reconstruction . I cannot help thinking , however,that the A rgun would be better for the transport of heavyra ilway material than the shallow Sungari .If the Russian Government so promptly determined to carry

out the construction of the Manchurian Rai lway, i t was ratheron account of important political considerat ions than of anyshorten ing of the route. This rai lway , i t must be borne inmind , passes at less than 3 30 miles from the extreme northof the Gulf of Pechili, whereas by the A mur l ine the distance isdouble , and even then , after arriving at Vladivostok in orderto reach Pechil i

, an unexplored and un inhabited mounta inousdistrict which extends north of the Korean Front ier wouldhave to be passed. From the plain of the Sungari Russia can

easily send troops to Mukden and Niu -Chwang, and if neces

sary even to Peking, whereas from Vladivostok she would findi t very diflicult, if not absolutely impossible, to transport themby land , and , moreover, there she i s by no means completemistress of the sea.

Vladivostok already contains a number of important maritimeestablishments , the harbour i s excellent, and in case of a warwith Japan it would be a most important point of vantage.

Russia,however, calculates that by means of the Manchurian

Rai lway she will be able to transfer the Trans-Siberian terminusfive degrees south of Vladivostok

,to Port A rthur, whereby she

dominates the Gulf of Pechil i and both the land and sea

routes leading to the Chinese capital . This scheme has beenabsolutely decided upon since 1 898 . The branch lines whichunite the harbours of Port A rthur and Tal ien—wan to thenearest point of the East Chinese Railway, close to thetown of Kirin

, are being pushed on as actively as possible.

Thousands of tons of ra i l , as well as a number of rai lway74

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CHA PTER XI

THE A LTERED RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE A ND THE FA R

EA ST RESULTING FROM THE TRANS- SIBERIAN RA ILWA Y

The d istance between Eur ope and the Far East by the Tr ans-Siber ian

Diminution of the time and expense of the sea-r oute—China and Japanwithin two weeks of Par is and London—Luxury and comfor t on boardthe Far East express—The difficulty of transpor ting mer chand ise,which must r emain much mor e expensive than by the sea-r ou teImpor tance of the Tr ans-S iber ian Railway as a means of diffusingcivilization in the Far East.

A S already stated, between 1904 and 1905 at the latest , a con

tinuou s rai lroad will bring Europe in touch with the shores ofthe Pacific. The distances between Paris, Berl in , and London ,

and Vladivostok and Port A rthur ar e as follows

miles fr om St. Peter sburg, viii Moscow.

6, 370 Ber lin.

Par is.

London, v ia Dover and Ostend .

European expresses would traverse the longest of thesedistances in one week ; but it must be remembered that it i snot at present possible for trains to r un over the SiberianRai lway at such high speeds as from forty to fifty miles an

hour . These are only poss ible upon the very substantial l inesof Western Europe, and are indeed much in excess of what isachieved by the A merican Trans-Cont inental trains

,once they

cross the Mi ssissippi, or by the Canadian Pacific , the speed on

which between Montreal and Vancouver rarely exceeds twentyfive miles

, and even this relatively low rate cannot be expectedat first on the Trans -S iberian Rai lway. The rai ls are very light,especially on the first or western sections

,and the whole rail

road is, in many places, as i s often the case in A merica, rather76

SIBERIA

primitively constructed. It i s therefore calculated that theFar East express, the weekly tr ain-de luxe, which is to beorgan ized as soon as the line is completely finished,* willtake not less than twelve days to perform the journey betweenLondon or Paris and Vladivostok and Port A rthur, which willnot necessitate a greater speed than twenty miles an hourover the S iberian l ines. When, however, the system is bettermanaged and placed on the same footing as that of theCanadian Pacific, the journey may possibly be performed ina few hours under eleven days . The Tran s-S iberian route will,once it i s opened, be incomparably the shortest route betweenEurope and the Far East . It takes from Vladivostok to theJapanese ports of Nawoyetsu and Ni igata on the Japanese Sea,a distance of about 480 miles, about forty hours by steamer .From thence

,about 280 miles of rail, traversed in fifteen hours

,

will bring the capital of the Mikado within two and a half daysfrom Vladivostok , and about fifteen days from Paris . On theother hand, the Chinese line, which is now being reorganizedby an English company between Peking and T ien-Ts in

, and

from thence to Shan -hai-kwan at the foot of the Great Wall, i sbeing extended to Niu -chwang, where i t will join the Russianl ines

, and thus the journey from Pari s and London to Pekingcan be performed in between thirteen and fifteen days. Shanghai

, the principal port of China, i s di stant 5 75 miles from PortA rthur, and can be reached in two days, and thus Hong-Kongwill be only seventeen days’ journey from London. It now

takes thirty-four days at least to get from Paris or London toYokohama via the Suez Canal, and twenty-one via Canada,and certa inly not less than twenty-eight days to reach Shanghaiby either route. Twenty-five days are required to get to HongKong via Suez, and thirty via A merica , and although this portis situated in the tropics, i t could be reached much more expeditiously Via S iberia than round by India. The Marseillessteamers touch at Saigon after a voyage of twenty-three days,but it i s not probable that they will be able to compete in thematter of speed with the Trans-S iberian Rai lway. The capitalof Cochin China, however, marks the extreme limit of thissphere ; but all places situated to its north and east—Japan,Tonkin , China, and the Phil ippines— can be brought immeasurably nearer to Europe than was certain ly ever imagined by

This tr ain has been r unning for a year as far as Irkutsk .—H . N.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

Voltaire when he wrote his letter to Count Schuvarof. It istherefore evident that , even if the maritime compan ies do theirutmost to increase the speed of their boats, they will never beable to convey travellers to Peking

,Hong-Kong

, Shangha i,Tokio or Man ila , in anything like the short space of timetaken by the Trans-Siberian .

A nother great advantage of the Trans-S iberian l ine is thediminution of the expense, which will be considerably less thanthat charged by the steamers . The price of afi r st-class passagefrom Marsei lles to Hong-Kong, Shanghai, or to one of theJapanese ports, i s un i formly about £ 70 , to which must beadded another £ 5 for travelling expenses from London to thestarting-point. V ia Canada the expense is about the same,whereas by crossing S iberia i t will cost something like half.The Russian tariff i s an extremely reasonable one, especiallyfor great distances , and i t i s calculated that the prices from theGerman frontier to Vladivostok or Port A rthur will be by theordinary tra ins about 1 1 guineas first class, and £ 5 third. Bythe tr a in-de luxe from the Russian frontier to the end of thejourney it will be £ 1 8 . To these expenses must , however,be added those which are always inclus ive on board ships, bu tnever on the trains— such as food , service , etc .

, which, however, ar e never alarmingly high on the German or Russianl ines . If we add to the above the price of the ticket fromPort A rthur to Shanghai, £ 6 , to Hong-Kon £ 1 2 , i t i s clearthat the cost of the journey will be about 3 2 from Paris toNorth China and Japan , and £ 40 to Southern China—in a

word, half what is charged at present.A rather alarming question arises as to how people will be

able to endure the inevitable fatigue of passing twelve dayscont inuously in a rai lway-carriage. Habit i s second nature,and although there is no other l ine in the world of such greatlength , nevertheless countless A mericans think nothing ofspending a week or ten days constantly travelling by train . It

must be remembered, too, that the carriages intended for thisline will be built expressly, and conta in every conceivable comfort and modern improvement . A long corridor down thecentre of the compartments wil l enable passengers to takeexercise ; and , needless to say, everything will be arranged forthe comfort of the sleeping department, and for the heat ing ofthe carriages in winter. A lready those lines which have beenopened in S iberia ar e supplied with restaurants providing very

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highly civilized nations of the west, through a country hithertoso backward as S iberia, it may well be summed up as inca lculable. That Russ ia will specially benefit by the creation ofa line which she has bu i lt at an enormous cost i s but j ust,and, moreover, surely the reward for her courage and enterprise . A t the same time , civilization will al so find a commoninterest in the amazing difference which so important a factormust inevitably create in the history of progress in the Far

East.

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PA RT II.—} A PA N

CHA PTER I

THE ORIGIN AND PA ST HISTORY OF JA PAN

Difier ent Opinions respecting Japan and the r eforms wh ich have beencar r ied out in that Empir e within the past few year s Necessity of

under standing something of Japanese history in or der to appreciate

the r ecent tr ansformation in the country—Or igin of the Japanese

Ear ly history—The Mikados—The Japanese adopt Chinese civilizationbetween A

’ he fifth and eighth centur ies of ou r er a - Inability for

the Japanese to accept cer tain Chinese institutions—Decline of theabsolu te power of the Mikados—Military gover nment adopted in thetwelfth century

—Japanese feudalism— Incr ease of power among the

feudal lor ds in the four teenth century—Civil war s and anar chy in the

fifteenth centu ry—Order r e-established and the Gover nment centr alizedthr ough the action of the gr eat military Chieftains at the end of the

sixteenth century—Foundation of the dynasty of the Tokugawa

Shoguns—Eur opeans in Japan in the sixteenth centu ry—The Japanese

accept our civilization with enthusiasm—Rapid spr ead of Ch r istianity—Reaction in the seventeenth century—Pur ely political causes—Persec ution of Chr istians and the expulsion of for eigner s

—Japan isolateddur ing near ly two centu r ies.

THE absolute isolation which Japan preserved for over threehundred years and her systemat ic rej ection of any attempt atthe introduction of even a r ay of Western civilizat ion, i s not,

it must be confessed, without fascination for all who takeinterest in the history of a people who, during the lastthirty years, have become so popular and so progress ive as

the Japanese. Suddenly, and without any explicable cause,the country , which was as carefully sealed to the outer world as

the enchanter’ s famous casket, was thrown wide open, not onlyto admit

,but even to court

,foreign progress, science and

civilization , and now Japan has defin itively accepted without8 1 G

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

any hesitat ion the most absolute changes and audacious innovations in her polit ical and social systems, and has effected a

transformat ion in her manners , ideas, and customs,not to

mention costumes, such as has never before been achieved byany other nation in so brief a space of time.

A t first Europe watched this extraordinary evolution withinterest, not unmingled, however, with scepticism, finding itdifficult to take seriously what might in the end prove but apassing fashion or the result of caprice. Many

,indeed

,felt

anxious lest the introduction of modern civilization into a

country so deliciously quaint and fascinating as Japan mightdestroy the charm of a populat ion of artists , and, moreover, doirreparable damage to that exquisite ar t for which it i s sojustly celebrated . For many, Japan ought to have remainedthe land of lovely china

,of rich lacquers

,of kakz

’

monos,musmes

and Chrysanthemums . Indeed, who could be expected tobelieve that the home of the gez

'

s/za and of all sorts of daintydelights, of dwarf trees and l i liputian tea-gardens, couldpossibly acclimatize the smoky industries , the strict militarismand the matter-of-fact judicial and political systems of ourhumdrum civil izat ion ? A s well expect such a transformationin a world of butterfl ies and glittering dragon-flies as in theEmpire of the M ikado. One eminent writer declared thatthe Japan of to day is but a bad translat ion ’

; and yet anothersays : I find Japan a sort of anaemic dwarf. 1 know that she i sof antediluvian antiquity , but for all that I cannot help thinking this l ittle old mummy, bedecking herself in the trappingsof Western civil ization , supremely ridiculous. ’ Thi s was theopinion held not on ly by casual vis itors to Japan, but also bynot a few who had l ived for years in the country, and whowere never happy excepting when contrasting the solid qual itiesof the Chinese, their circumspection, their prudence , and theirprofound attachmen t to ancient customs , with the intensevanity and frivolity of the Japanese.

What could not be achieved by twenty-five years of hardwork and peaceful progr ess in the way of convincing Europe ofthe earnestness of her intentions Japan did in less than six

months by her military successes . When Europe beheld thetr iumphant achievements of the Mikado’s army, she had toconfess that Japan was not quite the butterfly she had

imagined, and began to study with greater attention the

remarkable work which had been accomplished in that Empire.

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a positive character until the year zoo A .D., when an A mazon ianEmpress, who rejoiced in the rather startling name of J ingo

,

headed a successful campaign against the Koreans .Contemporary historical research has resulted in clearing

away a good deal of the mist which shrouded in a vei l of mysterythe primitive history of Japan. It would seem , however, forinstance

,that some centuries before our era the Mongolian

pirates indulged in frequent incursions upon the western coastof the country in much the same unpleasant manner as did,some thousand years later, the Normans in Europe . A fterexterminat ing the natives, who were not numerous

,they

establ ished themselves , together with their wives and families,in the island of Kiu-Siu . Later on, an i llustrious chief, whoturns out on closer acquaintance to be none other thanJ immu-Tenno , of legendary fame, crossed over to the great islandand ‘ found it peopled by inhabitants of the same race as

himself ’ hence it becomes evident that there were two distinctmigrations from the mainland of the ancestors of the actualJapanese, a fact confirmed in a double cycle of heroic legends

,

one of which deal s with the island of Kiu-Siu and the otherwith the province of Idzuma , situated on the west coast ofHondo , an i sland opposite Korea.

The Japanese, therefore, form a part of the great familyscientifically known as the Uralo-A ltaic , which includes theFinns , the Hungarians, the Turks

,the Mongols and the

Koreans . The different branches of this family appear to beless closely united than ar e those of the white race, but on theother hand, their languages, which are distinctly agglutinant,have certainly a common origin. It should be remarked thatthe Chinese do not form part of th is group, constituting a

family quite apart, whose language i s distinctly monosyllabicand rhythmic. Their handwriting, however, wast

’

adOpted by theJapanese between a thousand and twelve hundred years ago ,

as were also a number of words describing objects which upto that t ime were unknown to them,

and probably introducedfrom China. If i t i s an undoubted fact that the Chinese andJapanese belong to the Yellow Race

,the link which unites

them is quite as remote as that which exists between a Frenchman and a German on the one hand , or an A rab and a Kabyleon the other. A superficial analogy between the Chinese andthe Japanese must not mislead us. The very sparse indigenousrace which the Korean immigrants found upon the south and

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JA PA N

south-west of Japan were of the same family as the A inos ofour time

,of whom some still l inger in Yezo , the great

southern i sland of the A rchipelago ; and , moreover, they belonged to the same race as the Ghilaks of the A mur, and thetribes to the north-east of S iberia . These A inos, who existby hunting and fishing

,are considered to be the hairiest people

on earth they ar e mere savages, quite as dirty in their habitsas the Japanese are clean . They had in all probability littleor nothing to do with the format ion of the actual population.

The civi lization of the ancient Japanese until the fifth orsixth century of our era was, it seems, most primitive . Writingwas unknown

, and the people were but just emancipated fromthe Stone A ge, their knowledge of the use of metal being verylimited . They owned a few domestic animals , the horse andthe dog , and also poultry. They cultivated rice, millet, barley ,two sorts of peas, and in addition to these cereal s the sea and

the rivers supplied them with fish,and the forests with flesh .

They apparently ate more meat than do their descendants ofthe present day, a fact due, of course, to the introduction ofBuddhism , whose followers are, or should be, vegetarians . A s

to their houses,they were of wood and extremely s imple.

The Shinto religion,which has become once more the State

religion, has a mythology formed out of legends deal ing withthe generat ion of the gods who preceded the advent of theImperial family. Out of the eight hundred myriads of divinitiesonly some half-dozen are now venerated. A mong these isA materasu

, Goddess of the Sun, and ancestress of Jimmu—Tenno.

The spi rits of the deceased M ikados and of certain heroes ar eknown as Kamz

'

,

‘ superior beings , ’ and are honoured by thist itle

, as are also the ancestors of each family . Beyond thisShintoism recognises neither dogma nor ethics . A writer ofthe last century thus apologizes for this easy-going creed. It

was,’ says he, ‘ invented by the Chinese, because they are a very

immoral people ; but in Japan moral ity is not needed, since theJapanese have only to act according to the dictates of theirhearts to do well . To obey the Emperor, who is the descendantof the gods

, and almost a god himself, and follow one’s natural

inclinations , are the only precepts imposed upon its followersby Shintoism ,

and a pilgrimage to the nearest temple once a

year the on ly kind of divine service exacted . There are no

publ ic ceremon ies, excepting an occasional hieratic dance performed by young girls. In the wooden temples roofed with

3 5

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

bark , which are supposed to reproduce the habitations of theprimitive Japanese, there ar e no ornaments , no sculpture, andno representations whatever of the Divinity. The priests, whowear no distinctive costume, and who lead the l ives of ordinarycitizens , occasionally don a rich garment with long flowingsleeves , go to the various temples and perform certain verysimple rites in the presence of a mystic mirror to be found inevery temple , a facsimile of one given by the Goddess of theSun to her grandson J immu-Tenno

, as an emblem of purity.

A white horse will also sometimes be seen within the precinctsof the temples. The only sacrifice is the offering of fruits, fish,wine

,and rice , accompanied by the recitation of certain prayers

in the ancient Japanese language this i s,i t must be confessed,

an exceedingly primitive cultus , but it was the only one knownin Japan until the sixth century, at which epoch began the greatdevelopment of Chinese civilization in Japan, originally introduced , however , by the invas ion of Korea by the Japanesearmies at the commencement of the third century. The Koreanenvoys who brought the annual tribute to their Japaneseconquerors eventually became the pioneers of civil izat ionamong the more primitive race which had overcome them .

They brought into the country, for instance, in the year 284

the ar t of writing . Possibly this date i s erroneous and oughtto be 400 , the period when ,

according to a very ancient tradition ,

the first mention of medicine is made in the national history, onthe occasion of the grave illness of the then reigning M ikado ,who was cured by a Korean physician. Then followed thesilkworm

, and the mulberry-tree, the arts of spinn ing and

weaving. Finally, in 5 5 2 the first image of Buddha appeared,and eventually led to the introduction of the religion of Sakyamun i .From this period until the beginning of the seventh century

there was a perfect invasion of the arts , customs, and opinion s,rel igious

,social, and political, of the neighbouring continent.

Then was for the first time displayed that ardour which is sopeculiar to the Japanese, and , if I might so say, also of that ragefor civi lizat ion— true, i t was then only Chinese civi lizationwhich characterizes them at the present day.

Buddhism triumphed without formidable opposit ion, and at

the beginn ing of the seventh century there were not less thanforty- six temples and priests or Buddhist monks inJapan. The Chinese calendar was adopted, the language ,

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hereditary titles . The position,for instance, of Prime Minister,

or Kwambaku,became hereditary in a great family of the

Court, that of the Fuj iwaras, from which,moreover , according

to tradition , the Empress was invariably selected. Then beganto manifest itself that very peculiar trai t in the history of Japanof rea l authority very rarely being vested in the hand of theman supposed to exercise it. The M ikado, who , from then inth century onwards

,was invariably a child , and abdicated

in youth to retire into a monastery, i s supposed to reign and

yet never govern . This was the beginn ing of a system ofImperial self-effacement which lasted over a thousand years.Presently we d iscover that the hereditary Kwaméaé u alsoexercises no authority, which is exactly the opposite of whattook place in Europe in the M iddle A ges , where, if a Sovereignretired into privacy , his Prime M inister was pretty certain tobecome forthwith correspondingly prominent. In the M iddleA ges , at an epoch when Europe was engaged in fightingand slaughtering , the Court of Kioto was a centre of art,

pleasure and poetry , in which , however, authority was completely set aside.In the meantime, feudal ism established itself in the country .

S ide by side with the effeminate aristocracy of the kuges,certain nobles descended from collateral branches of theImperial family , and who in their time had occupied gr eatofficial positions , both in the provinces and in the capital, leavingsubal terns to fulfi l their duties , now formed themselves intoa military and territorial aristocracy, and, whilst profound peacereigned in the greater part of the country , carr ied on a war

aga inst the Koreans in its south-eastern l imits, and against theA ines, who had been driven back to the north of Hondo,in the north-east. The custom imported from China by theJapanese of separating the civil from the military functionaries ,combined with a gen ius for heredity, led in the course of t imeto the creation of many great military families , under whoseauthority or lead clans of soldiers grouped and graduallyseparated themselves from the rest of the population. The

chiefs of these clans in due time became,especially in the tenth

century,in the north and eastern provinces, independent , so

that by degrees their influence during the two ' succeedingcenturies in the Government was paramount, and the Courtof Kioto was theobject of perpetual dissensions between twogreat mil itary families, the Taira, and the M inamoto , both

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JA PAN

descendants of Emperors of the eighth and n inth centuries .They had each a claimant to the Imperial throne, who wasinvariably an infant . A Taira, Kiyomori, governed Japan from1 1 5 6 to 1 18 1 in the position of. Prime M in ister. He orderedthe Minamoto family to be massacred

,one or two of its

members , however, escaped, among them Y or itomo , the son ofthe chief. In

'

due course of time this Y or itomo created a

revolution in Kwanto in his own favour. Upon learn ing of thedeath of Kiyomori he straightway marched upon Kioto incompany with his bastard brother, Y osh itsune, who had escapedfrom a monastery to which he had been relegated. Betweenthem they seized the capital and proclaimed a child ofseven years of age Emperor in the place of the M ikadoA ntoku , who was not much older, and who was carried off bythe Taira to the island of Kiu—Siu . The great naval battle ofDan-no-ur a

,won by Y oshitsune in 1 1 8 5 at the mouth of the

In land Sea, completed the ruin of the Taira,who

,together

with their Emperor, were nearly all slain in the disaster to theirfleet, which made Y or itomo master of Japan .

Y or itomo behaved with the utmost ingratitude to his brotherY oshitsune, who had so largely contributed to his success.He ordered him never to appear again at Court , and sent agroup of assassins to pursue him to the farther end of theisland. H is l ife was frequently saved

,thanks to the shrewd

ness of the giant monk Benkei and the devot ion of the dancinggirl Shidzuka. The adventures of the brave Y oshitsune and

his death by suicide has supplied Japanese literature with a

number of interesting and picturesque legends not unl ike thosewhich delighted our ancestors in the M iddle A ges .A fter these events, the feudal system was firmly established

in Japan for over seven cen turies, and we hear no more of

Chinese methods of administrat ion. This i s mainly due to thewarlike character of the Japanese people and to the increasingpower of the feudal chiefs, who had naturally, in order tomainta in thei r reputation , to keep the country in a perpetualferment of polit ical or civi l war . The striking differencebetween the feudal system in Japan and that which existedcontemporaneously in Europe is that the Japanese ruler wasnever the Sovereign . He was called the Shogun

,or Sei- 1 tai

Shogun li terally,

‘ General charged with the duty of subjugating the barbarians .

’

This title was first bestowed uponY or itomo in 1 1 92 . It was the Shogun ’s duty to govern. In

8 9

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

theory he was responsible to the Emperor,whose humble

servant he was supposed to be. A s a matter of fact,the

M ikado had long since ceased to interfere in the government ,and lived in the palace of Gosho at Kioto in the midst ofluxury , his general s and ministers paying him no other respectthan that of mere ceremony.

The new power of the Shogunate inst itu ted by Y or itomowas not long before it al so became attenuated . In 1 198 , imme~d iately after the death of its founder

,his father-in-law, Hojo

Tokimasa, seized the reins of governmen t , and in 1 2 1 9 theposterity of Y o r itomo was already extinct. The supremeauthority was by this time definitely vested in the family ofthe Hojo, whose chief took the title of Shikken, or Regent ,and chose and dethroned the Shoguns

,usually children , at his

pleasure , selecting them either from the Imperial family or fromthat of the Fuj iwaras. The period during which thi s curiousregime lasted is perhaps the most brilliant and the most prosperous in the history of Japan in the M iddle A ges ; buteventually Japan fell into a sort of feudal anarchy , bearing a

close affin i ty to that which existed in Germany at the sameepoch . The power of the Hojos was finally broken in 1 334 ,thanks to the combined action of the feudal lords , aided by aM ikado named Go -Daigo, who happened for once to be possessed of some energy . The executive, however, did not

remain long in the hands of this Emperor. H is chief lieutenant, A shikago Takauj i, rose up against him , obliged him toflee from his capital

, and replaced him by another member ofthe Imperial family, at the same time electing himself Shogun.

From 1 33 7 to 1 39 2 Japan had two rival dynast ies of M ikados.Notwithstanding these disturbances, the Court of the ShogunsA shikagas was very often extremely brill iant , both from theliterary and the artistic point of view. During the fifteenthcentury civil wars raged again ,

and the authority of bothM ikado and Shogun consequently dwindled into insignificance.

In the provinces the warriors , known as samoum z'

, graduallybecame hereditary, recognis ing no authority but that of theirfeudal lords, the daimios . The country became poor, thepopulation rapidly dwindled , and all the arts except that ofthe armourer tended to disappear. The open ing years of thesixteenth century beheld Japan in a pi tiable plight indeed, thepopulation decimated by terrible epidemics and earthquakes,as well as civil wars, and such was her condition that she might

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character. The principal factor in this change was TokugawaIeyas , who had been one of the chief generals of Nobunagaand H ideyoshi . Placed by this last at the head of the councilof the regency

,which had to exercise power during the

minority of his son H ideyor i, Ieyas was not long before hequarrelled with his co-regents. A ssuming the command of anarmy, recruited in the north and the east of the Empire , hein 1 600 defeated at Sekigahara the un ited forces of the clansof the south and the west , and thus made himself master ofJapan. Instead of a purely ephemeral sovereignty

,he founded

a dynasty and a régime which lasted for 2 5 0 years , as the resultof his ability and that of his son and grandson . Before proceeding further in detai ling the political and social organ izationof this interesting country

,it will be well to pause and consider

an event of supreme importance which took place in the sixteenth century

, and the effect of which explains much that i snow happening. I refer to the period of the great Portuguesecoloni zation, when that now smal l kingdom had annexed vastpossessions in the Indies

,and had added new ones in Cochin

China and in the south of China to her Empire .

In 1 5 4 2 , three Portuguese , who had taken passage on boarda Chinese junk , were wrecked upon the southern coast ofJapan. A mong the other passengers happened to be a Chinaman, who volunteered as interpreter. He seems, however , tohave entertained for foreigners the same contempt as that inwhich they are held by his compatriots in this year of grace1 900. He described the Portuguese to the Japanese as peoplewho were very l ittle better than savages

,who did not know how

to write Chinese, and as being, moreover, profoundly ignorantof the ar t of eating their food with chopsticks . We mayconclude, therefore, that these worthy Portuguese did not

produce a very favourable impression . In 15 45 , the navigatorFernan Mendez Pinto arrived at the little i sland of Tanegashima, to the south of Kiu-Siu , and was well received by thefeudal lord of that d istrict . The powerful Prince of Bungo ,father-in-law to the Lord of Tanegashima , having heard of thestrangers, invited them to his capital in the north -east of KiuSiu , and entertained them very handsomely . Pinto was sofavourably impressed by all he saw that two years later hereturned to the same spot

,carrying off with him two Japanese

fugitives from justice. They had the for tune of being convertedto Christiani ty by St. Francis Xavier, and served him as ih

9 2

JA PAN

terpreter s when the renowned Jesuit missionary landed on

A ugust 1 5 , 1 549, at Kagoshima, the capital of the Prince ofSatsuma. The earl iest converts were a few relatives of the ihterpreter s. The Prince received the saint very favourably, andthe Princess insisted upon him composing for her benefit asummary of the A rticles of the Christian Faith , together withthe translat ion of the principal prayers . St. Francis immediatelyedited a Japanese vers ion of the Catechism and a translation ofthe Credo . Unfortunately, in the course of time the Prince ofSatsuma was much offended by certain Portuguese sa ilors , who,probably on account of the obstacles they encountered in theattempt, refused to land in his dominions , and betook themselves and their merchandise further on to those of hi srivals . Greatly annoyed at their behaviour, the prince now

ordered the missionaries to quit h is dominions. St. Francisobeyed and proceeded to the capital of the Prince of Bungo, whowas highly delighted to see him

, and assisted him in a numberof ways to found churches and missions, so that when the greatmissionary left Japan in 1 5 5 1 , Chri stian ity was fairly establ ishedin the country. Presently Japan was inundated with Portuguese missionaries, sailors, and merchants . The Japanese,with an eye as much to business as to social improvement,encouraged this influx of strangers in the hope of its leading to a profitable commerce being established betweenthe two countries. The Jesuits , too, whose influence theJapanese quickly recognised, were treated with the utmostcordial i ty and respect. So great was the Japanese power ofassimilation, that Mendez Pinto tells us that, having made a

present of an arquebus to the Prince of Tanegashima , thatpotentate caused it to be imitated, and very soon afterwardsthe navigator was shown six weapons exactly like his own. A

few months later there were distributed in the provinceof Bungo , and throughout the country. These figuresmay be taken with a grain of salt nevertheless, there must havebeen a very firm foundation for the story . In 1 5 8 2 , forty yearsafter the arrival of the Portuguese, art illery played a greatpart in the Battle of Shigu take, one of H ideyoshi 's greatestvictories.Whether material or spiritual motives were at the bottom of

the rapid progress made by Chr i stiani ty at this period it wouldbe d ifli cult to pay. Pr inces, l iterary men, priests, even Bud

dh ists, rich and poor al ike, presented themselves in hundreds to93

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

receive baptism, and even Nobunaga, if he did not actuallyprofess the new religion, at any rate favoured its propaganda.

A t the time of his death in 1 5 8 2 there were fully con

verts in the centre and the south of Japan ; half the daimiosin the island of Kiu-Siu had embraced Christian ity , togetherwith the greater part of their subjects the Prince of Tosa, inthe island of Sikokou , and many daimios in the centre and

west of the great i sland had also been baptized. There werenot less than 200 churches, some of which were even situatedin the capital of the Empire. In Nagasaki , which in 1 5 6 7 had

become the centre of foreign commerce,there was scarcely a

pagan left. In 1 5 8 2 an embassy, sent to Rome by the Princesof Bungo

,A rima and Omura, was solemnly received by Pope

Sixtus V . It afterwards proceeded on a tour through Portugal,Spain, and Italy. A lthough H ideyoshi apparently did not

display the same enthusiasm for Christianity as did his neighbours

,nevertheless, their number continued to increase ; and

during the last ten years of the sixteenth“ century it i s believedthere were over a million converts to the Roman Church outof a population of between eight or ten millions , a marvellousrecord for fifty years’ missionary labour. Unfortunately

,i t was

not to last long , although , to be sure , the brief epoch of itssuccess was marked by a material progress quite as astonishingas the spiritual, for, with the religion of the Europeans, theJapanese had adopted a great many of their arts and industries.Tobacco, for instance, began to be cultivated , and boats builton European models transported Japanese trade as far afieldas the Gulf of Mexico. Strangers could travel from one end

of the country to the other without fear of being molested bythe natives, and St. Francis Xavier had every reason to saythat the ‘ Japanese nation was the delight of his heart .’ Pr e

sently H ideyoshi became alarmed lest the system of government which he had formulated might eventually be overthrownthrough the missionaries and by possible religious wars occasioned by so abrupt a change in the opinions and ethics of anentire nation . He feared lest the admission into the countryof so many merchants and missionaries might not be theprelude to another invasion of a hostile character , resulting inthe conquest and annexat ion of Japan to some Europeanpower or other. It is even said that a Portuguese captain wassufficiently imprudent to inform H ideyoshi that the King. hismaster, had the intention of sending priests into the domin ions

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trading all over the island , but his son,H idetada , being

suspicious of their good intentions, closed all harbours tothem , excepting those of H irado and Nagasaki in the island ofKiu-Siu , and , furthermore, prohibited the Japanese fromleaving their country under any pretext. From 1 63 7 theDutch and the Chinese alone were authorized to trade inJapanese waters , and then on ly through the port of Nagasaki .Confined within the

‘

nar row l imits of the island of Deshima ,

condemned to submit to the most abject humiliations, and

never allowed to go ashore excepting once a year on a specialmission to Yedo, when they conveyed presents to the Shogun,before whom they had to crawl upon their hands and knees

,

the agents of the Dutch East India Company entertained withJapan commercial relations of the scantiest kind . With thissole exception , Japan, which had acted in so liberal a mannertowards foreigners , became in a short time a sealed book tothe outer world .

CHA PTER II

JA PAN A ND THE REVOLUTION OF 1868

Pr ogress demor alized in Japan unde r the Shoguns Tokugawa—Imper ialCou r t, Mikado and finger , feudal society, Shogun, Daimios, samou r az

'

,

and people—Foundation of the political regime—Military pr eponderance Of the Shogun

—Seclusion of the Mikado—Divisions among theDaimios—Exclusion of str anger s—A r tistic development and economy- Pr ogress of civ ilization—Decline of the Shogunate—Position ofJapan in the middle of the nineteenth century

—For eigner s begin tor e-enter the country in 1854

—Scandal created by the opening of the

por ts—The Cour t and the clans in the south -west provinces hostile

both toWestern civilization and the Shoguns—Fall of the Shogunate—Restoration of the Mikado and intr oduction of European civiliza

tion.

WE have already seen that the Emperor, or Mikado, wasdeprived of all authority , and retained only the outwardattributes of his Imperial dignity. He dwelt in his palace ofGosho surrounded by 1 5 5 kuges, or noble families , all of whomwere descended from the Imperial house, but whose dutieswere merely ceremon ial. In order to prevent any poss ibili tyon their part of the kuges interfering with him , Ieyas reducedthe Court to absolute poverty. He fixed the civi l li st of theMikado—according to custom , in kind— at kokusfi

‘ orbushels of rice ; as to the finger , many of them lived in

the most straightened circumstances. To still more completelyisolate the M ikado the feudal princes were never on anypretext allowed to enter Kioto .

These princes , or da imios, who were the leaders of themilitary order, of whom the Shogun was the chief, were dividedinto five classes , according to their precedence and importance :firstly

,the three great Gosanké families, who reigned over the

provinces of Owari, Kii and M ito, and were descended fromA bal mequals bushels.

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the three elder sons of Ieyas : they enjoyed the privilege ofelecting from amongst their number the Shogun in case of thefailure of direct heirs ; secondly, the sixteen kokus/zu da imios,whose ancestors possessed their fiefdoms before the elevationof Ieyas , which he had considerably reduced as a punishmentfor their having taken up arms against h im , and whose revenuesranged between and bushels ; th irdly , thenineteen kumwang daimios , who were the immediate relat ivesor vassal s of the Tokugawas, and descendants of Ieyas

’

favourite generals, among whom be distributed the fiefdoms hehad confiscated from his enemies : they were eventually thechief supporters of the Shogunate, being, however, not so richas the above, possessing on ly between and

bushels of revenue ; fourthly, the 88 tozamma daimios and

fifthly, the 1 10 f oua’a z

’ daimios, who were not infrequentlycadets of one of the two preceding classes . They possessedan income of at least bushels

,but rarely more, and

their estates were proportionally smal l . Nevertheless,there

were eight tozammas and s ixteen f oua’az

’

s who enj oyed betweenthem a revenue of bushels

, and , who, when united ,were sufliciently powerful to be very troublesome .

Next came the samou r az'

, forming about a twentieth of theent ire population of the Empire. They were a distinct militaryclass under the daimios, and were distingu ished by wearing,even in infancy, the two swords Ieyas called the ‘ l iving soulof the Excepting in one or two principal ities at

the extreme south , notably at Satsuma , they were never agr icultu r ists , but , despising all manual labour, l ived on salaries paidby their chief. Exceedingly brave and punctil ious in all pointsof honour, they were addicted to vendetta , and added to theirother peculiarities the ferocious custom of fiam whichobliged them on the least insult to disembowel themselveswi th a smal l sword, an unpleasant rite into which they werein it iated when still very young. They were ever ready to shedtheir blood for their prince and fanatically attached to theirclan . It was from them that the troops, as well as all theminor official s in the various principal it ies, were recruited.

The samou r az'

were not only military, but literary, and corresponded to our professional classes

, and their opin ions onlyhad the slightest influence on the affairs of the country.

When a samoum z'

, for some reason or other, found himselfwithout a master , either because he had been expelled from

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A danger undoubtedly presented itself to the south-eastof the Empire, for here the domains of the kokw/zu princesof Choshin, Satsuma and H izen and others nearly as powerfulformed a continuous line of territory, and consequently a stormrising in that quarter might have been fatal to the Shogunatebut so long as these great vassal s received no support froma foreign power, the military preponderance of the Shogunwas safe. This state of affairs eventually gave rise to a

rigorous exclusion of foreigners . Divided among themselves ,i solated from all external influences, deprived of all communication with the Court, the daim ios in due t ime lost a great dealof influence in their own principal ities . By virtue of theSankin law, promulgated in 1 63 5 by Iemitsu, and solemnlyrat ified by the M ikado, they were compelled to sojourn at leastone year out of two at Yedo , and to leavefr their women and

children during the following year in that capital as hostages.In this manner their in itiative was enfeebled

,and as they were

obliged in great part to leave the admini stration of their ownaffairs in the hands of subordinates, they soon became mereidlers

,under the constant supervision of a swarm of spies , who

reported to the Shogun any attempt on their part to resist hisauthority , or to conspire against him . Notwithstanding itsmany drawbacks , this administrative system , although it unquestionably weakened the political character of the Japanese,was in the long-r un

,by securing a prolonged peace, exceedingly

beneficial to the country, especially as regards the developmentof ar t and l iterature, and i t i s from the period of the Tokugawasthat dates all that i s finest in Japanese architecture, painting,sculpture , lacquering, including the temples of Nikko and thenoblest specimens ofSatsuma faience. In the meantime civi l ization had made rapid progress, and the intellectual influence ofChina upon Japan was paramount. The Chinese classics ,for merly neglected by the Japanese, were now, thanks to thein itiative of Ieyas, studied with ardour both at the Court ofhis successors and at that of the Mikado, and were even publiclytaught in the ever-increasing number of schools . A nd thus itcame to pass that when the Europeans returned in 1 8 54 theyfound Japan more completely under the influence of Chinese artand l i terature than had their ancestors in the s ixteenth century.

The causes which brought about the revolution of 1 868,

which resulted in the suppression of the Shogunate and offeudalism , and in the rapid introduction of European civi l iza

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t ion, were quite as important and as deeply rooted in the heartsof the people of Japan as were those which led to the FrenchRevolution in 1 789, which , i t will be remembered, had beenbrewing for a very long time before its eventual outbreak.

Politically,the decadence of the Shogunate commenced in

1 65 2 , after the death of Iemitsu , and especially at the beginn ingof the eighteenth century, when the Tokugawas began graduallyto decline

,precisely as had done the various dynast ies that had

preceded them . Surrounded by a brilliant court and eh

l ightened patrons both Of arts and letters , the Shoguns disdained occupying themselves with public affairs , which theyleft in the hands of the Gor ogio, a council composed o f fivef oua

’

a i daimios and their subordinates . This substitution of arather effete bureaucracy for the old but energetic feudalsystem soon inspired the great vassal s with a hope of being ableto overthrow their former masters . They perceived that it waseasy

.

to pick a hole in the Shogunate from the doctrinal pointof view , even in the name of those very Confucian theoriesupon which they had the pretension to base their supremacy.

A s a matter of fact, although the system of paternal governmentextolled by the illustrious Chinese philosopher is by no mean sopposed to feudal ism , when closely examined into, i t showsthat there was no place in i t for the Shogunate , since it doesnot admit of any intermediary between the father and hischildren.

A t the same time, in the eighteenth century a whole collegeof l iterary men and a distinct school of l iterature rose,whose principal object was the study of the ancient texts, tocollate , publish , and interpret them , whereby certain politicaland rel igious conclusions were arrived at , tending to provethat the only legitimate power ‘

in Japan was the autocracy ofthe M ikado, the descendant of the gods , and the only truereligion Shintoism , and that patriotism , moreover, demandedthe restorat ion of the ancient polit ical and social organizationwhich had existed in the Empire long before the introductionof Buddhism , feudal ism ,

and of Chinese ideas in general . If

these theories did not interest the people,they cer tainly, and

very effectively, created a breach between the l iterary classesand the samoum z

’

, on the one hand, and the Shogunate and

its supporters,who by this t ime had become not only un

popular with the productive classes of the nation, but wereeven looked upon in the light of a tax, against which the

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people very naturally rebelled,fail ing to see why they should

be called upon to support an idle and otherwise useless caste.

In 1 700 the Government, financially embarrassed, was compelled to diminish the number of charges imposed upon it bythe feudal system

, and to increase taxation , whereupon themerchants deemed it prudent to conceal the exact amount oftheir fortunes, and the peasants, who paid their lords a thirdor a hal f of their harvests

,were not infrequently ransomed by

the main. Under these circumstances the feudal system couldno longer endure

,since it was now brought into contact with a

society richer and better organized than itself, and thus i tbecame impossible for the Japanese Government to preventthe penetration into the Empire of European ideas, whichfi ltered through the one port, Nagasaki, left partial ly open forthe benefit of the Dutch . From the eighteenth century onwards certain young samou r az’ were always to be found at thisport endeavouring to place themselves in contact with theDutch . The Shogun Tzunayoshi ( 165 0- 1 709) pretended not

to notice what was happening, although his Government wasostentat iously endeavouring to repress any kind of intercommun ication between the natives and foreigners .

It appears that medicine was the first science which excitedthe interest of the youthful Japanese students . They at firstmanaged to obtain from the Dutch some books, containinganatomical plates , which both interested and surprised themon account of the great difference which existed between thefigures represented in these works and the fantastic theoriesinvented by the Chinese doctors . A t considerable risk , for thelaws on the subject were extremely severe, they secretly exper imented upon a corpse

,in order to compare the results

with the anatomical sketches they had obtained from Europe.

This led to their procuring a Dutch treatise on anatomy,which,

with great difficulty , they translated into Japanese, spendingsometimes as much as a whole day upon a single phrase .

Before the end of the eighteenth century several DutchJapanese dictionaries were compiled, and a good manyEuropean works were translated and published privately, andread with all that ardour which fear of persecution ever engenders .Before the commencement of the present century these

studies produced practical results, and the country was peppered

with furnaces and windmills built after Dutch models. It led ,1 02

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THE AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

Government of Yedo was taken by surprise, and feeling thati t was impossible to resist the importunate and imperativestrangers

, and alarmed at the grave consequences which mightresult from the Open ing out Of the country, addressed a circularto the daimios detail ing the facts and asking their advice . Someof them suggested the Opening Of only one or two ports for al imited time, say three or four years , as an experiment, but thegreater number— Prince M ito , chief of the house of Tokugawa,at their head—were of a contrary Opinion, and counselled thatno concession should be granted, and that the country shouldforthwith arm itself and prepare for resistance . Nevertheless ,when Perry returned some time afterwards , a treaty was s ignedpermitting the Open ing of the two ports - of Shimoda and

Hakodate, and, moreover, granting permission for the establishment of an A merican consulate This official tookup his residence in 1 8 5 7 , j ust as France , England, and Russiahad frightened the Shogun by a naval display into grantingthem like privileges , which were sti ll further augmented by anew convention promulgated in 1 8 5 8 .

The prolonged isolat ion in which the feudal lords of Japanhad hitherto l ived had fi lled them with a horror of all thingsforeign, so that the concessions made by the Shogun verynaturally produced an extraordinary fermentation among themilitary classes, who considered all these privileges bestowedupon the barbarians as so many outrages to the national dign ity.

The Imperial Court was not less scandalized. When theM ikado first heard of the arrival of so many Westerners on thesacred soil of Japan , he ordered public prayers to be said at

Ise, the most holy temple in Japan, and presently a secretunderstanding was arrived at between the Court of Kioto and

the clans in the south -west , who , although they were perfectlysincere in their detestat ion of the strangers

,nevertheless thought

this incident afforded an excellent chance for satisfying thei rhereditary rancour against the Tokugawa and a possibili ty ofann ihilating their power. When confronted by these dangers ,the Shogun endeavoured to shirk his responsibility, and turnedto the M ikado, asking him to confirm the treat ies which hehad himself concluded . A statesman of great energy and ofprogressive tendencies, Ii-Kammon no-Kami , now determinedto intimidate the M ikado and obtain from him at any cost thedesired signatu re, which under such circumstances at anotherperiod would have been a mere formal ity. But this able man

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JA PAN

was assassinated in 1 860 by the r om'

n, who, in accordance

with Japanese usage, presently published a patriotic declarat ion j ustifying their crime . Needless to say, the Shogun, inhis va in attempt to. reconcile both part ies , fell to the ground ,l ike the man in the proverb who sought to seat h imself betweentwo stools . The audacity of his adversaries increased , and theImperial Court and the daimios began to interfere without theslightest hesitation in the affairs of State. In 1 86 2

,against

all precedent, the Prince of Satsuma, in going to Yedo, passedby Kioto, and undertook to escort th ither a kuge, who wascarrying Imperial despatches to the Shogun, and invited himto appear before the Emperor. The Baku fu now found itselfso absolutely powerless that i t was obliged to submit to all

demands, including destitutions and reintegrations of dignitar ies, together with the permission for the da imios to leaveYedo with their famil ies ; and thus was the first step takentowards the ultimate ruin of the time~honoured Shogunate.

For the first t ime in two hundred and thirty years a Shogun—a minor—went up to Kioto in March, 1 863 , preceded by theRegent. The M ikado left his palace, and , contrary to secularetiquette, went in solemn state to the temple of the God ofWar , where he bestowed the sword of honour upon the Shogunas the ensign of supreme command with which he was to expelthe barbarians. The Shogun ’s second visit to Kioto in 1 8 64 ,on the other hand

,witnessed his complete abasement for the

Court no longer accepted his decrees , and refused him anyfurther control over their finances. In a word , from beingmaster he had now become servant . A mongst those who immediately surrounded the Emperor, there were still many whorevolted at the idea of his being allowed to occupy himselfwith the government of the Empire , and their so doing gavethe rebel clans in the south-west time to reorganize themselves . A fter a short attempt at revolt , they soon came to theconclusion that further dissensions would only play into thehands of their enemies, and from 1 865 the maj ority of thesamoum z

’

had j oined a general conspiracy which it washoped would result in the ruin of the already crumbl ingShogunate. Still , the cry of ‘Death to the barbarians !’ wasnot so easi ly suppressed , and hatred of the foreigner r e

ma ined for some time yet extremely fierce among the masses .The governing classes , however , who had been brought intocontact with Europe, began to see that i t was useless resisting

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

i t s power , especially after Kagoshima, the capital of Satsuma,was bombarded in 1 863 by a Brit ish squadron as a pun ishmentfor the murder of Mr . Richardson by the Prince’s escort . The

daimios and their councils no longer closed their eyes to theexisting condition of affairs , and recognising the uselessnessof resisting Powers which were armed with such formidableengines of war

,they changed their policy as by magic,

loaded the foreigners with honours,opened their ports to

them , and even made preparations to place the Japanese armyunder the same regime as that of civilized nations. Thisconduct was not wholly disinterested, for they were shrewdenough to perceive the commercial advantages which mightult imately accrue to them as a reward for their liberal ity. The

Court followed their example, and two years after having

issued an order to sweep the strangers from the soil of Japanas if they were so much dust , the Emperor ratified the treatiesof 1 8 6 5 at the demand of the Shogun, who had come to Kiotowith men to suppress the open revolt of the Prince ofChoshiu .

This struggle between the Tokugawa and a subordinatevassal was their last and supreme effort to regain power. U n

fortunately for them,they were crushed in the attempt, and

their military prestige was for ever destroyed. The RegentH itotsubashi, who succeeded the young Shogun ,

who died on

September 19 , enterta ined no i llusions as to the gravity of hisposit ion. He was by this time firmly convinced that i t wasabsolutely necessary radica lly to modify the constitution of thecountry

, and feeling certain that i t would be useless any longerto resi st so powerful and popular a wave of progress, he determined to associate himself with the new ideas , in the hopethereby of preserving some measure of his family ’s formerinfluence. He therefore entreated the Emperor to summon a

counci l of the principal da imios,who accordingly assembled at

Kioto in 1 868,with the result that they one and all advised the

Emperor to allow the centralization of the Government to takeplace at once , as being absolutely necessary to the welfare ofthe country . The Prince of Tosa, one of the chiefs of thesouth , addressed a letter to the Shogun ,

in which he informedhim of the results of the meeting

, and that they had acknowledged the supremacy of the Emperor. H itotsubash i, seeingthat resistance was of no further avail, sent in his resignation,which was accepted, with the condition, however, that he should

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

maintaining feudal ism than had, after the Revolution, theinferior clergy and squires in the Government of France before1 78 9 . The first step in the suppression of feudal ism was theabolition of the privileges of the samoum z

’

, who might, hadthey been allowed to retain them ,

have become troublesome .

In 18 76 the carrying of the two swords, their erstwhile distinguishing insignia, was prohibited. The stipends which theyhad previously received from their lords, and of which the Statehad possessed itself, were capital ized , and the territorial revenuesof the daimios

,which were at fi rst compensated by annual

pensions,were transformed in the same manner. These

changes , which were undoubtedly beneficial to the bulk of thepopulation, nevertheless brought about a great deal of misery ,by throwing a number of people who had hitherto enjoyed all

the privileges of fortune into humble circumstances . The

peasantry benefited most by the new form of Government, andbecame, without having to pay anything, in a very shortt ime owners of the land which they had hitherto only heldas tenants , and, moreover, no longer obliged to pay a tributeto their feudal lords, but only a small tax to the Central Government. Needless to say, there was considerable resistance on

the part of the two millions of people whom these new lawsdeprived of privileges which they had enjoyed for centuries,but these were easily and speedily suppressed . From 1 86 9,in order further to mark the rupture between the old and thenew order of things, the residence of the Emperor was transferred from Kioto to Yedo

,now known as Tokio. In 1 8 72

the first Japanese rai lway was Opened between the new capitaland Yokohama. The Old-fashioned samou r a z

’ were at firstdreadfully scandal ized when they saw the Emperor, againstall precedent , driving about among the lower classes in an Opencarriage. But the invading wave was too strong for resistance,and presently a number of samoum z

’ of their own accord,especially in the capital , gave up the custom of wearing thetwo swords . Yet another fl icker of the old spirit, however,reappeared in 1 8 77, when the clan of Satsuma rose and

endeavoured to Oppose the introduction of so many innovations. This rebell ion was suppressed by Marshal Saigo, wholost his l ife in the affair, leaving, however, behind him a namestill universally venerated in Japan. In 1 889 Viscount Mori ,a Japanese statesman of very advanced opinions, was stabbedby a fanatic on the day of the proclamation of the new Const i

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JA PAN

tution. A t present no one in Japan, be he statesman or simplecitizen , unless, indeed , he chance to be some fanatic or otherunder the influence of the Buddhist priests in some out-of-theway district, dreams of disturbing the pleasant relat ions whichexist between the nat ive populat ion and foreigners . A fter therepression of the rebell ion in Satsuma the new Governmentwas definitively consolidated, and the country fully launchedon the road to complete European izat ion . In 1 88 9 the Parliamentary system was introduced, and we shall presently seewith what success . It i s therefore not saying too much toassert, before we proceed further, that the wonderful revolutionwhich has taken place in our day in Japan i s not ephemeral

,

and that i t has nowgone too far to be in any danger of reaction.

It is, moreover, quite in accord with the antecedents and theintellectual spiri t of this remarkable people, and thereforel ikely not only to become permanent, but even progressive.

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CHA PTER III

M O D E R N J A P A N

Japan the country of contrasts—The po r t and town of Nagasak i—Thenavigation of the Inland Sea—Junk s and steam-boats—YokohamaIts population and commer ce—Tok io—The telephones and electriclights—The houses and the streets—The people and their costumesMeans of transpor t at Tok io—J inr ik ishas and tramways.

THE moment the traveller enters the harbour of Nagasaki hefinds himself surrounded by the most extraordinary contrasts.In the first place, the scenery is quite charming the mountainsare a delightful green and are thickly draped with foliage, fromwhich peep out a number of pretty little wooden houses

,whose

windows are replaced by sliding paper-panels The sea isdotted with rocky islands covered with those picturesqueJapanese fir -trees whose outline is as varied as i t i s graceful.Here and there rise from the water curious little fishingsheds, the delight of the amateur photographer, which add

considerably to a landscape which looks for all the world l ikean an imated picture off a Japanese screen . One can scarcelybelieve that i t is all real , and certainly not that i t was at onet ime the scene of a terrible tragedy : yet such it was, for fromone of the neighbouring islands in 1 638

—yclept Pappenberg— several hundred Christians were cast into the sea. Pre

sently we see ris ing in the background a tall chimney with itsstreaming cloud of smoke, and the noise of machinery inmotion grating upon our ears reminds us somewhat unplea

santly that modern civilization has at length penetrated intoJapan, and the better to emphasize this fact, our steamer i spresently surrounded by a fleet of ugly coal-barges, and a

sudden turn brings us face to face with the ships and flags ofall nat ions—British, French , German, Russian, and A merican .

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with whom his Government was then at war . The Japaneseare very proud of their victory over their colossal neighbour,and have placed some of the cannon which they took fromher in the principal Shinto t emples in the city .

Twelve hours after leaving Nagasaki you pass into the greatInland Sea, or hea rt of Japan , to effect an entrance into whichin 1863 required the combined efforts of the fleets of England,France

,Holland, and the United States . Now every great

steamer that trades in the Pacific is free to weigh anchor inthis glorious harbour, which, however, i s never Open at nighton account of the many dangers to navigation in the Strait ofShimonoseki, which, by the way, is only a mile wide. A s wepassed through it, I perceived quite close to the southern shoreno less than six immense steamers , anchored off the port ofMoj i— rapidly becoming a rival to Nagasaki—up to which thetrains bring coal from the mines s ituated some miles inland .

On the summit of the long range of hills a number of hugecannon stationed at interval s testify that the coasts of Japanare by no means unguarded .

Everything has been done by the Japanese Government tofacilitate navigation in this rather dangerous Inland Sea, whichwas so hermetically shut to foreigners a half-century ago. In

1 895 there were over 149 l ight-houses, built either by theState or the local authorities , admirably placed at interval salong the coast of Japan, the majority, of course, being erectedalong the shores of the Inland Sea, which, i t must be remembered

,contains not less than i slands . These lighthouses

are all the more necessary because , although the scenery of thismagn ificent expanse of water is very beautiful, the currents ar eexceedingly strong and dangerous, and the shoal s, moreover,very numerous. A n amazing number of l ittle Japanesesteamers of from 80 to 200 tons, and even less

,constantly

carry passengers to and fro between the various ports and

towns on these innumerable islands. M ingling among theseare still to be seen a few old Japanese junks

,which, however

picturesque, are not of much use in these go-ahead days ,

and are rapidly disappearing. Their shape is now only te

tained by a few fisher -boats . A s a matter of fact, i t i s no

longer legal to build vessels after the old Japanese model,excepting on a small scale, as in fishing or pleasure boats.Such a decree as th is would, in any other country, have causedsome unru ly expression of public Opinion but in Japan it was

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JA PA N

otherwise, and the people very reasonably accepted a changefor the better in the time-honoured form of their sea-craft.A fter twenty-four hours , of which one or two were passed at

Kobe,we left the Inland Sea behind, and almost immediately

afterwards beheld for the first t ime the peak of the celebratedFusi-yama volcano , rendered so famous by Japanese en

gravers . Twenty-eight hours after leaving Kobe we enteredthe harbour of Yokohama, which i s within fifty minutes’ rai lof Tokio

,the capital.

Yokohama was , before the enfranchising of the ports, a

miserable little fi shing village conta ining about a hundredhouses . It was opened to foreign commerce in 1 8 5 8 in theplace of Shimoda , which was thought to be badly si tuated . It

i s a town of inhabitants , having sprung up after themushroom fashion hither to deemed peculiar to A merica, and i sthe third largest port in the Far East, being alone surpassedby Hong-Kong and Shanghai ; but its streets appear muchless an imated than those of the last-named ports. The Bund,the principal thoroughfare by the sea, always seems ratherdeserted. On the other hand, on the hill above, to the southof the concession

,is the European quarter, which is full of

delightful houses , surrounded by lovely gardens . There are

about foreigners of various national ities , exclusive ofChinese, settled here , a good half being English . The port isvery spacious and commodious, and the biggest ships everbuilt can anchor quite close up to the quay . The total valueof the exports in 1 896 was 35 the importsmaking a total of or about hal f the foreign commerce of Japan , which , during the same year, reached thevery important figure of But this brand—newtown is not part icularly interesting, and the traveller will dowell to hurry on to Tokio .

The capital of Japan i s the largest town in A sia, and theseventh in the world . On December 3 1 , 1 8 95 , it was reputed tocontain souls , and must by this time , owing to therapid increase of its population, have attained It isSpread over an enormous space, much larger than that occupiedby Paris. The reason why it covers such an amazing extent i sthat everybody lives in his own house, which is never more thanone story high , and then, again, nearly every house has its l ittle

In 1899 (to December 25 ) yen, or—H . N.

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garden . Under these conditions, i t is, therefore, not su rprisingthat such an enormous population requires unl imited spacein which to accommodate itself. Moreover , Tokio containsa great many open spaces

, and , odd to relate, most of theseare to be found in the centre of the town in the neighbourhood of the Imperial Palace. These ‘ building sites,

’

i f one might so call them,were formerly occupied by the palaces

of the great daimios,the maj ority of which were surrounded

by bast ions,supported on a cyclopean stone wall ris ing from

a deep moat. When the daimios first received permission toleave Tokio

,a few years before the downfall of the old

Government, they retired to their castles in the provinces, and ,at the abolition of the feudal system in 1 8 7 2 , their landsbecame, as we have seen , the property of the State . On thesi te of several of them immense public buildings have beenerected after the European fash ion , among which are thepalaces of the various M in istries, and also the Parl iamentHouse but many other wide, open spaces are still waiting tobe utilized

, and , being weed-grown and disorderly, produce adistinctly dreary effect . The old ramparts , planted with pinetrees , which surrounded most ‘of them

, are still standing , andone, embracing the immense park of the Imperial Palace, i sused as a publ ic promenade. A s you walk along it , and looktowards the palace itself, i t i s difficult to believe that you are

in Japan, everything is so very European, and on the otherside the waste land contains a per fect forest of telegraph and

telephone poles, which affirms,and very forcibly, too , that our

civilization i s distinctly the reverse of picturesque .

Telephones, telegraph , electric l ight, gas, petroleum lamps ,etc.

, are now as plent ifully used in Tokio as they ar e in anyEnglish or A merican town . It i s most amusing to notice as

you pass along the streets , when the paper screens which formthe facade of most of the houses are removed, the artisansseated at their ta tamz

'

s, working by the light of an Edison lamp .

When they cannot afford electricity or gas, the Japanese usepetroleum exclusively

,but not without some considerable

risk to the safety of a city entirely built of wood . S ince a

Japanese house contains next door to nothing in the way offurniture , and that even in the houses of the rich all valuableobjec ts of ar t are usually kept in an i ron safe , and only exposedon state occasions , a fire does not matter so much as it wouldin a London mansion or a Chicago ‘ sky-scraper. ’ A few

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tumbles, and i f she gets up, up gets he , and i t would really

appear as if the younger child formed an integral part of theelder’s body. European children who are brought up in Japanfal l into this singular habit quite as naturally as the Japanese,who can fall to sleep in a pos it ion which would, one imagine ,have kept awake one of the famous Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.European costume has undoubtedly made some inroad

throughout Japan, but fortunately not to the extent originallyanticipated . Japanese ladies , who first adopted Europeanfashions with enthusiasm , at present have nearly returned tothe delightful way of dressing invented by their ancestresses,so that during the three months I spent in Japan I only oncesaw a Japanese lady dressed d [a Pa r z

'

sz'

enne. The Europeancostume is now on ly to be seen at Court on state occasions,where

,i t should be observed , the old Japanese Court dress was

not only very ugly and extremely heavy, but most uncomfortable . A few years ago an order was given that all the officials,l ittle and great , should wear, when on duty, frock-coats and

straight trousers, but this edict is no longer in force. Nevertheless, i t has become the fashion for Japanese off icials of rankto attend their offices in European costume

,but here again

there are already exceptions. English hats of all sorts and

shapes , Tyrolese, bowler, sai lor hats , and German caps, are

un iversally worn by men in every class. Some young gentle .

men, with pretensions to fashion , are adopting the tailor-madegarments of Bond Street and the Rue de la Pa ix, and althoughthis is regrettable from the aesthetic point of view, i t must beconceded that our dress is much better adapted for the exigenciesof our modern l i fe than the loose, long-sleeved garments of theJapanese .

The kago, or palanquin, has absolutely disappeared fromTokio, and 13 now on ly to be found 1n the mountain districts

,

i ts place having been taken by the j inrikisha . It is now sowell known in Europe, thanks to Japanese exhibitions , that allI need say is that i t i s a very smal l carriage supported by twovery tall wheels, and pulled along by a runner. The j inrikishai s not, as many imagine, of Japanese origin, but due to theinventive genius of a foreigner, who made a fortune out of hisinvent ion. It i s now used throughout the whole of theFar East ; but Japan remains the land of its predilection ,

mainly on account of the extraordinary swiftness and skill ofthe native runners, who are unsurpassed in this respect in any

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JA PAN

other part of the East. There are at the present momentabout of these quaint vehicles in various parts of theEmpire, of which about are in Tokio. A s a rule theycan only seat one person, but a few are built to convey twopassengers, exclusively Japanese ; for the j inrikisha i s not yetbuilt that would accommodate a couple of Europeans , evenladies . The lowest fare is 25d . by the hour

, 5 d . and for thehalf-day, I S. 3d. These are the prices exacted from Europeans ,but the Japanese pay considerably less.Independently of the j inrikisha, Tokio possesses a few omni

buses, and a l ine of tramways uniting the two stations of Shimbashi , the terminus of the Western, and Uyeno , that of theNorthern Railway . The extreme length of this tramway is ninemiles, and the fare is l éd . all the way. The tramcars ar e drivenby horses , and the number of seats is not l imited , people beingal lowed to stand up in the middle as in the Un ited States .In 1 895 the company conveyed fifteen million and a hal fpassengers, paying a return of thirty-five per cent . on a capital ofabout A n electric tramway is now under considerat ion. One improvement Tokio certainly stands in need of

,

and that regards its l ighting . Here and there you may comeacross an electric lamp or so bu t the principal street i lluminat ion invariably proceeds from those big Chinese lanterns,l ighted by petroleum lamps, which hang outside the shops,which , fortunately , remain open until quite late but when theshutters are up in most of the wooden houses one passes by ,the darkness is quite Egyptian , unless, indeed, i t happen s tobe a moonl ight n ight. Doubtless

,in the course of a very little

time, Tokio will be as wel l lighted as any other highly-civilizedcity.

1 1 7

CHA PTER IV

JA PANESE INDU STRY

Japan the Great Br itain of the Far East—Osaka, the centr e of Japaneseindustry

—Gr eat and small industr ies—Increase o f cer tain industr ies

hither to unknown in Japan glass and match manufactor ies, br ewer ies,etc.—Employment of child r en- Scale of wages

—Length of labourhour s— Cotton-spinning

—The larger industr ies—Recr u iting of wor kmen and women fr om the r ur al d istr icts—A buses denounced by thepr ess

—Increase of wages thr oughout Japan.

NOTHING delights the Japanese more than to hear their Empirecompared to Great Britain, and when we come to think ofit there i s a certain analogy between the A rchipelago of theRising Sun in the Fa r East and the British Isles in theWest ; but the Japanese hope that th is resemblance will notend in a mere geographical comparison, but extend to theirmaritime , commercial and industrial development. To theircredit

,be it said

,they are really working very hard to attain

their ideal . One has only to visit Osaka , the Manchester ofthe M ikado’s Empire, to real ize the amazing progress made bythe Japanese in the last quarter of the century. This city,which has a populat ion of about hal f a million souls , i s s ituatedmidway between Kioto and Kobe, about thirty miles distant,which respectively contain and inhabitants .A bout six and a half m iles further on is yet another industrialcentre

, Sakai, with a population of This region,which

slopes gradually to the Inland Sea , may be described as theheart of Japan , being its main centre of commercial, agricultural and industrial activity, and i t i s the chief tea-market ofthe Empire. It was also unti l 1 869 near the political centre ;for Kioto was from the end of the eighth century the capital ofthe M ikados , who removed their Court thi ther from Nara, wherethey had previously resided for several centuries.

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of their existence. The Japanese, for instance, until quiterecently, had no conception of the ar t of glass-blowing. To daythere are several very important glass factories doing a fir st

class trade at Osaka , glass being now much needed on accountof the prevailing use of petroleum lamps, and many people ar ebeginning to use glass in place of the paper screens which havehitherto served the Japanese as windows . Breweries havebeen established in various parts of the country, and theprincipal at Osaka produces admirable beer, largely exported ,even as far as Vladivostok and Singapore. Brushes of everydescription , too , are now manufactured in Japan, and exported in great quantities to the Un ited States. I had thepleasure of inspecting one of these brush manufactories at

Osaka, which employed 300 men,women and children on the

premises , and 900 others in its various branches in the suburbs.I experienced some little difficulty at first in gaining admittanceon account of my national ity, and I had even to take an oaththat I would not divulge any of the secrets of the trade . Thisprecaution was due to some fear that I might possibly introduce their economical system into France

, and thereby dothem considerable mischief in the way of competition. A

curious fact connected with this part icular trade of brushmaking is, that the necessary pigs’ bristles and bone have tobe imported , for the excellent reason that St. A nthony’s petan imal i s practically non-existent in any part of the Empire, sothat the Japanese confine themselves to carving the handles forthe infinite number of brushes which they manufacture, andin putting the bristles into the variety of objects that requirethem . Osaka l ikewise contains a number of iron-foundriesand ship-yards, in which nearly all the smal l steamers whichply between the islands are constructed . Unfortunately theharbour of Osaka i s a very bad one, and, indeed, might almostbe described as non-existent, the ent rance to the river beingvery sandy, and the exit seaward hopelessly narrow and ex

posed to east winds. For this reason the majority of the goodsmanufactured at Osaka are exported via Kobe , where nearlyall the great English and A merican steamers touch , and which ‘

i s an admirable port. The formation of a large harbour at

Osaka was begun in 1 8 99, at a cost of something likeassured by a loan of issued by the

town,in addition to a considerable subvention from the State .

A new industry has recently “been introduced at Osaka,that of

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JA PAN

j ute carpet-making, which i s l ikely to become very important,an enormous number of very cheap and very pretty carpetshaving already been exported to the United States and stillmore recently to England, where, on account of their excellentpatterns, durabil ity and extreme cheapness, they have suddenlybecome extremely popular. The present Exhibition at Pariswil l no doubt introduce them into France .

The Japanese copper and tin industries have only recentlybeen created, a nd at present do not employ more than eightyhands. The silk industries are entirely concentrated at Kioto.

Mats and other straw goods, which form a very important i temof Japanese export, are exclus ively made in and about the samecity . Undoubtedly the two most important of the modernJapanese industries are cotton - spinning and match-making.

In 1 8 89 , gross of matches , costing wereproduced. In 1 894 . the figures stood at gross

,

valued at s ince when th is industry has gone on

increasing by leaps and bounds . Matches , as may well beimagined, are very cheap throughout the country, and you canbuy two boxes containing each about sixty for five r in

,or a

half-sen, half a farthing.

Nothing can be more interesting than a vis it to one of thesegreat match factories , which exclusively employ women and

children,the latter being sometimes under six years of age.

Wages, when compared with those of Europe, are very trifl ing,the highest average being 1 5 sen, or about 3&d .

, per diem .

Some of the girls get a l ittle more for pasting on the labels ,which requires considerable skill , and the women who putthe matches in the boxes are paid 4%d . Very clever workwomen

,who by the sheer delicacy of their touch are able to

tell to a match, without the trouble of count ing them , howmany go to a box

,are paid 7d . Some Objection has been

made to the employment of so many infants , but their mothersdo not seem to obj ect , for in the first place the childrenadd a farthing or so to the general fund, and in the secondthey ar e able to keep them about them

,which no doubt saves

them much anxiety. Very few men are engaged in thesematch manufactories . The match-boxes ar e nearly all madeby the work-people at home in their off -hours , and

’

also incertain workshops set apart for their manufacture. Japanesematches are exported in great quantities to Hong Kong , Chinaand India.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

The cotton looms are located in stone buildings erected on

Manchester models, and employ many thousands of hands.The following Custom—house stat istics will give an excellentidea of the progress of this industry

Spun Co t ton .

Impo r ta t ion of Raw E xpor ta t ion from Impor ta t ion intoCot ton 1nto Japan. Japan. Japan.

189418951896

1897 (10 months)

From the above it will be remarked that Japan, in a relatively very short time , from being almost exclusively an importerof cotton goods

,now exports them to foreign markets , and

with good results. The Custom - house declared in 1898

worth of cotton , or tons of exports, andf , or tons of imports. The statist ics Of theJapanese Cotton Spinners ’ Union record the following figures

M il ls. No . of Looms. Wor kmen. ggzfiu

éflfgg,’

3 1 Dec.. 1890 30

1895 471897 6 1

3 1 Oct. , 1898 6 1

Nearly half of this cotton i s manu factured at Osaka, therest at Kobe, and at Okyama, on the Inland Sea, to the west,and at Yokkaichi, Nagoya and Tokio

,to the east . The con

elusion of the late Chinese War gave a great impulse to thecotton industries in Japan, and necessitated the constructionof new and much larger establishments

, and the enlargement of those already in existence , so that it i s calculated thatbefore long over a mill ion and a half looms will be in activi tyin various parts of the country. These very important industries , i t must be remembered, are not subs idized by foreigncapital, or under the direction of foreigners ; they are purely

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

the looms are never at rest. Then they have only two off

days in the month , on the first and the fifteenth ; and there areon ly four special holidays in the year, the three first days inthe New Year, and the Emperor

’s birthday. Even the first andthe fifteenth are not observed if there is a press of work. If

these hours appear too long,it must not be forgotten that the

Japanese workman, like his brother worker in the South ofEurope, does not labour with the intensity that distinguishesthe Englishman or the A merican. A s to the employment ofwomen, they are only engaged in the match factories, and theirwork is of the lightes t .Nevertheless

,attention in Japan i s being directed towards

these two very important questions,which will , doubtless,

sooner or later, receive proper attention and be modified .

Wages are already rising, as the workpeople begin to understandtheir worth and their Own interests , and to know how to protect them . A danger to which the Japanese industries are

exposed is undoubtedly due to a diminution of capital, the resultof over-production after the late war , which brought aboutmuch the same phase that occurred in the commercial historyof Germany after the Franco—German War . However, thefinancial crisi s of 1 8 98 and the competition recently createdat Shangha i have created a certain degree of anxiety concern ingthe immediate future of Japanese industry ; but, on the otherhand , the magnificent results Obtained in such a surpris inglyshort time, and the courageous manner in which this industriouspeople have overcome the many diffi culties which beset them inthe earl ier stages of their career, must not be forgotten.

CH A PT ER V

RURA L JA PA N

Predominance o f agr icu ltur e in the economic ex istence of Japan -Densityof the r ustic population in the plains and lower valleys— Impor tanceof the Japanese fisher ies with r espect to the food supply of the people—Pr incipal c r ops : r ice, tea and mulber rytr ees—A bsence o f domesticanimals -Retu rns of Japanese agr icultu r e— Small hold ings - Japanesepeasantry, their vegetar ian or ichthyophagian d iet—Their dwellingsPosit ion o f women~—Their ex t reme cleanliness, politeness and good

natu re—Cost of living—Amelior a tion of peasant life in Japan after

the Restor ation—Spr ead ofWestern civilization and instr uction amongthem.

NOTWITHSTANDING the rapid industrial development which hasrecently taken place in Japan , the greater proportion of thepopulation i s still essential ly rural, and derives

,i f not all, at

least the greater . part of its means of subsistence from the soil.Petty industries , however, abound and materially assist thishard-working people to add to their very small incomes. A longthe indented coasts of the islands, and on the shores of theInland Sea , innumerable l ittle vi llages will be found, whoseinhabitants depend entirely for thei r subsistence upon thefisheries, but notwithstanding their importance, Japan may bedescribed as an essentially agricultural country. It i s, also

,

the cultivation of the soil which supplies the r aw material ofthe silk, still one of the staple export industries , and also of

another very important article of exportation,tea . On a total

export in 1 8 96 of worth of Japanese products, tea

represented£ 6 rice£ 79 5 , 100, r aw s ilk cocoons and silkravel If we add to these figures aboutworth of miscellaneous products

,or 1 4 per cent. , and add also

about or 40 per cent . , of raw or unprepared produce,we shal l find that the aggregate value of agricultural products of

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

all kinds reaches the respectable figure of morethan hal f that of the total export . Notwithstanding their importance, the area devoted to the culture of the tea-plant and themulberry-tree i s relatively small as compared with that devotedto rice, which i s the staple article of food of the whole of theFar East. The extensive culture of this latter accounts for thepecul iarity often noticed in Japanese landscapes , that you neversee any of those gentle hill-slopes which are so familiar inFrance . The hills rise abruptly from the stagnant waters, andseem out into three or four broad step- l ike terraces, possiblythe result of the action of the water which inundates the ricefields. When I was in Japan , in the autumn, the rice harvestwas j ust over, and the country would have looked very dismalon accoun t of the drab colour of the muddy soil, divided upl ike a chess-board into regular squares , from which the ricehad been recently cut, and now covered by a th in layer of dryweeds, had i t not been for the peculiarly elegant shapes ofsurrounding heights which are shaded by those delightful firsso familiar to us in old Japanese prints . The lace- l ike curtainsof bamboo clustering here and there added also to the varietyand charm of the scene

,which was further enhanced by the

numerous cryptomerias,whose superb fol iage contrasted vividly

with the brown and the red of the maples that are invariablyplanted around the charming little temples dotted about in all

direct ions. In the hilly districts the beauty of the trees breaksthe monotony of the rice-fields and of the reclaimed wastelands

,but in the plains and valleys there is not one to be seen,

every inch of land being most carefully cultivated.

The rural population of Japan i s marvellously dense, incomparably more so than in any part of Europe. On an area butlittle greater than that of Great Britain and Ireland, Japancontains inhabitants, that i s to say, 2 84 souls persquare mile, including the large southern island of Yezo, whichi s very sparsely peopled. Not taking this very extensive is landinto account, i t will be safe to state that the populat ion ofJapan is twice as dense as that of France, and only equalled bythat of Belgium , an absolutely industrial country, whereas at

least 80 per cen t. of the Japanese live in the country. Certainprovinces , Shiko and Sitama, for instance . to the north-east ofTokio

,respectively boast of 604 and 709 to the square mile ,

although the capital cities of these two provinces contain r e

spectively only and inhabitants. The i sland of1 26

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

tremely extensive in Yezo, where the forests ar e of vast extent,and where only square miles of land repay cultivat ion. If

we leave aside the northern island, and only take into consideration the land occupied by 99 per cent. of the Japanese populat ion, we discover

“that, exclusive of square miles offorest land, only 2 square miles provide food forpeople , whereas in France there are about squaremiles devoted to cereals alone

,and i f we add potatoes, vine

yards and other edibles, we arrive at a total of squaremiles for a population much inferior to that of Japan ; moreover, France imports provisions very largely from othercountries.In England and in France, as in most other European

countries , very extensive and superior pasture lands are set asidefor the forage of domestic animals intended for food. In Japanthere i s nothing of the sort. On the high-roads you will meetpeasants dragging their own carts and waggons, and i f youtravel by any other means than the railway, it will be in a

j inrikisha hurried along by human runners, or in a palanquincarried on men’s shoulders , rarely, i f ever, in a carriage or onhorseback. Sheep and goats are absolutely unknown in theEmpire, but I am assured there -are a few pigs , although Inever saw any. A European who had lived many years inJapan assured me he had travelled for twelve hours by railwithout seeing a bullock or a cow ; in the west, however, Imyself have often met with cattle. The scarcity of an imal s i sone of the peculiarities of Japan which most surprises thetraveller. Statistics confirm this impression, for they give onlya return of head of cattle and horses .Doubtless this singularity may be attributed to the pre

dominance of the Buddhist religion , which prohibits the eatingof flesh

,notwithstanding which the Japanese are not above

relishing a fowl , although poultry is nothing l ike as abundantas it is in our villages . The very great quantity of fisheaten doubtless accounts for this enormous population beingable to exist in so mountainous a country on such an

abstemious diet. The various fishing industries for 1 894 re

turned produce valued at We have alreadymentioned the countless fishing villages which send out a fleetof not less than of those graceful one-sa iled junksthat sometimes seriously impede the progress of the numeroussteamers in the Inland Sea. The secondary and very rocky

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JA PA N

i sland of A waju does not contain a single town,but never

theless can boast of a population of inhabitants,spread

over an area of only 2 20 square miles , subsisting enti rely on itsfishing industries .The importance of the fisheries does not . prevent Japanese

agriculture from taking a foremost pos ition, and i t must beadmitted that farming must have reached a high degree of perfection if the limited space allotted to i t can support such a

dense populat ion, a fact all the more remarkable when we

remember that Japan imports very few articles of food . It

i s true that in many places there are two crops yearly,although rice has on ly two harvests in the southern i sland ofShokoku ; in many other places, in November, as soon as th ishas been gathered, the earth is manured again and sown withbarley

,or daikon , a kind of monster turnip . The following

sta tist ics of 1 8 95 , which give the extent of cultivated land and

the nature of the various products, will serve to illustrate howrelatively great these are when compared with the area of landin cultivation.

A r ea in A cr es . Pr oduce.

The absence of domestic an imal s obliges the Japanese tohave recourse to novel methods of manuring the land . The

rice-fields ar e strewn with green grass , freshly cut in Openingsin the forests and on the mounta in sides, which , when coveredwith muddy water, speedily decomposes to this lime is some

1 29 K

bshls

I9 ,470 ,8 5 5

, 709 cwts,076

bshls.

cwts

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

t imes added . Excrements of all kinds are also largely employed in all fields except those devoted to the cultivationof rice, and along the coast l ine fish manure is muchused .

Everywhere,excepting in Yezo, the cultivat ion of rice pre

ponderates, especially in the northern part of the principa li sland, mainly because the climate is elsewhere too cold to allowof any other crop being sown during the winter and spring.

Barley and wheat are grown main ly in'

the centre of the greatisland of Nippon , rye in the western parts of the sameisland, and also in the two southern i slands of Shikoku and

Kiu-siu, the last-named of which produces sweet potatoes inabundance. These were originally imported from Java to Satsuma, and are still called Sa tsuma -into: or Satsuma potatoes .Tobacco, which was introduced by the Portugu ese in thes ixteenth century, and which i s universally used all over thei slands, being one of the few customs the Japanese have re

tained from their fi rst contact with Europeans , is cult ivatedeverywhere, except, perhaps, in the north . The mulberrytree grows exclus ively in the mountainous regions of thecentre

,and only in very small quantities in the north . Tea

will be met with, on the other hand, only in the plains, and at

the foot of the lower ranges of hills. From the windows ofthe train which passes from Tokio to Kioto

,and principally

in the environs of thi s last-named town, as also of Osaka and

Nara , one sees extensive tea-plantations l ifting their deep, greenfoliage from the rice-fields.

A s may well be imagined, owing to the smallness of histenement , the Japanese peasant is by no means rich, and has tol ive on very little . In the plains he subsists mainly on riceboiled in water, precisely as do the workpeople in the town s, al ittle fish seasoned with soy , or Japanese sauce, flavours thisvery simple menu , which also includes a few eggs, and occasionally a chicken , a l i ttle game

,or a wild duck . In the

mountains , where the people are very poor, and rice is con

sidered a luxury,barley and millet are sometimes substituted .

The fisher - folk replace this almost exclusively vegetarian dietby the produce of their work. Even among well off peoplein the towns the principal dish at dinner consists of boiledrice . During meals the usual drink is hot saké, which theguests offer each other in l i ttle cups with a good deal of politeceremony . This very weak form of brandy is distilled from

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it may be freezing, they have to perform their toilet in theopen courtyard. When I was in thi s city I visited the houseoccupied by the Emperor during the Chinese War , and was

shown his study, which contained merely an arm-chai r,a few

other chairs, and by way of stove only a of exquisite

workmanship,it i s true— black lacquer worked over with

gold.

The emptiness of a Japanese peasant’s home is, therefore,no sign of extreme poverty

, and although we may describe himas poor, as his capital i s extremely small , there is no reason todescribe him as destitute . In summer he is dressed as l ightlyas possible

,and in win ter as warmly, always in deep blue, in

contrast to the light blue affected by the Chinese . The men

wear a pair of trousers,or rather a tight-fitting pair of drawers

that reach to the ankles , and an ample vest with pagodasleeves . The women, on the other hand , wear one or twoskirts reaching half-way down their legs, and gaiters or stockings without feet, the whole made of cotton or dark blue linenand join ing the tabz

'

, or l ittle shoe , which ascends above theankle .

Japanese women enjoy greater freedom than any other womenoutside Europe. They may come and go wherever and

whenever they like , and chatter with whom they choose.

Whereas in China you never see a woman in a tavern,in Japan

you very frequently see only women . A t an inn you are

always received by the wife of your host and by a wholetroop of young girls , who serve you, and keep you company. The women, when they have fin ished their household duties, which are very slight , share with the men thelabour in the fields and I remember seeing in the neighbourhood of Kioto a woman with a child on her back helping herhusband to drag a waggon along . One i s astonished to per ‘ceive with what persistent good—humour these small but veryhardy people perform their very heavy work. In the midst ofthe trying labours of the rice-fields, with their feet benumbedby the cold mud during the harvest

,which is gathered in

November, they are invariably gay and happy. Doubtlessthat which contributes most to their cheerfulness is the factthat they are far ahead of the corresponding class in any othercountry in the matter of artistic inst inct . There are very fewof them but preserve some curiosity in bronze or lacquer,which has been handed down by ancestors, and which , of all

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JA PAN

the scanty heirlooms,i s the one thing most valued . They are,

moreover , passionately fond of nature .

Every season of the year has i ts flowers,wild or cultivated ,

from the plum-trees in February to the deep,red- leaved maples

in November, and every d istrict has some particular spot celebrated for the beauty and abundance of this or that flower .Thither the whole neighbourhood goes in gay crowds to enjoyand admire them . In that season of the year when they haveless to do

,the peasants

,who are indefatigable walkers, under

the pretext Of a pilgrimage , go incredible distances to visit somebeautiful s ite, or a famous temple , usually surrounded by magnificent trees. Then , again, thei r domestic industries supplythem with a great deal of light work

,which tends to render

their existence less monotonous than it otherwise might be .

In order to give my readers an idea of the cost of l iving inJapan , I copy from the j apan Times the following table of theexpenses of the family of a schoolmaster in the province ofRi kuzen

,in the north of the principal i sland .

EXPENSES FOR THREE PERSONS—HUSBA ND, WIFE , A ND INFANT OF

FROM 5 1x To SEVEN YEA RS OF A GE .

3 to (1 gallons) 3r d quality r iceVegetables and fishHouse linenRent o f house

Ligh t ing and heating

3 ska ( 1 s/za= % gallon) and quality soy (sauce)Tea

Wr it ing mater ialsEduca t ion of

Baths every th r ee days

TaxesFootgear

Extr as

Total 1 2 8

Or,in other words , about £ 1 3 5 . for the month. To this

must be added £ 1 1 0 5 . a year for clothing, making a total of£ 1 5 2 5 . for the year . These figures were compiled in 1 897 ,when the price of provisions had considerably increased. It

must,however

,be stated that they exceeded the salary of the

unfortunate teacher, which has not been raised , and i s only£ 1 a month.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

The peasantry have certainly benefited by the abolition ofthe old form of government, and Western civil ization i s evennow commencing to penetrate among them . They light theirdwell ings with petroleum , and , although their notions of thevalue of t ime are exceedingly simple, nearly all of them possessa watch or a clock. Most have adopted European caps orhats, and none of the men shave their heads as they did inolden t imes ; moreover, they never express the least opposition to the encroachments of modern civilization, but , on

the contrary,invariably display curiosity and a great desire

to try experiments . Public education is theoret ically obligatory , and about 80 per cent. of the boys and 40 per cent. ofthe girls attend schools, where they are taught to read and towrite about 100 Chinese characters , as well as the two syllabicJapanese alphabets , in addition to one or two other generalthings . The schoolmasters, having been too hastily recru ited,may have been educated too much on the old-fashionedChinese lines ; but, nevertheless, modern ideas are makingheadway, and in the course of time will undoubtedly carry thefield.

The Japanese people, even in the country , are definitely onthe road to progress. It would be unwise to change everythingfrom the n ight to the morning as by the touch of a magician’swand, but undoubtedly the first impulse has been given

, and

has met with no resistance. From the agricultural point ofView, there can be no question that the Japanese have much tolearn , not so much with respect to those products which theyalready cultivate , but to the introduction of others besides theall-prevalent rice. These reforms will be very difficult tobring about , for the obvious reason that the smal l farmersonly accept changes with extreme caution ; but in the courseof time they will have to be introduced

,especially when we

reflect that the population of Japan increases at the rate ofsouls per annum , and the extent of territory which has

been reclaimed and i s in cultivation i s so small in proportionto the density of the population.

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JA PA NESE FOREIGN COMMERCE

By studying the stat ist ics published in th is official pamphlet ,we find that out of £ 3 , of indigenous art icles exportedfrom Japan in 1 883 , were of a purely agriculturalcharacter, and only represented art icles manufacturedin the country. This last class consisted only of the variousarticles included among the ancient ar t industries of Japan :

worth of ceramics and pottery, of lacquer,of paper fans, umbrellas, and fancy goods generally,

etc . The s ilk industries did not even attain the comparativelylow figure of Five years later , in 1 888

,the situation

was ent irely changed. The export of indigenous merchandiseexceeded of which only 68 6 per cent. instead of76 4 per cent . represented agr icultural produce, 3 per cent.instead of 3 4 per cent. forestries, 5 2 per cent. instead of 6 7per cent . of the total amount fisheries on the other hand, thevarious minerals had ri sen from 6 7 per cent. to per cent . ,and manufactured goods rose from 6 8 per cent. to 1 1 8 percent. Japan also exported worth of Copper and

worth of coal . The silk manufactories exported silkgoods to the extent of and all the ar t industries

,

with the sole exception of the lacquer,which remained stationary,

rose very considerably in value . To these figures must beadded the returns of certain other commercial products of akind totally unknown in Japan a quarter of a century ago—matches, for instance, of which worth were exported .

A glance at the following figures will Show of what theJapanese export trade during the last three years was composed

, and the nature of the goods .1 36

JA PA N

PRINCIPA L EXPORTS FROM JA PA N IN 1895 , 1896 , 1897 A ND 1898.

Raw silk and cocoonsSilk ‘

1avel

Camphor

Cuttle-fishCoa lCopper

Tissues and silk handker chiefs

Sewing co ttonSpun

Ma tchesMats and str aw goods 6

Fans and scr eens

Po t tery

A ltogether the chief manufactured articles exported in theyear 1 895 were valued at three years later theyrose in value toA t the present moment goods which were absolutely un

known in Japan in 18 50 are exported from that country allover the East from Korea to S ingapore ; and Japanese cottongoods

,the raw material for which has to be imported from

India, compete with Chinese material s of the same class , the r awmaterial for which is obtained from the same country. Needlessto say, Japanese silks and mats can be procured in every partof the world, and their coal , though inferior to the Wel sh ,being greasy, emitting great quantities of smoke and burningaway quickly, i s very cheap , and i s supplied to all the steamerstouching at the ports of the Far East from Korea to the Straitsof Malacca. In the mean time , those industries for whichJapan has always been noted have not diminished in importance. It must, however, he confessed that this branch ofindustry has decreased both in qual ity and beauty, the result,doubtless

,of hasty and purely commercial production . If ,

however, very fine work is not produced so much as i t wasformerly

,cheap Japanese artistic goods , ceramic and other

wise,

flood the markets of the civi lized world. A curiousfact connected with the actual condition of Japanese exporttrade is the remarkable extension and increase in value of what

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THE AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

might be cal led the new industries,Of which by far the most

important ar e those connected with cotton.

Meanwhile, the import trade has lately been considerablyaltered. Fifteen years ago Japan imported sugar and petroleumonly . In 1 897 r aw cotton was introduced to the value of

000. If we add to this worth of wool ,of pig-iron, of steel

, and one or two otherminor items , we have a return of or 23 per cent. ofthe enti re imports ; the food imports during the same yearwere also 23 per cent. The increase in the value of these latterin 1 897 , which stood at as against in

the previous year, i s due to the fai lure of the rice crop , whichnecessitated the importation of cwt . of rice , valuedat A certain quantity of rice, betweenand worth, has to be imported annually from Koreaand Indo-China, in order to counterbalance the amount ofJapanese rice of the first qual ity exported to Europe and theUnited States. Besides rice , the import of sugar has reachedthe high figure of and petroleum

,of which

gallons were imported in 1 897,Imported manufactured goods may be divided into two

distinct classes , the first including articles of domestic use orconsumption, and the second those which tend to extend thevarious industries of the country , and which in a sense con

stitute a certain proport ion of capital. In the first category maybe placed spun goods, both cotton and woollen, and watches ;in the second

,machinery

,wrought iron and steel , rolling-stock

and other material s for the railways .Woollen industries did not exist in Japan unt il recently, for

the s imple reason that sheep were not introduced unt il afterthe opening of the ports to Europeans . In 1 897 , woollengoods were imported to the value of and textilefabrics to while watches, which were never seenin Japan until 1 8 50, are now in general use, and in 1 897 ,

of these necessary art icles were imported and retai ledat an average of about 1 25 . each .

The second class of manufactured articles imported into theEmpire in 1 897 includes worth of wrought iron ,

of machinery and boilers, £ 5 of locomotives

and rai lway carriages and trucks,

of rail s, and

of other railway stock, 1 5 per cent. of the totalimports. This rapid development, which compares very favour

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take almost all the Japanese matches , while the coal will befound distributed along the whole of the A siatic Coast of thePacific. Copper goes to Hong-Kong, Germany and England ,and rice, camphor , matting, straw and ar t goods are distributedall over Europe and the United States .This bri lliant picture of Japanese commercial prosperity has,

unfortunately, its shady side. Many complain that the articlesmanufactured in Japan ar e not up to the mark in point ofexcellence and fin ish. A s is generally the case with Orientals ,they start well and make their first batch of goods admirably,but the qual ity soon falls ofl

‘

, probably the result,not so

much of negligence, as of over-hasty production, due to competition. There can be no question that these and othercomplaints are ‘

not unfounded , and many intell igent Japaneseare the first to acknowledge and deplore them. A s an instancein point, matches are not nearly so well made as they usedto be. Many complaints have al so been made as to theincreasing inferiority of a certain class of si lk goods known as

lzabautaye and of the silk pocket-handkerchiefs, of which an

enormous quantity ar e exported, with the result that the exportation of these lasttmentioned necessary art icles fell from 5dozens in 1 895 , to in 1 8 97 . On the other hand , thereis a distinct increase in the export of fiaboutay e. Neverthelessmany thoughtful people have watched this deterioration in theexcellence of the new Japanese industries with some alarm ,

and not a few manufacturers who have had their attentiondrawn to the matter have already mended their ways . The

same complain t might be made of goods manufactured in

certain parts of Europe , notably in Germany, where cheap and

showy articles are fabricated in superabundance,but Japan

would do well to maintain her reputation as high as possibleas a producer of all that i s best in the market .St ill graver is the charge brought against Japanese merchants

of occasional lapses from a high standard of honour, and ofavail ing themselves of the slightest possible pretext to avoidfulfi lling the letter of their contracts

,in which they contrast

unfavourably with the higher class of Chinese merchants,whose reputation for integrity and for a strict adherence not

only to their written, but also to their verbal prom ises, i swell known, with some degree, possibly, of exaggeration. It

i s as well to reca ll in this connection that the Japanese wereuntil quite recently a feudal and military people, who despised

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JA PAN

trade in all its branches, and those who were engaged in itspursuit were not considered any the better for being honest.In China, on the other hand, i t has ever been otherwise, themerchan ts , after the literati, being looked upon as the mosthonourable class in the Empire , whereas the military wereinvariably despised , being recruited from the lowest ranks ofsociety. Ideas have certainly been considerably modified inJapan in the last thirty years ; still , the maj ority of themerchants ar e of the same class as their predecessors whenthey are not their immediate descendant s ; therefore, we shouldnot be surprised if they retain some of their traditions it werebetter they were without. In a word

,since the Restorat ion

of 1 8 68 the Japanese have done their best to get rid of theprejudices of feudal times, but although these are fast disappearing, some of their after-effects still remain.

It has always been extremely difficult to induce Oriental s tounderstand the value of time

,and in this particular the

Japanese are stil l on a par with their neighbours . Foreignmerchants have the greatest difficulty in persuading theirJapanese correspondents that a few days’, nay, a few hours’delay in the transaction of business and in the despatch of goodsoften leads not only to much inconvenience, but to absolute loss .One of the chief desires of the Japanese at the present t ime

is to see their export commerce pass from the hands offoreigners, who hold it, into their own ; but they may restassured that unti l they improve their business habits they willnot succeed in carrying out the ir object in this direction.

It has been noticed that during the three years 1 896, 1 89 7and 1 898 the Japanese imports have been immensely in

excess of their exports . This is probably due to the necessityof obtaining plant in great quantit ies for the immediate increaseof the many new industries that have sprung up all over thecountry in so short a time . This financia lly has undoubtedlyresulted in a distinct loss to the nat ion . The Chinese War

indemnity brought a good deal of gold into the country, butthe greater part of it has been expended in augmenting thenavy and in the purchase of war materials . Fortunately, tradethroughout Japan in 1 899 was distinctly flourishing , thanksmainl y to the abundance of the crops in the preceding year,and also to a curb having been put on exaggerated industrialactivity, whereby, as already int imated, the imports were inexcess of the exports , and the danger of a crisi s in this direction

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

was averted. This extraordinary commercial development inso remarkably Short a period reflects the greatest credi t uponthe Japanese people

,but we mus t not expect that it will con

tinne progressing without encountering occas ional checks, andthere are not a few thoughtful people who foresee that theJapanese factories will soon have to compete very seriously withthose which have been recently erected in the free ports ofChina. In this respect it may he remarked that salaries haverisen at Shanghai , as well as at Osaka and Tokio. The ac

quisition of the island of Formosa will probably before longenable the Japanese to cultivate cotton and other tropica lproduce on their own territory , which will , of course, be a

great gain to them.

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although had already been withdrawn from thisreserve fund to help in defraying the expen ses of the war .

On the other hand, the Nat ional Debt at this period wasnot higher than £ 28, of which £ 1 , was papermoney in circulation . It had therefore diminished since1 890

-

9 1 by of which was due to thewithdrawal of the paper money. These notes had been i ssuedat a period when the new regime was not fi rmly established,the insurrection at Satsuma still to be suppressed, and theGovernment unable to obtain cash, even at a very high rateof interest. In 1 88 1 the premium upon silver

,the standard

currency,had risen to 70 per cent . , thanks to the energy of

Count Matsukata , the very able Minister of Finance. It fellto 9 per cent . by 1 884 in 18 86 par was reached . The papermoney of the State and the national banks was graduallywithdrawn and replaced by notes of the Bank of Japan , payableat sight . In brief, if we compare the figures of the Debt andthe Budget with those of the population, we can

on ly envy the financial s ituation of Japan on the eve of the war .

A lthough the expenses of the Chino-Japanese War , whichwere partly covered by the indemnity Obtained from China and

partly by a publ ic loan, undoubtedly checked the progressiveprosperi ty of the country , they had noth ing whatever to do withthe present financial problem , which has been created by themagni tude of the military, naval

,industrial, and commercial

enterprises undertaken by the Japanese Government s ince theclose of the war . Between 1 895 and 1 896 the Governmentdecided to double the strength of the army, by raising thenumber of divisions from Six to twelve (exclusive of the ImperialGuard) , and i t will now thus muster as againstto on a peace footing, and instead of from

to in t ime of war . The fleet is to be increasedfrom 43 vessels of tons , plus 26 torpedo-boats , without asingle cruiser, to 6 7 men-Of-war , of which 7 are fir st-class battleships

,with a displacement of tons , besides 1 1 torpedo

boat destroyers and 1 1 5 torpedo-boats . The creat ion ofnumerous arsenal s and fortifications will eventually complete theprogramme

,but beyond these War Ofl‘ice expenses, very con

siderable sums have been spent in the construction of rai lways,extension of telegraph-l ines, creation of new ports, subventionsto the mercantile marine, and in the establishment of a secondUn iversity at Kioto . The plan of rai lway extens ion which

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JA PA N

was decided upon in 1 893 by the Diet must be completedaccording to contract in 1 9 10. The other measures for theaugmentation of the army and navy were included in theprogramme of the Ito Cabinet, which the Chambers acceptedimmediately after the sign ing of peace. This extra expenditureis to be disbursed in ten instalments from 1 8 96 to 1 906 , and

some further amendments and additions -were made during theParl iamenta ry Session of 1 896

-

97. The expenses enta i led bythese extens ive schemes

,together with the rai lways, are tabulated

belowNavy and ar senalsA r my z

. .

For txficatrons

Other military expensesRailway constr uc tionIncr ease and impr ovement of linesTelephonesConstr uction of por tsDefence against floodsSubventions to banksCreation of a tobacco monopolySubventions to various industr ies, commerce,agr icultur e, and other public wor ks

Total

Of thi s amount was for War Office expenses,and was intended for the very extensive commercial enterpri ses.In 1 893 a loan was voted to be i ssued as and when te

quired to entirely cover the expense of the new railway lines .The indemnity was plus as compensation for the retrocession of the Liao—Tung Peninsula,imposed upon Japan by the Russian , French, and GermanGovernments . This latter sum , as well as the firs t insta lment,£ 7 , of the indemni ty was duly paid into the JapaneseT reasury on November 8 , 1 895 ; the remainder was to bepaid by regu lar insta lments on May 8 of each year until 1 902 .

China, however, availed herself of a clause allowing her topay off the debt at once, and thus escape interest charges,which she did on May 8 , 1 898 . Japanese statesmen hadanticipated this act of the Chinese Government, and didnot count upon more than Of thi s sum

had been debited to the war account, leaving a

balance of In addition to these amounts , the14 5 L

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

Treasury held the accumulated surpluses , which , on A pril 1 ,

1 896 , attained to which must be addedas the surplus in the Budget of 1 896

-

9 7 . The di fferencebetween the total of these receipts and the anticipated expenseswas to be balanced by a loan known as

‘ the loan for Stateenterprises. ’ The following table exhibits the assets for thisprogramme of expansion

Chinese indemnity ‘

Su r pluses of previous BudgetsRailway loan,Loan for State enterpr ises,

Total 5 1

The expenses being there would thus remaina surplus of nearly thanks to the favourable resultof the fiscal year 1 896 -

97 .

A part from this financial scheme, however, there was still awar charge which had not been foreseen . It had at first beenbelieved that the island of Formosa would be self- supporting,an i llus ion which was soon dispelled , and the Government hadtherefore to grant this new acquisition for a period of years asubvention from the Imperial Treasury of aboutto obtain which various receipts officially described as extraordinary , such as voluntary contributions and restitutions, salesof State lands , and interest on divers funds had to be drawnupon . These receipts generally averaged and bythe year 1905 -6

, the time fixed for the conclusion of the expansion programme , will have furn ished between £ 1 , and

for the remainder i t will be necessary to haverecourse to a loan, and supposing that during this period thesubvent ion of the Japanese Budget to Formosa, which mustnecessarily diminish year by year, rises to aboutanother loan of between and willhave to be raised. Japan would therefore have to borrow about

from 1 8 96-

97 to meet the extraordinary expensesshe had undertaken. On the other hand , when these were met,

The Japanese took car e to s tipulate that the indemnity should be paidin gold at the exchange of the tael in 1895 , which allowed them to knowexactly on what amount of money they cou ld count, which was of extr emeimpor tance to them, Japan having adopted the gold standard , and the

gr eater par t of the indemnity being destined to be spent in pur chases in

Eu rope and the United States.

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dustr ies, there is no ground for surprise at this lack of readycapital. In view, however, of the evident impossibilityof placing a domestic loan for the sum required

,two alterna

tives remained a foreign loan , or a reduction to more modestproportion of the programme of expansion.

The resul t of an appeal to foreign capi tal ists would no doubthave proved successful if the attractive interest of from 5 to5 } per cent. had been offered. Japan offers excellent security.

Her finances have hitherto been admirably managed,and her

liabilities do not appear to be in excess of the capabilities ofher people. Nevertheless , the project of a foreign loan seemsto have met with serious opposition from many eminentpeople in Japan, which arose from a twofold cause : first

,fear

of compromising the independence of the country by supplyingforeigners w ith a pretext for interfering in the internal affairs ofthe Empire , in case there was any difficulty in fulfil l ing obligat ions ; and , secondly, the national pride, which regarded it ashumiliating for Japan to become indebted to Europe. Thislatter motive was doubtless the most powerful, but it restedupon an altogether exaggerated notion of national dign ity.

What all the great Powers of the world, except, perhaps,France and England, have done, Japan might do withoutsacrificing her dign ity. The Japanese Government, after longhesitat ion , in which it perhaps missed the most favourableopportunity , decided in June , 1 899 , to issue a 4 per cent. loanon the London market at the rate of 90 francs. The high rateof issue did not greatly tempt the publ ic, but that part of theloan not then subscribed will be gradually issued and advancedby the banks which undertook the issue, and thus the JapaneseTreasury will find itself in possession of sufficient funds toproceed with i ts programme until money is more plen tiful athome . In the meantime, so far as concerns the honourableintentions of the Japanese to fulfi l their obligations, we mayrely with safety upon their natural high sense of honour , andrest assured that they will do everything in their power to meettheir obligat ions. Moreover, the resources of Japan, which Iwill briefly analyze, appear suffi cient to enable the country tomeet without much difficulty the interest on the loans as wellas the permanent expenditure result ing from its greater nationalimportance.Let us, to begin with, review the principal items in the

revenue as tabulated in the Budget of 1897-98148

JA PAN

Land tax

Income tax

Tax on dr inkstobacco

Registr a tionTax on sales, contr ac ts , etc.

CustomsVar ious dutiesPosts and telegraphPr ofits of the State r ailwaysCrown land pr oductsO ther itemsReceipts from Formosa

Total £ 1

This Budget is higher by one-half than that of 1 893-

94 , thetotal of which we have already given , and whose ordinaryreceipts did not quite reach This increase resultsfrom four causes (1 ) better returns from the public servicesrailways and posts ; (2 ) a slight increase in the revenue fromtaxes whose rate has not changed , and also in the Crown lands ;(3 ) the establishment of two new taxes on registrations and sales ,contracts, and other commercial deeds , the aggregate value ofwhich increased the revenue by about (4) thereorganization of the tax on drink , increased byand of that on tobacco, in consequence of thi s product havingbeen converted into a monopoly, the effects, however, of whichwere not felt in 1 897

-

98 , for i t only came into force in January,1 8 98 . To these we must add the receipts from Formosa, which,unfortunately , ar e not net receipts . The total revenue for thefisca l year 1 8 97

-

98 was and exceeded ordinaryexpenses by but these figures will undoubtedly begreatly augmented when the programme of expansion i s completed . It i s calculated that by the year 1 904-

5 the ordinaryexpenses will s tand as high as in order to meetwhich it wil l be necessary to ra ise another byincreased taxation.

Taxation in Japan has a natural tendency to increase.

During the years 1 88 7-94 the annual rise was between I} and

1} per cent. at a time , when i t was not affected by any un

usual excitement. This was before the war . A ssuming thati t only advances at the rate of a} per cent . , i t i s expected thatby the year 1 9045 the increase will add to the

of 1 897-

98 . On the other hand, the Customs149

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

ta riff, which was kept exceedingly low by the treaties withforeign Powers

,has risen in consequence of the revision of

these treat ies , and, i t i s hoped, will produce an increase ofThe tobacco monopoly will al so , i t is ant icipated ,

produce per annum, an absolute increase ofon the existing returns . There remains

,therefore,

to find , which will doubtlessly be obta ined fromthe increased receipts of the posts, telegraph, and telephones, and by the extension of the State rai lways now in

existence , and the exploitation of those in process of construct ion .

The recent excessive activity in commercial circles hassuffered a check of late, a hal t not very surprising aftersuch a forced march. In the meantime , there is some ri skthat the returns Of the posts and rai lways may not increaseas rapidly as the more sanguine ant icipate, for the new railways are not l ikely to prove as profitable as those already inexistence, which pass through richer regions. During theinterval 18 92-

96 the net railway returns to the State, withoutincluding any remarkable increase in the lengths of their lines ,was doubled . By the year 1 904 i t i s calculated that there willbe miles of rai l instead of the 600 in 1 8 97 , which it i sestimated will yield an increase of upon the presentreturns . A s to the posts

,telegraph , and telephones , whose rough

receipts were augmented by about 80 per cent. during the lastfour years, there is every reason to believe that they will in1 904 5 be above what they are at present . Thus wehave £ 1

,400 ,ooo added to the necessary The te

maining will have to be taken from various othersources of taxation. The question nowarises :Wil l the countrystand further taxation without protest ? The answer seems tome reassuring. The land tax before the Restoration and evento the close of the seventeenth century

, as can be verified byreference to many important historical documents , was sevent imes more burdensome than i t is at present

,and was paid in

kind—in rice,or other kindred products— and yielded to the

da imios and the Central Government bushels ofrice per annum . A t the price fetched by rice in 1 89 7 , whenthe harvest returned a fai r average

,the land tax should now

represent about a sixth of this amount , and the totalBudget of ant icipated for the year 1 894-

95 onlyclaimed bushels . If we add to these all th e

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will be derived from Crown lands , rai lways , andposts , £ 8 from Formosa

, and £ 1 3 ,000 ,ooo from monopolies and taxes paid by Japan proper. The population,increasing as it does at the rate of to soulsa year

,will have reached contributing to the

State at the rate of or about 5 5 . 9d . per head,which does not seem to us excessive when compared wi thwhat is paid by people of . other countries. A Frenchman , forinstance, pays £ 3 , an Ital ian £ 1 1 2s , a Russian 1 zs. 9d . , an

Egyptian 1 6s . 9d .

, and a H indu 3s. 9d. I have not selectedthese national ities haphazard, but because each of them has

some special characteristic in common with Japan, especiallyEgypt, essen tially an agricultural country . I do not think thatanybody can ma intain that an Ital ian ,

as a rule,is five or six

times richer than a Japanese, or an Egyptian three times, orthat the of Russians, of whom are

A siatics, possess incomes double the average to be found in

Japan,and there is no doubt an immense inverse difference

between a H indu and a Japanese. Bearing in mind thesefacts , one must certainly conclude that the amount which theJap will pay to his Treasury i s considerably lighter than thatobta ined from almost every people in the Old World . Withregard to the National Debt , five-sixths of which is heldby natives

, at the present moment i t does not exceedbut i t will reach its maximum in 1 90 1 , when it

will stand at The annual repayment stands atpresent at but will increase to in 1 903 ,and go on augmenting, so that by 1 938 , unless fresh obligat ionsare incurred beyond those already in view , Japan will be freeof debt .The financial difficulties confronting Japan at the present

moment ar e therefore not so formidable as they appear. In

1 899 the Chamber increased the land tax, which it had previously very persistently refused to do . A t the same time itraised the tax on saké and on the posts . The Budget of ordinary receipts was therefore advanced to Thisfigure may appear excessive, but it shows a surplus of

on the actual expenses, a fact which indicates theintention of the Government to pay off as soon as possible theextraordinary expenses of the Ito programme , which meansthat these increased taxations are to be considered merely astemporary. They may possibly impede commerce at first, a

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JA PAN

thing which , unfortunately, cannot be helped, but, at any rate,the future will be considerably benefited thereby . The financesof Japan have, happily , always been managed in a highly satisfactory and prudent manner, and i f the Empire carries out thepresent plan of expansion , and does not embark on any freshschemes involving further outlay

,Japan seems to have found

a clea r way out of the transient difficulties which at one timeweighed upon her finances .

CHA PTER VIII

THE DOMESTIC POLITICS A ND PA RLIAMENT OF JA PA N

Present social organization—The nobles, or kwazoku ; the or

ancient samu r a i and the Izez'

mz'

n—Equal civil r igh ts for all c itizensPr eponder ance of the samu r a i in politics since the Resto r ation

Sur vival of the clan spir it—Japan go ver ned du r ing the past thir tyyear s by the Chosh in and Satsuma clans—Creation in 1889 o f a Con

stitution modelled on that o f Pr ussia—Pa r liamentar y struggles against

Cabinets gover ned by Sou thern clans—Fr equent cr ises and d issolutions-A Minister ial cr is is in Japan—Effor ts of the Chamber to impose

Minister ial r esponsibility and to r eplace the Government of clans bythat of par ties

— Signs of improvement in the wor k ing of the r epr o

sentative system— Its prospects in Japan.

WE have now to study the least praiseworthy of the manyinstitutions borrowed from Europe by modern Japan

,that

relating to the home politics of the country,which ar e very

unsettled. S ince 1 8 89 , when the M ikado , in fulfilment of thepromise made to his people at the Restorat ion

,first granted a

Constitution analogous to that of Prussia, the Chambers havebeen dissolved not less than five times . A constant antagonism has existed between the representatives of the peopleand the various Cabinets which have succeeded each other ;and if we except the time of the Chinese War , when thepatriotism of the Japanese was so intense as to absorb evenparty feeling , we shal l find that no Cabinet has been able todispose of an important majority. In order to understand thisstate of affa irs, we must recall the manner in which the Restor at ion took place

,bearing in mind the actual social organization

of Japan , and also the fact that the clan instinct has survivedboth class prejudice and feudal privileges , which were suppressed without the least opposition or regret .Twenty-five years have now elapsed since the abolition of

the old regime, and in the meantime the feudal system has been

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entertainment,and evidently thought very little or nothing at

all of their former exclusiveness .A lthough the highest positions in the Government are open

to all, they have hitherto always remained in the hands of thesamu r a i. Just as immediately after the Restoration , so today the country is governed by members of this very numerous and intelligent gentry. A ll the successive M inisters, themaj ority of whom have been ennobled, even made kwazoku ,have sprung from its ranks . The same may be said of allthe high oflficials, and , with ver y few exceptions, of the maj orityof the smaller employé s of the Government, even down tothe very police agents and the vast maj ority of the militaryand naval officers. This i s not surprising when we rememberthat the samu r a i const ituted before the Restoration not onlythe military, but also the student and l iterary class. Evennow the greater number of the students at the Un iversity arerecruited from among them

,and as a proof that a sort of

special respect is still entertained for them , they form themajority of the members of the Lower House, although theyonly possess one-twentieth of the voting power Of

_ the count ry.

The mass of the Japanese people may be described as caringvery l ittle about public affairs and i t is, after all, perhaps aswell that the political and admini strative affairs of such a new

country should be in the hands of a distinct and culturedclass . This is , however, merely a transitory state of affairs, not aprivilege. It i s a lready observed that the proportion of thefiez

'

mz'

u in all public offices,even in the army, tends to increase

rapidly.

The only marked feature of the former regime which stillsurvives the many social changes that have recently taken placein Japan i s the clan spirit, which is as strong to—day as ever.The bond which united the followers of a former feudal princeamong themselves still subsists

,although the prince himself

may have fallen almost to the level of his clansmen. The

men who have up to the present governed modern Japanhave always belonged to southern clans , especially to those ofChoshin and Satsuma the two others

,H izen and Tosa , ar e

less uni ted, and although certain important pol itical personages are of their number , they have had to fight their wayto the front rather by dint of hard work than through anyclan influence . The influential combination formed by thefir st-named clans, and uni tedly known as the Sat-Cho, holds in

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JA PAN

i ts hands the reins of administrat ion, rules the army, and makesits influence felt even more strongly in the navy . Their pol it ics

,

however, are not quite identical . Those of the Satsuma, forinstance, are usually believed to be rather more conservat iveand authoritative than otherwise, and i t i s from its ranks thatar e recruited the majority of the military party. The men ofthe Choshin, on the other hand , are more progressive and moresubtle

,but they are also accused of being too fond of money.

The chiefs of these clans appear to understand each othersufficiently well to establish a sort of balance of power betweenthemselves, occasionally collaborat ing in a Cabinet, at othertimes succeeding each other as distinct M inistries. In therank and file there i s considerable rivalry, posit ions and

honours being more liberally distributed among the followersof those in power. During the earl ier part of my visit to Japan,under the last Premier, Count Matsukata, the Satsuma clanwas in the ascendant, and to give some idea of its influenceall I need say i s that the M ini ster of Finance, the Presidentof the Council, the M inister of Foreign A ffairs

,the Home

M ini ster, and the M inister of War and Mar ine—in Short

,the

five most important M inisters out of eight—were of theirnumber , and a sixth was a prominent member of the Choshin

,

their all ied clan. Now the provinces of Yamag uchi and Kagoshima, which are the home of these two clans, contain onlyone out of the forty- two million inhabitants of the ent ireEmpire . It i s therefore not surpris ing that people in otherpart s of the country should complain of having so smal l a sharein the Government. Imagine France ruled exclusively forthirty years by Provengaux l It would only be natural that sucha state of affairs Should lead to great dissatisfaction throughoutthe Republic.

So long as Japan remained an absolute monarchy, in whichthe Legislature was concentrated within a narrow circle

,the

Choshin and Satsuma M inistries succeeded each other without any noisy opposit ion ; but when in 1 890 ParliamentaryGovernment was established, an immediate collision occurredbetween the Lower Chamber, which is composed of repr e

sentatives from all part s of the country,* and the Cabinet,

The Japanese Par liament is composed of two Chamber s—the House

Of Lords, or Peer s, to which belong ( 1) the Pr inces of the Blood(2 ) all the Pr inces and Mar quises (3) such r epr esentatives as a re

elected for seven year s by the Counts, Viscounts, and Barons

IS7

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

dominated by the Sat-Cho combination. A lthough accordingto the Constitution, analogous to that of Prussia, the M inistersare not responsible to the Chambers, but to the Emperor alone ,and although the Budget of the current year, i f the financebill is not voted in due time , becomes by law that of the following year also, the irreconcilable opposition which man ifesteditself from the beginning greatly embarrassed the first MatsukataMinistry in 1 89 1 and 1 8 92 , and the Ito M inistry which succeeded it. This latter

,whose plans for the extension of the

Navy were obstinately rejected by the Chamber, twice dissolvedit : in December, 1 8 93 , and again in May, 1 894 . A fter the warpatriotic feeling r an so high that people cared very little aboutthe Government and its measures, and projected laws wereadopted without the least opposition ; but when affairs beganto settle down it was otherwise . In 1 89 7 and 1898 there weretwo dissolutions

, and in the latter year the M in istry in powerwas the n inth s ince December, 188 5 , and the seventh since theestablishment of the Parl iamentary system . This gives an

average of about two years for each Cabinet, and even lessfor the Chamber, of which not one has yet attained its legalterm .

The reason for this persistent confl ict i s due in the first placeto the popular assembly being hostile to the Government ofthe clansmen, and in the second because it i s displeased thatthe M inisters are not responsible to it. Whi lst professing thegreatest respect for the Emperor, the Chamber considers thatthe Government should possess a Parl iamentary maj ority in

(4) member s who are nominated fo r life by the Emper or (100) (5 ) member selected , one for each depar tment, and selected from among the fifteen more

impor tant per sonages of the depar tment o ver thir ty year s of age The

Chamber of Depu ties is composed of 300 member s , one for everyinhabitants , and is elected by a ll Japanese subjects over twenty-five year sof age who have r esided in an elector al distr ic t for a term of twelvemon ths,and who pay 305 . dir ect taxes. To be elected, the candidate must be overthir ty year s of age and fu lfil the same cond itions as above. The heads of

noble families can neither be elector s nor elected to the Lower Chamber .In 1895 ther e were voter s ( 1 1 per inhabitants) , and in all

per sons (12 per paying more than 305 . d irec t taxes.

A mong the fir st class ther e wer e and among the second classslzz

'

zoku , or ancient samu r a i , fr om which fact we may take it for gr antedthat ther e are fewer r ich men among the ancient samu r ai than among ther est of the population. A s to the nobles, so-called kwazoku , at least a thirdof the heads of noble families pay less than 305 . The pr opor tion o f s/zz

’

zaku

among those having .the r ight of vote is less than 5 per cen t ._1 5 8

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

of Count Matsukata and his colleagues . On the evening ofthe same day the Marquis Ito , who had already twice beenPremier, in 1 886 -88 and in 1892

-

96 , and who is certainly thebest known l iving Japanese statesman, was summoned to thepalace. A t first he hesitated about accepting the leadershipof the Government under such very diffi cult circumstances,especial ly with respect to foreign affairs , Japan being at thatt ime at the acute stage of her Chinese question, while homematters were embarrassed by several economical and financialobstructions of a very seriou s character , but nevertheless, theMarquis finally accepted. A fter ten

'

days’ fru itless negotia

tions,he was obliged to give up his difficult task ; but he was

able, however, by the 1 2th of January to compose anotherCabinet containing some excellent names, but it was a clanM inistry, including four Choshius and two Satsumas . In Junehe was obliged to dissolve Parl iament, and the Ho Cabinethad to give way to another, formed under the Presidencyof Count Okuma, a statesman of very progressive views, whichmay be described as the only genuine Parl iamentary CabinetJapan has yet known. The new Cabinet was not composedfrom a single party , but by a coal ition of . the two alreadyexisting, and leagued against the clans. It lasted but a shorttime , and towards the end of 1 898 the Satsuma and Choshinparties returned to office under the Premiership of MarshalYamagata.

A s in the case of the clans, the parties are formed ofgroups of persons and interests. They have no defined programmes , but are constantly changing their views, and are merecliques surrounding one or two influential politicians whoaspire to replace the clan in offi ce merely for the sake of theadvantages to be obtained, and to be able to distribute postsamong their relat ives and friends . In the Parliament whichwas dissolved in 1 897 by Count Matsukata the most important of these groups was that of the ‘Progressives,

’in

cluding some 90 to 95 members out of 300 then came the‘ Liberal s, ’ with about 80 adherents ; then the ‘Nat ionalUn ionists, ’ 2 5 to 30 ; and, lastly, some twenty other subdivisions , besides the ‘ Independents.’ The Progressives are

more consistent, possibly because they have only been in existence since 1896 . The Liberals, although the oldest group , havealmost completely lost their influence and cohesion during thelast two or three years.

If you question a Japanese about the programmes of thesedifferent parties he will give very vague answers

, and, forthe matter of that, they are hardly distinguishable one fromanother. The demands presented by the Progressives to CountMatsukata in the autumn of 1 89 7 were formulated in thevaguest terms , and confined to general ities , such as reforms inthe admin istration , a magnanimous system of government

,etc .

The Nat ional Un ionists are somewhat conservative in theirtendencies, but their programme is also extremely nebulous .On one point , however, everybody seems agreed, and that i s ahorror of any attempt to increase taxat ion, and not even themost seductive of projects will induce the Chamber to budgean inch in this direction— an economical consistency which isa distinct virtue considering th‘

e .youth and inexperience of theJapanese House of Representa t ives.The influential poli ticians do not form a part of the Chamber ,

nearly all of them having been ennobled , and , what i s more,with one exception, they are not avowed chiefs of anyparty. If Count Itagaki , an old Radical , is the Official leaderof the Liberals, Count Okuma , by far the most original statesman in the Empire , does not profess to be the leader of theProgr essives, although he is extremely int imate with them.

Neither does Marshal Yamagata openly declare his influenceover the National Un ion ists . This action on the part of thosewho in any other country would be popularly known as leadersof the various part ies undoubtedly weaken s the influence of

the several groups in the Japanese Parliament . A s to the tepresentatives of the two clans in power in the House, needlessto say, the feeling of clanship carries all before i t

,even party

interests . Three Satsuma deputies who belong to the Progr essives immediately withdrew when this party in a preliminary meeting declared opposition to the Matsukata M in istry .

The men of the Southern clans have now governed Japanfor over thirty years , and governed her well . The able and

energetic statesmen of the fi rst days of the Restoration havebeen succeeded by others of equal abil ity, and of the sameschool. They are surrounded , however, by a bureaucracywhich existed in Japan even in the days of the last Shoguns,and closely resembles that of Prussia, which , although arrogant, i s highly educated and progressive . They are supported by a powerful and well-disciplined army, a navy whoseofficers ar e for the most part members of the same clans as the

1 6 1 M

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

M inisters, and the heads of the C ivi l Service. These menhave led their country happily through a series of unexampledchanges , transforming her from a feuda l to a modern Stateadministered on advanced principles . They have placed herin an excellent financial position , they have covered herwith mil itary glory, and have assured her a period of extraordinary prosperity and economic development. These oh

servations force themselves upon the impartial spectator whovisits Japan with the object of studying the remarkable progressshe has made in so surprisingly short a time.

It i s impossible not to feel some anxiety lest affairs shouldbe wrenched from the hands of such experienced statesmen as

those of the Satsuma and the Choshiu clans , only to bescrambled for among the groups into which the Chamber is atpresent divided. This , however, need not make us despai rof the success of Parl iamentary Government in Japan . Wemust not forget that the British Parliament was not shaped ina day, and that in all countries in which this particular form ofgovernment has been accepted many years have had to elapsebefore it attained anything approaching perfection, and i t i sbut natural that Japan should go through the same experience .

To be just , however, considerable progress has lately beenmade in the right direction . The parties which possessany kind of adhesion have occasionally participated more orless directly in the Government. Marquis Ito brought CountItagaki into the Cabinet of 1 8 95 , and at the end of his Min istrywas himself supported in the Chamber by the Liberals. Then ,

again,in 1 896 Count Matsukata came into power in company

with Count Okuma , favoured by the Progressives. Throughoutthe whole of the Session of 18 96

-

97 , thanks to their supportand to that of the secondar y groups, the Government possessed a decided majority which did honour to the politicalacumen of the M ini sters and to the wisdom of the members .Unfortunately, in the autumn of 1 897 the Progressives grewtired of a Cabinet which did not fulfi l its promises, and withdrew, carrying with them Count Okuma ; but this attemptshowed on the one hand that the Government had recogn isedthe importance of an understanding with a party, and on theother that such an understanding possessed some staying power.S ince the month of October, 1 8 98 , the Yamagata M in istry hashad to deal with a very reasonable Parliament , which has unhesitatingly passed those laws which were required to extricate

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CHA PTER IX

JA PA N'

S FOREIGN POLICY AND HER MILITA RY POWER

The military for ces of Japan—The par t they may play in the Far EastJapanese army and navy—Excellent qualities and sound instr uction of

the t r oops—Remar kable power of o rganiza tion displayed dur ing the

war with Ch ina—Impor tance of a Japanese alliance for the Power sinterested in China—The feeling of Japan towa rds for eign countr iesHer conser vative policy in China since the wa r Her po licy hostile toRussia and favour able to England—The Ko rean Question—Motives

which might lessen her feeling of hos tility towards Russia—Japan thechampion of the integr ity of the Celestial Empir e.

THE Japanese Parliament having voted the necessary funds forcarrying out the programme of military, naval and economicexpansion which was formulated by the Government after theChino-Japanese War , the Empire will have , as we have alreadyseen,

without mention ing new railways and other public works ,an army of men on a peace footing, instead of from

to 7 and will be able to send into the fieldmen instead of from to men . Her fleet willbe increased to 67 men-of-war , of tons

, 1 1 torpedoboat destroyers , and 1 1 5 torpedo-boats, instead of the 33 vesselsof 6 tonnage and 26 torpedo-boats she had before the warwith China.

It i s not expected that the completion of this programmeof defence will take place before 1 905 as regards the navy

,

and 1 903 with respect to the army. A s the matter stands,however

,more than half the work i s finished. Of the

voted to defray the expenses of the augmentat ion of the navy , which includes arsenals

,docks , etc .

, i t wasst ipulated that was to be disbursed beforeA pril I st, 1 899 , and more between that dateand A pril 1st, 1 900 . The lengthy opposition made by the

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JA PAN

Parliament with regard to the raising of taxes and foreign loanspossibly may have retarded the works a l ittle , especially thosewhich have been executed in Japan ; but the foreign ordershave been fulfilled , and the M ikado’s navy is now in possessionof nearly all the new vessels contracted for. The completion ofat least three out of the five arsenal s i s also far advanced . The

same may be said of the army. Of the demandedfor its increase, was spent before A pril , 1 896 , and

between that date and A pril , 1 900 . It may be wellto remind my readers that when everyth ing is completed thearmy will consist of twelve divisions instead of six , exclusiveof the Imperial Guard. Three of these new divis ions werecompleted when I was in Japan in 1 898 .

What constitutes the great importance of the Japanese factorin the Far East, and consequently throughout the world— thequestion of the Far East dominating all others— i s that hermilitary and maritime forces are on the spot . The Japanesenavy would be respectable under any circumstances , for i t i sequal to that of either Italy or Germany ; but i t should beremembered that the Western nations cannot leave their coastsand their colon ies unprotected, and consequently can onlysend a secondary portion of thei r marit ime force , otherwisescattered throughout the world

,into Chinese waters. It follows

therefore that no other European Power,excepting perhaps

England,could bring into these waters in case of war a fleet

in any way comparable with that of the M ikado .

*

What has been said of the naval power may be repeated withstil l greater emphasis of the military . It is needless to recallthe difficulties to be overcome in transporting , notwithstandingthe immense size of vessels now in use

,even a single army

corps to the Far East,the long and minute preparat ions

necessary for such an enterprise,or the perils that are l ikely to

be encountered, unless the sending Power is absolute mistressof the sea . Japan

,thanks to her rai lways and Inland Sea, can

now in a few days concentrate her whole army where no hostilevessel dare pursue i t

,in the island of Kiu-Siu, 1 25 miles from

the coast of Korea, barely 5 00 miles from the mouth of theYang-tsze-Kiang, a distance equall ing that between Marseillesand A lgiers

, and 6 25 miles from the Bay of Pe-chili, and

In normal times , befor e the exceptional augmentation of the eff ectiver esul ting fr om the events of 1898 , England had in the Far East onlytwenty-six vessels, and even now her fleet is still infer ior to that of Japan.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

940 miles from the entrance to the Pei-ho, the river whichflows to Peking . It could, therefore, in a few days after thedeclarat ion of war land in China and especially in Korea sucha force as no European Power, excepting Russia, once theTr ans~Siber ian l ine is finished, could introduce in so short atime.* Since her fleet can easi ly protect her own territory, sheneed keep only a part of her reserves at home.

We have already seen that in the struggle with China, Japan,with her naval and military forces, eas ily overcame that rathercontemptible enemy. It was evident that in this campaignthe Japanese displayed remarkable organ izing ability, and thatthe whole working of the delicate mach inery of transports,ambulances, commissariat, etc.

, was admirably managed. Thisi s a great point in their favour, especially when we rememberthat a similar compliment could not be paid to many a

European expedition sent out against enemies less redoubtablethan the Chinese. Even the English, after observing themanoeuvres of the Japanese squadron during the Chino-JapaneseWar , did not hesitate to praise their excellence ; and themilitary attaches who followed the Korean and Manchuriancampaign expressed themselves equal ly impressed by theJapanese army.

The courage of the Japanese cannot be questioned. Theyhave proved it in their long and bloody feudal wars, and, again,on ly twenty years ago , during the insu rrection in Satsuma. Theirpa triotism is equally sincere, for they ar e the only Orientalsamong whom this sent iment exists, and with them it easilyrises to fanaticism . The endurance of their troops is extraordinary. The subjects of the M ikado are unquestionably thebest pedestrians in the world ; and i t needs no strain on theimaginat ion to real ize what must be the excellence of theinfantry of a country whose peasantry use no cattle to drawtheir waggons , and who pass their winter months in makingpilgrimages to distant sanctuaries in their own and in neighbou r ing provinces .In Japan two men think nothing of dragging a j inrikisha

s ixty miles in twelve hours, taking only two for rest , and te

commencing their journey the next day quite fresh . A Japanesebattalion has been known to march twenty-five to thirty milesin a day, knapsack on back , without leaving any stragglers

A t the pr esen t time the Russian troops in Manchur ia and the Lower

Amur do not exceed men.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

preventing this,displayed considerable acumen, for her so doing

might in the long- r un have proved dangerous. Nex t to beingable to reform China herself, Japan would like her to undertakeher own reformat ion, and place herself in a position to maintain her autonomy, so as not to fall a prey to the EuropeanPowers .The M inisters of the M ikado are very naturally somewhat

alarmed at the thought that their country may soon be the on lyone in the whole world inhabited by a non-European racethat mainta ins its independence , and they cannot forbear askingthemselves how long this independence may be allowed tolast, all the more so since Japan i s in immediate contact with,numerically speaking, the most powerful State in the world , thecolossal Russian Empire, which borders upon China. M ightnot Japan under these circumstances be constantly menacedby so formidable a neighbour ? Doubtless she would be ableto resist an invasion ,

but at a terrific sacr ifice— for to conquerJapan i t would be necessary to exterminate many mill ions ofJapanese . In any case Japan

’s foreign influence would be,

at

an end , especially in Korea, which she has several times conquered , and upon which she still cherishes pretensions thatdate over years . Even from the purely economic sideshe would suffer greatly ; for her principal commercial outlet ,China, might be closed to her for good .

These are the principal reasons which obl ige the Japaneseto remain the devoted friends of the Chinese Empire, and at

the same time the adversaries of Russ ia, who, they believe,wishes to absorb China, and thereby dominate, if not thewhole, at least the north

,of the A siat ic Continent, and which

compel them to throw in their lot with England. This latterPower does not aim at the political annexation of China sheonly wishes to obtain additional facilities for her commerce andconcessions for public works, and has therefore no intentionwhatever of surrounding the Celestial Empire by a formidablering

'

of Custom-houses . Undoubtedly Japan has had goodreason to seek an all iance with England, and we need not besurprised at her distrust of Russia, which , having deprived her ofthe fruits of her continental conquests in 1 895 , three years laterannexed them herself. A s to England, her interest in obtain ingthe co-operation of Japan i s so self-evident as only to needa passing allusion. Through her friendship with Japan shecould obtain what she wants , not only in the Far East , but

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JA PAN

elsewhere , a large and well-organ i zed army that, owing to an

unquestionable supremacy on the sea, the re’sult of the com

binat ion of two formidable fleets , could be easily and safelytransported to the neighbouring cont inen t.May there not

,however , be certain other reasons which

might eventually induce not so much Great Britain to breakoff her Japanese all iance as Japan to sever her side of thecompact and ultimately extend her hand to Russia ? Therei s ground for the belief that such a proposition does exist

,since

there ar e Russophiles at Tokio and Japanophiles at St. Petersburg. Is it not , moreover, rather imprudent to oppose theprogress the Tsar’s Empire i s making on the continent ?It is , after all

,an irresistible force resulting from the very

nature of things , and therefore i t were perchance wiser to berather with Russia than against her. Then

,again

,i t Should

be remembered that Russia displayed her goodwill towardsJapan by leaving her a free hand in Korea

,not, however, unti l

after she had seized Port A rthur. True,the situat ion created

in Korea by the compact of A pril, 1 898 , was precarious ; andpossibly , when once her position in the Far East i s con

solidated by the completion of the Trans -Siberian line,the

Tsar ’ s Government may rescind the concession which it hassigned and occupy the pen insula. But even i f we admit thatthis cont ingency i s a possible one—and i t i s by no meansabsolutely certain that Russia does entertain any such project— Japan may still hope for compensation elsewhere inthe centre or south of China round ‘ the province of Fu -kien ,where she has already made her influence felt , as al so at

Borneo . Russia might also give certain tariff guarantees, andmight i t not be to her in terest, less urgently, perhaps, than inthe case of England, to secure the co -Operation of Japan in

case of confl ict ? A nd,

finally, i s Great Br itain a very safeally ? May she not be simply using Japan for her own ends,thrusting her forward only perhaps to abandon her when sheis committed ? Wil l she lend assistance to a commercialrival ?These are arguments which are not without their influence

at Tokio, where the difficulty of Opposing a solid and durablebarrier against the encroachments of Russia on the continenti s fully appreciated, and where there certainly exists a feeling ofdistrust, not only of the English, but of all other Europeans .Polit ical and military interference in continental affairs has

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

never resulted otherwise than in weakening an insular power,and much as the subjects of the M ikado may desire Korea , i tshould not be forgotten that, however great Japan

’ s interestsmay be in that direction , she may easily renounce her pretensions ou ter r a fir ma i f she were offered some material andtangible compensation elsewhere. It has been said that Japanhad cast a longing eye on the Phil ippines , and certain signsled many to think that at one t ime she had played with therebels in those i slands much the same part enacted by theUn ited States in Cuba ; but now A merica has seized uponthese i slands

, and has also annexed Hawa i i , another spotcoveted by Japan. Unfortunately, Japan has come too lateinto the world to possess colonies , and must therefore contentherself with the solitary Formosa, which , however , i s a possession by no means to be despised.

Still, even now, Japan does not lose all hope of eventuallyobtaining a footing upon the continent ; but , providing thatothers do not handle China too roughly, she has no intentionof interfering with her neighbour , certainly not to menace herintegrity. She wishes only to consolidate her by augment ingat the same time her own influence, and would not interveneeven i f she thought the Celestial Empire were in danger. Fromthe point of view of international politics , Japan i s certainly aconservat ive element ; but in the day of struggle , should itever oocur , she is destined to weigh very heavily in the scale,not only in the solut ion of the question of the Far East, butalso in the problem which rises behind it— that of supremacyin the Pacific, which will one day be fought out, not betweenthe Whale and the Elephant , but between the E lephants of theOld and the NewWorlds— that is to say, between Russia and

the Un ited States . But whatever may be the events which willeventually transpire, Japan apparently does not wish to pr ecipitate a struggle , provided only that the maintenance of the statusquo i s not threatened by others.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

least Slav of any of the Slavs, being in real ity for the most partFinns who have submitted to Slav influences. The Finns are

related to the Mongols , and Muscovy, moreover, was underthe Tatar yoke for three centuries , a dominion which has lefta very profound impression on the race. Peter the Great’senterprise was therefore not an easy one. The principalobjection

,however , which can be brought against the example

of Russia is that her evolution was never completed,and did

not influence the lower strata of society sufficiently for it tobecome completely Europeanized . Hungary offers a betterfield of investigation in this direction

,for the peoples who

originally invaded her were distinctly Oriental, but now thiscountry has become absolutely European, the result probablyof an intimate connection between its inhabitants and theirneighbours . Bu t beyond these facts , there is one point whichwe should not overlook . Our own civilization i s not themonopoly of one race , but was constructed by the concurrenceof many people. It results directly from Roman and Greekcivilization, and through these from Phoen ician and Egyptian .

The Egyptians, needless to say, were a branch of the Hamites,

the most degraded white race of our time the Phoen icians, on

the other hand, were Semites, and i t was another Semiticrace, the A rab, that during the M iddle A ges held the lightof civilization

,and transmitted to us the inheritance of

antiquity , after having widely extended its scientific uses . The

whole history of our civilization , therefore, protests against itshaving ever been at any t ime monopolized by the A ryanbranch of the white race .

Modern ethnography, based upon recent linguistic and

anthropological discoveries, has shaken to its foundations thosenotions concerning the white races which were universallyaccepted in bygone t imes . We no longer hold that i t was fromthe high plateau of A sia that swept those tribes who eventuallypeopled Europe, but that they radiated from the centre ofEurope herself. Far from forming the maj ority of the inhabitants of the Continent , the A ryans, if that term still preservesits mean ing, are but one of its elements . They have mingledeverywhere in variable quantities among the diff erent hordes ofFinnish and other races who have overrun our continent.The varied formation of the skulls which has been observedamong the di fferent inhabitants of a single country corresponds with the predominance of one or other of these original

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JA PA N

elements,with the result that the un ity of race which has

hitherto been imagined to exist among all Western peoples isnow proved to be chimerical .Whatever truth these theories may contain, they are never

theless subject to frequent modification, but it seems impossible with the present facts to sustain apr ior i that one racecannot assimilate the civilization of another. No doubt theJapanese differ more completely from the Europeans of theWest than do the Russians , or even the A rabs, or than theythemselves do from the Chinese ; but once the unity of thehuman race i s admitted , this becomes a mere question of degreeof parentage. Must we, therefore, draw a line of degreebetween peoples beyond which the transmission of the civilization of the one cannot penetrate to the other, even as theFrench law fixes a l imit to the transmission of inheritance ?Nothing short of experience can solve the question . For thematter of that, the phenomenon i s constantly taking place beforeour eyes

, and i f there be a people who might attempt it withhope of success, it i s surely the Japanese, who to exceptionalintell igence and remarkable powers of ass imilation add a greatspirit of enterprise and an uncommon energy .

Japan cannot be compared for a momen t with China ; for ,much younger than her Celestial neighbour— since she te

ceived her civilizat ion at her hands at a period contemporarywith the fall of the Roman Empire, when the annal s of Chinareached as far back into the n ight of time as those of Egyptshe has not had time to fossilize herself in sterile admiration 01

the past, and she has never adopted that mandarinate whichChina considers one of her chief glor ies, but which is in realityslowly ruining her. A bove all

,l ike Europe in the Middle

A ges, she has submitted to the virile influences of the feudalsystem

, and, therefore, there i s no reason a pr ior i why sheshould not succeed in her enterprise. Whether or no Japanwishes to convert herself on every point into an absolutelyEuropeanized nation

, and a Western European nation at that,is another question which demands close attention . Possiblyit i s an exaggeration to say that the promoters of the remarkable series of reforms which have lately been effected in Japanhad ever an eye to so complete a tran sformation. The firstreform which engrossed their attention was undoubtedly toplace their country, which had so suddenly broken through herancient t radition of isolat ion , on a military, naval, and an

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

economical basis, that would enable her to treat as an equalwith any of the other nations of the world . The Japanese ar ethe only Oriental people who have understood the conditionsnecessary to attain th is aim. Japan discerned that by accepting a military and economic position equal to that of anyEuropean country , she was also obliged to undergo immensechanges in every department of her national existence, and sheunflinchingly faced her new posit ion , resolved to accomplishevery sort of transformation in order to place herself on a firmfooting.

It seems to me that Japan has solved the difficult questionas to which were the changes she ought to undergo. The factthat she has accepted the entire programme of Europeancivi lization, barring a few domestic usages, certain traditions offamily existence and religion, speaks for itself. The religiousquestion i s one of the most interesting and curious phases ofJapanese experience . Until the present day history has alwaysdemonstrated that the first act of a people which desired tomodel itself upon anotherwas to adopt its religion , and in Japanitself years ago Buddhism paved the way for the adventof Chinese civilizat ion. In the sixteenth century, at a timewhen she was first brought into contact with Europeans, Christianity played an important part, and soon made manyproselytes . To day it i s otherwise. The M ikado , it is true,does not prevent his subjects from embracing Christianity, buthe does not encourage them to do so. Most probably this isthe result of the fact that religion is no longer the foremostfactor in Western civil ization

,and is somewhat veiled by im

portant scientific discoveries and material improvements, and,whether rightly or wrongly, there can be no question that thespiri t of the century pretends to solve political and socialproblems outside of the sphere of religion.

The Japanese have evidently arrived at the conclusion thati t was unnecessary to efl

’

ect a transformation in an order ofideas which the Europeans themselves apparently consideraccessory . If one day they find that they have made a mistake, it probably will not take them long to change their minds ;but for the present they have preferred to rally round thepopular idea, neutral ity of the State in matters of religion and

freedom of conscience to all, and this allows them to retainBuddhism and Shintoism as the religion of the immensemajority of the people.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

or anything to maintain the Japanese peasantry in the sameposit ion of inferiority as the Russian muj ik , and the mass ofthe nation unhesitatingly follows the lead of its chiefs .Refined by from twelve to fifteen centuries of civil ization ,

the subjects of the M ikado are much better educated than werethose of Peter the Great, and therefore can march with fargreater assurance on the road to progress . While the smallness of the country and the densi ty of its population, con

centrated for the most part on the coast-l ine, are l ikewise

aids to the rapid penetrat ion of new ideas , still further assistedby a well-organ ized system of primary instruction and a militaryservice

,it i s

,however, rather from the material point of view

that the change has been most striking and rapid.

Without return ing to the matter of the extraordinary rapidityof the increase of industry, there is one subject connected withit which I cannot forbear dwelling upon, and that i s the ex

cessive ability with which the Japanese have succeeded in

organizing certain public services introduced from the West insuch a manner as to place them within the reach of even thepoorest . In many European colonies the high tariff of therai l and postal services deters the nat ives from using them ; butin Japan it is otherwise. There you pay on the rai lway slid . a

mile first class , 15d. second, and id . third, which latter is used bythe majority of the people, and the total returns for milesof Japanese rail, notwithstanding these low rates , reached in1 895 (of which were paid by travellers) ,as against for expenses , the profits being 1

or about 1 0 per cent. upon the outlay capital , which wasThe post i s also extremely cheap in Japan,

9d . being charged for letters and i d . for post—cards . In

1 896-

9 7 objects passed through the post-office, ofwhich were post~cards, letters

, and

newspapers . The preponderating number of postcards, which surpasses that of letters, i s strikingly in contradistinction to what one observes in every other country, and isa proof of the economical habits of the people and of theirappreciation of this cheap method of correspondence. The

enthusiasm with which the population profits by all the innovations introduced from the West is a convincing proof of thevery slight resistance which the implanting of our civilization receives . Yet another. favourable sign i s the exceptionalnumber of students in the new universities and public schools

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of all descr iptions . Pract ical science , law, and medicine attractthe maj ority of the students, and already many of them haveatta ined marked success in thei r several careers . A s an example ,I may mention that i t was a Japanese who discovered themicrobe of the bubonic plague. The Japanese are sometimes

,

and possibly with some truth, accused of lacking the inventivefaculty but those peoples who ar e from many points of viewat the head of civilizat ion at the present day, the Englishand the A mericans , are not those among whom the power ofinvention is exceptionally prominent. It i s in France or inGermany that the principles of nearly all modern discoverieshave been found, but it i s in England and the United Statesthat thei r appl icat ion has been perfected . No one, however ,can refuse the Japanese this latter gift, and they unquestionablypossess an almost excessive faculty of attention to minutedetai l . Possibly they have not so far materially assisted in

advancing science, and surely it i s somewhat premature to

pronounce judgment on this subject ; but with good techn icalteachers—and everything points that they will have themthey can certainly soon acclimat ize European civil ization in

their country , precisely as they did in days of old that of China,but only on the condition that they keep themselves well intouch with Europe.

Their principal danger, however , seems to me to consis t intheir attempting to isolate themselves too much , and to believethat they have learnt everything that can be taught them , and

consequently have no further use for their masters. Perhaps ,too

, in certain cases they have got rid only too quickly of theservices of foreign functionaries and councillors. Throughout thewhole of the eighteenth century Russia

, 5 0 to speak , modelledherself on the German plan, and Japan would al so do well notto forget too hastily the advice of Western teachers. A lreadya certain amount of negl igence is noticeable in the post-officeand on the railways , whose systems are occasionally dislocated bymany irregularities and also by a certain carelessness , usuallyattributed to excess of work or to the breakdown of machinery,but which is more probably due to the inexperience of thepubl ic servants of the entire hierarchy. The fact is , Japandoes not at present value the most characteristic feature ofmodern civil izat ion— punctual ity ; but , to be just , when weconsider the indolent habits of A siatics in general, we shouldnot be surprised at th is , rather the contrary . It would

,how

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ever, be well for the Japanese , until they have got thoroughlytrained to an appreciation of the value of time, to reta inofficials who will remind them of its importance.

It may also be added that in the commercial developmentconsiderable inexperience and too great zeal in every branch ,industrial

,financial , and commercial , has been displayed : in

the over-rapid increase , for instance, of banks and companiesof all kinds , in the mismanagement of new societies , and inthe abuse that has frequently been made of credit. A ll thesethings are new to Japan , and they have occasionally not beentreated as they should have been. We have bestowed somuch praise on the economical development of the countrythat we may surely be allowed to observe that much has beendone too quickly . But this has been the case in all new

countries , in the two A mericas, as well as in A ustral ia, andone must not therefore be too severe on Japan in this respect,but also not surprised if it occasionally results in the paralysisof business and even in an occasional crisi s . A s often occurs ,a rise in salaries accompanied industrial expansion

, and provedvery inconven ient to export industries, all the more so as theseare for the most part mainly nominal, and prices rose almostimmediately. During the last two years an inverse movementhas taken place, and we must do the Japanese the justice tosay that when they saw the danger they displayed considerablesagacity, and both the Government and the public expressed a

wish to l imit their des ire for expansion. If there were seriouseconomic d ifli culties in Japan in 1 897

-

98 , they seem now tohave passed away ; they were but the result of over-activity, andthe presen t outlook in the Mikado ’s domin ion, although not

as brill iant as i t was immediately after the war , i s once morenormal .The transitory troubles of the Empire of the Rising Sun will

not, in our Opin ion, become very grave if the Japanese thoroughlyunderstand that i t i s to their interest rather to increase theircontact with foreigners than to l imit it. S ince 1 88 9 there hasexisted in Japan a reactionary movement against strangers ,which apparently reached its culminating po int in 1 8 96 , and

now seems gradually d imin ishing. It i s sincerely IO be hopedthat this feeling of suspicion will absolutely disappear. One

of the numerous reason s which contributed to raise a certainhostil ity against Europeans was thei r atti tude with respectto the renewal of the treaties . This important question

,which

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The new treat ies accepted the Japanese desideratum r e

specting the suppression of consular tribunals and Europeanmunicipal it ies, but foreigners were, in their turn, to renounceproprietary rights. The Engl ish treaty thus summarizes theprincipal concessions granted :

‘A ll members of the prin

c ipal contracting parties may carry on any wholesale or reta i lbusiness , in any sort of product, manufactures and merchandise,personally or by their representatives, individually or through anassociation, either with other foreigners or with natives ; andthey shal l have the right to possess, let or occupy houses,shops

,manufactories and other premises as they deem neces

sary, or to hire lands, to l ive therein, or to engage therein inbusiness, by conforming themselves to the laws, and the policeand Custom-house regulations of the country

,as i f they were

natives thereof. ’ This gave rise to considerable controversy.

It; confirmed the right of foreigners to possess , let or occupyhouses and divers places of business, but on the other hand , i tonly allowed them to rent land , which according to Japaneselaw can only be hired on short leases of between thirty andfifty years, as the case may be, which i s, of course, a greathindrance to the installat ion of any important industry.

This apparent contradiction formed the subject of an agitatedcontroversy carried on by the English papers printed at thevarious ports, which pointed out with rather thoughtlessacrimony that the new treaty was only intended as a blind todeprive foreigners of their extra- territorial l iberties . Theyforgot that outside of property and of the leasehold system theJapanese code contains another method of tenure, calledSurface Right, ’ whereby the purchaser of a piece of land hasthe right to everything that is on the surface thereof (exceptingthe crops) , that i s , to plant or cut down trees and to buildthereon . One can purchase the surface of the land in accordance with Japanese law for as long a period of time as one

l ikes, a thousand years even , either on payment by instalments

or complete purchase. For any enterpri se which is not purelyagricultural this purchase is equ ivalen t to absolute possessionof the land.

Foreigners can thus establish industries in Japan , and i t i stherefore to the interests of the Japanese to encourage them soto do . Private individuals , as well as the Government, oughtto do everything they can to attract foreign capital, but thiscan only be done in the case of industrial en terprises by allow

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ing foreigners to take the direction of affairs. I have beenasked whether it i s not possible to induce foreign capitalists tolend their money on sharing terms to Japanese companies as

they do to the A merican railways , without taking any part inthe direction, but I am afraid this i s a hope the Japanesewould do well not to entertain. Whether it be through prejudice or otherwise, i t i s quite certain that Europeans will do‘

nothing of the sort, and the Japanese seem to be aware of thefact

, and several railway companies have modified their statutesin order to admit a clause whereby foreigners can becomeShareholders ; but as the Japanese possess all the land over whichthe lines r un as well as . the stations, I do not think that thisproposition can be legal . It i s

,therefore , to be regretted that

public Opinion has not insisted upon a concession of the rightof proprietorship being bestowed upon foreigners.It is, however, not improbable that before long the Legi sla

ture may get over thi s difficulty by deciding that in companiescons tituted according to Japanese laws , and registered in

Japan,the members

,though they be foreigners , become thereby

Japanese citizens , and can al so be absolute land-owners. How

ever,on all points the Japanese Government, supported by Par

liament and public Opinion , has taken the necessary precautionsto apply the new treat ies in the most l iberal manner possible.

If there have been some unfavourable verdicts pronouncedin the Japanese tribunal s in the short time they have been inexistence, these have general ly been revised on appeal . The

greater experience gained by contact between the Japanese andEuropeans

,and the wish to see foreign capital collaborating in

the development of the resources of the country , will doubtlesssuggest , l ittle by little, new measures calculated to smoothdown any feel ing of irritat ion between the native and theforeign populat ion . If there still exists a feeling of hatredof the foreigner among individual fanatics , a certain ill -willin the lower and more ignorant class of the people, some abuseof authority among inferior officials, the Government of theM ikado is too sagac ious to al low any flagrant cause of annoyance to disturb European residents

,which would soon

be resented by their respective Governments and m ight evenlead to the scattering of the fru its of thirty years’ progressiveeffort .Japan has already done much , but especially because she

has done so much in so short a time, and because the immense1 8 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

maj ority of her inhabitants had no idea thi rty years ago ofEuropean affairs, and therefore have no means of comparison ,

they are apt to exaggerate their progress, however marvellous itmay be, and consequently they are not in a position to noticethat certa in European importations come to them slightlydeteriorated . Foreigners act the part of critics , and even i ftheir criticism is sometimes severe, i t is nevertheless useful.The functionaries and the young men who are sent on foreignmissions also fulfi l the same critical office, and this i s anadditional reason why the Government is so wise in maintainingthese missions. Unless , indeed, from time to time the new

civi lizat ion which has been imported in Japan i s refreshed at

its primary source , i t will soon r un a risk of losing strength ,and , for the matter of that, any people, even European ,

thatisolated itsel f too much and became absorbed in self-admiration,would inevitably deteriorate . It is not belittling the extraordinary progress so rapidly accomplished by the Empire of theRi sing Sun to say that i t can only be perfected if the peopleof that wonderful country remain in contact with the ihhabitants of Europe and A merica.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

even a feeble return to health ; in a word, they only seek toprolong his existence . If the preservation of peace in Europehas i ts share in this attitude, the wish not to be disturbed inthe work which she pursues in China has also its share in theposition which Russ ia and more than one:other Power haveassumed with regard to the Chinese Empire .

The fact is , the nations have promised themselves a bootyin the M iddle Kingdomas precious as i t i s easy to obtain.

China from this point of view is worth a great deal more thanTurkey

,or even A frica, which Europe has so eagerly sought to

divide. A lthough less extensive than the Dark Cont inent ,China i s much more thickly peopled, and the climate is lessunhealthy, access easier, the rivers more navigable, and thesoil far more fertile. The patien t and laborious Chinese willeventual ly facil itate the exploitation of the wealth of their vastterritory, which is more than can ever be expected from thebarbarous, ignorant and indolent peoples of A frica.

The resources of China are greater than those of A frica ,and many of them are st ill absolutely undeveloped . The

Chinese ‘ peasants,moreover , ar e among the best agriculturists

in the world . A s evidence of this assertion,it should be remem

bered that, by the perfection of their method of cultivat ion ,

they extract from the soil of their plains sufficient to enabletheir rural population to multiply in a manner unknown in theWestern world . Certain provinces in the Valley of the Yangtsze-Kiang— Shan-tung, Hu-

pe, Kiang-su , and others —in spiteof their being purely agricultural, ar e as densely peopled as

Belgium , and we may further Observe that, as i s the casethroughout the Far East, wherever rice dominates , the mounta inregions are almost uninhabited. If the soil i s admirably cultivated, the subsoil , on the other hand , i s absolutely neglected

,

and on ly an insign ificant quantity of coal is extracted from theimmense coal~beds which cover over square miles on

the banks of the Yellow River, in the plain s of Hu-nan, and

under the terraces of Shan- s i , which , together with those equallyimportant in the basin of Shan- tung

,were so highly extolled

by the celebrated traveller R ichthof'

en . The coal- beds inCentral China appear to be even more extensive , and the carboniferou s basin of Sze-chuan , where there i s also petroleum ,

covers an area equal to half France . The coal-beds ofHu -nan are also very cons iderable , and mineral s ar e equallyabundant. The copper-mines o f Yunnan are so rich as to have

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proved one of the chief inducements tha t attracted the Frenchto Tongking. M ines of precious ore

'

are known to existin many other places, but, notwithstanding their very ancientCivilization ,

the Chinese have scarcely touched the wealthbeneath their feet . In this respect they have proved themselves inferior to the classical nations of antiquity, and haveleft their riches to be garnered by foreigners .We can form some idea of the development of which China

i s susceptible by considering the example of two other A siaticnations placed in much the same conditions—Briti sh India and

Japan . India, with all her dependencies, i s about a s ixthlarger than China proper, but contains only about threequarters of the number of her inhabitants ; yet although hersubsoil i s much less rich and her population far more indolentthan the Chinese , she carries on double the trade with Europethat the Chinese Empire does. Japan , nine times smaller andn ine t imes less peopled than China , but reformed by an

enl ightened Government and by the introduction of Europeanmethods , has seen her commerce rise in thirty years from£ 5 ,ooo ,ooo to more than three-quarters higherthan that of her enormous but stat ionary neighbour.Unfortunately, an imbecile Government, as corrupt as it is

absurdly exclusive, impedes the progress of China with far

greater obstinacy than do the prejudices of her people. So

long as the illusion lasted as to the power of this unwieldyEmpire

,no one ventured to tear from it by force what i t was

imagined could be obtained by persuasion, and the nationsresigned themselves to permit the immense resources of theinterior to remain untouched, contenting themselves merelywith the opening of a few ports to commerce. Bu t in 1 894the brilliant victories of the Japanese revealed to an astonishedworld the weakness of the colossus , i ts corruption , and utterincapacity to regenerate itself ; hence the reason why theChino - Japanese War may be rightly cons idered one of thegreatest events in contemporary history . From it dates thechange in the attitude of the foreign Powers towards theCelestial Empire . They now command where formerly theybegged, and have mustered up courage to force the Son ofHeaven to put a price on the treasures of his Empire, or elseto allow them to do so in his stead . If they have not alreadydivided up his territory, they mortgage portions of his provinces,and obtain min ing, railway, and all sorts of other concessions.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

In the eyes of the Powers China i s no longer a country to becounted with as a probable ally , but merely one which theymay one day reduce to vassalage.

In 1 895 , after the conclusion of the war , Russia inauguratedthe new policy with respect to China. She was at that timethe only European nation that seemed to have any ideaof the weakness of China , and was already preparing, bythe construction of the Trans-S iberian Ra ilway, to play an

important part in the Far East. Germany , France , and

England in 1 897 obtained the ‘ leases ’ of various strategicalpoints on the coast and the recognition of what they werepleased to cal l spheres of influence.

’

Russia now returned tothe game, and Japan also took a part in the struggle. Fromthe middle of 1 898 a lul l has occurred , which recent events,however

,have disturbed and proved that the Far Eastern

problem is far from settled . It would certainly have surprisedmen who were l iving at the beginning of this dying century i fthey had been told that it would close before the Grand Turkwas driven out of Europe , and yet the destinies of EasternA sia are even now far from being determined. The problemswhich rise round the future of the Celestial Empire are neitherless grave nor less complicated now than they ever were.

A lthough Ch ina i s infinitely less heterogeneous than Turkey,

she runs the same dangers from internal disturbance for sheis governed by a foreign dynasty and honeycombed by secretsocieties . The Central Government is feeble and withoutcohesion. On the other hand, the rivalry which exists betweenthe European Powers, to whom should be added the UnitedStates and Japan, i s not less active in the East than it i s inthe West of A sia. The only, but stil l enormous, result whichhas been more or less defin itely obtained consequent upon theevents of the last five years— the end of the isolat ion fromEurope in which China has hitherto existed, and her beingbrought for the first t ime since the beginning of her historyinto contact with a civilization which has developed quite independently of her own—creates a s ituation of the intensestinterest. If the lack of military qual ities among the Chineseand the insufficiency in numbers of the Japanese renders theYellow Peril

,comparatively speaking, l i ttle to be feared from

the war side of the question, many people, and among themthe most enterprising representatives of European civi lization ,

the A mericans and A ustral ians , are greatly exercised over the1 86

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CHA PTER II

THE CA PITA L OF CHINA

The coasts of Pe-chi-li and themouth of the Pei-ho—Ta-ku and Tien-tsin

Fr om Tien-tsin to Pek ing by r ail—Pek ing : the Forbidden, Imper ial,Tatar and Chinese cit ies the walls, st r eets, houses, shops and monuments—Beha v iou r of the na tives towards for eigner s

—Decadence o f

the capital and of the whole Empire.

IF one enters China from Eastern Siberia by the Gulf ofPe-chi- l i after a long voyage round the Korean Pen insula

,

the first impression of the Celestial Empire is distinctly un

attractive. The contrast between the shallow waters wherethe vessel casts anchor, some miles distant from the mouthof the Pei-ho, and the noble port of Vladivostok , or theenchanting Bay of Nagasaki, with its verdant shores and

blue waters, enl ivened by the picturesque sails of the fishingjunks, i s, to say the least, extremely depressing.

Nearly all the ports of the Celestial Empire are thus formed,and can only be entered during a few hours of the day. Eventhe mouth of the great Blue R iver i s encumbered with shoals,and it s famous rival

,the Yellow R iver

,in its lower basin,

i s divided up into such a multitude of channels that meanderthrough the marshy lands as to interrupt all direct navigationfrom the sea. The Gulf of Pe-chi- l i , which may be describedas the por t of Peking, although situated closer to the Equatorthan the Bay of Naples, or the mouth of the Tagus, seems ,with its choked-up estuaries , i ts storm-beaten Shores, its fogsand icy coat in winter, thoroughly typical of China and hertraditional inhospital ity, and her eagerness rather to repulsethan to invite the stranger within her gates. From theanchorage outside the bar i t is diffi cult to discern the lowlying coast ; and the fi rst objects to attract attention are mudforts

,mud houses in mud villages , and mud heaps marking the

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graves in the cemeteries . This uninvit ing place is Ta—ku ,beyond which

,a l ittle higher up

,at Tang-ku , the Pei-ho

ceases to be navigable for vessels of any tonnage. On landing,a surprise awaits you—the rai lway. Commenced by Li HungChang , for the purpose of transporting the coal from hismines at Kaiping, a few miles to the north-east, brancheshave been added , and since the summer of 1 897 i t takesthe traveller to Peking via Tien-ts in. A n hour and a hal fafter leaving Tang-kn

,I alighted at the former town amid a

mob of noisy coolies , who pounced upon me and my luggage.

We crossed the Pei-ho in a sampang instead of the ordinaryferry-boat which conveys the Celestials, packed together l ikesardines in a box

, and stuck, apparently immovably,in the

most extraordinary postures. From the landing-place, we weretrotted in a j inrikisha drawn by a Chinaman through the Ruede France, up Victoria Road to the A stor House, an A mericanhotel kept by a German ; opposite i t i s a garden, over whicha white flag with a crimson circle in i ts centre , the emblemof the R ising Sun, announces that the garden and the housebelong to the Japanese Consul. Thus was I fi rst initiated tothe cosmopolitan ism of a foreign concession in the Far East.Tien-tsin i s the biggest open port in North China and the

third in rank in point of activity and commerce in the wholeCelestial Empire. It i s, moreover , an immense Chinese cityof nearly a million inhabitants , but its European concession i sver y inferior to that of Shanghai , and as a native city it i sof l ittle interest in comparison with Peking, Canton and manyother towns . It i s from here that travellers used, in formertimes

,to begin the disagreeable journey to the capital, either

on horseback or by junk up the Pei-ho. The river routewas usually performed partly by sai l and partly by oar , butoccasionally the boat had to be towed by men . The j unkstook two or three days to ascend the sinuous course of theriver. Sometimes, however, when the wind was to the north,and the shoal s numerous, the journey occupied from four tofive days before Peking was reached . Now the dai ly express,which speeds along at the rate of twenty miles an hour, takesthree hours and fifty-three minutes to cover the ground whichseparates T ien - ts in from the station at Peking .

The country through which it passes is very flat, and i t isonly just before arr iving at i ts terminus that the blue outlineof some rather high hills come into sight towards the north

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east. In the month of September, when the rains are overand are replaced by a drought that lasts unt il the end ofwinter, the environs of Tien-tsin, including the cemetery, areent irely under water , and as we looked from the train window

,

we could see a coffin floating about,and another like gruesome

object stuck on the embankment of the line, which led us toreflect that, though the Chinese make such a fuss over theirancestors

,they apparently care very little for thei r graves . The

inundation at first stretched as far as the eye could see .

Presently the land began to peep out . If you expect to findthe soil from which the waters have just retired uncultivated

,

i t will only be an evident proof that you know very l ittleabout the indefatigable industry of the Chinese agriculturist,and the great care and skill which he brings to his task . A ll

that emerges has already been carefully sown, even down tothe very brink of the water , and at a few steps from thelimits of the inundation, the future harvest which has sprangup under the hot September sun from the moist but richsoil begins to make its appearance . The mud villages nowsucceed each other rapidly, and presently the traveller reachesan admirably cultivated count ry where not an inch of soil i swasted , and where the wheat and sorghum fields are alternatedby kitchen gardens and orchards.The temporary station at Peking, built of planks and

galvan ized iron, stands in the midst of this landscape . Verylittle i s to be seen of the high walls of the city, which are

almost entirely hidden by trees, and by a slight ris ing in theland. Nothing indicates that the gates of the capital of theoldest Empire in the world ar e so near. In order to traversethe mile which separates the station from the entrance toPeking , i t is necessary to exchange the most highly perfectedof human conveyance for the most barbaric. The Chinesear e unwilling that the stranger should dispense, in order toenter their most holy capital, with a thorough jolting in theirnational carriage , unto which the S iberian tarantass may becompared as the most luxurious of vehicles . Two enormouswheels , covered with iron and garnished with a triple rowof nails

,support this shapeless waggon , which is protected by

a blue awning, and i s dragged along by two mules harnessedone in front of the other. Whilst the driver sits in frontunder the awning, the hapless traveller has to accommodatehimself on the floor

,with his legs stretched out in front of him .

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

i s filled up with earth , and the summit, covered with flagstones,forms a walk bordered by embattled stone parapets. Bastionsproject outwards , and huge pavil ions built of brick

,pierced

with many balastrar ia , and coated with highly varn ishedcoloured tiles

,ornament i ts four corners and gates. It rises

only 99 feet above the ground, beyond which height i t i snever allowed to build , lest the fl ight of the good spirits mightbe inconven ienced thereby. This magnificent rampart , whichto the north-east and to the west rises abruptly from the midstof the country

,Peking having no suburbs , presents a most im

posing aspect and i t i s not less impressive when beheld fromany one of the half-moons , which are very vast, and are builtbefore the various gates , but which , owing to the height of theembattled walls which surround them on all sides

,each of

which is surmounted by a mass ive brick pavilion, look likewells .To the south of the Tatar C ity is a group of less imposing

walls surrounding the lengthy rectangle which includes theChinese C ity, the commercial part of Peking. The broadstreet that intersects it from north to south , and cuts it intotwo equal part s , especially close to the Tsieng-Men Gate, bywhich you pass into the Tatar Ci ty, is the most animatedartery of the city. In the central walk

,paved with magnificent

flag-stones , not one of which is now in its right place

, and

which apparently only serve as stumbling-blocks to pedestrians ,and are covered with mud a foot deep in summer

,and by a

pestilential dust in winter,ci rculate in the utmost confusion

the ever-present waggons, already described, palanquins, sedanchairs, whose colours vary with the dign ity of the owner, chairsdrawn by mules, men riding on smal l Manchurian pon ies,indefatigable asses, which are the best means of locomotion inthe place , enormous one-wheeled barrows, coolies strugglingunder the burden of huge baskets fi lled with fruit, vegetables ,and other comestibles, fixed to the end of a very long poleslung across their shoulders— all this busy world bustles along ,fill ing the air with shouts and cries of every kind , from thecroaking of the porters to the stentorian shouts of the waggoners .Occasionally a long string of huge two -humped camels

, a cordrunning from the nostril s of one animal to the tai l of the other,and led by a Mongolian urchin, adds to the incredible con

fusion. A ll this crowd, together with beasts and vehicles, hasto content itself with what, under ordinary circumstances, would

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be a very broad roadway, if at least a third of it were not encumbered by a sort of permanent open-air fair, car ried on in

rows of booths , some of which are used as restauran ts, othersas shops of every description . These booths turn their backsto the middle of the street

,and thus hide the line of shops

beyond, of which , from the centre of the road, you can on lyperceive the enormous and innumerable sign-boards hangingfrom a veritable forest of gai ly-painted poles .Beyond the Tsieng-Men Gate is s ituated the Beggars ’ Bridge,

always thronged by groups of wretches clamouring for almsand ostentatiously displaying the most appa ll ing mutilat ions,with all kinds of loathsome disea ses added to their Sordidmisery to excite compassion . The narrow s ide-walks

,which

are bordered on the one hand by booths, and on the other bybig shops , are fi lled by a motley gathering of small Shopkeepers

,each plying his business in the open air—bar bers,

hair-dressers , and fortune- tellers, among whom the crowd hasno l ittle difficulty in threading its way. H ere you see men inl ight-blue blouses

,with long pigtai ls Chinese ladies with thei r

hair dr agged back magpie- ta i l fashion, who balance themselvespainfully as they go along on their t iny deformed feet ; Tatarwomen

,whose hair i s puff ed out on each side of their faces, and

who,l ike thei r Chinese sisters, stick a big flower behind thei r

ears . Not being crippled by bound feet, l ike their less fortunateChinese sister s , these women strut along with as firm a step as

their high-heeled clogs will permit. Their faces ar e bedaubedwith rice-flour , and their cheeks painted an alarmingly brightred . Children with their heads shaved in the most comica lmanner, dotted about with little tufts , that have a very funnyappearance, being cut according to the taste or caprice ofthei r parents

,also r un about. A mong the well-clad children of

a better class ar e others , star k-naked , looking for all the worldlike smal l animated bronzes , so dark and warm-coloured

,i s

their polished skin. In order to avoid being mobbed , onehas occas ionally to seek refuge in a shop, which usually Openson to the street, and i s without windows . In the back theshopkeepers are peacefully seated behind their counters smokinglong pipes, whilst exhibiting their goods and l isten ing to thebarga inings of their customers. These shops are always veryclean, and the goods are arranged with great order and evenconsiderable taste. A bowl with goldfish, or a cage full ofbirds , adds not a l ittle to the charm and peacefulness of the

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scene,which is peculiarly refreshing after the noise and dirt of

the streets.A ll the great arteries of Peking are equally fi lthy and closely

resemble each other, excepting that not one of them can equal,either in the size of the Shops or wealth of their contents

,

the famous H igh Street that leads to the Tsieng-Men Gate .

In summer, after the rains , a coat ing of mud some two feetand a half deep covers both road and footpath

,which when

the weather dries again is converted into thick clouds ofdust. The sideways, always lower than the central road , are

usually filled by pools of green water, whence arises the mosthorrible stench of decayed vegetables and rotting carcases ofan imals

,in addition to the accumulated offal of the neigh

bou r ing houses . The wonder of i t all i s that the entire populat ion of Peking has not long since been swept away by someappalling epidemic .

Leaving aside the few broad streets,one frequently comes

across immense open spaces , whose centres are generallyoccupied by a huge dunghill . The narrow little streets thatbranch out in all directions can be divided into two classesthose which border on the three or four principal commercia lthoroughfares, which , l ike them ,

are l ined with shops,but are

scarcely broad enough to allow of the passage of a single cart ,al though they are thronged from morning to n ight by a seething ,noisy crowd ; and the silent and deadly dull private streets ,where the dwelling-houses are to be found. On either sideruns a gray wall, whose monotony is broken at intervals bya series of shabby l ittle doors . If any one of these happensto be open

,one can only perceive from the street a smal l

courtyard a few feet square, and another dead wall, beyondwhich is the inner courtyard, shut off from all observat ion

,

and on which open all the windows of these s ingular dwellings,not one of which is more than one story high, and alwaysprotected by a gr ay double-tiled roof, usually ornamented at

the four corners by some grotesque stone beast or other, butnever turned up at the ends as ar e invariably those of thetemples and the monuments . There i s no movement whateverin these streets . A few children play before the doors

, a dogor so strays about in the road, and now and again a coolie oran itinerant merchant, with two baskets suspended from a poleacross his shoulders , breaks the silence by a shril l cry ; sometimes a donkey or a cart passes along but fai ls to enl iven the

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

t ion i s that of Confucius, an immense but rather commonplace hall with a steep roof supported on pillars painted a vividred. Foreigners are also permitted to visit the place wherethe literati undergo their examinations. It consists of somethousands of little cells l ining several long, open corridors,wherein the unfortunate candidates for law and medicine are

shut for several days while they answer the questions set them .

Then there i s the old Observatory, wherein are two series ofhighly useful instruments. The first dates from the time oftheMongol Dynasty in the th irteenth century, and l ies scatteredhalf buried among the weeds at the bottom of the courtyard ;the second series is less antiquated , having been made underthe direction of the Jesuit Verbiest, who was astronomer to theEmperor of China in the early part of the seventeenth century.

They are shown on the walls. A fter seeing these thoroughlyup

-to—date astronomical instruments, one has visited all thereis to be seen in the Imperial city of Peking.

It must he confessed, however, that walking in the streets, orat the foot or on top of the enormous walls, is far more interesting and instructive than visiting temples and palaces. A t

every step the observer i s struck with the activity and energy ofthe Chinese people in contradistinction to the systematic stagnation of i ts govern ing classes , and he soon comes to the conelu sion that China i s in a state of decadence strongly resemblingin many details that of the Roman Empire at the time of theinvasions of the Barbarians. This erstwhile magnificent capitali s now only the shadow of its former self. The number of itsinhabitants , to i s gradually decreas ing

, and

many houses are already in ru ins . Some of the best streets,

which must at one time have been splendidly paved , are now

almost impassable, the result of neglect ; drains , which at one

time were covered in, now run open through the streets, and

are choked up by nameless deposits which are never removed,

and even immense blocks of the celebrated walls are occasionally allowed to crumble to ruin. Now and aga in an effort torepair them is started , but as half the money intended for thework usually remains in the hands of the officials and con

tractors it i s never well done, great care being taken not todo the repairs thoroughly, for fear of preventing fresh disasterand losing a chance to do it all over aga in . On the other hand ,on the rare occasion s when the Emperor betakes himself andhis court to some summer residence or other, or to make a

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sacrifice at one of the temples,things ar e furbished up a bit,

to make him believe tha t his capital i s well looked after. The

ruts and the mud-heaps in the streets through which the procession passes are hidden under a thick coating of sand, andeverything likely to offend the eye of the Son of Heaven i scovered over ; even the miserable booths which encumber thestreets are removed , and the half-moons in the rampart havetheir wall s pa inted white

,but only so high as the Imperial

eyes may be lifted as H is Celestial Majesty passes by, loll ingback indolently in his magnificent palanquin.

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CHA PTER III

THE COUNTRY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PEKING—NU ‘

MEROUS SIGNS OF THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE

Fr om Pek ing to the Ming Tombs and the Gr eat Wall of China -The

temples in the hills—Str ik ing neglect of monuments and public wor ks—Remains of ancient and well-paved high roads, now r eplaced bywretched ones, wh ich ar e only tempor ar ily r epaired when the Emper or

or the Empr ess Dowager passes—The manner in which usefu l wor ks

are neglected in China, and her tr easur e wasted.

A TOUR in the environs of Peking, to the GreatWall and tosome of the temples buil t on the bills to the west of the town ,

confirms the bad impressions received in the city. This excursion occupies between three and four days , and can be performedwith relative comfort , and in ordinary times without the leastdanger. A boy ,

’ tha t i s to say, a domest ic servant a

combination of guide, interpreter , valet and cook, and who isoften , by the way, a very expert disciple of Vatel—a donkey anddonkey-boy , a waggon, drawn by two mules, and a waggoner,are the staff necessary for this j ourney, which is usually performed partly on foot and partly on donkey-back . This su itemay be considered somewhat numerous, but no other humanbeing but his own master would get a Chinese donkey to budgea step forward, and the same may be said of the mules . A S

to the boy , ’ he is the indispensable party into whose handsyou must trust yourself absolutely

,even to the extent of

handing over your purse, so that he may settle your accountsat the variou s inns and give the expected backsheesh to theservants or to the guides and bonzes in the temples . Needless to say, he perfectly understands how to take care of himselfin the matter of reserving for his own benefit the ‘

squeezee,’as

they say in pigeon-English . A ll Europeans who travel in theFar East are obliged to have a retinue, which adds to their importance, and in which every man has his part icular function

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

monuments is formed of an aggregat ion of buildings shaded bymagnificent trees, that present a striking contrast to the usualgray barrenness of Chinese hills. The broad road which leadsto them, once paved but now in ruins , passes under a superbtriumphal arch into the silent valley , which seems deserted,although in reality it is highly cultivated ; the little villagesclustering at the foot of the heights

,too , are, as a rule, difficult

to make out. A fter pass ing under numerous elegant gateways,supported by winged columns

,we at length arrive at a gigantic

al ley of colossal monoliths’

, represent ing figures of an imals andmonsters alternately sitting and crouching

, and statues offamous legislators and warriors . Roads radiate towards eachof the Tombs, Of which I only visited that of the first MingEmperor who reigned in Peking.

A fter having passed through a high wall by a porch withthree badly-kept gates, we crossed a spacious courtyard plantedwith trees

,and presently entered the great hall . Before the

whole length of the facade extends several flights of marblesteps with exquisitely sculptured balustrades . The hall itself i snot less than 200 feet long by about 80 feet wide and 40 feet inheight. It i s nearly empty, and at first you can only perceivethe forty gigantic wooden columns, each formed of the trunk ofa tree , that support the roof, and which two men cannotembrace . These columns are said to have come from the confines of Indo-China. In the midst of them , hal f h idden away

,

is a small al tar, ornamented with a few commonplace chinavases

,which are crumbling to pieces and full of dust . Beyond

the altar, enclosed in a sort of tabernacle, i s the tablet inscribedwith the deceased Emperor’s name in three Chinese characters .H is body lies beyond, at the end of a gallery a mile long

,

which penetrates straight into the heart of the hill , but is walledup a short distance from the entrance

,which one reaches

through two courtyards separated by a port ico. From the loftytower that rises over this entrance , the walls of which , by theway, are embell ished with names which numerous Chinese anda few Europeans have been vulgar enough to scratch on thewalls with the points of their kn ives, the view includes the wholesemicircle of hills, as well as all the Tombs, which, by reasonof the very simplicity of their design

,create an impression

of extreme grandeur. Their erection must have cost as greatan amount of labour as that which was bestowed by theEgyptians upon the sepulchres of their Pharaohs .

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The Great Wall of China is another colossal undertaking , inorder to reach which you take the high road to Mongolia thatpasses through the Pa-ta~l ing Gate at the extr emity of the passof Nan-kow. This highroad, which for centuries has beendai ly traversed by long caravans of camels, engaged in thetraffic between Mongolia, S iberia, and China, was formerlypaved with blocks of granite, of which no trace i s now to be seen ,

either on that part of the road in the litt le town of Nan-kow,or

in the difficult mountain pass , and the traveller may thereforeconclude that they have either been used in the constructionof houses or washed away by some torrent. Nan-kow is a

walled town’

, like almost all those in the neighbourhood ofPeking , including the curious old suburb of Chao-yung-kwan

,

over one of the doors of which there is an inscription in sixlanguages, one of which has not yet been deciphered. Everywhere ou the mounta in sides towers and picturesque ruins offort ificat ions man ifest how great has ever been the fear of theChinese of the Tatars and Mongols , for protection againstwhom the Great Wall was built . It i s divided into two parts

,

the inner and the outer wall , the first of which extends fornearly miles, from Shan-hai-kwan on the Gulf of Pe-chi-l iinto the Province of Kan-su on the upper Yellow R iver.Built two hundred years before our era, needless to say, i thas been often repaired and rebuilt . Near the sea i t i s constructed of stone

,but brick has been used on the inland portions .

In thickness it varies from 1 6 feet to 20 feet,and i s about the

same in height, but to the west i t i s nothing l ike so lofty.

The inner wall, which dates from the sixth century, wasalmost entirely reconstructed by the M ings in the sixteenthcentury, and is 5 00 miles long. This i s the wall to be seenfrom Pa-ta - l ing, passing over the hill, and then proceedingright and left to climb in zigzag fashion to the very summit ofthe mountains. It is constructed after the model of the walls ofPeking

, on a substructure of stone,with two rows of brick battle

ments. The top is paved, and forms a roadway 1 1 feet in

width . Its height varies , according to the irregulari ty of theland, between 1 2 feet and 20 feet, and at about every 300 feetthere are towers twice the height of the wall, also surroundedby bastions and battlements . A lthough less imposing than theWall of Peking , the Great Wall of China does not deservethe flippant remarks that have been made about it . A gainst anenemy unprovided with art illery

, and horsemen l ike theMongols20 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

and Tatars , i t must have presented a very serious obstruction,and if occas ionally they have been able to scale it, it hasgenera lly resisted every attempt at invasion. A lthough it has notbeen used under the present Dynasty , which i s of Tatar origin,i t has remained , thanks to the care bestowed upon it informer times , one of the best preserved monuments in China.

It i s otherwise with the greater number of the templesscattered over the hills

,which stand amidst groups of magni

ficent trees, whose green foliage contrasts so pleasantly withthe gray, barren hills which the Chinese, l ike all other peoplesof the Far East, never cultivate . Visitors are pleasantly re

ceived in the temples near Peking , some of which are usedas summer residences by European diplomatists tired of beingshut up in the city, whose pestilential miasmas occasionallyreach even their houses

, although they are surrounded byparks. Some of them are only wooden structu res , with dwellings for the bonzes surrounding courtyards on to which Openthe various sanctuaries . The use of wood in the Far East forbuilding purposes does not prevent a certain display of magnifi

cence and ar t, and the Japanese temples at Nikko and manyother places are marvels of richness and beauty, al though theyare entirely built of wood. Unfortunately, unless they are verycarefully looked after, they are naturally apt to deteriorate muchquicker than stone bui ldings . Needless to say, the Chinesetemples are in a very dilapidated condition . I cannot say thatI was impressed by the amazing collection of Buddhas, somelife-size, others colossal , some gilded and others painted, no

two of which are said to be exactly al ike or by the crowd ofhorrible monsters with ferocious faces and abominable gestureswho guard the entrances to these temples. They one and all

fi lled me rather with disgust than with the sl ightest impressionof awe. This degenerate Buddhism is very different from thatwhich exists in Ceylon, and among certain Japanese sects .The only traces of the original character of the religion , or atany rate of the land from which it sprang, are to be found inthe lovely stone pagoda of the Pi-Yuen-Sse, whose style i spure H indu , and contains some exquisite bas-re’l iefs reptesent ing scenes in the lives of Sakyamun i and his saints, or,again , in the even more beautiful sculpture to be admired inthe Temple of the Yellow Tower.The Summer Palace, which , by the way, was not a genuine

Chinese building, but erected under the direction of the Jesuits202

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CHA PTER IV

THE LITERA RY A ND MANDA RIN CLA SS— PRINCIPA L CA USES OF

THE DECADENCE OF THE EMPIRE

The liter ati o r gover ning class—How it is r ecr uited from the mass of the

people th rough examinations—Bachelor s, Master s of A r ts and Doc tor sEnormous number of cand idates—The functionar ies exclusively

selected fr om the liter ati—Most of the posts sold—The syndica te forthe exploitation of public offices—The gravest defect Of the system.

the examinations, the subjec ts selected being mer ely exercises inrhetor ic and memory about an immense quantity of nonsensical

matter supplied by the Ch inese classics and ancient annals—A bor tiveattempts to introduce small doses of Western science in to these ex

aminations—Super stitions o f the literati—This stupid system of ex

amination the pr incipal cause of Chinese isola tion—Complete d isappear ance of the military spir it r esulting fr om the same fatal causeHostility and contempt en ter tained by the liter ati against all Europeanprogress

—Difficulty of suppr essing or r eforming the mandar inate.

THE curse of China and the main reason why her remarkablepeople, who once deserved to be compared with the ancientRomans , have sunk to the degraded condition in which wefind them at present, is the mandarinate , which She has themisfortune to consider one of her chief glories . It i s thiscorrupt and antiquated system that is destroying the CelestialEmpire. It has often been observed that nations generallyhave the Government they deserve, and i t i s undoubtedlytrue that the admin istration of China is , in a measure, thelogical result of her geographical situation and s ingular history,to which might be added the peculiar character of her people.

On the other hand , there is no question that the worst trai ts ofthe nat ional character are accentuated in the mandarin classwhich governs the country, and saps its activity and energy.

Theoretically, the Chinese Government is based on paternalprinciples ; as a matter of fact , i t i s entirely in the hands ofthe class known as

‘ l iterati,’ from whose ranks all the State204

CHINA

officials , or mandarins, are recru ited and i f we wish to understand the primary causes of the misgovernment of the CelestialEmpire , we must become thoroughly acquainted with the originand manners of the mandarins , who are not hereditary, butrecruited from the mass of the people in the most democraticmanner in the world by means of publ ic competitive examinations . These examinations confer three honorary degrees,which might be likened to those bestowed by our Un iversit ies :Bachelors, Master s of A rts, and Doctors . The degree ofBachelor is competed for in each d istrict (there are sixty districtsper province), and that of Master of A rts in the eighteen provincial capitals that of Doctor, on the other hand, is only to beobtained in Peking. One may imagine the esteem in whichthese degrees are held by the people when I mention that in1897, when I was at Shanghai, no less than candidatescame up for examinat ion at Nan-king, with only 1 50 honours tobe distributed amongst them . It i s considered a great honourfor a family to include a l iterate amongst its members

, and hisobta ining his degree is celebr ated throughout the entire provincewhich enj oys the privilege of being his birthplace. Should hebe fortunate enough to obtain his laureate at Peking , he is welcomed on his return to his native town as a veritable conqueringhero. It i s quite true that, in order to pass his examination , he hasto go through an amount of physical suffering and pat ientendurance which would deter any but a Chinaman from theattempt . Each candidate i s shut up for three whole daysin a box- l ike cel l four feet square, in which he cannoteven lie down , with no other compan ions than his brush,paper and stick of Chinese ink ; and barely an examinationpasses without some student or other being found dead in hiscell . A ccording to popular rumour, i t i s said that the all

pervading corruption penetrates even into these cells, and thatnot a few candidates succeed less through their merits thanthrough the golden gate ; and i t has even been observed thatthe sons and near relatives of exist ing high funct ionaries arepretty su re to pass but as a rule, however, i t seems that meri tgeneral ly obtains its reward . It i s , however, after the exami

nations that begin the real difficulties of those who are not richand are without influential friends. One might naturally expectthat after the trouble , fatigue , and expense of the examinat ionwere over, some post or other would surely be forthcomingto recompense the eff orts of the candidate ; but the contrary

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i s the rule,and many a man has had to wait a l i fetime before

obtain ing the reward for which he has striven so hard. Nevertheless, those students who seem to possess exceptional abilitygenerally push themselves forward in the following manner a

syndicate has been formed which advances the funds necessaryto assist the aspirant in mounting the first rung on the ladder offame , and to help him further , until he is in a position to returnthe money borrowed, either in cash or kind , with a very handsome interest. The idea of exploiting public offices as a

sort of commercial concern i s, to say the least, ingenious , and,what i s more , i t seems to be occasionally exceedingly remunerative. On the other hand , the expense and the intrigue thatsuch a pernicious system must necessarily involve can betterbe imagined than described. A s an instance in point, I wasassured that the position of Tao-tai or Governor of Shanghai ,worth , for not more than three years , a salary of taels

,

or £ 900, a year, was recently bought for overEven worse than the purchase of public offices , and the

favouritism shown at examinations,are the subjects chosen for

competit ion,which are exclusively selected from Chinese

classical and scholastic l iterature . The works of Confucius,those of his disciples, of Menciu s and of other philosophers whoenl ightened the world two thousand years ago, and a mass ofquaint lore derived from the ancient Chinese Chronicles

,form

the subj ec t of these extraordinary examinations , and the studentshave to learn some hundred volumes as nearly as possible byheart, memory being the one thing most highly prized by theBoard of Examiners . The student i s expected to quotecerta in extracts word by word as they appear in the books

,

and his examination papers must, moreover, be embellished bya great quant ity of quotations— the more the better . A n

elegant style is obtained only through acquaintance with as

many of the Chinese characters as possible,from which

the student is expected to make an appropriate selection, and,

as each Sign means a word , and not a few of these are almostunknown, and only to be found in some hidden corner of anancient volume, the waste of time is appalling. The preparatoryinstruction, therefore, simply consists in cramming the wretchedcandidate with a knowledge of as great a number of signs orchar acters

,and quotations from the Celestial classics , as

poss ible. One of the most curious features of the Chinese isthat, although everybody knows how to read and write a l ittle

,

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

word the fantastical solutions therein formulated , and ,of

course, carr ied off the prizes . In the following year one of theprofessors of a foreign missionary college asked leave for a

competent European teacher to be included in the examiningcommittee in order to assist in the preparation of the papersand to pronounce a verdict upon the answers sent in . Needless to say, the demand was refused and the questions weresent out without the least attempt to insure their being loyallyanswered. A mong the questions asked at a competitivescientific examinat ion in Chekiang in 1 8 98 were the following :

‘How are foreign candles made, and in what consiststheir superiority over those manufactured in China ?’ ‘Namethe principal ports touched at by the steamers running betweenJapan and the Mediterranean.

’To which of the new sciences

and methods which people are endeavouring to introduceshould the greatest importance be attached ?’ Write an essayon international law.

’Comment i s needless.

These foolish innovations , of course, do not change the fundamental scholastic and rhetorical character of Chinese exami

nat ions, and the usual themes for the compositions remainidentical. Here are two examples quoted by Mr . HenryNorman : Confucius hath said, In what maj esty did Chunand Y u reign over the Empire, as though the Empire wasas nothing unto them !

”Confucius hath said, “ Y ao was

verily a great sovereign. How glorious he was ! H eavenalone is grand, and Y ao only worthy to enter it. How exaltedwas his virtue The people could find no words wherewith toqual ify it .” "i" This was the theme that had to be developedby many a flower of rhetoric. It i s on ly through the study ofthese books, written twenty centuries ago, and encumbered byparables and affected maxims, and of ancient annals crammedwith fantastic legends believed in as absolute facts

,that are

selected the members of the class who are expected to governChina !The result of this method of education was exemplified as

late as 1 8 97 , two years after a war which had brought theCelestial Empire within an inch of ruin , when a censor , one ofthe highest officials in the Empire, addressed a document tothe Emperor, wherein he protested against the concessionsmade to the invention s of the Western barbarians, which he

‘ Politics and Peoples of the Far East.’London : Fisher Unwin.

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CHINA

did not hesitate to qual ify as calculated to disturb the peaceof the dead. Instead of constructing railways , he gravelyinsisted , i t were wiser to offer a handsome reward to the manwho should recover the secret of making flying chariots to bedrawn by phoenixes which certain ly existed in the good old t imes .

A‘ l ittle time previously a member of the Tsung- l i-Yamen had

l ifted his voice to protest aga inst the various rai lway embankments and the nail s that studded the lines , which , he believed,were l ikely to inconvenience and wound the sacred dragonswho protect the cities of the Empire

,and who dwell beneath

the soil . The strange superstitions of the f eugs/zu i geomancydeal ing with the circulation through the air of good and evilspi rits

, and with the prescribed height to which buildings maybe erected , and the exact positions of doors and other l ikegrave matters

,which , it seems, unless they be properly attended

to,are apt to upset and off end the flying spirits in their pro

gress through space,exercise a greater empire over the minds

of Chinese official s in the very highest places than matterswhich we should consider of the greatest importance .

The fact that the mandarinate is recru ited from the democracy renders it even more pern icious than i f i t constituted a

hereditary aristocracy, for, as it stands , nobody has any interestin overthrowing it . The most intelligent people try to enterit , and i t attracts all the most gifted men in the Empire, butonly to corrupt them . The l iterary class enjoys an enormousprestige

,and the poorest man l ives in the hope of seeing his

son one of its learned members. It , therefore, does not exciteany of that hatred usually provoked by caste privilege, andthus does not stand the least danger of being upset. On

the other hand , the condition to which it has reduced theCelestial Empire is a condemnation of the system of examinat ion for Government office , and many a Western State mightdo well to study this question and to take its lesson to heart .That i ts eff ects have been more accentuated in China thanelsewhere i s undeniable, being the result of diverse historicand ethnographical circumstances peculiar to that nation. The

Chinese reached a high state of civilization long before ourer a, and being more numerous and intelligent than their neighbour

'

s,so soon as they were cemented into one compact

national ity they proceeded to subjugate Indo - China and

Korea ; and so it came to pass that China had no dangerousfoes to disturb her, Japan being isolated in her island Empire,

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and she was separated from India by a formidable mountainbarrier and from the West by immense deserts. From thattime the Chinese had nothing to trouble them , and had butto l ive in quiet admiration of the labours of their ancestors,who were the authors of the perfect peace which they enjoyed ,and thus l ittle by l ittle they accustomed themselves to lookupon them as superior beings and as types of perfection .

More advanced than any of their tributary subjects, and havingnothing to fear from competition , they became lost in selfadmiration, or, rather , in the admiration of those who hadmade their country what it was

,and ended by believing that

no further progress was either necessary or possible,and thus

are now absolutely non-progressive.

The isolation and the want of emulation in which China hasexisted for so many centuries have destroyed whatever energyand initiat ive she might otherwise have possessed . It should beremarked, however, that the Roman Empire was in very muchthe same condition , and for the same reason, at the time of theinvasion of the Barbarians, and that outside the moral revolutioneffected by Christian ity—which , by the way, only obtained itsfullest developments by the overthrow of the Empire— no furtherprogress was being made . The sterile admiration of bygonegreatness, therefore, i s the foundation stone of the doctrines ofConfucius . The Chinese people, who are essentially practica land positive, and less given , perhaps, than any other in theworld to study general questions and lofty ideals, soon deter iorated under so retrogressive a system

, and eventually lostall sight of the origin of many of their most important institut ions . Religion and morals were reduced to mere rites and

ceremonies that only conceal the emptiness of Chinese civilization, and so the nat ion came to the conclusion that the one

thing in this world worth the doing was to save appearances,and conceal corruption beneath a fl imsy mask.

The i solation of China and her superiority over her neighbours produced another very grave consequence— the ruin ofthat martial spirit which has obliterated all idea of duty andsacrifice. The military mandarins are despised by their civilcolleagues , and their tests consis t almost exclusively of physicalexercises such as archery and the lifting of heavy weights.One does not use good Iron to make nails, nor a good man tomake a soldier, ’ says the Chinese proverb, and thus it is thatthe Chinese army is recruited from a horde of blackguards

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CHA PTER V

THE CHINESE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHA RA CTERISTICS

Gr eat antiquity of China’

s national ex istence—S tagnation of her o rganiza

tion as well as o f her social, r eligious and administr ative institu t ionsU nity of Ch inese c iv ilization notwithstand ing var ied su r roundings,d ifferences Of language and of r acial or igin, it being much more inflexible than tha t o i the Wester n wo r ld—Some of the pr incipalcharacter istics of the Chinese—Love of false appear ances

—Gulf thatdivides the theor etical from the pr actical in all matter s of Chinese

administr ation—Co r ruption of the Chinese Gover nment and its determination to impede pr ogr ess

—Ligh tness of the taxes—The mass of

the people apparently happy under dis t r essing cir cumstances—Thegood

-humour and liveliness of the Celes tials—Pity said to be absolutelyexcluded fr om the Ch inese c ha rac ter—Why the Chinese make badsoldier s—Organization of the family and pos ition of women—Vices ofthe Chinese : love of gambling, opium , filthy habits and super

stitions—Their better qualities—The people themselves not in a stateof decadence—Pr imary effec ts of contac t with Wes tern civilization.

THE Chinese are at one and the same t ime the most numerousand the longest existing nat ion in the world . The annal s ofthe Celestial Empire date as far back as those of Egypt, andtwenty centuries ago, when States which now rule the earthwere in process of formation , China, having undergone severalevolutions, was already constituted as she is to day. The

Chinese have never been subjected to any of those marked andrepeated changes which, during the last two thousand years ,have so profoundly modified the social organization and themanners and customs of other countries ; and even the introduction of a new religion did not produce in the East anythingcomparable to the revolution which , at about the same time ,occurred in the West through the spread of Christian ity.

Buddhism did not modify the Chinese people, but theChinese people modified Buddhism after their own image andlikeness, without, however, permitting the doctrines of Sakya

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CHINA

mun i to exercise the least influence over their character, orchange an iota of their ideas concerning life and moral i ty ,which were determined by Confucius and other sage Celestials ,being in real ity derived less from the meditations of philosophersor the inspiration of prophets than from the intuitive instinctof the race. The institutions of China have not altered themental habits or method of l ife upon which they profess to bemodelled , any more than has the theoretical principle of familyexistence altered the Imperial Government ; for the Chineseeven now often qual ify their high officials by the endearingepithets father and mother. ’ Political revolution s have notmade a deeper impression upon the fossil ized organ izat ion ofthe Chinese Government

,than has religion on the character

and manners of the people . The various dynasties that havesucceeded each other have changed nothing, although someof them have been of foreign origin : the Mongolian in thethirteenth century and the Manchurian in our own t ime ; butthey effected no variations in the system of Government , andonly placed certain functionaries to watch over the mandarins ,precisely as the Tatar marshal s are instructed to spy upon theofficial s of nowadays .China has always been governed after Chinese methods , and

al though she has occasionally been conquered by foreigners, shehas invariably absorbed them into her own civilizat ion , and

obl iged them to observe her traditions . The Chinese carevery little about the future

,the greatness or the independence

of their country ; but they cling with extraordinary tenacity totheir old manners and customs , and thereby off er a strikingcontrast to their neighbours the Japanese , who, notwithstandingtheir intense patrioti sm , will make any sacrifice, even that ofreligiou s principle and most cherished tradition , i f they thinkthat they may thereby benefit their Empire . The Japanesehave almost the same conception of patrioti sm as Europeans,but not so the Chinese

,with whom this vi rtue i s merely a racial

affair,which in the hour of danger invariably proves of little

or no avail, especial ly against adversaries of a kind neverpreviously encountered .

Does there exist, beyond this intense love of old customsand of an immutable civilization , any bond of un ion amongthe three or four hundred millions of human beings whoconstitute the population of China P* A t first sight no people

The population of Ch ina has been very var iously estimated. There

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

could possibly appear more thoroughly homogeneous than theChinese ; but it is not necessary to stay long among themto perceive that even from the physical point of view there arecertain racial differences which make it more difficult at fi rstto note the dissimilarity which separates their race from ourown . Even more striking are the diverse dialects spoken inthe Empire

,several of which are not mere patois , but distinct

languages,rendering it impossible for a native of Canton or

Foo-chow to make himself understood at Peking ; and in

many provinces these idiomatic peculiarities are very interesting. In Fo-kien no less than three patois ar e spoken— theA moy , Swatow, and the Foo-chow, which are utterly differentfrom each other . Between the cities of Peking and T ien- tsin,scarcely thirty leagues apart, there is already a marked difference in the matter of dialect . It i s also a noteworthy factthat very little sympathy exists among the Chinese from differentprovinces , who keep aloof from each other even when circumstances oblige them to live in the same town . Very marked,too

, are the divergent characteristics and temperamen ts ob

servable between the inhabitant s of the North and those ofthe South , the former being much the most energetic and enterprising, but at the same time more hostile to foreigners. The

Central Government i s almost unknown by the multitudes outside of Peking , and i t would be a comparat ively easy task torai se an army in one part of China to fight against the imbabitants of another .The question may now be asked whether China, which covers

an area equal to that of Europe, and is even more thickly

peopled , i s less homogeneous than our own Continent . Doesthere exist between the various Chinese provinces the samedifferences that mark each of the nations that in the aggregateform Europe ? From the geographical and climatic point ofview i t i s evident that the d ifference is not very great, althoughCh ina possesses very high mountains only on her Western

ex ist official statistics, but the question is, what faith can be placed inthem? The ‘S tatesman

’s Year Book , ’ wh ich is gener ally well informed ,

r etu rns for China Proper , and for the entireEmpir e. Some traveller s, however , ar e of Opinion that these figur es shou ldbe greatly modified , and hold that the cor rect medium is between

and because the mountainous r egions ar e verythinly populated , and tr aveller s er r oneously form an opinion fr om the con

d it ion of the valleys th rough _

which they pass, which ar e gener ally denselypopula ted .

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alphabet represent,not sounds, but ideas . The lack of any

spirit of patriotism may be largely attributed to this state ofabsolute isolation

,to which may be added a general and very

profound ignorance. Bu t patriotism as we understand it is ,after all, a matter of modern sent iment, therefore not to belooked for in so ant iquated a nation as the Chinese .

It matters little whether there be a common origin or not,

since our notions of race are very difficult to define , and modernanthropological and ethnographical discoveries tend more and

more towards the acceptance of the theory of the existenceof distinct races . Whereas the patois of the ten northernmostprovinces are merely dialects of the Manchurian languages ,those of the south

,especially of Fo-kien and Canton , are total ly

different, and apparently confirm the theory that the Chineseinvaders who came from the north-east found the land alreadyinhabited by a people whom they assimilated , precisely as theyare doing in our t ime in Manchuria, and as did the Romansin ancient Gaul .The entire population of China, excepting a few obscure

mountain tribes,the remainder, possibly, of the autochthones

of the South , whatever their origin, have for centuries mouldedthemselves on a civilization that penetrates far deeper into thedetail s of every-day l ife than any known in Europe. The

result i s a greater uni formity among the people who haveadopted it than will be found among men who follow a lessrigid code that permits of gr eater latitude and affords a freerscope for the exercise of individual ity. Many peculiarities inthe Chinese character appear at first contradictory , even tothose who have lived long in the country, and who assert thatno European can ever thoroughly understand a Chinamanbecause his mind is so differently constituted .

The most striking characteristic of the Chinese, says Mr .

A rthur H . Smith , an A merican missionary who has l ivedtwenty- two years in China, in his admirable book ‘ChineseCharacteristics,

’ i s their remarkable manner of ‘ facing ’a

thing. To save appearances, or to ‘ face a difficulty cunn inglyrather than boldly , i s the endeavour of the inhabitants of theKingdom of the Son of Heaven, and is the key, moreover, to agreat many other matters that might otherwise appear incomprehensible. Every Chinaman considers himself an actor ,whose public words

,acts, and deeds have nothing in common

with real ity. The most praiseworthy and even the most in2 16

CHINA

nocent of actions, unless it be performed in a certa in way,will only cover its author with shame and ridicule . If a faulti s committed

,the guilty party is expected to deny it with the

utmost eff rontery in spite of convincing evidence,and on no

account must he confess himself guilty, even if he is obliged torepai r the injury done . From the highest to the lowest, theChinese entertain a profound respect for shamming. A boycaught steal ing will slip the coveted object up his sleeves,stoop down and pretend to pick it up, and with the smile ofan angel present it to hi s master, saying , ‘Here i s what youhave lost. ’ A l ittle over a hundred years ago the mandarinswho were escorting Macartney

,the English A mbassador, into

the presence of the Son of Heaven ,profited by his ignorance of

their language to place over his carriage an inscription to theeff ect that it contained the A mbassador bringing tribute fromthe Kingdom of England ,

’

and thus kept up the fiction of theun iversal sovereignty of their lord and master .Undoubtedly the observance of a certain amount of etiquette

is both useful and praiseworthy , and so considered by all

civilized nations but Chinese etiquette is the most punctiliousand complicated that was ever imagined , and never on anyaccount to be neglected for a single instant . This excessiveattent ion to outward forms

,which

,if they be but observed,

may conceal any kind of iniquity, explains the fact that inChina there is a deeper gulf between theory and practice thanin any other country in the world . That i t has always been somay be questioned, but at present the moral s of Confuciushave long since been lost in a code of etiquette which definesvirtue as consi sting in the observance to the letter of the threehundred rules of ceremony and the three thousand regulat ionsof conduct , without paying the least attention to the spiritin which they were originally formulated .

It i s in the system of Government in China that the con

trast between precept and practice becomes most evident .A s Mr . Henry Norman remarks with hardly exaggeratedseverity

,

‘ Every Chinese official , with the possible exceptionof one in a thousand

,i s a l iar, a th ief and a tyrant 1’

Examples confirming this assertion ar e very numerous , and

even the celebrated Li Hung~chang cannot be included in thel ist of those officials who ar e noted for their honesty, since hehad to disgorge a

' great part of the immense fortune he hadaccumulated —twenty mill ions, i t is reputed— to save his head

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

during the Chino-Japanese War,when he had to purchase

the goodwill of many Court dign itaries, eunuchs and others ,notwithstanding which , money matters stil l occupy a great dealof his attention . I had the honour while I was at Peking todine at the French

'

Legation in the company of this exaltedpersonage, on the occasion of the visit of the A dmiral commanding the French Fleet in the Far East and several officersof his staff . Li conversed through the intermediary of an

interpreter named Ma, to whom he spoke in the Fo -kien , h isnative dialect ; it appears he speaks Manchu very badly. He

put to each of the guests several polite question s usual amongOrientals

,inquired after their rank, their age, and invariably

wound up his courteous inquiries by asking : Well, and whatis your salary ?’ With us the income of an official i s a matterof very little importance, but with the famous mandarin i t wasthe essential .For centuries the administration of China has been as corrupt

as i t i s to-day, but for all this it has never driven the peopleto rebell ion. It is true that occasionally there are local agitations

,whose chiefs go so far as to pounce upon offending

representat ives of authority and convey them to the capital ofthe district, or province, to demand their degradation ,

whichi s more often than not accorded—a fact which inspired an

English paper at Shanghai to descant on the ‘ democraticmanner in which the Chinese participate in their government. ’Oppression tempered by revolt i s the rule which prevai ls in theCelestial Empire, but there is no fear of a general revolutionagainst so degenerate a system . This admin istrative machine,however

,which appears to us to be so detestable

,on ly impedes

progress,but does not affect the population

,which is accus

tomed to routine habits hundreds of years old , and has not

the remotest idea that a reform is either necessary or practicable . When an enterprising man wishes to introduce eventhe most insignificant of modern trades, he invariably attractsthe attent ion of the mandarins, to whom he is obliged to applyfor permission to carry on his novelty

,and will only obtain i t

after much bribery and a promise to pay such a huge percentage on his profits as to render the returns of his venturetoo insign ificant to be worth h is cont inuing it. But for theuncomplain ing and unprogressive, who have nothing to dowith admin istrative affairs , l ife in China flows easily and quietlyenough . The taxes are very light, especially for the peasantry ,

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

the people have no t ime to waste on philosophical reflections,and, moreover, possess no standard of comparison to assist i tto judge of the hardness of its fate. In addition to this, wemust not forget that the Chinese are endowed by nature withan excess ive spirit of conservatism and a pat ience and perseverance quite beyond praise

,to which must be added a

j ovial good-humour that enables them to endure an existencewhich to the people of any other country would appear intolerable . Peasants and work-people al ike have no hOpe ofever seeing thei r humble condit ion improved

,and their pro

spective existence is one of absolute monotony, entirely passedin sowing and reaping

,in carrying heavy burdens , in the

turning of looms , or in labouring the earth , without having ,excepting on a few feast-days , a moment’s rest , save what i sabsolutely necessary for meals and sleep. None the less, theyalways seem very happy

,complain very little, and thoroughly

enj oy their few pleasures, and apparently absolutely ignore their

troubles .

This happy spirit of resignat ion explains why the Chinese,notwithstanding their poverty, are one of the most contentedpeople in the world , and, consequently , one of the happiest ;but

,unfortunately , they ar e exposed from time to time to

dreadful calamities : an inundat ion, an epidemic,or a bad

harvest, which brings about inevitable misery and famineto the ent ire population

,who are left without any resources

because their work has not been suffi ciently remunerative toenable them to put anything by for a rainy day. Not a yearpasses without a dreadful calamity occurring somewhere orother in the immense Celestial Empire, causing the deaths ofhundreds of thousands of people

,so that , notwithstanding the

astonishing number of children born , the population apparentlydoes not increase . Here

,then

,we have a striking application

of the doctrines of Malthus ; for in this society, into which no

r ay of progress is admitted, men multiply quicker than theirmeans of subsistence

,but natural calamities re establish the

balance by annually overwhelming a prodigious number ofmen, women and children .

The exaggerated sense of conservatism and the impr ovidence

of the admin istrat ion are in part responsible for the occurrenceof these grave calamities

,which ar e generally accompanied by

a recrudescence of that chron ic piracy and brigandage whichis peculiar to China, being the sole means of gain ing a l iveli

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CHINA

hood left to many ruined wretches . Sometimes , however, theagents of the Government, after having done nothing eitherto preven t a catastrophe or to mitigate i ts consequences

,ih

crease it in t imes of famine by their avidity in seizing the rice,

and thus provoke a rebell ion, as happened in 1 898 at variousparts of the Yang-tsze-K iang . But beyond these cases , inwhich the authorities are mani festly guilty, the Chinese peoplesubmit with the utmost resignation to ca lamities which theyforesee and cons ider as merely natural, and which, when theyhappen, barely ruff le their habitual placidity . Death to such a

people cannot have the same terrors it has for u s .Europeans are of all the civil ized peoples of the earth those

who complain most of life, but yet who hold most dearly to it.The people of the Far East , the Chinese as well as the Japanese,on the other hand, consider it least. Indiff erence to deathseems to be with them almost a physical characteristic

,the

result of the singular insen sibility of their nervous system .

Wi th respect to this last,we have plenty of evidence. The

doctors in the European hospitals where natives are treatedrelate with amazement how their pat ients undergo the mostpainful operations without a murmur and without the necessityof having to resort to anaesthe tics . In every-day l ife , too, thesame curious apathy is to be observed in the extraordinaryfacili ty with which they can fall asleep whenever they choose

,

even in the midst of the most awful din and noise, and theycan , moreover, remain for hours in one pos it ion withoutmaking the slightest motion . The reverse of the medal i sthat, although they are so indifferent to their own sufferings ,they are without the slightest feeling for those of others, andcan watch the writh ing agony of a human being without expressing the least horror or sympathy. The dreadful customof binding the feet of women in such a manner as to push theheel forward and double Up the toes under the sole of thefoot, inducing a sore that is never healed , i s but one out ofmany examples of Chinese cruelty . The various and horribletortures infl icted by the judicial tribunal s a re another il lustrat ion of the same dreadful instinct . The idea of bargainingwith a person in danger of death , or with a man who hasfallen into the water before attempting to rescue him fromdrowning

, ar e things which would never suggest themselves toa European

,but they come naturally to the Chinese .

The l ittle value in which human l ife i s held in the Far East2 2 1

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is exemplified by the frequency of suicide, merely to vindicatea point of honour which in many parts of Europe would besettled at the point of the sword. The lza r a-kz

'

r z' is not te

str icted to Japan,or to the upper classes of Chinese society.

A Chinaman , even of the lowest order , will commit su icideout of vengeance

,spite

,or even through what he cons iders a

matter of honour . Sacrifice of life is common even amongwomen, i f wemay believe the following narrative extracted froma Chinese newspaper

One day a sow belonging to a certa in Madame Feng, havingdone some slight inj ury to the door of a certa in Madame Wang ,that lady forthwith demanded compensation with interest , whichwas refused, whereuponMadameWang announced her intentionof committing suicide . This dreadful threat proved altogethertoo much for Madame Feng, who there and then determinedto beat her enemy with her own weapon by fl inging herselfinto the nearest canal .” Suicides are by no means rare amongthe upper classes of the literati

, and quite recently a censor,a high functionary who possesses the privilege of addressingpetitions to the Sovereign, awaited the passing of the Imperialcortege and then killed himself as a polit ical demonstration, inorder to add weight to a memorial he had presented concerning some promise of the Government which had not beenfulfilled . The innumerable public executions form a pendantto the equally numerous cases of suicide .

The reader may be somewhat surprised that a people fearingdeath so l ittle should make such bad soldiers ; but, after all,however lightly a man may hold his l ife, no one sacrifices itunless i t be for some ideal or other. If the Celestials care soli ttle about existence

,they care still less for the grandeur of

their country,patriotic feeling being absolutely absent from

their nature. During the French campaign in Formosa i t wasno uncommon thing to see Chinese prisoners refuse to do taskswhich they considered beneath them , and which they couldonly be induced to perform after having seen the heads of afew of their comrades fall under the sword. These very peoplewho prefer death rather than d erogate from their dignity are thesame who have often been seen throwing down their arms on

the battlefield. It i s but fair to add that it i s the militarymandarins or officers who generally give the signal for a stampede. Poss ibly, if commanded by other officers, the Chinese,

Quoted by Mr . Henry Norman, Peoples and Politics of the Far East.’

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

at the same time serves to consolidate family ties ; but evenso it is pernicious, especially with respect to the conditionof women .

. The lot of Chinese women i s certainly not a

happy one. Lodging rather than l iving with her husband ,under his parents’ roof, the young wife is never allowed to seeher own family, excepting at certain fixed periods prearrangedby custom. In their earlier years married women in Chinaare exposed to the caprices and rebuff s of a shrewish motherin-law, who is the tyrant of the family , and whose humbleservants the daughters -in-law are expected to be. For all

this, they enj oy a certa in amount of l iberty , for they are neithercloistered nor veiled ; but they very rarely leave their house ,a state of semi-seclusion which does not prevent their moralsbeing often very indiff erent . ‘ In a district near mine

,

’

an

A merican miss ionary at Fo-kien assured me, ‘ there are veryfew husbands who are not deceived by their wives and in theone which is under my direction the state of morali ty, or ratherof immoral ity

,is pretty nearly the same.

’Theoretically speaking,

adultery in a Chinese woman i s considered a very grave crime.

A s for the husband,he is not expected to practise fidelity. The

average Chinaman del ights in obscenity, and revels in improperstories and jests and when he has a l ittle money to spare,spends it very freely in the loosest company. Those places ofentertainment where Venus reigns supreme are not, as in

Japan , situated in the best and most brilliantly lighted quarterof the town

,for such of my readers who have vis ited Canton

may possibly remember to have had pointed out to them the‘ flower-boats - floating constructions two stories high , whoseinternal decorations are of the most magnificent.The national vice of the Chinese, however, i s gambling, and

i t is one very few of them can resist. In his interestingmonograph on Peking, Mgr . Favier tells us how the beggars inrags will stake their last scrap of cloth ing . Certain fanaticswill stake their wives and children, and men have been knownto wager away their finger -j oints . A young Christian, who wasan inveterate gambler, on one occasion staked and lost hi s wife,who was only twenty years of age, for the large sum of 1 5 5 .

The missionary paid the debt and returned the young womanto her mother. A few months afterwards she rejoined herhusband

,and, adds the author, with the authority of his thirty

eight years of missionary life in China , ‘ in all probabil ity hehas staked and lost her again

CHINA

Intemperance, on the other hand, is extremely rare ; butthose who would be drunkards in Europe, Mgr . Favier assuredme when I was in Peking, are opium -smokers in China, wherehe estimates that about one-fifth of the populat ion of the townsgive themselves over to this horrible practice. In the countrydistricts the number i s very much less , and another missionary

,

who lives at Fo—kien in Southern China, estimates i t at not

more than five per cent. The habit of opium - smoking is verywidely spread among the upper classes and the literati but itseffects are not so pronounced among the rich as among thepoor , who, by reason of bad diet, are less prepared to resistits effects

,especially as they generally indulge in this vice in

their leisure hours in the most dreadfu l dens, and, moreover,smoke a very inferior qual ity of opium . A young man whobegins to indulge in this pern iciou s habit in his twentieth yearusually shuffl es off this mortal coil before he i s twenty-two.

The vices of the Chinese do not particularly shock foreignerswho live among them ,

for they ar e not obliged to see them ;but it is otherwise with their universal and repellently fi lthyhabits and intense love of all kinds of horrible noises, whichthey indulge in on every possible occasion, be it a sad

'

o r

merry one, a marriage or a funeral, at festival s as well as at

fires. What exasperates a European , however , more than anyth ing else a re the vulgar superstitions which replace among theCelestials the spirit of religion , which i s quite absent, and whichconstitute another hindrance to progress . Their strange ideaswith respect to fi ng or geomancy, often upset the leastattempt at introducing any improvement even in European con

cessions or in such cities as Hong—Kong and Singapore. Then,

again, the disposition of the Chinese mind does not admit ofgeneral or abstract ideas , and repudiates all sense of the ideal ,and, in a word, i s sterilized by such absolute material ism as toshock even the most cyn ical of Europeans . Take them for allin all, therefore, the Celestials may be described as a not particular ly seductive or sympathetic people, all the less so as theirugly appearance i s not compensated for by the charm ofmanner which renders the Japanese so agreeable and whichenables them to gild even their vices.The Chinese , however, have certain great qual it ies which

are not precisely amiable , in spite of their extreme politeness,a matter rather of ceremony than of s incerity . These qual itiesare of a serious nature patience , perseverance , hard work, the

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

greatest aptitude for commercial pursuits, industry, economy,singular resistive power

, and respect for parents and old age,to which‘may be added a remarkably contented frame of mind .

Therefore, even i f the Chinese Government presents everyindication of decadence , it would be unjust to say the same ofits energetic and hard-working subjects . Unquestionably theGovernment i s not the only thing that needs reforming in

China. There is the secular habit of always looking to thepast for a type of perfection, which produces a certa in atrophyof the Chinese intelligence, depr iving it of all elasticity, original ity and power of invent ion , and making it only capable ofservile imitation, lacking even discernment— a fact which isadmirably illustrated in the well-known story of the ta ilor towhom a European sen t an old pair of breeches in order thathe might copy them . This he did so conscientiously that hecut a hole in the exact place where there had been one in thewell-worn pair which had been entrusted to him . In the sameorder of ideas is an instance supplied me by the Jesuit Fathersat Sicawei, near Shanghai, who showed me some drawingsexecuted by young Chinese students, intended for the platesto be introduced in a publication on the fauna of the Far East.They included some drawings of the skeletons ofanimals, which,however, were disfigured, notwithstanding the entreaties of theFather s, with certain accidental blots and marks that appearedupon the models . It is not impossible to induce the Chineseto learn new habits , but it is almost impossible to induce themto correct those which have been bequeathed to them by theirancestors . It i s possible to teach them how to work modernmachinery, but no power

,human or divine, could teach a

Chinese carpenter to work otherwise than he has been trainedto do . A t the orphanage at Sicawei, under the direction ofthe Jesuits , I was shown over the carpentry department , andwas surprised to find each bench occupied by only one workman. The Father who showed me over the school informedme that i t was absolutely impossible to induce two workmento occupy the same bench . The younger orphans saw theolder children and the adults who had remained in the serviceof the mission working thus, and insisted upon doing likewise.

The awaken ing of any sense of original ity or invention in

the mind of this people,by whom these qualities have been lost

for the simple reason that they have been systematically trainedto look backwards rather than forwards, will be a work of

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CHA PTER VI

FOREIGNERS IN CHINA — THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHINESE

TOWA RDS WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Concessions successively made by China to for eigner s after the War s o f

1842, 1858 -60, and 1895 -

98—Inc reasing tension between the Chinese

and Eu r opeans in consequence of the latter desir ing to extend their

action—Refusal of Eur opeans to conform to Chinese usages—Frequent

br eaches made by them against the r ules and tr ad itional customs of

the Chinese—Contempt in wh ich Wester n civilization is held by theChinese notwithstand ing their acknowledgment of its power and

mater ial advancement—This hostile spir it mor e mar ked among the

literati, who dir ect public Opinion, than among the people.

THE position of foreigners in the M iddle Kingdom has

been defined by various formal conventions , the first of whichwas the Treaty of Nanking, signed between England and Chinaafter the war of 1 842, known in history as the OpiumWar .

This was followed in 1 844 by other treat ies upon the samesubj ect with France and the Uni ted States , and still later withother nations ; in 1 8 5 8 the treaties of T ien-tsin , which wereconcluded with France and England after a short war , butwhich were not ratified until 1 860, after a much more seriouscampaign and the entry of the allied troops into Peking, greatlyameliorated the condition of foreigners in the Celestial Empire.

Lastly, in 1 895 , the treaty of Shimonosaki, imposed upon Chinaby victorious Japan , gave fresh facilities to foreign commerce.

It i s a characteristic fact, however, that no serious concessionhas been obtained from China until after a disastrous war , theGovernment of Peking never ceding to persuasion, only toforce.

S ince the sixteenth century Europeans have been able, asthe A rabs and Malays had before them, to carry on commerce

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CHINA

with Canton without being molested,simply because they did

not show any intention of extending their commerce further .But in the second quarter of the present century they became more numerous and exacting , and tension began tomanifest itself. The pride of the Westerners , who were morethan ever convinced of the superiori ty of thei r civilization,and whose progress at home was making giant strides, burnedto impose their ideas upon the whole world

, and therebywounded the equally great pride of the Chinese , stubbornly attached to those very ancient customs so haughtilydespised by the barbarians, as they were plea sed to ca ll us .The port of Canton, consecrated by tradition as the exchangemart between foreigners and natives , no longer suffi ced forEuropean ambition, and a clamour was raised to get rid of thetwelve merchants

,or lzozzgs, to whom the Chinese Government

had conceded the monopoly of trading with the outer world.

The foreigners,moreover

,demanded the right to deal with

whomsoever they pleased, and refused to submit any longer tothe arbitrary taxat ion and treatment to which they had hithertobeen subjected by the loca l authorities . These demands andothers of a similar character, which appear to us perfectlyreasonable, were considered exorbitan t by the Chinese . To

our incessant protests they answered exactly as they had donetwenty— nay, fifty

— year s before , that we wished to compelthem to do in their own country exactly as we chose, whereas ,considering that we were their guests , the contrary should bethe case

,and that we ought to submit to their ways, however

obj ec t ionable they might seem to us, and even contrary to the

interests and development of our commerce . This is preciselywhat Europe to—day, as then, refuses to admit, unless theChinese very considerably mend their ways , being of opin ionthat so vast a country has no right to refuse to allow itswealth being exploited for the benefit of human i ty, and thati f it cannot, either through want of goodwill or of thenecessary means , turn i t to account i tself, i t should allowothers who possess implements perfected for the purpose touse them. In short

, Europe demands the right not on ly totrade, but also to exploit, and she intends to have it, whatevermay be the consequences .This radical diff erence in looking at the same thing is the

origin of every diffi culty that exists between the Powers and

the Celestial Empire. The peoples of the West, once they2 29

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

have made up their minds that a th ing is l ikely to further theirinterests

,insist upon its being carried into effect whether the

Chinese like it or not , and care very little whether they Offendthe prejudices or even the sanctity of Chinese tradition . It

i s not merely in matters of commercial transactions thatforeigners behave thus

,but also with regard to religion . We

profess the most profound admiration and respect for thosemen who at the risk of their l ives bring the Gospel to thosewho know it not, and who sacrifice everything in the hope ofsaving souls, and we are thoroughly convinced of the vastsuperiority of the teaching of Jesu s Christ over that of Confucius. Christiani ty, however , upsets not only the traditions ,but also the foundations of Chinese society. No Governmentof Europe would tolerate a rel igion which advocated polygamy,and that of the Un ited States rigorously opposes the spread ofMormonism . We must not therefore be surprised if theChinese do not behold with a friendly eye a rel igion whichopposes their great doctrine of the cultus of ancestors, and ifthey consider it nothing short of sacrilege and well calculatedto overthrow morality and law

,and infinitely worse from their

point of view than polygamy is from ours . The employment of female missionaries by certain Protestant sects i sanother scandal, and the sight of young women l iving underthe same roof as men who are not their husbands gives risein their minds to a train of thought the reverse of edifying.

It matters li ttle that the worship of ancestors is but mereoutward form, and that the l ives of the missionaries arewithoutany reproach : ancient traditions and customs are violated, andto these the average Chinaman holds far more tenaciously thanhe does to the truths they conceal .The utter disregard paid by Europeans to even the most

cherished customs of the Chinese, and the vast differencewhich exists between the two civilizations , together with thesense of superiority which both peoples with perfect good faithentertain for themselves

,i s doubtless at the bottom of that

bitter feeling of contempt that causes every Chinaman todespise as well as to hate the intruders. They look uponthem as so many barbarians, although A rticle 5 1 of the Treatyof T ien-ts in ofii cially ordained the proscription of the particularcharacter describing foreigners by this objectionable word .

Our most complicated and wonderful scientific instruments arenot considered by the Chinese as criterions of our superiority,

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

only inhabited by a few fishermen before the English occupat ion

, and all the large towns belonging to the Europeancolonies in the vicinity of China—Vladivostok, Manila

, Saigon ,

Singapore, Batavia— are practically Chinese towns . Theylike to have their property and their commercial interests protected , and strongly object to being exploited and harassed as

they are under their own Government . A t the time of theoccupat ion of Manchuria by the M ikado’s troops, an Englishmissionary who had long resided in the country assured methat the Chinese were very glad to escape from the squeezee

’

system,and from the many vexations to which they had been

subjected by the mandarins , and were amazed to see theJapanese pay for everything they requ ired.

The Chinese ar e not,therefore, unappreciative of our civiliza

t ion, and since we afli ict them with our presence , they think it

wise to profit by the material advantages which we have introduced among them ; but, with few exceptions, doubtless theywould prefer the loss of these advantages to our company,

'

and they never cease to despise us. From the moment thatthey can read they go to their Old books as to a fountain-head ,whence they drink intoxicat ing draughts of pride and vanity

,

and of profound contempt for all that i s not of the wisdom ofConfucius .A fter all, i t is not by means of the ignorant classes, but

through the initiative of a few thinkers , that progressive ideasgradually filter into a country and reform it. Unluckily, inthe Chinese Empire, owing to a defective system of educat ion , the very class which ought to benefi t their fellows— theliterat i— i s precisely that which is the most obstinately retrogressive.

The gross superstit ions, too , which are entertained by thepeople in the interior of China against foreigners form anotherbarrier to an advance movement . That the lower classesshould believe that the missionaries pull out the eyes of littlechildren and use their bowels as the ingredients of infernaland magical concoctions , or that our doctors spread the pes twhenever we want a war , i s not much to be wondered at, forthe same things have been repeated in A strakhan and in someof the Russian provinces whenever there has been a rumour ofan epidemic. But what i s really very grave is that the l iterati ,who are so all-powerful in China, foster these superstitions ,and even spread them broadcast among the people in order

23 2

CHINA

the better to keep Up the feeling of hatred which they ought toattenuate. A t the bottom of all the ris ings against the missionar ies ar e the mandarins and the literati . The great influencewhich these men exercise over the people, and their abhorrenceof Western civilizat ion, i s the real cause why no progress hashitherto been made in the Chinese Empire .

2 33

CHA PTER VII

THE POSITION AND WORK OF FOREIGNERS IN CHINA

The pr ivileges of foreigner s in China—The open por ts and the concessionsGr eat ex tension of pr ivileges granted to for eigner s by the tr eaty

of Shimonosaki (1895 ) —Opening of fr esh por ts— Facilities conceded

to commer ce. and the r igh t of establish ing factor ies in the Tr eatyPo r ts—The speedy effects of these concessions—Silk indus t r iesChinese wor kmen r ise in their salar ies—Prospects of Chinese

industry—Fresh concessions granted in 1898—Opening of the water

ways—Railways and mines—G r eat expectations r esulting from these

additional treaties—The lz'

kz’

m ,or native Custom-houses—Therr

oppr essive exactions—Slow development of for eign commer ce in

Ch ina—Necessity for Eu ropeans to penetrate into the inter ior and

take their affair s into their own hands—Chinese r esistance to this proposal.

FOREIGNERS who l ive in China, with the exception of themissionaries, are at present penned up in the twenty-six openports , to which may be added six other towns or markets,situated on the frontiers of Indo-China, assimilated to the freeports, but doing a very l imited trade. In each of these so

called Open port s* spaces have been let on long leases , orThe following is the list of the Tr eaty Por ts : To the nor th of the

Blue River , Niu-chwang, Tien -tsin, Chefoo, and nea r the mouth o f the r iver

Shanghai and its annex ,Wusung. On the Yang-tsze-Kiang : Chin-Kiang,Nank ing, Wuhu , Kiu -k iang, Sha -shi

, Hankow,It-chang, Chung

-k ing—inall eigh t r iver stations, of which Nank ing is not r eally ‘

Open,’

althoughmentioned in the Fr ench tr eaty o f Tien-tsin. Not far fr om Shanghai isSu -chow, on the inland canals. On the coast south of the Blue River ar eHangchow, Ning

-

po ,Wenchow, Foochow, A moy, Swatow. A t the mouth

of the West River is Canton, and higher up the r iver Sam-shu i, Wuchow,

and since the spr ingof 1899Nanning-fu . On theGulf of Tongk ing : Pak hni,

and in the island of Hainan, Hoi-how. The open towns on the fr ontier of

Indo-China ar e : Lung-chau , Mongtse, Ho-Kau , Szemao , Tchoun-ning

-fu ,and a six th , Tong-hing, is not as yet occupied . The Open por ts were in1842, accor ding to the Tr eaty of Nanking, only five in number , but were

incr eased by the treaty o f Tien-tsin to nineteen other s wer e opened by

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

to carry on their commercial under takings in the open ports,

and had to have a passport in order to travel in the interior.Isolated as much as possible from the native population, theycould traffi c with the Chinese on ly on the condition that theynever attempted to alter any of the native methods of production, or introduced any European innovations , or eu

deavou red to exploit a single one of the innumerable naturalresources of the country .

On the other hand, nothing was to be expected from privateinitiative or from the Government, which latter would unques

tionably have vetoed any improvement, and only reluctantlypermitted, on account of its political value, the creation ofthe telegraph- line connecting Peking with the extremities ofthe Empire. In 1 8 77 the Europeans had actually to pull upthe rail s laid down on the short l ine between Shangha i andWusung , and though the Chinese since 1 88 9 have pretendedto consider the construction of a l ine from Hankow to Peking,i t has only been with the object of misleading the Europeans .No progress i s possible in China under these unfavourableconditions, and the antiquated methods of the natives continueto hamper all commercial and financial prosperity.The treaty of Shimonosaki, signed in 1 895 at the close of

the war between China and Japan , effected some very important changes in this respect, and in virtue of the mostfavoured-nation clause, inserted in the treat ies with the Powers ,opened out a better prospect for foreigners of every nationality , who were thus able to benefit by the advantages con

ceded to the Japanese. A rticle 6 of this important documentstipulated the opening of several new ports, and permits steamnavigation along the coasts and up the rivers and canal sleading thereunto . It goes on to declare that foreignersmay visit the interior to purcha se or sell merchandise, and thatJapanese subj ects may establish depots for the same whereverthey like without paying any extra tax, and erect factories ofall sorts in the Chinese open towns and ports, and importinto China all kinds of machinery on payment of a fixedtariff. Goods manufactured by Japanese subjects on Chineseterritory should be placed on the same footing with respectto inland and transit duties and other taxes , charges , and

facil it ies for warehousing, etc .,in the interior, as goods im

por ted into China by other foreigners, and enjoy the sameprivileges .

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CHINA

This clause i s of very great importance, since it permitsthe combination of highly-perfected European machinery andcheap Chinese labour in the production of articles the raw

materials for which, especially silks and cotton , can be obtainedin the immediate neighbourhood of the free ports. The clauseabove cited may appear at first somewhat extraordinary , andin any other country but China it would be superfluous tostipulate that goods manufactured in the country itself shouldnot be treated with less considerat ion than s imilar articles imported. But the Japanese negotiators understood their men,and ar e perfectly aware that i f they had not inserted thesespecial clauses , the advantages Obtained would have been an

nulled by the Chinese authorities by a system of arbitrarytaxation and other vexatious measures .No very long time elapsed before the advantages of A rt icle 6

of the Shimonosaki Treaty were made strikingly evident. In

three years ’ t ime an entire district of Shanghai was occupiedby not less than n ine large cotton factories , workingspindles

,which in 1 8 98 were increased to and close

to them presently rose some thirty silk factories,which

,in due

time,will be considerably increased both in numbers and im

portance . In the other ports th is industrial impulse has not

yet been much felt , except at Tien- tsin, where a woollen factoryhas lately been established. In that great centre of industry

,

Shanghai , a certain fall ing-off has been observed in this extreme briskness , due to over-production, and also to a verylegitimate desire to watch the results of industries alreadyexisting before launching into further speculat ions. Then

,

again, there was a fear that wages might presently ri se to an

exaggerated extent.The labour market of China i s undoubtedly enormous, but

the supply does not respond as readily to the demand as in

Europe, because the distances are great and the means ofcommunication correspondingly few and difficult . However,the labourers l iving on the banks of the Yang-tsze, who are

called Water-fowls ,’ constantly flock into Shanghai in search of

work . They belong to that class of poor creatures who crowdthe great Chinese cities , and whose only home is their sampang,in which an entire family accommodates itself in a space thatwould barely suffice for a single European. One can see theirfloat ing huts moored alongside the a r r oy os that furrow thesuburbs of Shanghai . Once they begin to earn a l ittle

,they

237

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

build a but on shore, using up the material of their old boathouse , until they can erect something better by way of a dwelling. Salaries are distinctly ris ing in Shanghai , and when I

was there in 1 898 the factories were wrangling over their workmen and women— who are in the maj ority—in consequenceof certain enterprising but unscrupulous managers of rivalfi rms intriguing , by offers of higher wages , to induce themost skilled to leave their employers and come to them . The

qual ity of the labour at Shanghai appears to be satisfactory , atleast, so say the diff erent managers , and in the manufactorieswhich I visited I noticed that everything was scrupulouslyclean and orderly, quite as much so as in any averageEuropean or American factory of the same class. The workgirls do not l ive, as in Russia and Japan, and, indeed, as theydid formerly in England and in other manufacturing countries,in a building near the place of business set apart for thepurpose, and at the expense of the firm

,but at home with their

own families. Many of them are married women , and a greatnumber

,instead of leaving their l ittle girls over ten years of

age at home, request that they may be employed , so as toremain under their supervis ion . They are usually engaged on

very light work,such as shifting the cocoons in the boiling

water for the weavers . In the s ilk factories I visited they wereallowed half an hour every day for what was known as ‘school , ’during which some senior workwoman—the mother or theelder sister— taught them the rudiments of their work . Thissystem is excellent, and the managers declare themselves highlypleased with it, as i t i s l ikely to train good workers .The working hours at Shanghai in the silk factories are

usually from six in the morning to six in the evening, includingan hour and a half for meals. In the silk manufactories thelittle girls earn Iid . per day at first, which i s increased to 25d .

after a short time . A clever workwoman gets about 9d . In

1 89 1-

92 the wages in the same factory, which was then on a

very small scale and under a Chinese name, were about 30 percent. less . In the larger factories the children got 25d. a dayand the women from 6d . to 7d . During the first few monthsthat elapsed after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonosakisalaries were on an average about 5 d. A s exchange has notvaried much since then

,the rise is very considerable .

‘The

women and children now working in the better factories here, ’says the British Consul at Shanghai in his Report , 1 8 97, ‘

can

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

Brita in in 1 898 , allowing European navigation on the inlandwaters of China , and the concess ions for the creat ion ofrailways and exploitation of mines

,may subsequently lead to

very remarkable results,but up to the present they have not

been entirely successful. Industrial activity is stil l l imited to .

the free ports and their immediate vicin ity. The reasons forthis state of affairs are worth examining, especially as they illu strate the determined opposition of the Chinese authori ties toall measures of reform , and also indicate many points againstwhich Europeans should complain.

The Chinese Custom-house duties were determined according to the treaties as much as possible 5 per cent. ad m lor em.

They may therefore be safely described as comparatively light,and ar e collected with great regularity for the Imperial Government on the European system by a staff admirably organizedby Sir Robert Hart .The undesirabil ity of exposing foreign merchants to the

arbitrary and corrupt methods of Chinese Custom houseofficial s led to the formation of an international staff of officers ,which works perfectly and gives un iversal sati sfaction. On theother hand, the great nat ive firms are most scrupulously honestin all their transactions , having discovered from experiencethat honesty is the best policy ,

’

and European merchants canon ly praise their way of transacting business. It i s, therefore,neither on entering nor leaving China that diffi culties occur,whether for importation or exportation. The trouble arisesin the transport between the Open ports and the places of consignment or expedition the principal grievance arises throughthe system of 1172572, or of inland Customs, whereby an arbitraryand variable scale of taxation i s exacted on goods passingthrough towns or over the front iers of the various provinces , oreven at certain determined places on the high-roads and rivers .

This pern icious system is a great drawback to the expansion ofEuropean trade , and gives rise to endless bother and expense.

Let us suppose,’ said a gentleman, thoroughly acquainted

with commerce in the Far East , at a meeting of the LondonChamber of Commerce in 1 8 98 , that a train going fromLondon to NeWcastle had to be stopped three or four times onthe way, so that goods might be overhauled and examined byofficials whose main object i s to extort as much as they can intheir own interests, and who value goods arbitrarily at sight.Imagine, for instance, a consignment of skins getting damaged

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CHINA

by the rain through careless packing, and on being weighedfound heavier than declared in the invoice : the result is

,that

the luckless owner i s charged, not according to the increasedweight, but fined according to his personal property

,say £ 50

or £ 100 on Or, finally,what would become of

British trade i f we had to put up with lz'

kz’

zz offi cials,one of whom

examines goods once in every three days , and another announceshis intention of only doing so when ten trains have arrived ?’There is a remedy for the 1136 71 system

, and that is a transitpass but more often than not, as with most things in China ,this i s merely a theoretical improvement. On payment of asum equal to half the original entry duty , all imported goodsshould be considered free of inland duty. But this regulationdoes not work, and no one avai ls himself of it

,since the

Chinese very ingenuously manage to evade it by charging ‘a

duty on arrival at destination,

’ which comes to the same thing.

It is not therefore surpris ing that, with all these drawbacks,in addition to a very rudimentary monetary system , Chinesecommerce only attains of which £ 2 7, 2oo ,ooorepresents imports , which is very small when one considers theenormous size of the country and it s great wealth . The halfof this commerce is divided up between four articles :

cotton and £ 4 , 800,ooo Opium (imported) , and

£ 8 ,ooo,ooo silk, and £ 5 ,ooo ,ooo tea (exported) . The last

figures are inferior to What they formerly were, Indian tea

having grea tly affected Chinese tea as far as England is con

cerned . Its preparat ion stil l follows the Old system, and itslasting qual i ty i s distinctly inferior to Ceylon and other teasgrown in India. This is another example of the vast importanceof introducing into China better and more scientific methods.The export trade of China must inevitably remain very

limited so long as foreigners are prevented from penetratinginto the country and directing the exploitation of its resources .Whilst it was a mere matter of open ing a few ports . theChinese Government made no very serious Opposition ; butonly the real ization of its incapacity to resist pressure inducedi t to permit the introduction into the Celestial Empire offoreign capital , machinery , and industrial methods . Well maywe ask, Can the S ick Man of Peking endure such violent treatment ? Wil l he not succumb to the very powerfu l remediesthat are being administered to him

, and thereby fulfi l the secretwishes of those who are anxious for his legacy ?

24 1

CHA PTER VIII

CHINA A ND THE POWERS

Question of the Far East unexpectedly brought to an issue by the

defeat of China—For eign misconception of Chinese power , and the

amazement of Eu ropean d iplomacy at its collapse- The new state

of affair s cr eated by Japanese vic tor ies—The aims of the var iousPower s in the Far East and their policy—En land seek s an ally againstRussia—Her sudden change o f policy in 1 95—She abandons China

for Japan—Russia covets the whole of Nor thern China—Japan'

s wish

to conquer the Celest1al Empir e—The tr ea ty of Shimonosaki—Oppositiou o f Russia to Japanese policy—Russia becomes the inter ested

pr otectr ess of Ch ina—The convention between the th ree Power s,France, Germany, and Ru ssia

—A ttempt to br ing about a reconciliation between China and Japan- Substitution of a power ful Russian

influence for that of England .

THE Chinese Question presents many difficulties, not only

because the detail s are extremely complicated and the rivalpretensions which it has created difficult to reconcile

,but

because of the unexpected manner in which it was thrust onthe attention of Europe, at a time when diplomacy had no

ready remedy .

The present position in the Far East i s not the result of agradual chain of events , but of the absolute surprise created bythe unexpected results of the Chino-Japanese War . No doubtthe collapse of China in 1 894 was only the last act in a longdrama of decadence, but it revealed to astoni shed Europethe utter incapacity of China either to reform or to defendherself

, a fact for which we were quite unprepared . Japanalone knew the truth , and profi ted by her knowledge of hercolossal neighbour ’s almost incredible weakness. Russia hadsuspected it

,but was not sufficiently convinced to venture on

carrying her conviction into effect. Thanks to the astutenessof the Chinese and their remarkable aptitude in all arts of

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EAST

believed to be formidable, but whose weakness was now re

vealed.

England, with perhaps excessive frankness, turned her backon her old ally China. A t the beginning of the conferenceshe had been the champion of the Celestial Empire, and

the newspapers related at the time a curious incident whichhappened before Wei-hai-wei, which the Japanese squadronwas about to attack . The British fleet upset thei r plan bysaluting A dmiral Ito , contrar y to all precedents, before sun

ri se,whereby the sleeping Chinese were warned of their danger.

On more than one occasion the English did not hes itate tothreaten the Japanese, especially after the latter had fired on

a British merchant ship conveying some Chinese troops "There was no mistaking the peremptory tone of Englandwhen she gave the Japanese to understand that she had no

desire to see the war extend to Shanghai and the region of theYang-tsze.

But the battle of the Yalu and the taking of Port A rthur inone morning by the troops of the Mikado opened the eyes ofthe Cabinet of St. James ’s. What Br i tain desired in the FarEast was, on the one hand, a political prop, and even a militaryone, if necessary, against the Empire of the Tsar a bolt tofasten the door against the ambitions of Russian expan sion

,

’

to use the sign ificant expression of Herr von Brandt, and, onthe other , a wide Opening for her commerce and capital . Onceconvinced that Japan , firmly established in Korea and on thenorthern coast of the Gulf of Pe-chi-li , would become a far moreefficacious ‘ bolt ’ than China, England began to favour theJapanese, and at the same time to advise the Chinese Government to abandon Peking, and establish itself nearer the centreof the Empire. If the M iddle Kingdom was no longer a usefulally , i t might sti ll become a splendid prey, a field of extraordinary economic activity , so that the transfer of the capita l tosome point on the banks of the Yang-tsze accessible by sea— toNanking, for instance, would have placed China at the mercyof the supreme mistress of the seas. The English, moreover ,fully intended to force China to

'

open her ports, and theircommercial superiority and the influence which they have

The story of the improper salute was a newspaper fiction. Nofoundation for it has ever been adduced . The ‘ thr eats ’

after the sink ingof the Kow oSlzz

’

ng wer e wholly unofficial, and the matter was r efer red to

arbitration by the two Governments.—H . N.

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CHINA

already establ ished over the peoples in the Far East wouldsoon have enabled them to profit largely by this revolution.

If, however, the consequences of the Chinese defeat werereal ized in London , they were no less so in St. Petersburg, andsubsequent events proved that Russian diplomacy was equal tothe occasion. The Government of the Tsar had beheld thewar with quite as much displeasure as England , and wouldhave preferred the Far Eastern Question remain ing in abeyanceuntil the termination of the Trans-S iberian Rai lway. The obj ectpursued by Russia in the Far East i s , i t should be remembered,absolutely opposed to that of England, and concentrates itselfon the one issue— the securing of Open sea. The vast Empireof the Tsars possesses no port in Eu rOpe, where the keys ofthe house are in the hands , so to speak, of other Powers , andEngland barred her way to the south fifteen or twenty years agoin A fghan istan and Beluchistan. In the Far East somewherein the middle of the century Russia contrived to descend fromthe Polar Sea of Okhotsk and to advance at the expense ofChina as far as Vladivostok but this port remains closed for twomonths on account of the ice , and Russia has always consideredher provinces of the A mur and of the Littoral merely in the lightof temporary stations, whence she intended on some future andfavourable occas ion to push her way further south . Between1 880 and 1 886 i t was reported that she was about to obtaina concession somewhere in the Bay of Korea, or even in theisle of Quelpart, which is in the strai t separating that countryfrom Japan. A l ittle later she seemed to covet Port A rthuror Tal ien—wan, which are free of ice, and are s ituated at theextremity of the peninsula of Liao-tung, which would provideher access to an open sea at the back of Korea and otheradvan tages. A t the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Pe-chi-l iand only 50 miles from the oppos ite coast of Shan—tung , areports which offer great advantages as naval

‘ stations , whence a

rapid transport fleet could eas ily convey troops in twenty—fourhours to Taku, and thence in four days’ march to the Chinesecapital. Once established at Port A rthur, and having plentyof elbow- room in Pe-chi- l i,

’

Russia could exercise over theChinese Government, in its present capital, even a more irresistible pressure than could England have done had she beenable to induce the Imperial Court to transport itself to the banksof the Yang-tsze.

Unquestionably the dreams of Russian aggrandizement have245

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

become much more ambitious since she has discovered how veryweak the S ick Man of Peking is . She no longer seeks an openport on the Pacific

,but apparently pursues her object, nu

ostentatiously however, towards the complete dominat ion ofthe Middle Kingdom , especially over her vast dependenciesin Turkestan, Mongol ia, and Manchuria— in a word

,over the

whole of North China . A nd as the Muscovite temperament i sever a dreamy one, who knows but that on the shores of the Nevathe heir of Peter the Great does not already picture h imselfon the throne of the Sun of Heaven, commanding the latter

’smultitude of subj ects, who are accustomed to submit to a

foreign yoke,and might obey the Tsar as unresistingly as they

did Ghengis Khan, even as to day they pay homage to a de~generate Manchu, and as indeed they would have done to theM ikado, had not Europe put a stop to further advances on thepart of the Japanese The Mikado, too, who had been driveninto the war by the repeated insolence of the Chinese and alsoby the justifiable desire to protect h is commercial interests inKorea, may also , when intoxicated by his surprising successes,have entertained the thought that it might be possible for h imone day to annex China. If th is war had taken place fifty, oreven twenty-five , years ago , when Europe paid less attention toforeign affairs , it i s probable that the Manchu Dynasty wouldhave been replaced by that of Japan. Possibly then the‘Yellow Peril — the military ‘ Yellow Peri l -which to day isbut a mere chimera, might have become a very evident reality.

The Japanese, after having thoroughly reorgan ized and disciplined the Chinese army, might at a given moment have letloose its innumerable hordes upon the Western world ; butif in 1 8 95 they had allowed themselves for a moment to dreamof placing their Emperor upon the throne of Peking , theJapanese were not allowed to indulge in this pleasant visionfor long, and were soon made to feel how intently and j ealouslytheir movements were watched by European diplomacy.

By the treaty of Shimonosaki, signed A pril 2 , 1 89 5 , theCelestial Empire granted to her conquerors all their demands,recogni sing at the same time the independence of Korea, andallowing Japan, whose troops stil l occupied that country, a freehand . If thi s treaty had been ratified as i t was originallydrawn up, Russia would have had to renounce for a long timeto come all hope of possessing an outlet to the open sea, and

would certainly have had to see her influence substituted by246

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THE AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

which now exists between this last Power and England . The

mandarins and the Court of Peking, whilst never ceding an

iota of their pride or their firm belief in the superiority of theircivilizat ion , were , nevertheless, obliged to admit the ir remediable weakness of the military power of the Celestial Empire. If

the majority did not ca re much for China as their country, theyone and all considered her to be their prey , and consequentlyrequired a protector against the Japanese, and they proceededfrom Legation to Legation in quest of one as their situationwas desperate, they were obliged to take what they could get,and, Russia being agreeable, they accepted her friendly Offer,even though their new ally might eventually become a domineering master. This gave them time, and they counted upon theircunning

,when a favourable opportunity presented i tself, to set

the Powers by the ears . Probably at heart they entertain lessdislike for the Muscovite Empire than for any other Europeancountry, and, indeed, China has less friction with the Russiansthan with any other national ity. Russia can enter the CelestialEmpire over her land frontier through countries very thinlypopulated by inhabitants not of Chinese race, who are not

hostile to strangers ; whereas the other Europeans coming bysea ar e brought into immediate contact with the turbulentcrowds of the seaport towns , where the least act of imprudencemay give rise to grave incidents. Moreover, the subjects ofthe Tsar exhibit a greater degree of forbearance than thepeoples of the West. They do not experience that innatecontempt for men of colour, they are more tractable to thehabits of the countries in which they establish themselves, andare not so forward in protesting against petty annoyances . The

Orthodox Church, too, scrupulously abstains from all propa

ganda in China, and the Russian Legat ion i s therefore Sparedthose delicate questions concerning the rights and the wrongsof missionaries which so greatly irri tate the Chinese. A ll thisfacil itates the substitution of Russian influence for that of theEnglish.

We must, however, seek for the causes which induced Franceand Germany to enter, under the Russian auspices , into an un

expected alliance outside the question of the Far East. The

harmony that exists between these two Powers is due to theirdesire to gain the good graces of the Tsar. R ivals in en

deavou r ing to please him , they both answered all proposalswhich came from St. Petersburg favourably . Germany had no

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politica l interests in the East of A sia, and France only thoseof secondary importance connected with Indo—China , and therefore these nat ions never hesitated to regulate their l ine ofconduct in the Far East in accordance with their politicalaspiration s in Europe, and, the better to please Russia, forthwithmodified their previously somewhat hostile attitude. Duringthe war both Powers had been more or less favourable toJapan .

This change of conduct involved a considerable sacrifice,

especially in the case of France, and sign ified the rupture ofher old friendship for Japan, whose army had been formed bya French military mission, and whose battleships and arsenalshad been in great part constructed and organized by Frenchmen , services which the Japanese recogni sed shortly after thevictory of the Yalu by sending to the eminent naval engineer,M . Bertin , the grand cordon of the Order of the Ris ing Sun.

France had not obtained great advantages from this friendship,but if she did not do so , i t was more or less because she did not

wish it, for i t i s certain that the alliance of the M ikado wasOffered to her in 1 8 84 on the condition that she conveyed to thecoasts of Pe-chi- l i a Japanese army corps, intended to marchon to Peking. France had also the right to expect after the warsome commercial advantages , notably some important commer cial orders to her great industrial firms, for the renovatingof the fleet, much damaged by the war . By placing herself onthe side of China, whose friendship might have been useful,the more so as she was a neighbour, although she was con

stantly wrangling with her, France gave up an all iance withthe one country in the Far East which represents progress andhas a future , and, what is more , she l iterally pushed her intothe arms of England , who may one day make use of heragainst the '

French .

The sacrifices made by Germany were less important, for shecould not expect in the Far East any con siderable advantages .To begin with , she had seized the Opportun ity to play a politica lpart on a stage where she had never appeared before

,but

being much more commercial than France, she had more togain from the concessions which China would be obliged tomake, and she could thus include this vast market in thesphere of her industrial activity and commercial enterprise.

By mixing in the affairs of the Far East the youthful GermanEmpire only obeyed the instinct of foreign expansion which

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

obliges her to watch over her political and commercial interestsin all part s of the world.

On the other hand,the action of the three Continental

Powers presented considerable danger, aggravated as it was bythe warl ike intent ions of the commanders of the Russ ian fleet.A rumour certainly existed in 1 8 96 in the Far East, and, moreover, has s ince been confirmed to me by most credible witnesses,that between A pril 25 , the day on which the Note of the threePowers was presented, and May 5 th , the date on which therepresentat ives of Japan announced their acquiescence , A dmiralTyr tof, who commanded the Russian fleet and who has s incebecome Minister of Marine, invited A dmiral de la Bonninierede Beaumont to proceed with him to meet the Japanese fleetat the risk of provoking a coll ision , in which the latter wouldinevitably have been crushed. The presence of mind of theFrench A dmiral, who evaded the invitation by protesting thathe had received no instructions from his Government , and

therefore delayed matters as long as possible, prevented an

aggression which might have resulted in dreadful consequences ,and led to a massacre in Japan itself of Russian and Frenchresidents, and, moreover, might have brought about extremelygrave internat ional complicat ions. Who knows, too , but thatpublic opinion in England might have been offended by suchan act, and that on the morrow of an easy victory over theJapanese the A llies might have found themselves face to facewith the British fleet ?It i s certain that by taking sides with Russia in a question of

only secondary interest to herself France incurred the graverisk of a war not on ly with Japan, but with England , a war

in which her stake was far greater than that of Russia or ofGermany, and the consequences of which she would have beenobliged to bear alone. Fortunately , the prudence of A dmiralde Beaumont smoothed over the angry feel ing of the Russiancommanders, which, however, man ifested itself once more on

May 8 , 1 895 , the date on which the r atifications of the treatyof peace between China and Japan were to have been ex

changed. On that day the Russian fleet was stationed in theroads off the Chinese port of Chefoo, at the entrance to theGulf of Pe-chi-l i

,opposite Port A r thur

,where the exchange of

ratifications was to have occurred , ready for fight in case Japanrefused her acceptance , in which case it was agreed betweenthe admiral s to oppose the Japanese near Ta-ku , at the mouth

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payable on November 1 81h , 1 8 95 , the Japanese evacuation totake place within three months.Japan was obliged to accept these propositions by an

exchange of Notes signed on the 1 9th October, and she , moreover

,agreed to withdraw her troops from Korea immediately.

The attempt at a reconciliation and an alliance with theCelestial Empire had failed ; but s ince then the language ofthe Japanese press and of many of her statesmen proves thatat Tokio this idea has not been entirely abandoned , and i fthey have not been able to confiscate China to the advantageof theMikado, the Japanese wish to see her placed in a positionto resist the pressure of other Powers and to exist by her ownresources . On the payment of the indemnity, Japan endeavouredto obtain from China a formal promise that she would nevercede to any other Power the territories which she had beenobliged to restore. But Russian influence was already toofirmly established , and the promise was refused. The new

political line of conduct which the European Powers and

those which had at first come to her assistance were about tofollow with respect to China was now openly developed . If

the Setting Sun had more worshippers now than the Ris ingSun, i t i s assuredly not the result of any sentiment ofchivalrous disinterestedness— quite the contrary.

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CHA PTER IX

RU SSIA,FRANCE, AND ENGLAND IN THE FA R EA ST IN 1 895

-

97

immediate results of the war—Issue of an impor tant Chinese loanRussia becomes guarantee fo r China , and in r etur n obtains the r ightto constr u ct the Manchu r ian Railway—A bility of Russian diplomacyin Kor ea—Faults and abuses of the Japanese in that country—Revolution in the Kor ean palace at Seoul—The K ing of Kor ea under the

pr otection of Russia—Pr eponderance of Muscovite influences in the

Far East at the beginning of 1897— Impor tant ad vantages obtained by

the Tsar’

s allies— A ppa rent d isinter estedness of Germany—Tr ea ty

with Fr ance signed on June 20th , 1895—Energy of the Fr ench

Minister—French pr otector ate over the Catholics of the East—E ffo r tsmade by England in 1896 to r egain her influence at Pek ing—A ngloChinese Convention, February 4th, 1897—Opening of theWest Riverto Eur opean navigation—A few fresh concessions gr anted to Fr ance in1897 .

IN the events which have transpired in the Far East since theWar

, and which have led to the present s ituation,two distinct

phases mark the violent aggression of Kiao—chau . The firstextends from the spring of 1 8 95 to the autumn of 1 8 9 7, and isthat in which the Powers , after having come to China ’ sassistance , obtained from her concessions in return for theirgood offices , whilst pretending moderation in their demands .

A ltogether, the most important consequence of the Wa r was

the establishment of a heavy foreign debt. H itherto Chinahad only contracted in Europe insignificant loans of a fewmill ions of francs . During hostil ities her foreign indebtednessrose to a mere trifle , and , moreover , the lenderswere in possession of excellent security ; but the War

Indemnity and other urgent expenses necessary for the r e

habilitation of the country mounted up to sothat now the interest on this debt, taking the rate at 5 percent. , would absorb and , by adding the arrears

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

of al ready exist ing loans, thi s figure would attain aboutequivalent to nearly the whole of the Customs

revenue. The Customs duties are paid in silver, but it wouldbe absolutely necessary to stipulate, i f a considerable loan i s tobe floated on the European market, that the interest should bepaid in gold. The question, therefore , very naturally ariseswhether

, in view of so small a margin, the fluctuations in thevalue of silver, which have already caused the lzazikwan tael tofall from 6 5 . 7d. , i ts value a quarter of a century ago, to 2 5 . 10d .

,

the average rate since,

1 897 , will not sooner or later result inthe Customs receipts proving insuffi cient to cover the paymentof the arrears. Nobody in his senses would dream of lendingmoney to China on the mere security of her general resources,and she would, consequently, be obliged to assign to hercreditors new securi ties, and place in their hands the administr ation of new branches of revenue . On the other hand,stripped of about from the total revenue, whichthe most Optimistic estimate gives at she wouldhave to look for new channels to add to her income , eitherby increasing the taxes, or by permitting foreigners to exploi tthe resources of the country, conceding to them rai lway andmining concessions on the basis of leases or joint profits .The first proposal ran the risk of unpopularity the secondwas more tempting, but it meant the introduction into thecountry of that very Western c ivi lizat ion which the ChineseGovernment had opposed with all its might for the last fiftyears .yThe monetary difliculties of the Celestial Empire brought

about a renewed inter ference by Europeans in her affairs , i fonly in the collecting of the taxes , and, also, a sort of financialembargo, the dangers of which are sufficiently mani fest incountries l ike Egypt . The Government of Peking was wellaware of this , and , therefore, spared no effort in obtaining a

reduction on the £ 34 , War Indemnity , and even at

tempted to arrive at an understanding with Japan respecting theretrocess ion of Liao-tung without supplementary disbursement.The great importance of this money question was nowhere

better understood than at St. Petersburg, and one cannot helpadmiring the boldness and abil ity of the policy pursued byRussia. That countries like France and England , l iterallyoverflowing with money , should have ventured to secure a

preponderating position in China by means of financial2 54

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at Peking , Tien- tsin,Shanghai , and Hankow . S ince then this

bank has continued to be the principal agent of Russian'

influ

ence in China, and undoubtedly it was at first almost entirelythrough its mediation that Russia negotiated the concession ofthe East Chinese Railway , which enabled her to cont inue herTrans-Siberian Rai lway southward through Manchuria, thusshortening the original l ine by several hundred miles

, and

enabling i t to pass within 3 5 0 miles of the Gulf of Pe-chi-li .Russia, moreover, obtained the authorization to protect theworks by her own troops , whereby she made herself mistress ofManchuria, whence she was able to dominate Peking untilevents allowed her to occupy Liao-tung.

Whilst she was amply paid for her services by China, Russiamade herself no less active in Korea. The Japanese, who hadoccupied that country, perpetrated error on error. They hadattempted to impose upon the Koreans with great abruptnessthe most varied and radical reforms . Many of these werepossibly useful enough

,but they ought to have been introduced

with discretion others were unnecessary, and greatly irritatedthe people by wounding their most cherished customs and

traditions . The Koreans, although not particularly clean intheir habits , ar e invariably clad in white, ar e, moreover, addictedto smoking very long pipes , and to rolling thei r hair up into ahuge chignon , which they surmount by an enormously broadbrimmed hat, whose crown i s so small that they are obliged tofasten i t to their heads by a long string. TheMikado issued a

sumptuary law against long pipes, chignons, and wide-brimmedhats, and , moreover, ordered that the traditional white robeshould henceforth be replaced by the dark-blue one usuallyworn by the Japanese. It i s said that this unfortunate incidentwas the result of a conviction that Koreans, being obliged tohold their pipe with one hand, and to balance their enormoushats with the other

,could never become hard workers . Be

thi s as i t may, the Japanese sentinels at the gates of Seoulmade life unendurable to the unfortunate Koreans . A rmedwith a big pai r of scissors , they pounced upon the unfortunatepeasants as they entered the town on their way to market , andcut not only the strings of their monumen tal hats , but severedtheir beloved chignons

,and shortened by at least three-quarters

of their length the stems of their pipes—arbitrary measureswel l calcula ted to break their heart s with mortification and

vexation of spirit. It is not to be wonder ed at tha t such25 6

CHINA

impolitic conduct, added to occasional acts of violence, soonroused the indignation and hatred of the nat ives, otherwise avery inoffensive and peaceable people. On October 7, 1 8 95 ,the Korean Queen was murdered in her palace by assassinsin the pay of the Japanese, and with the complicity of theLegation. King Li-Hsi

, a very poor creature at the best,whose reign has been one t i ssue of Court intrigue and palacerevolution , after the assassination of the Queen, fell into a con

sternation of abject terror , completely abdicating his regalauthority , and became so degraded that he even consented tosign an edict insulting the memory of the late Queen

,and

accusing her of shameful crimes . Innocent persons were nowexecuted at Seoul as guilty of the murder, whereas the actualassassins were acquitted by a self-constituted Japanese tribunal .In the meantime Russia very ably exploited the general

discontent , and in an underhand manner off ered her servicesto the timid King, who was not only terribly afraid of theJapanese , but a lso of hi s father, the Tai-wen-kun, a ferociousold gentleman , whose ambition had disturbed Korea for overtwenty years

,and who had been raised to power by the natives .

H is Maj esty seemed disposed to accept the Russian proposal ,but dared not leave his palace, in which he was kept a closeprisoner. A riot ensued, whether spontaneous or provokedhas never been divulged, which , on the night of February 1 1 ,

1 8 96 , offered him a chance of escape. The Tai-wen-kun was

killed , and Li-H si obtained shelter at the Russian Legation ,then guarded by a detachment of sai lors fresh landed at

Chemulpo , the port of Seoul , without any attempt on the partof the Japanese to prevent them . Li-Hsi, once safe in the houseof the Russian M ini ster , where all the members of the KoreanGovernment had found shelter, acted like a King in a comicOpera , and became the plaything of Russia , precisely as he hadrecently been of Japan . He forthwith revoked all the reforming edicts he had previously signed, and annulled the decreedegrading the memory of the unfortunate Queen , the trialof whose assassins took place in a H igh Court presided overby judges selected from various European nat ionalities, withthe result that the responsibil ity for her murder was thrown on

the Japanese .

The reactionary movement now became violent, and manyuseful reforms had perforce to disappear. A committee, composed of the highest nat ive functionaries

,the British Controller

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

of Customs , and a few A mericans, was appointed to studymeasures of reform, but they only met two or three times , andnothing came of it, so that in a few months all the Old abusesreappeared. Nevertheless , by her sagacious conduct, Russiahad the ability to win over the foreign representatives in Koreato her side, and Japan, in order to preserve the remnant of herinfluence in a country whose commerce was mainly in herhands

, and where not less than of her subjects resided ,was now obliged to arrive at an understanding with Russia .

The Convent ion of Seoul , signed May 14th, 1896 , by therepresentatives Of the two Powers, completed by that of July29th, concluded at Moscow at the time of the coronation ofNicholas II. , and drawn up by Prince Lobanof and MarshalYamagata, accorded Japan merely the right to keeptroops in Korea for the protection of the Japanese telegraphwires between Fusan and Seoul and of her subjects settled inthe capital and in the open ports of Fusan and Gensan. Russiaalso obtained the same rights , and, moreover, a concessionto construct a telegraphic line from Seoul to the Siberianfront ier.The two Powers further agreed to lend the Korean Govern

ment their support for the reorganization of its finances and a

suflicient police force to maintain order, and to permit, as soonas possible, of the withdrawal of their garrisons . In appearance it was a sort of Russo-Japanese condominium that wasestabl ished in Korea ; but Russian influence

,now all-powerful

with the King, met with no further obstacle after the restora

tion of that Sovereign to his palace in February, 1897. A

decree, ordering that all railways to be constructed in Koreashould have the same gauge as that of the Trans—SiberianRai lway, and that the debt of contracted by Koreawith Japan should be repaid , and , moreover, that none butRussian instructors should be engaged in reorganizing theKorean army, was also issued , which Japan considered a

distinct breach of the Treaty of Moscow.

Russian influence was therefore, at the beginn ing of theyear 1 897 , absolutely preponderant in Korea as well as in

China. In both countries the T sar’s Government had played ,with extraordinary abil ity, the part of protector of the conqueredagainst the abuses of the conqueror

,and also that of a

redresser of wrongs , whereby it won un iversal approbationthroughout the Far East . The Japanese victories nowappeared

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facilities to the extension of her commerce on the frontierbetween China and Indo-China the second ratifies

,to her

advantage, the frontier limits . A new market— Semao , in theYunnan—was now added to the towns of Mong-Tze and LungChau , opened to Franco-A nnamite commerce in 1 88 7 . The

customs on goods entering or leaving these markets and

passing through Tongking, already reduced to three-quartersof the maritime Custom-house tariff of 1 88 7 , were again loweredto about two-fifths of the general tariff , so far as concernedproducts exported from any other Chinese port, or intended tobe r e-imported into any one of these said ports. In A rticle 5of this Conven tion the following passage occurs It i s understood that China, in the exploitation of mines situated in theprovinces of Yunnan, Kuang- si, and Kuang-Tung, may apply

,

in the first place, to French merchants and engineers , the ex

ploitation remaining subject to the rules laid down by theImperial Government in all that concerns national industry.

It i s agreed that the railways already exist ing, or to be con

structed in A nnam , may , after a mutual understanding, beextended on Chinese territory.

’ Finally, i t was further stipulated that the French and Chinese telegraph lines should becombined. The Convention respecting the frontier definitelyextended the French possessions to the eastern shore of theupper Mekong, thereby giving France the territory s ituated on

the border of the Shan State of Xieng-hong. England in 1 8 94

had admitted the right of suzerainty of China over this littleprincipal ity, as well as over one or two others, thereby creatinga sort of neutral zone between her Indian Empire and FrenchIndo-China.

A great deal was made over this Convention in France,and

the energetic manner in which the French M inister at Pekinghad been able to Obtain these concessions under the very noseof his English colleague, Sir Nicholas O

’

Connor . The ne

gotiations closed , M . Gé rard proceeded to the T sung-l i-Yamenon the day arranged for the exchange of signatures , to find

,

however,only one of the two Chinese plenipotentiaries present .

This personage Offered profuse apologies for the non -appearance of his colleague .

‘Nothing should have prevented hisbeing here, ’ replied the French diplomatist . I pray you find

him at once and tell h im so.

’

A few moments afterwards thesecond Celestial appeared alone

,looking very sheepish .

‘A nd

your colleague , is be coming back ?’ asked M. Ger ard. No260

CHINA

I am afraid he is detained, and that he cannot return. Shall Igo and fetch him ?’ I beg your pardon ,

’ M . Gerard shrewdlyreplied I will keep you here, and will go myself in quest ofyour friend.

’

A t the end of an hour or so the two Celestialswere finally brought together, and on being asked to explaintheir dilatory conduct , stated that the Brit ish M in ister wasin

' the next room ,threaten ing

,i f they ventured to sign ,

forthwith to haul down his flag. M . Ger ard was soon able toconvince the Celestial plenipotentiaries that they had nothingto fear, but that they must immediately affix their signatures tothe document . Sir Nicholas O’

Connor , he assured them , oncehe was convinced of the futility of his intimidation, would soonturn his attention to other affairs. This anecdote, whilst i treflects great credit on the energy of the French M inister

,and

displays his knowledge of the Chinese character to advantage,emphasizes the decl ining influence of England in China in1 89 5 and 1 896 , as well as the annoyance experienced by thisPower at the ratification of the French frontier and its extensiontowards Mekong . By confirming it, China violated , it i s true ,the engagements she had made when England recognised herposi tion at Xieng—hong , but this did not concern France , forthe State in question was as much the vassal of A nnam or ofSiam as i t i s of Burmah or of China .

What was the real value of the commercial concessionsgranted to France by China, and concerning which her presshad made such capital ? The reduction of the duties on all

products passing by Tongking would have been of great valuei f the neighbouring Chinese province had been a rich one, butit is , unfortunately, quite the reverse. It i s now t ime to glanceover the region that can be provis ioned and exploited throughTongking . It includes the greater part of Yunnan and

Kwang- si , the southern half of Kwei-chau, and a small part ofKwang- tung , that long and narrow band of territory which thisprovince projects over the Tongking frontier between the seaand Kuang-si . The Yunnan, the Kwang- si

, and the Kwei-chauare the three poorest provinces of China, and cover a fifth ofher territory, whilst possessing barely the fifteenth of her populat ion, or, in other words, about out ofThey have been unfortunately devastated by the great insu r rection

-

of the Taip ings and the Muhammedan revolts , especiallyYunnan ; the country is really only a conglomeration ofmountains and plateaux, some of them feet in height , and,

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

moreover, the communications are very scanty, and i t wouldcost an enormous sum to improve them . The report of theLyons M ission , which explored this part of China in 1 895

-

97,frequently ment ions the great difficulties of transport and thesteepness of the ascents , such , for instance , as the famousImperial road of Ten Thousand Steps , which you ascend fromthe bank of the Red River to the Yunnan plateau , betweenManhao and Mong-tze , and which in a distance of only 30miles rises from 48 5 to more than 6 , 5 00 feet. It also ment ionsthe paucity of population, as contrasted with its superabundance,in the basin of the Y ang-tsze-Kiang and the coast provinces ,In the Far East the mountains are almost invariably barren,even when there is very little cultivable soil in the plainbelow. It is said that the Yunnan i s extremely rich in mineralore, but , as once remarked an acute observer, who has recentlyvi sited nearly the whole ofChina , when explorers find nothingworth noticing on the surface of a country, they generally arr iveat the conclusion that there must be something worth lookingfor underneath . Undoubtedly both copper and tin have beenexploited for years past in Yunnan, but thus far the actualwealth of these mines i s unknown, and it would be mere matterof conjecture to affirm whether they ar e worth working or not,

or whether it would pay to construct a railway 300 miles inlength to transport the ore , as these Chinese provinces on

the frontier neighbouring Tongking produce neither silk, tea,nor any other valuable Chinese export product, and do not

offer a particularly brilliant prospect at present . A s to A rticle 5 ,relating to mines

,i f taken in the literal sense , i t is s imply a

truism,but if one wishes to discover in i t a disguised engage

ment, and read ‘ ought ’ instead of may,

’ i t i s a violation of theclause granted to the most favoured nation inserted in all

Chinese treaties with European Powers. France had soon torecogni se its futility on January 1 5 th , 1 896 , at the t ime of thesigning of the A nglo-French treaty relating to the affai rs ofS iam, by which , it i s true , she profited l ittle by the difficultcircumstances in which Great Britain then found herself, and

the two Governments of Paris and London agreed that all therights and privileges acquired , or to be acquired, either in theYunnan or more to the north at Sze-chuan, were to be equallyshared.

The profit which France might have obtained from the convention of June 20th , 1 895 , was thus reduced to little or

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

its former influence , has at least gained a renewed hearing at

Peking. A lthough China trembled before Russia, the presencein her waters of the British fleet did not fail to inspire her witha feeling of profound respect ; but, once the first moment ofalarm was over, she again bethought herself as much as possibleto begin afresh her old game of pendulum between the variousPowers . The slow work of British diplomacy throughout theyear 1 896 fr uctified in the s igning of the A nglo-Chinese Convention of February 4 th , 1897 , by which China conceded toGreat Britain certain important modifications on the Burmesefrontier ; granted her back a part of the Shan States ; recognised her right to establish a Consul somewhere in WesternYunnan, Manwyne, or Chunning-fu ; engaged to Open theroads leading to these places as well as to others and finallyallowed the railways to be constructed in Yunnan to be un itedwith those of Burmah . Lastly— and this is the most importantpoin t of all— a separate article prescribed that the Si-Kiang, orWest R iver, which flows through Canton , should be Open toEuropean navigation as far as Woochow, on the Kwang-si andKwang- tung frontier

,1 2 5 miles from Canton . The two river

ports Samshui and Wuchow became treaty ports , and Europeanconcessions were established there.

This was for England some return for the mor tification shehad experienced twenty months earlier at the time of theGé rard Convention . If, therefore, in Yunnan , in spite of theequal i ty of rights exist ing between Great Britain and France,the advantage was with the latter, by reason of the naturalcondit ions rendering access less difficult from Tonking thanfrom Burmah , the Open ing of the West River was a checkfor French policy

,which had vigorously opposed it. By

this waterway European vessels— that i s to say, almost exclusively British steamers coming from Hong-Kong— would

,in

the first place, be able to trade with the rich valley of thelower Si-kiang, which crosses Kwang-tung, and reascends tothe front ier of Kwang- tung, where they would meet the junkswhich bring to this point at a smal l cost the varied productsof this . province, and, moreover, distribute merchandise fromHong-Kong to the extreme navigable points of the WestRiver and its affluents. These points are situated at a greatdistance in the interior, almost on the frontiers of Yunnan and

Tongking,and at Lung-chau , thirty miles from Lang-son, one

can see at high tide junks from Canton . Therefore all the264

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CHINA

commerce of Kwang-si which France had so coveted was to bedrained by this new channel.French diplomacy endeavoured to repair the unfavourable

impression produced by thi s A nglo -Chinese treaty,which

effaced the greater part of the advantages conceded to her onthe frontier of Tongking, and in June, 1 89 7 , i t was stated inParis that China had ceded to France the right to construct arai lway from Lao-kai, on the Red River, between Tongkingand Yunnan hsien , the capital of Yunnan, and to prolong itto Nann ing- fu and even northward beyond the line projectedto Lang son and Lung-chau . This last concession shouldreserve for France all the traffi c of the western Kwang—s i

,pro

vided that it i s really worth while constructing a railway toobtain i t ; for unquestionably navigable rivers have a distinctadvantage over rai lways in so mountainous and poor a country.

A s soon as the former are opened they can be navigated,

whereas it will require time to construct the railways , whichmoreover

,ar e very costly. In February, 1 898 , I was able to

see for myself that the Si -kiang was already traversed bysteamers , whereas the railway from Lang-son to Lung-chau , theconcession for which was given in 1 896 , was not even commenced , on account of the many difficulties that had arisenwith the local authorities . The opening in 1 899 of Nann ingto foreign commerce is well calculated to deprive France evenof this little traffic, which will revert to Canton .

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CHA PTER X

CHINA A ND THE POWERS , 1 897-99‘SPHERES OF INFLU ENCE ,

’

AND THE‘OPEN DOOR

’

Political calm in the Far East dur ing the summer of 1897—Pr ov isionaryr egulation of the questions tha t div ided the Power s, and the maintenance of old Chinesemethods—Landingof theGermans at KiaO-Chau

in Shan-tung in 1897—England ’

s anger at th is act, and her effor ts to

avert the pr obable action of Russia in Pe-chi-li—A nglo-Chinese Con

vention of Feb ruary, 1898—Opening of all the waterways to European

nav igation—The policy of the open door —China r ecognises in

Mar ch , 1898, the occupation of K iao-chau and concession of the r ail

way gr anted to Germany in Shan- tung—Session to Russia on lease of

Po r t A r thur , and the immediate occupation of th is por t—Franco

Ch inese Convention, A pr il, 1898—Diver s conventions gr anted in the

Sou ther n Pr ovinces and session of the Bay o f Kwang-chau-wan

Ir r itation of Gr ea t Br itain, who obtains new and impor tant advantagesin June, 1898—Session ofWei-hai-wei at the entr ance of the pr ovinceo f Pe-chi- li, and o f Kowloon, opposite Hong

-Kong—Fresh A ngloRussian d iffi culties in November , 1898—Railway and other concessionsgr anted to for eigner s thr oughout the Celestial Empir e.

A FTER the diplomat ic wrangling which followed the war , a lulloccurred in the summer of 1 897 in the Far East. Each ofthe European Powers interested in China—Russia, France,and England—had obtained her share of the spoil . That ofGermany was generally deemed modest, but it was believedshe had no political interest in the Celestial Empire, and wasquite content to develop her commerce. Meanwhile Russiaand Japan had patched up their quarrel in Korea. Doubtlessthei r arrangements were not of a definite character , and theirmutual ambitions rather dormant than satisfied ; but the ad

vantages already obtained, and the preparations which bothnat ions would have to make in order to be ready when theywished to return to the game , seemed to promise a respite forsome years to come. Russia was constructing her railway,

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T ien- tsin and the mouth of the Pei-ho, and ascends northwardsalong the coast of Pe-chi-l i

,and to authorize the reconstruction

of the little l ine from Shanghai to its deep-water port,Woosung.

These works organized in those parts of the Empire mostfrequented by Europeans, in the great open port of Shanghai,where half the foreign population of China l ives, and in thecapital , the residence of the diplomatic corps, were calculatedto create an i llusory effect . The English may also have wishedto un ite Peking to the sea, which they dominated in the FarEast as elsewhere

,to spite Russia for having installed herself in

Manchuria. A longer rai lway from Peking to Hankow,traversing over 6 5 0 miles of the heart of China, had been projected since 1 889, and a Chinese ra ilway director named Shenghad been commanded to collaborate in the matter of its con

struction with Li Hung-Chang and his rival , the celebratedChang-Chih-Tung

,Viceroy of Hankow . Much more pr ogres

s ive in all probability than Li Hung-Chang,Sheng seemed

really desirous of building this line ; but he insi sted that thematerial should be manufactured in China, and to this effect hehad erected at Hanyang, nearHankow, and his capitalWu -chang,three towns which in real ity form one vast city, an immensefoundry

,which was not likely

, at any rate for many years tocome, to supply the necessar y material. A fter the War theunited efforts of the M inisters of France and Belgium had

obtained permission for a Franco -Belgian financial syndicate toconstruct the line for the Chinese Government, and then toexploit it . Obstacles

,however

,were thrown in the way, and

although the Chinese had commenced the works on the Pekingside

,they were stopped in the autumn of 1 89 7 , owing to diffi

culties which had arisen concerning the interpretation of severalclauses in the contract. It was the old story of Chinese shiftydilatoriness , and nothing came of any one of the reforms proposed, civil or military.

Momentarily satisfied by their newly -acquired privileges, theforeigners ceased, for the time being , clamouring for freshfavours. Everything was calm at Peking , and no one seemedto see any grave event likely to occur in the Far East, at anyrate, before the termination of the Trans-Siberian Rai lway,which would give Russia the chance of making an advance step ,when all of a sudden, in the month of November, 1 89 7, Europelearnt with surprise that Germany had landed sai lors in theBay of Kiao-chau, in the Shan-tung Peninsula. The motive

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CHINA

for this unexpected movement , we were assured,was to put

pressure on the Government at Peking to conclude certainlongs tanding negotiations connected with the assassinationof two German missionaries, and which

, as usual in China,dragged unconcernedly along . A t first the importance of thismatter did not seem to create the impression that might havebeen expected. Many even believed that it was but an ingen iousart ifice on the part of the German Emperor to display the usesof a navy

,and to force the Reichstag to vote the necessary

credit for the increase of the fleet . But when Wi ll iam II. sentinto the Far East h is brother Prince Henry, in command of asquadron, requesting him at the time of his departure to makethe weight of his ‘mailed fist felt

,i f need arose, there was now

no possible doubt that the occupation of Kiao-chau was definit ive , and that Germany was paying herself, tardily, i t is true ,but with less ceremony than her all ies

,for the services she had

rendered to China in 1 895 . She had taken,no doubt, a long

time about it,for she was hesitating as to which place she

should choose for the naval station she was anxious to establishin the Far East.If the landing at Kiao-chau had been thoroughly matured ,

i t, nevertheless, appeared that the Berlin Cabinet had not takenthe precaution to insure the consent of the other Powers . It

was asked if Russia herself,who had her eye on this bay, in

which her Far Eastern squadron had passed the winter of

1 8 96-

9 7 , had not been caught napping . When the occupationof the bay became known in England , publ ic Opin ion becameviolently excited. A lthough Germany seemed to have gradual lydetached herself from the Franco -Russian

_group , and to haveapproached Great Britain

,and al though English and German

banks combined had agreed in 1 8 97 to float a second Chineseloan of on the European market

,and notwithstand

ing that the finances of the two countries had often co-operatedin China , the cordial ity which exists between the subj ects ofQueen Victoria and those of her grandson were even now

strained in the Far East . A s soon as the occupation of Kiaochau became known , there was a posit ive explosion of invectivethroughout the English press , soon followed by an avalanche ofjokes when Will iam II. toasted his brother , on the eve of hisdeparture for the Chinese Seas

,in an amusingly melodramatic

speech . The misadventures of Prince Henry,who was delayed

by divers accidents, and constantly obliged to coal at English2 69

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

naval stat ions, added not a l ittle to the general and very ironicalmerriment.It was not so much the action of Germany that gave rise

to genuine anxiety in England as the fear that the Governmen tof the Tsar might take advantage of it to make another advancein North China. If it mattered little to the English thatRussia should occupy a harbour free of ice throughout the year,they were greatly exercised at the prospect of her approachingthe capital of the Celestial Empire close enough to obtaindirect influence in Chinese affairs. England insisted that aport of this sort should be open to the commerce of all nat ions,precisely l ike her own Hong-Kong or the Treaty Ports .Thus, while Mr . Balfour, in the early days of 1 898 , almostinvited the Russians to secure for themselves an issue to theopen sea, a few days later another of . Her Maj esty’s Ministers— Sir M ichael H icks-Beach— declared, amid the applause ofthe entire press , ‘ that the British Government was absolutelydetermined, at any cost, even at the risk of war , that the opendoor ” in China should not be closed.

’In order to oppose the

quiet advance of Russ ia , Great Britain anticipated her byappropriating her hitherto successful financial policy, and offeredto lend the “ Son of Heaven ” which he par ticular ly wanted. This last of the three great Chinese loans wasthe least guaranteed . The Customs receipts no longer sufficedto assure the interest, and i t therefore gave the lender a greaterexcuse for meddling in the internal admin istration , and toexercise the stronger pressure on the politics of Peking . The

conditions for this loan included the addition to the list ofopen ports of Tal ien-wan, in the peninsula of Liao-tung , whichRussia had long coveted. By throwing it open to the commerce of all the Powers

,it s appropriation by any one of them

would be rendered very difficult , if not impossible .

The game was certainly very well played, but in order tocarry it to an i ssue, i t was necessary to have a sufficient forceon the spot to impose upon China the acceptation of its conditions. Now, the season was not propi tious in winter, whenthe Pei ho IS frozen over , Russia must remain more power fulat Peking than England . Scared by the threats of M . Pavloff

,

the Russian Chargé d ’

A ffaires, the Tsung- l i-Yamen dared not

accept the demands of Sir C laude Macdonald, the EnglishM inister , notwithstanding the energetic manner in which theywere presented.

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

March 2 7th, 1 898 , obliged China to sign the Convent ion cedingto her the lease of Port A rthur and Talien-wan, and the author ization to construct a branch line , unit ing these ports to the EastChinese Rai lway. Thus she obta ined her object. The TransSiberian had now a terminus on the open sea, and could threatenPeking from the entrance of the Gulf of Pe-chi- l i. It lookedfor a moment as though the long -deferred struggle between theWhale and the Elephant were really about to take place. Two

English cruisers were stat ioned at Port A rthur when this pointwas ceded to Russia. They put to sea, but on March 29th

the formidable British Far East fleet, which had been im

mensely increased during the winter, was mobilized, one partsteaming towards the north , while the other remained at themouth of the Yang-tsze, ready to occupy , so it was said , theChusan Islands , which command the entrance to the river.Russia was exceedingly prudent, and , in order not to add thepowerful support of Japan to that of England, on March 1 8 th

she renounced all active intervention in Korea,and left that

country open, if not precisely to the political action, at leastto the economic interest of the Land of the R is ing Sun. A

confl ict was averted, but the inevitable opposition of Russ ianand English interests, added to an accumulat ion in China Seasof warships of every nationality, hastily sent there

'

after theaffair of Kiao-chau , kept up a well -founded feeling ofanxiety andi rritation in the minds of the British public, further increasedby a Franco-Chinese agreement s igned in A pril. Franceremained, according to her habitual policy, confined in thepoor regions of the south, but obtained from China the promisenot to al ienate on any account the territory comprised in thethree frontier provinces of Tongking, and never to cede to anyother Power than France the island of Hainan. To theseclauses were added the renewal of the concession of the YunnanRailway, and final ly the cession on a long lease of the Bay ofKwang-chau-Wang, situated on the eastern coast of the Leichau Peninsula opposite Hainan, and, moreover, the Chineseengaged to appoint a French Director-General of Posts. This,of course

,was an answer to the promise obtained by Great

Britain respecting the Director-General of Customs, and i tmight have been of great importance to the French by placingin their hands the telegraph lines of the Celestial Empire whichjoined, independently of the British cable, the lines in IndoChina which stretched to the Russian l ines in Siberia and thence

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CHINA

on to Paris . Notwithstanding the great politica l interest at stake,

this advantage was unhappily allowed to lapse,no Director

General of Posts has been nominated, this post still remain ingunited to that of the Customs, under the direction of SirRobert Hart. With respect to the other concessions obtainedby ,France, i t does not appear that England or any other Power

need be much concerned about them. Hainan may havesome importance to France , who could never permit any otherPower to establish itsel f at the entrance to the Gulf of Tongking.

A s to the harbour of Kwang-chau , which is not of the firstrank, the mouth being narrow, i t does not extend the Frenchsphere of action, but leaves her mewed up where she was inthe far south . It has only brought her annoyances

, and i scertainly not a strategical point of primary importance, whenceshe m ight menace the position of her rivals in ' the ChinaSeas.Far more important were the cessions of territory soon after

wards made to Great Britain in compensat ion for the occupationof the ports of Liao-tung by the Russians. Their value did notconsist in their extent , which was not considerable, being merelyWei-hai-wei and a l ittle town in Shan-tung

, and 400 squaremiles of terri tory in the pen insula of Kowloon, and immediatelyopposite Hong-Kong . Both were leased for ninety-nine years .The strategical value is, however , of the highest importance .

In the pen insula of Kowloon, where the English had up to thist ime only a smal l piece of land, they now came into possession of all the heights and bays necessary to shelter the portof Hong-Kong from attack and to insure its extens ion . Wei

hai-wei , on the other hand , gave them preci sely what they hadlong coveted— a naval station in the North of China , so thatwhen their squadron was in these latitudes it would no longerbe obliged to make a voyage of from four to five days in orderto take in provisions or seek shelter at Hong-Kong. Weihai-wei , the fortifications of which were immediately undertaken, in a measure weakens Port A rthur, the two being exactlyopposite each other, with a stretch of sea of only s ixty milesbetween them , and the former i s not much more distant fromthe mouth of the Pei-ho. Needless to say, being in possessionof so excellent a station, England with her superior fleet willnecessarily during many years to come be in a position toprevent the Russian squadron interfering with her projects,and also, notwithstanding the shortness of the journey, to

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r

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

impede any assistance by sea being afforded to Russiantroops who might be Operat ing in the north of China. The

English , moreover , can from this position , by a dexterousmovement, cut the l ine of rai lway between T ien-tsin and theGreat Wall .Notwithstanding these advantages, the insatiable British

public was not sat isfied, and complained that the Governmenthad allowed Germany to occupy a privi leged position in Shantung, and had, moreover, promised not to interfere with herrights in that province, nor to construct a rai lway starting fromWei-hai-wei , and , moreover, to consider thi s place as a sort ofFar Eastern G ibraltar without any commercial pretensions,thereby consenting to the creat ion of a German Sphere ofinterest in opposition to the policy of the ‘open door. ’ WhenParliament was prorogued in A ugust , the Chinese Questionhad been discussed no fewer than eight times , and the Sal isbury M inistry had been frequently and very bitterly attackedby i ts own suppor ters . The intemperate oratory of certa inM inisters , and notably of Mr . Chamberlain, who unhesitat inglyaccused Russia of bad fai th , and even went so far as to sayone must remember when deal ing with Russia the old proverb ,He who sups with the devil must have a long spoon

,

’

had not

a l ittle contributed to excite public opinion in Great Britain .

In order to soothe matters a l ittle, the Cabinet declared toParliament that its M inister at Peking had been authorized toinform the Chinese Government that Great Britain would lendits support in order to resist an attempt on the part of anyPower to commit an act of aggression against China under thepretext that she had granted to a British subject the con

cession of a railway or other publ ic work .

This was a return to the policy of the open door ’ to whichEngland attaches so much importance . She refused to admitthat commercial privileges should be given to any one Power,or any preference for public works to be executed in a word ,she would hear of no ‘ spheres of interest. ’ Such stipulationsar e, indeed, diametrically opposed to the wording of the treaties,but in these times hardly , except by force or the threat to useit, can one expect even the most solemn engagements to beobserved. England herself was obliged to concur in theGerman ‘ sphere of interest ’ in Shan-tung. In the months ofA ugust and September, 1 898 , i t was once more feared tha tthere might be trouble between England and Russia over

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CHA PTER XI

THE FUTURE OF CHINA—MA INTENANCE OR PA RTITION OF THE

CELESTIA L EMPIRE ?

Necessity of pr oceeding slowly with the Reform movement in China, if theover th r ow of the Empir e is to be aver ted -Weakness of the Government at Pek ing—The Emper or and theReformer , Kang-Y u -Wei—TheEmpr ess

-Dowager and Li Hung-chang

—Palace r evolution in September , 1898—Enormous obstacles in the way of the Celestial Empirer eforming itself—Reasons why it cannot follow the example of Japanin 1868—The possibility o f par tition—The inter ests of Gr eat B r itain,the United S tates, and Japan, par tizans of the open door

’

policy,and of Germany, Russia , and Fr ance —The danger s incu r red by

par tition—Difficulties of effecting it pacifically, and also for Eu r opeansto govern the hundreds of millions of Chinese -The ana r chy that mightr esult—Ser vices which might be r endered to progress by the ChineseGover nment in preventing too r apid a tr ansition—Poss ibility of con

ver ting the Chinese to mater ial pr ogress .

‘EVERY time that the bones of China are rattled—and theyhave never been more vigorously than at present — said a

techn ical English paper, ‘an increase of commerce follows .

’

Nothing can be truer ; but, at the same time, i t might be prudentnot to shake the old skeleton too violently , too Often, or toolong, if we do not wish to see it tumble to pieces . China i s asort of amorphous State whose different parts are joinedtogether by the very weakest ties , concerning which we knowlittle or nothing, and whose main force consists in traditionand in the existence of a governing cla ss of literat i, recruitedthroughout the Empire , even among the very people. On theother hand, germs of serious disaffection do exist the actualDynasty i s a foreign one, which, at the beginning of the century ,the terrible Taip ing Rebellion only suppressed with theassistance of Europeans- nearly ru ined , and the descendants ofthe old nat ional M ing Dynasty are still l iving. The accession

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CHINA

to the throne of the present Emperor was i rregular, i t seems,according to Chinese procedure, and the country is honeycombed by secret societies , whose object is the overthrow ofthe existing state of affairs . The mass of the people ar e totallyindifferent to politics , and very rarely exhibit hostili ty toforeigners, i f the latter behave with c ircumspection, unless ,indeed , they are urged on by fanatics or malcontents , when,unfortunately , they ar e easily roused. In the principal townsof every prefecture and sub-prefecture there exists a heterogeneous mass of soured and fanat ical l iterati, who pursue thehumblest trades in order to keep themselves from starvation ,

who are intimately mixed up with the people,by whom they

are treated with great r espect , and who will obey their commands to overthrow the Europeans and their innovat ions .The Government of Peking is too thoroughly convinced of

its external weakness to openly resist any demand imposedupon it by the Powers, but if it be too hardly pressed , and

forced to introduce or allow the premature introduction ofall sorts of innovations, and in too many places at once, i t mayr un the risk of exciting against i t the literati, who regard, andnot without reason , any extension of European influence as a

menace to their privileges . Such action might easily lead toactive opposition to all reform , especially in the central and:

southern provinces,more backward than those of the north,

and,i f leaders of the movement can be discovered , lead to the

complete disorgan ization of the Celestial Empire. Troublehas already occurred in Sze-chuan

, as well as further in thelower valley of the Yang-tsze. A rather serious insurrectionbroke out in 1 898 in the Kwang- si and Kwang-tung, butwithout any result. We know that local troubles in so badlygoverned a country as China of a necessi ty must becomechron ic , but in many cases the news concerning them reachesEurope considerably embellished and exaggerated.

It i s certain that the elements of disorder ar e j ust now greatlyexcited . Even at Peking rival factions are disputing for power ;the events which occurred there in September, 1 8 98 , ar e l ittle ,and possibly never will be completely , known, and it would beimpossible to relate with any approach to truth the tragediesand comedies that ar e constantly being enacted within thewalls of the Forbidden C ity.

The Emperor Kuang-Su, a young man of twenty-five, with a

sickly body, and , i t i s said, a weak mind , had been completely2 77

THE AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

won over to the Reform movement by a l iterate of the new

school, named Kang-Y u -Wei, who hai led from Canton. H is

Celestial Majesty, with all the zeal of a neophyte , was inducedduring the summer to issue a distinctly revolutionary edict. It

was said that he went so far as to presume to wear a European costume

,and that he even intended going personally

to Japan to observe there for himself the transformation whichhad been eff ected in the last thirty years. The Reform partyundoubtedly had entertained Japanese as well as Englishsympathies , and its chief, Kang-Y u -Wei, passed his last n ightat Peking in the Japanese Legation. Marquis Ito , i t i s said ,discouraged the precipitat ion with which it was intended tocarry out in a few weeks reforms that had taken more than a

quarter of a century to accomplish in Japan .

Such an attempt had no chance of success,for i t not only

opposed many prejudices and interests, but was opposed by allthe Manchu functionaries

,by Li Hung-chang , who had been

recently disgraced, and by the Empress-Dowager. H is CelestialMaj esty pretended to arrest this last- named personage , who ishis aunt

, and not his mother ; but the astute Princess defeatedh is obj ect. The great majority of the mandarins being hostileto the movement

,she soon possessed herself of the necessary

tools for her purpose . The Emperor was in his turn imprisonedin his palace, and forced to apologize and sign an edictplacing the reins of Government entirely in the hands ofthe Dowager . The immediate consequence of this act was

that all the mandarins of the old school , among them Li-Hungchang, returned forthwith to power ; Kang-Y u-Wei took fl ighton board an English vessel , and most of his partizans wereeither beheaded or sent into exile, and very soon all trace oftheir work was effaced.

From this imprudent attempt at reform we may derive a fewuseful lessons . In the first place it showed the instability ofthe Peking Government, and also the existence, but at the sametime the impotence , of the Reform party among the l iterati ;and in the second it accentuated that dangerous factor in thepolitics of the Far East, the inflexible antagonism existingbetween England and Russia. The Empress Tze-H si i s un

doubtedly a very clever woman she first governed the Empirein the capacity of Regent, but since 1 88 7 she has, with theassistance of Li Hung-chang, who is said to have been a

former lover,done so in the name of her nephew , absolutely

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

originally not presented in this form, and if the entire nation

eventually accepted these innovations , it was because they hadbeen consecrated by the divine Emperor

,and, moreover , were

approved of by a powerful army which had always been friendlyto progress and prompt to resist reaction .

Those advantages that so greatly favoured the Japanesereformers are non-existent in China .

‘

There is no militaryparty in Peking friendly to Reform or eager to assist the re

formers in seizing supreme power at the right moment andhelping them to retain it . The in itiat ive, therefore, cannotcome from either the capital or the provinces. Instead of theJapanese daimios, or hereditary Chieftains, surrounded by innumerable and fai thful vassals, we have in China viceroys whoare invar iably strangers in the provinces they administer, and arespied upon by Tatar marshal s having at their disposal by wayof an army a horde of ill-disciplined ragamuffins, whom , even i fan attempt were made to transform them into genuine soldiers,a task which would require many years to effect, the Courtat Peking, being against the scheme , would soon disband.

No martial spirit or feeling of patriotism exists in China toinduce the governing classes to give up their privileges, eventhough it were for the benefit of the country. The tenaciousattachment of the Chinese to their very ancient but stationarycivilization is their greatest impediment to progress , especiallyas love of country is a mere empty sound to the vast majorityof Chinamen .

A nother and very important difference between China today and Japan in 1 868 i s that thirty years ago Europe permitted the Island Empire to accomplish its own revolutionwithout interference, whereas to - day the Powers wouldassuredly prevent any attempt at a too sudden evolution inthe Government of the

‘

Celestial Empire, which would onlyplunge the country into a deplorable condition of turmoil.Even now the Dowager-Empress ’s party is known as theRussian, and that of Kang-Y u-Wei as the A nglo-Japanese.

Possibly this may be an exaggerated view of the case, and thatneither party i s in the service of any particular Power ; butthe incorruptibility of Li Hung-Chang must be taken with a

grain of salt . It is , however, certain that the Legations watchwith a j ealous eye the intrigues of the various factions, andthat the disgrace of Li Hung-Chang is looked upon as a victoryfor England, and each return to power of the Viceroy of Pe

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chi-l i as a Russian success . No worse sign could possibly existfor a State than the perpetual interference of foreign Powers ini ts affairs .

‘A re we about to witness the dismemberment of China ?’ i s aquestion people are constantly asking themselves. No one in

particular wishes for it, s ince the division of such an inheritancewould be disputed by at least five or six claimants , who willonly settle their differences at the sword 's point . For the pasttwenty—five years Europe has trembled at the bare thought ofwar

, and we must not be surprised if she ' dreads the merement ion of the disruption of China , which would be even moredreadful

,since it means un iversal war , in which the Un ited

States , Great Britain, and Japan , as well as the Cont inentalPowers, would each take a share. Even i f the matter weresettled amicably, what country would ca re to govern eighty ora hundred millions of Chinamen ? Some people say that i tcould easily be settled by not attempting to govern them at all,in other words

,to let things go their way ; but no European

Power would, or could , do otherwise than rule them methodi

cally, according to our modern ideas of government . TO

day,“ i f a band of brigands exists in any obscure corner of

China, nobody troubles about it , but once that corner belongsto a European Power, the irresistible desire of attempting toestablish order would assuredly lead to an insurrection. The

introdu ction of European methods is certain to upset many ofthe old customs and traditions to which the Chinese hold withalmost pathetic tenaci ty. It requires an amaz ing tact to governthe Chinese, a fact made dai ly manifest in Hong-Kong, andil lustrated by the recent serious outbreak in the French con

cession at Shanghai, where a disturbance took place over theremoval of a time-honoured sanctuary to make way for a publicroad. The difficulties encountered by Europeans in everycountry imbued with Chinese ideas— those of the English inBurmah , the French in Tongking, and the Japanese at

Formosa—prove, i f proof were needed, how great is the resisting power and the risks any European nat ion would have toencounter which attempted to govern even a fragment of the vastChinese Empire.

,

On the other hand,each Power, whilst dreading the con

sequences of a partition, i s equally unwilling to behold a rivalcarry off the lion’s share. It is, therefore, with an eye to an

eventual partit ion that each nation endeavours to obtain a

28 1

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

privileged position in certain regions , and to possess itself ofspheres of interest by forcing China to make the singularpromise never to cede any por t ion of territory in certain definedprovinces to any nation but to the one which obtains thepromise. But this sort of promise is fraught with difficulties ,and a source of eventual hostilities between nations havingpretensions upon the same region ,

j ust as i t i s between thepartizans of spheres of interest and those of the open door. ’In order to understand the pol icy Of the var ious Powers in

China, in which they see a very important field for exploitation

,we must first consider their commercial interests in the

Celestial Empire. The British Empire incontestably occupiesfirst place in the foreign commerce of China, which in 1 8 97stood at hai-kwan taels, or (1 tael

Of this taels , or two-thirds ofthe whole, belongs, according to the Imperial Chinese CustomsReport, to Great Britain. Here , however, we must not bemisled

,for if we subdivide this sum , we shall see that about

£ 5 , 5oo ,ooo alone b elong to England , £ 5 ,ooo,ooo to hercolonies other than Hong-Kong , through which the remainder,that is to say, about £ 2 worth of goods, passes, HongKong being merely a point of transit. Goods imported fromGermany , A merica and Russia into China, passing throughthis island port , or being exported thence to the four cornersof the globe, are put down to England. Then , again, a veryimpor tant trade is carried on between the North and the Southof China through Hong-Kong

, and thus it comes to pass thatGreat Britain gets the credit for commerce which does not

really belong to her. If Hong-Kong possessed proper Customhouse statistics , it would be easy to account for the origin and

destinat ion Of the merchandize which passes through this portbut such statistics do not exist . Under these circumstances,we must turn either to those of the various countries of Europeand A merica

,or to the detailed statistics of the Chinese

Customs , which frequently rectify the total amounts, wherebywe learn that worth ofRussian petroleum is imported ,

whereas the total imports from Russia by sea are only estimatedat The difference must, therefore, be accountedfor as having passed through Hong-Kong. A comparisonbetween the Chinese Customs statistics and those of Germany,the Un ited States

,French Indo-China , and other countries,

obliges us,however

,to admit that three-fifths at least of the

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

points for the benefit of her naval forces, and al so a greatnumber of commercial concess ions

,will remain contented with

her lot, and not dream of attacking the independence of China,but rather be inclined to help her to regain power.*A fter England the Uni ted States do the greatest business

with China . They only figure for in the ChineseCustoms statistics, but their own official publications give

Petroleum and cotton goods are the principalarticles of their commerce

,which is sure to be enormously

increased in the future as the Middle Kingdom requires moreand more machinery , which is manufactured to -day much morecheaply in A merica than anywhere else. The Un ited Statesare represented in China by thirty-two houses of business and

citizens ; their mercantile marine is , however, very insignificant, but having of late assumed a posit ion among theworld’s Powers, and being already installed in the Philippines,they are sure to increase their mercantile fleet very rapidly, andas they aspire to become one day mistress of the Pacific,they watch with a very jealous eye all that happens in the FarEast. However protectionist they may be at home, they areresolute partizans of the open door ’ in this market, of whichthey justly hope to eventually acquire a large part through theirenterprise. A lready a coolness has occurred in their friendshipwith Russia , and in January, 1 900, they obtained a guaranteethat none of the Powers should establish different ial tariffs inleased spheres of interest . ’

Japan takes the third rank with a rapidly increasing com

merce , which in 1 897 reached Her spun cottonrivals that of England and India. Seven hundred Japanese areregistered as residing in the different ports . The CelestialEmpire has no warmer friends at the present moment than theJapanese. The Japanese papers are full of articles whichcompare the position of the two countries to that of Prussia and

A ustria after Sadowa, and preach reconciliation , and a closeall iance was already spoken of with enthusiasm at the close oftheWar . Many Japanese statesmen ar e studying this question ,

among them the Marquis Ito, four times Prime M ini ster, andPrince Konoye

,President of the Chamber of Peers, who

travelled in China, and stayed in Peking in 1 898 and 1 899 .

M. Leroy-Beaulieu cannot ser iously believe that the independence of

China is thr eatened by Gr eat Br itain. Br itish policy is , as it always hasbeen, to maintain her independence by every means.

—H . N.

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CHINA

A ccording to certain signs, their overtures have not been altogether fru itless . The Government of the Empress-Dowagerdoes not seem to entertain any part icular rancour against theJapanese for the sympathies which they expressed for the Reformer Kang-Y u-Wei, and undoubtedly seeks some support inorder to withdraw itself from the over—exclusive domination ofRussia. If this last Power is feared in Peking, i t would seemthat Japan i s at the present t ime the most considered , whosecounsels are best heard, and who best serves as the intermediary for progress into China. It i s from Japan that Chinaobtains instructors for her army, and that the Viceroy ChangChih—tung not only borrowed money , but also engineers for hisfoundry at Han-yang. The cement ing of a formal alliancewill no doubt be prevented through fear of Russia , and veryprobably China does not desire it very sincerely. Poss ibly atPeking they cont inue to despise the Japanese as much as they doEuropeans

,although they may have a preference for the former.

One thing is ceftain, and that i s , that the relations between theGovernments at Peking and Tokio are better than they werebefore the War . Of the Western Powers , England is mostpreferred by the M ikado’s subjects, al though even with herthey are a l ittle suspicious. A feeling of intense resentment is stillexpressed by the vast majority of the Japanese against Russia .

A small minority, however, desire that an understanding shouldbe arrived at with her. Thi s party, however, al so wishes forthe open door,

’

China being the only outlet for their youngand already important cotton industry.

These three nat ions—England, the Un ited States , and Japancomplete the group of the whole-hearted partizans of the

‘ open door . ’ The British press has often expressed a desireto see an alliance effected between them , and if this were onlycreated between England and Japan i t would be very formidable in the Far East. The Japanese fleet is excellent, andwhatever may be our opinion of the ability of the Mikado’ ssailors , i t i s certain that, once united to the English fleet underthe command of an English admiral, i t could soon sweep theChina Seas, and i t would then be easy to embark an army of ahundred

,even of two hundred thousand men , whom it would

be difficult , even according to Russian officers, for the Tsar’s

army in the Far East to resist . Perhaps Russia has pushedthe Empire of the Ri sing Sun too much and too soon into thearms of England .

‘

28 5

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

Germany, who, according to her own statistics , carries on

a trade with China valued at of which 2,

are imports into China, and who counts 104 commercialhouses instead of the 78 in 1 89 2 , and registers 8 70 re

sidents in the Treaty Ports , divides her preferences between thepol icy of the ‘ spheres of influence ’

and the ‘ open door. ’ If

she has reserved a right of preference in the public works tobe undertaken in Shan- tung, she soothes the irritation of theEnglish by making Kiao -chau a free port ; but, notwithstanding the antipathy which exists at heart between the two nat ionsand the progress of German commerce , often at the cost ofBritish trade, and thanks to the more obliging manners andgreater activity of the German merchants

, a distinct amelioration has taken place since the end of 1 898 in the relationsbetween the two Governments , and Germany seems for thepresent to have turned her back upon the Franco Russian groupin the Far East in order to support British policy. One

province alone in China i s not enough for her commercialenterprise

, and she fears to see protection : closing the otherports.We now come to Russia . Her total commerce with the

Celestial Empire does not amount }, to more than abouthal f of which passes overland by way of Siberia.

Petroleum as an import and tea as an export ar e the two greatarticles of Russian trade with the Celestial Empire . There arevery few Russians l iving in China, and those who do so are

mainly established in the port of Hankow .

“

Russia’s objects inthe East are almost entirely political , and i t is very probable thather protective tariff will follow her territorial aggrandizemen t.Being already mistress of Manchuria

,she officially fixed the

southern l imi ts of her sphere of influence, at the t ime of theaffair of the Niu-chwang Rai lway, at the Great Wall. To thenorth is a vast stretch of land almost entirely desert. In all

probability this l imit is merely temporary, and possibly nonereal ly exists in Russian aspirations ; but before declar ing herpolicy she awaits the completion of the Trans-Siberian Ra ilway.The Empire of the Tsar, notwithstanding the tomen already massed between the A mur, Korea, and Pe-ch i- l i

,

does not yet feel sufficiently safe to take a step forward for fearof bringing herself into conflict with England and Japan. The

day the Trans-Siberian Railway is fin ished a step southwardsmay no doubt be made. The antagon ism between Russia and

2 86

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

and more, and she would then have been able to place hercapital to great advantage

, and thereby have added immenselyto her prosperity, not only abroad but at home, as was thecase under the Second Empire, when she covered Europe withrai lways .

France might, moreover, from the purely political point ofview, have played a conciliatory part, and have thus managedto prevent the dominant influences at Pekin from becomingtoo exclusive, which might ultimately result in a terrible confl ict ,and she should have worked to maintain the independenceof China. Now that the Chinese are permitting Europeansto take their riches in hand by constructing their rai lwaysand exploiting their mines, it seems to us that France ought toallow her to retain a

‘ sort of communal existence,in which

the civilized nations might carry on their economic activityprecisely as they do in Turkey, with the difference that theEmpire of the Son of Heaven is much vaster, richer, and

populated by a far more industrious people than that of SultanA bd-ul-Hamid.

This is, of course , a solution of an apparently temporarycharacter, but which might have a chance here

,as elsewhere,

of lasting longer than a score of other solutions which are

deemed definitive,always provided that the Powers do not

exert too much pressure on the feeble Government at Peking,and especially if Russia, once the Trans-Siberian Rai lway isfinished, does not insist upon her demands in so violent a manneras to provoke simultaneous action on the part of the Powers, andthereby bring about a part ition. The destinies of the CelestialEmpire are, however, in a great measure in the hands of theTsar, who has, fortunately, already given many proofs ofsagacity.

The maintenance of the Chinese Government seems for themoment preferable

,even in the interests of the opening up of

the country and in the introduction of our civilization in i tsimmense territory, to the part ition of China between the variousEuropean nat ions . We do not say this because we believe thatthe Chinese Government i s converted to progress , for we holdthat , with very few exceptions, those who direct the fortunes ofthe Chinese Empire are quite as fossilized in their prejudices,as firmly believe in thei r decrepit wisdom , as eager to provetheir hatred of Western civil ization, and, moreover, as corrupt,as ever they were. A t the same time, they are convinced

288

CHINA

of the impossibility of China resisting the encroachments ofEuropean civil izat ion, and as resigned as ever to yield to externalpressure. Undoubtedly the era of subterfuges on the one

s ide and of menaces on the other i s by no means closed,and in spite of reforms which have been, and are stil l to be,obtained in the future by Europeans, a considerable part of thepecun iar y advantages to be obtained from the transformationof China will remain in the hands and up the sleeves of themandarins. But if progress is somewhat retarded by thisresistance

,which

, after all, will only be temporary, i t will bebetter so than that i t should be introduced too suddenly andcause unnecessary trouble . Meanwhile, the Government ofPeking plays an extremely useful part. Some people have nothesitated to say that if i t ceased to exist progress would bemuch more rapid , forgetting that anarchy would ensue, theend of which would be as difficult to foresee as i t would beto find a means of terminating it, or of discovering a manner inwhich any European Government could governChinamen. The losses which the r e-establishment of a stableregime would entai l, and the vast expense of subduing rebell ion,

would certain ly exceed those resulting from the procrastinationunder the actual form of Government.A t the end of a certain period it i s highly probable that

the march of events may be accelerated , and when the massof the Chinese people have been placed in contact with theresults of Western progress , it i s very probable that itsgreat common-sense wil l do the rest . It i s an appeal to thei ressentially commercial and money-making instincts tha t wemust make if we wish to convert the Chinese , the most real isticand the least ideali stic of nations . Rai lways will be the bestmissionaries of civilization in China.

I N D E X

A

A DVA NCES , sma l l , made to immigr ants intoS iber ia , 4

A gr icultu r af zone, 5 , 7 ; extent , 8 ; popula tion , 10

A gr icu l tu re, S iber ian pea sants’ ignor ance

of, 2

4, 2 5 ; pr oduc ts of Japan , 1 25 , 1 29 ;

nove methods of manu r ing, 130A hmar Dabam Mounta ins, 1 2A inos , the 85A lbazine , her o ic defence of, 3A lexander III. decr ees the c r ea t ion of the

Tr ans-S iber ian Ra i lway, 66A lexand rovsk , pr ison of , 5 4A l ta i Moun ta ins , the, 10 va l le s of the, 47A mur pr ovince annexed by Hu ssia ,

13 ;popu la t ion , 1 3 ; fr ee from all spec ia lCustom du t ies, 33 , note ; number of

immigr an ts annua l ly , 47 ; Russ ian im

migr an ts have to face a lar ge A sia t iccont ingent , 49 ; Buddhists in the province, 5 1 on ly l ike ly to a t trac t Russ ians ,5

A mir r R iver , Khaba r of , establ ishes h imsel fon the, 3 ; immigrants sett le in the

r egion, 47 ; damp c l ima te,.47 ; Gover n

men t assists coloniza tion In the Amu rbas in, 48

A r c t ic Ocean , tr ibes in the r egion of the, 6

A rms tr ong, Whi twor th , and Co . constr uc tthe fer r y-boa ts for Lake Ba ika l , 69

A rmy, Japanese, s tr engthened , 141 ; ex

cellence of the tr oops, 1 66 , 1 67A r t , Japanese , w i thstands Chinese in

fluences , 87 ; under the Tokugawas , 100 ;ar t industn es, 1 19 ; has ty pr oduc t ion andde ter iora t ion , 1 3

A r t i l ler y employ at the nava l ba t tle of

Shigu take, 93A r yans , the, 1 72A str akhan annexed by Russ ia , 1

B

Baika l , Lake, beau ty o f, 1 2 ; used in thetr anspor t o f tea , 32 fer r y-boa ts to

convey tr a ins acr oss , 66 its s ize, 69Bar abinsk S teppe, the , 1 1Bar ley in S iber ia , 7 , 24

Ba r naou l,8 a t tr ac tive to immigr ants, 47

Beer , exceileii t, a t Irku tsk , Japanesebeer , 1 20

Behr ing S tr a i ts , na tive rac es in the d is tr ic tof the, 5 2

Ber izof on the Obi, c l ima te, 5Ber l in, d is tance to V lad ivos tok and Por tA r thur , 76

Bi isk a t tr ac t ive to immigr ants , 47Bir ch , r edominance o f the, 9BlackCu r r ent , the, 5Blagovyeshchensk

,its pr osper i ty, 3

fr ui t and vege tables brought to , gyChinese, 5 1

Blue R iver , mou th of the, 188 its banks ,235

Br and t ’s , Her r von , estima te of Chineser evenue , 2 19

Br idges , S iber ian , ca r r ied awa by inunda t ions , 5 9 br idges of t e T r ansS iber ian Ra i lway, 68

Br i ta in , Gr ea t , t rade w i th S iber ia , 62 °

impor tant commer ce w ith Japa n, 1 39Japan

’

s f r iendship for her,

1 68 ; new

commer c ia l t r ea ty wi th Ja an, 1 79 , 180°

concessions madeyto ,by Cfiina , 240 ; she

tu r ns her back on Ch ina for Japan , 244°

the tr ea ty wi th Fr ance concer nrngYunnan , 262 she r ega ins her posi t ionin China , publ ic wr a th a t the

German se izu r e of Kiao chau , 269 °

the‘open door

’

po l icy , 270 , offer

of a loan to China , 270 ; impor tant convention wi th China r ega rd ing the Yangtsze .oKiang bas in, etc.

,2 7 1 danger o f

war wi th Ru ssia , Wei-ha i-wei andKowloon ceded to Grea t Br i ta in ,

2 73the Engl ish publ ic s t i l l d issa t isfied , 2 74the Niu-chwang Ra i lway affa i r , 2 7 5 ;Gr ea t Br i ta in ’

s commer ce w i th China ,272 , 2 73 bet ter r ela t ions wi th Germany ,286

Br i t ish bomba rd Kagoshima , 106Br i tish Co lumb ia , temper a te cl ima te, 5Br u shes , Japanese, 1 20Bubonic p lague , mic r obe of the, d iscover edb a Japanese , 1 77

Bu dh1sm pr act ised by the Bur ia ts , 1 2 ;in Tr ans Baika lia and the A mu r , 5 1

°

introduced in to Japan , 86 ; pur er in

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THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

gambl ing , the na tiona l vice, 224 op iumsmoking, 225 fi l thy habi ts and super stit ion , 2 2 5 ; ood qua l i t ies of the Chinese,226 ; thei r abi t of looking to the pa s tfor a type o f per fec tion, 226 ; the i r lacko f d iscer nmen t , 226 scanda l ized byChr ist ian i ty, 230 ; Chinese and Wester nc ivi l iza t ion , 230 , 23 1 appr ec ia tion of

ou r adminis tr a t ion , 23 1 , 232 theirsuper st i tions abou t misswnar ies , 232

Ch ino-JapaneseWa r , s ignificance o f the,1 85

Chr ist ian i ty in troduced into Japan, 93 itsgr ea t pr ogr ess , 4 ; exti r pa ted , 95 ; notaccepted by m cm Japan , 1 74 ; Chr ist ian i ty in China , 230

Chuckchis, the, 6

Chu r ches ver y numerous in Siber ian towns,40

C lans , the sou th-ea stern , a danger to theShoguna te, 99 ; they jo in the M ikadoaga ins t the Shogun, 104 ; su r viva l of thec lann ish spi r i t in moder n Japan, 1 5 6

Coal , abundant in S iber ia , 29 , 30 ; coa l inJapan , 167 ; enormous bed s in China ,1 84

Commer ce, Japanese, enormou s incr easeof, 1 3 5

-140 ; i ts high s tandar d not ma inta ined , 140 ; the Tr eaty of Shimonosakiand Chinese commerce, 2 36 ; tr anspor to f goods inChina , 240 the [Main system,

240 , 241 tota l amount of Chinese commerce , 241

Confuc ius' wor ks stud ied by the l i tera t i,

206 ; h is views on fi l ia l p iety, 223Coppe r m ines, S iber ian , 29 , 30 ; copper expor ted fr om Japan , 140

Cossacks encoun ter l i t tle opposi t ion , 2 ;they tr aver se S iber ia fr om end to end , 3 ;they d isappea r as har dy p ioneer s ,the Cossacks of the Vi t im r egion, 1 2

Co t ton indu stry introduced into Jap1 19 ; its wonder fu l pr ogr ess , 1 22 ; co t tonfac tor ies in Shangha i , 23 7 ; tota l amountof cotton impor ted into China , 241

Custom-hou se du t ies in S iber ia, 33 ; inChina , 240

D

Da imios for bidden to en ter Kio to, 97 thefive gr ades

, 97 , 98 ; thei r ini t ia t ion en

feebled , 100 ; hor r or o f the barbar i104 ; they r ecogn ise the u selessness ofopposing the for eigner s , 106

Dan-no-u ra , the nava l ba ttle of, 89Dogs , S iber ian, l ike wol ves, 18Du tch the onl y Eur opeans al lowed to

tr a ffic wi th Japan, 95 , 96

Educa t ion , its backwa rd sta te in S iber ia20 ; making cons iderable pr ogr ess, 40educa t ion in Japan, 134, 1 76, 1 77 ; inChina , 206-208

E lec tr ic l ight in S iber ian towns, 40 ; inTokio , 1 14

Emigr a t ion fr om Ru ss ia , 44 ; its management , 45 (see a lso Immigr a tion)

Empr ess~Dowager and the Pa lace Revoluti on

,27 8 a c lever woman, 2 78 , 279 her

pa r ty known as the Ru ss ian,280

England (see Br i ta in , Gr ea t)Engl ish at temp ts to en ter S iber ia v ia theA r c t ic Ocean, 6 1 -62 ; an Engl ish com

pany c r ea tes an a nnua l ser vice to

S iber ia by this r ou te, 62E rmak Timofé ef seizes S ibi r , 2Eunuchs , the, 1 6Exam ina t ions , publ ic , in China , 205 ; the

su bjec ts chosen , 206 , 208 ; the new

Wes ter n cu l tu r e ,’

207 , 208Exiles , two c lasses of , sen t to S iber ia , 5 3a l lowed to set tle in towns , 54 ; occupat ions , 5 4 ; fam i l ies a l lowed to accompanythem, 5 5 ; their numbe r in 1 894, 5 5 thea r ti l ler y capta in a t Klu ch i , 5 7

Feng-r lzu z geomancy , Chinese, 209 , 225

Fer ry-boa ts to convey tr a ins ac ross LakeBa ika l , 66 , 69

Fe tish tr ee, a , 1 2

Finance, Japanese, br i l l ian t cond i t ion befor e the war

,1 43 , the pr og ramme

of expans ion ,1 45 ; subven t ion to For

mosa , 146 ; la r ge loan r equ ir ed , 146 ;sca r c i ty of cash , 147 ; a for eign loan ,1 48 ; the r evenue of 1 897

-1 898 , inc r ease of taxa t ion, 149 ; new sou r ces o fr evenue, 1 50 ; taxes not r ea l ly hea vy ,1 5 0 other possible sou r ces, 1 5 1

Fir -tr ees , S iber ian , 6 , 10 ; Japanese , 1 10Fishing industr y , impor tance o f Japanese,

1 28

Flower s, S iber ian, 1 1, 23 ; Japanese love

of flower s , 133or eigner s , Japanese susp ic ion of, 1 78 ,1 79 ; the commer i ial tr ea ties , 1 7 8 1 80 ;the land tenu r e d i fficu l tyy, 1 80

,1 8 1 ;

for e igner s in China , 228 ; demand a fr ee

hand to tr ade , 229 ; opinion of Chineseabou t them, 230 233 ; befor e the war

,

235 , 236 ; Tr ea ty o f Shimonosaki, 236 ,

the l i ter a ti and for eigner s , 277or est Zone , the Gr ea t, 5 its tr ees , 6 ;marshlands and sever e c l ima te, maybecome of gr ea t va lue

, 7 ; popu la tion , 7Formosa , apanese subvent ion to , 146r ance, w y a ttr acted to Tongking

, 185she co oper a tes w i th Russia and Germany aga inst Japan, her sac r ificein tu r n ing f r om Japan , 249 ° Ru ss ia eu

deavou r s to d r aw her in to war l ikedemons tr a t ions aga ins t Japan, 2 50 ;“advantages ga ined by her in ter vent ion

2 59 , 260 , 26 2 ; her t r ea ty wi th Englandconcer ning Tongking , 262 ° Fr ance the

pr otec tr ess of Ca tho l ic ism in China , 263 °

she suffers a check in China , 264 mor e

INDEX

concess ions obta ined , 272, 2 73 ; the pa r tshe ough t to pla 288

Fr ench se tt ler s in.

iber ia , 1 5 the Government gener a l ly indu lgen t towa rds them,

5 2

Fuj iwara family, the, r eta ins the Pr imeM in ister ship , 88

Fukuzawa , Mr . , ed i tor of the j zs'

5 111371150,103

Fu rni tu r e, absence of, in Japanese houses,13 1

Fu r s, expor ted from S iber ia , 3 1

G

Gambl ing , the na t iona l Chinese vice, 224Ge rma ny, commer ce w i th Japan , 1 39 she

co-oper a tes w i th Ru ssu and Fr anceaga inst Japan , 247 ; r eason for so do ing,249 , 25 0 ; sma l l advantages obta ined in

r etu r n , 25 9 ; she seizes Kiao-chau , 268 ;cons t i tu tes Shan~tung a sphere of in o

ter est , 27 1 ; her commer ce w i th China ,2 86 ; bet ter r ela t ions Wi th England , 2 86

Glass in Japan , 1 20Gold-mines , S iber ian , in theFor es t Zone, 7 ;employ r ela t ively few people , 1 7 ; the irexp loi ta t ion and yield , 27 , 29 ; Gover nmen t the only buyer o f S iber ian gold ,28 ; bad sys tem of taxa t ion and o therd r awbacks , 28 ; pr imi ti ve implementsused , 28 ; the mos t impor tan t ve insgeneral ly d ifficu l t to et at , 28 ; m in ingcentr e r emoved to t e banks of the

A mu r and Lena , 29 ; exp lo i tat ion onlygr an ted to Russ ian subjec ts , 5 3

Gr ea tWa l l of China , the, 201 -203

H

Hankow, on the Yang-tsze, the gr ea t teamar t o f China , 34 ; pr ojec t ion of a r a i lway fr om Peking to Hankow, 268

H a r a the fer oc ious custom of, inJapan , 98 ; in China , 2 22

Har t , S ir Rober t , 240H eim in , the , o r commoner s of Japan , 99in the ublic offices , 1 5 6

Henry, r ince, and the ‘ma i led fist,

’

269H ideyoshi r educes the da imios to

obed ience, 91 o r der s all miss ionar ies toleave Japan , 94

H ien-feng’

s hun t ing excu r s ion, 195H igh-r oads of China , d i lap ida ted cond i tiono f the , 1 99 , 203

H itotoubashi, tr ies to r etr ieve the Shoguna te, 106 ; his over th r ow, 107

Hon -Kong seven teen days f r om Londonvi S iber ia , 7 7 ; commer ce wi th Japan,1 39 ; Chinese in Hong-Kong, 2 3 1 , 232

lease of the su r r ound ing heigh ts to

England , 273 ; her to ta l commer ce, 282

Hor ses sometimes d i fficu l t to procu r e on

the S iber ian posta l' r oad , 2 1 thei r gr ea tnumber in S iber ia , 22 hor ses in Japan ,1 28

Hu -nan, coa l -beds in , 1 84

J

Ja an , the Black Cur r ent , 5 ; her tr ansfbrma tion , 8 1 , 82 ; Eu ropean scept ic ismover come by mi l i tar y success , 82 ea r lyh istory , 83 ; settlement , 84 ; int r oduc

I

Iemitsu enfeebles the ini tia t ive of theda im ios , 100eyas , Tokugawa , r ises to power , 92 ; her educes the Cou r t to pover ty, 97 ;cr eates d iver genc ies among the da imios ,99 ; and r evives the Chinese c lassics ,100

mmigrants into Siber ia almos t exc lus ivelypeasan ts, 45 Tobo lsk a gr ea t mee t ingplace for them, 45 the r ou tes taken, 45length of the jou r ney

, 46 ; r efugeser ec ted for their accommoda tion , 46those coming fr om same d is tr icts gr oupedtogether , 46 r egu la t ions for thei r se t t lement, 46 , 47 ; sma l l advances made to

them , 47 ; wher e they se t t le, 47 ; manyr eturn aga in to Ru ss ia , 48

Imper ia l cana l , Chinese, r uinous condi t ionof the , 2o3

Indemni ty, Ch inese War , 1 45 ; pa id ingo ld , 1 46, {note the Liao~tung indemnity , 2 5 1 -25 2

Ind ia mor e advanced than China , 1 85Indus t r ies , Japanese, 1 1 8 ; fancy good s ,

1 19 glass , br ushes , and found r ies, 1 20

ju te carpet and ma tch industr ies , 1 2 1enormous pr og ress of co t ton, 1 2 2 ;Japanese own a ll their own indus tr ies

,

1 22 , 1 23 ; sca r c i ty of wor kmen, 1 23

abu ses in the employmen t of women ,

1 23 ; hour s of labour , 1 23 ; hol idays ,1 24 ; incr eas e of wages , 1 24 ; d iminu tionof cap i ta l , 1 24 ; fisher ies , 1 28 ; Chineseindustr ies , 2 37 ; women emp loyed , 238 ;thei r wages , 2 38 , 239 indus tr ies l imi tedto the fr ee por ts , 240

Infan t ic ide in China , 22 1Inland Sea , the, of Japan , 1 1 2 ; its l igh thouses , 1 12

Inunda t ions in S iber ia , 5 9Iou r dz

’

s , or Kir ghiz hu ts , 46Ir bi t , the gr ea t fa ir a t , 3 5Ir ku tsk , d iff er ence between the Cus tomson tea a t Odessa and Ir ku tsk

, 36 ; tota lCustoms in 1 896 , 37 ; popu la t ion , 38 ;the thea tr e, 4 1 ; Irku tsk once capi ta lof S iber ia , 42 ; its excel len t beer

, 5 4 ;Ir ku tsk , Gover nmen t of , popu la t ion , 1 2 ,

1 3 number of immigr an ts annua l ly, 47

ron mines , S iber ian , 27 , 30

Isbas , the, or S iber ian peasa nts’

cot tages ,1 8 in ter ior or namenta t ion , 23

slamism pr ofessed by the Kirghiz , 10Ito, Ma r qu is , 1 60 , 1 62 the Ito progr amme,144, 145

van the Ter r ible, 1 ; gr ants the S i r ogonofs tr ad ing pr ivi leges , 2

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

t ion of Chinese c ivi l iza tion, 86 ; also of

Buddhism , the s i lk-worm, etc .,86 ; r e

semblance oi the adoption of Chinesec iv il iza t ion in the seventh wi th tha t ofE uropea n in the n ineteenth centu r y, 87 ;the sys tem of her ed i ty, 87 , 88 ; r ea lau thor i ty very r ar ely vested in the mansupposed to exer c ise i t , 88 ; feuda l ismes tablished , 88 ; d issens ions in the

Gover nment , 88 the Gover nment overthr own b Y or itomo, 8 incr eas ingwer of the da imios , 89 ; 316 Shoguna te ,9 , non-inter fer ence o f the M ikadoin t e Gover nment , c ivi l wa r s , 90pi tiable cond i t ion ofEzpa n at the beg inn ing of the six teent centur y, 90 , 9 1 ;su

ppr ess ion of the independence of the

no es , 9 1 Ieyas r ises to power , 92 ;ar r iva l of t e Por tuguese in Japan , 92 ;S t. Fr ancis Xavier intr oduces Chr ist ianity , 93 ; gr ea t progr ess made b i t ,93 , 94 ; ma ter ia l p rogr ess , 94 ; ide

oshi order s all missmnar ies to leaveJapan, 94, 9 Ch r istianit extirpa tedin Japan an exclus ion 0 for eign in

fluence, 95 ; Du tch and Chinese onlya l lowed to trade w i th Ja an , 9 5 , 96 ;the th r ee anc ient c lasses 0 the peop le,979 9 ; the da imios d i vided by Ieyas

among themse lves , 99 : Japan under the

Tokugawas , 100 ; aga in under Chineseinfluences , 100 ; the causes of the Revolu tion o f 1 868 deep

-r oo ted , 10 1 dec l ineof the Sho na te, 101 ; penetr a tion of

Western i ea s into Japan, 102 ; the

U ni ted S ta tes demands the opening of

the por ts , 103 por ts opened , 104 ; overthrow of the Sho u na te, 104-107 neces

sity of adop ting estern Civil iza t ion inall branches perceived , 10 sweep ingr eforms , 108 ; r emova l of t e Cou r t toTokio, 108 ; the Satsuma insu r r ec t ion,108 ; modern Japan, 1 r el igioustolera tion , 1 1 1 ; Japan the r ea t Br i ta inoi the Far Eas t

,1 1 8 ; her indus tr ies ,

1 1 8 - 1 24 ; essentia l ly

an agr icu l tur a lcountr y, 1 25 agr ion tur a l produc ts , 1 25 ,1 26 , 1 29 1 30 ; scenery , 1 26 ; densi ty of

the ru r a pulation , 1 26 sma l l a r ea ofcultivatab e land , 1 2 7 , 1 28 ; sca rc i ty of

domes t ic animals , 1 28 educa t ion, 134incr ea se of the popu la tion , 1 4 ; for eigncommerce, 1 35

-140 ; tr ade desp ised in

anc ient Japan , 1 40 ; br i l l iant cond i tionof her finances befor e the war , 143 , 144 ;extens ive p rogr amme of expans ion , 144,1 45 ; la r e loan requ ir ed to meet same ,146 a or ei

gn loan , 148 ; taxa t ion ,

1 50

1

152 ; instabi i ty of Par l iaments , 1 5 4 the

c an sp ir i t in modern Japan , 1 5 6 ; the

Pa r l iamen ta r y sys tem ,1 6-163 ; impo r t

ance of apan'

s m i l i ta r y or ces , 165 ; her

coal , 1 7 ; Japan China ’

s bes t fr iend ,167 ; her fr iendship for England andd is tr us t of Russ ia , 1 68 colon izing ambit ions , 1 70 ; her thor ough transforma t ion ,1 74 ; r efusa l to accept Chr istiani ty, 1 74

K

Kabor skz'

telzaz‘

, the, 9Kagoshima bomba rded b the Br i tish , 106Ka insk , the Jer usa lem o S iber ia , 1 5Ka ip ing coa l-mines at , 189Ka lmucks , the, 10Kamz

'

, or super ior beings , 85Ka intchatka r eached by the CossacksA lexie f and Dezhnief,

Kang-Y u -Wei, the Reformer , 278 h is

par ty known as the A nglo-Japanese, 280Kansk , the r efuges for imm igr an ts a t, 46Kar a Sea naviga t ion only possible du r ingsix weeks , 62

the ClVll s ta tus, 1 75 ; r ai lway and post1 76

°

ca r elessness and nu unctuality r1 77 ,

inexper ience, 1 78 ; os tility to

for eigner s , 1 78 ; r enewa l of the com.

mer c ial tr ea ties , 1 78-1 80 ; land tenu r e,

180 ; her for c i n missions, 1 82 ; Japanmor e advance than China , 1 85 ; the

T r ea ty o f Shimonosak i, 2 28 ; Englandsuddenly favour s Japan , 244 ; Japanleaves Liao-tung in consequence of thedemand by Russ ia , Fr ance, and Germany, 247 her fea rs of Russia , 24 , 2 5 1

Russia’

swa r like intentions a ainst apan ,

2 50 ; China desir es an a l iance, 2 5 1 ;compensa t ion for leaving Liao-tung, 25 1 ,2 5 2 ; Japan

'

s high - handed pol icy inKorea , 2 56 , 25 7 ; agr eement w i th Russ iar egard ing Kor ea , 2 5 8 ; Japan r epar es

for a confl ic t w i th Russia , 267 er commer ce w i th China , 284 ; good r ela t ionsw i th China , 285a anese in V lad ivos tok , 50 ; or igin of the

iapanese, 84 ; qu i te d ist inct from theh inese, 85 , 1 7 1 ; the ea r ly Japanese,85 ; the Shinto r el igion, 85 ; their powerof ass imi la t ion, 9 costumes , 1 1 1 , 1 1 5 ,1 32 ; pr oud of t eir vic tory over the

Chinese , 1 1 2 ; thei r hou ses , 1 14 , 1 1 5 ;the child r en , 1 1 5 , 1 16 ; E ur opean cos

tume, 1 16 ; their indus tr ies in thei r ownhands , 1 22 , 1 23 their food , 130 ; dwel lings of the peasan tr y , 1 3 1 ; absence offurn i tu r e, 1 3 1 fr eedom of the women ,

1 32 ; ar t istic inst inc t of the Japanese ,1 32 cost of l iving , 133 charges broughtaga inst mer chants , 140 ; Japanese do not

y et under s tand the va lue of t ime , 141the upper c lass of soc iety not exc lus ive ,1 5 5 ; ind i ffer ence to pol i t ics , 1 63 ; the irha rd iness , 166 ; lack of inventiveness ,1 77 ; a t tent ion to deta i l , 1 77 ; u n

punctua l i ty, 177 ind iff er ence to dea th ,2 2 !

Jews in S iber ia , 1 5igimo-Tenno, fir s t Emperor of Japan, 83 ,4

J inr ikisha , the, in Japan , 1 16 ; the far es ,1 1 7 ; in China , 1 89

Junks, Japanese, r apid! d isappea r ing , 1 12u te carpe t-making a t saka , 1 21

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THE AWAKENING OF THE EA ST

Mongols, the Ka lmuck , 10Mosque , the nor thernmos t in the wor ld at

Tomsk , 10Mosqu i toes , tr oublesome, in S iber ia , 9Mou r av ief-Amu r ski, Count , favou r s theTr ans-S ibe r ian Ra i lway , 64Muj iks, 10 (see a lso S iber ians)

N

Nagasaki , Chr ist ians in , 4 ; Nagasakithe only or t left open to u r opean com!

merce , 9 penetr a t ion of Wes tern ideasin to Japan thr ough Nagasaki , 102 ;scener y , 1 10 ; the chief coa l ing por t onthe Pac ific , 1 1 1

Nan-kow ,20 1

Na tives of the Tundra Zone, 1 6 ; decl iningtr ibes, 1 3 , 5 2

Navy, Japanese, str engthened , 141 ; itsimpor tance, 165

Ner tchinsk , tr ea ty of, 3 corn r ipens ther e,8 ; the s i lver mines now of l i ttle value,29 now merely a huge vi l lage, 39

Newspaper s , Japanese, 1 63N icho las II. stops t ranspor ta t ion intoS iber ia , 5 3

N ikko, magnificent temples a t 202

iu -chwang , r a i lway be ing la id to ; theNiu -chwang Railwa affa i r , 2 75

Nobunaga Ota seizes t e Gove r nment , 9 1

Oa ts , 7 , 24Obi , c l ima te in its upper va l ley , 2 1 goldmines exhausted in its bas in , 29 ; the

Upper Obi a ttr acts mos t S iber ian immigr ants , 4 s tores landed a t the mou thof the Obi, 62 ; canal between the Obiand the Y enissei, 65

Odessa , enormous Cu stoms on tea at , 36Okhotsk , the, d iscover ed , 3 ; na t ive tr ibesin the r egion of the, 5 2

Olekma,a tr ibu tar y of the Lena , 7

Omsk , S i tuat ion o f, 38 theTr ans-S iber ianRa i lway, 45

Op ium-smoking in China , 225 , 241Op ium Wa r , the , 228

Or thodox Chur ch , Kir gh iz conver ted to

the,10 ; i t abs ta ins from pr opaganda in

China , 248Osaka , the Manches ter of Japan, 1 18 ; itsindus tr ies, 1 19

-1 2 1 constr uc t ion of a

new har bour , 1 20Os t iaks, the, 6 ; thei r or i

gin, 10

Ostr ogs , or Siber ian bloc -houses, 3

P

Par is , d is tance to V lad ivostok and Por tA r thu r , 76 also to Tokio, 77

Par l iamen ts , Japanese, instabilit of, 1 54composi tion of the two Cham er s, 1 7 ,1 5 8 , note ; Oppos i tion to the c lan Ca inets, 1 5 7-1 5 9 ; a dissolu t ion, 1 59 ; the

Ra i lway loan, Japanese, 1 4 extens ion of

l ines , 1 50 c eapness of ar es , 1 76 ; the

var ious par t ies , 160 , 161 , s igns of im

pr ovement , 1 62 , 163Pe-chi-l i , Gu l f of, Russia domina tes the,7 4 its fla tness, 1 88eking , the r a i lway a t , 7 7 ; the c i ty andwa l ls , 19 1 , 192 ; s tr eet scenes , 192 , 193 ;shops , 193 ; the ma in thor oughfar es ands ide s tr eets , 194 ; houses , 194 ; scene

from the wal ls , 195 ; inso lence of the

people to for eigner s, 1 5 ; monuments ,195 , 1 96 ; its deca y , 192; the envi rons ,199 en tr y of the A l l ies into Peking , 2 28 ;projec t ion of a r a i lway to Hankow,

268

P é r e Af a r quette s ize of the, 69Peter the Gr ea t s wish to extend Russ iawestwards , 3

Peter sbu r g , S t. , d istance to Vlad ivostokand Por t A r thur , 76

Pe troleum, use of , by the Japanese, 1 14P igs non-existen t in Japan, 1 20

P ine-tr ees , S iber ian, 6 , 1 1P into, Fer nan Mendez , the Por tugu esena viga tor , ar r ives in Japan , 92P i ty of the S lav ,

’

the, 2 1

Pocls

or ojne, the offic ia l passpor t for S iber ia ,5

Popu la t ion, S iber ian, in 1 85 1 , 3 , 4 ; in1 8 4 , 13 ; super ior i ty of the Russ iansin% estern S iber ia , 10 in the A mur andLi ttora l , 1 14 ; A sia t ics in the A mu r ,49 ; annual

3incr ease of the popu la tion,

55 ; r ur a l pulation of Japan , 1 26 , 1 27 ;i ts annua incr ease, 1 34 ; popu la t ion of

China , 2 13 , 2 14 , notePor t A r thu r be tter placed thanV lad ivostok ,9 ; to be the r incipal terminus of ther ams-S iber ian ailway , 67 ; its d is tance

fr om the Eu ropean capi ta ls , 76 ; Russ iaobta ins the lease of Por t A r thu r , 27 1 i tis weakened byWei-ha i~wei , 2 73

Por ts , Chinese, 188Por tuguese , fir s t appearance in Japan , 92gr ea t influ x of them , 9ostal-r oad o f S iber ia , tiie, 1 1 its anima

t ion, 2 1 ; hor ses somet imes d ifficu l t toobta in, 2 1 ; eight la r e towns s i tua tedon i t , 38 ; cost of tr ave l ing, 5 7 , 5 8 fa i r lywel l kept , 5 8 ; its monotony pas t LakeBa ika l , 5 8ostal ser vice, Japanese, cheapness of the,1 76

Pos t-s ta t ions, S iber ian, each pr ovided wi thfor ty hor ses , 2 1 the pos t-mas ter a t

Kluch i , 5 7 ; thei r appea rance, 60 ; un

c leanl iness , 6 1otatoes in Japan, 1 30ower s

’

change o f tone towa rds Chinaafter the war , 1 85 thei r su rpr ise a t

China ’

s downfa l l , 243Pr otestan ts not to ler a ted in Russia , 14, 1 5their chu r ches in all la rge S iber ian towns ,xS

INDEX

r ailway concessions g ranted by China ,267 , 268

Rasko ln iks , the , 16Reindeer , the , in Nor ther n S iber ia , 6Rel igion , Japan r efuses to accep t ou r , 1 74the Chinese and our r el igion , 230

Restau r an ts on the T r ans-S iber i an Ra i l l

,

way , 78. 79Rice , cu l t iva tion of, in Japan , 1 26 ; annua l

, pr oduc t ion , 1 29 ; its pr eponder ance. 1 30 ;c ommer ce in, 1 38R iver s o f S iber ia covered for months byice, 4 vi l lages on the banks of the mos timpor tan t , 1 1 Chinese r i ver s

,1 88

Ru ss ia , expans ion eas twa r ds , 1 abandonsthe lower A mu r , 3 ; her co lon izat ion , 4the Emp i r e as a go ld -

pr oduc ing centr e,2 7 over land commer ce wi th China , 32popu la t ion , 43 ; emigr a t ion, 44 ; her

subj ec ts only a llowed to wor k the S iber iangold-m ines

, 5 3 concess ions to the Engl ish S iber ian Company , 62 ; a l lowed byChina to bu i ld theManchu r ian Ra i lway ,67 which is abso lu tely in the hands ofRuss ia , 7 1 ; Japan

'

s d istr us t of, 1 68her new po l icy in Ch ina , 1 86 ; Russ iad ispleased by the wa r

, 245 ; desi r es an

ou tlet to the sea , 245 she covets Nor thChina , 246 ; Russ ia , Fr ance, and Germany or der Japan to qu i t Liao-tung ,247 Japan

’

s fea r of Russ ia , 24 betterl iked than any other Eu r opean ower byChina , 248 ; her war l ike intent ionsaga ins t Japan , 2 50 ; China becomes

a la rmed of Russ ia , 25 1 ; her influencein the wa r sett lemen t

,2 5 1 , 25 2 ; Ru ss ia

s tands gua r antee fo r China , 2 5 5 ; herac t ivi ty in Kor ea , 2 5 6 off er o f ser viceto Kor ea , 2 5 7 agr eemen t w i th Japan inKor ea , 2 5 8 ; Russ ia

’

s p r eponde ra t inginfluence , 2 59 she obta ins the leaseof Por t A r thu r , 27 1 , 272 danger o f wa rw i th England , 272 ; the Niu -chwangRa i lway afl

‘

a ir , 2 7 5 ; Ru ssia'

s inter es tsin China pol i t ica l , 2 86

Russ ians , their r el igious to ler a t ion , 14 ;manner of taking tea , 3 1 , 32 ; p r ejud iceaga ins t tea conveyed by sea , 34 ; Rus

sians na tu r al ly soc iable, 59 ; their no

mad ic habi ts, o

Ru sso-ChineseEauk establ ished , 2 5 5 , 2 5 6

Sa igon,Sa igon, Nla r shal, quel ls the Sa tsuma insur

r ec t ion, 108S a ki , the Japanese dr ink , 1 30 , 1 3 1Sakha l in , Is land of , popu la t ion , 13 ; invetera te c r imina ls sen t to , 5 4

S amou r a z'

, the, become her ed i ta ry , 90the ir pos i tion in anc ient Japan , 98 ; 0pposed to the Shoguna te, 10 1

spondence between cer ta in samou r a z'

and Eu r opeans , 102 ; wea r in of the twoswor dsjpr ohibited , 108 pub ic oflices inthei r hands , 1 5 6

297

Samoyeds, the , 6 ; their number , 10Satsumata -Choshin combina t ion , the, 1 56,

1 5 7 ; its r u le, 1 6 1 , 162Sayan Moun ta ins

, the , 1 2

Scener y o f Centr a l S iber ia , 9Selenga R i ver

,1 2

Se r fdom never existed in S iber ia , 20Shangha i two days fr om Po r t A r thu r ,the town

,235 ; industr ia l act ivity a t ,

237 ; r a i lway to Woosung , 268Shan-tung

, coa l~beds in, 1 84 ; Germanycons t i tu tes Shan-tung a spher e of inter est

,27 1

Sheep unknown in Japan, 1 28Shimonosaki, S tr a i t of, 1 1 2

' tr eaty of ,228 A r t icle 6 , 236 , 246

Shinto ism, 8 5 ; its r i tes , 86Shoguna te , the

,89 , 90 ; the kumw ang

da imios a l l ied to the Shoguna te, 99 the

sou thern c lans danger ous to i t , its

dec l ine, 10 1 ; fr ightened a t A mer ica '

s

demand for the open ing of the por ts ,104 ; its enemies , 104 ; power lessness ,105 ; its abasement, 105 ; las t bid for

power , 106 ; and tota l over thr ow, 107S iber ia , its conquest by Russ ia , 2 ; t r ea tedas a pena l set tlement , 3 ; Opened to

co lon iza t ion, 3 ; popu la t ion , 3 , 4 , 13 , 5 5

°

S iber ia compa r ed w ith Canada , 4 , 5 , 5 5 ,

its r iver s , 4 ; c l ima te, 5 , 25°

the th r eezones , 5 its scener y, 9 , 1 1 , 1 2 ; cond it ions o r ex istence bet ter in S iber ia thanin Russia , the Russian popu la t ion in

theWest , 10 ; r el igious to ler a t ion, 14 16 ;S iber ia a pr olonga t ion of Ru ss ia , 1 5 , 1 7 ,

absence of gr ea t land lords , 1 7 , 26 ;land r en ted to farmer s , 18 ; pr im i t ivemethods of cu l t iva t ion, 2 1 , 25 ; domes ticanima ls

,2 2 the mor e popu lou s r egions ,

23 ; land tenu r e, 24 ; lack of means of

commun ica t ion , 2 5 miner a l wea l th,27

'

29 l im i ted indu st r ies, 30 ; the tea t r afl'

i c ,

31°

o ther commer ce. 37 , towns , 38 , 39 °

immigr a t ion, 43 48 ; tr anspor ta t ion o f

convic ts , 5 3 5 5 ; wha t is needed , 5 5 ;lone l iness o f the coun tr y, 5 8 ° inundat ions , 59 ; a c ross-countr y jou rney, 6 1 ;S iber ia enter ed by the A r c t ic Ocean , 6 1

63; tr ade between England and S iber ia ,62 ; the U r a l Ra i lway, 65 ; t r ans con t inen t r iver and r a i l system fa i ls , 65 , 66 ;the Tr ans S iber ian Ra i lway , 66-7 5 ; thetr ansforma t ion i t wi l l eff ec t, 79 , 80

S iber ians , cond i t ions of peasant l ife , 9 , 10 ;bet ter off in S iber ia than in Ru ss ia , 1 8 ;their ignor ance of hygiene, 1 8 ; apa thyo f the pea sants , 19 the i r favou r i te textsfr om Sc r ip tu r e, 20 ; the

‘

p i ty of the

S lav , ’ 2 1 the tr a ffic on the posta l-r oad ,2 1 ; ignor ance of the peasants o f agr icu l tu r a l sc ience, 24 , 2 5 ; r ich , 41 ; thenew r a i lway not l iked by all, 42 ; norimm i gr a t ion , 46 ; the ir r es igna t ion , 5 9

S ibir : Tobo lsk er ec ted on its s i te, 2S i lk impor ted in to S iber ia , 37 ; Chineses i lk expor ted , 24 1

S i l ver mines , S iber ian, 28

THE AWA KENING OF THE EA ST

S tanovo i Mounta ins , the, 47Str etensk on the A mu r , 2 5S tr ogonots obta in tr ad ing concess ions, 2Su ik i , Empr ess , 8Summer Pa lace, the, 202 , 203Sunga r i R iver , 7 3 , 7 4Sze-chuan, coa l beds of, 1 84

Tar antass , the, 5 7Ta tar kingdoms a nnexed , Ta ta r s d r ivensou thwa rds , 2 ; the Kir gh iz , 10-22 ; Ta tarwomen in Chiii a , 193

Taxes , Japanese, 1 50 , 1 5 1“ Chinese, 2 1 8,

2 1

Tea ,9tr afl‘ic in S iber ia , 3 1 ; r ou tes taken,

32 , 33; tea pass ing th r ough Kiakhta ,

3 uty , 33 , notge ; Hankow

t e gr ea t tea-mar t of Ch ina , 34 ° N ijniNovgor od , 35 ; d ifficu l t ies o f tr anspor t ,36 ; its va lue, 36 ; tota l amount expor tedfr om Ch ina , 241

Telega , the, 45Telephone, the , in S iber ia , 40 ; in Tokio ,1 14

Temp les , Chinese , 202Thea tr es, S iber ian , 4 1

T ien-ts in, the r a i lway a t, 7 7 , 1 8 the

town , 1 89 ; inunda t ions, 1 90°

the r eatyof T ien-ts in, 2 28 ° indu s tr y at , 237

T inmen , 1 1

Tobacco in troduced by the Por tugueseinto{apa

n, 94° its cu l tiva t ion , 1 30

Tobo ls i ts er ec t ion , 2 ; the anc i ent cap i ta lof S iber ia , 38 ; a meet ing p lace for im

m igr an ts , 45Tobo lsk , the Government of , 10 ; popu lat ion

,13 ; educa t ion in, 20 , 23

°

excel len tso il , 24 °

number of imm igr an ts , 47Tokio , d istance to V lad ivos tok , r e

mova l of the Cour t to , 108 ; r a i lway toYokohama opened , 108 popu la tion , 1 1 3 °

its up-to-da ted ness , 1 1 4 ; fir es , 1 14 , 1 1 5 ;means o f get t ing abou t, 1 16 ; bad lyl ighted , 1 1 7

Tokugawa , the, 100Tomsk , the mosque a t , 10 °

the neighbou ring coun tr y , 1 1

°

popu lat ion , i ts new

un i ver s i ty, 40 ° thea tr e , 4 1Tomsk , Gover nment of , popu lat ion, 1 3 , 23 °

excel len t so i l , 24 number of imm igr an tsannu a l ly, 47

Tongking , the copcper -mines a ttr ac t the

Fr ench to, 1 85 ustoms lower ed , 260

poor coun try in the neighbou r hood , 262Towns, absence of lar ge, in S iber ia , 38those along the high road , 39 ° thei r appea r ance, etc . , 39

-4 1

Tr ans Baikalia , c l ima te , 5 ; scener y, 1 2

popu la t ion , 1 3° Buddhists , 5 1

Tr ans S iber ian Ra i lway , 10 ; destined to

r evolu tionize S iber i a , 42 , 5 6 ; why or i

ginally desi ned , 64 , 65 °

the U r a lyRail

way , 65 ;

Ba ika l , 66, 69 ; length , 66 , 7 3 ; theMan

lexander III. dec r ees its

execu t ion , 66 ; how i t w i l l cr oss Lake

U

U n i ted S ta tes demand the open ing o f

Japanese por ts , 103 their commer ce

w i th China , 2 84U n iver s i ty a t Tomsk , the , 40U r a l Ra i lway opened in 1 880 , 60

V

Vegetables not cu l t i va ted in S iber ia , 19Ver khoyansk its sever e c l ima te, 6illages of Siber ia , 1 1

°

r esemblance to

those of Ru ss ia , 1 8 ; Japanese vi l lages ,1 1

Vitiim, m il i ta r y Gover nmen t of, 1 2lad ivostok , the sea cover ed wi th ice inw inter , the mi l i tar y e lemen t a t , 38 ,

Vlad ivostok not so good as Por t A r thu r ,49

°

the town and ha r bou r , 49 ; popu lat ion, 50 ; the jou r ney to , 5 6 ; ma in ter

minus of the T r ans-S iber ian Ra i lwayr emoved to Por t A r thu r , 67 ; Vlad ivostoka po int of vantage, 4 , d istance fr omV lad ivostok to the Eu r opean capi ta ls ,76 ; to Tokio , 7 , Chinese in, 232

oltair e'

s idea 0 a S iber ian highr oad, 64

298

chur ian sec t ion , 67 its constr u c t ion easy,67 , 68 ; br idges , 68 ; wor kmen , 70 ; itscos t , 70 ; d istance via the T r ans-Siber ianRa i lway to the Ea r East , 76 the tr a in

de-lu x e, 7 7 ; jou r ney to the Fa r Eas tmuch shor tened by i t , 7 7 ; fa r es , 78 ;r es tau r an ts , 78 , 79 ; too expens ive fo r

heavy mer chand ise, 79 fac i l i t ieswa r d ing let ter s to the Eas t, 79 ; Russiaawa i t ing its complet ion , 259r eat ies

,Japanese commer c ral, 1 78

-1 80 ;tr ea t ies r espec t ing for eigner s in China ,228

t ea ty Po r ts,l is t of Chinese, 2 34 , note ;

Shanghai , 23 5 , 237-239 ; industr ies

l im i ted to them , 240

Tr ees of S iber ia , 6r oitskosavsk , 32 , 33

T r oops , Ru ss ian , in the Eas t , 1 3 , 166 , noteTund r a Zone , the, of S iber ia , 5 ; ar ea and

popu la t ion , 6

Tu r ki popu la t ion of Siber ia , 14

W

Wages in Ch ina , incr ease of,Wei-hai-wei ceded to England , 27 3Wester n c ivi l iza t ion not a monopo ly of one

r ace , 1 72

Whea t in S iber ia , 7 , 24 in China , 199Wiggins , Capta in , enter s the mou th of theY enissei, 62Wi tte, M. de, ch ief promo ter of the Man

chu r ian Ra ilwa 7 1 his successfu lChinese financia po l icy , 2 5 5Women ,

Japanese, fr eedom °

of,

1 32

Chinese, 193 ; they never wor k in the

fie ld , 199 bind ing of their feet , 2 2 1

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Salaman (M. C . ) 15Sa r cey 7S chu lz 1 1

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LOYOLA , and th e E du cational System Of the Jesuits: ByRev . THOMA S HUGHES , SJ .

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