China under the Empress Dowager

by J. O. P. Bland; Sir E. Backhouse

“It is true that, in times past, our Capital has been shifted on more than one occasion of national danger, but in those days our enemies were not able to push their armies far into the interior of our country for indefinite periods, and were compelled to withdraw after brief expeditions. The position of affairs to-day, however, is very different, so that we can obtain no reliable guidance from precedents of history. As regards the province of Shensi, it has always been a centre of wars and rebellions; its people are poverty stricken, and there is no trade there. Seven centuries ago, Hsi-an was an Imperial city, but is now anything but prosperous. Its vicinity to Kansu and the New Dominion territories, infested with Mahomedan rebels and adjoining the Russian Empire, renders it most unsuitable as a site for your Majesties’ Capital. Supposing that the Allies, flushed with success, should determine on an advance westwards, what is there to prevent them from doing so? If ten thousand miles of ocean have not stopped them, are they likely to be turned back from a shorter expedition by land?”

After referring to the fact that the cradle of the Dynasty and the tombs of its ancestors are situated near Peking, and that it is geographically best fitted to be the centre of Government, the Memorialists remind the Throne that the foreign Powers have promised to vacate Peking, and to refrain from annexing any territory if the Court will return. These ends, they say, will not be attained should the Court persist in its intention to proceed further westwards, since it is now the desire of the foreign Ministers that China’s rulers should return to Peking. In the event of a permanent occupation of Peking by the Allies, the loss of Manchuria would be inevitable. The Memorialists predict partition and many other disasters, including financial distress, and the impossibility of furnishing the Throne with supplies at Hsi-an or any other remote corner of the Empire. If the Court’s decision to proceed to Hsi-an is irrevocable, at least a Decree should now be issued, stating that its sojourn there will be a brief one, and that the Court will return to Peking upon the complete restoration of peaceful conditions. “The continued existence of the Empire must depend upon the Throne’s decision upon this matter.” The Memorial concludes by imploring their Majesties to authorise Prince Ch’ing to inform the foreign Ministers that the withdrawal of the allied armies will be followed by a definite announcement as to the Court’s return.

In a further Memorial from the Viceroys and Governors, it is stated that the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs had suggested to the Chinese Minister in St. Petersburg, that the location of the Capital at Hsi-an would certainly prove undesirable, in view of the poverty-stricken condition of the province, and that their Majesties would no doubt, therefore, proceed to Lan-chou fu, in Kansu. Referring to this interesting fact, the Memorialists observe:—

“Those who are in favour of establishing the Capital at Hsi-an profess to claim that the Yellow River and the T’ung Kuan Pass constitute natural and impassible frontiers against attack. They forget, however, that foreign nations possess artillery of very long range. At T’ung Kuan the Yellow River is less than two miles wide, and their guns will easily carry twice that distance. Your Majesties have nothing but the native artillery, and a few inferior foreign guns, and would never be able to hold the position. The foreigners would undoubtedly penetrate far into the interior, and control all the waterways, thus preventing transport and supplies. Even if one foreign Power were to find it difficult, there is no doubt that it would be easy for several of them acting together.

“Moreover, friendly Powers are entitled, by the law of civilised nations, to send their diplomatic representatives to our Capital. If peace be made, and the foreign Powers assent to the proposed change of capital, they will surely insist upon sending their envoys into Shensi. After their recent experiences, they will require to have foreign troops to guard their Legations, whose numbers must necessarily be large, in proportion to the distance from the coast. Foreign garrisons would thus have to be established at points in Honan, Shansi and Chihli, in order to maintain their line of communications, so that China would eventually be overrun by foreign troops. It is, therefore, plainly out of the question that the Court should leave Peking. In times of peace it might have been suggested, but to think of it after a disastrous war is impossible. The foreigners are acting in unison; China is completely disorganised. They have ample resources and reinforcements; China has none. If we have thoughts of fighting any foreign Power we must first form alliances with several others; in any case nothing can be done before an ample supply of ordnance and munitions of war has been accumulated. This is no time for considering such possibilities. We, your Memorialists, venture to suggest that Your Majesties have failed to take into consideration all these facts, and in impressing them upon you, we earnestly beg that you may now come to a wise decision.”

Before coming to a decision, however, Tzŭ Hsi required to be fully assured that the foreign Powers would not insist on her abdicating the supreme power as one of the conditions of peace. Convinced on that point, the hesitation which she had previously shown in regard to returning to Peking dropped from her like a garment. It had been freely predicted by conservative officials and the literati that the Old Buddha would never again wish to see her desecrated capital or to visit the polluted shrines of her ancestors. In spite of her superstitious nature, however, she was far too level-headed and far-seeing a woman to attach supreme importance to sentimental considerations, or to allow them to weigh heavily in the balance when the question of her own rulership was at stake. The hesitation which she had shown and the attention which she had paid to the advice of those who, like Chang Chih-tung, desired her to establish a new capital in Central China, were primarily a question of “face.” She would only return to Peking if guaranteed the full dignity and power of her former position. But as the peace negotiations proceeded, and as it became clear to her that along the well-worn path of international jealousies she might return unpunished, and even welcomed, to Peking, she proceeded to make preparations for an early return. Fully informed each day by Prince Ch’ing of the progress which her plenipotentiaries were making towards the completion of the Peace Protocol, and overjoyed at its terms, she waited only until the condition of the roads, always more or less impassable after the summer rains, had sufficiently improved to permit of comfortable travelling. During the delay necessitated by the collecting and packing of the enormous quantity of “tribute” collected by Her Majesty and the Court during their stay at Hsi-an, she received definite confirmation of the good news that her treasure vaults in the capital had not been plundered by the foreign troops—good news which increased her anxiety to return as quickly as possible to superintend its removal before any pilfering by the eunuchs should take place.

It was on the 24th day of the 8th Moon (20th October, 1901) that the long procession started from Her Majesty’s temporary residence in the Governor’s Yamên; followed by an enormous retinue, she commenced her journey by sacrificing to the God of War, the guardian spirit of her Dynasty (and, it may be added, patron of the Boxers), at a small temple outside the city gates. From this onward the Court advanced northward by easy stages of about twenty-five miles a day, resting first at Ho-nan fu; thence on to K’ai-fêng, where her sixty-sixth birthday was celebrated and where she remained for some weeks. The travelling lodges and other arrangements for her comfort and convenience along the whole line of her route were in striking contrast to the squalor and privation which the Court had endured in the flight from Peking.

It was during her stay at K’ai-fêng that the Peace Protocol was signed at Peking. It was also before her departure from that city, at the end of the 9th Moon, that Li Hung-chang died. His knowledge of foreign affairs and remarkable ability in negotiations had been of the greatest service to his Imperial mistress, and there is no doubt that the liberal terms granted to China by the victorious Allies were very largely due to his efforts. Her Majesty, while fully appreciating his ability, had never treated him with marked favour, and had always refused to appoint him to the Grand Council, giving as her excuse that she could not understand his dialect. Upon his death, however, she conferred upon him an honour which had never before been granted to any Chinese subject under the Dynasty, namely, that of having a shrine built to his memory at the capital itself, in addition to those erected in the provinces where he had borne office.