An American Diplomat in China

by Paul S. Reinsch

Prince Tsai Tze evidently still hoped that Hsu Shih-Chang, the loyal friend of the Imperial Family, might be brought to Peking to mediate, and that he might be prevailed upon to preserve the favourable treatment hitherto accorded the Imperial Family. I could not give Prince Tsai Tze any encouragement on this point, on which I had very definite opinions, but had to content myself with general expressions of sincere sympathy with the strange fate of this family.

The question of mediation was again taken up by the diplomatic corps on the afternoon of this day. Some of the ministers feared that the city would suffer greatly if things should be allowed to go on. I was strongly of the opinion that our interference in this matter could have no good result, but would only further confuse and complicate the situation. For once, the Chinese must settle it themselves, regardless of any incidental inconvenience. From what I knew of the strength of the contending forces and of the whole situation, I had no doubt whatsoever that if left alone the republican forces would be easily successful and that there would be no disturbances. I was on principle against any action which would be in substance intervening in behalf of a general who had attacked the Republic and whom nothing could now save from overthrow except such diplomatic action.

I was approached on the 10th of July by a representative of General Chiang, chief of the gendarmerie. He stated that it was desired to bring Chang Hsun into the American Legation, for his own safety though against his will, and that an agreement to this effect had been made among the different commanders. I stated that in the circumstances it would be better for the diplomatic corps to discuss what protection could be extended to Chang Hsun. An informal meeting was held, at which the British chargé agreed that he would receive Chang Hsun if he were brought in.

The legations were notified by General Tuan, late in the afternoon of July 11th, that during the night the troops would move against Chang Hsun's forces in the city, and bombardment of the Temple of Heaven and the quarters near the Imperial City held by Chang Hsun would begin at dawn on the 12th of July. In conjunction with the commandant of the legation guard, I sent notice to the American residents in the quarters particularly affected, directing them to seek safety. Eighteen refugees came to the Legation, where they were cared for during the day at the Students' Mess. A company of the Fifteenth Infantry, which had been brought up from Tientsin, was encamped in the compound in front of my residence, to which their tents and military equipment imparted an aspect of great military preparedness.

I was awakened at daybreak on July 12th by the sound of artillery and rifle fire. As the fighting commenced people went out of curiosity upon the city wall. But stray bullets frequently fell on the wall, and the commandant ordered it cleared. Unfortunately, several of these onlookers—among them three Americans—were injured. During the battle I received word from the Imperial tutors that the Dowager Empresses were preparing to bring the Emperor to my residence. Since the 9th of July they had wished to remove the Emperor to this legation for safety. While the Empresses and some of the dukes desired this, the eunuchs under Chang Hsun's influence opposed the removal. The Prince Regent, also influenced by Chang Hsun, took the same view. Thus on various occasions the eunuchs, whose existence had almost been forgotten, came out on the stage of action in this curious affair.

About eleven o'clock, while the firing was at its height and after several bombs had been dropped from aeroplanes upon the Imperial City, telephone messages came to the effect that several friends of the Imperial Family and Doctor Ferguson of the Red Cross were about to rescue the Emperor from danger and bring him to the Legation. I had the house prepared. Half an hour later two automobiles with the Red Cross flag flying entered the legation compound. Mr. Belin ran to the door, expecting to see the Emperor and Empress emerging from the automobiles, but he returned with only Mr. Sun Pao-chi, who was shivering with excitement. I took him to the reception room and comforted him with tea. He still expected the Emperor to come. The automobiles left again for the Imperial Palace, but as the aeroplanes had ceased dropping bombs and the artillery fire was decreasing in violence, the people in the palace decided against carrying out the flight.

As I sat in the library all through the forenoon receiving reports and giving directions, there was a constant hissing of bullets and shells overhead. No shell dropped in our legation, although two or three fell in the British. The Chinese artillery fire was remarkably accurate. Sitting there and listening to the tumult of shouting and firing from the Chenmen gate and the volleys of guns and artillery exceeding in volume of sound any Fourth of July I had ever experienced, I felt thankful to have seen a day when the Chinese would stand up and fight out a big issue. I soon found that the battle was not commensurate with its sound.

Shortly before noon Chang Hsun was brought to the Dutch Legation, accompanied by a German employé of the Chinese police. Chang Hsun had been persuaded to come by his generals almost with the use of force. He was still under the illusion that he could mediate. When the Dutch minister informed him that this was impossible, he wished to return to his troops. This, of course, could not be permitted.

Firing was violent from dawn until nearly noon. The field guns, machine guns, and rifles filled the air with enormous tumult, but from eleven o'clock on the firing gradually diminished, and it entirely ceased at four in the afternoon. Immediately thereafter I proceeded by motor car to the various centres of fighting. I found that Chang Hsun's house had been struck by several shells and that the indirect artillery firing of the government troops had been managed with considerable accuracy. The human dead had already been removed from the neighbourhood although numerous carcasses of horses remained. Thence I proceeded to the Temple of Heaven, where I was astonished to find Chang Hsun's troops encamped with all their guns and artillery, eating, drinking, and talking in the best of spirits. They told me that five of their men had been killed, and that their bodies were still there. The absence of visible results from the enormous expenditure of ammunition during the day was astonishing. I found, however, that the method of fighting employed by the troops was to creep up as closely as possible behind a high wall, and fire into the air in the general direction where the enemy might be. Hence, the bystanders were in rather greater danger than the combatants themselves. In fact, the total number of killed as a result of the fighting of July 12th was twenty-six; seventy-six were seriously wounded, and more than half of these were civilians.

The Chang Hsun contingents in the Temple of Heaven had hoisted the republican flag at 10 A.M. An agreement was reached by which they were to be paid $60 per man upon the delivery of their arms. Chang Hsun's troops about the Imperial City held out for a larger payment. To my astonishment, as late as Saturday, the 14th of July, I saw fully armed soldiers of Chang Hsun on guard at the central police headquarters. Asking the reason for this—for Chang Hsun's troops were supposedly routed in pitched battle on the 12th of July—I was told that the commanders had not yet settled upon the sum these contingents were to be paid. Eighty dollars per man was finally agreed upon, and by the 15th of July Chang Hsun's troops, deprived of their arms and their pigtails, had left Peking with their money, and were on their way to their rural homes in Shantung.