The War in the East: Japan, China, and Corea

by Trumbull White

Of all these Jesuit missionaries, the name of Matteo Ricci stands by common consent upon the long list. He established himself in Canton in the garb of a Buddhist priest in 1581. He was a man of varied intellectual gifts and extensive learning, united with indomitable energy, zeal and perseverance, and great prudence. In 1601 he reached Peking in the dress of a literary gentleman. He spent many years in China. He associated with the highest personages in the land. He acquired an unrivalled knowledge of the book language, and left behind him several valuable treatises of a metaphysical and theological character, written in such a polished style as to command the recognition and even the admiration of the Chinese. One of his most intimate friends and fellow workers was the well-known scholar and statesman, Hsu Kuang-chi, the author of a voluminous compendium of agriculture, and joint author of the large work which introduced European astronomy to the Chinese. He was appointed by the emperor to co-operate with other Jesuit missionaries in reforming the national calendar, which had gradually reached a stage of hopeless inaccuracy. He wrote independently several small scientific works; also a severe criticism of the Buddhist religion, and finally, not least in importance, a defense of the Jesuits, addressed to the throne, when their influence at court had begun to excite envy and distrust. Hsu Kuang-chi forms the sole exception in the history of China of a scholar and a man of means and position on the side of Christianity.

MAN OF SWATOW.

The age of the Chings is the age in which we live, but it is not so familiar to some persons as it ought to be that a Tartar and not a Chinese sovereign is now seated on the throne in China. For some time after the accession of the first Manchoo emperor, there was considerable friction between the two races. The subjugation of the empire by the Manchoos was followed by a military occupation of the country, which survived the original necessity, and has remained part of the system of government until the present day. The dynasty thus founded, partly by accident as it seems, as was related in the last chapter, has remained in power through the entire period of intercourse with western nations. The title adopted by the first emperor of the line was Shun-che. It was during the reign of this sovereign that Adam Schaal, a German Jesuit, took up his residence at Peking and that the first Russian embassy, 1656, visited the capital. But in those days the Chinese had not learned to tolerate the idea that a foreigner should enter the presence of the Son of Heaven unless he were willing to perform the prostration known as the Ko-t’ow, and the Russians not being inclined to humor any such presumptuous folly left the capital without opening negotiations.

Of the nine emperors of this line, from the first to the present, the second in every way fills the largest space in Chinese history. Kang Hi, the son of Shun-che, reigned for sixty-one years. This sovereign is renowned in modern Chinese history as a model ruler, a skillful general and an able author. During his reign Thibet was added to the empire, and the Eleuths were successfully subdued. But it is as a just and considerate ruler that he is best remembered among the people. He treated the early Catholic priests with kindness and distinction, and availed himself in many ways of their scientific knowledge. He promulgated sixteen moral maxims collectively known as the “Sacred Edict,” forming a complete code of rules for the guidance of every day life, and presented in such terse, yet intelligible terms, that they at once took firm hold of the public mind and have retained their position ever since. Kang Hi was the most successful patron of literature the world has ever seen. He caused to be published under his own personal supervision the four following compilations, known as the four great works of the present dynasty: A huge thesaurus of extracts in one hundred and ten thick volumes; an encyclopedia in four hundred and fifty books, usually bound in one hundred and sixty volumes; an enlarged and improved edition of a herbarium in one hundred books; and a complete collection of the important philosophical writings of Chu Hsi in sixty-six books. In addition to these the emperor designed and gave his name to the great modern lexicon of the Chinese language, which contains over forty thousand characters under separate entries, accompanied in each case by appropriate citations from the works of authors of every age and every style. The monumental encyclopedia contains articles on every known subject, and extracts from all works of authority dating from the twelfth century B.C. to that time. As only one hundred copies of the first imperial edition were printed, all of which were presented to princes of the blood and high officials, it is rapidly becoming extremely rare, and it is not unlikely that before long the copy in the possession of the British museum will be the only complete copy existing. A cold caught on a hunting excursion in Mongolia brought his memorable reign of sixty-one years to a close, and he was succeeded on the throne by his son Yung Ching.

The labors of the missionaries during the years of this last reign have been effective in establishing many churches and bishoprics, and in making many thousands of converts. But the suspicions in the minds of the Chinese rulers that the Christians were leagued with rebels, as well as the controversies between the different sects, antagonized the authorities. Under the third Manchoo emperor, Yung Ching, began that violent persecution of the Catholics which continued almost to the present day, and in the year 1723 an edict was promulgated prohibiting the further propagation of this religion in the empire. From this time the Roman Catholics were subjected to this persecution except for a few alternate periods of comparative toleration. They have retained their position in the face of great difficulties and trials, and since the late treaties with China the number of their converts has rapidly increased.

After a reign of twelve years, Yung Ching was gathered to his fathers, having bequeathed the throne to his son Kien Lung. This fourth emperor of the dynasty enjoyed a long and glorious reign. He possessed many of the great qualities of his grandfather, but he lacked his wisdom and moderation. His generals led a large army into Nepaul and conquered the Goorkhas, reaching a point only some sixty miles distant from British territory. He carried his armies north, south, and west, and converted Kuldja into a Chinese province. But in Burmah, Cochin China, and Formosa his troops suffered discomfiture. During his reign, which extended over sixty years, a full Chinese cycle, the relations of his government with the East India Company were extremely unsatisfactory. The English merchants were compelled to submit to many indignities and wrongs; and for the purpose of establishing a better international understanding Lord Macartney was sent by George III. on a special mission to the court of Peking. The ambassador was received graciously by the emperor, who accepted the presents sent him by the English king, but owing to his ignorance of his own relative position, and of even the rudiments of international law, he declined to give those assurances of a more equitable policy which were demanded of him.

CHINESE PAPER-MAKING.

Like his illustrious ancestor, Kien Lung was a generous patron of literature, though only two instead of five great literary monuments remain to mark his sixty years of power. These are a magnificent bibliographical work in two hundred parts, consisting of a catalogue of the books in the imperial library, with valuable historical and critical notices attached to the entries of each; and a huge topography of the whole empire in five hundred books, beyond doubt one of the most comprehensive and exhaustive works of the kind ever published. Kang Hi had been a voluminous poet; but the productions of Kien Lung far outnumber those of any previous or subsequent bard. For more than fifty years this emperor was an industrious poet, finding time in the intervals of state duties to put together no fewer than thirty-three thousand nine hundred and fifty separate pieces. In the estimation however of this apparently impossible contribution to poetic literature, it must always be borne in mind that the stanza of four lines is a favorite length for a poem and that the couplet is not uncommon. Even thus a large balance stands to the credit of a Chinese emperor, whose time is rarely his own, and whose day is divided with wearisome regularity, beginning with councils and audiences long before daylight has appeared. We gain a glimpse into Kien Lung’s court from the account of Lord Macartney’s embassy in 1795, which was so favorably received by the venerable monarch a short time previous to his abdication, and three years before his death, and forms such a contrast with that of Lord Amherst to his successor in 1816. In 1795, at the age of eighty-five years, Kien Lung abdicated in favor of his fifteenth son who ascended the throne with the title of Kea King.