WE are now on the eve of another Chinese New Year, which, on account of the extra intercalary month, comes later this year—about the middle of February. And thus another year has been added to China's millenniums, and still stands the empire which antedates the days of Abraham, and flourished in the days of Isaiah, as the great middle kingdom occupying the central portion of the Asiatic continent. Not only has she witnessed the rise of all the great empires of antiquity, but, as these have passed, giving place to modern nations, she has continued intact to the present, despite her many rebellions and dynastic changes. China is the one only kingdom definitely mentioned in Old Testament prophecy (Isa. 49:12), which was to survive the storms of time, retaining its indentity until the final ingathering of God's people.
In view of such facts what wonder that the "Sons of Han" feel proud of their nation, their institutions, and their civilization, and look down upon other nations with mingled contempt and pity, who in comparison are but as moderns in point of age, and but few as respects numbers. This, however, is retrospective, and affords but little comfort as to China's present and future. The great Oriental giant has at last been aroused by the persistent and unwelcome intrusion of the Western barbarians, only to find his strength shorn and his many merciless enemies ready and eager to plunder and despoil. But for the hope held out by the Gospel, these are most sad days for China. Politically she is oppressed rather than ruled by a dynasty essentially foreign, and wholly antagonistic to her best interests. Bribery, venality, and corruption prevail in high places.
Quang-si Famine and Rebellion.
After three successive crop failures in large sections of Quang-si, due to droughts and floods, the famine was broken by a harvest last autumn. It is only just to say that the famine sufferings in that unfortunate province were not due to the absence of food supplies. It is a well-attested fact that during the very height of the famine plenty of large shops could be found filled with an abundance of rice, while just outside on the streets people fell down dead for the want of food which they could not buy on account of the exorbitant prices, since it is no secret that, pound for pound, children sold for less than half the price of rice.
To alleviate this condition, many Chinese acted a generous and noble part in connection with a large number of foreigners, both English and American. As the Chinese keep no statistical account of such things, it is quite impossible to make even a rough estimate of the number of persons that succumbed, nor is it easy to determine the actual conditions which prevailed during the ravages of this famine; yet I feel safe in saying, on the authority of foreigners who were eye-witnesses, that the barbarities and unnatural crimes which such conditions usually provoke were not nearly as common nor as shocking as some of the reports in the foreign press would give us to believe.
But this is only one of the troubles of that province. It is a hotbed of rebellion against the constituted authority. It was from this province that the great Tai-Ping rebellion had its origin, and the frequent outbreaks, which have come to be almost chronic, would easily lead to the conclusion that its roots are still there. It is only a few months since the new governor-general of the two Quang provinces returned from Quang-si, after a vigorous and brilliant campaign against the rebels. His success, however, seems to have been only partial and temporary, as preparations are once more afoot for a fresh attack on no small scale. These people are a rough, hardy, and, in a measure, a liberty-loving people, who, living as they do at a great distance from the central government at Peking, may yet succeed in fomenting a second general anti-dynastic rebellion.
Whose Chief Concern It Is to Live Without Molestation.
China's Reactionary Attitude.
Following close upon the uprising of 1900 it was quite generally believed that China's attitude toward the West and Western thought and civilization had undergone a radical change. The evidence adduced was the very friendly feelings manifested in official circles and at the court itself, mingled with expressions of regret at the late unfortunate affair, and the still more favorable omen, viz., the wide-spread and urgent demand for Western books and education. This, however, has almost entirely subsided. Many schools which started at the impulse of this supposed Chinese renaissance are now said to have dwindled to almost nothing. A large number of students who have likings for Western ideas seem to be terrified by the attitude of the government toward those who stand for reform and Western thought, and in consequence prefer to remain in safety, foregoing the much-desired modern education.
Two years ago extensive sales of Western books were made at the annual literary examination at Nanking. The same experiment was tried again last year, with the result that almost no books were sold. We may therefore conclude the demand has ceased, which fact speaks volumes for China. Speaking of this tendency to reaction, the editor of the Chinese Recorder (November) concludes that "China is frittering away her day of grace, shilly-shallying, procrastinating, temporizing, deceiving—anything but the right thing. How form is to be brought out of this chaos, order out of this confusion, and just government out of this anarchy and oppression, is more than we can fathom, and we are more glad than ever that we are a missionary and not a diplomat, for we still believe in the power of the Gospel to set China right."
From items of interest in China's Millions for November, we quote the following, as illustrating the present trend of events:—
In consequence of the cruelty perpetrated by the Chinese Government in the execution of Shen Chien, the reformer, and their dereliction of duty in connection with the Supao case, which inaction compels the prisoners to remain in prison, the British minister and all the British legation and their wives refused to attend the reception in the summer palace given by the empress-dowager and emperor on October 9 and 10.
The empress-dowager has endeavored to stop gossip by the issue of a popular edict refusing any honorific characters on the occasion of her birthday, as the selection of two more to add to the sixteen she already possesses was under discussion. Each character represents an annual income of 360,000 taels—the edict therefore saves officials 720,000 taels (about one-half million dollars U. S. gold) a year; but it does more,—it turns public opinion, which has been boiling over with indignation, back into the grooves of thinking the empress-dowager is not such a bad sort after all. While thus soothing suspicion to rest, she and her party are carefully prosecuting the anti-progressive crusade, and a veritable time of terror has been introduced by the offer of third-class metropolitan rank to any one who will arrest any prominent reform leaders, or the recovery of forfeited rank to those who arrest a particularly notorious and influential man.13
The Manchurian Question.
The controversy between Russia and Japan puts China between two fires, since it is one of her dependencies—the very home of the reigning dynasty—which is the bone of contention. It seems impossible for her to remain neutral, yet which of the two can she trust? Has she not already been betrayed beyond all hope? This peril which threatens the whole empire is, however, taken to heart only by the ruling order, whose chief ambition it is to guard and conserve their own personal interests. Patriotism and national honor count for very little among the masses of China, whose chief concern is to live without molestation.
