W

HATEVER

attempts

have been made to vindicate the Chinese soldier have attracted no attention. No doubt the cause of this is the estimation in which war is held by the Chinese. Confucian justice degraded the military profession and. ignored the development of the art extolled by Cæsar, Alexander, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, and even the Manchu Emperors.

No one has thought it worth while to inquire into the character of the Chinese soldier, much less to praise him, and the sterling qualities inherent in the race have never been suspected to pertain to the soldier even by the Chinese themselves. But when it is considered that the Chinese soldier is robbed and exploited by his superiors, facts of which he is perfectly well aware, his respect for authority is seen in this case to be purely accidental, and owes its existence to the filial training which the lowest Chinese possesses. War under such conditions is merely a personal adventure to the common soldier, who has been taught that the officials are responsible for the welfare of the people, and that China has no real enemies among the tributary barbarians visiting the borders. It is a fact that the Chinese soldier in an emergency delights to make sure his escape as well as to leave his superior in the lurch.

The old ideas regarding foreigners have, of course, been largely dispelled. Instruction in the art of war, as practiced by the West, has been carried on for many years in China, and those Chinese qualified for the profession of arms, acquainted with the geography of the world, the power of foreign enemies, and the consequences of battle with foreigners, have furnished an example of what a real Chinese soldier is. In 1900

Mr. McCormick was the Associated Press correspondent on the Russian side during the RussoJapanese War, and was for six years a newspaper correspondent in China.-THE EDITORS.

the Chinese military students at the Tientsin arsenal defended first the walls of the arsenal, then, compelled to retire, defended the building, from which they retreated to their rooms, and died defending their bureaus.

The sterling qualities that have made the Chinese as a race so hardy appear unaffected by the political and moral degeneracy of which the nation has complained since the days of Lao-Tzu and Confucius.

The subject of this sketch may be taken as an eminent example of what the great body of the Chinese consist of, and something of what is possible in them. Chang is a man of the lower or peasant classes. He was one of a large family of children, and was noted in his neighborhood, but especially among his relatives, for his stupidity. When a young man, he became a soldier and served in the army of the Tartar general at Mukden, spending his time partly in the destitute barracks to which a Chinese soldier is consigned, and at intervals escorting prisoners and hunting bandits in the surrounding region. He was something over fifty years of age when he became my hostler, just preceding the battle of Liaoyang. On the last day of the battle I was taken in the Japanese lines, and Chang was obliged, with two animals and the baggage, to make the march during the Russian retreat of forty-five miles to Mukden, alone and unprotected. It is needless to say that an unprotected Chinese with a foreign army is theoretically helpless; especially during the retreats which the Russians made after their defeats, a Chinese was at the mercy of the soldiers. While en route to Mukden one of his animals lay down and died, but with the other he managed to save the baggage, but was thrown into prison, charged with being a spy, and remained for nine days in hourly danger of having his head taken off by an ignorant official who made no

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distinctions between suspects, and required little or no evidence in those days to execute them. He was released through the efforts of an Irish missionary, Mr. Fulton, who knew the family, and he returned to serve me through all the exciting adventures accompanying the last days of the Russian Grand Army., Most conspicuous were his courage and devotion in the flight from Mukden-the most alarming débâcle of the war. seven o'clock on the morning of March 10, 1905, we were caught in the jam of artillery, including a number of fortress guns, and of baggage-wagons that were trying to get around the west wall of Mukden. The Mukden settlement was in flames, and we were just behind the rear guard, with the Japanese trying to cut the armies off several miles to the north. Chang was driving a Chinese cart containing the baggage, and was having great difficulty in managing the two animals-hitched tandem-by which it was drawn. Being a Chinese, he was frequently struck at by the soldiers. The baggage-wagons often attempted to crowd him from the road, and he was several times hit by the drivers. The situation was one in which protest was worse than useless, for in many cases the soldiers were going mad. When the sun got higher, the armies began to be heated, and it was very dusty. The Japanese were shelling with brisants that part of the roadway where we were marching, and at eleven o'clock two brisants struck just behind the cart. Chang was at the moment about to cross a gully, but quietly proceeded to repair the harness. Half a mile farther on he was attacked by an insane soldier, who first tried to bayonet him and then attempted to beat him off the cart with the butt of his rifle. Unable to reach the man, I appealed to an officer just behind him, but the officer refused to interfere, for he was himself in terror. But Chang's tact and presence of mind were fully equal to the occasion. By his coolness he brought the soldier to his senses, and after a few minutes, when the wave of excitement had abated, the soldier disappeared in the crowd.

About four o'clock in the afternoon the Pu River was reached, the scene of

the greatest single disaster of the flight of the Russian armies from Mukden. There was a great congestion on the bank, which was steep and impossible for the artillery and wagons to descend except at one place. Being a Chinese, driving a Chinese vehicle, it was impossible to use this descent, where the Russians were striving among themselves to cross. Chang, who as a horseman was superior to any of the hundreds of Russian drivers who were plunging their horses down the embankment and trying to get out on the opposite side, took a perilous course to one side, and though struck at with sabers by the artillerymen on the bank as he passed, landed his cart safely in the water and ice below. He was received by an artilleryman who jumped off his horse and rushed twenty feet through the water to strike him. He passed quietly and indifferently down the stream behind a dozen caissons and wagons stalled in the mire of the north bank, and got out without difficulty. Half an hour before dark, when I thought we had passed the point at which the Japanese were cutting the army in twothough shells were still striking to the east of us-we stopped at a village to feed the animals, who had not been fed since dawn. Within a quarter of an hour we received a shower of bullets in the house and courtyard where we were resting, and a big fusillade began. The troops fled. The explosion of a few hand grenades across the road was now all that was necessary to complete their terror. From the gate of the compound the soldiers could be seen sweeping through the roadway of the village, until the dust became so thick that they were lost to sight and only their cries and terrified shouts could be heard above the fusillade. It was the point at which the rear of the Russian armies was cut off, and, thinking that it was almost certain death for him to leave the premises, I ordered Chang to remain in the house of the compound with the family of Chinese, where he would be safe, and where, being a native, he would be unmolested and might return to Mukden. But I saw that he could not understand, and while I was saddling my mare he was looking for bullets which were at the moment striking

the trough where the animals were feeding, and the house. But fearing to be cut off, I again ordered him to remain, and rode away.

His subsequent adventures are as related by himself. The fusillade lasted about an hour, and it was quite dark when it ended. Under cover of the night he escaped from the village with the animals and baggage, and later on was able to join a Russian column making its way along the railway. Protected by the darkness, he marched all night unmolested, but when dawn came he was several times assaulted by soldiers and with much difficulty prevented the baggage from being looted and the animals taken. Toward noon he rested and then proceeded in the direction of Tiehling. Four native bandits, armed with swords and pistols, who had been in the service of the army and were fleeing with it, about the middle of the afternoon took possession of him and all of the effects. But he was able by threats and courage to compromise with them, and escaped by giving them one piece of baggage and half of the mess stores. Later in the day, however, they returned and took one of the animals. Chang employed a Chinese peasant, whom he met on the road, to follow the bandits, and when he arrived at Tiehling was able to locate them and the stolen animal at an inn. While the army was in heated flight, he

induced the native magistrate to examine the case, which, in view of the fact that few Chinese officials could safely venture to interfere in any affair concerning an employee or follower of the army, was in itself an achievement. The animal was recovered and the robber thrown into prison, where he was afterwards, no doubt, decapitated according to Chinese law.

Later, at a time when I thought Chang safe in Mukden, I accidentally discovered him, nearly a week after, at Kaiyuan, seventy miles north of where we had begun the flight. He had, unarmed and without any protection, successfully withstood all the dangers of the flight, in which he was the best soldier that I saw, and for four days of the retreat proper, which began at Tiehling, he had successfully managed the distressed and importunate soldiers who were constantly trying to get possession of and loot the baggage. He was afterward presented with the cart and a fine mule, and I am obliged to say that he was amazed at the gift and sincerely ignorant of what he done to deserve it.

I have heard foreigners in China relate many similar stories, but I believe that in the present day they do not receive the publicity which they deserve, and which makes them of such peculiar interest at the present moment.

HWANG

anti-foreign schemes, are not known in America, although some of their names may be discovered in the State Department, and their memory among foreigners is cherished by the few resident in China.

The Chinese character needs no apology and no introduction to civilization. The history for many hundreds of decades of one of the most numerous of the races has filled its annals with illustrious names.

In this great nation there are millions of competent men and not a few who may be called remarkable. There is no doubt that the veil of China's almost impossible language obscures much, especially in the national character, fo which the West, if it knew, would stand

in awe and admiration. The following history is that of a relatively obscure man, already old, belonging to a circle many of whose members have been martyrs to the cause of advancement in China; some beheaded in disgrace, and others, after years of toil and sacrifice, dying in obscurity.

His Excellency Hwang was a boy of ten when the Taiping rebels took the city of Nanking on the Yangtse, in which he lived. It was the practice in those days, and is yet, for families to commit suicide rather than be subjected to the outrages practiced by soldiers in China. Following the example of the family, little Hwang and his brother hung themselves when the Taipings entered the city. He was saved by the soldiers, but his brother was already dead. Follow ing their practice, which was to bring up children in the faith which they themselves professed, the Taipings carried him off, and during his career of two years with the Taiping army he added considerably to the knowledge which he possessed of his own language and acquired considerable proficiency in handwriting, which is a Chinese art. He was used by the rebels as a clerk and accountant. At the end of two years he escaped by way of the Yangtse River, which is the Mississippi of China, and floated down by the lumber rafts which from time immemorial have traversed that great waterway. He was kidnapped by a lumberman, but in the end approached the vicinity of his native city. In the environs of Nanking he learned that no members of his family had survived, and he consented to be adopted into the family of a farmer. On account of his knowledge of reading and writing he became a tutor, and later on the village schoolmaster. Self-taught, he aspired to literary honors, and while yet young he took his first degree. At intervals throughout the years following he advanced from one degree to another, which is the system in China by which a man becomes eminent, until he reached the highest honors possible for the province of Anhui, in which he resided, to confer. One literary distinction remained to him to acquire. This was the Hanlin Degree, conferred by the Emperor him

self, in Peking. He was now about thirty-five years of age, and became what might be called the Senior Wrangler of the year. There is nothing like this distinction in other lands, for it carries with it honors that are conferred only by the State, and upon only one man in a year. The examination is nominally conducted by the Emperor himself, and on this occasion, according to the sacred practices of the Throne, the Emperor placed a robe upon Hwang's shoulders; the great middle Chien gate, reserved solely for the use of the Emperor, was opened, and the Emperor escorted him out of the Forbidden City, where the examination was held. The achievements of the little waif of the Yangtse had now entitled him to the highest emoluments of the Empire. The Emperor presented him with a home, and he was made a Censor, which, theoretically, is the most dignified position in the gift of the State. It carries with it the unqualified privilege of criticising all affairs pertaining to both individuals and men, as well as the conduct of the Emperor himself, who, according to the Chinese scheme of things, is regarded as the Son of Heaven. Mandarin Hwang devoted his influence as a public official and his money to benevolence and reform, attending to the responsibilities imposed upon him by his office, and relieving distress. One of his sons he sent abroad to acquire a knowledge of the outside world. On the occasion of a visit to a distressed village near Peking that had been nearly destroyed by a flood he was met by a little boy who had been sent out by the villagers with a list of persons in need of succor. Mandarin Hwang was so pleased with the boy that he took him into his own home, and later on sent him abroad for study; he spent four years in America and Europe, and is now, through the munificence of his patron, a student in Cornell University.

In 1900, when the Government of China was about to ally itself with the disgraceful Boxer organization, which brought the nation into ignominy, his Excellency Hwang, by the authority of his office and the courage of his convictions, memorialized the Throne against

the Boxers, whose practices he denounced, saying that no State in such difficulties as were then harassing the Empire was ever saved by the devices proposed by the Boxers, or by the friends of the Boxers. Within two days a Boxer garrison appeared at his house, looted it, drove out his family, devastated the premises, and marched him off, at prisoner, to the palace of Prince Chuang. Here he was met by underlings, but Prince Chuang, who had been an old friend, refused to see him. He remained for two days a prisoner in Prince Chuang's hothouse cellar, where the old gardener, who had known him for years, smuggled food to him. Others were afraid to render him assistance. At the end of two days he was placed in a chair and carried off to the Hsingpu, or State prison. A small, frail, mild, kindly gentleman, thoroughly Confucian in his abhorrence of brute force, his feelings may be imagined as he looked out of the windows of his chair and saw his countrymen decked out in red rags, carrying great brutal iron swords, and, with fierce looks, guarding him from escape and escorting him to prison.

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The Government had fallen into the hands of the arch Boxer Prince Tuan, and Mandarin Hwang daily expected the sentence of death, and was prepared for execution. He had to bribe the jailer and the turnkeys in order that a few faithful servants might be admitted to bring him food and reports of his family. Soon after he was imprisoned, the foreign Legations, which were less than a mile away, were besieged, and he could by day and night hear every shot of the rifle and artillery and mine contest, able only to surmise what it was about, and entirely ignorant of the fortunes of the Throne and of his Emperor. At the end of forty days the foreign troops, which had entered Peking and relieved the Legations, threw open the

doors of the prison, and his Excellency Hwang was turned loose into the street along with a miscellaneous crowd of prisoners. His home was broken up and his family scattered, but he gathered some friends about him and settled down in the Chinese city to assist the American troops, who were in charge of the district, in policing and governing it. During the occupation of Peking by the foreign troops he established an industrial and charitable institution, with the object of teaching useful trades to boys and educating them in the learning of the West. He was successful, owing to the support which a knowledge of his character attracted. At the same time his former enemies began to persecute him. It is due, I believe, to Mrs. Conger, the wife of the American Minister, who used in Hwang's behalf the rare influence which she enjoyed at the Chinese Court, that the Empress Dowager interfered to protect him; and he has now for several years enjoyed a measure of calm and prosperity, with his family about him. But his future is not at all certain, nor is that of any other Chinese reformer. Like the progressives of the past, and those for a long time to come, he is essentially a martyr, carrying his fortunes in his hand.

It is the fashion now, especially with the sentimentalists, to vindicate the Throne and the high members of the Government. Our magazines are open to these themes because they affect great personages. Men like Hwang are not inspired in their efforts by the hope of Imperial favor. Their efforts began. long years before the Imperial family and the members of the Government made their final effort to exterminate Western influence and its missionaries. Their day will be brought nearer and their efforts will be more effective if the history of their deeds is cherished abroad..