# Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/Peking

PEKING.
PEKING, or rather a city which once stood on the site of that which is now the southern portion of Peking, was in ancient days the capital of the kingdom of Yan, but during the supremacy of the Chins, about 222 B.C., the seat of Government was removed elsewhere. About 936 A.D. Peking was taken from the Chins by the Khaitans, who made it their southern capital. Later, the fourth sovereign of the Kin dynasty, which had overthrown the Khaitans, established his Court here. In the time of the Mongols, about 1267 A.D., the city was removed about a mile to the north of its original site, the new city becoming known as the Northern or Tartar City, and the old as the Southern or Chinese City. The early Ming emperors held their Courts at Nanking, but in 1421 the third emperor of that dynasty reverted to Peking, which has remained the capital of China ever since that date, though its Chinese name, Shun-tien, really signifies only "the Northern Capital."
Few capitals are less favourably situated, geographically and politically, than Peking. It has practically no direct foreign trade, and has no possibilities either as a manufacturing or as a commercial centre. It lies in a sandy plain about 13 miles to the south-east of the Pei-ho, and about 10 miles west-north-west of the mouth of that river. A canal connects the city with the Pei-ho. The population is estimated at about 1,300,000—900,000 in the Northern, and 400,000 in the Southern City. The small foreign population consists almost solely of diplomatic representatives of the various Powers having treaties with China, of Customs officials, missionaries, and school teachers.
IMPERIAL THRONE, FORBIDDEN CITY, PEKING.
The Northern or Tartar City is commonly known among the Chinese as Nei-cheng, which means "within the wall." It consists of three separate walled enclosures, one within the other. The innermost is called Kin-ching, or the "Prohibited City," and contains the palaces and pleasure grounds of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. These sacred precincts were visited by foreigners for the first time in history in 1900, after the relief of the Legations and the flight of the imperial family at the close of the Boxer rising. Outside this enclosure is Hwang-ching, the Imperial City, 2 square miles in extent, and surrounded by a wall covered with yellow tiles, known as the Imperial Wall. It is not so sacred as the inner enclosure, but it can only be entered by authorised persons. It contains Government Offices and the residences of the official classes. The outer portions of the city contains dwelling-houses and shops. Round the whole of the Tartar City run walls averaging 50 ft. in height and 40 ft. in width. They are built of earth and concrete, faced with brick, and are buttressed at intervals of 60 yards, while the parapets are loopholed and crenelated. These walls are pierced by several gateways, each surmounted by a pagoda, while in the south wall is the Water Gate, through which the waters of the Grand Canal flow into the city. The Southern or Chinese City known as Wai-cheng, which signifies "without the wall," is the business quarter of Peking, and contains the foreign Legations, the Llama, Confucian, and other temples, and numerous shops. It is oblong in shape, and is surrounded by walls about 30 ft. in height and from 25 ft. in thickness at the base to 15 ft. at the summit. The streets are narrow, congested, and, for the most part, in spite of much that has been done to improve them, indescribably dirty. The year 1899 saw the first attempt made to level and macadamise Legation Street, and that thoroughfare is now the centre of the section of the city known as the Legation quarter—practically a European settlement, half a square mile in extent. Here rigorous reformatory measures have been resorted to, and a degree of salubrity—years ago deemed impossible—is gradually being attained. In this fortified settlement, or its immediate neighbourhood, are the Hotel du Nord, the Hotel de Peking, and the Wagon Lits Hotel; the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the Russo-Chinese Bank, the Deutsch​Asiatsche Bank, and the Yokohama Specie Bank; several large foreign stores, at which foreign goods may be purchased; a Soldiers' Y.M.C.A.; the St. Michael's and John L. Hopkins' Memorial (Methodist Episcopal) Hospitals; a Catholic Church for the Legation Guards; the Methodist Mission Church, with accommodation for about 1,500 people; the Girls' School and Peking University, each with about 200 students, in connection with the Methodist Mission; the Lockhart Medical College, established by the London Mission for the encouragement of medical study in North China; the American Board Mission Church and School; and the Mission for the Blind. Near the Lockhart Medical College a monument has been erected to Baron von Ketteler, a German minister, whose murder at the hands of imperial soldiers, precipitated the crisis of 1900. In the north of the city stand the Presbyterian Mission, with its hospitals for male and female patients; and also the Northern Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Mission. The interesting Southern Cathedral of the last-named mission, which had existed for upwards of two centuries, was ruthlessly destroyed by the Boxers, as was also the Eastern Church. The mission of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts is in the western portion of the Chinese City.
THE SUMMER PALACE, PEKING. :
| | Camel Back Bridge, Summer Palace. | Camel Back Bridge, Summer Palace. |
| Summer Palace. | | Scenery near Summer Palace. |
WEST CORNER OF PEKING WALL.
Electricity for lighting purposes is supplied by a private company, and since 1884 Peking has been in direct telegraphic communication with the outside world by means of the overland line, via Tungchow to Tientsin and Taku. This line was destroyed during the Boxer troubles, but its place was taken for a time by a private line. Eventually it was relaid and handed over to the Imperial Chinese Telegraph Administration. The private line thus became the first inter-town telephone line in China, and was afterwards sold to the Chinese Government. A permanent agency has been established in the city by Reuter. Railway communication has ​been established with Hankow in the south, and, viâ the Northern (Tientsin) Railway, with Mukden and the Trans-Siberian line in the north. The line to Hankow is being extended to Canton and Kowloon (Hongkong).
The allusions already made to the Boxers may be supplemented by a short sketch of the rising in so far as it actually affected the capital. Trouble began on June 13, 1900, when the I-ho-Chuan, or Boxers, inaugurated their campaign of murder and destruction. Foreigners, and Chinese suspected of being in any way connected with foreigners, were persecuted, and practically all foreign buildings not actually within the Legation cordon were destroyed. Suspicions of the complicity of the Chinese Government in the rising, created by the terms in which imperial edicts dealt with the reactionary party, were confirmed by the murder of Baron von Ketteler, the German minister, who was shot by imperial soldiery while on his way to the Yamen to interview the Chinese ministers. On June 20th both Imperialists and Boxers opened fire on the Legations. There were altogether nearly 1,000 foreigners inside the lines, including about 500 Marine Guards, who, with two or three machine guns, had been sent up to the city just before the outbreak of hostilities in consequence of the threatening aspect of affairs. The British Legation was at once the main shelter of the besieged and the goal of the attacking hordes. Fortunately, all attempts to set fire to it were frustrated, though the Austrian and Italian Legations, the Customs premises, Hanlin College with its valuable library, and numerous other buildings, were destroyed by the incendiaries. The siege lasted until August 14th, when a column of the Allied Forces, 20,000 strong—which had left Tientsin at the beginning of the month, and had defeated the rebels, in two pitched battles, at Pei-t'sang and Yang-tsun—arrived at Peking and found little difficulty in accomplishing the relief of their beleaguered fellow countrymen. Sorely tried as were the foreigners in the Legations, however, their dangers and privations were not nearly so great as those endured by the Catholic fathers and some 3,000 native Christians, who had taken refuge in the northern Roman Catholic Cathedral and there maintained a successful resistance with the aid of 50 French and Italian marines. Owing to lack of ammunition the fathers were obliged to manufacture their own gunpowder and bullets, while towards the close of the siege the supply of food fell so low that the daily allowance of rice was reduced first to four and later to two ounces. The relief of this little stronghold, in which the rate of mortality among the children and the aged was terribly high, was effected by French and Japanese troops on the day following the relief of the Legations. The Imperial Family fled from Peking with the Court to Shansi Province, by way of the northern passes, and did not return until October of the following year; and the Allied Forces, entering the Forbidden City, were given modified opportunities for looting the treasures stored in the imperial palaces. The cleansing of Peking by the foreign Powers has made the city far more habitable, besides throwing open to the student of "things Chinese" many places of unique historic and artistic interest.
THE BRITISH MINISTER.
Sir John Newell Jordan, K.C.M.G., who has been in charge of British interests in China since 1906, was born on September 5, 1852, in Balloo, County Down, and was educated first at the Belfast Academical Institution and afterwards at Queen's College, Belfast, where he graduated with first-class honours. He was appointed a Student Interpreter in China in 1876, and his whole life since has been spent in the consular service, either within the boundaries of China itself or in the neighbouring country of Korea. He was appointed Assistant Chinese Secretary to Her Britannic Majesty's Legation in Peking in 1889, and was promoted Secretary in 1891. After remaining in this position for five years he was transferred to Korea, where he served his king and country in a variety of capacities until called upon to undertake the duties of his present high office. He was Consul-General in Korea for two years; Chargé d'affaires from 1898 to 1901; Minister resident at the Court of Seoul from 1901 to 1906, in which year the Japanese Protectorate was proclaimed. In recognition of his distinguished services he was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1897, and advanced to a knighthood in 1904. He was the recipient of the Jubilee medal in 1897, and of the Coronation medal in 1902. His publications include translations of the Peking Gazette, and his favourite recreation is riding. In 1885 he married Annie Howe, daughter of Dr. Cromie, Clough, County Down, by whom he has three sons and one daughter. His address is His Britannic Majesty's Embassy, Peking.
THE JAPANESE MINISTER.
Viscount Tadasu Hayashi, G.C.V.O., the head of the Japanese Legation at Peking, has, perhaps, a higher reputation in European diplomatic circles than any Japanese statesman living. He was educated in England, and represented his Emperor at the Court of St. James's from 1900 to 1905. He has been decorated with the insignia of many foreign orders, learned societies have vied with each other to do him honour, and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have shown their highest mark of esteem by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. Viscount Hayashi was born at Sakura, Shimosa, on February 22, 1850, and the many important posts which he has held include those of Secretary to the Japanese Embassy to the Courts of Europe from 1872 to 1873; Governor of Kobe, 1889–90; Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1891–95; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China, 1895–96; and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, 1897–99. After returning from England in 1905 he was for some time Minister of State for Foreign Affairs before taking up his present duties in the capital of China. He was created a Baron in 1886 and promoted to the rank of Viscount six years later. His publications in English include "For his People," 1903, and several translations of English works on political economy and on politics into Japanese. He is a member of many English clubs, including the St. James's, United Services, Batchelors', Marlborough, Travellers, Camera, &c. He married, in 1875, Misao, daughter of Gaino.
DR. MORRISON.
Dr. George Ernest Morrison, the famous correspondent to the Times, has, probably, a more intimate acquaintance with the interior of China than any man living. Peking is his postal address, but there is only a modicum of truth in the statement that it is his home. Travel forms his sole recreation, and he has, at various times, accomplished the most ​
E. G. Hillier, Manager. :
| THE DEUTSCH-ASIATISCHE BANK, PEKING. ||
| | H. Cordes, Manager. |
HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING CORPORATION.
The Peking branch of the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank was opened, in 1885, by Mr. E. G. Hillier, C.M.G., the present agent. In the Hongkong section of the present volume a full account is given of the establishment and growth of the parent bank, one of the leading financial organisations of the world, so that it need only be said here that the Peking branch, occupying specially built premises situated in Legation Street, carries on ordinary banking business similar to that of the other branches. The present building was opened in 1902, and forms a handsome addition to the important thoroughfare on which it stands.
MR. EDWARD GUY HILLIER, C.M.G., a son of the late Charles Batten Hillier, His Britannic Majesty's Consul to Siam, was born on March 11, 1857. Educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, Mr. Hillier entered the service of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in 1883. He was appointed agent of the Peking branch in 1891, and has held that position ever since. He was the negotiator of the Chinese Imperial Government Loans, issued in London and Berlin between the years 1895 and 1905. In 1902 he acted as British delegate on the Commission of Bankers for the Chinese indemnity, and in recognition of his services he was, in June, 1904, created a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Mr. Hillier has lost his sight, failure of vision in 1896 having resulted in total blindness. He was married in 1894. He resides at Peking, and is a member of the Royal Societies' Club, London.
RUSSO-CHINESE BANK.
A branch of the Russo-Chinese Bank was opened at Peking some two years ago by the present Russian Minister, D. D. Pokotiloff. The premises, which are situated in Legation Street, are the Bank's own property, and here all forms of business usual to large Banking Corporations are transacted. The headquarters of the Bank are in St. Petersburg. There is a London office in Threadneedle Street, and nearly fifty branches have been opened in different parts of the world. The capital amounts to 15,000,000 roubles, and there is a reserve fund of 9,240,000 roubles.
Mr. E. Wilhfahrt, who has been in the service of the Bank for the past eleven years, has charge of its interests at Peking.
DEUTSCH-ASIATISCHE BANK.
A branch of this Bank was established in Peking by Mr. Heinrich Cordes in 1905. The new premises in Legation Street were opened in 1907, and are the Bank's own property. The present managers are Mr. Conrad H. Cordes (manager), and Mr. Alfred J. Eggeling (agent).
Mr. Heinrich Cordes was born in Lübbecke, Westphalia, in 1866, and was educated at the High School of Bielefeld and at the University of Berlin, where he graduated in modern languages and law in 1892, and passed with honours in Chinese. Entering the foreign service in 1892, he was attached to the German Legation at Peking, where he attained the position of Second Interpreter in 1896. During the following four years he was attached to various Consulates in Southern China. In 1900 he took part in the negotiations between the Chinese Government and the Diplomatic Corps preceding the outbreak of the Boxer troubles, and was accompanying the German Minister, Fréiherr von Ketteler, when the latter was murdered on the way to the Tsung li Yamen. Mr. Cordes was himself seriously wounded. Recovering from his injuries, he returned to Germany in 1901, and it was then that von Hausemann, the great financier and head of the renowned banking institution, Direction der Disconto Gesellschaft, Berlin, engaged his services for the Deutsch-Asiatische Bank, and as representative in China of the "Syndicate for Asiatic Affairs." Under his management the branch has negotiated several important loans for the Imperial Chinese Government.
P. KIERULFF & CO.
Established in 1874, this firm carry on business as general storekeepers, silversmiths, jewellers, saddlers, drapers, outfitters, wine and provision merchants, and tourists' providers. A speciality is the manufacture of the Peking enamels, so greatly admired. Insurance is also effected, the firm being agents for the Hamburg Fire, Magdeburg Fire, Mannheim Life, Netherlands Life, and Equitable Life Insurance Companies. The capital of the firm is entirely German. The proprietor is Mr. J. Kruger, and the manager is Mr. H. Westphal.