The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-09-25
Ii HUNG CHANG.
What He Has Done to Introduce Civiliza-
ton into China.

LII IuNS CnaUS SbaUuS IOrelHOS6 among
the vieeroys of the IS provinces of |
China as the man who exerts, probably, |
the greatest influence on the progress |
and destinies CT the empire. Foreigners |
generally know him best as the associate
of Tseng Quo Fan and Colonel Gordon in
dealing to the TAPPING rebels their final
blow. but more recently he established |
the Marking Arsenal, the first of the |
kind in China, and has besides ssthis
been familiarizing the Chinese soldiers |
with foreign discipline and drill.
Marking Arsenal stands near the site |
ofsthe great Porcelain Tower, outside |
the south gate of the city. The "Monas-
terry of Gratitude" as well as the tower,
were destroyed by the rebel, and the !
present arsenal is partly built out of |
the bricks which had been employed in |
these structures. The chants of by gone !
days that used to issue from the Bud !
dhist cou rts, filing the air with their
dreary monotones, are today replaced by
less peaceful souds-by the whirr of en-
gines, the clang of steam hammers and
the reports of guns and rifles, which are
being tested for use.
1t is commonly, and let me add, err
roneously, supposed in America that
little or no progress is being made in
China All eyes are turned towards
Japan. There it has become the fashion
to discover the pet example of Eastern
advancement. Out of the darkness of
semi barharism Japan has shot up,
planet like, in search of a wider orbit
and brighter sun. While China, SEEM
ingly only faithful to the gravitating
influences of ancient tradition. is, too,
undergoing a gradual process of transit
tion and development. Yet she esteems
the philosophy CT her sages as highly as
in former days, aud maintains her belief
in the old institutions which have sup
ported her in proud isolation and indie
pendence for SO many centuries. For all
that, and notwithstanding the obstacles
to progress presented by her Fengshui
or Geomancy, from sheer necessity and
the instinct of self preservation, she is
drifting slowly towards our Western
ways, adopting our sciences, Femodell-
ing imporatnt branches of her admins
tratioa, and making concessions to
meet the requirements of closer foreign
intercourse. Nor is this all. Her
merchants can now boast of their steam
navigation companies, land, a fact per-
| haps less gratifying to us,s they are SO
thoroughly masters of what they have
| undertaken in this direction as to have
competed successfully with foreign COM
panies in the carrying trade on the coast
and rivers of their country.
China's plains are teeming with mil
| lions OF poor patient laborers, ready to
f,.r fIo,-~ ~. lire frvz 4
will furnish them with the simple nee
essaries of life. men are being trained to
engage in the highest branches of skilled
labor. Her mountains abound in metals
ard minerals, and her vast coalfields are
stored up to kindle the fires of coming
age of steam and iron. Western nations
have woke the old dragon from her sleep
of ages and now she stands at bay,
armed with iron claws and fangs of
| foreign steel. The civilizing agencies
which now operate on the CentralFlowery
Land all tend to further the accomplish
ment of an end which, in the Chinese
| interest, is so much to be desired The
annually carries laborers by their tens
of thousands towards other shores, is
not without its influence on the parent
country. For abroad the Cinnamon is
quick to learn, SO quick and SO success
| full, indeed, as to make him formida-
| of the West, and he invariably returns
| to his native town taking home with
| the knowledge as we'll as the capital
which he has acquired abroad.
| LII Hung Chang, the second of five sons
was born two years after the accession of
| the Emperor Tau Kwang, in the province
| of Ngan Whai His father was an OBJ
scure literary man who, notwithstand-
| ing poor circumstances. yet managed to
give his children liberal education.
Young Lii, the subject of these notes,
| succeeded in passing the different degrees
| at the government examinations, and
| in 184S, being then 26 years of age, be-
! came member of the Han Lin College.
When the rebels invaded his native
province he raised a local regiment, and
placed himself and his troops at the
| disposal of the Viceroy of the Two
| Kiang. Ii Joined Tsen Quo Fan, under
| whom he was advanced to the rank of
! Taotai, and subsequently, to the COM
mand of division of Tsengg's Grand
| Army in Chek Kiang.
| In 1861, first year of the Emperor Tung
| Che, he was recommended by Tseng
| Quo Fan to be acting Footai of Kinagsu,
and then, by the aid of Col. Gordon, with
| his ever victorious army. he cleared the
| province OF rebels. On the fail of Soo-
ed OH the subjeet) ordered all the rebel
wangs (kings) to be beheaded, in defance
of his guarantee that their lives should
| be spared, the condition on which the
| city was given up. have been informed
| by an officer, who was present at the
time, that the massacre of Soochow was
not an act of treachery on the part of
| Lii; the order came from another and
a higher quarter. Lii Hung Chang was,
however, Hgrealty incensed, when, three
days after the capitalization, the rebel
kings visited him wearing their rebel
robes and the long hair, which was a
badge of rebellion. He must have as
sented to the massacre, and the central
government approved the bloody ard
treacherous deed, and confirmed LII
Hung Chang in the Office of footai. In
addition to this, the emperorsconferred on
| him the yellow jacket one of the
highest rewards bestowed in China for
eminent military services. and also gave
| him the title of fai tsze shaou paon,
| or inner guardian of the throne.
| Ii Hung Chang now removed to 500.
| chow, and as the rebels had destroyed the
resi- dence of the former Foota there es-
tablished himself in the palace of the
"Chang Wang" or Faithful King,