Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-25
COUNTRY FAMOUS FOR ITS RIOTS
CAUSES THAT LED TO THE CURIOUS UPRISING OF THE PEOPLE
WHO HAVE STIRRED ALL THE WIDE WORLD.
BY DR.. Headland, Chinese Missionary.

There is p%robobly no country in the I
. world that mas, and has always had, so |
many and such large uprisings as the
empire of China. Naturally a people of
peace, they are yet a people of war-no, !
not of war, but of family squabbles, for |
their u~prisinss except in extreme cases,
do not rise to the dignity Of war.
When there is a strong emperor at the |
head of the government they are peace !
full, but when as in the present instance, |
there is a woman on the throne, the
who'll empire is turned into a quarrel
some harem, with the empress dowager
in the character of the domineering
nlother-in-law, making trouble for the
whole world.
At such a time rioting, even on a large
scale may be precipitated by the most
trivial causes.
Let me describe an experience through
which my wife and l passed. My wife,
who is a physician, was going in a Sc
dan chair to see a sick woman. l eo!- |
lowed on a donkey to escort her. Just |
as we were passing through the east
gate Of Peking a company of soldiers
came out Of Il side street and started the
same way as We had to go. My wife
on account of the muddy streets. The
crowd that had gathered to see the SOL
d.ers called us foreign devils. I sug-
gested that We should cross over and
go down a side street. AS we did this a
hoodlum came out of a corner shop,
with nothing on save a pair OF trousers
and a pair CT shoes determined to raise
a row. He followed us, gathered a
crowd, who began to throw bricks,
stones, dirt and mud. while the original
disturber of the peace got close enough
to kick my wife several times without
my knowledge. Then he kicked me, and
Z knocked him down, and was about to
step on him, when several friendly Chi
nese stepped between us and him., them
selves receiving many of the blows
which We're aimed at US.
For nearly half an hour we were in
the mob, and, while not seriously in
1ured physically, we were very naturally
upset. I call attention to the fact. how
ever, that the mob was started by one
scaundrel, or, as the Chinese would call
aim. a Fier Tu tsu, and some of the
better class risked their own comfort
and safety to protect us. The city au-
y thorities issued an edict at once, and the
scoundrel was arrested, and a wooden
collar about two feet square, which he
had to wear for a month, was put about
his neck.
When it is designed by any of the
hoodlu1ns or the member of a secret
society to create a disturbance, about
the first thing they do is to placard the
city. The announcement is first cut on
a board, the operation costing two shil-
lings perhaps. From this rude engrav-
ing they can print from a hundred to a
thousand copies.
These are given to the members of the
society and are sent to different parts
of the city to be posted on the walls of
the houses or courts, but more especially
near the city gates and at the cross
streets, for in these localities they will
be seen by the largest possible number.
The word is then passed fSi.i up to lip,
and this the people call Yao Yen-or, as
we say, report gossip. No people in the
world, perhaps, are greater gossipers
than the Chinese. They tell everything
they know and everything they can
think about.
Tientsin, like all the other ports, has
suffered from its intercourse with for
eigners, The Tientsinese have ceased. to
be purely Chinese, and have only become
~foreignized to the extent of drinking
imported wine, beer, and whiskey
= smoking cigars - and cigarettes, and
swearing. A Tientsinese who knows no
a word of respectable English is often
able 10 swear very fluently.
While. Lii Hung Chang was viceroy
with his residence at Tientsin, it made
more advancement and improvement
than under any other regime. He estab,
lished a medical college and dispensary
versity which is now under the manage
the best managed government schools
in the empire.
1t is sometimes said that the uprising
and outbreaks, riots and mobs in Chin;
arr caused by. and are mainly a>.ins
the missionaries. Such ~@.-s are no
tue. The Chinese make no distinction
between those who are and those VIII