Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-24
Chinese Soldiers Would Much Rather
Run Than Fight.
TIE PAY THAT THEY NEVER GET
Why They Wear Their Insignia
on Their Backs.
HURT ANYBODY


Should the threatened rebellion in China
assume such proportions as to call to the
field the mass Of so-called fighting men of
China. the foreign troops on the ground
will see species of warfare such as they
never before beheld. unless on the comic
opera stage. There Is no doubt that the
Chlnaman. when properly trained and led
by European officers, who will set him a
right example in bravery and dash, makes
an excellent soldier. This was amply dem
ohstrated during the Tapping rebellion,
when Chinese Gordon drilled and led the
"ever-victorous army against the rebels;
and 1t has again been made manifest during
the present unpleasantness. the list Chi
nese Regiment" of British auxiliary troops,
trained by English officers for garrison
duty at Wei-hai-Wei, having done gallant
service at the siege and capture of Tien
Tin
Some of the Boxer and the imperial
troops, too. have fought well. but they
are led by men who have had some modern
military training. The great mass of war
material in China is made up of men who
march under the flag of some local prince
ling or viceroy. The brave is the unit of
this aggregation, and a worse misnamed in
diVidual does not exist on the face of the
earth. Nevertheless this title is not given
him by way of joke but in sober earnest.
the character for brave being displayed
or the back of the blouse which he wears
IN place OF uniform, so that everybody
may know what ferocious animal he is,
and hunt cover accordingly.
His Pay and Food.
1t is scarcely to be wondered at that he
is not the highest type of military char
acter. His pay is az cents a day. But he
never by any chance gets it. The viceroy
of the province attends to that. AS for
food. he is supposed to receive sufficient al
lowance of rice OF milet. with the usual
concomitants of coolies meal, bit of
dried fish or pork, but he gets that only
in his mind The viceroy attends to that
also. The result is that the poor wretch
is obliged to beg his food, and if refused.
he takes 1t wiliy-nilly. 1t is a common
of the brave asking for food at the door
of some store or residence. 1t pays 70 be
civil to him, and he usually gets what he
asks for; for he carries his sword with
him when he Is out foraging.
AS for his officers, they are of the class of
some of the ancestors of Mark Twain,
whom that humorist describes rushing
whOoping into battle, right in the rear of
n recent writer on China gives what he
calls "a very pretty summary of the whole
duty of a soldier as laid down by Off
Ger Ot the bowmen: Should the enemy
continue to advance after the first flight
of arrows the boWmen should cndeavor to
brighten them by loud cries, feigning the
voices of savage beasts and deadly snakes.
If these be Intellectual, the archerS will nat
urally take flight, or else run to meet the
enemy, protesting that they are convinced
of the justice Of their cause. and de-
te1mined to fight on their side in future
Opera-Bouffe Fighting.
This sounds like a libel on the Chinese
military man, but there is no lack of evil
dence that such tactics are actually pur-
sued by the Chinese in warfare. During the
Tapping rebellion there was considerable
fighting around Shanghai. and the foreign
erS resident there had many opportunities
of witnessing it.
Rev. DR.. Yates. an American, who wit
messed in all more than sixty engagements.
describes the opera-bouffe style of fighting
he saw it, without himself mourning any
more danger than the fighters, which was
practically none. The fighting was in the
big burying ground on the outskirts of the
city. From time to time attacks would be
made, first by the rebels, then by the i'm
perialists. Almost invariably the wOunding
of single soldier was the signal for the
whole army to retire. Every warrior was
too careful of his own skin, according to
DR.. Yates, to take any chances in his at
tempts to perforate the skin of the enemy
The soldiers would never stand up and fight
face-to-face. like men. the practice of both
parties being to skulk behind graves. Or
they would carry bundles of straw. behind
which they would fight. They would run
from grave to grave. so as to flank the
enemy and try to get shot-all the time,
however being under cover. On one occa-
sion he saw two bannermen standing behind
grave mounds some twenty PAGES apart
After some CONSERVATION they rushed
toward each other. but when near enough
to use their spears these weapons were
seen vertically in the air, and the men
rushed into each others arms. exchanged
banners and ran at the top of their speed
in opposite directions. each doubtless Sc
curing the reward for capturing the ban
ner of a foe, which was taelS %!
Spear Against Matchbox.
ION another OCCASION writes DR.. Yates,
Il saw rebel with a spear chasing around
a grave mound an imperialist with match
lock in his hand. If the imperialist had
stopped to prime his gun and adjust his
fire rope the rebel would have speared him.
Finally however, succeeding in getting all
in readiness, he ran to the top of the mound
and fired, but the shot did not take effect,
because as he pointed downward the bullet
rolled out Of the gun, for the imperfectiOn
of the barrel necessitated the use of ball
of lesser diameter than the bore of the
gun. and the general plan of loading was
to drop the shot into the loose charge of
powder.
Both rebels and imperialsts were most
cruel in their treatment Of the wounded.
/ saw a wounded rebel pursued by three
imperialists who wanted to get his head
as a trophy Two of them speared the man
to the ground, to hold him still. while the
other cut off his head. but before this was
accomplished one of them was shot by an
other rebel who rushed to the spot in the
hope of getting the head of the imperalist.
but in turn he was shot by the two other
imperialists-so three were killed in trying
to get one head. 1t was commonly reported
that many poor countrymen were beheaded
by the imperial troops simply to gain the
reward of bravery. And, on the other
hand many of the soldiers were cut Off by
the peasantry when found loOting and
buried in their gardens. individuals on two
occa sions displayed the most foolhardy
bravado. A man from a company of i'm
perialists, who We're hiding behind my
house. ran out to the corner of my COM
pound in front of the guard station at
one of the bastions, and, spreading out his
arms, insulted them in the vlest manner
and called them to try and shoot him.
They fired the cannon and several rounds
of musketry before they hit him. When he
was wounded the whole force retired to
CAMP
Reward for Heads.
Except for the troops which have had the
benefit of foreign training in military mat
tiers or have felt the influence of foreign
methods. the Chinese soldiers are today
what they were when DR.. Yates sat on the
fence, so to speak, and watched them fight
They are as unprogressive as any class In