Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1901-11-08
Il HUNG CHANG is DEAD|
famous Chinese Statesman Passes
Away at Picking.
HIS FAMILY At THE BEDSIDE.

HIS FAMILY Al lHE btUSiDt.
sBricr sketch OF the Career OF China's
MOST Remarkable Aian--With All His
Ss<eatncss He was still Chinaman-
his Wealth.
Picking. Nov S.-Li Hung Chang
oiled at Ii o'clock a. m. His wife and
4wo sons and daughters were with him
ut the end, which had been expected
ut any time during the last twenty
Sur hours. In fact. he was arrayed in
his burial clothes last night. Tele-
nams have been sent summoning
Erince Ching, who is now on his way
,Sx, meet the court, and Chou Flu. pro-
v5nsaai treasurer. from Pao Ting Flu.
The former will assume the general
charge OF governmental affairs and the
latter wiz act as governor OF Chilli
until Ii Hung Changes successor in
chat office, who will probably be Yuan
Shi Iai, is appointed. The yamen was
khronged with Chinese officials when
ahs carl died. 1t was feared that his
death would be taken advantage of by
che populace. and to guard against
spossible anti-foreign demonstration
sdrunps were disposed about the city in
<anch a way as to command the situa-
sstnr. At the time of the earls death
one courtyard of the yamen was filled
rrith iifesize paper horses and chairs,
sUiih cooIie bearers, which his friends
sucs,s. in accordance with the Chinese
-srussoms. to be buried at his death in
order to carry his soul to heaven.
BROAD as a Statesman.
John Russell Young wrote of Ii Hung
Chang:
CAS- to the estimate of him by Gen
eSal Grant, that as statesman he
vas worthy to rank with Beaconsfield,
Csambetta and Bismarck. it will be re
snenabered that General Grant was not
ssIven to extrayagant opinions OF men,
and that he had seen Ii upon terms
at extreme intimacy. It is difficult to
find standard of comparison. Behind
western statesmen were established
civilizations. the forces Of advanced
empires. They did not create but car
EIea out what was begun. Bismarck
was the successor of Frederick the
Great, Gambetta of Mirabeau, while
Fort BeaconsfieId could only have
found his ideal in the conquering soul
of Chatham.
Devoted to Native Ways.
eli Hung Chang was alone with his
problem. History gave him no prece
Gent. The outside world had no SYM
nathy for him. The western nations
lacked upon China with carnivorous
eyes He accepted the appalling duties
before him. He rejected nothing. He
had breadth, depth, omniscience. He
meant that China should grow, broad
ON. rise He worked for the Chinese
peopie with an intelligence and cour-
age that must forever rank him as one
OF the worlds foremost men Of his
age" Yet Ii, with all his greatness,
was still a Chinaman. He established
che China Merchants Company and
bought his commerce under the flag of
China. but he was devoted to his native
ways in matters of religion. His SUI
Derstftion or respect for what the mass
OF his people believed in was profound
He would not cut an inch from his cue
meT let fuzz grow on his foretop. He
worshiped his dead ancestors with all
the feryor of a true Chinaman.
Travelled Over tho World.
1t Is not to be wondered at that the
western world should have difficulty
In comprehending a character as great
and complex as that of Ii, revealed as
1t has been through his habits, beliefs
and the mists of the world of diplo-
macy and commercialism in which he
Tved He travelled in all parts of the
In CT, iod o1o ri v re-
forces, steam and it's value, coal and
its economies, iron and it's combina-
lions. He investigated western col
reges and universities, the literature of
Gaucasians, their financial systems and
x1olitics. He sought to extract from
all these subjects the best and give it
TO China. His mission was not to
make China western, but to secure the
zoest of the West and mold it into
Chinese life and progress.
Els Estate Valued at $IOO,OOO,OOO.
Iii was six feet two inches in height,
weighed 200 pounds and was man
of terrible strength His habits were
simple and his speech simpler. He
was energetic in all his movements
"a believer in work, and such cham
spaon Of China as that nation may not
z1aye for decades to come. His i'm
Hnense wealth. came largely from
manufacturing institutions he was in
Gerested in as an investor. No ac-
ecurate estimate of this wealth can be
given, although it has been placed as
Eafgh as 500. ZOO, 900.
Chronology OF His Career.
Born Feb. 16. 1922
Put down the Tai-Ping rebellion,
3s5l-1S64.
viceroy OF Hong Kuang. 1867.
Grand Chancellor. 1868.