The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-01-05
.CH|NESElNATVE PAPERS
TRANSACTIONS OF THEIR TALES
ABOUT THE ALLIES.
Accounts Published in Chinese of In
dignities to Which Notables Were
ubjected-Feeding Race Hatred.

misunderstanding Race Hatred.
The Chinese native papers are at
present filled with blood-curdling tales
of the doings of the allies in Peking.
says the Shanghai Mercury; tales of
no great historical value, perhaps but
none the less the accounts of this bar
barian invasion which will be trans
mttted through the generations and
used to Brighten children for hundreds
of years to come. The Tung Wen HUI
PaO is especially prolific in these stories
and claims to have been unsparing of
time or trouble in collecting informa-
ton by interviewing arrivals from the
North. A series of leading articles is
devoted to the subject, and the writer
evidently makes use of all that comes
to hand, with a cheerful Indifference to
the fact that some of his stories con-
tradict others. He has no hesitation I'm
resurreCting his suicides, but that is
process to which we have an become SO
accustomed in the past few months
that it hardly requires comment.
OF Hsu Tung we are told that at the
time of the entrance of the allies into
Picking he took refuge i'm the house of
a friend as a hiding place from their
vengeance, But here his own son
sought him out and upbraided him,
saying: 1T is your indulgence of the
Boxers which has generated this great
calamity The fingers and eyes of all
the nations are directed straight at
you. If the foreign soldiers find you
there win be no hope of mercy, and
the whole family viii be involved i'm
your downfall. But If you have the
courage to die YOU can perhaps avert
the anger of the foreigners and leave
an honored named to your descendants.
In such a case /, your son, win not
hesitate to follow you to Hades."
Thus urged, the fearful and trembling
old man had no resource, ana went and
hanged himself Another version of
the story has it that the filial son as
sisted i'm this process by removing the
stool upon which his father was stand
ing, after the rope had been nicely adj
justed We are also told that this in
teresting youth did not carry out his
promise of accompanying his father to
the lower regions, but made what capt.
tai he could out of the event by coll
lecting monev for the funeral services
from his relatives and friends. The
moral which the narrator points out is
that an unfaithful minister cannot eX-
poet to possess a filial son. The fact
that Hsu Tung, according to the latest
reports, is still alive, should not be
allowed to detract from the force of the
moral or the grisly horror of the tale.
OF all that has occurred in Peking,
that which seems most to impress the
mind of the average Chinese is the
fact if fact it is. that mobiles and high
officials, even princes of the royal line
have been compelled to perform manual
labour. The bitterest reproaches are
heaped upon these. because they did
not possess sufficient courage to destroy
themselves rather than submit to such
degradation; a degradation which has
fallen not upon themselves alone, but
{ al ba Of W
the representatives. 1t is interesting
to learn that a former Superintendent
ofth Imperial Silk Manufactures when
ordered to carry earth laid aside his
embroidered robes rolled up his sleeves,
/ and went to work with such vigour
| that his captors relented and released
him This ability to adapt himself to
! circumstances is not, however, appre-
ciated by the narrator Prince l was
/ less fortunate. The work assigned him
was To wash clothing for the soldiers.
and his taskmasters were most exact
/ ing allowing him no rest or recreation.
/ After a few days he killed himself.
/ To K'o Chin, a noble of the second
( rank, together with King Kwan, fell
! an even more revolving task, that OF
carrying dead bodies outside the city
walls. We are told that they were re-
! quired to make several tens of trips
per day, and that their daily ratiOns
consisted of a single biscuit and a cup
of cold water each. Having been nursed
/ in the lap of luxury such conditions
/ were to them uncomfortable. Luckily the
vigilance of their captors soon relaxed
and they were able to escape. They
| FASTENED to the residence of Ii Hung
| Chang and tearfully related their ad-
ventures. He did what he could to con-
I sole them, but had no remedies to sug-
gest.
rven the more fortunate among the
higher classes, who have thus far es-
capped the dreadful fate of being set to
labor with their hands, are of course
reduced to the most destitute circum-
| stances. We read that it is not uncom-
mon to see mandarinS ranged along the
roadside endeavoring to dispose of their
| official buttons. In this they are rare
ly successful, as foreigners have no use
for the glittering baubles and the Chi
nese who remain are too poor to buy.
Chung Ii, the President Of the Board
| of Punishments, was, before the out
| break of hostilities, the proud possessoI
of more than three thousand suits OF
| clothes; a wardrobe to satisfy the
| heart Of a veritable Flora McFlimsey
After the visit of the Allies we are told
that he was forced to borrow the coat
! of a common soldier before being able
to call and pay his respects to Ii Hung
! Chang. Being afterwards captured by
| the Allies he was kept in confinement
| and fed on biscuits. After each meal
| he was required to walk about for eXer-
else, his guard leading him by the
! queue, his barbarous captors evidently
! fearing that so hearty a diet without
exercise might injure his digestion. The
writer sarcastically observes that a
man who can submit to such insults
! without putting an end to his own eX-
istence must possess a rare degree of
/ fOrbearance.
Many of the above points are to us
amusing, but to the Chinese they are
/ intensely tragic. The spectacle of a
| Prince of the royal house carrying
burdens or welding q spade is to them
more impressive than that of a thou
| sand beggars corpses lying by the road
sides. This being the case, we can not
| heb feeling that the Allies are in the
main acting wisely and well.
From other sources we have learned
that people who are willing to work
are receiving good wages in Peking
] tpa1 10 10 inn fI,.t ~,