Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-03-22


devoted, had been seized and presented
to one Of LIS officers. Then his fury
against the victorious rebel chieftain
rose, and knew no bounds.
In his love for this girl, says the his
torian, WI Sankwei forgot filial obedl-
ence, his own future. the safety Of his
family and every consideration Of patri-
otism. He was possessed only by a
mighty passion Of grief and anger He
wrote one letter to his father, upbraid-
ing him for not protecting the girl, and
another to Dorgun, the prince regent
Of the Manchus, inviting him to join
him (SankweD in the subjugation Of
the empire.
The Manchus did not hesitate a mo-
ment They pushed their army for
ward by forced marches to junction
with Sankwei Ii. astonished at the
turn Of affairs and determined to crush
the man who dared dispute his title,
advanced rapidly with 100000 picked
infantry and 10000 cavalry. In the
front line he marched WI, the aged
father Of Sankwei, who, by all the de-
crees Of Confucius, Sankwei was bound
to obey even to the sacrifice Of his own
life and honor.
The father not only ordered him, but
pleaded with him, to submit: but the
vision Of the outraged girl steeled the
heart of his son, and he stood helpless
while the father was being murdered
before his eyes.
The battle that followed was one Of
the most fiercely contested as we'll as
one Of the most noted in history.
Sankwei was outmatched and outnum-
bered, but not outgeneraled. He fought
with his troops like the very spirit Of
the fearful storm that ragged during the
battle, but in spite Of his terrific
charges he would have been compelled
to confess defeat had not the Manchu
advance guard Of 10000 veteran cav
airy thrown themselves into the
breach with a rush that was irresist-
ible.
The fight, which commenced as a
duel, ended in a slaughter. For four
teen miles Sankwei pursued the usurp-
er's disorganized forces and butchered
them by the hundreds. Ii stayed in
Pekin long enough to strip the palace
Of It's treasures and mercilessly to exc
cute all the family Of WI and set fire
TO the government buildings.
Sankwei, however, was close on his
heels He left the empire to the Man
chus, the sacking of the city to the
troops, and the bodies Of his family
unburied; but he swept on, tireless, re-
morseless, bent solely on revenge. His
mistress was dead, his father murder
ed, his family obliterated, but Ii still
lived.
Battle succeeded battle. Ii. deserted
by his followers, hunted like mad
dog, with all doors shut to him, and
even the necessities Of life becoming
impossible was killed by the rustics
whom he was plundering for food, and
Sankwei arrived only to claim the
corpse Of the rebel and murderer who
for a few hours had dared to sit on
the sacred dragon throne.
Leaving Sankwei to avenge the death
Of his mistress, Dorgun entered Pekin
in January, 1914. He proclaimed his
youthful charge, his six-year-old
nephew. emperor, and formally trans
ferred the Manchu capital from Muk-
den to Pekin. The young prince, who
adopted the title Of Shunchih, arrived
In October, and with his advent the
Manchu or Using dynasty, which still
bears sway in China, came into being.
Thus the queue that every China
man wears today may justly be claim
ed as a badge Of mourning for the
beautiful slave girl Of the General WI
Sankwei, who in his grief and anger
sealed the fate Of the Chinese nation
ality. But for her the Manchus
would have remained to this day a
league Of scattered tribes on China's
frontier.-China's Open Door.