The National tribune., 1908-04-09
IN FAR CATHAY.'
Continued from page one.)

l4N IlN vi lll /.
Continued from page one.)
with the greatest cruelty as well as bad
faith, and of the &c British subjects,
who should have been protected by a
flag of truce, 13 only returned alive,
whose bodies bore marks of the terri
BILE tortures to which they had been
subjected; the others had been muir
dered. In retaliation for them the mag
nificent Imperial Summer Palace, the
pride of the Chinese Emperor, was
looted and destroyed. Since then China
has had troubles which have rapidly
destroyed her naughty conceit and
brought her to her present lamentable
condition, when she feels herself power
less before Nation like the japanese,
which has not one-tenth of her popu-
lation or resources.
The TAPPING Rebellion.
Prominent among these was the great
TAPPING Rebellion, or as the Chinese
officially term it, 1.-The war of the long
haired rebels" which broke out in
Southern China in the year 1850. The
British war of 1S40-'42 had destroyed
the prestige of the imperial govern
ment. There had been repeated fail
ures of crops in the districts where ii
anu SUCH are ire
quently the cause of outbreaks in China.
Hung Siu-tsuen became at an early mo-
ment the prominent figure in the out
break He had failed in the literary
examinations, and was therefore un-
likely to rise in the service of the gov
ernment He had read some of the
tracts printed by the missionaries, and
appears to have considered himself the
recipient of divine messages His as
not % 1lr .SIrNA
supreme being" and an elder broth
err" Foreigners were disposed to be-
lieve that they inclined toward Chris
tianity, and that its cause would be ad-
vanced by their success. By April,
1851, the TAPPING forces were well Or
ganiZed, and numbered upward of 49,
600 men. A little later Hung Siu-tsuen
assumed the title "Tien-Wang," or
Heavenly Prince" They accomplish
of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Human,
and on Dec. %. 1852 they captured
Hanyang on the Yangtse. In January,
1853, they took Woochang, the capital
of the Hu provinces. In February
Kiukiang and Nganking succumbed TO
their forces, and on March they ar
rived before Marking, which they cap
tured on the 18th, numbering about
10000 Manchus found in the city. In
Peking. It consisted of only about
5000 or 1000 men, yet it marched over
400 miles, subsisting on the country
thru which it passed. 1t was turned
back when within 100 miles of the capi-
tai and rejoined the forces at Nanking
in the Summer of 1854 For several
years after the military operations of the
Taipings were little else then incursions
to obtain contributions of money and
/ tTrnNtiGinng Tho ir1r lictG In Iy
closed in upon them, and at the end
/ of 1859 their prospects We're very
gloomy. But in the Spring of 1860 they
attacked and routed the besieging army.
/ The occupation of ChinlSiang, SoochoW,
and the wealthy country lying between
| Shanghai and Ningpo, followed. The
former city was threatened, but, being
defended by foreigners, held out against
the efforts of the insurgents. Ningpo
fell into their hands. Had the Taip-
ings displayed valor and discretion, il
! is not impossible that they might yet
have mastered the Empire, but their
| government was one which built VI
not at all; it only ravaged the districts
which it occupied, passing on to other
dist riots when the first were exhausted
4, At last the Taipings threatened
Shanghai, one of the treaty ports, and
/ this brought them into collision with
| the Western powers. The Shangha
merchants raised a small army. which
was organized and led by Frederick
r. Ward, an American of most remark
able ability. He named his force the
| Eyer-Victorious Army and achieved
some successes, but was shot before g
great while. He was succeeded by
! Burgevine, an American, who was 9
| failure. He was dismissed and ar
Englishman named Holland assumed
! command, but was defeated when Gen
| Charles Gordon, of the English army
was allowed to enter the service, and
his brilliant campaign won him g
worldwide reputation. He had between
1000 and 1000 men, whom he dis
ciplined TO the highest and won some
extraordinary victories with it over the
vastly superior forces Of the Taipings
When he finally suppressed the rebellion
ne came into collision with Ii Hung
/ Chang, the great Chinese Viceroy, who
had the customary contempt OF his race
for treaties and promises and began
Wholesale executions in spite of Cor.
don's capitulations. Thereupon, Cor.
don left the service and refused all the
rewards which the Emperor was
anxious to heap upon him.
Minister BurIingame.
/ The best work in bringing the United
States and China to good understand.
\ jilS hsiS dDHt ny Hun. <afSOIl
game, Minister to China from 1861 L
1867, and who succeeded in a most re.
markable degree in winning the conf.
dence of the Chinese administration
When he retired from the Embassy h,
was asked to head a Chinese EMBASSY
accredited to IL leading nations apl
conducted this with the greatest sue
cess. 1t was he that finally brought TIL,
Chinese to the point of receiving tn,
foreign ministers upon exact equality
In 1884 France made war agains
China and succeeded in wrestling ava,
the provinces of AMMAN and Tongking
In 1894 Japan saw her opportunity il
the troubles which had come upol
China and revived her claims to pre-
, dominance in Korea. This led to
war, in which the Chinese land force
+, were badly defeated at Pingyang an,
the Chinese fleet was destroyed at tn
mouth of the Yalu River. Port Ar
!, thur was captured and a Japanese arm,
!. was on the point of capturing Pekin,
when China made peace by recogniz
ing the full independence of Korea AM
ceding Japan the island of Formosa an,
: other valuable possessions and payin;
an indemnity of 100000, 600 taels.
| The Western powers interfered +
prevent Japan getting the full benefit o
her victory and particularly in tal1in,
/ away from her Port Arthur, which IL
violence of good faith Russia proceed
ed to occupy, which brought on tn
a n t.,