•2..S. /ifc I, 
 
 tVic Ihtologijai ^ 
 
 X. 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. 
 
 S R I R 
 
 Division rrSrrff . Sfrr. • •w' 
 
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 Section 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/awakeningofeastOOIero 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 

The 
 
 Awakening of the East 
 
 SIBERIA— JAPAN— CHINA 
 
 PIERRE LEROY-BEAULIEU 
 
 With a preface by 
 
 HENRY NORMAN 
 
 Author of 
 
 “ People and Politics of the Far East,” 
 “The Real Japan,” etc. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 
 
 M C M 
 
Copyright, 1900, 
 
 By McClure, Phillips & Co. 
 
 First Impression, November, 1900 
 Second Impression, January, 1901 
 
PREFACE* 
 
 M. Leroy-Beaulieu’s work appears in English at a singularly 
 appropriate moment, and I believe that those who know 
 most about the Far East will be the warmest in its praise. 
 Its personal observations are acute, its statistics have been 
 conscientiously gathered and carefully collated, they are 
 scrupulously restricted to the particular matters they are 
 intended to illuminate, while most valuable of all is the 
 author’s political sagacity, and the detachment, so to speak, 
 of his attitude as an observer and investigator. If one may 
 say so without offence, this is rare in a writer of M. Leroy- 
 Eeaulieu’s nationality. A Frenchman is usually so good a 
 Frenchman that he cannot divest himself, even for an hour, of 
 the preferences and prejudices of his own land and race. 
 When, however, you do find a Frenchman who by tempera- 
 ment, research, and travel has attained to a cosmopolitan 
 impartiality, then nobody dwells in so cool and clear an 
 atmosphere as he. The present volume, I venture to say, is 
 
 * Mr. Richard Davey is responsible for the translation of this work, but I 
 have added a footnote here and there (signed by my initials), and I have 
 revised the spelling of the proper names to bring them into accordanee 
 with English usage. To forestall the charge of inconsistency, I may say 
 that I have acted on the principle generally adopted in the spelling of Eu- 
 ropean proper names, that is, 1 have retained improper spellings consecrated 
 by long custom — for instance, Chefoo, Suchow, Hankow, Kowloon, just as we 
 write Florence, Munieh, Naples, Moscow. But names not yet regularly 
 Europeanized I have spelled according to a consistent and more reasonable 
 system of transliteration— as Kiao-chau, Pe-chi-li, Kwei-chau. The French 
 spelling of Chinese proper names looks very strange to an English eye, and 
 would convey a wholly false impression to an English ear. 
 
 V 
 
PREFACE 
 
 an example of this, for if there were no name on the title-page, 
 and the word ‘ we ’ were not used of the French people, it 
 would be impossible to discover the writer’s nationality from 
 his work. Hypercriticism might perhaps remark that M. Leroy- 
 Beaulieu is just a little too ready to welcome as fact malicious 
 little anecdotes directed against ourselves, such as the ingenious 
 fiction that the British admiral saluted the Japanese admiral’s 
 flag outside Wei-hai-wei before sunrise in order that the guns 
 should awaken the sleeping Chinese seamen to a sense of their 
 peril, not to mention his ready acceptance as typical of the 
 ‘ insatiable British public ’ of the amusing boast of some un- 
 named English newspaper that we might, if it pleased us, build 
 a railway from the mouth of the Nile to the mouth of the 
 Yang-tsze. But. on the whole, he probably approaches as near 
 to the ‘ impartial spectator ’ of an old-fashioned philosophical 
 hypothesis as it is given to anybody in this prejudiced world to 
 do; and assuredly the brilliant ability with which he has 
 analyzed and summarized national and international situations 
 of the greatest delicacy and complexity speaks for itself. 
 
 Beyond question the future of the Far East is the gravest 
 matter before the civilized world to-day. For many generations 
 the Eastern Question caused Sovereigns to turn restlessly in 
 their beds and diplomatists to start at a footfall ; but, as Lord 
 Rosebery was quick to point out, there arose not long ago a 
 Far Eastern Question much more embarrassing, much more 
 complicated, much more pregnant with disaster. It presents 
 itself at this moment under three chief aspects : the approach- 
 ing completion of a Russian continuous line of railway from 
 Europe to the China Sea, the frontier of Korea, and the gates 
 of Peking; the startling entry of Japan into the comity of 
 peoples as a great naval, military, and civilizing power; and 
 the course of events which has led to the occupation of the 
 Chinese capital by the allied forces of eight nations. It is 
 precisely with these three topics that M. Leroy-Beaulieu deals, 
 and there will be no need to recommend them to the earnest 
 
 VI 
 
PREFACE 
 
 attention of British readers if the latter realize — as they should 
 — that behind the third there looms without doubt the appalling 
 spectre of a European War. 
 
 The Trans-Siberian Railway has been greatly hindered by 
 the Chinese rising in Manchuria. For practical purposes it 
 can hardly be said to exist beyond Irkutsk, for although the 
 line is completed as far as Stretensk, there is yet a lack of 
 rolling-stock, and the dreary voyage by steamers of different 
 draughts down the Shilka and Amur rivers to Khabarofsk, 
 where the line to Vladivostok is met, deprives the railway 
 route as yet of all its advantages over the sea-route from Europe. 
 The last passengers who came from Vladivostok to Moscow 
 before the interruption of traffic spent thirty-eight days on the 
 journey, and it will have been noticed that by far the larger 
 part of the reinforcing Russian troops, horses, and materiel 
 were despatched to the Far East from Odessa, no small portion 
 in British transports. The Manchurian section of the great 
 railway has from the first, even in times of peace, presented 
 great difficulties of climate, lack of supplies, and hostility of 
 the native population, but now a considerable part of the work 
 executed has been destroyed, the Russian forces have not yet 
 succeeded in clearing the country of the Chinese troops and 
 irregulars, a large garrison will have to be maintained to 
 protect the works in hand, and a long delay over the original 
 estimated dates of completion is inevitable. All this, however, 
 is nothing but a question of date. In national strategic enter- 
 prises of this kind Russia works with speed and tenacity. 
 What has been destroyed will be built more solidly than 
 before; it is even probable that recent events, as they will 
 undoubtedly give Russia a freer hand, will enable her to 
 secure a shorter, and therefore more effective, route from her 
 Siberian line to China. It .will not, in any case, be many 
 years before Port Arthur and Peking will be within a fortnight’s 
 railway journey of Moscow. Before then that railway will have 
 developed agricultural and mineral wealth along its route to a 
 
 vii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 degree undreamed of by those who have not studied its prospects 
 on the spot, and it will be defended and served by every kind 
 of protective and paternal legislation. Moreover, when need 
 arises, every mile of the line, every station and warehouse and 
 water-tank, every station-master, every engineer, every con- 
 ductor, every patrolling convict, every locomotive, every 
 carriage and every waggon, will be placed by a stroke of the 
 pen at the absolute disposal of the Minister of War, while 
 every railway in European Russia will be called upon to supply 
 whatever may be lacking. Russia has one great advantage 
 over other countries in times of crisis — private interests cease 
 to exist. It must not be forgotten, also, that the Trans- 
 Siberian Railway is only one of Russia’s great strategic lines 
 towards the East. Before it is finished, her Trans-Caspian 
 Railway, which is already not only a military, but positively a 
 commercial success, will be joined to it, and will have brought 
 the frontiers of Persia and Afghanistan, and another frontier of 
 China, within a week of the military centre of European 
 Russia. Whether from the point of view of inter-communica- 
 tion, of commerce, or of diplomacy and arms, no single 
 development so significant and so far-reaching in its con- 
 sequences has occurred in the modern world. 
 
 The second aspect of the Far Eastern Question is at last 
 happily appreciated by all. The ‘ child of the world’s old age,’ 
 Japan, has grown to manhood. It is exactly eighteen years — 
 the age at which Sovereigns attain their majority — since Count 
 Inouye first proposed to the sixteen treaty Powers — including 
 Peru and Hawaii ! — that Japan, in return for certain concessions 
 to foreigners, should be endowed with a measure of judicial 
 autonomy. Great Britain, to her honour be it ever remembered, 
 led the way in this, and Japan is now a nation as independent 
 as ourselves — the fiVst Oriental people to be placed absolutely 
 on a par with the conquering and jealous West. In no respect 
 has she shown herself unworthy of the faith placed in her. In 
 art alone has she retrograded, but that will not be held a 
 
 viii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 special reproach to her by those among us who look back six 
 centuries for their artistic inspiration. In finance, in law, in 
 science, in education, in manufacture, she has already attained 
 a higher level than many so-called civilized nations, and she is 
 progressing fast. In directions unfortunately still more calcu- 
 lated to compel the respect of other peoples — a very powerful 
 army and navy, perfectly equipped, admirably disciplined, and 
 instinct with the magnificent courage of the old feudal warriors — 
 her advance has taken the unthinking world by surprise. But for 
 her prompt and unselfish action in China, and the large force 
 which her first-rate military system enabled her to despatch 
 without delay, Europe and America would to-day be mourn- 
 ing the most horrible massacre of modern history. At this 
 moment Japan and Great Britain are the only nations striving, 
 and, if necessary, probably ready to fight, to keep China inde- 
 pendent and undivided, open to the trade of all the world 
 on equal terms, without selfish reservations on the one hand, 
 and without trembling before party recriminations on the 
 other. 
 
 The Far Eastern Question, however, holds the stage at this 
 moment by its third aspect. China, the eternally unoriginal, 
 has repeated herself once more, as every student of the Far 
 East has foreseen she would. This time the repetition is extraor- 
 dinarly exact, as a revewer of the new edition of Lord Loch’s 
 ‘Personal Narrative’ of i860 has just pointed out. ‘It is im- 
 possible,’ he says, ‘ to read it without being struck by the re- 
 semblance, down even to details, between the situation in 
 China and that of exactly forty years ago. Then, as now, a war 
 party led by an Imperial Prince was in the ascendant; a war 
 was forced on European Powers by a gross breach of a solemn 
 treaty, two Ambassadors on their way to Peking being fired on 
 and obliged to return ; the armies of those Powers had to march 
 on the Chinese capital; the Chinese authorities in the prov- 
 inces were frantic in their eagerness to negotiate so as to stop 
 the advance of the allied army on the capital. Li, then only a 
 
 IX 
 
PREFACE 
 
 provincial Governor, had his little proposals for settling every- 
 thing to his own satisfaction. The Emperor had fled from the 
 capital, and the lady who is now Empress-Dowager had fled 
 with him, and in many other respects history is just now 
 repeating itself with curious fidelity.’ * But forty years ago 
 there was no occupation by eight nations, and no five great 
 Powers endeavouring to checkmate one another’s plans. 
 Indeed, there was then no Far Eastern Question at all. But 
 though we have changed, China remains the same. Her 
 rooted hatred of foreigners, her treachery, her lies, her sicken- 
 ing cruelty, her utter inability to reform herself, to eradicate 
 corruption, to form an army or a navy — to be, in a word, a 
 nation — remain precisely as they have always been. Writers 
 with no first-hand knowledge of China have not unnaturally 
 fallen into the error of thinking that because small-bore rifles 
 and Krupp guns have been found in the hands of the Chinese 
 troops, who have used them with effect in beating back for a 
 time foreign forces, therefore China has at last laid to heart 
 the lessons of her defeat by Japan, and has become a military 
 Power to be reckoned.f It is a complete misapprehension. 
 The Boxers fought recklessly, like the Mahdists, from a 
 belief in their own magical invulnerability ; but the regular 
 troops hardly even attempted to withstand a foreign attack in 
 anything like equal numbers, except from behind strong walls, 
 and not always then. Describing the capture without a shot 
 or a blow of several forts and magnificent guns, that had never 
 been fired since they were bought, an eye-witness says: ‘ Only 
 
 the most complete demoralization, utter rout, and headlong 
 
 * The Titnes, September 13th, 1900. 
 
 t For example, the writer signing himself ‘ Diploma ticus’ in the Fort, 
 nightly Review for September, 1900, airily dismisses as ‘ illusions ’ the belief 
 that ‘ China was gradually crumbling to ruin, that she was incapable of organ- 
 ized resistance to the foreigner, that her millions were unconscious of a 
 national spirit and incapable of progress.’ Each one of these ‘ illusions ’ is an 
 elementary fact about China, except so far as foreign help and guidance may 
 alter it. 
 
 X 
 
PREFACE 
 
 flight of the Chinese could explain the abandonment of such 
 valuable guns, gear, and equipment.’ * 
 
 I dwell upon this point because there is great danger of it 
 being overlooked at the present crisis — by some from ignorance, 
 by others from design. As the missionary said to M. Leroy- 
 Beaulieu, ‘ Those who most despair of China are those who 
 know her best ’ ; and the author’s own conclusion that ‘ any 
 reform from the inside is out of the question, no matter from 
 how high the initiative starts,’ is the conviction of all students 
 of China, except those who have never been within ten thousand 
 miles of her coast. This very weakness, coupled with her 
 malleability, even to the profession of arms — witness the gallant 
 conduct of the Chinese Regiment from Wei-hai-wei under its 
 British officers — is the kernel of the danger of the present 
 situation, for the nation that should be free to organize China 
 would be a menace to the rest of the world. Those who aim 
 at conquest are therefore playing for a high stake, and their 
 inspiration is more cogent than that which urges others to the 
 defence of mere trading opportunities. The course of the 
 coming century depends upon the result of this trial of states- 
 manship. Woe betide England if her leaders fail her now I 
 
 HENRY NORMAN. 
 
 • The special correspondent, September nth, 1900. 
 
 XI 
 
i 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTHODUCTION 
 
 PART I.— SIBERIA 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. THE ORIGINS OF RUSSIAN EXPANSION IN SIBERIA AND THE 
 NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY . 
 
 II. THE LAND OF SIBERIA AND ITS INHABITANTS 
 
 III. AGRICULTURAL SIBERIA AND THE RURAL POPULATION 
 
 IV. MINERAL RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES 
 
 V. SIBERIAN COMMERCE AND THE TRANSPORT OF TEA 
 
 VI. SIBERIAN TOWNS ...... 
 
 VII. IMMIGRATION ....... 
 
 VIII. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN SIBERIA . . 
 
 IX. THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY .... 
 
 X. THE RAILWAY THROUGH MANCHURIA 
 
 XI. THE ALTERED RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE FAR 
 EAST RESULTING FROM THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY . 
 
 PART II.— JAPAN 
 
 I. THE ORIGIN AND PAST HISTORY OF JAPAN . . . 
 
 II. JAPAN AND THE REVOLUTION OP l868 . . . 
 
 III. MODERN JAPAN ...... 
 
 IV. JAPANESE INDUSTRY ...... 
 
 V. RURAL JAPAN ....... 
 
 VI. DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE COMMERCE . . 
 
 VII. THE FINANCES OF JAPAN ..... 
 
 VIII. THE DOMESTIC POLITICS AND PARLIAMENT OF JAPAN 
 
 IX. japan’s foreign POLICY AND HER MILITARY POWER 
 
 X. THE FUTURE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN JAPAN — RELA- 
 TIONS BETWEEN JAPANESE AND FOREIGNERS 
 
 xiii 
 
 PACK 
 
 XV 
 
 I 
 
 9 
 
 17 
 
 27 
 
 3 « 
 
 38 
 
 43 
 
 56 
 
 64 
 
 7 « 
 
 76 
 
 81 
 
 97 
 
 IIO 
 
 118 
 
 125 
 
 135 
 
 143 
 
 154 
 
 164 
 
 171 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART III.— CHINA 
 
 CRAPTEX PAGB 
 
 I. THE CHINESE PROBLEM . . . . . 183 
 
 II. THE CAPITAL OF CHINA ..... 188 
 
 III. THE COUNTRY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PEKING — 
 
 NUMEROUS SIGNS OF THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE . I98 
 
 IV. THE LITERARY AND MANDARIN CLASS — PRINCIPAL CAUSES 
 
 OF THE DECADENCE OF THE EMPIRE . . . 2O4 
 
 V. THE CHINESE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS 212 
 
 VI. FOREIGNERS IN CHINA — THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHINESE 
 
 TOWARDS WESTERN CIVILIZATION .... 228 
 
 VII. THE POSITION AND WORK OF FOREIGNERS IN CHINA . 234 
 
 VIII. CHINA AND THE POWERS ..... 242 
 
 IX. RUSSIA, FRANCE, AND ENGLAND IN THE FAR EAST IN 1895-97 253 
 
 X. CHINA AND THE POWERS 1897-99 — ‘SPHERES OF INFLU- 
 ENCE,’ AND THE ‘OPEN DOOR* .... 266 
 
 XI. THE FUTURE OF CHINA — MAINTENANCE OR PARTITION OF 
 
 THE CELESTIAL EMPIRE? ..... 276 
 
INTRODUCTION* 
 
 This book is the result of personal observations made in the 
 course of a journey through Siberia, China, and Japan, last- 
 ing over a year, and is supplemented by information derived 
 chiefly from official and carefully collated documents. Asia, 
 the largest of the five Continents, is still the most densely popu- 
 lated ; but after being the cradle of civilization, it has been for 
 many centuries dead to all progress. It is in the awakening of 
 this vast Continent through the influx of men and ideas from 
 the West, by the application of modern science to the exploita- 
 tion of its wealth, that consists the phenomenon which we 
 are witnessing at the present time, and to the examination of 
 which the author devotes the following pages. 
 
 The effect of European action in Asia does not, it is true, 
 date from our time ; it began as soon as the Asiatic invasion 
 of Europe had ceased. In the sixteenth century, whilst the 
 Russians were settling in Siberia, we find the Portuguese land- 
 ing on the coasts of India, China, and Japan. For a long time, 
 however, the influence of the West was merely superficial. 
 By the middle of the nineteenth century it had scarcely reached 
 India and a few points on the coast of Asia Minor ; all the rest 
 of Asia remained obdurate. Siberia was almost a desert, un- 
 explored, without any communication with the outer world ; 
 China a stranger to all progress ; and Japan hermetically sealed. 
 Thus, all the temperate zones of Asia, those best suited to the 
 white race, as well as those inhabited by the most numerous, 
 
 ♦Written especially for the American edition by the author. 
 
 XV 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 industrious, and vigorous populations, regarded from whatever 
 point of view, were fifty years ago completely outside of 
 European influence. At this moment two facts of vital im- 
 portance have become prominent, which have been passed 
 over almost unnoticed by European nations, greatly preoc- 
 cupied by other questions. In 1854, Japan began to open 
 her ports to foreigners ; and Russia, descending almost simul- 
 taneously from the glacial solitudes of the Okhotsk Sea, 
 seized, at the expense of China, the banks of the Amur, thus 
 coming into actual contact with the Celestial Empire, which 
 hitherto she had only reached through deserts, advanced 
 her frontier up to the boundaries of Korea, and acquired a 
 port on the Pacific (latitude 43°), free of ice nearly all the year 
 round. This was the moment when that awakening of Northern 
 and Eastern Asia began which has become more and more 
 active, especially during the last ten years. 
 
 Immediately after the conquest of the Province of the Amur, 
 Count Muravief- Amurski, one of the prime movers in the 
 expansion of Russia, foresaw under what conditions the Mus- 
 covite Empire could make its power felt in the Far East, and 
 suggested the construction of a Trans-Siberian Railway, which, 
 thirty years later, was undertaken by Alexander III. In build- 
 ing it, his main idea was to open a strategic route to facilitate the 
 passage of his troops into China. The Trans-Siberian Railway 
 was thus constructed far less in the interests of the country it 
 traversed than for those of the countries at its opposite ex- 
 tremities. But it was presently discovered that the southern 
 portion of Siberia through which the line runs possessed a 
 climate scarcely more severe than that of Manitoba and of the 
 far west of Canada, an equally fertile soil, with even better 
 irrigation and still greater mineral wealth, the development of 
 which was only prevented by the complete absence of any 
 means of communication. 
 
 Now Siberia, instead of being shut off from the rest of the 
 world, will be traversed by one of the most frequented routes 
 
 XVI 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 in the universe, and its southern zone will become one of the 
 richest possessions of the white race. The Russian peasants 
 have a natural tendency to emigrate, and since the abolition 
 of serfdom have been invading Siberia in great numbers, 
 and rapidly settling there. More than 200,000 emigrants 
 arrive there every year, and the births greatly outnumber 
 the deaths, so that the population of the Asiatic domains 
 of the Tsar is annually increased by more than 300,000. 
 Russian colonization doubtless has its drawbacks, the most 
 serious among which are lack of capital and absence of 
 education and enterprise among the labouring classes. In 
 spite of this, one fact remains: thanks to the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway, a numerous white population is already occupying 
 the whole North of Asia, from the Urals to the Pacific, 
 and thus Russia can meanwhile make the full weight of her 
 power felt in the Far East, which will certainly prove of incal- 
 culable benefit to the advance of modern civilization through- 
 out Asia. 
 
 While Siberia was being colonized, and the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway was assuming definite shape, Japan was accomplish- 
 ing her extraordinary transformation. In 1854 the Powers, 
 under threat of bombardment, forced open the gates of this 
 feudal State, whose customs differed from ours more than those 
 of any other Asiatic country, and the entrance to which was 
 forbidden to foreigners under pain of death, and which for 
 ten years was the scene of numerous outrages against them. 
 Forty - five years later new Japan deals on a footing of 
 equality with the European Powers ; its admission to the 
 number of civilized States is signalized by the suppression 
 of the extra-territorial privileges of the Europeans, and it 
 has become a centre of great industry, whose cotton stuffs 
 compete in China with those of India, America, and Great 
 Britain. European steamers supply themselves from her 
 coaling-stations ; her foreign commerce amounts annually to 
 ;^44,ooo,ooo sterling; her soil is intersected by 3,125 miles 
 
 xvii b 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 of railway ; a crowd of little steamers, often native built, ply 
 along her coasts, whilst regular lines of steamers fly her flag 
 in the ports of Europe, America, and Australia ; her fleet is 
 the most powerful in the Pacific; her army, which crushed 
 China five years ago, formed the bulk of the international 
 troops that recently marched to the relief of the foreign Lega- 
 tions threatened by the Chinese. Before these realities the 
 scepticism of those who have so long jeered at these Asiatics 
 playing at being Europeans must perforce turn to admiration. 
 
 Many people, however, find it difficult to believe in the 
 durability and the sincerity of Japan’s transformation. Without 
 concealing from ourselves that the prodigious work which has 
 been accomplished in Japan has sometimes been premature, 
 that imitation of Europe has occasionally been pushed to excess, 
 that it has even been directed in some points where it would 
 have been wiser to have remained faithful to national traditions, 
 we believe — as one of the best informed Japanese we have ever 
 met assured us — that the great wind from the West which is 
 blowing upon this country has come to last. We find this 
 conviction confirmed both by observation of the Japan of 
 the present and in the lessons taught by her past. Where 
 the changes have been carried too far, certain unassimilated 
 and unessential scoriae will be eliminated, but the better part 
 of the work will remain and a new Japan be the result, in many 
 points similar to Europe in the scientific and material sense of 
 civilization — profoundly modified and brought nearer to the 
 West, yet differing from us from the social and moral point of 
 view. In short, we have confidence in the future of Japan, if 
 she only takes the lessons she has received to heart, and if 
 she be not over-proud of being the ‘ Great Britain of the Far 
 East,’ and is not carried away by a spirit of aggrandizement 
 that may exhaust her resources. The prudent policy which 
 she appears to have adopted in the face of the present crisis 
 in China is, however, of a character well calculated to reassure 
 her friends. 
 
 xviii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The study of the Chinese problem closes this volume. The 
 Celestial Empire, so far from being revivified like its neigh- 
 bours, has resolutely made no concession to Western civiliza- 
 tion. As long as China had only to trouble over the inter- 
 mittent and not far-reaching action of Western Powers, 
 distracted by a thousand other cares, and whose commercial 
 activity found outlets in other directions, she had not much 
 difficulty in maintaining her isolation. 
 
 From the moment, however, when she found herself face to 
 face with near and powerful neighbors, rejuvenated nations, 
 from whose eyes her incurable weaknesses were not screened 
 by the illusion of distance, she was destined, if she did not yield 
 with a good grace, to be swept along by the torrent of innovation 
 which she has so long and so vainly sought to resist. Japan, 
 by her victories in a war which was in reality a war of Western 
 Science versus Chinese Routine, a war of Progress against 
 Stagnation, in 1895 forced open the gates of China. If she had 
 not done so then, undoubtedly Russia would have achieved 
 the same work a few years later, after the construction of the 
 Trans-Siberian Railway. The Middle Kingdom no longer 
 frightens the world by its vastness, and those innovations which 
 it abhors are now thrust upon it by foreigners ; thus has 
 been brought about a situation pregnant with political and 
 economical consequences still further complicated by the 
 rivalries of the European nations vying with each other to 
 realize a transformation from which they hope to reap enormous 
 advantages. 
 
 We have also endeavoured in this book to note down 
 the salient features of the present position, the knowledge 
 of which may serve to throw a light on the future of the 
 Celestial Empire. Firstly, by recalling the detestable Govern- 
 ment imposed upon China by the all-powerful class of literati, 
 who remain petrified in their stubborn pride, incurable 
 routinists, and hostile to progress ; then, in contrast to the 
 decrepitude of this Government, the vitality of the people, 
 
 b 2 
 
 XIX 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 whose undeniable defects are compensated by an endurance, 
 perseverance, and commercial ability of the highest order ; the 
 attitude of this people towards Europeans and their civilization, 
 the part hitherto played by the latter, their trade in the ports, 
 and the quite recent beginnings of great industries in these 
 very ports ; the concessions for various undertakings granted 
 during the last four years to these very Europeans who are at 
 last emerging from the few acres in which they had hitherto 
 been penned at infrequent points along the coast or on the 
 banks of the Yang-tsze, and who are abandoning their exclusive 
 devotion to trade in order to carry out a system of real colon- 
 ization by applying Western methods to the realization of the 
 wealth of China ; and finally the disquieting spectacle of the 
 Powers in rivalry around this decrepit Empire, on which none 
 dare lay a too heavy hand lest it crumble away and they lose 
 the best pieces, which each of them dreams eventually of 
 annexing. 
 
 Since this book was published in France, in April this year, 
 a particularly grave crisis has arisen in China. The most 
 violently reactionary faction in the Court of Peking has seized 
 the reins of power and has headed a movement for the ex- 
 termination of the foreigner ; the regular army, making common 
 cause with the fanatical adherents of secret societies, has be- 
 sieged in their Legations the Ministers of all the nations, and 
 has opposed the onward march of the troops despatched to 
 their relief ; hundreds of missionaries and thousands of native 
 Christians have been butchered throughout the Empire, and 
 everywhere, even in the Treaty Ports, the security of Europeans 
 has been menaced. These appalling events have, it would 
 seem, taken Europe quite unprepared, although warnings were 
 not wanting. A perusal of a file of the Hong Kong and 
 Shanghai newspapers will easily prove that great uneasiness 
 prevailed as far back as last spring, if not in the Legations, at 
 any rate in the Treaty Ports. 
 
 The present crisis will, it is true, not be a matter of much 
 
 XX 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 surprise to those who have studied China. The reader will 
 notice several passages in this book in which we are reminded 
 of the necessity of proceeding with the utmost caution in intro- 
 ducing progressive measures into the ancient Empire, if we 
 wish to avoid an outbreak culminating in a sanguinary upheaval 
 and the possible collapse of that worm-eaten structure. It 
 would appear, however, in fact, that during the past three 
 years the ill-advised action of Europe has done everything 
 to bring about such a disaster. 
 
 Too numerous railway and mining concessions, preliminary 
 works commenced simultaneously in a great number of locali- 
 ties, without sufficient regard for the superstitions of the natives, 
 the invasion by foreign engineers and foremen with overbearing 
 manners, could not but irritate the Chinese, and prepare the 
 ground for agitators and agents of the secret societies and 
 (unemployed) literati who swarm everywhere. The violent 
 action of Germany at Kiao-chau, followed by the seizure of 
 many points on the coast by the other Powers, readily in- 
 duced the Court and literati to believe that the Foreign 
 Powers intended to partition China, and treat her as a con- 
 quered country. 
 
 The governing classes among the Chinese have little patriot- 
 ism, as we understand it, but they tremble for their salaries 
 and privileges, and, in common with the populace, they 
 beheld with horror the prospective violation of their ancient 
 customs. They could not therefore be expected to repress 
 with any energy disturbances with whose authors they were in 
 cordial sympathy. Again, the dynasty of foreign origin which 
 reigns in China is now worn out and tottering ; it knows that 
 any concession made to the foreigner will be turned to its dis- 
 advantage, that the best means of recovering prestige is to 
 pose as the enemy of the Western civilization ; it has even to 
 fear that any great opposition on its part to popular prejudice 
 may one day lead to its being swept away. 
 
 What wonder, then, that under the rule of the old Dowagei 
 
 xxi 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Empress — an energetic Sovereign, perhaps, but ignorant, like 
 the harem recluse she is, and, moreover, passionate, like most 
 women — the Court viewed benignly the organization known 
 as the J-ho-chuan, almost literally, ‘ League of Patriots,’ 
 which we call ‘Boxers,’ who first spread themselves over Shan- 
 tung, where the foreigners had displayed the greatest brutality 
 and tactlessness ! The creatures of the Empress, narrow- 
 minded and brutal Manchu princes, mandarins of an ultra- 
 reactionary type, who, having never been brought into contact 
 with Europeans, are ignorant of the latter’s strength — all these 
 people whom the Palace revolution in September, 1898, exalted 
 to power, and who exercise it without control since the exile 
 of Li Hung-chang to his distant Viceroyalty of Canton, have 
 not learned how to observe the precautions which at one time 
 guided that wily old fox. 
 
 Imperial edicts have favoured the Boxers, ‘ those loyal sub- 
 jects who cultivate athletics for the protection of their families, 
 and who bind together different villages for the purpose of mutual 
 protection.’ In this association, affiliated with other secret 
 societies, it was sought to discover a prop for the dynasty 
 both at home and abroad. Arms were procured from Europe, 
 intended either for the rebels or the regular army, and then, 
 as always happens with feeble Governments in times of trouble, 
 it was found impossible to stem the torrent so easily let loose, 
 and increasing violence soon got the upper hand. The 
 Empress even appears to have been overwhelmed by factions 
 more reactionary and fanatical than herself — factions at whose 
 head stands Prince Tuan, father of the recently adopted heir- 
 presumptive. 
 
 Such is the genesis of the present crisis. What are to be 
 the consequences ? They would be very grave if the chiefs of 
 the movement hostile to foreigners removed the present Em- 
 peror to some distant place, and refused to negotiate on any- 
 thing like reasonable terms, or if, leaving him in the hands of 
 the Europeans, they should raise a competitor against him. 
 
 xxii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Emperor, whose accession to the Celestial throne is, in any 
 case, according to Chinese ideas, irregular, and who has exas- 
 perated the mandarins by his attempts at reform, would thus 
 run a great risk of being considered a usurper, both in the eyes 
 of the people and the literati. What could the Powers do in 
 such a case? We hardly dare dream of such a laborious, 
 costly, and deadly undertaking as would be an expedition 
 five or six hundred miles from the coast into the heart of a 
 country like China, devoid of good means of transport, and 
 where a large European army would find existence difficult. 
 Besides, in the midst of complete anarchy and civil war, the 
 Powers, whose union is already so unstable, would be forced 
 to interfere, with the risk of irreparable disputes arising between 
 them all at the finish. 
 
 Even if the Court should come to terms and no compe- 
 tition for the Empire arise, the situation in China will 
 none the less present great difficulties. The installation in 
 Peking of an Emperor surrounded by councillors approved by 
 the West and watched by a foreign garrison, which would be 
 the most desirable end of the present acute crisis, would not 
 suffice to restore order throughout the Empire. All the elements 
 of agitation are now at boiling-point, and it is even to be 
 feared that ere the allies are able to act vigorously on the 
 offensive, the anti-foreign movement will have gained ground 
 in the provinces. The prestige of the Manchu dynasty, 
 greatly damaged already, will be still further lowered when 
 the Emperor is exhibited as the puppet of the West. Ambitious 
 aspirants of all sorts, Chinese patriots inimical to both 
 Manchu and foreigner, even legitimate representatives of the 
 ancient Ming Dynasty, will all of them seek to profit by this 
 state of things, and, fishing in troubled waters, cause thereby 
 a general recrudescence of insurrection, fomented by the secret 
 societies. Will the Chinese Government succeed in repressing 
 them by its own forces ? This is not at all certain, and in that 
 case will Europe charge herself with all the political, military, 
 
 xxiii 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 and financial risks involved in the exercise of such an avocation 
 and become the police of China ? 
 
 It will perhaps be said that if the Manchu Dynasty can no 
 longer maintain itself, it may be best to leave it to its fate 
 and allow it to be replaced by another. A new, popular, and 
 strong Government would then appear upon the scene, which 
 would find it easier to observe the engagements imposed 
 upon it.* 
 
 But apart from the fact that this new Government might 
 perhaps be very hostile to foreigners and difficult to bring 
 to reason, the Manchus are not yet stripped of all power, 
 and their overthrow would not be efifected without a devas- 
 tating civil war, lasting probably many years. Europe is 
 now too much interested in China to encourage such a catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 On the other hand, nobody desires the partition of the 
 Celestial Empire. To begin with, the chief eventual rivals are 
 not ready : Russia has not completed her Trans-Siberian Rail- 
 way ; England is hampered with her interminable war in South 
 Africa ; the United States, with a large portion of its population 
 opposed to outside extension, insists that no part of the Middle 
 Kingdom shall be closed to them — in other words, that it shall 
 not be dismembered ; Japan has not completed her armaments ; 
 her finances require careful attention, and she feels, besides, 
 that she cannot act alone. France has every reason for avert- 
 ing a partition, in which her share (the provinces adjoining 
 Tongking) would be a very poor one ; and finally, the present 
 insurrectionary movement should prove to the world — including 
 Germany, who took so indiscreet an initiative at Kiao-chau 
 — that it would not be easy to govern the Celestials after 
 
 • The position of the Manchu Dynasty in China is somewhat analogous 
 to that of the Shogunate in Japan, which was also caught some forty years 
 ago between the national sentiment and the foreigner. But in Japan, 
 when the Shogunate fell, there remained the divine Emperor, whose 
 prestige covered all the reforms which enlightened statesmen carried out. 
 In China, after the Manchu Dynasty, nothing remains but chaos. 
 
 XXIV 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 European methods, and that the mere task of establishing order 
 in a large colony carved out of China might be beyond the 
 strength even of the European Powers. 
 
 This being the case, the only policy possible for all countries 
 is to abandon for the present their personal aims, and to 
 endeavour in unison to patch up the Manchu system. To 
 depart from this line of action is to proceed to disaster. But 
 the Powers will have to display some wisdom for a few years 
 to come if this bolstering process is to have the least chance 
 of success. The Court and the populace of the capital should 
 be given a not-easily-forgotten lesson : let the instigators of 
 the proposed murders of the ministers be delivered up and 
 made to pay for their cowardly conduct ; if necessary, even 
 let their bodies be left unburied, which, in the eyes of the 
 Chinese, is the most terrible of all punishments ; let the old 
 Empress be exiled if it should appear necessary to remove her 
 from power. But after all this is done, let the legal order of 
 succession be respected. While putting pressure on the Court 
 to appoint moderate or even slightly progressive men to the 
 head of affairs, avoid a too direct and a too evident interference 
 in the selection of rulers, which would be perilously inadvisable. 
 On the one hand, the Powers would soon cease to act in 
 unison, each considering such and such a grand mandarin 
 more or less its friend and such another its enemy ; and on 
 the other hand, the men chosen would lose all authority, as 
 they would be looked upon as agents of the foreigners. Against 
 this, it is absolutely indispensable that Peking and Tien-tsin 
 should be occupied during several years by a strong garrison, 
 otherwise it will be said that the foreign soldiery have de- 
 parted through fear, and that the permanent fortification of 
 Ta-ku should be forbidden. 
 
 These last measures doubtless involve certain inconveniences, 
 granting the difficulty of maintaining harmony between the 
 various Powers, but if they should be neglected the lesson 
 would risk being too soon forgotten, as were those of i860 and 
 
 XXV 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 1894-95 ; moreover, they would provide a means of permanent 
 pressure on the Chinese Government. 
 
 Nevertheless, if it is important to strike hard at the centre, 
 the more reason have we to refrain from any act calculated to 
 lower in the provinces the prestige and the authority of a regime, 
 the sources of whose weakness are already numerous. The 
 threat of popular risings will continue one of the serious 
 dangers of the position in the Far East; to avoid them, we 
 must not seize upon the first incident that arises as a pretext 
 for demanding concessions, the extortion of which disturbs 
 and estranges the mandarins, whilst their execution irritates 
 the people. If we do not accept such a course, we run the 
 risk of creating permanent anarchy. The surest way of obtain- 
 ing tranquillity in China would be a formal, or at any rate a 
 tacit, international understanding binding the Powers for some 
 years not to support at Peking any demand for a concession as 
 long as the greater number of railways now under construction 
 are not completed. That would, moreover, enable European 
 capitalists, who have not been very eager to take up Chinese 
 loans, to ascertain the value of their investments in the Middle 
 Kingdom. We believe that the business and practical sense so 
 highly developed in the Chinese will induce them to become 
 reconciled to the material side of our civilization, but by multi- 
 plying simultaneously in every direction preliminary works, say, 
 for railways, we annoy them and wound their susceptibilities 
 before giving them a chance to appreciate the advantage of 
 our innovations, not to mention the economical disturbance 
 arising therefrom. 
 
 In conclusion, although patriotism is at a low ebb in the ‘ 
 Middle Kingdom and the military spirit still lower, we might, 
 by worrying the Chinese too much, end by creating the one 
 and resuscitating the other. In any case, if the Chinese make 
 bad soldiers — chiefly because they have detestable officers— 
 they are first-class rioters. Wherefore any idea of dividing 
 China, either now or at some future time, seems to us ill- 
 
 xxvi 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 advised. Passing events will have taught a useful lesson, 
 should they bring Europe to abandon once and for ever this 
 fatal idea. It was very wisely said in the English Parliament 
 during the present crisis that ‘ China must be governed by the 
 Chinese and for the Chinese,’ which does not mean that it 
 should be governed against the foreigners. Let us hope that 
 all Europe will frankly take to heart this sagacious remark. 
 
 PIERRE LEROY-BEAULIEU. 
 
 XXVll 
 
THE 
 
 AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 PART I.— SIBERIA 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ORIGINS OF RUSSIAN EXPANSION IN SIBERIA AND THE 
 NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 Antiqnity of Russian expansion in Asia, which is contemporary with that of 
 Western Europe in the New World — Analogy between the North of 
 Asia and the North of America — The three natural Zones of Siberia — 
 Their climate, extent and capabilities — The Polar Zone is absolutely 
 sterile and uninhabitable — The Forest Zone — The Meridional Zone, 
 which is both cultivable and colonizable. 
 
 No sooner had Russia shaken off the yoke of the Tatars which 
 weighed upon her for three centuries, and left its mark so 
 deeply impressed as to be still visible, than, reformed and 
 united, she began to expand beyond her natural confines. In 
 this she only imitated the example of Spain, which a short 
 time previously had been delivered from the Moors and united 
 under the sceptre of Ferdinand and Isabella. Being essentially 
 a continental country, without easy access to the sea, and 
 having no difficult frontier to bar her expansion to the East, 
 Russia turned her attention in that direction, and, defeating 
 her old masters, annexed the Tatar kingdoms of Kazan and 
 Astrakhan. This conquest extended her frontier to the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood of the Ural Mountains. In the second 
 half of the sixteenth century Tsar Ivan the Terrible found 
 
 I B 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 himself possessor of vast but sparsely-peopled regions, at a 
 great distance from his capital, and extremely difficult of direct 
 administration. 
 
 It is a remarkable coincidence that under these circum- 
 stances an organization should have been formed in Russia 
 almost spontaneously with others of the same kind which were 
 to prove of such great utility in the West — i.e., a great colonizing 
 company, under Imperial charter. The Strogonofs, very rich 
 merchants, who had extended their sphere of trading opera- 
 tions as far as the basin of the Kama, the great affluent of the 
 Volga, addressed in 1558 a petition to the Tsar, in which they 
 demanded a concession of the lands in that region, promising 
 at the same time, in consideration of the grant, to build a 
 city, develop the resources, and defend the country against 
 the attacks of savage- tribes. Ivan the Terrible acceded 
 to their request, accorded them divers trading privileges, and 
 conferred upon them the right to administer justice and to 
 levy troops. Thus was organized a regular chartered company 
 analogous with the East India Company and with those more 
 recently formed in South .Africa and on the banks of the Niger. 
 The company in question began the conquest of Siberia. 
 
 The Strogonofs, once established on the Kama, experienced, 
 as generally happens when a civilized people finds itself in 
 contact with barbarous tribes, the necessity of extending 
 further eastwards at the expense of their Tatar neighbours, 
 if only to protect themselves from their depredations. Jn 1581 
 the Tsar gave them permission to employ a celebrated Cossack 
 pirate, Ermak Timofeef * who seized the city of Sibir, or Isker, 
 then capital of Khan Kuchun, the principal Tatar chief of 
 Western Siberia. Six years later the present city of Tobolsk 
 rose on the site of Sibir. 
 
 We will not attempt to narrate the history of the conquest 
 of Siberia, which strongly resembles the taking of North 
 America by French pioneers at about the same time. WTien 
 the Tatar tribes of the West had been driven towards the 
 Southern Steppes, the Cossacks encountered little opposition 
 from the poor hunters and fishermen whom they found in the 
 district. In summer these Cossack adventurers navigated 
 the rivers in canoes, whilst their winters were spent in block- 
 
 * ‘Yermak,’ the millstone, was the nickname given to Vassil, son of 
 Timothy, a tracker of the Volga, because he ground the com for his party. 
 He was not a Cossack by birth, but joined the Don Cossack pirates. — H. N. 
 
 2 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 houses, or os/rogs, surrounded by palisades not unlike the forts 
 erected by the Hudson Bay Company. Soon they became 
 very numerous, being attracted from the more civilized parts of 
 Russia by the growing profits of the fur trade. In 1636 they 
 had reached the mouth of the Yenissei, and a year later arrived 
 on the banks of the Lena. In less than two years— that is, in 
 1639 — they had discovered the shores of the Okhotsk, and fifty 
 years later the whole continent had been traversed from end to 
 end. In 1648 the Cossack adventurers Alexief and Dezhnief 
 doubled the eastern extremity of Asia, and arrived at Kamt- 
 chatka, and in 1651 the Ataman Khabarof established himself 
 on the Amur, where he discovered other adventurers, who had 
 already descended this river in 1643. At this juncture the 
 Russians found themselves face to face with the Manchus, who 
 had just conquered China, and notwithstanding the heroic 
 defence of their fortress at Albazine on two occasions, they 
 were obliged in 1688 to abandon the middle and lower basins 
 of the Amur to the Sons of Heaven in accordance with the 
 treaty of Nertchinsk, a territory which they only reconquered 
 from the degenerate Chinese in 1858. 
 
 To the west as well as to the east of Siberia the Russian 
 frontiers remained scarcely altered until about the middle of 
 the present century. It was only in 1847 that the Tsar’s 
 troops were able to cross the arid zone of the Kirghiz Steppes. 
 The policy of Peter the Great was directed towards Europe, 
 and his dream was to extend Russia towards the West by the 
 conquest of Constantinople — a fact which accounts for the 
 extinction of zeal on the part of Russia with respect to her 
 Asiatic possessions, which were now treated merely as penal 
 settlements or as fields for scientific investigation, whenever 
 the Sovereigns took it into their heads to become specially 
 interested in such matters. The increase of Imperial authority 
 and the more regular organization of the State had in the 
 meantime subdued the adventurous and enterprising spirit of 
 the Cossacks, and that particular class of men, half soldiers, 
 half brigands, who had proved themselves such hardy pioneers 
 at an earlier epoch, now disappeared, and in the middle of 
 the eighteenth century Siberia was opened as a field of coloni- 
 zation. In spite of the many obstacles which the system of 
 serfdom in Russia placed in the way of peasant emigration, in 
 1851 the population of Siberia had reached 2,400,000, a figure 
 which, although not very large considering the immensity of 
 
 3 B 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 the country, was in excess of the population of Canada at the 
 same period, which numbered only 1,800,000 souls. From 
 this point of view the Russians had no reason to be ashamed 
 of their colonization, and, as a matter of fact, have none to- 
 day. According to the census of January, 1897, there were 
 S>73i>732 Siberians living on a territory of 4,812,800 square 
 miles, whereas in 1891 there were only 4,833,000 Canadians 
 inhabiting the 3,721,800 square miles known as the Dominion. 
 The density of the population of Northern Asia is not much 
 inferior to that of British North America, and it must not be 
 forgotten that the conditions of life in Siberia are greatly 
 inferior to those of Canada. 
 
 A comparison of the natural conditions existing in the 
 northern regions of the old and the new world shows that 
 they are nearly identical. Both consist for the most part of 
 vast expanses of flat country, often covered with magnificent 
 forests, and quite as frequently barren. Siberia, like Canada, 
 is irrigated by noble rivers, which under a milder climate 
 would constitute a superb network of intercommunication ; 
 but unfortunately both countries are hampered by an extremely 
 rigorous climate, which imprisons these fine rivers during 
 many months of the year under an impenetrably thick coating 
 of ice. In the north of Siberia as well as of Canada the 
 country is so intensely cold as to render agriculture impossible. 
 That part, therefore, of both countries which is capable of 
 exploitation is of extremely limited extent, consisting both in 
 Russian Asia and in British North America of a ribbon-like 
 zone some 3,720 miles in length and from 250 to 300 in width. 
 
 If Siberia resembles Canada in some things, it must be con- 
 fessed that the latter country has every advantage in point of 
 beauty and position. In the first place, Siberia is more to the 
 north ; that portion which approaches nearest to the Equator is 
 situated about 43° latitude — that is to say, a little more to the 
 north than the extreme south of Upper Canada, and, being on 
 the Pacific, it is most distant from European Russia, whereas 
 the corresponding part of Canada is the nearest to England, 
 and washed by the Atlantic, the St. Lawrence, and the great 
 lakes. On the other hand, that part of Siberia which is closest 
 to Russia is covered to the south by barren steppes or by 
 mountains which confine the centres of civilization between 
 54° and 57° latitude. Moreover, whereas the coast of Canada 
 on the Pacific enjoys a much milder climate than the country 
 
 4 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 situated on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, the regions 
 of Siberia which border the Great Ocean are just as frigid as the 
 rest of the country. The heights which separate the basin of 
 the Amur from that of the Lena are not sufficiently elevated to 
 form a barrier against piercing north winds, and the Japanese 
 Archipelago interposes itself between the coast and the warm 
 waters of the Black Current, which plays the same part in the 
 Pacific as the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. Thus it happens 
 that the climate of Trans-Baikalia, where the rivers which, 
 when united, form the Amur take their source, is one of the 
 most rigorous in Siberia, and the sea is covered with ice in the 
 port of Vladivostok, which lies in the same latitude as Mar- 
 seilles, whereas, opposite on the American coast, seven degrees 
 northward, the winters of British Columbia are not more severe 
 than those of Holland or the West of Germany. 
 
 Notwithstanding its terrible climate, Siberia is not entirely 
 uninhabitable ; indeed, even on the borders of the Arctic 
 Ocean humanity is represented by a few aboriginal Polar 
 tribes, who wander from place to place in sledges drawn by 
 dogs, and usually followed by a numerous herd of reindeer. 
 The white man, however, cannot endure the conditions pre- 
 vailing in the extreme north, and it is therefore necessary 
 with a view to colonizing that one must learn to distinguish 
 between the different parts of Siberia. 
 
 The country has been judiciously divided into three zones, 
 which are, proceeding from north to south, the Tundra (or 
 Arctic Moss) Zone, the Great Forest Zone, and lastly the 
 Agricultural Zone ; the south and south-west of the last- 
 named includes, the steppes, as well as the Altai and Sayan 
 Mountains. It would be impossible to trace a line of exact 
 demarcation between these different zones, for the transition 
 is extremely gradual ; but, speaking generally, the land situated 
 north of 63° and 64° latitude is barren of all vegetation except- 
 ing mosses and lichens. The subsoil is eternally frozen, but 
 the surface thaws in summer very slightly, thereby turning 
 the country into one vast marsh. The rivers remain frozen 
 during nine months of the year. Under these circumstances, 
 cultivation is out of the question. To the south-western 
 limit of this zone, at Beriozof on the Obi, the medium tem- 
 perature all the year round is 5° C. below zero, and in winter 
 it goes down to 23°. The average in summer is 13*5°, and 
 that of the hottest month 18°, which is about the same as 
 
 5 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 the heat in Paris in July ; but the warm weather lasts so short 
 a time as to be useless for agricultural purposes. To the 
 east the climate becomes rapidly severe, and at Verkhoyansk, a 
 village situated in the Yakutsk district, latitude 67°, one of the 
 coldest regions in our hemisphere is reached. The average 
 throughout the year is 17° C. below zero; during the three 
 winter months it is 47°, and in January 49°. The minimum is 
 about 68° below zero. What characterizes this dreadful region 
 is that to the extreme cold in winter succeeds a very short but 
 relatively warm summer. The medium thermometrical reading 
 during the warm season is 13°, which rises to 15° for the month 
 of July, during which the mercury sometimes rises to 25° in 
 the shade. The difference between the temperature of the 
 warmest and the coldest months of the year is about 64°, that 
 is to say, four times what it is in Paris. It is very remarkable 
 that in whatever direction you go from Verkhoyansk, even 
 northward, the climate becomes less rigorous, thanks to the 
 comparative mildness of the winter. As to the summer, it 
 scarcely merits the name, falling to 9° and even to 3° C. on the 
 borders of the Arctic Ocean. 
 
 In such unfavourable conditions, it is not surprising that 
 the 1,600,000 square miles which comprise the Tundra Zone 
 only support between 60,000 and 80,000 inhabitants, mostly 
 Samoyeds, Ostiaks, Chuckchis, Lamuts, and other miserable 
 Arctic tribes, among whom live, or rather vegetate, a few 
 Russian officials and a fairly numerous group of exiles. The 
 reindeer, whilst serving as a means of transport, is also used as 
 food, and its hide furnishes the natives with clothing. There 
 is no other domestic animal excepting the powerful Polar 
 dog which drags the sleighs. Whether this part of Siberia 
 will ever become of any ultimate use is at present hard to say, 
 but we may take it for granted that it will only be through the 
 discovery of a mineral wealth, the existence of which is unknown 
 at the present time, that the Polar Zone of Siberia will ever 
 attract even a temporary settlement of colonists. 
 
 To the south of the Tundra begin the Great Forests. At 
 first the trees are sparse and stunted, and only an experienced 
 botanist can recognise the distinctive characteristics of the 
 larch ; the trees, however, become loftier as the climate 
 moderates and the summer lengthens. The larches, firs and 
 pines rise to a great height, and become at last so thick as to 
 prevent the sun drying the damp soil of the Taiga, or primeval 
 
 6 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 forest. The banks of the rivers are invariably covered by 
 immense marshes, the most extensive of which are those to be 
 met with in the neighbourhood of the Obi and the Irtysh. 
 When the snow begins to melt, the inundations extend to 
 considerably over six miles on either side of the ill-defined 
 river-banks. The climate of this region is extremely severe, the 
 winters frightfully cold, but the summers fairly warm. The 
 frost lasts only seven instead of eight months; the subsoil, 
 however, is eternally frozen, and agriculture is only possible in 
 certain spots and demands constant attention. It is evident, 
 however, that this zone, which covers about 2,320,000 square 
 miles, that is to say about half Siberia, will never be able to 
 support a dense population ; still, with its great forests it is 
 much more valuable than the more northern or Polar regions. 
 If it is possible to prevent these Siberian forests from under- 
 going the same process of devastation which has befallen those 
 of Northern America, they may become of enormous value. 
 Moreover, there exist in their midst some very important gold- 
 mines, especially near the Yenissei and in the basin of the 
 Olekma, one of the tributaries of the Lena, not a few of which 
 are already being satisfactorily exploited. There is therefore 
 hope that in due time these vast regions now covered with 
 forests and marshes may be able to support a much larger 
 population than the actual one, which does not exceed 700,000 
 souls, mostly Russians and natives. 
 
 If we abstract from the total extent of Siberia the 
 1,600,000 square miles of Tundra, and the 2,320,000 square 
 miles of forest land, there remain nearly 900,000 square miles 
 which form the cultivable zone, the only one which will ever be 
 capable of supporting anything like a dense population. This 
 region is not perceptibly distinguishable from that of the 
 forests by any marked change in the landscape, unless it be to 
 the west, where the great green trees that usually flourish in 
 milder climes form an agreeable contrast to the everlasting 
 pines and firs. Then, again, the presence of cereals is very 
 noticeable, the late summer being of sufficient length to 
 enable wheat, barley and oats to ripen. So long as the seed 
 remains under the snow it matters little how intense the cold 
 may be above ; but when once the snow melts it becomes 
 absolutely necessary for the heat to be sufficiently great during 
 a prolonged period to enable the grain to germinate, and above 
 all it is necessary that the autumnal frosts should not occur 
 
 7 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 before the com has had sufficient time to ripen. At Nertchinsk 
 in Trans-Baikalia the winter is often much more rigorous than at 
 Beriozof on the Obi, and yet corn ripens in the neighbourhood 
 of the first-named town, for the simple reason that the tempera- 
 ture between May and September, although not many degrees 
 higher, remains equable much longer. It is rather to the 
 brief period during which the sun has any power than to the 
 intensity of the heat or the excess of cold that may be attributed 
 the difficulty of rendering these extreme northern regions of 
 any agricultural value. Notwithstanding that the cultivable 
 zone of Siberia is so extremely limited, it covers an area five 
 times the size of France and equal to half the cultivable sphere 
 of Russia in Europe, which is also afflicted with glacial and 
 sterile zones. This more fortunate section of Siberia may, and 
 doubtless will, offer for a long time to come an admirable field 
 for Russian emigration. 
 
 t 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE LAND OF SIBERIA AND ITS INHABITANTS 
 
 Siberia a prolongation of Russia in Europe — Marked resemblance in 
 scenery and climate between the two countries — Insignificance of the 
 indigenous population, especially towards the West — Facilities of colo- 
 nization — Preponderance of the Russian element in the agricultural 
 rone — Indigenous elements : Polar tribes diminishing; Mongol popu- 
 lation increasing, but much more slowly than the Russian — Asiatic 
 immigration to the east of the cultivable zone — Heterogeneous elements 
 imported from Europe — ^Jews and Raskolniks. 
 
 After crossing the beautifully wooded valleys and the chain 
 of hills known as the Ural Mountains, the traveller arrives at 
 Cheliabinsk, situated in the Great Plain, and can scarcely 
 believe that 1,200 miles of railway separate him from Moscow, 
 so striking is the resemblance between the scenery around 
 him and that of Central Russia, notably in the Governments 
 of Tula and Riazan. In the open spaces rise tufts of 
 delicate verdure, beyond which, here and there, appear the 
 gray outlines of some village, consisting of rows of wooden 
 houses surrounded by fields. The only striking difference 
 between the appearance of this country and Central Russia 
 consists in the predominance of the birch between the Ural 
 and the Obi. For nearly 1,200 miles no other tree shades the 
 absolutely flat country. It is the same with the wild flowers, 
 among which I noticed the Kaborski tcha'i, with its long pink 
 spiral blossoms, which recall those of the digitalis. It is not 
 surprising that a Russian territory bearing such a singular 
 resemblance to the mother country should prove attractive 
 to Russian emigrants. The winter here, however, is un- 
 doubtedly both longer and colder; the summer is a little hotter, 
 and the mosquitoes much more troublesome ; but, on the other 
 hand, land is freer, and the peasant is no longer confined 
 
 9 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 in the very narrow space granted in the old country to 
 his father at the time of the emancipation of the serfs, 
 and which, at his death, he has been obliged to share with 
 his brothers. If one is surprised to notice during the first few 
 days’ journey by the Trans-Siberian Railway so few villages, 
 the reason is not far to find. The line passes a little to the 
 south of the colonized region, and borders the insufficiently- 
 watered steppes where the Kirghiz graze their cattle. From 
 time to time the traveller perceives in the plain the circular 
 huts and even the tents of these nomads, and not unfrequently 
 at the stations he may meet with a number of them, with their 
 beady black eyes, their yellow complexions, and their closely- 
 shaven heads contrasting picturesquely with the fair locks and 
 long yellow beards of the red-shirted Mujiks. A little to the 
 north, after passing the Obi, the Kirghiz disappear, although 
 the town of Tomsk still possesses a mosque, said to be the 
 most northern in the world. 
 
 It is estimated that these Tatars do not exceed 90,000. The 
 majority profess Islamism, whilst a few have been converted to 
 the Orthodox faith, and a smaller proportion still remain 
 pagans. Only a fraction dwell in the towns. Besides this 
 Tatar tribe, some 20,000 Mongols, called Kalmucks, inhabit 
 the Altai Mountains. In the north may still be found other 
 aborigines of a very inferior type, known as Ostiaks. They are 
 supposed to be of Finnish origin, and do not exceed 40,000 in 
 number, and are exclusively engaged in hunting and fishing. 
 It is stated that at one time they were fairly civilized, but they 
 have been gradually driven back by the Russians into the 
 Arctic and sterile regions, and have become decimated by 
 drink and other vices, the unfortunate result of contact with a 
 superior race. Further north of the forest -line and the 
 Tundra region wander a few Polar tribes called Samoyeds, 
 who, owing to the extremely arid nature of the soil and the 
 rigour of the climate, have never come into contact with 
 European civilization. There are about 20,000 of them, and 
 owing to the unfavourable social and climatic conditions under 
 which they exist, it is not likely that they will increase. The 
 purely Russian population, to whom the agricultural zone 
 almost exclusively belongs, forms about nineteen-twentieths of 
 the 3,356,000 inhabitants of Western Siberia, which itself 
 contains three-fifths of the population of all Siberia. 
 
 The richest section of the Government of Tobolsk consists 
 
 10 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 of a narrow band of land running between the marshes of the 
 northern regions and the sterile steppes of the southern. At 
 Tomsk this cultivable zone widens when it passes the Obi, and 
 the character of the scenery changes to pleasant hills and valleys, 
 in which latter the earth is still sufficiently thick and rich to 
 entirely cover the rocky formation below. The leaf-bearing 
 trees are finer, and are interspersed with splendid specimens of 
 Siberian fir and the extremely picturesque Siberian cedar-tree. 
 Occasionally these trees group themselves together, and form 
 a sort of wood or plantation ; at other times they grow singly 
 along the roadside, being thus cultivated in order to supply 
 sleepers for the railway or as superior fuel. The fields are 
 full of beautiful flowers, and the general appearance of the 
 country is that of a fine park, forming a very agreeable contrast 
 to the monotonous Barabinsk Steppe, with its infrequent and 
 stunted birches. The plateau which stretches between the 
 two rivers Tom and Chulym, affluents of the Obi, at a height 
 of between 800 and 900 feet above the level of the plain, is 
 extremely fertile, the vegetation being most varied, and the 
 whole region is vastly superior in point of picturesqueness to 
 any hitherto visited. The valley of the Yenissei, dominated 
 to the east by mountains and traversed by the magnificent 
 river, is extremely beautiful. The water runs rapidly, is re- 
 markably clear, and in more than one place the majestic stream 
 widens to over 1,000 yards. 
 
 Once the traveller has passed the Yenissei, he leaves the 
 tedious plains behind him, and finds himself among pleasant 
 hills and valleys, which are rapidly becoming highly cultivated. 
 The post-road, which crosses from the west to the east, from 
 Tiumen, at the foot of the Ural, to Stretensk on the Amur, 
 sometimes follows the course of the rivers, and at others rises 
 to a considerable height above them. On either side rise 
 veritable walls of gigantic Siberian pines, with red trunks, 
 sombre verdure, interspersed by magnificent larches of a 
 lighter shade of green and of more regular shape, and by 
 fir-trees and cedars, whose cones contain those little seeds which 
 the Siberians are so fond of chewing. On the banks of the 
 more important rivers, and at every ten to twenty miles’ distance, 
 the traveller now passes numbers of little towns and villages, 
 surrounded by arable land, which form, however, but very in- 
 significant oases in the midst of these interminable forests. It is, 
 however, along this post-road, in the valley of the Yenissei, and 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 on the banks of two or three other rivers, that almost the entire 
 population of Central Siberia is concentrated. Here, as else- 
 where, the Russian element predominates ; for out of the 
 
 570.000 inhabitants of the government of Yenissei there are 
 not more than 50,000 natives, who, moreover, live principally 
 in the forests to the north. 
 
 The population of the Government of Irkutsk includes about 
 
 500.000 inhabitants, of whom 100,000 are Buriats, mostly 
 shepherds and farmers. They were originally Mongols, and 
 still practise Buddhism, and live principally on the slopes of 
 the Sayan chain of mountains, which runs close to the Chinese 
 frontier. To the east of the great Lake Baikal, which is 440 
 miles in length by 30 to 60 in width, and which by reason of its 
 mountainous shores recalls the lakes of Scotland, is a region 
 that contains the only really beautiful scenery in Siberia. This 
 section of the country has always entertained close relations 
 with China. Trans-Baikalia in former times supplied the 
 Emperors at Peking with their finest game. The whole district 
 of the Verkhne-Udinsk, comprising the basin of the Selenga, 
 the principal affluent of the Baikal, is frequently and not in- 
 appropriately called Russian Mongolia. On the summit of the 
 Ahmar Dabam, a chain of mountains which dominates Lake 
 Baikal, I perceived for the first time a fetish-tree with its 
 branches bedecked with parti-coloured rags. On the eastern 
 slope I also discovered a Lamasery. The scantily cultivated 
 plateau to the north, which is watered by the Vitim, a tributary 
 of the Lena, was, it appears, not populated at the time of the 
 arrival of the Russians, and even to-day it only contains a few 
 villages peopled by wretched Mujiks. This region before the 
 annexation of the right bank and of the lower valley of the 
 Amur was used as a sort of military encampment. At the 
 present time it is governed by a military regime, whose ad- 
 ministration is concentrated in the hands of a Governor, in- 
 variably a general in the army. Of the 670,000 inhabitants, 
 one -third are natives, one- third peasants, or inhabitants 
 of its gloomy little towns, and the other third consists 
 of Cossacks, who are only distinguishable from the peasants 
 by wearing a yellow band on their caps and trousers. Instead 
 of paying taxes, they have to submit to certain military obliga- 
 tions. Although they are Cossacks by name and by race, 
 they possess none of the brilliant military qualities which dis- 
 tinguish their European kinsmen. The two territories annexed 
 
 12 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 by Russia in 1858 at the expense of China, the Province of 
 the Amur, and the southern portion of the Littoral Province — 
 the only one which is of the least value — are scarcely inhabited, 
 and were even less peopled at the time of the arrival of the 
 Russians, when they possessed not more than 10,000 Manchus, 
 and about as many natives, engaged in hunting and fishing, 
 and belonging to several declining tribes. The Manchus have 
 remained and are prospering; the other tribes are gradually 
 passing aw’ay. Some 20,000 or 30,000 Korean and Chinese 
 emigrants have settled in the neighbourhood of Vladivostok. 
 The Russian immigration, however, forms at least five-sixths 
 of the 112,000 inhabitants of the Province of the Amur, and 
 more than two-thirds of the 214,000 of the coast province, of 
 whom 30,000 natives live in the Arctic regions, where the 
 whites leave them in peace. The newly-acquired Chinese 
 territory includes at least 140,000 Russians out of the 175,000 
 inhabitants. It must, however, be remembered that this 
 remarkable majority is mainly due to the concentration of 
 troops which has taken place since the Chino-Japanese War, 
 which so profoundly modified the political condition of the 
 Far East. 
 
 The following table is formed from official sources — chiefly 
 from the census taken on January 28, 1897, and marks the 
 area and the total population of the nine Siberian provinces : 
 
 
 Square 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Total Popu- 
 lation. 
 
 Natives and 
 other 
 Asiatics. 
 
 Area of Agri- 
 cultural Zone, 
 Square 
 Miles. 
 
 Tobolsk M 
 Tomsk _ 
 
 Yenissei 
 Irkutsk ^ 
 
 Yakutsk 
 Trans-Baikalia 
 
 Amur 
 
 Littoral ... \ 
 
 Island of Sakhalin / 
 
 536,600 
 
 328,000 
 
 987.400 
 
 280.800 
 
 i,S 3 S- 9 C 0 
 
 229.800 
 172,900 
 
 741.400 
 
 1.438,655 \ 
 
 1.917,527/ 
 
 567,807 
 
 501,237 
 
 283,954 
 
 669,721 
 
 112,396 
 
 / 2 i 4 , 940 'l 
 
 1 25,495/ 
 
 180.000 
 
 45 ,ooo\ 
 
 100.000 / 
 
 250.000 
 
 200.000 
 
 18.000 
 
 70.000 
 
 270,800 
 
 193,400 
 
 139,200 
 
 104.000 
 
 147.000 
 
 Total 
 
 4,812,800 
 
 5,731,732 
 
 863,000 
 
 854.400 
 
 The southern agricultural region of Siberia, in contradis- 
 tinction to the frozen zone to the north, is mainly inhabited 
 
 13 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 by European settlers. The proportion of these over the 
 native population is greatest in the west, and decreases towards 
 the east, where, however, it still remains superior by about 
 two-thirds, so that we need not hesitate to conclude that 
 out of the 5,000,000 people living on this long strip of land, 
 more than four million and a half are of European origin. 
 Nevertheless, it must not be forgotten that the indigenous 
 Mongol and Turki population, which is immensely superior to 
 the poor tribes of fishermen and hunters who wander about 
 the northern zone, does not diminish, but continues to increase, 
 much less rapidly, however, than the Russians, who are con- 
 stantly being reinforced by emigration. Fortunately the 
 feeling between these two distinct elements is excellent ; the 
 Russians, being of Oriental extraction, do not hold those racial 
 prejudices which are so marked among the Anglo-Saxons. 
 The religious question, which is of course an obstacle to any 
 attempt at a fusion between the Orthodox and the Buddhist 
 population, is also not very intense or intricate. The 
 Russian is essentially tolerant, in opposition to his Govern- 
 ment, which is the reverse. The Orthodox emigrants have 
 no objection to a Pagoda or a Lamasery being erected along- 
 side of their own churches and monasteries. I remember 
 seeing, while travelling, from Cheliabinsk to Omsk, the Metro- 
 politan of the last-named town, who happened to be in the 
 train, get out at a certain station to visit a church which was 
 being built, and to bestow his benediction upon a crowd of 
 Mujiks who had assembled for the purpose of receiving it. 
 Whilst the ceremony was in progress, a few feet further on five 
 Tatar travellers had stretched their carpets, and, with their 
 faces turned Meccawards, were going through the elaborate 
 gymnastics connected with Mussulman devotion. The Mujiks, 
 who were crowding forward to kiss their priest’s hand, never 
 dreamt of disturbing the Mohammedan worshippers, but 
 watched them quite respectfully. I doubt very much whether 
 in any part of Europe three centuries ago, when the populace 
 was not more developed in the intellectual sense than are these 
 poor Mujiks, such a scene of tolerance could ever have been 
 witnessed. The Russian Government accords the utmost liberty 
 to its subjects in Asia in matters of religion. The origin of 
 Russian official intolerance in Europe is in the main purely 
 political, and if it considers Buddhists and Mussulmans in 
 Siberia less objectionable than Catholics and Protestants, it is 
 
 14 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 simply because the followers of these divergent creeds are the 
 representatives of former and very dangerous enemies, and are, 
 moreover, perpetually endeavouring to impose their doctrine 
 upon anyone with whom they come into contact. 
 
 The Russian colonization of Siberia has been carried out 
 without the aid of any other European nationality. There are 
 only a few hundred other Europeans settled in the country, 
 the greater number of whom are French people. I was much 
 amused at the little station at Sokur, about nine leagues from 
 the Obi, to find a buffet kept by a Frenchwoman, a peasant 
 who had married a Bessarabian, and who had only been in 
 Siberia a year, after having, however, spent several in Southern 
 Russia. Her buffet was arranged with a greater degree of 
 taste and comfort than those in charge of the Russians, who, 
 however, keep everything scrupulously neat and clean. The 
 worthy lady had forgotten her fluent French, but had not yet 
 acquired fluent Russian. At Tomsk I fell in with another 
 Frenchwoman, who kept a bookshop, and in nearly all the 
 towns along the great post-road at Irkutsk, Blagovyeshchensk, 
 Khabarofsk, and Vladivostok, I found French shopkeepers, 
 some of whom had been thirty years in the country. They 
 seemed to entertain a distinct preference for photography. 
 
 Now that Siberia is at last thrown open to civilization, 
 foreigners will, of course, become much more numerous, and 
 already many engineers are to be found in various parts of the 
 mining districts ; but for all this, I do not think that at any 
 period the Russian colony will be greatly influenced thereby. 
 
 We may, therefore, conclude that, from the ethnological 
 point of view, as well as from the geographical, Siberia is 
 merely a prolongation of Russian Europe, or of what is known 
 as Greater Russia. It is true that a few heterogeneous 
 elements exist of the same sort as those to be met with in 
 Russia itself : Poles and Germans from the Baltic provinces, and 
 the descendants of exiles, or even exiles themselves ; and thus 
 it comes to pass that in all the larger towns, at Tomsk, 
 Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk, Catholic and Lutheran churches 
 abound. On the other hand, there are synagogues in nearly 
 all the secondary towns. Israel is fully represented in Siberia, 
 and the little town of Kainsk between the Omsk and the 
 Obi is popularly known as the Jerusalem of Siberia. There 
 are also about 100,000 Raskolniks, followers of a reform 
 which took place in the liturgy of the Orthodox Church in the 
 
 »S 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 seventeenth century. This, however, is, needless to say, a 
 purely Russian contingent. The Raslcolniks exist in every part 
 of Siberia, but in the province of the Amur they form about a 
 tenth of the population, and are also very numerous in Trans- 
 Baikalia. They are mainly the descendants of people belong- 
 ing to this particular sect, who were originally exiled from 
 Russia in the eighteenth century. Their chief peculiarity 
 consists in their love of temperance and horror of every sort of 
 innovation. Nothing would induce them to take even a cup of 
 coffee or tea. In our time the members of certain curious 
 sects, that of the Eunuchs, for instance, are exiled into Siberia, 
 and confined to a village in the territory of the Yakutsk, in the 
 Tundra Zone. According to the belief of these eccentric 
 persons, Napoleon I. was a reincarnation of the Messiah, and 
 they believe he rests in the sleep of death on the shores of 
 Lake Baikal until a time when an angel shall awaken him and 
 place him at the head of an amazing host destined to establish 
 the reign of God in all parts of the world. The Raskolniks, 
 owing to their temperate habits and their industry, are generally 
 considered to be a very valuable element in the population of 
 the country. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 AGRICULTURAL SIBERIA AND THE RURAL POPULATION 
 
 Enormous preponderance of the rural and peasant population in Siberia— 
 Siberian Mujiks — Their rude and primitive manner of life — Excellent 
 quality of the land, and backward methods of cultivating it— Mediocre 
 and irregular manner of raising cereals — The necessity and difficulty 
 of improving agricultural operations — The absence of large and enter- 
 prising ownership in Siberia a disadvantage. 
 
 Siberia resembles Russia not only in the matter of its im- 
 mensity, its loneliness, the duration of its winters, mono- 
 tonous expanse of its plains and enormous forest lands, but 
 also in the leading characteristics of its peasantry ; but in 
 Asia and Russia these seem accentuated, possibly by reason 
 of the peculiarity of the surroundings among which they are 
 compelled to live. Even more than in Russia is this class of 
 the people essentially rural ; the exploitation of the gold-mines 
 is the only other industry of any importance, and it employs 
 relatively few people in comparison with its yield. 
 
 In Siberia great landlords are conspicuous by their absence. 
 The only nobles mentioned by the official statistics are a few 
 functionaries whose lands will be found on the other side of 
 the Ural, and the only rich people in the country are the 
 merchants residing in the towns, who occasionally add to 
 their incomes, mainly derived from trade, by a certain interest 
 in mining speculations. Some of these worthy people build 
 themselves handsome country houses, but they do not take 
 much interest in agriculture. A few concessions of land were 
 made in the middle of the century, but they have long since 
 passed out of the hands of their original owners into those of 
 the Mujiks, to whom they have been ‘ let,’ but these do not 
 appear to care about their prosperity. All the rest of the land 
 
 17 c 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 belongs either to the Government or to small farmers, who rent 
 it from the Crown. 
 
 The Siberian peasant lives exactly as do his brethren in 
 Russia, in villages or hamlets. Isolated houses are rare, the 
 agglomeration of dwellings being an absolute necessity of the 
 conditions of that collective and communal proprietorship 
 which prevails throughout the Tsar’s dominions. A Siberian 
 village is, therefore, a reproduction of a Russian village. On 
 either side of the road is a succession of low, one-story 
 houses built of dark wood, and separated from each other by 
 yards, at the back of which are the stables. The appearance 
 of these dwellings is exceedingly dreary, for they are invariably 
 built of rough wood, blackened by age. Occasionally, however, 
 some few planks are painted a vivid white. The usual doleful 
 aspect of these villages is sometimes enlivened, especially in 
 the larger ones, by the presence of a brick church, with 
 cupolas painted a vivid green. In the hamlets these chapels 
 are only outwardly distinguished from the rest of the isbas by 
 an iron cross. 
 
 If anything, the general appearance of these Siberian 
 villages is even more dreary and depressing than that of their 
 counterparts in European Russia, where the houses are often 
 gaily painted. Here they are built entirely of unhewn wood, 
 like the log-huts of the Far West. Then, the few domestic 
 animals to be seen wandering about the roadway are not 
 reassuring, for the dogs look like wolves, and the enormous 
 black pigs like wild boars. Nevertheless, I am of opinion that 
 the Siberian peasant is better off than his Russian brother. 
 His isbas are certainly more spacious, although, to be sure, six, 
 seven, and even ten, persons are usually crowded into two or 
 three tiny rooms, the immense stove in the centre of which, in 
 winter, is usually used as a bedstead by the entire family, where- 
 by whatever air otherwise might be admitted is hermetically 
 excluded. For all that, I have never seen in Siberia any of 
 those miserable hovels to be found in Russia, but undoubtedly 
 the manners and customs of the Siberian peasants are even 
 more primitive than those of the Russians. They possess less 
 knowledge of hygiene and cleanliness, and are absolutely 
 ignorant of everything calculated to render life in the least 
 degree agreeable or rational. During the six winter months 
 the Siberian keeps his house rigorously shut, excluding even a 
 breath of air ; in summer he does the same, for the double 
 
 i8 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 windows of the two or three very small sleeping - rooms 
 are never opened on any pretext. These Siberian peasants 
 are, moreover, astonishingly lazy and apathetic. Their only 
 pleasure in life consists in dreaming away the time whilst 
 smoking their pipes, and in drinking vodka, not to enliven 
 themselves, but simply to get dead-drunk. Whilst the men 
 are at the public-house the women stand by their open doors, 
 listless and gossiping, indolently watching their fair-haired 
 children, who, with only a red shirt on, fabricate the time- 
 honoured dirt-pies of universal childhood in the mud or else 
 roll about in the dust. Work is limited to what is absolutely 
 indispensable, and the Siberian peasant is much happier doing 
 nothing than in working to obtain what his fellows in other 
 countries would consider the necessaries of life, but which he 
 looks upon as ludicrously superfluous. Every village possesses 
 a herd of cows, which you may watch in the early morning 
 hours straggling off to the pastures, driven along by two or 
 three old men or urchins, and although you can always get 
 excellent milk, butter is very scarce, and cheese unknown. As 
 to a garden, even for the cultivation of necessary vegetables, I 
 have never seen one in the hundred villages I have visited, 
 excepting, indeed, in Trans-Baikalia, where I perceived one or 
 two attached to the stanitsas belonging to some Cossacks. It is 
 not because vegetables will not grow, but because the peasants 
 will not cultivate them. In the towns in the Amur district, 
 such as Blagovyeshchensk, Khabarofsk, and a few others, vege- 
 tables are to be obtained, but even these are brought over by 
 the Chinese from the opposite bank of the river. 
 
 In addition to laziness, the Siberian peasant adds the most 
 surprising obstinacy, which is not precisely a bad quality, when, 
 as in the case of the English, it serves to increase their dogged 
 activity ; but in Siberia it is simply another incentive to do 
 nothing. Once a Siberian peasant has made up his mind to 
 play dolce far niente, no power. Divine or human, will induce 
 him to budge. I have often heard Europeans say that Siberia 
 is the only country where you cannot get work done even for 
 money ; and this is perfectly true, for on certain holidays it 
 matters little what you may offer, you will not get a coachman 
 to take you a five-mile drive. The Siberian would rather lose 
 money than earn it against his will. 
 
 If inertia is happiness, then the Siberians must be the 
 happiest people on earth. They disdain progress and would 
 
 iq C 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 rather die than better their condition. Their motto is, ‘ What 
 sufficed for our fathers is surely good enough for us,’ and this is 
 the invariable answer a peasant will give you if you venture to 
 suggest any sort of change for the better in his condition. His 
 favourite texts from Holy Scripture are those which flatter his 
 habit of intellectual stagnation, those which preach resignation 
 and abstention, but certainly not those which teach action and 
 effort. ‘ He who is contented with little will not be forgotten 
 by God,’ was the text I once saw stuck up in the waiting-room 
 of one of the dirtiest stations in Trans-Baikalia. It struck me 
 as being particularly appropriate, both to the place and the 
 people. The prevailing lack of energy and perseverance, which 
 has been noticed by travellers in every part of the Tsar’s 
 Empire, seems to me to be one of the radical characteristics of 
 the Russian nature. It may possibly derive its origin from the 
 influences of Tatar blood, which was so largely infused among 
 the lower classes of Russians from the thirteenth to the six- 
 teenth century at the time of Tatar domination. Then, again, 
 it must be remembered that extreme cold, like extreme heat, 
 produces apathy, especially upon the men, who are thereby con- 
 demned to remain for many months inactive, and whose minds, 
 owing to their excessive ignorance, are a blank. 
 
 Siberian peasants are supremely ignorant. In 1894 the 
 Government of Tobolsk, the most progressive of any in respect 
 of education, numbered only 19,100 children frequenting the 
 schools out of a population of 1,400,000 souls. In the towns 
 the proportion of scholars was 4'63 per 100, but in the country 
 districts it did not rise to i'o5. One must not, however, be 
 too severe on the Siberians for showing so poor an educational 
 result, for we must not forget the enormous distance between 
 village and village, and the difficulties of obtaining school- 
 masters, owing mainly to the excessive ignorance in which the 
 lower orders of Russians are plunged. Notwithstanding the 
 very considerable progress which has been made in this direc- 
 tion in the last few years, there is probably no country in the 
 world where reading and writing would be of greater advantage, 
 for during at least one half of the year the Siberian has 
 literally nothing to do but to think, or, better, to dream, his 
 life away. 
 
 Serfdom has never existed in Siberia, which accounts for the 
 Mujiks having a much more independent air than their brethren 
 in European Russia. They have, however, in common with 
 
 20 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 these latter, that peculiar sort of charity which has been well 
 called the ‘ pity of the Slav.’ It is, however, not an active 
 virtue, but a sort of dreamy pitifulness which induces these 
 poor people to help each other, but does not prevent them 
 from being exceedingly suspicious of strangers. They will, 
 however, invariably leave on the sill outside their windows a 
 hunk of bread or a jug of milk for the benefit of some escaped 
 convict or some wretched outcast. Unfortunately, however, 
 the extreme ignorance and the innate laziness of these people 
 prevent their extracting from the soil much that, at a very 
 small cost of labour, would greatly increase both their wealth 
 and their comfort. 
 
 The soil of Siberia is exceedingly rich. The famous 
 tchernozium, or black earth of Southern Russia, covers a great 
 part of the Meridional Zone of the provinces of Tobolsk and 
 Tomsk. The upper valleys of the Obi and the Yenissei, 
 sheltered from the north winds, enjoy a milder climate than 
 the plains, and are excellent for the growth of all sorts of 
 cereals. On the borders of the Angara, the great tributary of 
 Lake Baikal and on that of the Lower Amur, and its tributary 
 rivers and its affluents, which are marshy, there are enormous 
 tracts of extremely fertile land, but the methods of cultivation 
 are of the most primitive. Then, again, the vast majority of 
 the rural population obstinately refuses to work in the fields. 
 All along the great postal highway, which stretches from the 
 Ural to the Amur, and beyond to Kiakhta, the manner in which 
 the peasants earn their living is considerably modified. They 
 exist by trafficking along this main road, along which pass 
 manufactured goods imported from Europe, which are forwarded 
 to Central Siberia, the great caravans of the tea-merchants, the 
 gangs of exiles, and lastly the ordinary travellers. As this 
 road is the only one which goes from west to east, it is very 
 animated. Even in summer, when the traffic is not so active — 
 the tea caravans only pass in winter — I have rarely seen fewer 
 than loo transports of one sort or another per day. Although 
 every postmaster is obliged to keep no fewer than forty horses, 
 and each carriage rarely requires more than three, occasionally 
 it is impossible to secure a conveyance, and one is obliged to 
 ask the peasants for assistance, which they are very ready to 
 afford, making you pay from three to four roubles (six to eight 
 shillings) for a relay of twenty-five versts (sixteen miles), a sum 
 which, if they see that they have to deal either with somebody 
 
 21 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 who is in a great hurry, or with a wealthy traveller, they per- 
 sistently increase in the most barefaced manner. In winter 
 the transport of tea also enables them to make considerable 
 sums of money. 
 
 Thus it is that the country folk in these latitudes neglect 
 agriculture, considering it merely as an accessory. In the 
 neighbourhood of the villages you will find a few fields and 
 pastures, where the cows, horses, and sometimes a few black 
 sheep, are sent out to graze under the care of two or three boys 
 or old men, or sometimes without any shepherd at all. A 
 wooden barrier prevents their escaping into the neighbouring 
 forest. 
 
 The number of horses in Siberia is very great. In the 
 government of Tomsk in 1894 there were 1,360,000 horses to 
 a population of only 1,700,000, that is to say, 80 horses per 
 100 inhabitants. In the government of the Yenissei the 
 proportion is over 90 per 100 inhabitants, and the same 
 proportion prevails in the government of Irkutsk. Almost the 
 only other country where there are almost as many horses as 
 men is, besides Russian Central Asia, the Argentine Republic, 
 where there are 112 per too inhabitants. In the United 
 States there are but 22, and in France only 7. The pro- 
 portion of horned cattle is also very considerable, being about 
 60 per 100 inhabitants, rising in Eastern Siberia, in Tobolsk 
 and Tomsk, to 80, whereas in the Yenissei and Irkutsk districts 
 there are about 3 beasts per family. The greater part of these 
 are cows. Bullocks are very scarce, not being employed either 
 for food or burden. It is only along the Kirghiz Steppes, in 
 the country traversed by the Trans-Siberian railway between 
 the Urals and Omsk, and the region immediately below this 
 line, that milk is used. The rain falls in this region very 
 slightly, and the land is not cultivable, but purely arable, and 
 as the Kirghiz are extremely capable herdsmen, the results are 
 very satisfactory, and they export their cattle largely into 
 Russian Europe, and even beyond. I remember coming 
 across a train full of bullocks which were being conveyed to 
 St. Petersburg, and I know of at least one large house in 
 Moscow which receives weekly from the little town of Kurgan, 
 situated on the railway line, many thousands of pounds of 
 butter, a great part of which is exported thence to Hamburg. 
 
 If one wishes to become acquainted with the real Siberian 
 farmers, one must leave aside the highroads and plunge 
 
 22 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 into the country. True, the villages become much less 
 numerous, but then they are surrounded by more extensive 
 fields. In those districts which were first colonized in the 
 Government of Tobolsk some rather thickly-peopled places 
 are occasionally to be found, especially in the northern steppe 
 between 55° and 58° latitude. In the Government of Tomsk 
 a more inhabited region will likewise be met with to the south 
 of the zone of the immense but well-wooded marshlands ; but 
 in this province, as in that of the Yenissei, the southern 
 portion, instead of being covered by sterile steppes, contains 
 the magnificently wooded valleys of the upper Obi, the 
 Yenissei, and their affluents, which very naturally attract the 
 greater number of Russian emigrants. 
 
 The agricultural resources in the districts of Barnaul, Biisk, 
 Minusinck and Kansk, are extremely rich, and, besides ex- 
 cellent land, splendid water, and a relatively mild and agreeable 
 climate, there are a variety of minerals. More to the east, 
 if we wish to avoid the ever-silent desert, or the iaiga, we 
 must, on leaving the highroad, enter some of the valleys at the 
 foot of the mountains on the Chinese frontier, on the borders 
 of which the whole population is at present concentrated. 
 The aspect of this region, however, differs very little from that 
 crossed by the post - road between Irkutsk to the great 
 prison of Alexandrof, where we behold fine wheat-fields and 
 herds of cattle wherever there is an opening in the thick but 
 marshy woodlands. Excepting for the extent of the cultivated 
 lands which surround them, the appearance of the villages, 
 however, does not change in the least. There is never a 
 vestige of a garden or of any sort of verdure near the houses, 
 unless, indeed, it be a few flowers growing in pots, which are 
 never arranged on the ledge outside the window, but in the 
 interior, and form, together with a few ikons and the portraits 
 of their Imperial Majesties, the only attempt at ornamentation 
 indulged in by the inhabitants of these essentially comfortless 
 and inartistic dwellings. 
 
 The only crops of the least value in Siberia are those of 
 the various cereals, of which about 150,000,000 bushels are 
 harvested, mostly in the western part of the country, which is 
 not only the most thickly populated, but also the freest of 
 forests. 
 
 The rest of Siberia, that is to say, the provinces watered by 
 the Amur and the territory of the Irkutsk, which are very thinly 
 
 23 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 peopled, does not produce* a total of more than 5,500,000 
 bushels. Wheat, generally sown in spring, and oats form 
 each about 30 per cent, of the total cereal product of Siberia. 
 The balance is made up of rye, barley and buckwheat. The 
 arable land has to undergo, especially when first reclaimed 
 from the steppe, the usual process of preparation, manuring, 
 etc. The Siberian peasants have not acquired even the most 
 rudimentary knowledge of agricultural science, and, conse- 
 quently, often have to abandon their farms. On the other 
 hand, in certain favourable regions, in the Governments of 
 Tobolsk and Tomsk, where the earth is exceptionally rich, the 
 pastures have gone on fairly well for over a hundred years 
 without any sensible diminution in the excellence of their grazing 
 properties. However, land is so abundant in Siberia that often 
 the peasants, when they find after they have reclaimed it that 
 its productive qualities decrease, rather than be bothered with 
 a repetition of the processes of manuring, etc., pack up their 
 traps and migrate elsewhere, literally, to ‘ fresh woods and 
 pastures new,’ where probably the foot of man has never trod. 
 
 In Siberia, as stated already, great landowners are non- 
 existent. The soil is, therefore, exclusively in the hands of the 
 peasants, but up to the present the mir collective communal 
 propertyship, as is found throughout Russia, is quite exceptional, 
 and then only in the more sparsely peopled parts of the west. 
 Since 1896, however, the Government has decided to introduce, 
 if not practically, at least theoretically, the mir principle as 
 it exists in European Russia. Nevertheless, in Siberia the 
 commune is not supposed to possess property, but simply to 
 hold it on the principle of usufruct, the whole land belonging 
 to the Crown. In those parts of the country which are nearly 
 uninhabited the zditnka system still holds good, whereby a 
 peasant, although he may be a resident in a village, is allowed 
 to build himself a hut on the steppe or in the forest where he 
 passes the summer, and where he can cultivate and even 
 enclose one or two large fields which are supposed to belong 
 to him, and which he can sell or give away as he pleases, and 
 which, in point of fact, he owns by right of being the first 
 occupant ; but this system is only provisional. With the 
 increase of population it gives place to another, whereby the 
 peasant is not considered an absolute proprietor, but only for 
 so long as he chooses to cultivate his land properly. From 
 the moment he ceases to comply with this condition another 
 
 24 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 man can take his land. Everybody is allowed to cut hay in 
 the prairies where he likes, and the pastures and woods are 
 common property. On the other hand, it is forbidden to 
 enclose any forest or pasture-land. 
 
 The climate of Siberia is naturally opposed to the cultivation 
 of cereals, which have to struggle against droughts, autumnal 
 fogs, and late and early frosts. During the last ten years some 
 very interesting meteorological observations have been made at 
 Irkutsk, whereby it has been discovered that July is the only 
 month in which it never freezes. Then, again, in the government 
 of Tobolsk, and to the west of that of Tomsk, in addition to these 
 climatic drawbacks, the crops are often devastated by myriads 
 of kobylkas, a sort of locust or grasshopper which comes from 
 the Kirghiz Steppes. Under these circumstances, agriculture 
 in Siberia may well be said to be an even more arduous way 
 of earning a livelihood than it is in Russia proper. It not 
 unfrequently happens that the crops fail utterly, and during 
 the last ten years it has been noticed that these disasters are 
 mainly due to increasing impoverishment of the soil. The 
 irregular condition of the crops is all the more disastrous in 
 Siberia because of the lack of means of communication 
 which impedes the easy transport of corn from one district to 
 another, and results in enormous fluctuations in prices, that 
 often spell ruin to the unfortunate peasants. The introduction 
 of the railway to Irkutsk occasioned a notable reduction in the 
 price of bread in Eastern Siberia, but, on the other hand, the 
 principal line, unfortunately, transports agricultural products 
 from Siberia to the region of the. Volga. 
 
 But a matter which is even of greater importance than that 
 of intercommunication are the extremely antiquated methods of 
 cultivation which the peasants insist upon retaining. In the first 
 place, their notions of preparing the reclaimed soil for culture 
 are absolutely barbarous. All they do is to scratch up the 
 immediate surface of the earth with a sort of plough which 
 dates from the Iron Age, and then sow their crop. When the 
 field is exhausted, which, not having been properly manured, 
 it very soon is, it is abandoned for a period of years until it 
 recovers some of its reproductive qualities. With improved agri- 
 cultural implements the earth could be more deeply ploughed, 
 and at a very little distance beneath the surface it is almost in- 
 variably extremely rich. The question is how to induce the 
 peasants to change methods which have been handed down to 
 
 25 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 them from their ancestors through the ages. It is of course 
 much to be regretted that in Siberia there exists no great land- 
 owners wealthy enough to introduce modern improvements, and 
 thus teach their humbler neighbours the value of progress by 
 practical illustration ; but until means of communication are 
 facilitated and improved it will be difficult to induce men of 
 wealth and education to settle in a country which, however 
 naturally rich it may be, is, to say the best of it, exceptionally 
 unattractive. Even in Russia, where so many noblemen, owing 
 to the great losses which they sustained at the time of the eman- 
 cipation of the serfs, have abandoned their lands to the peasants, 
 and have retired to the larger towns, there are yet to be found 
 men who have had the courage to face reverses, and who have 
 taken their estates in hand on scientific principles, introducing 
 the latest improvements in agricultural implements, and thereby 
 have influenced for the better the peasantry by even inducing 
 some of them to abandon their primeval methods of agri- 
 culture. This desirable state of affairs, however, cannot exist in 
 Siberia, at least for the present. Then, again, there is another 
 advantage which would accrue from the presence of rich land- 
 owners in Siberia, namely, contact with persons of superior 
 education and culture, which in the end would doubtless affect 
 the peasantry for the better. In Russia the peasantry form a 
 compact body which, by reason of its singular position in the 
 social sphere, is absolutely unable to receive or absorb any 
 influences from the more educated classes. This is a state of 
 affairs which it is highly desirable should cease in the Asiatic 
 colonies, where at present it is even more strongly marked 
 than in Russia itself. The problem of the future of Siberia is 
 the possibility and feasibility of inducing important land-owners 
 to settle in the country. 
 
 20 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 MINERAL RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES 
 
 Importance of the Siberian mines — The gold mines — Insufficiency of 
 organization principally due to unfavourable climatic influences — Rail- 
 way extension would bring about an increase in the value of the mining 
 industries — Silver, copper, and iron mines. 
 
 However productive Siberia may eventually become, it can 
 never solely depend for its prosperity upon its agricultural 
 resources. Happily, the subsoil is richer than the upper crust, 
 on account of the great abundance of ore of various kinds 
 which it conceals. The gold and silver mines, however, alone, 
 up to the present, have been worked to any extent, although a 
 few of the iron mines have been slightly exploited. Even in 
 the case of gold, however, only the alluvial mines have been 
 touched in those valleys where gold exists, and nowhere have 
 the rock veins been opened. More can hardly be expected 
 in a country which is nearly destitute of the proper means 
 of transport ; hence the extreme difficulty of conveying the 
 necessarily heavy and elaborate machinery required for 
 the extraction of the gold from the rock. I'hen, again, 
 the rock ore is only to be found at great distances from 
 inhabited centres in unexplored forests and mountainous 
 regions. The diggings, on the other hand, are much easier, 
 demanding no other implements than a sieve and a spade. 
 The siftings have been exploited in great numbers from end to 
 end of Siberia, their takings proving, since 1895, equal to two- 
 thirds of the gold product of the whole of the Russian Empire, 
 the fourth largest gold-centre in the world, coming immediately 
 after the United States, Australia, and the Transvaal. The 
 amount of gold abstracted from the Siberian mines since 1895 
 amounts to not less than 5, 000,000, and this figure, high as 
 
 27 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 it is, is, in all probability, much under the mark, the miners 
 very often retaining a good deal of their findings for themselves. 
 The Government is the only buyer of Siberian gold. It has 
 the right to claim on purchasing the gold from the miners 
 between 15 and 20 per cent, of the ore. This system of taxa- 
 tion is extremely pernicious, since it tempts the miners, as 
 already stated, to conceal the real amount of their takings. 
 An increase in the surface tax would compensate for the sup- 
 pression of the official claim upon the net product, and would 
 put an end to a great deal of fraud. I have been assured that 
 a reform in this sense may soon be expected. The enforced 
 obligation of selling to the State becomes, in the long-run, ex- 
 ceedingly irksome to concessionaires, because it forces them to 
 send their gold to a great distance, to the laboratories at Tomsk 
 and Irkutsk, where the official agents analyze it to determine 
 its value, whereas, of course, it would be much simpler to send 
 it direct to Europe, and there sell it to speculators who would 
 promptly pay the price demanded. Another drawback in the 
 present system is that the miners have often to wait a long 
 time for ready cash, which is absolutely necessary to them in 
 their business. Sometimes the Government keeps them wait- 
 ing until their gold has reached St. Petersburg, and they are 
 ultimately obliged to discount it according to the very high 
 tariff rates prevailing in Siberia. The transport of the metal to 
 Europe by the State is as expensive as it is troublesome, since 
 it has to be conveyed to Moscow and St. Petersburg in charge 
 of a military escort. I have on several occasions seen between 
 the Yenissei and Lake Baikal carts bringing gold from the 
 mines, escorted by three or four soldiers ready to fire on the 
 least signs of possible attack. Another drawback to the 
 Siberian mining industries are the primitive implements used 
 in abstracting the ore from the soil, which, as M. Levat, a dis- 
 tinguished engineer, very truly observed to me, were of a sort 
 that apparently dated from the days of Homer. Under these 
 circumstances, it is the custom in Siberia to work the surface 
 of the mine only, and after enough ore has been extracted 
 from it, to abandon the place entirely. 
 
 Owing to the geological formation of the country, the more 
 important Siberian mines will not be found, as in California, 
 on the mountain slopes, but at depths covered by marshlands. 
 Their exploitation, therefore, is much more costly, as it is 
 necessary before commencing operations to cart away an 
 
 a8 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 immense quantity of the upper surface of the earth. Hence it 
 happens that if a mine is disturbed at the surface, and then 
 abandoned by the miners, it is, so to speak, spoilt, as any 
 attempt to work it again in all probability will result in dis- 
 appointment. For this reason, many excellent mines in the 
 basin of the Obi and of the Yenissei have been already ex- 
 hausted, and the centre of the mining industry in these regions 
 has been transferred to the banks of the Amur and the Lena, 
 and this notwithstanding the many difficulties the miners have 
 to face, as the soil hereabouts is invariably frozen for about 
 twenty yards in depth, and work can only be pursued for about 
 120 consecutive days in the year. The miners’ salaries, too, 
 are exceedingly high. In the diggings at Olekma, an affluent 
 of the Lena, wages are 3s. 4d. per diem, that is to say, double 
 what they are on the Yenissei, and eight times as much as in 
 the neighbourhood of Senipalatinsk, where the Kirghiz work- 
 men receive only fivepence. Notable progress, however, has 
 been made in these regions during the last few years, as the 
 mines are gradually leaving the hands of adventurers and small 
 associations, to be concentrated in those of important com- 
 panies, financed by the richer Siberian merchants, and even by 
 large Russian firms. The great mining company of Olekma 
 extracted in 1880 ;,^i,ooo,ooo worth of gold, and maintained 
 its reputation at ^680,000 in 1896, proving this mine to be 
 one of the richest in the world. With the introduction of 
 proper means of transport, and, above all, a liberal reform in 
 the legislation, doubtless the Siberian mines would become 
 infinitely more valuable than they are at present. 
 
 Already European capitalists are paying attention to Asiatic 
 Russia, and one or two important groups of French mining 
 engineers during the past three years have been inspecting 
 those parts of the country which are said to be richest in ore. 
 I was never more surprised than to find on board a boat on 
 the Amur two English engineers, whose acquaintance I had 
 made in December, 1895, in the far-away goldfields of the 
 Transvaal. All that the mines of Siberia need to become of 
 enormous value are sufficient capital and up-to-date methods 
 of working them. The silver mines of Nertchinsk, which in 
 old times had an unenviable reputation as the site of the most 
 terrible Siberian penal settlement, are now of little value. On 
 the other hand, copper, iron, and coal beds are distributed in 
 great abundance in various parts of the country, and seem to 
 
 ay 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 constitute its principal and most permanent source of wealth. 
 The copper mines have not been exploited at all, but are 
 known to exist in the Upper Yenissei, in the districts of the 
 Minusinsk, celebrated throughout Siberia for its agricultural 
 prosperity ; others may be discovered more to the west, on the 
 Irtysh. Iron is found in great quantity in the western regions, 
 in the Altai Mountains, on the borders of the Yenissei, and in 
 the valley of the Angara, and to the east in Trans-Baikalia, 
 where its iron mines have been fairly well exploited, but hitherto 
 not on any considerable scale. Coal will certainly be found in 
 considerable abundance in the western plains, and in the last 
 few years a vast coal area has been found, beginning about 
 150 miles south of the Trans-Siberian line near the town of 
 Kuznetsk, and extending to the Upper Obi. In 1887 a new 
 and still larger field was discovered at about 80 miles east of 
 Tomsk, and, moreover, close to the railway line. At the ex- 
 tremity of Siberia, near Vladivostok, and, consequently, close 
 to the sea, other coal-beds have been opened of late. 
 
 Siberian industries are at present very limited, and consist of 
 a few unimportant distilleries, breweries, brick-kilns, match 
 manufactories, etc. It is therefore evident that for some long 
 time to come the inhabitants will be compelled to devote their 
 attention and energies to the development of the natural pro- 
 ducts of the soil. All new countries are forced to do this in 
 the first stages of their civilization, and since the United States, 
 New Zealand, and Australia failed in manufactures in their 
 earlier days, Siberia may surely content herself by following in 
 their wake. 
 
 30 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 SIBERIAN COMMERCE AND THE TRANSPORT OF TEA 
 
 Special character of trade in Siberia — Importance of the tea transport — ■ 
 Kiakhta — The annual arrival of tea at the Irkutsk Customs-house — 
 Road followed by the tea caravan — Dilatory and expensive methods 
 of transport — Comparison between the land road via Kiakhta and the 
 sea route via Odessa — Other articles of commerce, exportation of 
 cereals, etc. 
 
 Commerce is much more important in Siberia than either 
 agriculture or manufacture, and forms the basis of all the 
 great fortunes that have been made in the country. Siberian 
 commerce is mainly concerned with transport, and if we 
 except the traffic in gold by the Government, the only other 
 objects of export are cereals and furs. The importation, 
 on the other hand, is very limited, consisting merely of manu- 
 factured articles necessary for the material comfort of a very 
 scanty and primitive population, whose wants are correspond- 
 ingly few. The commerce of the country would be infini- 
 tesimal were it not that nearly all the tea consumed in Russia 
 passes through Siberia.* Tea in Russia occupies even a more 
 important position than it does in England. The average 
 Russian takes between a dozen and fifteen cups per day, and 
 he will not travel without his tea, tea-pot, and his sugar, and 
 the satnovar, a sort of glorified kettle, is never absent from 
 every table in Russia, and is always full of hot water ready to 
 moisten the leaves of the plant that comforts but does not 
 intoxicate. The Russians make their infusion very weak, 
 pouring the boiling water a great many times over the same 
 leaves. The peasantry, unlike the English of the lower classes, 
 who like their tea very strong, use the same leaves over and 
 
 * The import of Ceylon tea into Russia is already large, and is in- 
 creasing rapidly. — H. N. 
 
 31 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 over again until the decoction ends by being only straw-coloured 
 water. This explains the fact that whilst the Russians drink 
 three times as much tea as the English, the quantity of it 
 imported into Russia is at least two-thirds less than that which 
 China and India send annually to Great Britain. 
 
 It was by the overland route that the Russians first came in 
 contact with the Chinese somewhere towards the end of the 
 seventeenth century, and their commerce with the Celestial 
 Empire continued until the middle of the present century ex- 
 clusively overland. Almost all the tea which enters Russia has 
 to pass through the town of Kiakhta, about i8o miles south- 
 east of Irkutsk as the crow flies, but 430 miles by the postal- 
 road, which is only used during two short periods of the year, 
 the first in December and the second in spring, when, owing 
 to the quantity of ice on Lake Baikalia, navigation is impos- 
 sible. During the rest of the year the tea is transported across 
 the lake, in winter on sledges, and in summer by steamers, 
 whereby not less than 93 miles are gained. Occasionally, 
 as, for instance, on the banks of the Solenga, the road rises to 
 about 4,000 feet above the level of Lake Baikalia. Here the 
 scenery becomes extremely fine, and the traveller obtains 
 between the branches of the magnificent trees glimpses of the 
 beautiful lake far below, forming a very welcome change to the 
 monotony of the plain in which the caravans spend the greater 
 part of their journey. Kiakhta consists of three parts : the 
 town of Troitskosavsk, about two miles north of the Russo- 
 Chinese Frontier; the town of Kiakhta proper, which is 
 on the immediate frontier, but on Russian territory ; and sepa- 
 rated from the last only by a strip of neutral ground a hundred 
 yards wide is the Chinese town of Maimatchin. Troitskosavsk 
 is the most important of the three, and offers an exceedingly 
 agreeable aspect to the traveller who has been obliged to climb 
 up the reverse side of the steep and barren hill overlooking the 
 town. The houses lining the road are of wood, comfortable, 
 and painted a light colour. Even the lateral streets are well 
 kept, and it is, taking it for all in all, the cleanest town I have 
 seen in all Siberia. One soon realizes that the tea trade 
 supplies the whole population with ample means of earning a 
 livelihood, and also that the wealthy take an interest in their 
 town. On one side of the road, for instance, is the communal 
 school, built out of funds originally intended for the erection 
 of barracks, but, soldiers not being required, the place was 
 
 33 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 converted into a school, munificently supported by the merchants 
 of the city. The children pay a small entrance fee. Opposite 
 stands another very large educational establishment, also sup- 
 ported by voluntary contributions. 
 
 The dwellings of the principal tea merchants are situated at 
 Troitskosavsk, whose population numbers quite 7,000 souls ; 
 but it is at Kiakhta,* on the frontier, that the tea-leaves are 
 manipulated. The two towns are linked by an excellent road, 
 which passes between desolate-looking sand-hills, sparsely 
 covered with wretched fir-trees. The blue outline of the 
 mountains of Mongolia closes in the horizon to the south. The 
 houses of the wealthier inhabitants are painted white, as is the 
 church, the interior of which is extremely rich with massive 
 silver candelabras and a gorgeous iconostase. Beyond a group 
 of isbas, where the workmen dwell, and half hidden by the 
 cupolas of the church, stands the vast but very low one-storied 
 building of the Tea Warehouse. Such is Kiakhta, through 
 which passes annually into the Russian Empire from 40,000,000 
 to 60,000,000 pounds of tea, costing, before the Custom duties 
 are paid, between ^1,500,000 to ;^2,ooo,ooo. The following 
 are the figures obtained from the tea registers during the last 
 five years, kindly supplied to me by the authorities at Kiakhta. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Weight of Tea. 
 
 Value of Tea. 
 
 1892 
 
 42,596,500 lbs. 
 
 ;^I, 672 ,I 43 
 
 1893 
 
 43,123,250 „ 
 
 1.659,134 
 
 1894 
 
 51,086,900 „ 
 
 1,932.318 
 
 1895 
 
 52,439,500 „ 
 
 2,043,086 
 
 1896 
 
 55,369,200 „ 
 
 2,128,402 
 
 The tea begins to pour into Kiakhta in winter from the 
 month of November to February. In December it is not at 
 all an uncommon thing to see as many as 5,000 boxes delivered 
 
 • All that part of Siberia situated east of Baikalia forms a sort of neutral 
 ground free of the Custom-house. Only spirits, tobacco, sugar, mineral 
 oils, lucifer matches, and in general all articles of the same character which 
 are subject to excise duty in Siberia proper, pay Custom-house duties when 
 they are sent for sale to the Siberian ports on the Pacific. All other goods 
 have only to pay ‘ customs ’ if they are forwarded to parts of the Empire 
 west of Baikalia, and these are paid at Irkutsk, through which everything 
 is obliged to pass. Tea going from Kiakhta pays duty at Irkutsk. 
 
 33 D 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 daily. The total number of boxes of tea which passed the 
 Customs in 1896 was 412,869. 
 
 The tea harvest in China takes place generally in spring, 
 the first gathering of the leaves occurring in April, the fourth and 
 the last in June. The latter is compressed into bricks, is of 
 very inferior quality, and bought only by the poorer people. 
 The great tea-market is Hankow on the Yang-tsze. All the 
 great Russian houses have representatives who arrive here 
 annually to purchase, and expedite the tea either by sea, vi^ 
 Odessa, or overland by Kiakhta. We must not, however, 
 imagine that caravan tea, which the Russians consider to be the 
 finest, is all carried overland. Far from it, but then the purchasers 
 are not supposed to know this, as there exists a prejudice to 
 the effect that tea which travels by water is thereby deteriorated, 
 which is nonsense, since all tea must perform a journey by 
 water of greater or less length. Even that which is destined 
 for Kiakhta is sent by boat to Tien-tsin, whence it has to 
 ascend the Pei-ho on junks, and it is only packed on the 
 camels’ backs at Kalgan, at the foot of the Great Wall. Thence 
 it has to perform a journey of not less than 900 miles across 
 the desert before it reaches Urga, the sacred town of Mon- 
 golia, which is situated at a distance of 160 miles south of 
 Kiakhta. Transport can only take place in the month of 
 October, when the roads begin to get hardened by the first 
 frosts, and the camels have returned from the pasture-lands 
 where they pass the greater part of the summer. These 
 camels are hired from the Mongolians, and there is great 
 competition among the merchants to secure them, the Russians 
 endeavouring to obtain the greater number of beasts before 
 anybody else so as to secure the first crop of tea. A certain 
 quantity of tea is also brought to Kiakhta on little Mongolian 
 carts, which invariably return home carrying with them three 
 pieces of wook, an article which is almost valueless in Siberia, 
 but very dear in China, where it is resold at a profit. 
 
 The camels are unloaded at Kiakhta, and the wicker-boxes 
 or baskets, each containing from 100 to r6o pounds of tea, are 
 divested of the light covering of camel’s hair which sufficed to 
 protect them during the journey across the Desert of Obi, where 
 rain is almost unknown. For the rest of the journey through 
 Siberia it is necessary to screen them with a waterproof covering 
 made of camel’s hide, the hair being turned inwards. Whilst 
 the process of enveloping the boxes is proceeding it is almost 
 
 34 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 impossible to bear the intolerable stench. The tea, com- 
 pressed into bricks, each weighing two pounds and a half, is 
 next sorted, dusted, and those which have been in any degree 
 damaged are separated from the rest and sold at a low price. 
 Then the whole of the tea, be it in leaf or brick, is packed on 
 the sleighs and conveyed, as already stated, across country, 
 partly by water, partly over the routes already described. At 
 Irkutsk, however, the Custom-house officers examine a few of 
 the cases, and stamp the rest with a leaden brand, and the 
 caravan is allowed to proceed to its destination. 
 
 The earlier teas which arrive are conveyed by sledge to 
 Irbit, a town on the eastern slopes of the Ural, but beyond 
 the confines of Siberia, and in the Government of Perm. 
 Between February ist and March ist Irbit is the scene of an 
 immense fair, which attracts merchants from all parts of Siberia. 
 The principal goods dealt in are Chinese tea, furs from the 
 north and east, and light manufactured articles from Russian 
 Europe. The total sold in the year 1880 amounted to 
 ;^5, 286,000, which has been considerably exceeded since. 
 
 The principal tea caravans do not arrive in the region of the 
 Obi before the beginning of April, the sleighs proceeding very 
 slowly, and the stoppages by the way being frequent. Boats 
 convey the fragrant merchandise between Tomsk, Tura, and 
 Tiumen, terminal stations on the Ural Railway, whence they 
 are conveyed to Perm. Here they are shipped up the river 
 Kama, and finally embarked on the Volga and taken to Nijni- 
 Novgorod, the chief centre of the tea trade in Russia. Thence 
 the railways distribute the merchandise over the empire. The 
 results of the tardier crops arrive at Irkutsk, where they are 
 embarked on the Angara and conveyed by boat to the meeting 
 of that river with the Yenissei, where, as it is impossible to 
 ascend the latter, the rudely-constructed boats in which it has 
 hitherto performed the journey are broken up and sold for 
 firewood. By this road only 330 miles are performed by 
 land to Tomsk. Some of the merchants, in order to avoid 
 as much as possible the overland route, take a much longer 
 one by water via Uliasutai, a city in Western Mongolia on 
 the Upper Yenissei. The above will suffice to give the 
 reader an idea of some of the exceptional difficulties which the 
 tea merchants have to encounter in conveying their very perish- 
 able freight across Northern Asia into Russia, the journey 
 taking not less than a year from the date of the gathering of 
 
 35 D 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 the leaves. The following official data, registered in 1893, of 
 the expense incurred in conveying a single pood, or thirty-six 
 pounds (English), of tea from Han-Keou to Nijni-Novgorod 
 will suffice to afford a fair notion of the great cost of transport. 
 
 £ d. 
 
 From Han-Keou to Kiakhta via Tien-tsin and Urga 0 15 5 
 
 Manipulation at Kiakhta and transport to Irkutsk .. ...064 
 
 From Irkutsk to Nijni (by sledge to Tomsk, water to Tiumen, 
 
 railway to Perm, and thence by water) ... ... ... o 12 9 
 
 Insurance from Tien-tsin to Nijni, 2^ per cent. ... ...01 loj 
 
 Interest on capital 032 
 
 Total 
 
 19 
 
 On the other hand, the same quantity of tea transported 
 from Hankow to Nijni, via the Suez Canal and Odessa, and 
 thence by train to Nijni, costs only thirteen shillings. From 
 these facts it can easily be understood that the great commerce 
 of Kiakhta is purely artificial and abnormal, and exists simply 
 thanks to the enormous difference between the Custom-house 
 duties at Odessa and those at Irkutsk. At the former place 
 the duty is ^3 6s. per pood, or thirty-six pounds, for all kinds 
 of tea, whereas at Kiakhta it is only ^2 on leaf tea and 
 5s. 4d. on brick. The insignificance of this latter tax is very 
 important, because brick tea is the only sort which is used in 
 Siberia east of the Volga, the greater part of the leaf tea being 
 forwarded to Russia. On the other hand, notwithstanding its 
 many inconveniences, the tea transport across Russia is a most 
 important factor in Siberian existence, since it furnishes the 
 means of livelihood to thousands of people living along the 
 great postal-road, and indeed is a sort of subvention which the 
 Russian tea-drinkers pay to Siberia, and one which the Govern- 
 ment very wisely keeps up by maintaining the high tariff at 
 Odessa. It is interesting to follow the increasing value of a 
 pood (thirty-six pounds) of tea on its way from Irkutsk to Nijni. 
 On entering Siberia at the former place from China it only 
 costs j[^2 5s. By this time it is already paying the cost of its 
 transport from Hankow, the expenses of insurance, etc., costing 
 about 3s., the Custom-house duties amount to about 
 ;^2, that is, ;^3 2s. credit, and the transfer thence to Nijni 
 will add about thirteen shillings to its value ; so that when we 
 take into account an interest of three shillings on the capital 
 employed we find that a product which cost less than ten 
 
 36 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 roubles where it grew and where it was first purchased, by the 
 time it reaches the market costs forty-eight roubles, nearly five 
 times its original value. On the greater part of the leaf tea 
 which passes through Odessa, the Russian pays on every pound 
 of tea at 3s. 2d. he purchases is. to the Treasury. The 
 total amount of Custom-house duties paid on tea at Irkutsk 
 amounted in 1896 to ;;^i, 050,361. 
 
 Independently of tea, the land commerce between the Russian 
 Empire and China is, comparatively speaking, insignificant, and 
 rarely exceeds ;^265,ooo. The principal object of import 
 is Russia leather, and the chief article from China is a very 
 light but strong sort of silk, much worn in Siberia during the 
 summer. For the rest, the trade between Siberia and Russia 
 consists mainly in cereals and flour, but it is difficult to obtain 
 exact statistics on account of the many lines of communica- 
 tion which have been recently opened since the introduction 
 of the railway. 
 
 37 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 SIBERIAN TOWNS 
 
 Scarcity of towns and their slight importance — Their administration and 
 commerce — Resemblance to the towns in the Russian provinces — 
 Introduction of telephones and electric light — Intellectual progress — 
 University at Tomsk — The drama at Irkutsk — The crisis through 
 which these towns are passing. 
 
 The absence of large manufactures doubtless accounts in a 
 measure for the fact that Siberia, according to the census of 
 1897, only contains eleven towns inhabited by over 10,000 
 souls. Eight of these (including the two cities of Tomsk and 
 Irkutsk, which have each 50,000 inhabitants) are situated on 
 the postal-road which passes from the foot of the Ural to 
 Tiumen, to terminate on the shores of the Pacific at Vladi- 
 vostok ; Omsk is situated somewhat to the south of the old 
 postal-road, at the point where the Trans-Siberian Railway 
 crosses the Irtysh ; Tobolsk, the old capital of Siberia, which 
 has greatly declined in our day, is built at the meeting of the 
 Irtysh and the Tobol, and also close to the junction of the two 
 great highroads. Barnaoul, on the Upper Obi, is the only 
 Siberian town of any importance which is not within easy reach 
 of either the railway or the postal-road, but then it has the 
 advantage of being situated in the centre of the most highly 
 cultivated part of the country. There exist, also, a number 
 of other small towns, situated on the two main arteries and in 
 the more fertile valleys. All of them are centres for the dis- 
 tribution of manufactured articles imported from Europe, and 
 also depots whence the products cultivated in their neighbour- 
 hoods are collected and expedited. All these towns are seats 
 both of administration and commerce, and the local capitals 
 are always, with the sole exception of Tobolsk, the biggest 
 
 38 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 towns in the district, and contain the dwellings of the officials 
 and other functionaries, which add greatly to their handsome 
 appearance. In the region of the Amur and the Littoral 
 garrisons have been introduced, which lend considerable ani- 
 mation to the place. At Vladivostok in 1895 the Russian 
 population consisted of 2,780 civil servants, 189 exiles, 555 
 functionaries and priests (including their wives and children), and 
 10,087 officers and soldiers with their families. At Khabarofsk 
 the official element is still more preponderating. With the ex- 
 ception of Blagovyeshchensk, situated at the meeting of the 
 Amur and the Zeya, which owes its prosperity to the neighbour- 
 ing gold-mines, the towns of Eastern Siberia are nothing more 
 or less than camps or huge villages like Chita or Nertchinsk, 
 with very low isbas, or wooden houses, prodigiously broad 
 streets, vast open spaces, the whole dominated generally by the 
 enormous white mass of some official edifice or other. 
 
 In the west, however, between the Ural and Lake Baikal, 
 towns exist in the European sense of the word. It cannot 
 be said, however, that they are remarkable for their monumental 
 beauty, but they possess a certain measure of picturesque- 
 ness, and bear a striking resemblance to the provincial 
 towns of Russia proper, such as Saratof or Samara, or some 
 quarters of Moscow itself. The houses are nearly all built 
 of black wood like those peppered all over the country, and 
 are built on either side of the long streets at a little distance one 
 from another, and rarely, if ever, embellished by a garden or 
 any attempt at external decoration. The streets cross each other 
 at right angles, and are made as wide as possible, on account of 
 the numerous fires, against which every precaution has to be 
 taken, and people are actually requested not to smoke on the 
 great wooden bridge which crosses the Angara at Irkutsk. In 
 certain wealthier quarters of the towns a story is usually added 
 to the houses, which are painted white, gray, or some other 
 conspicuous colour. Occasionally one comes across a stone 
 building two or three stories high, usually either the shop ot 
 some rich merchant or official, or else a museum, hospital, 
 gymnasium, college for boys or school for girls, or sometimes 
 an immense barracks. 
 
 The appearance of these dwellings when grouped together on 
 the hill tops, as at Omsk, is agreeable, especially so as they are 
 interspersed with the bright-coloured cupolas of the churches. 
 As to the latter, they are innumerable. There is literally 
 
 39 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 one at every corner. Standing at the centre of the cathedral 
 square at Irkutsk, I was able to see no less than seven at a 
 glance. They are all exactly alike, usually painted blue or 
 rose-colour, surmounted by one big cupola, and surrounded by 
 a lot of smaller ones brightly gilt or silvered, and produce 
 an excellent effect in the sun or on a clear moonlight night. 
 Internally they possess all the barbaric splendour of Russian 
 churches, and are a blaze of gilt icons and crystal chandeliers. 
 
 Take them for all in all, Siberian towns are far pleasanter to 
 visit than one might imagine. The streets, as a rule, possess a 
 wooden pavement, but after a heavy rain they are very apt to 
 become impassable. A gentleman at Tomsk once assured me 
 that on one occasion when the snow melted a bullock was 
 drowned in the surging mass of water rolling past his door. 
 But, after all, the streets of Chicago and New Orleans are not 
 very well kept, and where the climatic variations are so extreme, 
 it is doubtless almost an impossibility to keep the streets in 
 anything like proper order. Otherwise, the telephone is to be 
 found in all the more important towns, and when the visitor 
 looks up and sees such an amazing number of wires stretching 
 across the streets from pole to pole, he might readily imagine 
 himself in America. The electric light has also been introduced 
 even at Tomsk and Irkutsk. Means of locomotion have by no 
 means been neglected, and you can hire a quick going little 
 Russian cabriolet for twenty kopecks, or sixpence the fare! 
 What astonishes one most, however, is that, as in Russia, there 
 is scarcely any movement in the streets of these towns, not- 
 withstanding that they are centres of a very active commerce. 
 
 Education has made considerable progress in the towns of 
 Siberia, and the wealthier classes are not behindhand in assist- 
 ing the Government in this direction. At Tomsk a University 
 has recently been established in an immense and very hand- 
 some edifice, which contains at present some 500 students. 
 Admission has been wisely rendered much more easy than it 
 is in Russia, and it is expected that before long a faculty of 
 Law will be established, in which the students will be able 
 to study the new legal reforms which Alexander II. intro- 
 duced some years ago into the judicial system of Russia. 
 Other professorial chairs will be introduced before long in 
 addition to that of Medicine, which is already very well 
 attended. The library contains over 200,000 volumes, the 
 greater part gifts from private benefactors, and not a few of the 
 
 40 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 rarer editions of French and English classics must have 
 originally belonged to libraries dispersed at the time of the 
 French Revolution. A number of comfortable houses have 
 been built in the park attached to the University (only a very 
 short time ago virgin forest) for the benefit of students, who 
 can there receive board and lodging at a very moderate price. 
 In addition to the University, another huge educational 
 establishment, an Institute of Technology, is in progress of 
 construction. Tomsk, although it is somewhat out of the way 
 for commercial purposes, appears to me destined to become 
 before long the intellectual centre of Siberia. 
 
 All the Siberian towns possess a theatre. The one at Tomsk 
 was built by a rich merchant some years ago, and during the 
 winter months two permanent troupes give on alternate nights 
 representations of opera and drama. Troupes of Russian 
 actors occasionally visit Siberia, and I remember once seeing 
 two artists, who enjoy great popularity at Moscow, give at 
 Krasnoyarsk a representation in Russian of Shakespeare’s 
 ‘ Taming of the Shrew,’ and on the following evening an excel- 
 lent performance of ‘ Madame Sans-Gene.’ These plays were 
 attended by large and highly appreciative audiences. At Irkutsk 
 there is a really magnificent theatre capable of accommodating a 
 thousand persons, the erection of which cost not less than 
 ;^ 32 ,ooo. It was built entirely by public subscription, at the 
 head of the list being the Governor. The prices of admission 
 are — stalls 6s. 8d. in the front row ; as. 2 d. in the back seats ; 
 IS. in the first row of the second gallery, and 6d. in the third. 
 These latter are the cheapest seats in the house. Unfor- 
 tunately, of late years, the wealthier classes show a distinct 
 tendency, thanks to facilities of travel, to spend their money in 
 Russia, and even in Paris, and the rich merchants are no longer 
 inclined to dazzle the Siberians by a somewhat barbaric 
 display of their wealth. At Moscow and Petersburg, doubtless, 
 they find a greater variety of amusements, and no need, in 
 order to spend their money, to follow the example of a certain 
 Siberian millionaire who used to wash his chamber-floor with 
 champagne. Other times, other manners. If the principals 
 go to St. Petersburg, their representatives remain behind, and 
 although they are unable to make any very ostentatious 
 display, nevertheless, they contrive to live comfortably. The 
 position also of the officials, owing probably to the increased 
 facilities of communication and the spread of education, has 
 
 4i 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 lost a good deal of its former importance, and governors of 
 provinces, who were in days of yore kings or demigods, are 
 no longer looked upon with any sense of awe, everybody 
 being aware that they receive their daily orders by telegraph 
 from St. Petersburg. Irkutsk, which in former times was the 
 capital, is now only a large provincial city. The grand old 
 Siberian hospitality is disappearing rapidly, and there are not 
 wanting, even in Siberia, old-fashioned people who curse the 
 Trans Siberian Railway, which is destined sooner or later to 
 revolutionize the manners and customs of Northern Asia. 
 
 4 * 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IMMIGRATION 
 
 Causes of Russian emigration to Siberia — Its increasing importance — 
 Absolute necessity for State intervention in the colonization of Asiatic 
 Russia — Roads followed by the emigrants — Land concessions — Pro- 
 vinces towards which they direct themselves — Colonization of the 
 Province of the Amur and the Littoral — Vladivostok — Chinese, 
 Koreans and Japanese — Exiles and convicts — Conditions for the de- 
 velopment of Siberia — Favourable and unfavourable elements — Neces- 
 sity of employing foreign capital. 
 
 The immigrants who arrive in Siberia are almost without 
 exception peasants. According to the census taken last 
 January, there were in Russian Europe, exclusive of Finland 
 and Poland, whose inhabitants rarely, if ever, emigrate, only 
 94,000,000 inhabitants scattered over a surface of 1,875,000 
 square miles, that is to say, fifty inhabitants per square 
 mile. One would imagine, therefore, that there was ample 
 space for all the subjects of the Tsar in his European territories; 
 but the great northern Governments of Arkhangelsk, Vologda, 
 and Olonetz, which occupy over a quarter of this area, and in 
 which agriculture is almost impossible, do not contain more 
 than 2,000,000 inhabitants in 540,560 square miles. Then, 
 again, a great number of the Governments situated to the 
 north of Moscow consist of only very inferior marsh-lands, 
 and are but poorly populated, and, what is more, seem un- 
 likely ever to improve. The majority of the inhabitants of 
 the empire are therefore concentrated in the south, where the 
 population is relatively dense, especially in the Governments of 
 Kursk, Penza, Tambof, Orel, Voronej, and notably so in Little 
 Russia, which is all the more remarkable when we consider 
 that these regions are exclusively agricultural, and that the 
 methods of farming are still very primitive. Notwithstanding, 
 
 43 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 however, the rapid development of industry in Russia, many 
 years will pass before these regions will be capable of support- 
 ing a population equal to that of Central or Western Europe, 
 where the natural conditions are more or less identical. It is 
 not therefore very surprising that a fraction of the population of 
 Russia should go in search of better climes, and direct itself 
 towards Southern Siberia, a more attractive and fertile country 
 than Northern Russia. 
 
 Emigration, it must be borne in mind, is but a small item in 
 the natural causes of the increase of the Russian population. 
 The annual excess of births over deaths rises to about 1,500,000 
 in the whole of the Empire, and is from 1,100,000 to 1,200,000 
 in European Russia (Poland and Finland always excepted). 
 The emigration towards Asia has up to 1895 scarcely exceeded 
 a tenth of this figure, and does not even now reach more 
 than a fifth or a sixth. According to an official work published 
 at the end of 1896, the ‘Statesman’s Handbook to Russia,’ 
 we find that during 1887-95, 94>ooo families, forming an ag- 
 gregate total of 467,000 persons, established themselves in 
 Siberia. The average therefore would be about 52,000 souls 
 per annum, but the last few years have witnessed a visible 
 increase. The above figures do not apparently include 
 emigrants who are destined for Central Asia (general Govern- 
 ment of the Steppes and Turkestan), to which the total rarely 
 exceeds 10,000 per annum. According to information received 
 direct from Siberia, about 63,000 emigrants arrived in 1894 
 over the Ural from European Russia. On the other hand, 
 3,495 entered Siberia by sea, landing in the great Littoral 
 Province on the Pacific. Lately the emigration movement 
 has become much more active, and we should not be far out 
 of our reckoning if we estimated the number of emigrants 
 into Siberia for the years 1897 and 1898 as about 200,000 for 
 each year. The number of persons who seek permission to 
 leave Russia for Siberia is becoming greater every year. Many, 
 however, are discouraged and even refused the necessary 
 papers, so as to avoid burdening the newly-settled country with 
 a superfluity of people who generally arrive without a penny in 
 their pockets. It is natural in a country where the peasantry 
 are still so primitive and ignorant as in Russia that the Govern- 
 ment should closely watch the movements of emigrants, who 
 might, on finding exaggerated promises and illusions dispelled, 
 become troublesome and even dangerous. The following is 
 
 44 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 the manner in which these matters are generally organized 
 in European Russia. When several families belonging to a 
 volost express a wish to emigrate they are requested to deter- 
 mine in what part of Siberia they desire to establish them- 
 selves. If the applicants are deemed suitable, two of their 
 number, selected as delegates, visit the parcel of land which has 
 been allotted to them, and on returning they are able to inform 
 their friends as to the exact nature of the place to which they 
 are destined. Formerly, the emigrants were allowed to choose 
 their own land, which, as they were almost invariably very in- 
 experienced, was usually quite unsuited to their requirements, 
 and they either went further afield or, disgusted, returned 
 home. In order, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of this un- 
 satisfactory state of affairs, the sensible system of sending on 
 two delegates or pioneers has been established. 
 
 The method selected by emigrants entering Siberia was, until 
 quite recently, to ascend the Kama, and take the Ural Railway 
 at Perm for Tiumen ; thence, at this terminus, they embarked 
 either on the Tobol, the Irtysh, or the Obi for Tobolsk, which 
 used to be a great rendezvous for the emigrants. In 1893 the 
 Siberian Railway had not reached Omsk, and out of 63,000 
 emigrants, 56,500 had entered Asia by the Tiumen, and 6,500 
 only had taken the Trans-Siberian Railway to Kurgan. Among 
 the first, 36,500 followed the water-way which I have just 
 described, and 20,000 performed the journey in carts. To-day 
 the greater number are transported by the railway to the station 
 nearest to the town selected for their future residence, or to the 
 extreme limit of the line, if they are going farther east. There 
 they are obliged to take the telega, a sort of Russian cart, 
 shaped like a trough, on four wheels. I have often met on the 
 high-roads in Siberia long lines of these carts, each containing 
 several persons, men, women and children, with their labouring 
 tools and household belongings. The scene is very picturesque, 
 especially towards evening, when the worthy folk encamp on 
 the highroad : the men unsaddling the horses, the women going 
 to the well for water, and the children playing about, whilst 
 some old man, seated on the wayside, reads the Bible out aloud 
 to a group of eager listeners. Sometimes the journey exhausts 
 the resources of the family, and I have seen in Trans-Baikalia 
 a caravan of Little Russians come to a full-stop for want of 
 money, and the good people, encamped on the highway, 
 quietly awaiting the arrival of the district Immigration Agent, to 
 
 45 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 obtain from him the supplies necessary to enable them to 
 continue the journey. Emigrants who travel by telega from 
 their old home in Europe to the new one in Asia often 
 consume as much as a whole year in the journey from Little 
 Russia to the Amur, albeit the travellers frequently spend as 
 many as three months at a time working on the railway, in 
 order to add a little to their scanty supply of cash. 
 
 The majority of the emigrants arrive in spring. In the 
 principal towns on the route refuges have been organized for 
 their shelter. A number of these are to be found at Chelia- 
 binsk at the foot of the Ural. I visited that at Kansk, the 
 centre of a much-frequented region in the Government of 
 Yenissei. Twenty iourdis, or enormous huts, built on the 
 model of those used by the Kirghiz and from ten to twelve feet 
 in diameter and nine feet in height, with an extinguisher shaped 
 roof covered with camel’s-hide, were here erected for destitute 
 emigrants. A spacious hospital, kitchens and a Russian bath 
 were at the time nearly completed. A winter habitation with an 
 immense stove had also been erected, but there are not many 
 emigrants travelling during the worst months of the year. All 
 these buildings are of wood, after the fashion of most Russian 
 houses, and seemed fairly comfortable. Three young women 
 from the town acted as voluntary nurses attached to the hospital. 
 
 Emigrants who come from the same district in European 
 Russia are as a rule grouped together in the same village, and, 
 as far as possible, everything is done to prevent the crowding 
 together of people who come from divergent provinces, which 
 might give rise to trouble. Thus, the officials always endeavour 
 to avoid mixing the ‘ Little Russians ’ with the ‘ Great Russians,’ 
 and never to introduce new-comers into villages already 
 inhabited by old Siberians, who do not look upon emigration 
 in a very favourable light, for the simple reason that formerly 
 they could occupy as much land as they liked and redeem as 
 much of it as they chose, whenever their own fields became 
 exhausted, and they could, moreover, even tramp off in another 
 direction in quest of better land if the spirit moved them so to 
 do. The arrival of a great number of new people has naturally 
 put an end to these irresponsible movements, and consequently 
 given rise to a great deal of discontent. 
 
 The following are a few rules which have been adopted 
 recently for the formation of fresh settlements, on the mir 
 system of Russian collective communal proprietorship, which 
 
 46 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 the Government has decided to introduce into Siberia. Fifteen 
 dessiatines (37 acres) are given gratuitously to each man, and 
 a sum of 30 roubles (about ^^3 is. 8d.) can, if necessary, be 
 advanced to each family immediately. Formerly it was 
 necessary to await authorization from the Government at 
 St. Petersburg, even for this small amount, before it could be 
 paid, but, now, happily, it has been decided to leave the matter 
 in the hands of the functionary who is placed at the head of 
 the Immigration Bureau of the district, whereby a great deal of 
 trouble and misery is avoided. Other sums of money can be 
 advanced from time to time up to los. if the applicant is 
 deemed worthy. Theoretically this money ought to be repaid 
 at the end of ten years, which, needless to say, it rarely, if 
 ever, is. 
 
 Of the 63,000 persons who arrived in Siberia from over the 
 Ural in 1894, the majority, 38,000, settled in the Government of 
 Tomsk, 17,000 proceeded to the Amur, 3,800 to the Steppes, 
 2,100 to the eastern Governments of Yenissei and Irkutsk, and 
 2,100 to the Government of Tobolsk. These figures do not 
 include the 3,495 who entered the Littoral Province by sea. 
 The region which appears to attract the most emigrants is that 
 of the Upper Obi and its affluents, including the regions of 
 Barnaoul, Biisk, and Kuznetsk in the Government of Tomsk. 
 In these sheltered valleys, which descend from the Altai range, 
 the climate is relatively mild and the land excellent. After this 
 comes the region of the Amur, where the emigrants are 
 almost exclusively Little Russians, who generally established 
 themselves in the region extending along the Lower Zeya to 
 the east of Blagovyeshchensk and the Bureya. The climate, 
 however, is much colder than in the Government of Tomsk, 
 and although the richest part of the Amur has been selected 
 for the principal centre of colonization, the damp is excessive 
 on account of its proximity to the great water and to the very 
 thick forests which cover almost the whole country. The 
 valleys, even on the borders of the Amur and its affluents, are 
 often inundated, and always marshy, and have, moreover, up 
 to the present resisted all attempts at cultivation. The 
 plateaux to the north of the Stanovoi Mountains possess a 
 better kind of soil, and form a more favourable zone, 
 although even here cereals have a tendency to produce, 
 much to their detriment, a superabundance of weeds. The 
 Government, which, for political reasons easily understood, 
 
 47 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 has hitherto assisted colonization in the basin of the Amur, has 
 refused until quite lately to extend the movement to the region 
 of the Yenissei, being possibly under the impression that an 
 excessive scattering of the new population ought as much 
 as possible to be avoided. Now that a considerable part of 
 the richer lands of Tomsk is occupied, it has been deemed 
 advisable to make an advance towards the east ; therefore, in 
 1896 19,000 colonists were settled in the Government of the 
 Yenissei, notably in the districts of Minusinsk, on the upper 
 river, which enjoys nearly the same advantages as the Upper 
 Obi, and Kansk more to the east, which is now the most 
 active centre of settlement. The Government of Irkutsk, 
 which apparently contains a lesser supply of likely land, will 
 doubtless attract official attention later on. 
 
 Settlers who have been for some considerable time in 
 Siberia appear generally satisfied with their lot, and although 
 they may not endorse the optimistic affirmations of the 
 official world, the majority of their villages appear more pros- 
 perous than those they abandoned in Russian Europe. It 
 could hardly be otherwise if they worked hard, since they are 
 allotted abundance of good land and a small pecuniary 
 advance to assist them with preliminary expenses. Neverthe- 
 less, a number of them return to Europe every year. In 1894 
 as many as 4,500 went back, and, I fancy, if the truth were 
 known, a great many more. I once asked an official in charge 
 of the emigrants at Kansk, a very amiable, well-informed man, 
 who takes a great interest in his duties, why so many of these 
 good people wanted to go home again. He replied that not a 
 few peasants emigrated into Siberia under the illusion that they 
 would be much better off, and not have to work so hard, but 
 when they found that they had to labour as hard as ever, they 
 soon got tired, packed up their traps, and returned home. 
 Others complain of the climate, not so much, as we might 
 imagine, of the winter as of the summer, when the mosquitoes 
 are a perfect plague. Some suffer from home -sickness, 
 especially the women, who regret their former surroundings, 
 and who by incessant complaints and lamentations end by 
 worrying their husbands to return. This, however, is not 
 peculiar to Siberia or to the Russians, for it has even been 
 noticed in the United States, where young colonists are often 
 obliged to give up their farms because their wives find an 
 isolated country life insupportable. 
 
 48 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 In the greater part of Siberia the population, as we have 
 already observed, is exclusively Russian. The native element 
 may almost be described as non-existent. From the ethno- 
 logical point of view, the region from the Obi to the Yenisseiis 
 already, and tends to become more and more so, a prolongation 
 of European Russia. In the government of the Amur it is, 
 however, otherwise, for the Russians have to face a native 
 population, and the colonists who have come from the 
 European dominions of the Tsar find themselves obliged to 
 compete with a rather formidable Asiatic contingent. On this 
 side the centre of Russian influence is at Vladivostok, a town 
 which was only founded about forty years ago, but which the 
 Trans-Siberian line will eventually lift to extreme importance. 
 The only shadow in the picture is that during three or four 
 winter months the harbour is covered with ice. The noble 
 bay, which the English formerly named after Queen Victoria, 
 and which the Russians have now placed under the patronage 
 of Peter the Great, is one of the most magnificent in the world, 
 in which the whole Russian fleet could easily find shelter ; but, 
 unfortunately, although it is in the same latitude as Toulon, 
 it freezes very easily.* For this reason Vladivostok may suffer 
 considerably from the greater attractions of Port Arthur, which 
 is even better placed at the head of the line of communication 
 towards the Celestial Empire, and is, moreover, free from ice 
 the whole year round. Nevertheless, the town will remain the 
 seat of many important military establishments, which are 
 already in existence, and which it would be exceedingly ex- 
 pensive, and by no means easy, to remove elsewhere. 
 
 Splendidly situated at the head of a peninsula about twelve 
 miles long, separating two deep bays, whose shores, however, 
 are absolutely sterile, Vladivostok faces the principal and the 
 more eastern of the two ports, which happens, also, to be the 
 safest. The town contains a number of stone houses several 
 stories high, built on the rather steep sides of the hills, and 
 presents quite an imposing appearance, especially after the 
 little wooden-housed towns in the interior of Siberia. Although 
 it lacks the extraordinary animation of its contemporaries, 
 Vancouver, Tacoma, and Seattle, for instance, on the other 
 side of the Pacific, its streets are the liveliest I have seen 
 between Moscow and Nagasaki. It soon becomes evident 
 
 • By means of an ice-breaking steamer vessels are now able to leave or 
 enter Vladivostok harbour at any time. 
 
 49 
 
 E 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 that one is in the Far East here. The streets are crowded with 
 pigtailed Chinese in blue, with Koreans in white, and Japanese 
 in their national costumes. Among these Asiatics move soldiers 
 and sailors, so that the European civilian costume is scarcely 
 represented at all, and the majority of those who do wear it 
 are Japanese. The day after my arrival happened to be the 
 feast of St. Alexander Nevsky, one of the great Russian holidays, 
 which coincided with a Chinese festival, so that the whole place 
 was a blaze of Celestial bunting, gold-edged yellow triangular 
 shaped flags, emblazoned with heraldic dragons, far out-number- 
 ing those of the Russians. Figures confirm the impressions 
 of experience, and the following show the manner in which the 
 population of Vladivostok was subdivided in 1895 : 
 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Total, 
 
 Nobles ... 
 
 290 
 
 228 
 
 518 
 
 Priests and their families 
 
 19 
 
 18 
 
 37 
 
 Russian civil population 
 
 1,691 
 
 1,089 
 
 2,780 
 
 Soldiers and families ... ... 
 
 9,232 
 
 855 
 
 10,087 
 
 Exiles and families ... 
 
 II 7 
 
 72 
 
 189 
 
 Other Europeans ... 
 
 46 
 
 26 
 
 72 
 
 Japanese ... ... ... 
 
 676 
 
 556 
 
 1,232 
 
 Chinese... 
 
 5,580 
 
 58 
 
 5,638 
 
 Koreans 
 
 642 
 
 177 
 
 819 
 
 Total 
 
 18,293 
 
 3,079 
 
 21,372 
 
 In 1895 l^he population had considerably increased, mainly 
 in consequence of the barracks and of the increase of Russian 
 and Asiatic emigration. It has been observed that since the 
 Chino-Japanese War the Koreans have developed a distinct 
 tendency to establish themselves on Russian soil. 
 
 As in California and Australia, the Chinese who arrive in 
 Vladivostok do so without bringing their wives. They are 
 mainly engaged as workmen, domestic servants, boatmen, eta 
 When they have amassed a small fortune they return home. 
 Many of them, indeed, pass the winter in Shan-tung, in the 
 neighbourhood of Chi-fu, of which latter place they are nearly 
 all natives. The Japanese are, likewise, engaged in petty trade, 
 and a considerable number of them are hairdressers. It is also 
 whispered abroad, and pretty freely, too, that not a few of them 
 are spies. A high code of morals would condemn the manner 
 in which the majority of the Japanese here gain their liveli- 
 
 5 ° 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 hood. As to the Koreans, being very strong, they are better 
 adapted for hard work, and have supplied a number of hands 
 on the railway. They are more numerous in the environs of 
 Vladivostok than in the town itself — and they are highly appre- 
 ciated by their employers, the administration affording them 
 small allotments on account of their industrious and peaceful 
 habits. 
 
 It is not only at Vladivostok that the influence of the Far 
 East appears, but throughout the entire government of the 
 Amur. From the moment one enters Trans-Baikalia one is 
 brought into immediate contact with the Mongol tribe of the 
 Buriats. As already stated elsewhere, the Yellow Race pre- 
 dominates in this region, and throughout Trans-Baikalia the 
 followers of Buddhism form about a third of the population — 
 in 1895, i9°>o°3 out of 610,604. Advancing towards the East, 
 and leaving aside the older Russian possessions in order to 
 enter the provinces annexed in 1857, we find that the territory 
 of the Amur contains 21,000 Manchu Buddhists out of a 
 population of 112,000 according to the census of 1897. These 
 Manchus were about the only occupants of the country at the 
 time of its annexation, and not a few have remained subjects 
 of the Chinese Empire. Opposite to Blagovyeshchensk there 
 is a large Chinese village, whence almost every morning a 
 number of people bring fruit and vegetables to the Russian 
 town. 
 
 In the territory of the Littoral, in that broad zone which 
 extends from 42° to 70° north, it was estimated in 1895 that 
 the Russians exceeded 110,000 in a population of 152,000, 
 the rest being composed of 23,000 natives, 18,000 Chinese, 
 Koreans and Japanese, and about 1,000 Jews. According to 
 the census taken in 1897, the population has very considerably 
 increased. It records 214,940 inhabitants, but these have not 
 been subdivided into classes, and, moreover, the European 
 immigration has not been very considerable in the last two 
 years. A curious observation has been made as to the pre- 
 ponderance of the male sex over the female, there being 
 147,669 men as against 67,261 women. The reason for this is 
 not far to seek, and is mainly due to the fact that the Russian 
 immigrants generally arrive with their families, whereas the 
 military element, exceeding 40,000 in the Littoral Province, 
 and the Chinese are not encumbered with women folk. 
 Khabarofsk, essentially a garrison town, and the capital of the 
 
 51 E a 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 government, has out of a population of 14,932 only 3,259 
 women. Its appearance is, therefore, quite martial, and its 
 picturesqueness is considerably improved by the presence of a 
 number of Chinese junks in the harbour, that, as is the case 
 at Blagovyeshchensk, Sydney and Melbourne, bring excellent 
 vegetables from the fertile kingdom of the Son of Heaven. 
 Apart from the troops, the Koreans, the Chinese and the 
 Japanese form at least a quarter of the population of the 
 Littoral, and, combined with the natives, reach a total which is 
 only slightly overtopped by the Russians. There are not 
 wanting those who disapprove of this high proportion of the 
 Yellow Race in the three territories forming the Government of 
 the Amur, but without any justifiable reason. The Buriats, 
 for instance, are by no means a decreasing element in the 
 population, and the Russians are distinctly prolific, whereas 
 the Chinese immigration, if it ever takes place on any consider- 
 able scale, will have to cross the Desert of Gobi, an obstacle 
 which will delay it for a long time to come. In the other 
 two territories, the indigenous population, mostly fishermen 
 and hunters of a very primitive sort, is undoubtedly visibly 
 diminishing, excepting in the ice-bound regions of the Okhotsk 
 and Behring Straits, whither, too, Manchus, Chinese and 
 Koreans are flocking in considerable numbers. All these 
 Asiatics are hardworking, live upon less than the Russians, 
 and are much more industrious and often hire from the 
 European immigrants strips of land which they cultivate with 
 much better results. The small trade of the towns is almost 
 entirely in the hands of the Yellow Race. Although the 
 Chinese immigration is more or less of an ephemeral nature, 
 it is very likely to become exceedingly numerous, especially 
 in the towns and their suburbs, and might in the course of 
 time render the competition of the Wh^es extremely difficult, 
 and necessitate interference on the part of the Russian 
 Government to limit the sphere of Chinese labour. In any 
 case, it is quite certain that if Manchuria, as a consequence 
 of the introduction of the railway, ever comes under the 
 dominion of the Tsar, it is highly improbable that its so doing 
 will increase the immigration of the Russians, mainly on 
 account of the surprising activity of the Chinese in colonizing 
 this part of their empire. At the present time the Govern- 
 ment is more preoccupied with the European than with 
 the Asiatic immigration, and, whereas it never refuses a grant 
 
 53 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 of land to the Koreans, it very frequently does so to the 
 Europeans, excepting by special and exceptional favour. I 
 am obliged to admit that the Government has, as a rule, been 
 very indulgent towards the French, several of whom have 
 obtained grants at Blagovyeshchensk, although a refusal was 
 given to a Frenchman to buy land notwithstanding that he 
 had lived in the country for over thirty years. As to the gold 
 mines, their exploitation is only granted to Russian subjects. 
 The whole country east of Baikalia, that is to say, the Govern- 
 ment of the Amur, is at present freed from paying Customs 
 duties, excepting on spirits, tobacco, sugar and other articles 
 which in Russia pay excise duty. This part of Siberia is never 
 likely to become attractive to Europeans of other nationality 
 than the Russians. On the other hand, undoubtedly, in the 
 course of time, European capital will be much employed in 
 this part, and some enterprising merchants and engineers may 
 even eventually establish themselves in the country, which will 
 surely prove to its interest, and not to its detriment. 
 
 Independently of voluntary immigrants, Siberia used to receive 
 annually a great number of political and other exiles and convicts. 
 By a ukaz, issued in 1899, Tsar Nicholas II. put a stop to 
 the old and cruel system of exiling suspects and convicts into 
 Siberia,* which ought undoubtedly to result in much good ; 
 for when a country begins to be thickly peopled with free im- 
 migrants it is unwise to continue to use it as a penal settlement. 
 These exiles may be divided into two principal groups : firstly, 
 political, often very honest and amiable people, such as 
 students who have taken part in a manifestation hostile to 
 the Government ; Poles, compromised in recent insurrections ; 
 Catholics and Protestants who have displayed too much zeal 
 in the affirmation of their religious opinions ; and Raskolniks, 
 whose peculiar theological opinions have already been described. 
 The second category includes less estimable people ; youths 
 of good family of by no means irreproachable character, who 
 have been sent to meditate on their shortcomings for a certain 
 number of years, and repent of their follies at their leisure on 
 the pleasant banks of the Obi or the Yenissei; and certain 
 functionaries of good family who have been guilty of appro- 
 priating money officially entrusted to them. Of these un- 
 
 * The Tsar appointed a Commission to inquire into the whole question 
 of transportation to Siberia, with a view to its cessation. The Commission 
 is now understood to have reported in this sense. — H. N. 
 
 53 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 fortunate people, those who have been guilty of minor offences 
 are sent to Western Siberia, where they often obtain employ- 
 ment as servants and coachmen. On the other hand, those 
 who have committed graver offences, and who have been 
 condemned to hard labour, undergo their punishment in 
 Eastern Siberia, in Irkutsk, Yenissei, or in Trans-Baikalia, and 
 must remain there. Inveterate criminals, murderers, and 
 escaped galley-slaves, are sent to the island of Sakhalin, opposite 
 the mouth of the Amur, where, even at the expiration of their 
 terms, they are obliged to end their lives. Those political 
 exiles who are not punished for grave offences are also relegated 
 to the west, where the climate is fairly temperate. The graver 
 the charge and the heavier the sentence, the farther are they 
 sent eastward, even to the icy territories of Yakutsk, Verk- 
 hoyansk, Nijne Kolymsk, and Ust-Yansk. To these regions 
 are also relegated the members of the strange sect of Eunuchs. 
 The majority of these people, unless indeed they are very 
 gravely compromised, after being obliged to reside three, or 
 even ten, years in a village, are allowed to settle in a town, to 
 go freely all over Siberia, and even at the expiration of a certain 
 number of years to return to Russia. They not infrequently 
 make themselves extremely useful. Many Poles become inn- 
 keepers, and I know of one at least who is a Doctor of Law, and 
 who speaks excellent French. At Irkutsk one can get good 
 beer, a beverage elsewhere execrable, a boon entirely due to 
 the enterprise of an exile from the Baltic provinces. In 
 the extreme north not a few exiles employ their time with 
 scientific and meteorological studies. Here I may observe that 
 I have never seen any of the exiles in Siberia ill-treated, and 
 even the chain which some of them are obliged to wear did 
 not seem to me very heavy. The great prison of Alexandrofsk, 
 near Irkutsk, is admirably managed, its rules being very mild. 
 Nevertheless, I must confess that I only visited what the 
 officials chose to show me. All I can say is that, according to 
 my experience, if there are exiles who are habitually badly 
 treated, they must be very few in number. Of course, I can 
 say nothing in extenuation of the system of transporting a 
 young man or even a young woman to languish in a dreary 
 village buried in the depths of a forest or the Tundra, merely 
 because they happen to have taken an over-prominent part in 
 some political or students’ demonstration. 
 
 One curious fact connected with this system of Russian 
 
 54 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 transportation is that the wives and children of the exiles are 
 often authorized to follow the condemned man, which they 
 very frequently do, although in some cases the law considers 
 the marriage bond annulled by the mere act of condemnation, 
 the unfortunate exiles being considered civilly dead. The 
 families of these poor people often endure such terrible priva- 
 tions that local committees have been founded, under the 
 patronage of the authorities, to assist them. In 1894, in the 
 five Governments of Tobolsk, Tomsk, Yenissei, Irkutsk, and 
 Yakutsk, 15,000 exiles and their families arrived. 
 
 In a single and not particularly favourable year, the popula- 
 tion of Siberia was increased by about 85,000 persons, of whom 
 about 66,495 were free immigrants. The natural increase was 
 almost equally great, rising, according to the statistics, to 
 78,000, exclusive of the Littoral Province, which, if taken into 
 account, ought to raise the population by 80,000. On a popu- 
 lation which we may estimate at 5,300,000 at this period, there 
 must have been about 250,000 births, that is 47'5 per 1,000, 
 and 172,000 deaths, or 3 2 ’4 per 1,000. The birth-rate, there- 
 fore, is exceedingly high, and the death-rate, when the condi- 
 tions of the country are considered, certainly not abnormal. In 
 1898 the immigration, owing to the opening of the railway, was 
 greatly increased, to the extent even of 200,000 souls. It is 
 not therefore a lack of population which is ever likely to affect 
 the future of Siberia. The natural resources of the country 
 can be justly compared with Canada, which it exceeds in size, 
 and also, to a slight extent, in population ; but the difference 
 between the two countries, in point of economic development, 
 is very great. What is wanted in Siberia is less the creation 
 of a great number of complex industries, for which the country 
 is not yet ripe, than the introduction, as already stated else- 
 where, of up-to-date methods of exploiting the natural resources 
 of the country, which can only be borrowed from foreign 
 countries, and it will only be by opening wide its doors and by 
 receiving strangers without jealousy or unwarranted suspicion 
 that Russia will ever be able to obtain from her gigantic enter- 
 prise in Trans-Siberia a return worthy of the great wealth of a 
 country which must eventually be placed on the same footing 
 as any other in point of civilization and progress. 
 
 55 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN SIBERIA 
 
 Absolute insufficiency of the present means of transport — Coaches and 
 sleighs — The tarantass : price, length and conditions of travelling by 
 this means of locomotion — Navigation — Scheme for penetrating into 
 Siberia by the Arctic Ocean and its recent success — Absolute necessity 
 of more railways. 
 
 In order to form a fair idea of the revolution which the Trans- 
 Siberian Railway is likely to bring about in the economical and 
 political conditions of Northern Asia, it will be as well to glance 
 at the actual conditions of the present means of travel and 
 transport in the country. The most rapid means of locomo- 
 tion at the disposal of travellers only yesterday, as it were, was 
 in summer the stage-coach, and in winter the sleigh. Twenty 
 years ago, to go to Vladivostok (6,000 miles distant) the 
 traveller took the coach at Kazan, on the Volga, the journey 
 occupying not less than two months in the more favourable 
 season, when a coat of snow, as solid as marble and as smooth 
 as velvet, replaces the usual mud and slush on the Siberian 
 roads. Later on, with the progress of navigation and the con- 
 struction of a railway across the Urals, the starting-point for 
 this journey was removed further on to the most eastern point 
 touched by the steamboats, in the basin of the Obi at Tomsk. 
 In summer this route shortened the journey via Krasnoyarsk, 
 Irkutsk, and Chita about 1,875 miles, at the end of which one 
 reached the Amur, where navigation recommenced. Since 
 1896 the Trans-Siberian has passed Tomsk, and now the 
 starting-point of the road journey has gone gradually farther 
 afield, and is now daily receding more to the east. 
 
 In the summer of 1897 the railway had already reached the 
 little town of Kansk, about 160 miles beyond the Yenissei, and 
 it was here, or at the Kluchi station, some 65 miles further on, 
 
 56 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 that one hired a coach. It is, however, wiser to buy one’s 
 tarantass, in order to avoid the trouble of unloading luggage 
 at each stage, and, again, the coaches hired out by the post- 
 masters are much less comfortable. 
 
 The station-master at Kluchi, to whom I had been re- 
 commended, like many other subordinate officials in Siberia, 
 was an exile, who in better days had been a captain in the 
 artillery, and, moreover, the cashier of his regiment. One fine 
 day, in a fit of over-generosity, he unluckily lent a sum of 
 money, abstracted from the cash-box, to a comrade who had 
 lost very considerably at the gaming-tables. Fate avenged the 
 regiment in the shape of an inspector, who inopportunely 
 arrived upon the scene, examined into affairs, and forthwith 
 ended the military career of the unlucky officer. After four- 
 teen 5 ears’ exile in Siberia this indiscriminately good-natured 
 individual has become chief inspector of a little railway-station, 
 and adds to his small income by letting out tarantasses to 
 travellers. He sold me for ;^i8 the best of his vehicles, 
 which, I was assured, had recently been used by a distinguished 
 official, but, nevertheless, I had to get rid of it, when I took 
 the steamer on the Amur two months later, for about 
 
 Jules Verne, in ‘ Michael Strogoff,’ has introduced and 
 popularized the tarantass. It is a vehicle without springs, with 
 a body about six feet long, like a trough suppoited on three 
 broad planks of wood, and mounted upon two very low 
 axles nine to ten feet apart. An immense hood protects 
 the back part of the carriage from the rain, and by button- 
 ing the leathern apron fixed to the front, one can keep 
 one’s self almost hermetically screened from the weather. 
 The tarantass, if it is not particularly comfortable, has the 
 advantage of being very strong. It possesses nothing in the 
 shape of a seat, and one is obliged to lie full-length on a litter 
 of hay or upon the luggage, unless, indeed, from time to time, 
 in order to change position, one cares to sit on the edge of 
 the vehicle or else alongside the coachman. The horses are 
 supplied by the postmasters at the rate of three copecks, or 
 three farthings, per verst for each horse, and, moreover, one has 
 to pay a fixed tax of about fivepence per horse at each relay. 
 The team consists usually of three horses, and the relays are 
 found at a distance of about sixteen miles apart. The ex- 
 penses, therefore, for this short distance amount to about five 
 shillings, inclusive of a tip to the coachman, so that there 
 
 57 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 is not much to complain of in that respect. The same tarifi 
 applies in winter, but in the intermediary seasons, from 
 March 5 to May 15, and from September 15 to December i, 
 when the thaw sets in and the roads are very heavy, a 
 fourth horse is needed, and the expense is increased about 
 one quarter. I used frequently to ask Siberians how many 
 miles could be performed in this sort of vehicle. Of course, 
 almost everybody gave me a different answer. One high 
 official in Tomsk informed me that it could undertake as 
 many as 400 versts in twenty-four hours. ‘ Do not imagine 
 you can go more than from sixty-five to eighty,’ said the 
 station-master, and as it was he who had sold me my tarantass, 
 I came to the conclusion that his rather dismal prognostic was 
 the true one. As a matter of fact, everything depends upon 
 the condition of the roads, and also as to whether the traveller 
 has supplied himself with a podorojne, an official document 
 usually granted to Imperial couriers and to high officials, and 
 which enables its possessor to avoid being detained at the 
 various stations on the road. Fortunately, as I had one of 
 these documents, I was able to make between 90 and 120 
 miles in twenty-four hours. 
 
 I cannot describe the scenery by the way as particularly 
 interesting. The road cuts through the forests of pines and 
 larches, and is, as a rule, fairly well kept, and about as broad 
 as the best of our national routes in France. From time to 
 time the wall of verdure opens out to give way to a clearing, 
 along which one perceives rows of wooden houses, indicating 
 the existence of some village or other, the name of which is 
 printed on a post, that also supplies information as to the 
 number of inhabitants of each sex. One soon gets tired of the 
 beauty of the trees, and, to be truthful, also of the rather 
 monotonous convoys of telegas loaded with merchandise, 
 waggons with gold, escorted by soldiers, and of the inter- 
 minable caravans of emigrants. As one passes the Baikal the 
 road becomes less and less frequented, and more and more 
 monotonous and dreary, especially in the dismal steppe, with 
 its stunted growth, through which flows the Vitim, an affluent of 
 the Lena. The road now meanders through marshy prairies, 
 and is merely indicated by the line of gray telegraph-posts 
 stretching off towards the horizon. 
 
 In order to break the intolerable monotony of these very 
 long journeys, it is usual to invite one or two other travellers 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 to share expenses, and these are not difficult to find, for the 
 Russians are naturally sociable and quite free from stiffness or 
 conventionality. I was rather surprised on one occasion to 
 find the wife of an official in Trans-Baikalia who, to join her 
 husband, had performed the journey from Vladikavkaz, 4,000 
 miles by rail and 1,000 miles by road, in the company of an 
 officer with whom she was only slightly acquainted. The 
 Russians were not more astonished at this than Americans 
 would have been. The general insecurity of the country is 
 probably responsible for the ease with which people make 
 acquaintances. Those who like to deal in horrors are by no 
 means behindhand in relating appalling stories of travellers 
 who have been waylaid by escaped convicts and murdered in 
 the heart of the forest. ‘ Have you your revolvers ?’ asked the 
 postmaster, on the evening of my first journey in my tarantass, 
 and just as we were about to start. ‘ Three travellers were 
 assassinated on this relay only fifteen days ago,’ continued he, 
 and then he gave us a horribly detailed account of the cir- 
 cumstances. I had no revolver with me, and never had any 
 reason to need one, and I rather doubted the authenticity of 
 these gruesome stories. The real danger which travellers in 
 Siberia have to encounter is that of having the rope which 
 attaches their luggage to the back of the tarantass artfully cut 
 and their portmanteaus carried off. Accidents are rare, as the 
 tarantass is generally very strongly built. It is somewhat 
 alarming, however, when at the head of a steep incline, to 
 watch the coachman exciting his horses into a gallop by the 
 wildest gesticulations, but one soon learns that the danger in 
 this case is merely apparent. 
 
 Considerable patience is certainly needed on these Siberian 
 journeys, for the roads are often appallingly bad, especially 
 when the inundations set in after a thaw, when even the 
 bridges are carried off by the torrents. Then, again, what is 
 particularly exasperating is the passive air of resignation 
 assumed by all concerned, postmaster and coachman, and 
 even by one’s travelling companions. Accustomed as these 
 people are to live in a climate in which the forces of Nature 
 defy the ingenuity of man, they are very apt, especially as they 
 have nothing on earth else to do, to shrug their shoulders at 
 the inevitable, and to avoid with supreme skill troubling 
 themselves about the ways and means of bettering things. I 
 remember on one occasion, after having been assured at 
 
 59 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Kiakhta and Chita that if I persisted in continuing my journey 
 I was exposing my life, being landed in a ford into which one 
 of the wheels of the tarantass stuck. To extricate it, we had 
 to work for over an hour in the cold water and in the dim 
 dawn, and even then we were only able to do so with the help 
 of two Buriats who were passing that way, and who lent us 
 their horses to assist us in getting out of this unpleasant fix. 
 With the sole exception of this mishap I had very little to 
 complain of. It is in the post-stations, however, that one’s 
 patience is put to the test and that one realizes the force of a 
 truism made by a certain English author, who began a book 
 on Siberia with the following singular aphorism : ‘ In Siberia 
 time is not money.’ One crosses the threshold of these rather 
 doleful-looking houses, which become more and more lugubrious 
 as one advances eastward, with a feeling akin to dread. 
 
 The postmaster is almost invariably to be found seated in 
 front of a very dirty register, and generally grunts out his 
 answers to your inquiries as to whether he has any horses 
 ready, ‘ You will have to wait two or three hours, possibly until 
 the next morning,’ after which pleasant piece of information 
 you pass into the common waiting room, usually furnished 
 with a few chairs, two or three tables and one or two old sofas. 
 On the wall hang an ikon or so, the inevitable portraits of their 
 Majesties, and a few frames with the usual printed instructions 
 and regulations. Then comes a sort of glorified bill-of-fare, 
 from a perusal of which you learn the names of a number of 
 succulent dishes, but, unfortunately, the last line informs you 
 that the postmaster is only obliged to supply you with black 
 bread and hot water, the last article being intended to make 
 tea, with which, together with sugar, every traveller supplies 
 himself before starting. Nearly always, however, one finds 
 excellent eggs and milk. It is wise in travelling in Trans- 
 Baikalia to take a supply of preserves, which you can procure 
 in any large Siberian town. 
 
 The travellers, however, whom one meets in these resorts 
 are generally exceedingly friendly, very willing and even eager 
 to share their provisions. Seated round the great copper 
 samovar, conversation becomes cordial and intimate, everybody 
 calling each other, regardless of age or sex, by their Christian 
 names, ‘ Nicholas Petrovitch,’ ‘ Paul Ivanovitch,’ ‘ Elisabeth 
 Alexandrovna,’ and so forth. Constantly, when on the journey, 
 one often falls in with the same people, and thus acquaint- 
 
 6o 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 ance soon ripens into intimacy. But, although these gatherings 
 round the samovar are very agreeable, and enable one to study 
 the pleasanter qualities of the Russian people, it is not advisable 
 to pass the night in any of the hostelries along the road, for all 
 the insecticide powders ever invented will not insure a quiet 
 night. 
 
 However interesting, therefore, a cross-country journey 
 through Siberia may be, it is not exactly of the kind one would 
 recommend for a pleasure trip, although many Russian ladies, 
 even of the highest rank, frequently undertake it, but I do not 
 recommend it to delicate people. When supplied with a 
 podorojne and the weather is fine the journey is pleasant 
 enough, but it must not be forgotten that it takes seven weeks 
 to go from the Ural to Vladivostok. In winter the journey by 
 sleigh from the Volga takes two months, but if it takes so long 
 for a traveller, what must it be for merchandise ! Commerce, 
 therefore, on account of the backward condition of the land- 
 routes, is obliged in Siberia to make use of the splendid water- 
 courses, but even these are paralyzed during seven months of 
 the year by thick coatings of ice, and, what is still worse, they 
 all flow towards an ocean eternally blocked by icebergs. 
 
 Recently some very hardy experiments, crowned so far with 
 partial success, have been made to penetrate to the heart of 
 Siberia by the Polar Sea when navigation is free during certain 
 weeks of the year. It will be remembered that it was by the 
 White Sea that European commerce, represented by an 
 Englishman named Chancellor, first entered Russia in the 
 sixteenth century. It is therefore not to be wondered at that 
 attempts have been made to penetrate into Siberia by the 
 mouths of the Obi and the Yenissei, which are situated at no 
 greater distance than i,ooo to 1,200 miles from the northern- 
 most part of Norway, where the sea is always free from ice. 
 M. Sidorov, a Russian gentleman of ample fortune, in the 
 middle of the present century, devoted himself to carrying 
 out this scheme, and notwithstanding that he was dis- 
 couraged by the leading scientists of the day, who considered 
 it impracticable, he promised a very ample reward to the 
 captain of the first ship which should enter the Yenissei. Two 
 expeditions, attempted in 1862 and 1869, failed; but in 1874 
 an Englishman named Wiggins, captain of the Diana, suc- 
 ceeded in passing the Straits of Kara, which separate Novaya 
 Zemlya from the continent, on the frontiers of Europe and 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Asia, and thus was able to effect a passage into the estuary of 
 the Yenissei. More successful attempts were made in the 
 following years, and in 1878 iron, groceries, machinery, and 
 other articles, were landed at the mouths of the Obi and the 
 Yenissei. In 1887 an English company was formed to carry 
 on a regular service at the close of each summer between 
 England and the North of Siberia, but unfortunately the first 
 year was not successful, the goods not being of a profitable 
 character. On the succeeding voyage the vessel could not pass 
 the Straits of Kara, and had to return home. Subsequently a 
 new company was formed, but with disastrous results. These 
 ineffectual attempts, however, did not discourage the English, 
 and the scheme for navigating the Arctic Ocean was reassumed 
 on a larger basis in 1896, when three steamers entered the 
 Yenissei and ascended that river to Turukhansk, about 600 
 miles from its estuary, where their goods were transferred to 
 large barges and conveyed to Krasnoyarsk. The merchandise, 
 which included seven steam-engines, was sold for a fair profit. 
 This English company has now installed an agency at Krasno- 
 yarsk, and the Russian Government, in consideration of the 
 great services which it has rendered at great risk in attempting 
 to create a regular service through the Arctic Ocean into 
 Western and Central Siberia, has reduced the customs duties 
 on all goods introduced by it by one half, and indeed has 
 completely abandoned its claims on a number of articles such 
 as grocery and machinery. Moreover, so pleased has the 
 Russian Government been by this courageous attempt that it 
 has granted some very valuable mining concessions on this 
 river. In 1897 si.x English steamers returned to Turukhansk, 
 and quite a fleet of them was directed to the mouth of the Obi, 
 hitherto somevvhat neglected on account of the shallowness of 
 the water. Moreover, an attempt has recently been made to 
 create an export trade between Siberia and England, and a 
 cargo of corn brought by the company’s barges to the point 
 where their ships are anchored was soon afterwards happily 
 transported to Europe. In 1898 the same company met with 
 identical success. Thus far this enterprise has been very 
 fortunate. Needless to say, the Kara Sea and the straits which 
 border upon it are, up to the beginning of August, blocked with 
 ice, concentrated there by the different currents, and the 
 season during which navigation is possible lasts only from six 
 weeks to two months, between August and September. The 
 
 62 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 ships used in this particular service must leave Europe a little 
 beforehand, so as to await at the Straits of Kara a favourable 
 opportunity to penetrate to the mouth of the rivers, ascend 
 them, discharge and recharge, and start again as quickly as 
 possible. The time is exceedingly limited during which the 
 barges can transport their cargoes into the interior and re- 
 ascend the Siberian rivers ere these are frozen over, and this 
 especially is the case on the Yenissei, whose currents, even at 
 Krasnoyarsk, are not more than six miles an hour, attaining, how- 
 ever, twelve miles between Krasnoyarsk and Yenissei. There- 
 fore it is impossible to perform more than seventy to eighty 
 miles a day, and it must be remembered that between Turuk- 
 hansk and Krasnoyarsk the distance is about i,ooo miles, and 
 that in the beginning of October navigation is suspended. 
 Under these conditions it is not likely that more than one 
 service a year can ever be organized, although possibly, when 
 the peculiarities of the icy regions of the Kara Sea are better 
 known, it might be otherwise. It should also be mentioned 
 that the vessels engaged in this particular trade have not been 
 built expressly for it, but are ordinary cargo-boats, which can 
 be engaged during the rest of the year trading in pleasanter 
 climes. If the present company establishes itself definitely it 
 will be extremely fortunate, not only for the town of Krasno- 
 yarsk, but for the whole of Siberia, which will thus be able 
 to export, by a very cheap route, the excess of its harvests and 
 perhaps also some of its superb wood, and receive in exchange 
 from Western Europe manufactured articles and machinery, 
 hitherto exclusively supplied from Moscow. Therefore the 
 opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway, combined with the 
 passage of navigation through the Arctic Sea, will necessarily 
 benefit Asiatic Russia very considerably, and help that country 
 to obtain freer communication with the rest of the world, 
 and thereby enable it eventually to become completely 
 modernized. 
 
 63 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 
 
 Origin of the Trans-Siberian Railway — At first considered only from the 
 strategic and political point of view — Completion of the Ural Railway 
 — Project of utilizing the navigable routes to unite Russia to the 
 Amur — Difficulties encountered owing to the severity of the climate — 
 Alexander III. in 1891 decides to lay a line between the Ural and the 
 Pacific, and determines the conditions of its construction — The various 
 sections of the line and its deviations across Manchuria — Condition of 
 the works in 1892, and the speed with which it has been constructed 
 — Russia now possesses (19CK3) a line of mixed communication by 
 train and boat passing from the Ural to the Pacific, and in 1904 a 
 complete line will pass directly from the Ural to Port Arthur, a 
 distance of over 4,130 miles — The monster ferry- boats in course of 
 construction to convey passengers across Lake Baikal — The success of 
 the enterprise. 
 
 The idea of making an overland road from Russia to the Far 
 East and the Pacific probably germinated in the fertile brain of 
 Voltaire, who, in a letter to Count Schuvarof, dated Ferney, 
 June II, 1761, said ‘ that it ought to be possible to travel from 
 Russia direct to China without having to cross any considerable 
 mountain-pass, just as one can go from St. Petersburg to Paris 
 without leaving the plain.’ The matter was even more 
 practically defined, nearer our own time, by Count Mouravief- 
 Amurski, who, after he had annexed the province of the Amur 
 to Russia, favoured the idea of building a Trans-Siberian rail- 
 way, and, in the meantime, encouraged the creation of a postal 
 high-road from the Urals to the Amur, which, he considered, 
 would greatly strengthen Russian prestige on the shores of the 
 Pacific. 
 
 The Trans-Siberian Railway, it may be remarked, was not 
 originally designed merely in the interests of Siberia, but as a 
 means of uniting Europe with the rich countries of the Far 
 
 64 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 East, in such a manner as to avoid the necessity of passing any 
 length of time in the rude and sparsely-peopled intermediary 
 territories. Even after the project was definitely accepted by 
 Alexander III., the political and strategical considerations of 
 the problem were deemed of far greater importance than the 
 commercial ; but presently it transpired that Siberia was not 
 quite the forlorn country hitherto imagined, but that it pos 
 sessed certain resources of great value, which might easily be 
 developed, provided rapid communication with the rest of the 
 empire was organized. 
 
 The first step in the right direction was the construction of 
 the Ural Railway, opened in 1880, which united Perm on the 
 Kama with Tiumen on the Tobol, a river flowing into the 
 Irtysh. The increasing necessity of developing the important 
 gold and iron mines in the Urals was doubtless the principal 
 motive why this line was completed ; but presently it proved 
 to be of vast importance to the rest of Siberia, since, by 
 combining the river with the land routes, it became possible, 
 at least during five or six months of the year, to reach Tomsk 
 in a relatively short period. 
 
 At that time it was thought the opening of this trunk line 
 would be detrimental to the scheme of a complete Trans-Siberian 
 railway, for once the junction of the navigable tributaries of 
 the Obi with those of the Volga was accomplished, it was 
 deemed desirable to connect Russia with its possessions in the 
 Far East by uniting in the same manner the basin of the Obi 
 with that of the Yenissei, and finally the latter with the affluents 
 of the Amur, and so with the Pacific. A railway from the Obi 
 to the Yenissei was not thought necessary, a canal being all 
 that was required. In 1882, therefore, the construction of a 
 canal was undertaken between the Ket, a tributary of the Obi, 
 and the Kass, an affluent of the Yenissei, the distance not 
 being more than 126 miles. The canal in question, which 
 traverses a series of virgin forests, when completed, un- 
 fortunately, however, did not realize expectation. To the east 
 of the Yenissei its promoters encountered formidable obstacles 
 from the ice and from the numerous rapids that disturb the 
 current of the Angara, and all attempts to ascend that river 
 have hitherto failed. 
 
 Notwithstanding these difficulties, the enterprising engineers 
 hoped to the last to be able to modify some of them, but have 
 not succeeded in so doing. Thus, it soon became evident 
 
 65 F 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 that if any practical means of communication was to exist 
 between Russia and the Pacific, it could only be by some 
 method independent of climatic irregularity. The late Tsar, 
 Alexander III., »ery readily understood that the mixed rail 
 and river system, with its many inconveniences of loading and 
 unloading, and its ice blockades, was, comparatively speaking, 
 useless. Hence the great encouragement and assistance which 
 his Imperial Majesty gave to the creation of the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway, in which he took the deepest interest, being quite of 
 opinion that its completion was of vital importance to the 
 improvement and well-being of an immense section of his 
 Empire. In less than eight years from the day he signed the 
 Imperial decree authorizing its immediate execution trains 
 began to run over 3,300 miles, uniting the upper region of the 
 Amur with Europe and the lower section of that river with the 
 Pacific. Without entering into further particulars of the 
 various routes proposed and subsequently given up, suffice it to 
 say that at present the excellent idea of creating a line running 
 along the shores of Lake Baikal from Irkutsk to Misofsk has 
 been temporarily abandoned, and that a short line of forty-four 
 miles between Irkutsk and Listvenitchnaya now runs to the 
 western shores of that lake, where the trains will ere long be 
 shunted directly on board ferry-boats built on the well-known 
 American system, and thus travellers will be able to continue 
 their journey to the Far East without leaving the train. 
 
 The Trans-Siberian Railway between Cheliabinsk and Vladi- 
 vostok now includes a main line some 4,125 miles in length, 
 plus two branch lines, one 104 miles and the other 410 miles 
 in length, which unite with the Upper and Lower Amur. 
 
 The Western Siberian Railway was finished in 1895; the 
 Central Siberian and the section between Irkutsk and Baikal 
 in 1898. Trains can now run over 2,152 miles of rail. The 
 478 miles of the Ussuri line, of which 67 miles belong to the trunk 
 line, were not opened until 1897. The many difficulties of the 
 Trans-Baikalian line, which somewhat retarded its completion, 
 having been overcome, it was inaugurated quite recently, 
 whereby 2,814 miles out of the total 4,125 miles were rendered 
 free for traffic. The line to Ussuri was finished three years 
 ago, and the rail having been laid between Onon and Stretensk, 
 the Russians have now (1900) a complete land and river system 
 of intercommunication to the Pacific. 
 
 For some years pasta number of Russian officers and engineers 
 
 66 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 have been quietly exploring Manchuria, with very interesting 
 results. In 1895 the Chinese Government, after the Chino- 
 Japanese War, accorded, as a token of gratitude to Russia for 
 her share in the combined intervention with France and 
 Germany in her favour, the privilege to build a railway through 
 this important province, and, moreover, to occupy the country 
 during its construction, the better to protect both works and 
 workmen. This circumstance brought about a great modifi- 
 cation in the original route of the Trans-Siberian line. The 
 section in the Amur from Stretensk to Khabarofsk was 
 abandoned and replaced by a Trans -Manchurian Railway 
 which leaves the station at Onon, 104 miles east of Stretensk, 
 to rejoin the original line at Nikolsk, about 67 miles from 
 Vladivostok, and thus has a mixed route of rail and river been 
 created which brings Europe and the Pacific into direct 
 communication during the summer months. The train now 
 conveys travellers from the Ural to Stretensk ; thence by boat 
 to Khabarofsk, whence the line continues uninterruptedly to 
 Vladivostok. As to the great Manchurian line, it cannot be 
 completed, even according to the letter of the concession, before 
 1904, so numerous and so very great are the natural and other 
 obstacles which have to be overcome. A notable modifica- 
 tion has, however, already been made in the original plan. 
 Vladivostok is now no longer to be the main terminus, which will 
 be transferred to Port Arthur, 530 miles further south. The 
 advantages to commerce to be derived from this project will 
 doubtless soon and amply compensate for the extra labour and 
 expense. 
 
 The great difficulties of constructing the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway were mainly due to its abnormal length. Whereas 
 the Americans had only 2,000 miles to cut in creating their 
 line between the Mississipi and the Pacific, the Russians thirty 
 years later had to lay down more than 4,000 miles of rail in 
 order to reach the same ocean from the Ural. Otherwise 
 their difficulties were very much less formidable than those 
 which at times nearly baffled even the ingenuity of the 
 Americans. Happily there are no Rocky Mountains or Sierra 
 Nevada in Siberia to traverse at a great height, but only 
 comparatively low ranges like the Yablonovoi, or ‘ Apple-Tree 
 Mountains,’ so called from their rather dumpy shapes. Then, 
 again, although Siberia is at present not more densely inhabited 
 than was the Far West from i860 to 1870, it contains no such 
 
 67 F 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 desolate regions as the plateaus of Utah and Nevada. It may, 
 therefore, be safely affirmed that from the engineering point of 
 view the task was a comparatively easy one, although the line 
 has to pass over an exceedingly varied country after leaving the 
 Ural, and through interminable plains, to reach the undulating 
 regions between the Obi and the Yenissei, where it ascends 
 a chain of hills at an altitude of not less than 2,000 feet on the 
 road from the Yenissei to Irkutsk. On the eastern shore of 
 the Baikal the railway gradually ascends to an altitude of not 
 less than 3,500 feet above the level of the water, whence it 
 descends in rapid zig-zag into the valleys of the Ingoda and 
 the Chilka, cuts the abrupt spurs of some very high mountains, 
 and passes into marsh-lands where, by the way, the engineers 
 have had to overcome their greatest obstruction, mainly due 
 to the unstable condition of the soil. When, therefore, we take 
 into consideration that between the Amur and the Ural there 
 is not a single tunnel, we may safely conclude that, if it were 
 not for its enormous length, this now famous line has not been 
 from the engineering point of view as arduous an undertaking 
 even as have been, for instance, some of the much shorter 
 lines nearer home, across the Alps and the Cevennes. 
 
 The bridges, on the other hand, are very remarkable and 
 numerous, and some of them required great skill in their 
 construction, since they span the more important rivers of 
 Siberia, which, with the exception of those in the basin of the 
 Amur, invariably flow due north. There are four principal 
 bridges, of which two cross the Irtysh and the Obi respectively, 
 each 2,750 feet in length ; the other two span the Yenissei 
 and the Selenga, and are about 3,000 feet in length. These 
 four bridges were exceedingly costly, necessitating the erection 
 of stone piles of prodigious strength, capable of resisting the 
 shock of the enormous masses of floating ice. The minor 
 bridges, some of them 700 to 900 feet in length, are very 
 numerous, but, beyond the difficulty of fixing them firmly a 
 great distance on either side of the rivers, owing to the marshy 
 nature of the soil on the immediate banks, it needed no 
 superlative skill on the part of the engineers who superin- 
 tended their erection. 
 
 Altogether the most remarkable feature of the line will be 
 the manner in which the trains are eventually to be transported 
 across the Baikal, the largest lake in Asia. In America and in 
 Denmark the system of running a train on to a monster ferry- 
 
 68 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 boat, crossing considerable expanses of water, has now been 
 in practical use for many years ; but the distances hitherto 
 have never exceeded seventy miles. The Toledo, Ann Harbour, 
 and Northern Michigan Railroad possesses a service of ferry- 
 boats that convey the trains across Lake Michigan, a distance 
 of about seventy miles. The Pire Marquette^ the biggest ferry- 
 boat in the world, so-called in honour of the celebrated Jesuit 
 missionary and explorer, is 344 feet in length by 54 feet in 
 width, and possesses four lines, whereby it can carry thirty 
 freight cars and sixteen very up-to-date passenger corridor 
 carriages. The difficulties to be surmounted with respect to 
 Lake Baikal are happily less than those to be encountered on 
 Lake Michigan. The distance from shore to shore, to begin 
 with, is considerably less. Between Listvenitchnaya, otherwise 
 the ‘Larches,’ to Misofsk is only forty miles. Notwithstanding 
 the excessive cold, the Baikal does not freeze until quite late 
 in January, on account of its great depth, 4,200 feet, of which 
 2,900 feet are below the level of the sea, forming a prodigious 
 volume of water which takes a very long time to freeze, and an 
 almost equally long time to thaw, for its temperature rarely 
 rises, even in summer, above 5° C. During eight months of 
 the year Lake Baikal is free and navigable, and it is believed 
 that two crossings a day, always in the same channel, may 
 eventually reduce the thickness of the ice in winter. 
 
 The building of these enormous ferry-boats has been en- 
 trusted to a well-known American firm.* They are to be 
 larger than the Pire Marquette, and provided with special 
 contrivances for cutting the ice as they force their passage 
 through it, and they are, moreover, intended to go at the rate 
 of thirteen and a half knots an hour in free water, and four 
 knots when cutting through the ice. The passage will take 
 nine hours in winter and about two and a half hours in summer. 
 Unfortunately, storms are very sudden and frequent on Lake 
 Baikal, and, moreover, in summer travelling is often impeded 
 by dense fogs, and it occasionally happens that boats are 
 detained for hours and even days at a time before they dare 
 venture across. It will certainly be very unpleasant for the 
 
 • The author is misinformed here. The Baikal, the great ice-break- 
 ing, train-carrying steamer, and the Angara, a smaller passenger- boat, 
 have both been designed, constructed, and set up on Lake Baikal by 
 Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., Ltd., of Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
 — H. N. 
 
 69 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 passengers to be kept for many hours at Listvenitchnaya or 
 Misofsk waiting for the weather to clear. However, they can 
 take heart of grace ; for not so very long ago they might have 
 been detained for days at some out-of-the-way post-house, in 
 company with a regiment of most unpleasant and unnameable 
 bedfellows ! 
 
 The difficulties of obtaining workmen for building this 
 railway were not so great as might have been expected, thanks 
 to the nomadic habits of the Russians, who think very little of 
 leaving their wives and belongings at home, and going hundreds, 
 even thousands, of miles away in search of employment. Then, 
 again, there were already a considerable number of workpeople 
 to be obtained on the line itself ; for, as already stated, the 
 population of Siberia is concentrated on the old postal-road, 
 which runs in many points parallel to the railway. Convict 
 labour was not greatly used, and when it was it proved un- 
 satisfactory, and was soon more or less abandoned. The line, 
 however, has taken an unusually long time to finish, because 
 the only season during which w’ork can be carried on in Siberia 
 lasts but six months ; but this probably proved attractive to the 
 Russian and Asiatic workmen, as it gave them ample time, 
 when the ground was thickly covered with snow, to return to 
 their cabins and indulge in those day-dreams so dear to them 
 and to all Orientals. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate the exact cost of the line, but it 
 was at first reckoned at over ;^4o,ooo,ooo sterling,* of which 
 unfortunately a considerable percentage was absolutely wasted, 
 if not worse. Grave charges have been brought against a great 
 number of people in connection with this line, and doubtless 
 with reason ; for it must not be forgotten that the notions of 
 honesty entertained in Asiatic Russia are apt even now to be 
 distinctly Byzantine. However, be this as it may, Russia can 
 be congratulated upon having completed a brilliant achieve- 
 ment, which no other nation, except perhaps England or 
 America, would have dared to undertake, especially in so short 
 a time. 
 
 * The official estimate of the total cost of the railway is overj^8o,ooo,ooo, 
 of which over £^ 0 , 000,000 were spent by the end of 1899. — H. N. 
 
 70 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE RAILWAY THROUGH MANCHURIA 
 
 Concessions granted by China to construct the Manchurian Railway — The 
 East Chinese Railway Company and its statutes — Method of con- 
 struction and utilization of the water-ways — Military and political 
 advantages — Branch to Port Arthur — Rapid progress already made. 
 
 The completion of the Manchurian Railway will take place 
 in a few years, and if there has been an apparent delay in its 
 construction, it must not be forgotten that the harder work had 
 already been finished on the Trans-Siberian line when the plans 
 for the Chinese scheme were only just drawn up, and also that 
 the obstacles to be overcome in Manchuria are infinitely greater 
 than any that presented themselves in Siberia. These obstacles 
 are mainly the result of the natural formation of the soil. As 
 to the alleged political difficulties, they are very unimportant, 
 although the line does pass through a Chinese province. 
 
 Notwithstanding that it was nominally conceded to an 
 anonymous society, the line is absolutely in the hands of the 
 Russian Government, to confirm which statement we have 
 only to study the statutes of the East China Railway 
 Company, which were drawn up by the chief promoter, 
 M. de Witte, and formulated by the Russo-Chinese Bank 
 between August 26 and September 8, 1896, after the signing 
 of the Convention between the Russian and the Chinese Govern- 
 ments. According to these statutes, which were approved of 
 by the Russian Government on December 4 to 16, 1896, 
 and published in the Messager Officiel de I’ Empire, ‘ the 
 shareholders must be either Russians or Chinese. The con- 
 cession lapses at the end of eighty years from the day of the 
 opening of the completed line. The bonds can only be issued 
 on demand, and then only with the consent of the Russian 
 
 71 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Minister of Finance. The Russian Government guarantees 
 payment of the interest and the redemption of the bonds. 
 The company is managed by a committee, comprising a 
 President and nine members, of whom one is Vice-President, 
 divided between Peking and St. Petersburg. The President is 
 chosen by the Chinese Government only ; the other members 
 of the committee are usually elected at a general meeting of the 
 shareholders. The chief duty of the President is to watch 
 over the interests of the Chinese Government. The Vice- 
 President is supposed to interest himself exclusively in the 
 management of the company. The Russian Government has 
 a right to superintend the progress and development of the 
 works, both during the period of construction and of exploita- 
 tion. The Russian Minister of Finance has, moreover, the 
 right to ratify the nominations of the Vice-President, chief 
 engineer, and of all other officials, and to approve or other- 
 wise of any modifications which may be suggested during the 
 construction of the line. 
 
 These and other regulations, to which we need only allude, 
 prove the preponderating influence of Russia in the under- 
 taking, and we should, moreover, remember that the majority 
 of the shares are in the hands of the Russian Government. 
 It is therefore obvious that the Chinese President is but a 
 mere figurehead, and that the whole enterprise is exclusively 
 Russian. As a matter of fact, the only important reserva- 
 tion made in the interests of China is the following : ‘ After 
 a lapse of thirty-six years from the date of the completion 
 of the line, the Chinese Government will have the right to re- 
 purchase it, and to assume all the responsibilities of ihe said 
 company.’ If China does not avail herself of this right of 
 repurchase, she will not enter into possession of the line and 
 its dependencies until the conclusion of the eighty years from 
 the date of its inauguration originally stipulated, under which 
 circumstance she will certainly have a very long time to wait. 
 The statutes also declare that the works must begin not later 
 than August i6 to 28, 1897, and that they must be finished in 
 six years, that is to say, in 1903, but, as a matter of fact, it is 
 not likely that everything will be ready by that time, owing to 
 the many obstacles the engineers have to overcome. 
 
 According to a project accepted in 1897, the Manchurian 
 line from Onon to Nikolsk will be 1,200 miles in length, of 
 which 890 miles will pass through the Celestial Empire, and 
 
 72 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 310 miles through Russian territory. The total distance by 
 rail from Cheliabinsk to Vladivostok will be 4,072 miles instead 
 of 4,640, as stated in the original scheme, including the 40 
 miles across Lake Baikal. 
 
 Chinese Manchuria is composed of the two basins of the 
 Sungari, the great affluent of the Amur, which joins this river 
 between Blagovyeshchensk and Khabarofsk, and of the Liao-ho, 
 which flows into the treaty port of Niu-chwang in the Govern- 
 ment of Pechili. Between these two basins lies a zone of 
 steppes, quite destitute of water, an eastern prolongation of the 
 great Desert of Gobi, and 130 miles in width. To the east of 
 the north and north-west of Manchuria rises a chain of lofty 
 mountains, which separate the valleys of the Amur and its 
 tributaries, the Argun and the Ussuri, from the great inland 
 and very marshy plain watered by the Sungari and its tributary 
 rivers. 
 
 The new line will, after leaving Onon, have to cross a lofty 
 chain of mountains south of Trans-Baikalia, 265 miles in 
 length, at a height of over 3,000 feet, and then descend into 
 the valley of the Argun, to finally enter an absolutely deserted 
 mountainous region, unexplored until the arrival of the engineer- 
 ing mission, some 130 miles long. Thence it will have to be 
 carried over a height exceeding even the 3,000 feet above 
 mentioned, and for another 330 miles will run at a height 
 varying between 300 to 600 feet above the level of the Sungari 
 plain, to again rise to 1,950 feet in order to cross another lofty 
 range before redescending to Nikolsk, which is 130 feet above 
 the level of the sea. To the difficulties thrown in the way of 
 rapid progress by the great height and precipitous nature of 
 the Manchurian Mountains must be added those created by 
 the unstable condition of the soil, which, according to some 
 travellers of my acquaintance who have explored this district, 
 consists of one immense lake of mud. Fortunately, however, 
 it seems that at about three or four feet below this objection- 
 able surface exists a solid bed of gravel, which may afford an 
 excellent foundation for the line. These unfavourable con- 
 ditions were at first deemed so insurmountable that at one 
 time many pessimists were of opinion that it would be wiser 
 to abandon the Manchurian scheme altogether, and return to 
 the original plan of passing through the valley of the Amur. 
 The Tsar, however, held firm to his purpose, and the order 
 was promulgated by His Majesty in 1898 to forthwith under- 
 
 73 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 take the construction of that portion of the line between Onon 
 and the Argun situated in his own territory. The waterways 
 in Chinese territory have been utilized precisely as those in 
 Siberia. In order to ascend the Sungari a number of flat 
 steam -tugs were ordered from Newcastle -on -Tyne. They 
 
 are unusually shallow, only drawing two feet of water, are 
 supplied with engines of 500 horse-power, and intended to 
 convey the rails. These are brought from Europe, via Vladi- 
 vostok, over the Ussuri line. I remember in September 
 being at Iman, where the Vladivostok line reaches the Ussuri, 
 and watching with great interest one of these immense boats in 
 process of reconstruction. I cannot help thinking, however, 
 that the Argun would be better for the transport of heavy 
 railway material than the shallow Sungari. 
 
 If the Russian Government so promptly determined to carry 
 out the construction of the Manchurian Railway, it was rather 
 on account of important political considerations than of any 
 shortening of the route. This railway, it must be borne in 
 mind, passes at less than 330 miles from the extreme north 
 of the Gulf of Pechili, whereas by the Amur line the distance is 
 double, and even then, after arriving at Vladivostok in order 
 to reach Pechili, an unexplored and uninhabited mountainous 
 district which extends north of the Korean Frontier would 
 have to be passed. From the plain of the Sungari Russia can 
 easily send troops to Mukden and Niu chwang, and if neces- 
 sary even to Peking, whereas from Vladivostok she would find 
 it very difficult, if not absolutely impossible, to transport them 
 by land, and, moreover, there she is by no means complete 
 mistress of the sea. 
 
 Vladivostok already contains a number of important maritime 
 establishments, the harbour is excellent, and in case of a war 
 with Japan it would be a most important point of vantage. 
 Russia, however, calculates that by means of the Manchurian 
 Railway she will be able to transfer the Trans-Siberian terminus 
 five degrees south of Vladivostok, to Port Arthur, whereby she 
 dominates the Gulf of Pechili and both the land and sea 
 routes leading to the Chinese capital. This scheme has been 
 absolutely decided upon since 1898. The branch lines which 
 unite the harbours of Port Arthur and Talien-wan to the 
 nearest point of the East Chinese Railway, close to the 
 town of Kirin, are being pushed on as actively as possible. 
 Thousands of tons of rail, as well as a number of railway- 
 
 74 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 engines, have already arrived from France and America at 
 Port Arthur and Niu-chwang, and another branch of the 
 Russian Railway is being laid in the direction of this last- 
 named port. The branch from Port Arthur is about 530 
 miles, so that the total length of the Trans-Siberian line will not 
 be greatly increased by this deviation, which will bring it to a 
 full-stop at the extremity of the peninsula of Liao-tung, on the 
 shores of a sea which is always free of ice. The total increase 
 in the expenditure will not exceed ;^5,ooo,ooo. 
 
 75 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE ALTERED RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE FAR 
 EAST RESULTING FROM THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 
 
 The distance between Europe and the Far East by the Trans-Siberian — 
 Diminution of the time and expense of the sea-route — China and Japan 
 within two weeks of Paris and London — Luxury and comfort on board 
 the Far East express — The difficulty of transporting merchandisCi 
 which must remain much more expensive than by the sea-route — 
 Importance of the Trans-Siberian Railway as a means of diffusing 
 civilization in the Far East. 
 
 As already stated, between 1904 and 1905 at the latest, a con- 
 tinuous railroad will bring Europe in touch with the shores of 
 the Pacific. The distances between Paris, Berlin, and London, 
 and Vladivostok and Port Arthur are as follows : 
 
 5,852 miles from St. Petersburg, vii Moscow. 
 
 6,370 if » Berlin. 
 
 7.044 » i> Paris- 
 
 7,104 „ London, via Dover and Ostend. 
 
 European expresses would traverse the longest of these 
 distances in one week ; but it must be remembered that it is 
 not at present possible for trains to run over the Siberian 
 Railway at such high speeds as from forty to fifty miles an 
 hour. These are only possible upon the very substantial lines 
 of Western Europe, and are indeed much in excess of what is 
 achieved by the American Trans-Continental trains, once they 
 cross the Mississippi, or by the Canadian Pacific, the speed on 
 which between Montreal and Vancouver rarely exceeds twenty- 
 five miles, and even this relatively low rate cannot be expected 
 at first on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The rails are very light, 
 especially on the first or western sections, and the whole rail- 
 road is, in many places, as is often the case in America, rather 
 
 76 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 primitively constructed. It is therefore calculated that the 
 Far East express, the weekly train-de-luxe, which is to be 
 organized as soon as the line is completely finished,* will 
 take not less than twelve days to perform the journey between 
 London or Paris and Vladivostok and Port Arthur, which will 
 not necessitate a greater speed than twenty miles an hour 
 over the Siberian lines. When, however, the system is better 
 managed and placed on the same footing as that of the 
 Canadian Pacific, the journey may possibly be performed in 
 a few hours under eleven days. The Trans-Siberian route will, 
 once it is opened, be incomparably the shortest route between 
 Europe and the Far East. It takes from Vladivostok to the 
 Japanese ports of Nawoyetsu and Niigata on the Japanese Sea, 
 a distance of about 480 miles, about forty hours by steamer. 
 From thence, about 280 miles of rail, traversed in fifteen hours, 
 will bring the capital of the Mikado within two and a half days 
 from Vladivostok, and about fifteen days from Paris. On the 
 other hand, the Chinese line, which is now being reorganized 
 by an English company between Peking and Tien-Tsin, and 
 from thence to Shan-hai kwan at the foot of the Great Wall, is 
 being extended to Niu-chwang, where it will join the Russian 
 lines, and thus the journey from Paris and London to Peking 
 can be performed in between thirteen and fifteen days. Shang- 
 hai, the principal port of China, is distant 575 miles from Port 
 Arthur, and can be reached in two days, and thus Hong- Kong 
 will be only seventeen days’ journey from London. It now 
 takes thirty-four days at least to get from Paris or London to 
 Yokohama vii the Suez Canal, and twenty-one via Canada, 
 and certainly not less than twenty-eight days to reach Shanghai 
 by either route. Twenty-five days are required to get to Hong- 
 Kong vH Suez, and thirty vii America, and although this port 
 is situated in the tropics, it could be reached much more ex- 
 peditiously vii Siberia than round by India. The Marseilles 
 steamers touch at Saigon after a voyage of twenty-three days, 
 but it is not probable that they will be able to compete in the 
 matter of speed with the Trans-Siberian Railway. The capital 
 of Cochin China, however, marks the extreme limit of this 
 sphere ; but all places situated to its north and east — Japan, 
 Tonkin, China, and the Philippines — can be brought immea- 
 surably nearer to Europe than was certainly ever imagined by 
 
 This train has been running for a year as far as Irkutsk. — H. N. 
 
 77 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Voltaire when he wrote his letter to Count Schuvarof. It is 
 therefore evident that, even if the maritime companies do their 
 utmost to increase the speed of their boats, they will never be 
 able to convey travellers to Peking, Hong-Kong, Shanghai, 
 Tokio or Manila, in anything like the short space of time 
 taken by the Trans-Siberian. 
 
 Another great advantage of the Trans-Siberian line is the 
 diminution of the expense, which will be considerably less than 
 that charged by the steamers. The price of a first-class passage 
 from Marseilles to Hong-Kong, Shanghai, or to one of the 
 Japanese ports, is uniformly about jQto, to which must be 
 added another ;£$ for travelling expenses from London to the 
 starting-point. Vii Canada the expense is about the same, 
 whereas by crossing Siberia it will cost something like half. 
 The Russian tariff is an extremely reasonable one, especially 
 for great distances, and it is calculated that the prices from the 
 German frontier to Vladivostok or Port Arthur will be by the 
 ordinary trains about 1 1 guineas first class, and ^5 third. By 
 the train-de-luxe from the Russian frontier to the end of the 
 journey it will be ;^i 8 . To these expenses must, however, 
 be added those which are always inclusive on board ships, but 
 never on the trains — such as food, service, etc., which, how- 
 ever, are never alarmingly high on the German or Russian 
 lines. If we add to the above the price of the ticket from 
 Port Arthur to Shanghai, ^^ 6 , to Hong-Kong, ^12, it is clear 
 that the cost of the journey will be about £,■^2 from Paris to 
 North China and Japan, and £40 to Southern China — in a 
 word, half what is charged at present 
 
 A rather alarming question arises as to how people will be 
 able to endure the inevitable fatigue of passing twelve days 
 continuously in a railway-carriage. Habit is second nature, 
 and although there is no other line in the world of such great 
 length, nevertheless countless Americans think nothing of 
 spending a week or ten days constantly travelling by train. It 
 must be remembered, too, that the carriages intended for this 
 line will be built expressly, and contain every conceivable com- 
 fort and modern improvement. A long corridor down the 
 centre of the compartments will enable passengers to take 
 exercise ; and, needless to say, everything will be arranged for 
 the comfort of the sleeping department, and for the heating of 
 the carriages in winter. Already those lines which have been 
 opened in Siberia are supplied with restaurants providing very 
 
SIBERIA 
 
 good food, and usually under the management of a Japanese, 
 whose head cook is well skilled in the concoction of cosmo- 
 politan dishes, and whose waiters leave nothing to be desired 
 in point of cleanliness and civility. Even now, in out-of-the- 
 way stations, where, a few years ago, the foot of man had never 
 trod, travellers who have exhausted their store of novels may 
 find a bookstall fairly well supplied with current fiction and 
 guide-books. 
 
 'I'he Russian Government, however, in its zeal for the com- 
 fort of Trans-Siberian travellers, has made arrangements for the 
 installation of a super -excellent restaurant, a well -stocked 
 library, and, in short, of all those many luxuries hitherto which 
 are the joy and boast of Americans. One cannot expect the 
 comfort of a first class liner in a narrow, box-like train ; but 
 then we must remember that the passengers on board these 
 floating palaces have to endure many miseries in the shape of 
 sea-sickness and the numerous ills which invariably accompany 
 a journey through the Torrid Zone. There can be no question 
 as to the superiority of the Trans-Siberian route to the Pacific 
 over the Canadian, inasmuch as the latter includes two long 
 sea-journeys. In summer the Trans-Siberian line will be un- 
 doubtedly very pleasant, and even in winter the carriages can 
 be kept warm, and, moreover, there need be no fear of an un- 
 expected visitation from an avalanche as there is in Canada. 
 And thus, in the course of a few years, the irrepressible globe- 
 trotters of the two worlds, as well as the business man, to whom 
 ‘ time is money,’ will find a new and rapid means to reach 
 countries which distance and the difficulties of travel have 
 hitherto placed beyond the reach of only the most enterprising 
 or of those who do not mind a very long sea-voyage. From 
 the purely commercial side of the question, however, there can 
 be no doubt that a very long time may elapse before the Trans- 
 Siberian Railway can compete with the sea route in trans- 
 porting heavy merchandise to and from the Far East, and the 
 great commercial centres of Europe and Asia. Still, certain 
 lighter articles — silk and tea, for instance— can certainly be 
 brought in fair quantities, via the Siberian line, at a reasonable 
 price. One of the great advantages of the line will be the 
 facilities it offers for forwarding letters to and from China, 
 Japan, etc., in considerably less than half the time now taken. 
 
 As to the social transformation which must inevitably result 
 from the constant passage of so many people belonging to the 
 
 79 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 highly civilized nations of the west, through a country hitherto 
 so backward as Siberia, it may well be summed up as incal- 
 culable. That Russia will specially benefit by the creation of 
 a line which she has built at an enormous cost is but just, 
 and, moreover, surely the reward for her courage and enter- 
 prise. At the same time, civilization will also find a common 
 interest in the amazing difference which so important a factor 
 must inevitably create in the history of progress in the Far 
 East 
 
 8o 
 
PART II.— JAPAN 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND PAST HISTORY OF JAPAN 
 
 Different opinions respecting Japan and the reforms which have been 
 carried out in that Empire within the past few years— Necessity of 
 understanding something of Japanese history in order to appreciate 
 the recent transformation in the country — Origin of the Japanese — 
 Early history — The Mikados — The Japanese adopt Chinese civilization 
 between the 6fth and eighth centuries of our era — Inability for 
 the Japanese to accept certain Chinese institutions — Decline of the 
 absolute power of the Mikados — Military government adopted in the 
 twelfth century — Japanese feudalism — Increase of power among the 
 feudal lords in the fourteenth century — Civil wars and anarchy in the 
 fifteenth century — Order re-established and the Government centralized 
 through the action of the great military chieftains at the end of the 
 sixteenth century — Foundation of the dynasty of the Tokugawa 
 Shoguns — Europeans in Japan in the sixteenth century — The Japanese 
 accept our civilization with enthusiasm — Rapid spread of Christianity 
 — Reaction in the seventeenth century — Purely political causes — Per- 
 secution of Christians and the expulsion of foreigners — Japan isolated 
 during nearly two centuries. 
 
 The absolute isolation which Japan preserved for over three 
 hundred years and her systematic rejection of any attempt at 
 the introduction of even a ray of Western civilization, is not, 
 it must be confessed, without fascination for all who take 
 interest in the history of a people who, during the last 
 thirty years, have become so popular and so progressive as 
 the Japanese. Suddenly, and without any explicable cause, 
 the country, which was as carefully sealed to the outer world as 
 the enchanter’s famous casket, was thrown wide open, not only 
 to admit, but even to court, foreign progress, science and 
 civilization, and now Japan has definitively accepted without 
 
 8i G 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 any hesitation the most absolute changes and audacious inno- 
 vations in her political and social systems, and has effected a 
 transformation in her manners, ideas, and customs, not to 
 mention costumes, such as has never before been achieved by 
 any other nation in so brief a space of time. 
 
 At first Europe watched this extraordinary evolution with 
 interest, not unmingled, however, with scepticism, finding it 
 difficult to take seriously what might in the end prove but a 
 passing fashion or the result of caprice. Many, indeed, felt 
 anxious lest the introduction of modern civilization into a 
 country so deliciously quaint and fascinating as Japan might 
 destroy the charm of a population of artists, and, moreover, do 
 irreparable damage to that exquisite art for which it is so 
 justly celebrated. For many, Japan ought to have remained 
 the land of lovely china, of rich lacquers, of kakimonos, musmes 
 and chrysanthemums. Indeed, who could be expected to 
 believe that the home of the geisha and of all sorts of dainty 
 delights, of dwarf trees and liliputian tea-gardens, could 
 possibly acclimatize the smoky industries, the strict militarism 
 and the matter-of-fact judicial and political systems of our 
 humdrum civilization ? As well expect such a transformation 
 in a world of butterflies and glittering dragon-flies as in the 
 Empire of the Mikado. One eminent writer declared that 
 ‘ the Japan of to-day is but a bad translation’] and yet another 
 says : ‘ I find Japan a sort of anaemic dwarf. 1 know that she is 
 of antediluvian antiquity, but for all that I cannot help think- 
 ing this little old mummy, bedecking herself in the trappings 
 of Western civilization, supremely ridiculous.’ This was the 
 opinion held not only by casual visitors to Japan, but also by 
 not a few who had lived for years in the country, and who 
 were never happy excepting when contrasting the solid qualities 
 of the Chinese, their circumspection, their prudence, and their 
 profound attachment to ancient customs, with the intense 
 vanity and frivolity of the Japanese. 
 
 What could not be achieved by twenty-five years of hard 
 work and peaceful progress in the way of convincing Europe of 
 the earnestness of her intentions Japan did in less than six 
 months by her military successes. When Europe beheld the 
 triumphant achievements of the Mikado’s army, she had to 
 confess that Japan was not quite the butterfly she had 
 imagined, and began to study with greater attention the 
 remarkable work which had been accomplished in that Empire. 
 
 82 
 
JAPAN 
 
 But the wonderful progress made in Japan during the last 
 half of this century would not seem so extraordinary were 
 the history of the Land of Flowers and its people better 
 known. By the light of the past, the Revolution of 1868, 
 which led to the suppression of the feudal system in Japan, 
 and to the opening of the ports throughout the country, 
 becomes clear and sequent. 
 
 In the fifth century of our era Japanese history begins to 
 assume definite form, and the chronicles of the Kojiki and the 
 Nihongi, which were written in the eighth century, cease to 
 record mythological events and to deal with those purely 
 human. Since that date the ancestors of the present Emperor 
 have been ruling sovereigns over the two meridional islands 
 Kiu-Siu and Sikoku, and the south-western section of the 
 great Island of Hondo. According to tradition, they had 
 already been reigning princes for over a thousand years, and 
 their history, like that of almost every other great dynasty, 
 stretches back into the night of time, when the world was 
 peopled by gods and demigods. The first Emperor, Jimmu- 
 Tenno, was a grandson of Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, 
 herself a great-granddaughter of the gods Izanaghi and 
 Izanami, who were the actual founders of Japan. \Ve next 
 learn that Japan sprang direct from the hands of the gods, 
 whereas all the other countries of the world, even those from 
 whom she is pleased to accept modern civilization, originated 
 through the evolution of natural forces. Jimmu-Tenno having 
 alighted on this earth from heaven on the island of Kiu-Siu, 
 passed thence vii the Inland Sea to Hondo, where, after 
 conquering ‘ people of the same race as his own subjects,’ 
 who inhabited these parts, he subdued the whole of the western 
 part of the island, even to the zone of the central forests, ‘ which 
 were peopled by barbarians.’ In the year 660 b.c., he established 
 himself in the province of Yamato, where they pretend in our 
 day to have discovered his tomb. It is from this very early date 
 that the Japanese begin their history. Jimmu-Tenno was suc- 
 ceeded by several generations of Mikados, of whom the first 
 seventeen were centenarians, who lived between a hundred and 
 a hundred and forty years each. In those distant times, the gods, 
 it seems, took the same personal interest in Japanese affairs as 
 they condescended to do in those of the I’rojans. The history, 
 however, of Japan, in its legendary period, like that of most 
 other countries, is exceedingly sketchy and contains nothing of 
 
 83 G 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 a positive character until the year 200 a . d ., when an Amazonian 
 Empress, w'ho rejoiced in the rather startling name of Jingo, 
 headed a successful campaign against the -''Coreans. 
 
 Contemporary historical research has resulted in clearing 
 away a good deal of the mist which shrouded in a veil of mystery 
 the primitive history of Japan. It would seem, however, for 
 instance, that some centuries before our era the Mongolian 
 pirates indulged in frequent incursions upon the western coast 
 of the country in much the same unpleasant manner as did, 
 some thousand years later, the Normans in Europe. After 
 exterminating the natives, who were not numerous, they 
 established themselves, together with their wives and families, 
 in the island of Kiu-Siu. Later on, an illustrious chief, who 
 turns out on closer acquaintance to be none other than 
 Jimmu-Tenno, of legendary fame, crossed over to the great island 
 and ‘ found it peopled by inhabitants of the same race as 
 himself’ ; hence it becomes evident that there were two distinct 
 migrations from the mainland of the ancestors of the actual 
 Japanese, a fact confirmed in a double cycle of heroic legends, 
 one of which deals with the island of Kiu-Siu and the other 
 with the province of Idzuma, situated on the west coast of 
 Hondo, an island opposite Korea. 
 
 The Japanese, therefore, form a part of the great family 
 scientifically known as the Uralo-Altaic, which includes the 
 Finns, the Hungarians, the Turks, the Mongols and the 
 Koreans. The different branches of this family appear to be 
 less closely united than are those of the white race, but on the 
 other hand, their languages, which are distinctly agglutinant, 
 have certainly a common origin. It should be remarked that 
 the Chinese do not form part of this group, constituting a 
 family quite apart, whose language is distinctly monosyllabic 
 and rhythmic. Their handwriting, however, was adopted by the 
 Japanese between a thousand and twelve hundred years ago, 
 as were also a number of words describing objects which up 
 to that time were unknown to them, and probably introduced 
 from China. If it is an undoubted fact that the Chinese and 
 Japanese belong to the Yellow Race, the link which unites 
 them is quite as remote as that which exists between a French- 
 man and a German on the one hand, or an Arab and a Kal yle 
 on the other. A superficial analogy between the Chinese and 
 the Japanese must not mislead us. The very sparse indigenous 
 race which the Korean immigrants found upon the south and 
 
 84 
 
JAPAN 
 
 south-west of Japan were of the same family as the Ainos of 
 our time, of whom some 15,000 still linger in Yezo, the great 
 southern island of the Archipelago ; and, moreover, they be- 
 longed to the same race as the Ghilaks of the Amur, and the 
 tribes to the north-east of Siberia. These Ainos, who exist 
 by hunting and fishing, are considered to be the hairiest people 
 on earth ; they are mere savages, quite as dirty in their habits 
 as the Japanese are clean. They had in all probability little 
 or nothing to do with the formation of the actual population. 
 
 The civilization of the ancient Japanese until the fifth or 
 sixth century of our era was, it seems, most primitive. Writing 
 was unknown, and the people were but just emancipated from 
 the Stone Age, their knowledge of the use of metal being very 
 limited. They owned a few domestic animals, the horse and 
 the dog, and also poultry. They cultivated rice, millet, barley, 
 two sorts of peas, and in addition to these cereals the sea and 
 the rivers supplied them with fish, and the forests with flesh. 
 They apparently ate more meat than do their descendants of 
 the present day, a fact due, of course, to the introduction of 
 Buddhism, whose followers are, or should be, vegetarians. As 
 to their houses, they were of wood and extremely simple. 
 
 The Shinto religion, which has become once more the State 
 religion, ha^ a mythology formed out of legends dealing with 
 the generation of the gods who preceded the advent of the 
 Imperial family. Out of the eight hundred myriads of divinities 
 only some half-dozen are now venerated. Among these is 
 Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, and ancestress of Jimmu-Tenno. 
 The spirits of the deceased Mikados and of certain heroes are 
 known as Kami, ‘ superior beings,’ and are honoured by this 
 title, as are also the ancestors of each family. Beyond this 
 Shintoism recognises neither dogma nor ethics. A writer of 
 the last century thus apologizes for this easy-going creed. ‘ It 
 was,’ says he, ‘ invented by the Chinese, because they are a very 
 immoral people ; but in Japan morality is not needed, since the 
 Japanese have only to act according to the dictates of their 
 hearts to do well. To obey the Emperor, who is the descendant 
 of the gods, and almost a god himself, and follow one’s natural 
 inclinations, are the only precepts imposed upon its followers 
 by Shintoism, and a pilgrimage to the nearest temple once a 
 year the only kind of divine service exacted. There are no 
 public ceremonies, excepting an occasional hieratic dance per- 
 formed by young girls. In the wooden temples roofed with 
 
 8S 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 bark, which are supposed to reproduce the habitations of the 
 primitive Japanese, there are no ornaments, no sculpture, and 
 no representations whatever of the Divinity. The priests, who 
 wear no distinctive costume, and who lead the lives of ordinary 
 citizens, occasionally don a rich garment with long flowing 
 sleeves, go to the various temples and perform certain very 
 simple rites in the presence of a mystic mirror to be found in 
 every temple, a facsimile of one given by the Goddess of the 
 Sun to her grandson Jimmu-Tenno, as an emblem of purity. 
 A white horse will also sometimes be seen within the precincts 
 of the temples. The only sacrifice is the offering of fruits, fish, 
 wine, and rice, accompanied by the recitation of certain prayers 
 in the ancient Japanese language ; this is, it must be confessed, 
 an exceedingly primitive cultus, but it was the only one known 
 in Japan until the sixth century, at which epoch began the great 
 development of Chinese civilization in Japan, originally intro- 
 duced, however, by the invasion of Korea by the Japanese 
 armies at the commencement of the third century. The Korean 
 envoys who brought the annual tribute to their Japanese 
 conquerors eventually became the pioneers of civilization 
 among the more primitive race which had overcome them. 
 They brought into the country, for instance, in the year 284 
 the art of writing. Possibly this date is erroneous and ought 
 to be 400, the period when, according to a very ancient tradition, 
 the first mention of medicine is made in the national history, on 
 the occasion of the grave illness of the then reigning Mikado, 
 who was cured by a Korean physician. Then followed the 
 silkworm, and the mulberry-tree, the arts of spinning and 
 weaving. Finally, in 552 the first image of Buddha appeared, 
 and eventually led to the introduction of the religion of Sakya- 
 muni. 
 
 From this period until the beginning of the seventh century 
 there was a perfect invasion of the arts, customs, and opinions, 
 religious, social, and political, of the neighbouring continent. 
 Then was for the first time displayed that ardour which is so 
 peculiar to the Japanese, and, if I might so say, also of that rage 
 for civilization — true, it was then only Chinese civilization — 
 which characterizes them at the present day. 
 
 Buddhism triumphed without formidable opposition, and at 
 the beginning of the seventh century there were not less than 
 forty-six temples and 1,385 priests or Buddhist monks in 
 Japan. The Chinese calendar was adopted, the language, 
 
 86 
 
JAPAN 
 
 writing and literature of China were studied with enthusiasm. 
 Ambassadors and special missions were sent to the continent 
 to examine on the spot the religion, the arts, the industries 
 and also the government of the Chinese and their political and 
 judicial system. Thus it so came to pass that feudalism was 
 introduced centuries before it was imposed upon Europe after 
 the fall of the Roman Empire. At the death of the Empress 
 Suiko in 628, under whose reign all these reforms took place, 
 Japan was completely remodelled after the image and likeness 
 of China. The remarkable feature about this transformation 
 is its resemblance to the revolution now in progress. It was 
 effected without the least opposition or violence. The methods 
 used then were the same as those which are being employed 
 to-day : the sending forth of missions and the employment 
 of foreigners by the Government to study and introduce 
 everything that was likely to improve the country and its 
 people. Above all, there existed a universal goodwill and 
 eagerness to stimulate the advance movement, Japan, there- 
 fore, by her wonderful powers of assimilation, was suddenly 
 converted from a barbarian to a civilized country. Never- 
 theless, however deep-rooted w'as the influence of China, it 
 did not interfere with the architecture and the art of the 
 Japanese, which remained distinct. The good sense of this 
 able people taught them to distinguish between the different 
 elements in the civilization which they were introducing, to 
 reject those which did not suit them, and to transform others 
 which were better fitted to their inclination. A reaction, 
 however, set in between the eighth and the eleventh centuries 
 which enabled the Japanese to recover sufficient of their 
 identity and yet retain most of the innovations in their 
 industries, agriculture, and fine arts, in the culture of which latter 
 they eventually surpassed their masters. The new religion 
 suited them admirably, and it remains to this day much less 
 corrupt in Japan than it is among the Chinese themselves. 
 The official and administrative system introduced from China, 
 being opposed to the natural bent of the Japanese mind, was, 
 however, soon rejected, and they returned to their own, which 
 suited them better. 
 
 The mandarinate was never acclimatized, and the principle 
 of heredity always remained in force. The divers degrees of 
 dignity, at first tw'elve in number and then nineteen, were 
 never given, as in China, to individuals, but to families as 
 
 87 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 hereditary titles. The position, for instance, of Prime Minister, 
 or K^vmnbaku, became hereditary in a great family of the 
 Court, that of the Fujiwaras, from which, moreover, according 
 to tradition, the Empress was invariably selected. Then began 
 to manifest itself that very peculiar trait in the history of Japan 
 of real authority very rarely being vested in the hand of the 
 man supposed to exercise it. 'I'he Mikado, who, from the 
 ninth century onwards, was invariably a child, and abdicated 
 in youth to retire into a monastery, is supposed to reign and 
 yet never govern. This was the beginning of a system of 
 Imperial self-effacement which lasted over a thousand years. 
 Presently we discover that the hereditary Kwambaku also 
 exercises no authority, which is exactly the opposite of what 
 took place in Europe in the Middle Ages, where, if a Sovereign 
 retired into privacy, his Prime Minister was pretty certain to 
 become forthwith correspondingly prominent. In the Middle 
 Ages, at an epoch when Europe was engaged in fighting 
 and slaughtering, the Court of Kioto was a centre of art, 
 pleasure and poetry, in which, however, authority was com- 
 pletely set aside. 
 
 In the meantime, feudalism established itself in the country. 
 Side by side with the effeminate aristocracy of the kuges, 
 certain nobles descended from collateral branches of the 
 Imperial family, and who in their time had occupied great 
 official positions, both in the provinces and in the capital, leaving 
 subalterns to fulfil their duties, now formed themselves into 
 a military and territorial aristocracy, and, whilst profound peace 
 reigned in the greater part of the country, carried on a war 
 against the Koreans in its south eastern limits, and against the 
 Ainos, who had been driven back to the north of Hondo, 
 in the north-east. The custom imported from China by the 
 Japanese of separating the civil from the military functionaries, 
 combined w’ith a genius for heredity, led in the course of time 
 to the creation of many great military families, under whose 
 authority or lead clans of soldiers grouped and gradually 
 separated themselves from the rest of the population. The 
 chiefs of these clans in due time became, especially in the tenth 
 century, in the north and eastern provinces, independent, so 
 that by degrees their influence during the two succeeding 
 centuries in the Government was paramount, and the Court 
 of Kioto was the object of perpetual dissensions between two 
 great military families, the Taira, and the Minamoto, both 
 
 88 
 
JAPAN 
 
 descendants of Emperors of the eighth and ninth centuries. 
 They had each a claimant to the Imperial throne, who was 
 invariably an infant. A Taira, Kiyomori, governed Japan from 
 1156 to ii8t in the position of Prime Minister. He ordered 
 the Minamoto family to be massacred ; one or two of its 
 members, however, escaped, among them Yoritomo, the son of 
 the chief. In due course of time this Yoritomo created a 
 revolution in Kwanto in his own favour. Upon learning of the 
 death of Kiyomori he straightway marched upon Kioto in 
 company with his bastard brother, Yoshitsune, who had escaped 
 from a monastery to which he had been relegated. Between 
 them they seized the capital and proclaimed a child of 
 seven years of age Emperor in the place of the Mikado 
 Antoku, who was not much older, and who was carried off by 
 the Taira to the island of Kiu-biu. The great naval battle of 
 Dan-no-ura, won by Yoshitsune in 1185 at the mouth of the 
 Inland Sea, completed the ruin of the Taira, w’ho, together 
 with their Emperor, were nearly all slain in the disaster to their 
 fleet, which made Yoritomo master of Japan. 
 
 Yoritomo behaved with the utmost ingratitude to his brother 
 Yoshitsune, who had so largely contributed to his success. 
 He ordered him never to appear again at Court, and sent a 
 group of assassins to pursue him to the farther end of the 
 island. His life was frequently saved, thanks to the shrewd- 
 ness of the giant monk Benkei and the devotion of the dancing- 
 girl Shidzuka. The adventures of the brave Yoshitsune and 
 his death by suicide has supplied Japanese literature with a 
 number of interesting and picturesque legends not unlike those 
 which delighted our ancestors in the Middle Ages. 
 
 After these events, the feudal system was firmly established 
 in Japan for over seven centuries, and we hear no more of 
 Chinese methods of administration. This is mainly due to the 
 warlike character of the Japanese people and to the increasing 
 power of the feudal chiefs, who had naturally, in order to 
 maintain their reputation, to keep the country in a perpetual 
 ferment of political or civil war. The striking difference 
 between the feudal system in Japan and that which existed 
 contemporaneously in Europe is that the Japanese ruler was 
 never the Sovereign. He was called the Shogun, or Sei-i-tai- 
 Shogun, literally, ‘ General charged with the duty of sub- 
 jugating the barbarians.’ This title was first bestowed upon 
 Yoritomo in 1192. It was the Shogun’s duty to govern. In 
 
 89 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 theory he was responsible to the Emperor, whose humble 
 servant he was supposed to be. As a matter of fact, the 
 Mikado had long since ceased to interfere in the government, 
 and lived in the palace of Gosho at Kioto in the midst of 
 luxury, his generals and ministers paying him no other respect 
 than that of mere ceremony. 
 
 The new power of the Shogunate instituted by Yoritomo 
 was not long before it also became attenuated. In 1198, imme- 
 diately after the death of its founder, his father-in-law, Hojo 
 Tokimasa, seized the reins of government, and in 1219 the 
 posterity of Yoritomo was already extinct. The supreme 
 authority was by this time definitely vested in the family of 
 the Hojo, whose chief took the title of Shikken, or Regent, 
 and chose and dethroned the Shoguns, usually children, at his 
 pleasure, selecting them either from the Imperial family or from 
 that of the Fujiwaras. The period during which this curious 
 regime lasted is perhaps the most brilliant and the most pros- 
 perous in the history of Japan in the Middle Ages ; but 
 eventually Japan fell into a sort of feudal anarchy, bearing a 
 close affinity to that which existed in Germany at the same 
 epoch. The power of the Hojos was finally broken in 1334, 
 thanks to the combined action of the feudal lords, aided by a 
 Mikado named Go Daigo, who happened for once to be pos- 
 sessed of some energy. The executive, how'ever, did not 
 remain long in the hands of this Emperor. His chief lieu- 
 tenant, Ashikago Takauji, rose up against him, obliged him to 
 flee from his capital, and replaced him by another member of 
 the Imperial family, at the same time electing himself Shogun. 
 From 1337 to 1392 Japan had two rival dynasties of Mikados. 
 Notwithstanding these disturbances, the Court of the Shoguns 
 Ashikagas was very often extremely brilliant, both from the 
 literary and the artistic point of view. During the fifteenth 
 century civil wars raged again, and the authority of both 
 Mikado and Shogun consequently dwindled into insignificance. 
 In the provinces the warriors, known as samourai, gradually 
 became hereditary, recognising no authority but that of their 
 feudal lords, the daimios. The country became poor, the 
 population rapidly dwindled, and all the arts except that of 
 the armourer tended to disappear. The opening years of the 
 sixteenth century beheld Japan in a pitiable plight indeed, the 
 population decimated by terrible epidemics and earthquakes, 
 as well as civil wars, and such was her condition that she might 
 
 90 
 
JAPAN 
 
 have been compared to France after the Hundred Years’, or 
 Germany after the Thirty Years’, War. When St. Francis 
 Xavier visited the country in 1550 he was appalled by its 
 misery. It was a far cry then from the Japan of his days to 
 the Cipango, the golden land of promise so greatly vaunted by 
 Marco Polo three centuries earlier. The feudal system in 
 Japan, however, had been of great use in forming the character 
 of the people ; it preserved in them those virile qualities so 
 conspicuously absent among the Chinese. 
 
 The close of the sixteenth century witnessed the decline and 
 fall of feudalism throughout the Empire, which led to the re- 
 establishment of centralization. This was due to the energy of 
 three great military chiefs, Nobunaga, leyas, and Hideyoshi, 
 the first of whom was descended from the Taira and the second 
 from the Minamoto, and therefore both were essentially aristo- 
 cratic. The third, however, was about the only personage in 
 medieval Japan who ever rose from the ranks to occupy a 
 towering position in the State. Ota Nobunaga, after having 
 considerably aggrandized the very small principality which he 
 had inherited from his father, interfered in the quarrels of a 
 succession of Shoguns, and deposing in 1573 the last Ashikaga, 
 seized the Government as Prime Minister, and compelled the 
 daimios to obey him. He curbed the encroachments of the 
 Buddhist monks, who had accumulated during the long period 
 of the civil wars immense landed estates ; but at last, hemmed 
 in by his many enemies, this remarkable man ended his career 
 by disembowelling himself, an unpleasant but evidently popular 
 method of committing suicide with the Japanese. 
 
 Hideyoshi, who from groom had become principal lieutenant 
 to Nobunaga, extinguished all further spirit of resistance on the 
 part of the feudal barons. Once Japan was united, he wished 
 to establish its power beyond the limits of the Empire, and for 
 this purpose sent an expedition into Korea, which, however, 
 only resulted in ruining that country, thanks to the quarrels 
 and dissensions which took place between the Japanese 
 generals, some of whom were Christians and others Buddhists. 
 
 At the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, the power of the daimios, 
 even that of the great princes of the south-west, Choshiu and 
 Satsuma, was already much attenuated, and everything was 
 ready for a change similar to that which took place in France 
 under Louis XI. It led to the quasi-independence of the lords 
 being suppressed in favour of a feudality of a purely domestic 
 
 91 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 character. The principal factor in this change was Tokugawa 
 leyas, who had been one of the chief generals of Nobunaga 
 and Hideyoshi. Placed by this last at the head of the council 
 of the regency, which had to exercise power during the 
 minority of his son Hideyori, leyas was not long before he 
 quarrelled with his co-regents. Assuming the command of an 
 army, recruited in the north and the east of the Empire, he 
 in 1600 defeated at Sekigahara the united forces of the clans 
 of the south and the west, and thus made himself master of 
 Japan. Instead of a purely ephemeral sovereignty, he founded 
 a dynasty and a regime which lasted for 250 years, as the result 
 of his ability and that of his son and grandson. Before pro- 
 ceeding further in detailing the political and social organization 
 of this interesting country, it will be well to pause and consider 
 an event of supreme importance which took place in the six- 
 teenth century, and the effect of which explains much that is 
 now happening. I refer to the period of the great Portuguese 
 colonization, when that now small kingdom had annexed vast 
 possessions in the Indies, and had added new ones in Cochin 
 China and in the south of China to her Empire. 
 
 In 1542, three Portuguese, who had taken passage on board 
 a Chinese junk, were wrecked upon the southern coast of 
 Japan. Among the other passengers happened to be a China- 
 man, who volunteered as interpreter. He seems, however, to 
 have entertained for foreigners the same contempt as that in 
 which they are held by his compatriots in this year of grace 
 1900. He described the Portuguese to the Japanese as people 
 who were very little better than savages, who did not know how 
 to write Chinese, and as being, moreover, profoundly ignorant 
 of the art of eating their food with chopsticks. We may 
 conclude, therefore, that these worthy Portuguese did not 
 produce a very favourable impression. In 1545, the navigator 
 Fernan Mendez Pinto arrived at the little island of Tanega- 
 shima, to the south of Kiu-Siu, and was well received by the 
 feudal lord of that district. The powerful Prince of Bungo, 
 father-in-law to the Lord of Tanegashima, having heard of the 
 strangers, invited them to his capital in the north-east of Kiu- 
 Siu, and entertained them very handsomely. Pinto was so 
 favourably impressed by all he saw that two years later he 
 returned to the same spot, carrying off with him two Japanese 
 fugitives from justice. They had the fortune of being converted 
 to Christianity by St. Francis Xavier, and served him as in- 
 
 92 
 
JAPAN 
 
 terpreters when the renowned Jesuit missionary landed on 
 August 15, 1549, at Kagoshima, the capital of the Prince of 
 Satsuma. The earliest converts were a few relatives of the in- 
 terpreters. The Prince received the saint very favourably, and 
 the Princess insisted upon him composing for her benefit a 
 summary of the Articles of the Christian Faith, together with 
 the translation of the principal prayers. St. Francis immediately 
 edited a Japanese version of the Catechism and a translation of 
 the Credo. Unfortunately, in the course of time the Prince of 
 Satsuma was much offended by certain Portuguese sailors, who, 
 probably on account of the obstacles they encountered in the 
 attempt, refused to land in his dominions, and betook them- 
 selves and their merchandise further on to those of his 
 rivals. Greatly annoyed at their behaviour, the prince now 
 ordered the missionaries to quit his dominions. St. Francis 
 obeyed and proceeded to the capital of the Prince of Bungo, who 
 was highly delighted to see him, and assisted him in a number 
 of ways to found churches and missions, so that when the great 
 missionary left Japan in 1551, Christianity was fairly established 
 in the country. Presently Japan was inundated with Portu- 
 guese missionaries, sailors, and merchants. The Japanese, 
 with an eye as much to business as to social improvement, 
 encouraged this influx of strangers in the hope of its lead- 
 ing to a profitable commerce being established between 
 the two countries. The Jesuits, too, whose influence the 
 Japanese quickly recognised, were treated with the utmost 
 cordiality and respect. So great was the Japanese power of 
 assimilation, that Mendez Pinto tells us that, having made a 
 present of an arquebus to the Prince of Tanegashima, that 
 potentate caused it to be imitated, and very soon afterwards 
 the navigator was shown six weapons exactly like his own. A 
 few months later there were 30,000 distributed in the province 
 of Bungo, and 300,000 throughout the country. These figures 
 may be taken with a grain of salt ; nevertheless, there must have 
 been a very firm foundation for the story. In 1582, forty years 
 after the arrival of the Portuguese, artillery played a great 
 part in the Battle of Shigutake, one of Hideyoshi’s greatest 
 victories. 
 
 Whether material or spiritual motives were at the bottom of 
 the rapid progress made by Christianity at this period it would 
 be difficult to say. Princes, literary men, priests, even Bud- 
 dhists, rich and poor alike, presented themselves in hundreds to 
 
 93 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 receive baptism, and even Nobunaga, if he did not actuall> 
 profess the new religion, at any rate favoured its propaganda. 
 At the time of his death in 1582 there were fully 600,000 con- 
 verts in the centre and the south of Japan ; half the daimios 
 in the island of Kiu-Siu had embraced Christianity, together 
 with the greater part of their subjects ; the Prince of Tosa, in 
 the island of Sikokou, and many daimios in the centre and 
 west of the great island had also been baptized. There were 
 not less than 200 churches, some of which were even situated 
 in the capital of the Empire. In Nagasaki, which in 1567 had 
 become the centre of foreign commerce, there was scarcely a 
 pagan left. In 1582 an embassy, sent to Rome by the Princes 
 of Bungo, Arima and Omura, was solemnly received by Pope 
 Sixtus V. It afterwards proceeded on a tour through Portugal, 
 Spain, and Italy. Although Hideyoshi apparently did not 
 display the same enthusiasm for Christianity as did his neigh- 
 bours, nevertheless, their number continued to increase ; and 
 during the last ten years of the sixteenth century it is believed 
 there were over a million converts to the Roman Church out 
 of a population of between eight or ten millions, a marvellous 
 record for fifty years’ missionary labour. Unfortunately, it was 
 not to last long, although, to be sure, the brief epoch of its 
 success was marked by a material progress quite as astonishing 
 as the spiritual, for, with the religion of the Europeans, the 
 Japanese had adopted a great many of their arts and industries. 
 Tobacco, for instance, began to be cultivated, and boats built 
 on European models transported Japanese trade as far afield 
 as the Gulf of Mexico. Strangers could travel from one end 
 of the country to the other without fear of being molested by 
 the natives, and St. Francis Xavier had every reason to say 
 that the ‘ Jajranese nation was the delight of his heart.’ Pre- 
 sently Hideyoshi became alarmed lest the system of govern- 
 ment which he had formulated might eventually be overthrown 
 through the missionaries and by possible religious wars occa- 
 sioned by so abrupt a change in the opinions and ethics of an 
 entire nation. He feared lest the admission into the country 
 of so many merchants and missionaries might not be the 
 prelude to another invasion of a hostile character, resulting in 
 the conquest and annexation of Japan to some European 
 power or other. It is even said that a Portuguese captain was 
 sufficiently imprudent to inform Hideyoshi that the King, his 
 master, had the intention of sending priests into the dominions 
 
 94 
 
JAPAN 
 
 of the Mikado with the object of ultimately landing troops, 
 who, aided by the native Christians, should effect his overthrow. 
 Whether these w'ords were ever spoken or not is uncertain, but 
 they were undoubtedly the expression of the thoughts of con- 
 tempf)rary European Sovereigns, a fact which the Japanese 
 soon learnt when they came to be a little better acquainted 
 with the proceedings of the Portuguese in India. In a word, 
 the suspicions of the Japanese rulers were awakened, and even 
 the brilliant services rendered by the Christian General Konishi 
 could not efface them, and the impression was further increased 
 by the rivalry which existed between the Jesuits and the Fran- 
 ciscans, and also between the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the 
 English and the Dutch, who were perpetually accusing each 
 other of most malevolent designs. In 1587 Hideyoshi issued an 
 edict ordering all missionaries to leave Japan within twenty-four 
 days, which, however, remained a dead-letter until 1597, when 
 it was put into force — in consequence of the imprudence of the 
 Spanish Franciscans, who began preaching in the open air, and 
 even in the streets of Kioto, which resulted in a riot and in seven- 
 teen native Christians being put to death at Nagasaki. leyas 
 continued the persecution throughout 1614, as did his son and 
 grandson, who, between them, contrived to extirpate Christianity 
 in every part of the Empire before 1638. For years the inhabi- 
 tants of Nagasaki were condemned to trample upon the Crucifix 
 in the presence of the authorities, and even as late as 1868 
 placards were still to be seen stuck up in the streets offering 
 rewards for the denunciation of members of the ‘ forbidden, 
 lying, and corrupt sect.’ 
 
 The immediate result of this persecution, which was ex- 
 tremely severe, was the exclusion from Japan of all outside 
 influence, for the foreigner and Christianity bad become in the 
 eyes of the Government a moral, social, as well as political 
 dissolvent. The evil conduct of the European sailors, who, 
 even according to the statement of the missionaries themselves, 
 had carried off women and children in great numbers, to sell 
 into slavery at Manila or Macao, and their dissolute behaviour 
 generally, cast opprobrium upon the religion which they pro- 
 fessed, and thus it came to pass that the Japanese accused the 
 Christians of not practising the ethics they taught, but, on the 
 contrary, of giving a bad example by their disrespect to parents, 
 superiors, and to all in authority. 
 
 In 1609 and 1611 leyas granted the Dutch the right of 
 
 95 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 trading all over the island, but his son, Hidetada, being 
 suspicious of their good intentions, closed all harbours to 
 them, excepting those of Hirado and Nagasaki in the island of 
 Kiu-Siu, and, furthermore, prohibited the Japanese from 
 leaving their country under any pretext. From 1637 the 
 Dutch and the Chinese alone were authorized to trade in 
 Japanese waters, and then only through the port of Nagasaki. 
 Confined within the narrow limits of the island of Deshima, 
 condemned to submit to the most abject humiliations, and 
 never allowed to go ashore excepting once a year on a special 
 mission to Yedo, when they conveyed presents to the Shogun, 
 before whom they had to crawl upon their hands and knees, 
 the agents of the Dutch East India Company entertained with 
 Japan commercial relations of the scantiest kind. With this 
 sole exception, Japan, which had acted in so liberal a manner 
 towards foreigners, became in a short time a sealed book to 
 the outer world. 
 
 96 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 JAPAN AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1 868 
 
 Progress demoralized in Japan under the Shoguns Tokugawa — Imperial 
 Court, Mikado and kuges, feudal society, Shogun, Daimios, samourai, 
 and people — Foundation of the political regime — Military preponder- 
 ance of the Shogun — Seclusion of the Mikado — Divisions among the 
 Daimios — Exclusion of strangers — Artistic development and economy 
 — Progress of civilization — Decline of the Shogunate — Position of 
 Japan in the middle of the nineteenth century — Foreigners begin to 
 re enter the country in 1854 — Scandal created by the opening of the 
 ports — The Court and the clans in the south-west provinces hostile 
 both to Western civilization and the Shoguns — Fall of the Shogunate 
 — Restoration of the Mikado and introduction of European civiliza- 
 tion. • 
 
 We have already seen that the Emperor, or Mikado, was 
 deprived of all authority, and retained only the outward 
 attributes of his Imperial dignity. He dwelt in his palace of 
 Gosho surrounded by 155 ktiges, or noble families, all of whom 
 were descended from the Imperial house, but whose duties 
 were merely ceremonial. In order to prevent any possibility 
 on their part of the kuges interfering with him, leyas reduced 
 the Court to absolute poverty. He fixed the civil list of the 
 Mikado — according to custom, in kind — at 9,000 kokus,* or 
 44,550 bushels of rice ; as to the kuges, many of them lived in 
 the most straightened circumstances. To still more completely 
 isolate the Mikado the feudal princes were never on any 
 pretext allowed to enter Kioto. 
 
 These princes, or daimios, who were the leaders of the 
 military order, of whom the Shogun was the chief, were divided 
 into five classes, according to their precedence and importance; 
 firstly, the three great Gosank6 families, who reigned over the 
 provinces of Owari, Kii and Mito, and were descended from 
 • A koku equals 4^95 bushels. 
 
 97 
 
 H 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 the three elder sons of leyas ; they enjoyed the privilege of 
 electing from amongst their number the Shogun in case of the 
 failure of direct heirs ; secondly, the sixteen kokushu daimios, 
 whose ancestors possessed their fiefdoms before the elevation 
 of leyas, which he had considerably reduced as a punishment 
 for their having taken up arms against him, and whose revenues 
 ranged between 750,000 and 5,000,000 bushels ; thirdly, the 
 nineteen kammons; daimios, who were the immediate relatives 
 or vassals of the Tokugawas, and descendants of leyas’ 
 favourite generals, among whom he distributed the fiefdoms he 
 had confiscated from his enemies : they were eventually the 
 chief supporters of the Shogunate, being, however, not so rich 
 as the above, possessing only between 50,000 and 1,600,000 
 bushels of revenue ; fourthly, the 88 tozamma daimios ; and 
 fifthly, the no foudai daimios, who were not infrequently 
 cadets of one of the two preceding classes. They possessed 
 an income of at least 50,000 bushels, but rarely more, and 
 their estates were proportionally small. Nevertheless, there 
 were eight tozammas and sixteen foudais who enjoyed between 
 them a revenue of 500,000 bushels, and, who, when united, 
 were sufficiently powerful to be very troublesome. 
 
 Next came the samouraiy forming about a twentieth of the 
 entire population of the Empire. They were a distinct military 
 class under the daimios, and were distinguished by wearing, 
 even in infancy, the two swords leyas called the ‘ living soul 
 of the samourai.’ Excepting in one or two principalities at 
 the extreme south, notably at Satsuma, they were never agricul- 
 turists, but, despising all manual labour, lived on salaries paid 
 by their chief. Exceedingly brave and punctilious in all points 
 of honour, they were addicted to vendetta, and added to their 
 other peculiarities the ferocious custom of hara-kiri, which 
 obliged them on the least insult to disembowel themselves 
 with a small sword, an unpleasant rite into which they were 
 initiated when still very young. They were ever ready to shed 
 their blood for their prince and fanatically attached to their 
 clan. It was from them that the troops, as well as all the 
 minor officials in the various principalities, were recruited. 
 The samourai were not only military, but literary, and corre- 
 sponded to our professional classes, and their opinions only 
 had the slightest influence on the affairs of the country. 
 When a samourai, for some reason or other, found himself 
 without a master, either because he had been expelled from 
 
 98 
 
JAPAN 
 
 his service or his lord had been deprived by the Shogun of 
 his titles and estates, he sometimes turned ronin^ or knight- 
 errant, more often than not a brigand, and occasionally a 
 redresser of wrongs, but as a rule a fellow capable of the worst 
 sort of crime as well as of the most heroic acts of chivalry. 
 In times of trouble these ronin were wont to form themselves 
 into bands and offer their services to a popular prince, and 
 when accepted, their opinion and influence sometimes became 
 of considerable weight. 
 
 Nineteen-twentieths of the population consisted of the heimin, 
 or commoners. Of this class the peasantry was by far the 
 most numerous and esteemed. Next came the artisans, then 
 the merchants, for be it remembered that feudal Japan, like 
 feudal Europe, held trade and tradesmen in supreme contempt. 
 Finally the two classes of pariahs, the eta, or ‘ dirty people,’ 
 who followed the profession of leather-dressers, tanners, curriers, 
 knackers, grave-diggers, etc., then the hinin (not men), and the 
 beggars. 
 
 Only on certain rare occasions, when a daimio wished to 
 increase the number of his men-at-arms, and recruited some of 
 his samourai from the hemin, or, again, when a ronin, tired of 
 vagabondage, embraced some trade or other and contrived to 
 lose himself among the people, were the barriers between class 
 and class ever broken down, and thus society in Japan remained 
 strictly confined within its narrow boundaries for over two 
 centuries. Notwithstanding these restrictions, the country 
 enjoyed during this period a profound peace and great pros- 
 perity. Both leyas and lemitsu understood to perfection how 
 to apply the maxim, ‘ Divide in order to reign,’ whereby they 
 broke up the influence of the daimios, which, when united, 
 might have proved formidable. This they contrived to do by 
 isolating them from the Imperial Court, and creating between 
 them divergences of interest, and by fermenting among them 
 a spirit of hatred and jealousy. leyas had not dared dispossess 
 all his adversaries after his victory, but he confiscated a part at 
 least of their domains, out of which he created a number of 
 fiefs, which he distributed among his allies and soldiers. The 
 descendants of these, the kammong and foudai princes, being 
 ever at war with the kokushu and the tozamma, obtained pro- 
 tection from the Shoguns by establishing a common bond of 
 interest, being fully aware that the downfall of the Tokugawas 
 would be sure to involve their own. 
 
 99 
 
 H 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 A danger undoubtedly presented itself to the south-east 
 of the Empire, for here the domains of the kokushu princes 
 of Choshiu, Satsuma and Hizen and others nearly as powerful 
 formed a continuous line of territory, and consequently a storm 
 rising in that quarter might have been fatal to the Shogunate ; 
 but so long as these great vassals received no support from 
 a foreign power, the military preponderance of the Shogun 
 was safe. This state of affairs eventually gave rise to a 
 rigorous exclusion of foreigners. Divided among themselves, 
 isolated from all external influences, deprived of all communi- 
 cation with the Court, the daimios in due time lost a great deal 
 of influence in their own principalities. By virtue of the 
 Sankin law, promulgated in 1635 by lemitsu, and solemnly 
 ratified by the Mikado, they were compelled to sojourn at least 
 one year out of two at Yedo. and to leave their women and 
 children during the following year in that capital as hostages. 
 In this manner their initiative was enfeebled, and as they were 
 obliged in great part to leave the administration of their own 
 affairs in the hands of subordinates, they soon became mere 
 idlers, under the constant super\’ision of a swarm of spies, who 
 reported to the Shogun any attempt on their part to resist his 
 authority, or to conspire against him. Notwithstanding its 
 many drawbacks, this administrative system, although it un- 
 questionably weakened the political character of the Japanese, 
 was in the long-run, by securing a prolonged peace, exceedingly 
 beneficial to the country, especially as regards the development 
 of art and literature, and it is from the period of the Tokugawas 
 that dates all that is finest in Japanese architecture, painting, 
 sculpture, lacquering, including the temples of Nikko and the 
 noblest specimens of Satsuma faience. In the meantime civiliza- 
 tion had made rapid progress, and the intellectual influence of 
 China upon Japan was paramount. The Chinese classics, 
 formerly neglected by the Japanese, were now, thanks to the 
 initiative of leyas, studied with ardour both at the Court of 
 his successors and at that of the Mikado, and were even publicly 
 taught in the ever-increasing number of schools. And thus it 
 came to pass that when the Europeans returned in 1854 they 
 found Japan more completely under the influence of Chinese art 
 and literature than had their ancestors in the sixteenth century. 
 
 The causes which brought about the revolution of 1868, 
 which resulted in the suppression of the Shogunate and of 
 feudalism, and in the rapid introduction of European civiliza- 
 
 100 
 
JAPAN 
 
 tion, were quite as important and as deeply rooted in the hearts 
 of the people of Japan as were those which led to the French 
 Revolution in 1789, which, it will be remembered, had been 
 brewing for a very long time before its eventual outbreak. 
 Politically, the decadence of the Shogunate commenced in 
 1652, after the death of lemitsu, and especially at the beginning 
 of the eighteenth century, when the Tokugawas began gradually 
 to decline, precisely as had done the various dynasties that had 
 preceded them. Surrounded by a brilliant court and en- 
 lightened patrons both of arts and letters, the Shoguns dis- 
 dained occupying themselves with public affairs, which they 
 left in the hands of the Gorogio, a council composed of five 
 foudai daimios and their subordinates. This substitution of a 
 rather effete bureaucracy for the old but energetic feudal 
 system soon inspired the great vassals with a hope of being able 
 to overthrow their former masters. They perceived that it was 
 easy to pick a hole in the Shogunate from the doctrinal point 
 of view, even in the name of those very Confucian theories 
 upon which they had the pretension to base their supremacy. 
 As a matter of fact, although the system of paternal government 
 extolled by the illustrious Chinese philosopher is by no means 
 opposed to feudalism, when closely examined into, it shows 
 that there was no place in it for the Shogunate, since it does 
 not admit of any intermediary between the father and his 
 children. 
 
 At the same time, in the eighteenth century a whole college 
 of literary men and a distinct school of literature rose, 
 whose principal object was the study of the ancient texts, to 
 collate, publish, and interpret them, whereby certain political 
 and religious conclusions were arrived at, tending to prove 
 that the only legitimate power in Japan was the autocracy of 
 the Mikado, the descendant of the gods, and the only true 
 religion Shintoism, and that patriotism, moreover, demanded 
 the restoration of the ancient political and social organization 
 which had existed in the Empire long before the introduction 
 of Buddhism, feudalism, and of Chinese ideas in general. If 
 these theories did not interest the people, they certainly, and 
 very effectively, created a breach between the literary classes 
 and the samourai, on the one hand, and the Shogunate and 
 its supporters, who by this time had become not only un- 
 popular with the productive classes of the nation, but were 
 even looked upon in the light of a tax, against which the 
 
 lOI 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 people very naturally rebelled, failing to see why they should 
 be called upon to support an idle and otherwise useless caste. 
 
 In 1700 the Government, financially embarrassed, was com- 
 pelled to diminish the number of charges imposed upon it by 
 the feudal system, and to increase taxation, whereupon the 
 merchants deemed it prudent to conceal the exact amount of 
 their fortunes, and the peasants, who paid their lords a third 
 or a half of t eir harvests, were not infrequently ransomed by 
 the ro/iin. Under these circumstances the feudal system could 
 no longer endure, since it was now brought into contact with a 
 society richer and better organized than itself, and thus it 
 became impossible for the Japanese Government to prevent 
 the penetration into the Empire of European ideas, which 
 filtered through the one port, Nagasaki, left partially open for 
 the benefit of the Dutch. From the eighteenth century on- 
 wards certain young samourai were always to be found at this 
 port endeavouring to place themselves in contact with the 
 Dutch. The Shogun Tzunayoshi (1650-1709) pretended not 
 to notice what was happening, although his Government was 
 ostentatiously endeavouring to repress any kind of inter- 
 communication between the natives and foreigners. 
 
 It appears that medicine was the first science which excited 
 the interest of the youthful Japanese students. They at first 
 managed to obtain from the Dutch some books, containing 
 anatomical plates, which both interested and surprised them 
 on account of the great difference which existed between the 
 figures represented in these works and the fantastic theories 
 invented by the Chinese doctors. At considerable risk, for the 
 laws on tbe subject were extremely severe, they secretly ex- 
 perimented upon a corpse, in order to compare the results 
 with the anatomical sketches they had obtained from Europe. 
 This led to their procuring a Dutch treatise on anatomy, which, 
 with great difficulty, they translated into Japanese, spending 
 sometimes as much as a whole day upon a single phrase. 
 Before the end of the eighteenth century several Dutch- 
 Japanese dictionaries were compiled, and a good many 
 European works were translated and published privately, and 
 read with all that ardour which fear of persecution ever en- 
 genders. 
 
 Before the commencement of the present century these 
 studies produced practical results, and the country was peppered 
 with furnaces and windmills built after Dutch models. It led, 
 
 102 
 
JAPAN 
 
 also, to the introduction of several novel industries, which were 
 evidently inspired by some occult European influence. How- 
 ever feeble these beginnings may have been, both European 
 and modern Japanese writers attach a great importance to this 
 early initiation of a certain number of able and learned men to 
 at least one of the languages, and to some of the sciences of 
 the West. It prepared the way for many ardent advocates of 
 European civilization to influence the Japanese to accept 
 European ideas. This was the impression conveyed to me at 
 Tokio by that very able gentleman Mr. Fukuzawa, the editor 
 of the most important newspaper published in Tokio, the Jiji 
 Shimpo, or ‘ Times,’ who is also founder and director of one of 
 the largest free schools in Japan. He himself had studied 
 Dutch between 1840 and 1850, when quite a young man, and 
 showed me a book translated from the Dutch and published in 
 Tokio in 1770. ‘The days,’ said he, ‘of the old regime in 
 Japan were counted when in 1854 the Americans forced my 
 country to open her ports, and the Shogunate, which had 
 become exceedingly unpopular, undermined on all sides, 
 crumbled to the dust.’ 
 
 The situation of Japan in the middle of the nineteenth 
 century was therefore not unlike that of France on the eve 
 of the Revolution ; but, fortunately, above the honeycombed 
 Government, doomed to fall at the first serious outbreak of 
 popular displeasure, Japan possessed the Imperial dynasty, a 
 power universally respected, all the more so because it was 
 so completely exempt from interference in public affairs; 
 towards it every heart turned in the hour of trouble, and the 
 remarkable reforms were accepted in its name as proceed- 
 ing from a Sovereign who ruled by Divine right. In 1853 
 an event occurred which more than any other tended to the 
 overthrow of the Shogunate. An American squadron, consist- 
 ing of four men-of-war, under the command of Commodore 
 Perry, appeared in the Bay of Yedo with the object of present- 
 ing a letter from the President of the United States to the 
 Shogun demanding the conclusion of a treaty of commerce and 
 the opening of the ports. It was in vain that the Bakufu (the 
 Government of Yedo) tried to induce the Commodore to 
 proceed to Nagasaki and to employ the mediation of the 
 Dutch and Chinese. Perry replied that he would only accord 
 a few months for the delivery of the answer he demanded, and 
 promised to return and fetch it in the following year. The 
 
 103 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Government of Yedo was taken by surprise, and feeling that 
 it was impossible to resist the importunate and imperative 
 strangers, and alarmed at the grave consequences which might 
 result from the opening out of the country, addressed a circular 
 to the daimios detailing the facts and asking their advice. Some 
 of them suggested the opening of only one or two ports for a 
 limited time, say three or four years, as an experiment, but the 
 greater number — Prince Mito, chief of the house of Tokugawa, 
 at their head — were of a contrary opinion, and counselled that 
 no concession should be granted, and that the country should 
 forthwith arm itself and prepare for resistance. Nevertheless, 
 when Perry returned some time afterwards, a treaty was signed 
 permitting the opening of the two ports of Shimoda and 
 Hakodate, and, moreover, granting permission for the estab- 
 lishment of an American consulate (1854). This official took 
 up his residence in 1857, just as France, England, and Russia 
 had frightened the Shogun by a naval display into granting 
 them like privileges, which were still further augmented by a 
 new convention promulgated in 1858. 
 
 The prolonged isolation in which the feudal lords of Japan 
 had hitherto lived had filled them with a horror of all things 
 foreign, so that the concessions made by the Shogun very 
 naturally produced an extraordinary fermentation among the 
 military classes, who considered all these privileges bestowed 
 upon the barbarians as so many outrages to the national dignity. 
 The Imperial Court was not less scandalized. When the 
 Mikado first heard of the arrival of so many Westerners on the 
 sacred soil of Japan, he ordered public prayers to be said at 
 Ise, the most holy temple in Japan, and presently a secret 
 understanding was arrived at between the Court of Kioto and 
 the clans in the south-west, who, although they were perfectly 
 sincere in their detestation of the strangers, nevertheless thought 
 this incident afforded an excellent chance for satisfying their 
 hereditary rancour against the Tokugawa and a possibility of 
 annihilating their power. When confronted by these dangers, 
 the Shogun endeavoured to shirk his responsibility, and turned 
 to the Mikado, asking him to confirm the treaties which he 
 had himself concluded. A statesman of great energy and of 
 progressive tendencies, li-Kammon no-Kami, now determined 
 to intimidate the Mikado and obtain from him at any cost the 
 desired signature, which under such circumstances at another 
 period would have been a mere formality. But this able man 
 
 104 
 
JAPAN 
 
 was assassinated in i860 by the ronin, who, in accordance 
 with Japanese usage, presently published a patriotic declara- 
 tion justifying their crime. Needless to say, the Shogun, in 
 his vain attempt to reconcile both parties, fell to the ground, 
 like the man in the proverb who sought to seat himself between 
 two stools. The audacity of his adversaries increased, and the 
 Imperial Court and the daimios began to interfere without the 
 slightest hesitation in the affairs of State. In 1862, against 
 all precedent, the Prince of Satsuma, in going to Yedo, passed 
 by Kioto, and undertook to escort thither a huge, who was 
 carrying Imperial despatches to the Shogun, and invited him 
 to appear before the Emperor. The Bakufu now found itself 
 so absolutely powerless that it was obliged to submit to all 
 demands, including destitutions and reintegrations of dig- 
 nitaries, together with the permission for the daimios to leave 
 Yedo with their families ; and thus was the first step taken 
 towards the ultimate ruin of the time-honoured Shogunate. 
 
 For the first time in two hundred and thirty years a Shogun 
 — a minor — went up to Kioto in March, 1863, preceded by the 
 Regent. The Mikado left his palace, and, contrary to secular 
 etiquette, went in solemn state to the temple of the God of 
 War, where he bestowed the sword of honour upon the Shogun 
 as the ensign of supreme command with which he was to expel 
 the barbarians. The Shogun’s second visit to Kioto in 1864, 
 on the other hand, witnessed his complete abasement ; for the 
 Court no longer accepted his decrees, and refused him any 
 further control over their finances. In a word, from being 
 master he had now become servant. Amongst those who im- 
 mediately surrounded the Emperor, there were still many who 
 revolted at the idea of his being allowed to occupy himself 
 with the government of the Empire, and their so doing gave 
 the rebel clans in the south-west time to reorganize them- 
 selves. After a short attempt at revolt, they soon came to the 
 conclusion that further dissensions would only play into the 
 hands of their enemies, and from 1865 the majority of the 
 samourai had joined a general conspiracy which it was 
 hoped would result in the ruin of the already crumbling 
 Shogunate. Still, the cry of ‘ Death to the barbarians !’ was 
 not so easily suppressed, and hatred of the foreigner re- 
 mained for some time yet extremely fierce among the masses. 
 The governing classes, however, who had been brought into 
 contact with Europe, began to see that it was useless resisting 
 
 105 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 its power, especially after Kagoshima, the capital of Satsuma, 
 was bombarded in 1863 by a British squadron as a punishment 
 for the murder of Mr. Richardson by the Prince’s escort. The 
 daimios and their councils no longer closed their eyes to the 
 existing condition of affairs, and recognising the uselessness 
 of resisting Powers which were armed with such formidable 
 engines of war, they changed their policy as by magic, 
 loaded the foreigners with honours, opened their ports to 
 them, and even made preparations to place the Japanese army 
 under the same regime as that of civilized nations. This 
 conduct was not wholly disinterested, for they were shrewd 
 enough to perceive the commercial advantages which might 
 ultimately accrue to them as a reward for their liberality. The 
 Court followed their example, and two years after having 
 issued an order to ‘sweep the strangers from the soil of Japan ’ 
 as if they were so much dust, the Emperor ratified the treaties 
 of 1865 at the demand of the Shogun, who had come to Kioto 
 with 70,000 men to suppress the open revolt of the Prince of 
 Choshiu. 
 
 This struggle between the Tokugawa and a subordinate 
 vassal was their last and supreme effort to regain power. Un- 
 fortunately for them, they were crushed in the attempt, and 
 their military prestige was for ever destroyed. The Regent 
 Hitotsubashi, who succeeded the young Shogun, who died on 
 September 19, entertained no illusions as to the gravity of his 
 position. He was by this time firmly convinced that it was 
 absolutely necessary radically to modify the constitution of the 
 country, and feeling certain that it would be useless any longer 
 to resist so powerful and popular a wave of progress, he deter- 
 mined to associate himself with the new ideas, in the hope 
 thereby of preserving some measure of his family’s former 
 influence. He therefore entreated the Emperor to summon a 
 council of the principal daimios, who accordingly assembled at 
 Kioto in 1868, with the result that they one and all advised the 
 Emperor to allow the centralization of the Government to take 
 place at once, as being absolutely necessary to the welfare of 
 the country. The Prince of Tosa, one of the chiefs of the 
 south, addressed a letter to the Shogun, in which he informed 
 him of the results of the meeting, and that they had acknow- 
 ledged the supremacy of the Emperor. Hitotsubashi, seeing 
 that resistance was of no further avail, sent in his resignation, 
 which was accepted, with the condition, however, that he should 
 
 106 
 
JAPAN 
 
 continue to direct public affairs until after the general assembly 
 of all the daimios. The southern clans, fearing that the Toku- 
 gawa might still be able to recover their power, made a bold 
 move, and attempted to seize the person of the Mikado. On 
 January 3, 1868, the Imperial seal was stolen, and a decree 
 issued handing over the guardianship of the palace to the 
 samourai oi Satsuma, Hizen and Tosa. On the following day 
 the Shogunate was formally abolished. Hitotsubashi retired to 
 Osaka with his army, where, trembling lest he might fall into 
 some trap skilfully prepared by his enemies, and refusing to 
 listen to any overtures, even the offer of a high position in the 
 new Government, he marched with his men on Kioto ; but the 
 unfortunate Shogun was now treated as a mere rebel, and when 
 he beheld the troops of the hostile clans carrying the em- 
 broidered standard of the Mikado, he realized that he was 
 betrayed by his own people, and fled by sea to Yedo, where he 
 surrendered unconditionally to Prince Arisugawa, commander 
 of the ‘Army of Punishment.’ The princes of his family were 
 the first to rally round the Emperor ; others of his partisans 
 struggled for a brief time with an adverse fate, but were finally 
 overcome, and thus a revolution which began with the cry of 
 ‘ Down with the foreigners !’ and was provoked by the daimios 
 and the samourai, the representatives of feudalism, against the 
 authority of the Shogun, ended in the destruction of feudalism, 
 and in the definite introduction into Japan of Western civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 Soon afterwards, when the Imperial Court began to better 
 understand foreign manners and customs, the kuges, the more 
 intelligent among them, from being antagonistic became their 
 staunchest friends and supporters. Presently the mass of the 
 people, following the lead of their superiors, enthusiastically 
 accepted the new idea that Japan could no longer live isolated. 
 Their rulers had the distinct merit of understanding that in 
 order to become the equal of the Western nations, if only from 
 the simple point of view of material progress, it would not suffice 
 for Japan to borrow their cannons and their guns, or even their 
 military training, an experiment which had signally failed 
 with other Oriental Powers ; but that if Western civilization 
 was to be of the least good to Japan, it was absolutely necessary 
 to accept it in all its branches, civil, industrial and commercial, 
 as well as military. The promoters of the movement, the 
 ministers and agents of the great lords, had no more interest in 
 
 107 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 maintaining feudalism than had, after the Revolution, the 
 inferior clergy and squires in the Government of France before 
 1789. The first step in the suppression of feudalism was the 
 abolition of the privileges of the samourai, who might, had 
 they been allowed to retain them, have become troublesome. 
 
 In 1876 the carrying of the two swords, their erstwhile dis- 
 tinguishing insignia, was prohibited. The stipends which they 
 had previously received from their lords, and of which the State 
 had possessed itself, were capitalized, and the territorial revenues 
 of the daimios, which were at first compensated by annual 
 pensions, were transformed in the same manner. These 
 changes, which were undoubtedly beneficial to the bulk of the 
 population, nevertheless brought about a great deal of misery, 
 by throwing a number of people who had hitherto enjoyed all 
 the privileges of fortune into humble circumstances. The 
 peasantry benefited most by the new form of Government, and 
 became, without having to pay anything, in a very short 
 time owners of the land which they had hitherto only held 
 as tenants, and, moreover, no longer obliged to pay a tribute 
 to their feudal lords, but only a small tax to the Central Govern- 
 ment. Needless to say, there was considerable resistance on 
 the part of the two millions of people whom these new laws 
 deprived of privileges which they had enjoyed for centuries, 
 but these were easily and speedily suppressed. From 1869, 
 in order further to mark the rupture between the old and the 
 new order of things, the residence of the Emperor was trans- 
 ferred from Kioto to Yedo, now known as Tokio. In 1872 
 the first Japanese railway was opened between the new capital 
 and Yokohama. The old-fashioned samourai were at first 
 dreadfully scandalized when they saw the Emperor, against 
 all precedent, driving about among the lower classes in an open 
 carriage. But the invading wave was too strong for resistance, 
 and presently a number of samourai of their own accord, 
 especially in the capital, gave up the custom of wearing the 
 two swords. Yet another flicker of the old spirit, however, 
 reappeared in 1877, when the clan of Satsuma rose and 
 endeavoured to oppose the introduction of so many inno- 
 vations. This rebellion was suppressed by Marshal Saigo, who 
 lost his life in the affair, leaving, however, behind him a name 
 still universally venerated in Japan. In 1889 Viscount Mori, 
 a Japanese statesman of very advanced opinions, was stabbed 
 by a fanatic on the day of the proclamation of the new Consti- 
 
 108 
 
JAPAN 
 
 tution. At present no one in Japan, be he statesman or simple 
 citizen, unless, indeed, he chance to be some fanatic or other 
 under the influence of the Buddhist priests in some out-of-the- 
 way district, dreams of disturbing the pleasant relations which 
 exist between the native population and foreigners. After the 
 repression of the rebellion in Satsuma the new Government 
 was definitively consolidated, and the country fully launched 
 on the road to complete Europeanization. In 1889 the Par- 
 liamentary system was introduced, and we shall presently see 
 with what success. It is therefore not saying too much to 
 assert, before we proceed further, that the wonderful revolution 
 which has taken place in our day in Japan is not ephemeral, 
 and that it has now gone too far to be in any danger of reaction. 
 It is, moreover, quite in accord with the antecedents and the 
 intellectual spirit of this remarkable people, and therefore 
 likely not only to become permanent, but even progressive. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MODERN JAPAN 
 
 Japan the country of contrasts — The port and town of Nagasaki — The 
 navigation of the Inland Sea — ^Junks and steam-boats — Yokohama — 
 Its population and commerce — Tokio — The telephones and electric 
 lights — The houses and the streets — The people and their costumes — 
 Means of transport at Tokio — Jinrikishas and tramways. 
 
 The moment the traveller enters the harbour of Nagasaki he 
 finds himself surrounded by the most extraordinary contrasts. 
 In the first place, the scenery is quite charming : the mountains 
 are a delightful green and are thickly draped with foliage, from 
 which peep out a number of pretty little wooden houses, whose 
 windows are replaced by sliding paper-panels. The sea is 
 dotted with rocky islands covered with those picturesque 
 Japanese fir-trees whose outline is as varied as it is graceful. 
 Here and there rise from the water curious little fishing- 
 sheds, the delight of the amateur photographer, which add 
 considerably to a landscape which looks for all the world like 
 an animated picture off a Japanese screen. One can scarcely 
 believe that it is all real, and certainly not that it was at one 
 time the scene of a terrible tragedy : yet such it was, for from 
 one of the neighbouring islands in 1638 — yclept Pappenberg 
 — several hundred Christians were cast into the sea. Pre- 
 sently we see rising in the background a tall chimney with its 
 streaming cloud of smoke, and the noise of machinery in 
 motion grating upon our ears reminds us somew’hat unplea- 
 santly that modern civilization has at length penetrated into 
 Japan, and the better to emphasize this fact, our steamer is 
 presently surrounded by a fleet of ugly coal-barges, and a 
 sudden turn brings us face to face with the ships and flags of 
 all nations — British, French, German, Russian, and American. 
 
 1 10 
 
JAPAN 
 
 On the other side of the bay, in the docks recently con- 
 structed by the Mitsubishi Company, workmen are busy build- 
 ing a 5,ooo-ton vessel. Not far distant, on the southern slope 
 of the hill overlooking the town, is the European quarter, 
 situated in the midst of delightful gardens. The elegant 
 steeple of the Catholic church rises sharply from among the 
 pine-trees, and contrasts favourably with the massive and very 
 ugly building — an eyesore on the pretty scene — that disagreeably 
 emphasizes the very bad taste of the American missionaries, 
 as also the absolute tolerance which the Government of the 
 Mikado accords to all denominations in a country where, not 
 so very long ago, so great was its exclusiveness that even the 
 shipwrecked were put to a cruel death. As I gazed upon 
 this charming scene, I could not forbear picturing to myself 
 how it must have looked fifty years ago when a solitary Dutch 
 vessel landed its tiny cargo for the benefit of a few foreign 
 merchants imprisoned in the artificial island of Deshima, the 
 only spot where they were allowed to live, and even then sub- 
 jected to many vexatious humiliations. 
 
 In forty-five years Nagasaki has become the chief coaling 
 port on the Pacific, and as safe for Europeans — perhaps safer — 
 than many a seaport in Europe itself. Steamers do not 
 remain long at Nagasaki, where they only touch to coal, but 
 passengers have time to land for a few hours and visit the 
 town. Happily, the inhabitants have retained their national 
 costumes, but the men have unfortunately adopted our very 
 ugly headgear, and flourish in every variety of bowler and 
 yachting hat. In the shops one soon perceives the march of 
 civilization, for they are full of articles imported from all parts 
 of the world, as well as others imitated from European models, 
 improved upon, in the artistic sense, by the natives. You can 
 buy books by all the leading authors almost as cheaply as 
 in Paris or London, as well as oil-lamps, gas-stoves, photo- 
 graphs representing recent Japanese battles with the Chinese, 
 looking-glasses (which were absolutely unknown in Japan until 
 quite recently), and little terrestrial globes, the sight of which 
 latter reminded me of an anecdote related by a missionary 
 when I was in China. At the beginning of the Chino- 
 Japanese War, the Viceroy of a certain province asked the 
 Reverend Father to show him where Japan was located, and 
 he had the pleasure of pointing out to His Excellency, for the 
 first time in his life, the exact place whence came the warriors 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 with whom his Government was then at war. The Japanese 
 are very proud of their victory over their colossal neighbour, 
 and have placed some of the cannon which they took from 
 her in the principal Shinto temples in the city. 
 
 Twelve hours after leaving Nagasaki you pass into the great 
 Inland Sea, or heart of Japan, to effect an entrance into which 
 in 1863 required the combined efforts of the fleets of England, 
 France, Holland, and the United States. Now every great 
 steamer that trades in the Pacific is free to weigh anchor in 
 this glorious harbour, which, however, is never open at night 
 on account of the many dangers to navigation in the Strait of 
 Shimonoseki, w’hich, by the way, is only a mile wide. As we 
 passed through it, I perceived quite close to the southern shore 
 no less than six immense steamers, anchored off the port of 
 Moji — rapidly becoming a rival to Nagasaki — up to which the 
 trains bring coal from the mines situated some miles inland. 
 On the summit of the long range of hills a number of huge 
 cannon stationed at intervals testify that the coasts of Japan 
 are by no means unguarded. 
 
 Everything has been done by the Japanese Government to 
 facilitate navigation in this rather dangerous Inland Sea, which 
 was so hermetically shut to foreigners a half-century ago. In 
 1895 there were over 149 light-houses, built either by the 
 State or the local authorities, admirably placed at intervals 
 along the coast of Japan, the majority, of course, being erected 
 along the shores of the Inland Sea, which, it must be remem- 
 bered, contains not less than 5,000 islands. These lighthouses 
 are all the more necessary because, although the scenery of this 
 magnificent expanse of water is very beautiful, the currents are 
 exceedingly strong and dangerous, and the shoals, moreover, 
 very numerous. An amazing number of little Japanese 
 steamers of from 80 to 200 tons, and even less, constantly 
 carry passengers to and fro between the various ports and 
 towns on these innumerable islands. Mingling among these 
 are still to be seen a few old Japanese junks, which, however 
 picturesque, are not of much use in these go-ahead days, 
 and are rapidly disappearing. Their shape is now only re- 
 tained by a few fisher-boats. As a matter of fact, it is no 
 longer legal to build vessels after the old Japanese model, 
 excepting on a small scale, as in fishing or pleasure boats. 
 Such a decree as this would, in any other country, have caused 
 some unruly expression of public opinion ; but in Japan it was 
 
 113 
 
JAPAN 
 
 otherwise, and the people very reasonably accepted a change 
 for the better in the time-honoured form of their sea-craft. 
 After twenty-four hours, of which one or two were passed at 
 Kobe, we left the Inland Sea behind, and almost immediately 
 afterwards beheld for the first time the peak of the celebrated 
 Fusi-yama volcano, rendered so famous by Japanese en- 
 gravers. Twenty-eight hours after leaving Kobe we entered 
 the harbour of Yokohama, which is within fifty minutes’ rail 
 of Tokio, the capital. 
 
 Yokohama was, before the enfranchising of the ports, a 
 miserable little fishing village containing about a hundred 
 houses. It was opened to foreign commerce in 1858 in the 
 place of Shimoda, which was thought to be badly situated. It 
 is a town of 170,000 inhabitants, having sprung up after the 
 mushroom fashion hitherto deemed peculiar to America, and is 
 the third largest port in the Far East, being alone surpassed 
 by Hong-Kong and Shanghai ; but its streets appear much 
 less animated than those of the last-named ports. The Bund, 
 the principal thoroughfare by the sea, always seems rather 
 deserted. On the other hand, on the hill above, to the south 
 of the concession, is the European quarter, which is full of 
 delightful houses, surrounded by lovely gardens. There are 
 about 1,800 foreigners of various nationalities, exclusive of 
 Chinese, settled here, a good half being English. The port is 
 very spacious and commodious, and the biggest ships ever 
 built can anchor quite close up to the quay. The total value 
 of the exports in 1896 was ;^6, 169,600, the imports ;^7, 280,400, 
 making a total of ;^i3,45o,ooo, or about half the foreign com- 
 merce of Japan, which, during the same year, reached the 
 very important figure of ;^28,5oo,ooo.* But this brand new 
 town is not particularly interesting, and the traveller will do 
 well to hurry on to Tokio. 
 
 The capital of Japan is the largest town in Asia, and the 
 seventh in the world. On December 31, 1895, it was reputed to 
 contain 1,268,930 souls, and must by this time, owing to the 
 rapid increase of its population, have attained 1,400,000. It is 
 spread over an enormous space, much larger than that occupied 
 by Paris. The reason why it covers such an amazing extent is 
 that everybody lives in his own house, which is never more than 
 one story high, and then, again, nearly every house has its little 
 
 In 1899 (to December 25) 423,646,605 yen or ;^42, 364,660. — H. N. 
 
 113 I 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 garden. Under these conditions, it is, therefore, not surprising 
 that such an enormous population requires unlimited space 
 in which to accommodate itself. Moreover, Tokio contains 
 a great many open spaces, and, odd to relate, most of these 
 are to be found in the centre of the town in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Imperial Palace. These ‘ building sites,’ 
 if one might so call them, were formerly occupied by the palaces 
 of the great daimios, the majority of which were surrounded 
 by bastions, supported on a cyclopean stone wall rising from 
 a deep moat. When the daimios first received permission to 
 leave Tokio, a few years before the downfall of the old 
 Government, they retired to their castles in the provinces, and, 
 at the abolition of the feudal system in 1872, their lands 
 became, as we have seen, the property of the State. On the 
 site of several of them immense public buildings have been 
 erected after the European fashion, among which are the 
 palaces of the various Ministries, and also the Parliament 
 House ; but many other wide, open spaces are still waiting to 
 be utilized, and, being weed-grown and disorderly, produce a 
 distinctly dreary effect. The old ramparts, planted with pine- 
 trees, which surrounded most of them, are still standing, and 
 one, embracing the immense park of the Imperial Palace, is 
 used as a public promenade. As you walk along it, and look 
 towards the palace itself, it is difficult to believe that you are 
 in Japan, everything is so very European, and on the other 
 side the waste land contains a perfect forest of telegraph and 
 telephone poles, which affirms, and very forcibly, too, that our 
 civilization is distinctly the reverse of picturesque. 
 
 Telephones, telegraph, electric light, gas, petroleum lamps, 
 etc., are now as plentifully used in Tokio as they are in any 
 English or American town. It is most amusing to notice as 
 you pass along the streets, when the paper screens which form 
 the fagade of most of the houses are removed, the artisans 
 seated at their tatamis, working by the light of an Edison lamp. 
 Wffien they cannot afford electricity or gas, the Japanese use 
 petroleum exclusively, but not without some considerable 
 risk to the safety of a city entirely built of wood. Since a 
 Japanese house contains next door to nothing in the way of 
 furniture, and that even in the houses of the rich all valuable 
 objects of art are usually kept in an iron safe, and only exposed 
 on state occasions, a fire does not matter so much as it would 
 in a London mansion or a Chicago ‘sky-scraper.’ A few 
 
 1T4 
 
JAPAN 
 
 cushions, coverlets, and household utensils, which are to be 
 found in every house, are soon put outside the doors, so that 
 the inhabitants have very little to fear, for their house is only 
 one story high, and the whole fagade consists of paper screens, 
 which slide into one another when required. The only people 
 who really have anything to fear from fire are the retail 
 merchants, whose shops, of course, are well stocked. Fires 
 are of very constant occurrence, and people are not at all 
 surprised to wake up in the morning to hear that some hundred 
 houses have been burnt down during the night. 
 
 The authorities at present avail themselves of fires in order 
 to widen the streets and improve their sanitary condition. 
 They are now as a rule much straighter and wider than any to 
 be found in most other Oriental cities, and even, for the matter 
 of that, in the towns of Southern Europe, and although they 
 have no side-walks, they are much cleaner than any you will 
 find in China or Siberia, or, indeed, in most cities of the 
 United States. Possibly on account of the immense size of 
 the city, they are nothing like so animated as the streets of 
 Peking or Tien-tsin, and are much less picturesque than one 
 might have been led to expect, for the Japanese, both men and 
 women, after they have reached their tenth or twelfth year 
 dress very plainly in neutral colours, blue, gray and brown 
 prevailing. The women, however, enliven the scene by their 
 bright-hued waistbands and huge bows. As to the children, 
 especially on holidays, they wear the most vivid colours. 
 Sometimes you can trace upon their tiny persons an entire 
 landscape, and at others enormous bunches of flowers dashed 
 upon a background of scarlet China crape, which decorate 
 their exceedingly small figures. Their heads are generally close- 
 shaven when they are infants, but as they grow older the 
 dignity of age is marked by that funny zone of stiff black hair 
 which adds so much to the comical appearance of a Japanese 
 doll. Another peculiarity about these youngsters is that a 
 smaller one generally hangs on to the back of another so 
 tightly as to suggest a big barnacle. It is indeed amusing to 
 watch a little lady of between five and six years of age carrying 
 her still smaller brother on her back literally from morning to 
 night, never appearing in the least degree incommoded by what 
 to children of other nationalities would be a most uncomfort- 
 able position. The little boy accommodates himself to all the 
 various movements his sister may make. If she tumbles, he 
 
 IIS I 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 tumbles, and if she gets up, up gets he, and it would really 
 appear as if the younger child formed an integral part of the 
 elder’s body. European children who are brought up in Japan 
 fall into this singular habit quite as naturally as the Japanese, 
 who can fall to sleep in a position which would, one imagine, 
 have kept awake one of the famous Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. 
 
 European costume has undoubtedly made some inroad 
 throughout Japan, but fortunately not to the extent originally 
 anticipated. Japanese ladies, who first adopted European 
 fashions with enthusiasm, at present have nearly returned to 
 the delightful way of dressing invented by their ancestresses, 
 so that during the three months I spent in Japan I only once 
 saw a Japanese lady dressed a la Parisienne. The European 
 costume is now only to be seen at Court on state occasions, 
 where, it should be observed, the old Japanese Court dress was 
 not only very ugly and extremely heavy, but most uncomfort- 
 able. A few years ago an order was given that all the officials, 
 little and great, should wear, when on duty, frock-coats and 
 straight trousers, but this edict is no longer in force. Never- 
 theless, it has become the fashion for Japanese officials of rank 
 to attend their offices in European costume, but here again 
 there are already exceptions. English hats of all sorts and 
 shapes, Tyrolese, bowler, sailor hats, and German caps, are 
 universally worn by men in every class. Some young gentle- 
 men, with pretensions to fashion, are adopting the tailor-made 
 garments of Bond Street and the Rue de la Paix, and although 
 this is regrettable from the aesthetic point of view, it must be 
 conceded that our dress is much better adapted for the exigencies 
 of our modern life than the loose, long-sleeved garments of the 
 Japanese. 
 
 The kago, or palanquin, has absolutely disappeared from 
 Tokio, and is now only to be found in the mountain districts, 
 its place having been taken by the jinrikisha. It is now so 
 well known in Europe, thanks to Japanese exhibitions, that all 
 I need say is that it is a very small carriage supported by two 
 very tall wheels, and pulled along by a runner. The jinrikisha 
 is not, as many imagine, of Japanese origin, but due to the 
 inventive genius of a foreigner, who made a fortune out of his 
 invention. It is now used throughout the whole of the 
 Far East ; but Japan remains the land of its predilection, 
 mainly on account of the extraordinary swiftness and skill of 
 the native runners, who are unsurpassed in this respect in any 
 
 1 16 
 
JAPAN 
 
 other part of the East. There are at the present moment 
 about 200,000 of these quaint vehicles in various parts of the 
 Empire, of which about 40,000 are in Tokio. As a rule they 
 can only seat one person, but a few are built to convey two 
 passengers, exclusively Japanese ; for the jinrikisha is not yet 
 built that would accommodate a couple of Europeans, even 
 ladies. The lowest fare is 2|^d . ; by the hour, 5d. ; and for the 
 half-day, is. 3d. These are the prices exacted from Europeans, 
 but the Japanese pay considerably less. 
 
 Independently of the jinrikisha, Tokio possesses a few omni- 
 buses, and a line of tramways uniting the two stations of Shim- 
 bashi, the terminus of the Western, and Uyeno, that of the 
 Northern Railway. The extreme length of this tramway is nine 
 miles, and the fare is i^d. all the way. The tramcars are driven 
 by horses, and the number of seats is not limited, people being 
 allowed to stand up in the middle as in the United States. 
 In 1895 the company conveyed fifteen million and a half 
 passengers, paying a return of thirty-five per cent, on a capital of 
 about ;^45,ooo. An electric tramway is now under considera- 
 tion. One improvement Tokio certainly stands in need of, 
 and that regards its lighting. Here and there you may come 
 across an electric lamp or so ; but the principal street illumina- 
 tion invariably proceeds from those big Chinese lanterns, 
 lighted by petroleum lamps, which hang outside the shops, 
 which, fortunately, remain open until quite late ; but when the 
 shutters are up in most of the wooden houses one passes by, 
 the darkness is quite Egyptian, unless, indeed, it happens to 
 be a moonlight night. Doubtless, in the course of a very little 
 time, Tokio will be as well lighted as any other highly-civilized 
 city. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY 
 
 Japan the Great Britain of the Far East — Osaka, the centre of Japanese 
 industry — Great and small industries — Increase of certain industries 
 hitherto unknown in Japan : glass and match manufactories, breweries, 
 etc. — Employment of children — Scale of wages — Length of labour 
 hours — Cotton-spinning — The larger industries — Recruiting of work- 
 men and women from the rural districts — Abuses denounced by the 
 press — Increase of wages throughout Japan. 
 
 Nothing delights the Japanese more than to hear their Empire 
 compared to Great Britain, and when we come to think of 
 it there is a certain analogy between the Archipelago of the 
 Rising Sun in the Far East and the British Isles in the 
 West ; but the Japanese hope that this resemblance will not 
 end in a mere geographical comparison, but extend to their 
 maritime, commercial and industrial development. To their 
 credit, be it said, they are really working very hard to attain 
 their ideal. One has only to visit Osaka, the Manchester of 
 the Mikado’s Empire, to realize the amazing progress made by 
 the Japanese in the last quarter of the century. This city, 
 which has a population of about half a million souls, is situated 
 midway between Kioto and Kobe, about thirty miles distant, 
 which respectively contain 340,000 and 150,000 inhabitants. 
 About six and a half miles further on is yet another industrial 
 centre, Sakai, with a population of 50,000. This region, which 
 slopes gradually to the Inland Sea, may be described as the 
 heart of Japan, being its main centre of commercial, agri- 
 cultural and industrial activity, and it is the chief tea-market of 
 the Empire. It was also until 1869 near the political centre; 
 for Kioto was from the end of the eighth century the capital of 
 the Mikados, who removed their Court thither from Nara, where 
 they had previously resided for several centuries. 
 
 n8 
 
JAPAN 
 
 Industries on a large scale have only been recently introduced 
 into Japan, among the earliest being that of cotton-spinning, 
 established in Osaka in 1882. Before the arrival of the 
 Europeans, and even up to 1880, nearly all the minor trade 
 of the country was divided up into a number of small workshops 
 scattered all over the country. A few large silk manufactories 
 existed, however, in the more important towns, and at Kioto 
 there were some fairly important paper factories, and sake- 
 distilleries (wine made from rice) ; but these were not numerous, 
 and only engaged a very few hands. The official statistics for 
 1894 disclose the existence of 4,732 families manufacturing 
 the various ceramic products for which Japan is famous, em- 
 ploying about 23,726 people; 4,407 families, giving employ- 
 ment to 14,092 artisans, engaged in the manufacture of lacquer- 
 ware ; 81,652 matting and straw-plaiting factories; and lastly 
 600,444 femilies working 820,585 looms. From this we see 
 that what might be termed the minor industries of the 
 country are very numerously represented. In these small 
 and independent workshops are produced all those numerous 
 Japanese articles that enjoy a European popularity which 
 they are not likely to lose for a very long time to come, 
 Japan having a monopoly in the production of an infinite 
 number of toys, articles of furniture, paper fans, umbrellas, 
 boxes, screens, and knick-knacks of every description ; and it is 
 fortunate it is so, on account of the density of the rural 
 population, and the exceeding smallness of the farms, which 
 are easily cultivated, leaving their proprietors a great deal of 
 leisure on their hands, which they wisely employ in making 
 those countless pretty things that in Europe go by the name of 
 ‘ Japanese fancy goods.’ These small workshops now carry on 
 nearly all the art industries of the country, but no Japanese city 
 is now without its tall chimneys, rising quite as conspicuously 
 and unpicturesquely in their suburbs as they do in Europe. 
 
 Northward of the Cyclopean stone ramparts of the old castle 
 of Osaka stands the enormous Mint, one of the finest establish- 
 ments of the sort in the world, to the east of which is the 
 Arsenal, where the Japanese turn out all the cannon and 
 guns necessary for the use of their army. At night the 
 horizon is crimson with the ruddy glow of the cotton-mills 
 and other numerous factories. Most of these industries have 
 only been lately introduced into the country, and the fathers 
 of many of those who are engaged in them had no idea even 
 
 119 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 of their existence. The Japanese, for instance, until quite 
 recently, had no conception of the art of glass-blowing. To day 
 there are several very important glass factories doing a first- 
 class trade at Osaka, glass being now much needed on account 
 of the prevailing use of petroleum lamps, and many people are 
 beginning to use glass in place of the paper screens which have 
 hitherto served the Japanese as windows. Breweries have 
 been established in various parts of the country, and the 
 principal at Osaka produces admirable beer, largely exported, 
 even as far as Vladivostok and Singapore. Brushes of every 
 description, too, are now manufactured in Japan, and e.x- 
 ported in great quantities to the United States. I had the 
 pleasure of inspecting one of these brush manufactories at 
 Osaka, which employed 300 men, women and children on the 
 premises, and 900 others in its various branches in the suburbs. 
 I experienced some little difficulty at first in gaining admittance 
 on account of my nationality, and I had even to take an oath 
 that I would not divulge any of the secrets of the trade. This 
 precaution was due to some fear that I might possibly intro- 
 duce their economical system into France, and thereby do 
 them considerable mischief in the way of competition. A 
 curious fact connected with this particular trade of brush- 
 making is, that the necessary pigs’ bristles and bone have to 
 be imported, for the excellent reason that St. Anthony’s pet 
 animal is practically non-existent in any part of the Empire, so 
 that the Japanese confine themselves to carving the handles for 
 the infinite number of brushes which they manufacture, and 
 in putting the bristles into the variety of objects that require 
 them. Osaka likewise contains a number of iron-foundries 
 and ship yards, in which nearly all the small steamers which 
 ply between the islands are constructed. Unfortunately the 
 harbour of Osaka is a very bad one, and, indeed, might almost 
 be described as non-existent, the entrance to the river being 
 very sandy, and the exit seaward hopelessly narrow and ex- 
 posed to east winds. For this reason the majority of the goods 
 manufactured at Osaka are exported via Kobe, where nearly 
 all the great English and American steamers touch, and which 
 is an admirable port. The formation of a large harbour at 
 Osaka was begun in 1899, at a cost of something like 
 ^2,000,000, assured by a loan of 700,000, issued by the 
 town, in addition to a considerable subvention from the State. 
 A new industry has recently been introduced at Osaka, that of 
 
 120 
 
JAPAN 
 
 jute carpet-making, which is likely to become very important, 
 an enormous number of very cheap and very pretty carpets 
 having already been exported to the United States and still 
 more recently to England, where, on account of their excellent 
 patterns, durability and extreme cheapness, they have suddenly 
 become extremely popular. The present Exhibition at Paris 
 will no doubt introduce them into France. 
 
 The Japanese copper and tin industries have only recently 
 been created, and at present do not employ more than eighty 
 hands. The silk industries are entirely concentrated at Kioto. 
 Mats and other straw goods, which form a very important item 
 of Japanese export, are exclusively made in and about the same 
 city. Undoubtedly the two most important of the modern 
 Japanese industries are cotton-spinning and match-making. 
 In 1889, 10,165,000 gross of matches, costing 184,000, were 
 produced. In 1894, the figures stood at 18,721,000 gross, 
 valued at ;^4o6,8oo, since when this industry has gone on 
 increasing by leaps and bounds. Matches, as may well be 
 imagined, are very cheap throughout the country, and you can 
 buy two boxes containing each about sixty for five rin, or a 
 half-sen, i.e., half a farthing. 
 
 Nothing can be more interesting than a visit to one of these 
 great match factories, which exclusively employ women and 
 children, the latter being sometimes under six years of age. 
 Wages, when compared with those of Europe, are very trifling, 
 the highest average being 15 sen, or about 3fd., per diem. 
 Some of the girls get a little more for pasting on the labels, 
 which requires considerable skill, and the women who put 
 the matches in the boxes are paid 4|d. Very clever work- 
 women, who by the sheer delicacy of their touch are able to 
 tell to a match, without the trouble of counting them, how 
 many go to a box, are paid 7d. Some objection has been 
 made to the employment of so many infants, but their mothers 
 do not seem to object, for in the first place the children 
 add a farthing or so to the general fund, and in the second 
 they are able to keep them about them, which no doubt saves 
 them much anxiety. Very few men are engaged in these 
 match manufactories. The match-boxes are nearly all made 
 by the work-people at home in their off-hours, and also in 
 certain workshops set apart for their manufacture. Japanese 
 matches are exported in great quantities to Hong Kong, China 
 and India. 
 
 lai 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 The cotton looms are located in stone buildings erected on 
 Manchester models, and employ many thousands of hands. 
 The following Custom-house statistics will give an excellent 
 idea of the progress of this industry : 
 
 
 
 Spun Cotton. 
 
 
 Importation of Raw 
 
 Exportation from 
 
 imporluiiv/.i 
 
 
 Cotton into Japan. 
 
 Japan. 
 
 Japan. 
 
 
 Tons . 
 
 Tons . 
 
 Tons . 
 
 1894 
 
 64,071 
 
 2,067 
 
 9.350 
 
 1895 
 
 84,739 
 
 2,362 
 
 8,661 
 
 1896 
 
 99, 108 
 
 7,677 
 
 11,810 
 
 1897 (10 months) 
 
 117,710 
 
 20,274 
 
 7.185 
 
 From the above it will be remarked that Japan, in a rela- 
 tively very short time, from being almost exclusively an importer 
 of cotton goods, now exports them to foreign markets, and 
 with good results. The Custom-house declared in 1898 
 109,600 worth of cotton, or 20,269 tons of exports, and 
 _;,^734,4oo, or 7,185 tons of imports. The statistics of the 
 Japanese Cotton Spinners’ Union record the following figures: 
 
 
 Mills. 
 
 No, of Looms. 
 
 Workmen. 
 
 Work- 
 
 women. 
 
 Production of 
 Spun Cotton. 
 
 31 Dec., 1890 
 
 30 
 
 227,895 
 
 4,089 
 
 10.330 
 
 Tons . 
 
 18,798 
 
 „ 1895 
 
 47 
 
 580,945 
 
 9,650 
 
 3', '40 
 
 68,106 
 
 „ 1897 
 
 61 
 
 839.387 
 
 13-447 
 
 43.367 
 
 97.435 
 
 31 Oct., 1898 
 
 61 
 
 1,233,661 
 
 13.447 
 
 43.367 
 
 97,829 
 
 Nearly half of this cotton is manufactured at Osaka, the 
 rest at Kobe, and at Okyama, on the Inland Sea, to the west, 
 and at Yokkaichi, Nagoya and Tokio, to the east. The con- 
 clusion of the late Chinese War gave a great impulse to the 
 cotton industries in Japan, and necessitated the construction 
 of new and much larger establishments, and the enlarge- 
 ment of those already in existence, so that it is calculated that 
 before long over a million and a half looms will be in activity 
 in various parts of the country. These very important indus- 
 tries, it must be remembered, are not subsidized by foreign 
 capital, or under the direction of foreigners ; they are purely 
 
 122 
 
JAPAN 
 
 and absolutely Japanese ; up to the present, however, nearly 
 all the plant has been imported from England and America. 
 
 Until 1897 employers of labour had a good deal of trouble 
 in obtaining workmen. The townspeople, being engaged in a 
 great many small industries of their own, were not willing to 
 abandon them for work which was not likely to prove as re- 
 munerative as their own ; in consequence of this the country 
 districts had to be ransacked for hands, and nearly all the girls 
 employed in the factories of Osaka are the daughters of small 
 farmers. They are lodged and boarded by the various com- 
 panies in buildings erected expressly for the purpose, a per- 
 centage being deducted from their wages for their keep. Cer- 
 tain abuses having arisen in their management, a leading 
 local newspaper, published in English, but really owned and 
 edited by Japanese, in 1897 called attention to the same in 
 a series of articles, violently attacking the working organization 
 of the Osaka cotton-mills. The lodgings of the workwomen 
 were, it was stated, exceedingly unhealthy ; and as to the 
 morals of the women employed, the less said about them the 
 better. Then, again, the agents who engaged these young 
 women were accused of doing so under false promises, and it 
 was said they even went so far as to intercept their correspond- 
 ence with their homes. The editor furthermore condemned 
 in the severest terms the employment of extremely young 
 children. 
 
 These articles attracted a great deal of attention, and con- 
 tained doubtless a certain amount of truth, not unmingled, 
 however, with considerable exaggeration. The Japanese 
 employers of labour are, it should be remarked, after all in very 
 much the same position in which our own were some fifty or 
 sixty years ago. As to the moral tone of the workgirls, it is 
 doubtless neither better nor worse than it is in the great manu- 
 facturing centres of Europe and America. At Moscow a 
 manufacturer informed me that the morals of his workgirls 
 were very bad, and at Shanghai another gentleman related to 
 me things on the same subject best left unpublished. The 
 working hours are not longer in Japan than they were in Europe 
 thirty or forty years ago. They never exceed tw’elve hours a 
 day, from which half an hour must be deducted for the mid- 
 day meal. Nevertheless, it is excessive, especially when we 
 remember that the week’s work is divided into two parts, one 
 half the hands working all night and the other all day, so that 
 
 123 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 the looms are never at rest Then they have only two off- 
 days in the month, on the first and the fifteenth; and there are 
 only four special holidays in the year, the three first days in 
 the New Year, and the Emperor’s birthday. Even the first and 
 the fifteenth, are not observed if there is a press of work. If 
 these hours appear too long, it must not be forgotten that the 
 Japanese workman, like his brother worker in the South of 
 Europe, does not labour with the intensity that distinguishes 
 the Englishman or the American. As to the employment of 
 women, they are only engaged in the match factories, and their 
 work is of the lightest. 
 
 Nevertheless, attention in Japan is being directed towards 
 these two very important questions, which will, doubtless, 
 sooner or later, receive proper attention and be modified. 
 Wages are already rising, as the workpeople begin to understand 
 their worth and their own interests, and to know how to pro- 
 tect them. A danger to which the Japanese industries are 
 exposed is undoubtedly due to a diminution of capital, the result 
 of over-production after the late war, which brought about 
 much the same phase that occurred in the commercial history 
 of Germany after the Franco-German War. However, the 
 financial crisis of i8y8 and the competition recently created 
 at Shanghai have created a certain degree of anxiety concerning 
 the immediate future of Japanese industry; but, on the other 
 hand, the magnificent results obtained in such a surprisingly 
 short time, and the courageous manner in which this industrious 
 people have overcome the many difficulties which beset them in 
 the earlier stages of their career, must not be forgotten. 
 
 124 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 RURAL JAPAN 
 
 Predominance of agriculture in the economic existence of Japan — Density 
 of the rustic population in the plains and lower valleys — Importance 
 of the Japanese fisheries with respect to the food supply of the people 
 — Principal crops: rice, tea and mulberry trees — Absence of domestic 
 animals — Returns of Japanese agriculture — Small holdings — ^Japanese 
 peasantry, their vegetarian or ichthyophagian diet — Their dwellings — 
 Position of women — Their extreme cleanliness, politeness and good 
 nature — Cost of living — Amelioration of peasant life in Japan after 
 the Restoration — Spread of Western civilization and instruction among 
 them. 
 
 Notwithstanding the rapid industrial development which has 
 recently taken place in Japan, the greater proportion of the 
 population is still essentially rural, and derives, if not all, at 
 least the greater part of its means of subsistence from the soil. 
 Petty industries, however, abound and materially assist this 
 hard-working people to add to their very small incomes. Along 
 the indented coasts of the islands, and on the shores of the 
 Inland Sea, innumerable little villages will be found, whose 
 inhabitants depend entirely for their subsistence upon the 
 fisheries, but notwithstanding their importance, Japan may be 
 described as an essentially agricultural country. It is, also, 
 the cultivation of the soil which supplies the raw material of 
 the silk, still one of the staple export industries, and also of 
 another very important article of exportation, tea. On a total 
 export in 1896 of 1,650,000 worth of Japanese products, tea 
 represented ^637,200, rice ;£'795, 100, raw silk cocoons and silk- 
 ravel ;^3, 166,600. If we add to these figures about ;;^4, 700,000 
 worth of miscellaneous products, or 14 per cent., and add also 
 about 200,000, or 40 per cent., of raw or unprepared produce, 
 we shall find that the aggregate value of agricultural products of 
 
 125 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 all kinds reaches the respectable figure of ;^5, 950,000, more 
 than half that of the total export. Notwithstanding their import- 
 ance, the area devoted to the culture of the tea-plant and the 
 mulberry-tree is relatively small as compared with that devoted 
 to rice, which is the staple article of food of the whole of the 
 Far East. The extensive culture of this latter accounts for the 
 peculiarity often noticed in Japanese landscapes, that you never 
 see any of those gentle hill-slopes which are so familiar in 
 France. The hills rise abruptly from the stagnant waters, and 
 seem cut into three or four broad step-like terraces, possibly 
 the result of the action of the water which inundates the rice- 
 fields. When I was in Japan, in the autumn, the rice harvest 
 was just over, and the country would have looked very dismal 
 on account of the drab colour of the muddy soil, divided up 
 like a chess-board into regular squares, from which the rice 
 had been recently cut, and now covered by a thin layer of dry 
 weeds, had it not been for the peculiarly elegant shapes of 
 surrounding heights which are shaded by those delightful firs 
 so familiar to us in old Japanese prints. The lace-like curtains 
 of bamboo clustering here and there added also to the variety 
 and charm of the scene, which was further enhanced by the 
 numerous cryptomerias, whose superb foliage contrasted vividly 
 with the brown and the red of the maples that are invariably 
 planted around the charming little temples dotted about in all 
 directions. In the hilly districts the beauty of the trees breaks 
 the monotony of the rice-fields and of the reclaimed waste- 
 lands, but in the plains and valleys there is not one to be seen, 
 every inch of land being most carefully cultivated. 
 
 The rural population of Japan is marvellously dense, incom- 
 parably more so than in any part of Europe. On an area but 
 little greater than that of Great Britain and Ireland, Japan 
 contains 42,270,620 inhabitants, that is to say, 284 souls per 
 square mile, including the large southern island of Yezo, which 
 is very sparsely peopled. Not taking this very extensive island 
 into account, it will be safe to state that the population of 
 Japan is twice as dense as that of France, and only equalled by 
 that of Belgium, an absolutely industrial country, whereas at 
 least 80 per cent, of the Japanese live in the country. Certain 
 provinces, Shiko and Sitama, for instance, to the north-east of 
 Tokio, respectively boast of 604 and 709 to the square mile, 
 although the capital cities of these two provinces contain re- 
 spectively only 26,000 and 20,000 inhabitants. The island of 
 
 126 
 
JAPAN 
 
 Shikoku and the province of Kagawa, on the other hand, which 
 possesses only one large town, Takamatsu, with 34,000 inhabi- 
 tants, has a population that reaches the phenomenal figure of 
 998 souls to every square mile. In only thirty-six out of forty- 
 six Japanese provinces, exclusive ofYezo, are there less than 
 250 inhabitants to the square mile, and in only four, three of 
 which are at the extreme north and one at the south, is the 
 population less crowded than in most parts of France. The 
 following statistical table shows the population, with its relative 
 density : 
 
 
 Square mites. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Density per 
 square mile. 
 
 Nippon, Northern ... ... 
 
 30.556 
 
 6,455,287 
 
 191 
 
 ,, Central 
 
 37.028 
 
 16.368,995 
 
 442 
 
 ,, Western ... ... 
 
 Island of Shikoku ... 
 
 20,922 
 
 9,523,168 
 
 453 
 
 7.113 
 
 2,929.639 
 
 412 
 
 ,, Kiu-Siu 
 
 17,037 
 
 6,524,024 
 
 384 
 
 Hokkaido, or Yezo ... 
 
 36.734 
 
 469,507 
 
 «3 
 
 
 149.390 
 
 42,270,620 
 
 316 
 
 Formosa 
 
 8.995 
 
 2,041,809 
 
 228 
 
 
 158,385 
 
 44,312,429 
 
 272 
 
 Even more remarkable than the population is the small 
 area of cultivated land required to support such an immense 
 number of people. Japan is an extremely mountainous 
 country, and although the plains and valleys, especially in the 
 east and south, are admirably cultivated, and the rice-fields 
 occasionally cover hills that slope so close to the sea as not 
 to allow of the existence of even a small fringe of culti- 
 vable land, the mountain ranges in the interior are still 
 covered with forests, and even the northern part of the great 
 island, where the land is excellent, is quite uncultivated. 
 According to recent statistics, about one-fifth of the total 
 surface of the country has been reclaimed and subdivided into 
 a remarkable number of small farms and tenements. The 
 forest lands, on the other hand, cover 88,632 square miles, of 
 which 28,544 square miles belong to private owners, 51,834 
 square miles to the State or to the various provinces, and 
 8,254 square miles are Crown lands. The remainder of the 
 island is occupied by moors, uncultivated tracts of land, ex- 
 
 127 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 tremely extensive in Yezo, where the forests are of vast extent, 
 and where only 1,269 square miles of land repay cultivation. If 
 we leave aside the northern island, and only take into considera- 
 tion the land occupied by 99 per cent, of the Japanese popula- 
 tion, we discover that, exclusive of 67,571 square miles of 
 forestland, only 21,234 square miles provide food for 42,000,000 
 people, whereas in France there are about 56,917 square 
 miles devoted to cereals alone, and if we add potatoes, vine- 
 yards and other edibles, we arrive at a total of 75,889 square 
 miles for a population much inferior to that of Japan ; more- 
 over, France imports provisions very largely from other 
 countries. 
 
 In England and in France, as in most other European 
 countries, very extensive and superior pasture lands are set aside 
 for the forage of domestic animals intended for food. In Japan 
 there is nothing of the sort. On the high-roads you will meet 
 peasants dragging their own carts and waggons, and if you 
 travel by any other means than the railway, it will be in a 
 jinrikisha hurried along by human runners, or in a palanquin 
 carried on men’s shoulders, rarely, if ever, in a carriage or on 
 horseback. Sheep and goats are absolutely unknown in the 
 Empire, but I am assured there are a few pigs, although I 
 never saw any. A European who had lived many years in 
 Japan assured me he had travelled for twelve hours by rail 
 without seeing a bullock or a cow ; in the west, however, I 
 myself have often met with cattle. The scarcity of animals is 
 one of the peculiarities of Japan which most surprises the 
 traveller. Statistics confirm this impression, for they give only 
 a return of 1,097,000 head of cattle and 1,477,000 horses. 
 
 Doubtless this singularity may be attributed to the pre- 
 dominance of the Buddhist religion, which prohibits the eating 
 of flesh, notwithstanding which the Japanese are not above 
 relishing a fowl, although poultry is nothing like as abundant 
 as it is in our villages. The very great quantity of fish 
 eaten doubtless accounts for this enormous population being 
 able to exist in so mountainous a country on such an 
 abstemious diet. The various fishing industries for 1894 re- 
 turned produce valued at ^ 2 .’] 40 , 000 . We have already 
 mentioned the countless fishing villages which send out a fleet 
 of not less than 600,000 of those graceful one-sailed junks 
 that sometimes seriously impede the progress of the numerous 
 steamers in the Inland Sea. The secondary and very rocky 
 
 128 
 
JAPAN 
 
 island of Awaju does not contain a single town, but never- 
 theless can boast of a population of 198,000 inhabitants, spread 
 over an area of only 220 square miles, subsisting entirely on its 
 fishing industries. 
 
 The importance of the fisheries does not prevent Japanese 
 agriculture from taking a foremost position, and it must be 
 admitted that farming must have reached a high degree of per- 
 fection if the limited space allotted to it can support such a 
 dense population, a fact all the more remarkable when we 
 remember that Japan imports very few articles of food. It 
 is true that in many places there are two crops yearly, 
 although rice has only two harvests in the southern island of 
 Shokoku ; in many other places, in November, as soon as this 
 has been gathered, the earth is manured again and sown with 
 barley, or daikon, a kind of monster turnip. The following 
 statistics of 1895, which give the extent of cultivated land and 
 the nature of the various products, will serve to illustrate how 
 relatively great these are when compared with the area of land 
 in cultivation. 
 
 
 Area in Acres. 
 
 Produce. 
 
 Rice ... 
 
 
 6,821,694 
 
 195.612,321 bshls. 
 
 Barley ... 
 
 
 1,600,632 
 
 33,830,173 » 
 
 Rye ... 
 
 
 1,649,390 
 
 34,377,074 „ 
 
 Wheat... 
 
 
 1,09 >.257 
 
 19,470 855 „ 
 
 Peas and azuki 
 
 
 1..8 18.779 
 
 17,701,808 „ 
 
 Millet 
 
 
 848,282 
 
 18,633,157 „ 
 
 Buckwheat ... 
 
 
 422,928 
 
 5,891,613 „ 
 
 Sweet potatoes 
 
 
 586,478 
 
 1,865,709 cwts. 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 
 56,727 
 
 18,598,076 „ 
 
 Colza... ... 
 
 
 374,072 
 
 4,932,246 bshls. 
 
 Cotton 
 
 
 148,649 
 
 471,978 cwts. 
 
 Hemp... 
 
 
 51,431 
 
 102,967 ,, 
 
 Indigo ... 
 
 
 114,999 
 
 579,298 „ 
 
 Tobacco ... 
 
 
 88,i?S 
 
 279,870 „ 
 
 Mulberry-trees 
 
 • •• 
 
 675,972 
 
 279,870 „ 
 
 Tea 
 
 ... 
 
 123,404 
 
 635,979 „ 
 
 The absence of domestic animals obliges the Japanese to 
 have recourse to novel methods of manuring the land. The 
 rice-fields are strewn with green grass, freshly cut in openings 
 in the forests and on the mountain sides, which, when covered 
 with muddy water, speedily decomposes ; to this lime is some- 
 
 129 K 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 times added. Excrements of all kinds are also largely em- 
 ployed in all fields except those devoted to the cultivation 
 of rice, and along the coast line fish manure is much 
 used. 
 
 Everywhere, excepting in Yezo, the cultivation of rice pre- 
 ponderates, especially in the northern part of the principal 
 island, mainly because the climate is elsewhere too cold to allow 
 of any other crop being sown during the winter and spring, 
 Earley and wheat are grown mainly in the centre of the great 
 island of Nippon, rye in the western parts of the same 
 island, and also in the two southern islands of Shikoku and 
 Kiu-siu, the last named of which produces sweet potatoes in 
 abundance. These were originally imported from Java to Sat- 
 suma, and are still called Satsuma-imo, or Satsuma potatoes. 
 Tobacco, which was introduced by the Portuguese in the 
 sixteenth century, and which is universally used all over the 
 islands, being one of the few customs the Japanese have re- 
 tained from their first contact with Europeans, is cultivated 
 everywhere, except, perhaps, in the north. The mulberry- 
 tree grows exclusively in the mountainous regions of the 
 centre, and only in very small quantities in the north. Tea 
 will be met with, on the other hand, only in the plains, and at 
 the foot of the lower ranges of hills. From the windows of 
 the train which passes from Tokio to Kioto, and principally 
 in the environs of this last-named town, as also of Osaka and 
 Nara, one sees extensive tea-plantations lifting their deep, green 
 foliage from the rice-fields. 
 
 As may well be imagined, owing to the smallness of his 
 tenement, the Japanese peasant is by no means rich, and has to 
 live on very little. In the plains he subsists mainly on rice 
 boiled in water, precisely as do the workpeople in the towns, a 
 little fish seasoned with soy, or Japanese sauce, flavours this 
 very simple menu, which also includes a few eggs, and occa- 
 sionally a chicken, a little game, or a wild duck. In the 
 mountains, where the people are very poor, and rice is con- 
 sidered a luxury, barley and millet are sometimes substituted. 
 The fisher-folk replace this almost exclusively vegetarian diet 
 by the produce of their work. Even among well-off people 
 in the towns the principal dish at dinner consists of boiled 
 rice. During meals the usual drink is hot sake, which the 
 guests offer each other in little cups with a good deal of polite 
 ceremony. This very weak form of brandy is distilled from 
 
 130 
 
JAPAN 
 
 rice, and about 150,000,000 gallons of it are consumed annually. 
 The other great Japanese drink is green tea. 
 
 The Japanese peasantry usually live in small villages, 
 separated from each other only by a few hundred yards. 
 Sometimes, however, their houses are built in little groups of 
 four or five, but it is extremely rare to find a peasant’s cottage 
 quite isolated. Nothing can exceed the simplicity of the 
 construction of these habitations, which only differ from those 
 of the townspeople by their lofty and heavy thatched roofs, 
 which usually contain a granary, and are supported by very stout 
 wooden pillars, rising from a heap of stones placed on the bare 
 ground, without any attempt at a foundation. Those walls only 
 which support the gable are solidly built with clay kept together 
 by a bamboo lattice. The two principal facades stand back 
 about a yard inside the pillars, and consist of paper screens 
 which slide backwards and forwards. At night, or in stormy 
 weather, these screens are replaced by wooden shutters. The 
 whole front is thrown wide open when the w'eather is fine or 
 there is a ray of sunshine, so that passers by may have a full 
 view of the interior. It is this curious fashion of living in 
 public which most strikes the traveller who arrives in Japan 
 from China, where you cannot even see what is going on in the 
 outer courtyard, and is one of the chief characteristics that 
 differentiate the Japanese from all other Orientals. Another 
 very striking feature is the scrupulous cleanliness which reigns 
 in these dw'ellings, whose only furniture are tatamis, or thick 
 straw mats, which cover the floor of the whole house, excepting 
 a space immediately opposite the door where visitors are 
 expected to leave their boots and slippers. 
 
 The total absence of furniture, added to an equal lack of 
 heating apparatus and to the non-existence of any means of 
 shutting out cold and draughts, at first gives one an impression 
 of extreme discomfort, but it must not be forgotten that when 
 the Japanese adopted Chinese civilization they rejected three 
 things ; chairs, coverlets, and stoves. The Imperial palaces at 
 Kioto would make one of our humblest cottages, so far as 
 furniture is concerned, appear quite luxurious. At Hirashima, 
 a town of 100,000 inhabitants, the principal hotel is kept by a 
 Japanese, and although lighted by electricity and possessing a 
 telephone, the guests are expected to sit upon the floor, and only 
 to warm the tips of their fingers at the two or three little scraps 
 of burning embers in the hibachi, and in the morning, although 
 
 131 K 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 It may be freezing, they have to perform their toilet in the 
 open courtyard. When I was in this city I visited the house 
 occupied by the Emperor during the Chinese War, and was 
 shown his study, which contained merely an arm-chair, a few 
 other chairs, and by way of stove only a hibachi, of exquisite 
 workmanship, it is true — black lacquer worked over with 
 gold. 
 
 The emptiness of a Japanese peasant’s home is, therefore, 
 no sign of extreme poverty, and although we may describe him 
 as poor, as his capital is extremely small, there is no reason to 
 describe him as destitute. In summer he is dressed as lightly 
 as possible, and in winter as warmly, always in deep blue, in 
 contrast to the light blue affected by the Chinese. The men 
 wear a pair of trousers, or rather a tight-fitting pair of drawers 
 that reach to the ankles, and an ample vest with pagoda 
 sleeves. The women, on the other hand, wear one or two 
 skirts reaching half-way down their legs, and gaiters or stock- 
 ings without feet, the whole made of cotton or dark blue linen 
 and joining the tabi, or little shoe, which ascends above the 
 ankle. 
 
 Japanese women enjoy greater freedom than any other women 
 outside Europe. They may come and go wherever and 
 whenever they like, and chatter with whom they choose. 
 Whereas in China you never see a woman in a tavern, in Japan 
 you very frequently see only women. At an inn you are 
 always received by the wife of your host and by a whole 
 troop of young girls, who serve you, and keep you com- 
 pany. The women, when they have finished their house- 
 hold duties, which are very slight, share with the men the 
 labour in the fields ; and I remember seeing in the neighbour- 
 hood of Kioto a woman with a child on her back helping her 
 husband to drag a waggon along. One is astonished to per- 
 ceive with what persistent good-humour these small but very 
 hardy people perform their very heavy work. In the midst of 
 the trying labours of the rice-fields, with their feet benumbed 
 by the cold mud during the harvest, which is gathered in 
 November, they ate invariably gay and happy. Doubtless 
 that which contributes most to their cheerfulness is the fact 
 that they are far ahead of the corresponding class in any other 
 country in the matter of artistic instinct. There are very few 
 of them but preserve some curiosity in bronze or lacquer, 
 which has been handed down by ancestors, and which, of all 
 
 1.^2 
 
JAPAN 
 
 the scanty heirlooms, is the one thing most valued. They are, 
 moreover, passionately fond of nature. 
 
 Every season of the year has its flowers, wild or cultivated, 
 from the plum-trees in February to the deep, red-leaved maples 
 in November, and every district has some particular spot cele- 
 brated for the beauty and abundance of this or that flower. 
 Thither the w! ole neighbourhood goes in gay crowds to enjoy 
 and admire them. In that season of the year when they have 
 less to do, the peasants, who are indefatigable walkers, under 
 the pretext of a pilgrimage, go incredible distances to visit some 
 beautiful site, or a famous temple, usually surrounded by mag- 
 nificent trees. Then, again, their domestic industries supply 
 them with a great deal of light work, which tends to render 
 their existence less monotonous than it otherwise might be. 
 In order to give my readers an idea of the cost of living in 
 Japan, I copy from the Japan Times the following table of the 
 expenses of the family of a schoolmaster in the province of 
 Rikuzen, in the north of the principal island. 
 
 Expenses for Three Persons— Husband, Wife, and Infant of 
 FROM Six to Seven Years of Age. 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 3 to (i to=a, gallons) 3rd quality rice ... 
 
 ... 0 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 Vegetables and fish 
 
 
 ••• 
 
 ... 0 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 House linen 
 
 
 ••• 
 
 ... 0 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 Rent of house 
 
 ••• ••• 
 
 
 ... 0 
 
 I 
 
 
 Lighting and heating 
 
 
 ... .«• 
 
 ... 0 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 ^ sho (i sho=\ gallon) 2nd quality 
 
 soy (sauce) 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 lOj 
 
 Tea 
 
 
 .. ••• 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 Writing materials .. 
 
 • •• 
 
 ... ... 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 7 
 
 Education of child... 
 
 
 •»« ... 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 Baths every three days 
 
 
 •*« 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 5 
 
 Taxes ... 
 
 •»« 
 
 •»« 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 3i 
 
 Footgear 
 
 *«Ni •»« 
 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 3 i 
 
 Extras ... 
 
 
 
 ... 0 
 
 0 
 
 11 
 
 
 Total ... 
 
 ••• ••• 
 
 ... I 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 Or, in other words, about 
 
 3s. for the 
 
 month. 
 
 To this 
 
 must be added los. a year for clothing, making a total of 
 ;^i5 2s. for the year. These figures were compiled in 1897, 
 when the price of provisions had considerably increased. It 
 must, however, be stated that they exceeded the salary of the 
 unfortunate teacher, which has not been raised, and is only 
 a month. 
 
 *33 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 The peasantry have certainly benefited by the abolition of 
 the old form of government, and Western civilization is even 
 now commencing to penetrate among them. They light their 
 dwellings with petroleum, and, although their notions of the 
 value of time are exceedingly simple, nearly all of them possess 
 a watch or a clock. Most have adopted European caps or 
 hats, and none of the men shave their heads as they did in 
 olden times ; moreover, they never express the least oppo- 
 sition to the encroachments of modern civilization, but, on 
 the contrary, invariably display curiosity and a great desire 
 to try experiments. Public education is theoretically obliga- 
 tory, and about 8o per cent, of the boys and 40 per cent, of 
 the girls attend schools, where they are taught to read and to 
 write about 100 Chinese characters, as well as the two syllabic 
 Japanese alphabets, in addition to one or two other general 
 things. The schoolmasters, having been too hastily recruited, 
 may have been educated too much on the old fashioned 
 Chinese lines ; but, nevertheless, modern ideas are making 
 headway, and in the course of time will undoubtedly carry the 
 field. 
 
 The Japanese people, even in the country, are definitely on 
 the road to progress. It would be unwise to change everything 
 from the night to the morning as by the touch of a magician’s 
 wand, but undoubtedly the first impulse has been given, and 
 has met with no resistance. From the agricultural point of 
 view, there can be no question that the Japanese have much to 
 learn, not so much with respect to those products which they 
 already cultivate, but to the introduction of others besides the 
 all-prevalent rice. These reforms will be very difficult to 
 bring about, for the obvious reason that the small farmers 
 only accept changes with extreme caution ; but in the course 
 of time they will have to be introduced, especially when we 
 reflect that the population of Japan increases at the rate of 
 300,000 souls per annum, and the extent of territory which has 
 been reclaimed and is in cultivation is so small in proportion 
 to the density of the population. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE COMMERCE 
 
 Progress of Japanese commerce in the last fifteen years — Remarkable 
 increase of exports and of the importation of raw material — Im- 
 portation of capital in the form of machinery for native manufactories 
 — Countries interested in Japanese commerce — Japanese merchants 
 accused of occasionally producing inferior articles and not fulfilling 
 their contracts — The reasons for the excess of imports over exports in 
 the years 1894-98. 
 
 Nothing can better illustrate the rapid progress made in 
 Japanese commerce during the last thirty years than the 
 development of her import and export trade, which is regu- 
 larly recorded in a pamphlet published by the Japanese 
 Minister of P'inance, both in Japanese and English, entitled 
 the ‘ Monthly Return of the Foreign Trade of the Empire of 
 Japan,’ which gives the fullest particulars respecting the com- 
 mercial operations of the month, as well as a rdsum^ of what 
 has recently transpired. Each spring a complete volume is 
 issued which supplies further details, and gives a table showing 
 the commercial status throughout the preceding year. Accord- 
 ing to the figures given in this document, which are extremely 
 accurate, the exports in 1898 attained the unusually high figure 
 of 6,570,000, and the imports;,^ 2 7, 700, 000, making a total 
 of ;^44, 2 70,000. The following table displays very clearly the 
 prodigious advance made in Japanese commerce during the 
 thirty years included between 1868 and 1898. 
 
 The figures in the original document are, of course, given in 
 Japanese currency, but, for the convenience of English readers, 
 they are here rendered by their equivalent in English money, 
 taking the yen at two shillings, the rate it has held for a 
 considerable time past. 
 
 13s 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Japanese Foreign Commerce. 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 1868 
 
 ;^i,o7o,ooo 
 
 ;^I,S 50,000 
 
 1879 
 
 3,300,000 
 
 2,820,000 
 
 1884 
 
 3.220.000 
 
 3,400,000 
 
 1889 
 
 6,620,000 
 
 7,020,000 
 
 1894 
 
 12,170,000 
 
 11,330,000 
 
 189s 
 
 13,870,000 
 
 13,620,000 
 
 1896 
 
 17,170,000 
 
 1 1,780,000 
 
 1897 
 
 21,930,000 
 
 16,310,000 
 
 1898 
 
 27,700,000 
 
 16,570,000 
 
 By studying the statistics published in this official pamphlet, 
 we find that out of ;^3,58i,2oo of indigenous articles exported 
 from Japan in 1883, ;^2, 7 13,900 were of a purely agricultural 
 character, and only ;^242,2oo represented articles manufactured 
 in the country. This last class consisted only of the various 
 articles included among the ancient art industries of Japan : 
 ;^54,400 worth of ceramics and pottery, ^1^54,300 of lacquer, 
 ;^26 ,ioo of paper fans, umbrellas, and fandy goods generally, 
 etc. The silk industries did not even attain the comparatively 
 low figure of ;,^9,ooo. Five years later, in 1888, the situation 
 was entirely changed. The e.xport of indigenous merchandise 
 exceeded ;£'6,489, 100, of which only 68‘6 per cent, instead of 
 7 6 ’4 per cent, represented agricultural produce, 3 per cent, 
 instead of 3 4 per cent, forestries, 5 ’2 per cent, instead of 6-7 
 per cent, of the total amount fisheries ; on the other hand, the 
 various minerals had risen from 6 7 per cent, to 1 1'2 per cent., 
 and manufactured goods rose from 6'8 per cent, to ii'8 per 
 cent. Japan also exported ;^35o,ooo worth of copper and 
 ;^3oo,ooo worth of coal. The silk manufactories exported silk 
 goods to the extent of ;;^i68,ooo, and all the art industries, 
 with the sole exception of the lacquer, which remained stationary, 
 rose very considerably in value. To these figures must be 
 added the returns of certain other commercial products of a 
 kind totally unknown in Japan a quarter of a century ago 
 — matches, for instance, of which ^^^74,000 worth were ex- 
 ported. 
 
 A glance at the following figures will show of what the 
 Japanese export trade during the last three years was com- 
 posed, and the nature of the goods. 
 
 136 
 
JAPAN 
 
 Principal Exports from Japan in 1895, ^^97 
 
 
 1895. 
 
 CO 
 
 1897. 
 
 1898. 
 
 Raw silk and cocoons 
 
 ,^4,800,000 
 
 ;^2, 880,000 
 
 ^$■5, 560,000 
 
 ,^4,200,000 
 
 Silk ‘ravel’... 
 
 • •• 
 
 290,000 
 
 280,000 
 
 300,000 
 
 270,000 
 
 Tea ... 
 
 • •• 
 
 820,000 
 
 640,000 
 
 780,000 
 
 820,000 
 
 Rice ... .M 
 
 • •• 
 
 720,000 
 
 790,000 
 
 610,000 
 
 590,000 
 
 Camphor ... 
 
 
 150,000 
 
 1 10,000 
 
 130,000 
 
 120,000 
 
 ? 
 
 Cuttle-fish ... 
 
 • •• 
 
 100,000 
 
 760,000 
 
 I IO,OCO 
 
 140,000 
 
 Coal ... 
 
 • •• 
 
 890,000 
 
 1,150,000 
 
 580,000 
 
 1,520,000 
 
 Copper 
 
 ... 
 
 520,000 
 
 550,000 
 
 730,000 
 
 Tissues and silk hand- 
 
 
 
 
 
 kerchiefs ... 
 
 
 1,530,000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 1,320,000 
 
 1,600,000 
 
 Sewing cotton 
 
 ... 
 
 100,000 
 
 400,000 
 
 1,350,000 
 
 2,010,000 
 
 260,000 
 
 Spun cotton... 
 
 • «. 
 
 240,000 
 
 230,000 
 
 260.000 
 
 560.000 
 
 Matches 
 
 ... 
 
 470,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 630,000 
 
 Mats and straw goods 
 
 480.000 
 
 530,000 
 
 640,000 
 
 630,000 
 
 i 
 
 Fans and screens 
 
 ... 
 
 80,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 120,000 
 
 180,000 
 
 Pottery 
 
 
 200,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 Altogether the chief manufactured articles exported in the 
 year 1895 were valued at ^^4, 000, 000 ; three years later they 
 rose in value to ;^6, 300,000. 
 
 At the present moment goods which were absolutely un- 
 known in Japan in 1850 are exported from that country all 
 over the East from Korea to Singapore; and Japanese cotton 
 goods, the raw material for which has to be imported from 
 India, compete with Chinese materials of the same class, the raw 
 material for which is obtained from the same country. Needless 
 to say, Japanese silks and mats can be procured in every part 
 of the world, and their coal, though inferior to the Welsh, 
 being greasy, emitting great quantities of smoke and burning 
 away quickly, is very cheap, and is supplied to all the steamers 
 touching at the ports of the Far East from Korea to the Straits 
 of Malacca. In the meantime, those industries for which 
 Japan has always been noted have not diminished in import- 
 ance. It must, however, be confessed that this branch of 
 industry has decreased both in quality and beauty, the result, 
 doubtless, of hasty and purely commercial production. If, 
 however, very fine work is not produced so much as it was 
 formerly, cheap Japanese artistic goods, ceramic and other- 
 wise, flood the markets of the civilized world. A curious 
 fact connected with the actual condition of Japanese export 
 trade is the remarkable extension and increase in value of what 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 might be called the new industries, of which by far the most 
 important are those connected with cotton. 
 
 Meanwhile, the import trade has lately been considerably 
 altered. Fifteen years ago Japan imported sugar and petroleum 
 only. In 1897 raw cotton was introduced to the value of 
 ;^4, 300,000. If we add to this 00,000 worth of wool, 
 ^'93,400 of pig-iron, ;;^47,7oo of steel, and one or two other 
 minor items, we have a return of ^^5, 900,000, or 23 per cent, of 
 the entire imports ; the food imports during the same year 
 were also 23 per cent. The increase in the value of these latter 
 in 1897, which stood at _;^5, 900,000 as against _;^3,4oo,ooo in 
 the previous year, is due to the failure of the rice crop, which 
 necessitated the importation of 3,800,000 cwt. of rice, valued 
 at ^2, 1 80,000. A certain quantity of rice, between ^£"400,000 
 and ;^8oo,ooo worth, has to be imported annually from Korea 
 and Indo-China, in order to counterbalance the amount of 
 Japanese rice of the first quality exported to Europe and the 
 United States. Besides rice, the import of sugar has reached 
 the high figure of 980,000, and petroleum, of which 
 61,000,000 gallons were imported in 1897, ^766,700. 
 
 Imported manufactured goods may be divided into two 
 distinct classes, the first including articles of domestic use or 
 consumption, and the second those which tend to extend the 
 various industries of the country, and which in a sense con- 
 stitute a certain proportion of capital. In the first category may 
 be placed spun goods, both cotton and woollen, and watches; 
 in the second, machinery, wrought iron and steel, rolling-stock 
 and other materials for the railways. 
 
 Woollen industries did not exist in Japan until recently, for 
 the simple reason that sheep were not introduced until after 
 the opening of the ports to Europeans. In 1897, woollen 
 goods were imported to the value of .1^133,700, and textile 
 fabrics to 020,000 ; while watches, which were never seen 
 in Japan until 1850, are now in general use, and in 1897, 
 305,894 of these necessary articles were imported and retailed 
 at an average of about 12s. each. 
 
 The second class of manufactured articles imported into the 
 Empire in 1897 includes ^^830,000 worth of wrought iron, 
 360,000 of machinery and boilers, 10,000 of locomotives 
 and railway carriages and trucks, ^330,000 of rails, and 
 ^200,000 of other railway stock, /.e., 15 per cent, of the total 
 imports. This rapid development, which compares very favour- 
 
 138 
 
JAPAN 
 
 ably with the two preceding years, 1896 and 1895, is mainly 
 due to increased activity in railway construction since the 
 Chinese War, and also to the rapid commercial expansion 
 throughout the Empire. 
 
 The following table shows the manner in which Japanese 
 foreign trade was shared among the various nations in 1896 : 
 
 
 Exportation 
 from Japan. 
 
 Importation into 
 Japan. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Great Britain 
 
 ;^90o,ooo 
 
 ;^S,92O,0OO 
 
 ;^ 6 , 820 ,ooo 
 
 United States 
 
 3,150,000 
 
 1,640,000 
 
 4,780,000 
 
 China 
 
 1,380,000 
 
 2,130,000 
 
 3,510,000 
 
 Hong-Kong ... ... 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 910,000 
 
 2,970,000 
 
 British India 
 
 450,000 
 
 2,250,000 
 
 2,700,000 
 
 France 
 
 1,900,000 
 
 770,000 
 
 2,670,000 
 
 Germany ... 
 
 300,000 
 
 1,720,000 
 
 2,020,000 
 
 Korea ... ... 
 
 340,000 
 
 510,000 
 
 850,000 
 
 Japan also carries on a very extensive trade with other 
 countries besides those above mentioned, among them Switzer- 
 land, Asiatic Russia, Italy, Australia, the Philippines, Cochin- 
 China, Canada, etc., but in no case does it exceed ^^400,000 
 annually. The relative high figures of the business transacted 
 between Japan and Hong-Kong is due to that port being a 
 centre whence goods are distributed to other countries. One 
 striking feature of the above table is tlie preponderance of the 
 trade between Japan and England, from which country she 
 derives all her cotton and linen goods, as well as nine-tenths of 
 her machinery and wrought iron (nails excepted), and more 
 than half of her woollens — in a word, the immense majority of 
 all the manufactured commodities imported into the country. 
 Germany sends machinery, cloth, almost all the iron nails, 
 alcohol, sugar and paper ; Belgium and Russia export manu- 
 factured articles into, but take almost nothing from, Japan. 
 The principal French import is mousseline de laine, valued at 
 ;^57o,ooo, which is almost a French monopoly. About a 
 fifth of the goods imported from America consists of machinery 
 and wrought metals ; the rest includes petroleum, raw cotton, 
 flour and leather. The United States, France, and lastly Italy, 
 are Japan’s principal customers for raw silk, as well as for her 
 light spun silks. Five-sixths of the tea grown in Japan goes to 
 America and the rest to England. China, Korea and India 
 
 139 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 take almost all the Japanese matches, while the coal will be 
 found distributed along the whole of the Asiatic Coast of the 
 Pacific. Copper goes to Hong-Kong, Germany and England, 
 and rice, camphor, matting, straw and art goods are distributed 
 all over Europe and the United States. 
 
 This brilliant picture of Japanese commercial prosperity has, 
 unfortunately, its shady side. Many complain that the articles 
 manufactured in Japan are not up to the mark in point of 
 excellence and finish. As is generally the case with Orientals, 
 they start well and make their first batch of goods admirably, 
 but the quality soon falls off, probably the result, not so 
 much of negligence, as of over-hasty production, due to com- 
 petition. There can be no question that these and other 
 complaints are not unfounded, and many intelligent Japanese 
 are the first to acknowledge and deplore them. As an instance 
 in point, matches are not nearly so well made as they used 
 to be. Many complaints have also been made as to the 
 increasing inferiority of a certain class of silk goods known as 
 haboutaye and of the silk pocket-handkerchiefs, of which an 
 enormous quantity are exported, with the result that the exporta- 
 tion of these last mentioned necessary articles fell from 1,855,000 
 dozens in 1895, 1897. On the other hand, there 
 
 is a distinct increase in the export of haboutaye. Nevertheless 
 many thoughtful people have watched this deterioration in the 
 excellence of the new Japanese industries with some alarm, 
 and not a few manufacturers who have had their attention 
 drawn to the matter have already mended their ways. The 
 same complaint might be made of goods manufactured in 
 certain parts of Europe, notably in Germany, where cheap and 
 showy articles are fabricated in superabundance, but Japan 
 would do well to maintain her reputation as high as possible 
 as a producer of all that is best in the market. 
 
 Still graver is the charge brought against Japanese merchants 
 of occasional lapses from a high standard of honour, and of 
 availing themselves of the slightest possible pretext to avoid 
 fulfilling the letter of their contracts, in which they contrast 
 unfavourably with the higher class of Chinese merchants, 
 whose reputation for integrity and for a strict adherence not 
 only to their written, but also to their verbal promises, is 
 well known, with some degree, possibly, of exaggeration. It 
 is as w’ell to recall in this connection that the Japanese were 
 until quite recently a feudal and military people, who despised 
 
 140 
 
JAPAN 
 
 trade in all its branches, and those who were engaged in its 
 pursuit were not considered any the better for being honest. 
 In China, on the other hand, it has ever been otherwise, the 
 merchants, after the literati, being looked upon as the most 
 honourable class in the Empire, whereas the military were 
 invariably despised, being recruited from the lowest ranks of 
 society. Ideas have certainly been considerably modified in 
 Japan in the last thirty years; still, the majority of the 
 merchants are of the same class as their predecessors when 
 they are not their immediate descendants; therefore, we should 
 not be surprised if they retain some of their traditions it were 
 better they were without. In a word, since the Restoration 
 of 1868 tire Japanese have done their best to get rid of the 
 prejudices of feudal times, but although these are fast disap- 
 pearing, some of their after-effects still remain. 
 
 It has always been extremely difficult to induce Orientals to 
 understand the value of time, and in this particular the 
 Japanese are still on a par with their neighbours. Foreign 
 merchants have the greatest difficulty in persuading their 
 Japanese correspondents that a few days’, nay, a few hours’ 
 delay in the transaction of business and in the despatch of goods 
 often leads not only to much inconvenience, but to absolute loss. 
 
 One of the chief desires of the Japanese at the present time 
 is to see their export commerce pass from the hands of 
 foreigners, who hold it, into their own ; but they may rest 
 assured that until they improve their business habits they will 
 not succeed in carrying out their object in this direction. 
 
 It has been noticed that during the three years 1896, 1897 
 and 1898 the Japanese imports have been immensely in 
 excess of their exports. This is probably due to the necessity 
 of obtaining plant in great quantities for the immediate increase 
 of the many new industries that have sprung up all over the 
 country in so short a time. This financially has undoubtedly 
 resulted in a distinct loss to the nation. The Chinese War 
 indemnity brought a good deal of gold into the country, but 
 the greater part of it has been expended in augmenting the 
 navy and in the purchase of war materials. Fortunately, trade 
 throughout Japan in 1899 was distinctly flourishing, thanks 
 mainly to the abundance of the crops in the preceding year, 
 and also to a curb having been put on exaggerated industrial 
 activity, whereby, as already intimated, the imports were in 
 excess of the exports, and the danger of a crisis in this direction 
 
 141 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 was averted. This extraordinary commercial development in 
 so remarkably short a period reflects the greatest credit upon 
 the Japanese people, but we must not expect that it will con- 
 tinue progressing without encountering occasional checks, and 
 there are not a few thoughtful people who foresee that the 
 Japanese factories will soon have to compete very seriously with 
 those which have been recently erected in the free ports of 
 China. In this respect it may be remarked that salaries have 
 risen at Shanghai, as well as at Osaka and Tokio. The ac- 
 quisition of the island of Formosa will probably before long 
 enable the Japanese to cultivate cotton and other tropical 
 produce on their own territory, which will, of course, be a 
 great gain to them. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE FINANCES OF JAPAN 
 
 Flourishing condition of Japanese finance on the eve of the war with China 
 — Present Japanese financial problem the result of the important 
 military, naval, and public works undertaken by the Government at 
 the close of the war — Enormous expense of this programme, demand- 
 ing a loan of ;^24,ooo,ooo — Gradual method of paying off this debt in 
 nine instalments — Impossibility of floating the loan on the home 
 market, all Japanese capital being locked up in the various newly- 
 created industries — Debts incurred in connection with the programme 
 of expansion, whereby the ordinary Budget was doubled — Progressive 
 scale of taxation from the present date until 1905 — Absolute necessity 
 of augmenting certain taxes — Projected imposition of increased taxa- 
 tion, especially upon land and on beers, wines, and spirits — Taxation 
 as compared with the population of Japan and other countries — 
 Prospects of Japanese finance. 
 
 Before the war with China, Japanese finance was in a most 
 brilliant condition, and the fiscal year April ist, 1893, March 
 31st, 1894, the close of which preceded hostilities by only a few 
 months and which is the last of which accurate accounts have 
 been published, showed a return of ^8,588,300 ordinary and 
 _;^3i5,9i3 extraordinary revenue, making a total of ^8,904,213, 
 as against ^^8,458, 187 expenditure, the surplus being ;£'446, 026, 
 which on a Budget of ;^io,4oo,ooo was a very creditable but by 
 no means an exceptional result. As a matter of fact, there had 
 been only one deficit, that of 1891-92, resulting from the 
 exceptional expenses incurred by the nation through the 
 disastrous effects of the earthquake of 1891, one of the most 
 terrible on record even in Japan, where these dreadful visitations 
 are of very frequent occurrence. The whole financial tendency 
 of the preceding years is summed up in the statement that 
 at the beginning of the year iSpfi-py ;^3,9oo,ooo, derived from 
 accumulated surpluses, was at the disposal of the Treasury, 
 
 143 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 although ;^2, 300,000 had already been withdrawn from this 
 reserve fund to help in defraying the expenses of the war. 
 
 On the other hand, the National Debt at this period was 
 not higher than ;,^2 8,35o,ooo, of which ;^i,57o,ooo was paper 
 money in circulation. It had therefore diminished since 
 1890-91 by ;^2, 300,000, of which 450,000 was due to the 
 withdrawal of the paper money. These notes had been issued 
 at a period when the new regime was not firmly established, 
 the insurrection at Satsuma still to be suppressed, and the 
 Government unable to obtain cash, even at a very high rate 
 of interest. In 1881 the premium upon silver, the standard 
 currency, had risen to 70 per cent., thanks to the energy of 
 Count Matsukata, the very able Minister of Finance. It fell 
 to 9 per cent, by 1884; in 1886 par was reached. The paper 
 money of the State and the national banks was gradually 
 withdrawn and replaced by notes of the Bank of Japan, payable 
 at sight. In brief, if we compare the figures of the Debt and 
 the Budget with those of the population, 41,500,000, we can 
 only envy the financial situation of Japan on the eve of the war. 
 
 Although the expenses of the Chino-Japanese War, which 
 were partly covered by the indemnity obtained from China and 
 partly by a public loan, undoubtedly checked the progressive 
 prosperity of the country, they had nothing whatever to do with 
 the present financial problem, which has been created by the 
 magnitude of the military, naval, industrial, and commercial 
 enterprises undertaken by the Japanese Government since the 
 close of the war. Between 1895 and 1896 the Government 
 decided to double the strength of the army, by raising the 
 number of divisions from six to twelve (exclusive of the Imperial 
 Guard), and it will now thus muster 150,000, as against 70,000 
 to 75,000 on a peace footing, and 500,000, instead of from 
 270,000 to 280,000, in time of war. The fleet is to be increased 
 from 43 vessels of 78,000 tons, //us 26 torpedo-boats, without a 
 single cruiser, to 67 men-of-war, of which 7 are first-class battle- 
 ships, with a displacement of 258,000 tons, bes;ues ii torpedo- 
 boat destroyers and 115 torpedo-boats. The creation of 
 numerous arsenals and fortifications will eventually complete the 
 programme, but beyond these War Office expenses, very con- 
 siderable sums have been spent in the construction of railways, 
 extension of telegraph-lines, creation of new ports, subventions 
 to the mercantile marine, and in the establishment of a second 
 University at Kioto. The plan of railway extension which 
 
 144 
 
JAPAN 
 
 was decided upon in 1893 by the Diet must be completed 
 according to contract in 1910. The other measures for the 
 augmentation of the army and navy were included in the 
 programme of the Ito Cabinet, which the Chambers accepted 
 immediately after the signing of peace. This extra expenditure 
 is to be disbursed in ten instalments from 1896 to 1906, and 
 some further amendments and additions were made during the 
 Parliamentary Session of 1896-97. The expenses entailed by 
 these extensive schemes, together with the railways, are tabulated 
 below : — 
 
 Navy and arsenals 
 
 
 £ 22 , 6 ^ 0,000 
 
 Army ... ... 
 
 
 8,220,000 
 
 Fortifications ... ... ... 
 
 
 940,000 
 
 Other military expenses ... ^ 
 
 
 680,000 
 
 Railway construction ... ... 
 
 
 7,980,000 
 
 Increase and improvement of lines 
 
 • •• 
 
 2,650,000 
 
 Telephones 
 
 • •• 
 
 1,280,000 
 
 Construction of ports ... ... 
 
 • »4 
 
 790,000 
 
 Defence against floods ... ... .« 
 
 
 1,970,000 
 
 Subventions to banks ... 
 
 • •• 
 
 2,060,000 
 
 Creation of a tobacco monopoly 
 
 • •• 
 
 820,000 
 
 Subventions to various industrie.s, commerce, 
 agriculture, and other public works 
 
 1,460,000 
 
 Total ;^5 1,500,000 
 
 Of this amount ;^32,495,67o was for War Office expenses, 
 and 9,005,406 was intended for the very extensive com- 
 mercial enterprises. 
 
 In 1893 a loan was voted to be issued as and when re- 
 quired to entirely cover the expense of the new railway lines. 
 The indemnity was ;^3o, 000,000, plus ;^4, 100,000 as com- 
 pensation for the retrocession of the Liao-Tung Peninsula, 
 imposed upon Japan by the Russian, French, and German 
 Governments. This latter sum, as well as the first instalment, 
 ^7,500,000, of the indemnity was duly paid into the Japanese 
 Treasury on November 8, 1895 ; the remainder was to be 
 paid by regular instalments on May 8 of each year until 1902. 
 China, however, availed herself of a clause allowing her to 
 pay off the debt at once, and thus escape interest charges, 
 which she did on May 8, 1898. Japanese statesmen had 
 anticipated this act of the Chinese Government, and did 
 not count upon more than ;^34, 100,000. Of this sum 
 ;^8, 000,000 had been debited to the war account, leaving a 
 balance of ;^a6, 100,000. In addition to these amounts, the 
 
 145 I* 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Treasury held the accumulated surpluses, which, on April i, 
 1896, attained ^2^3,900,000, to which ^500,000 must be added 
 as the surplus in the Budget of 1896-97. The difference 
 between the total of these receipts and the anticipated expenses 
 was to be balanced by a loan known as ‘ the loan for State 
 enterprises.’ The following table exhibits the assets for this 
 programme of expansion : 
 
 Chinese indemnity* ... ... ... 
 
 Surpluses of previous Budgets... ... 
 
 Railway loan, ;^7,98o,ooo ... ... 
 
 Loan for State enterprises, ;^I3, 500, 000 
 
 ... ;^26, 100,000 
 
 4,400,000 
 
 21,480,000 
 
 Total ;^’5 1,980,000 
 
 The expenses being ;^5 1,500,000, there would thus remain 
 a surplus of nearly ;^5oo,ooo, thanks to the favourable result 
 of the fiscal year 1896-97. 
 
 Apart from this financial scheme, however, there was still a 
 war charge which had not been foreseen. It had at first been 
 believed that the island of Formosa would be self-supporting, 
 an illusion which was soon dispelled, and the Government had 
 therefore to grant this new acquisition for a period of years a 
 subvention from the Imperial Treasury of about ;;^6oo,ooo, 
 to obtain which various receipts officially described as extra- 
 ordinary, such as voluntary contributions and restitutions, sales 
 of State lands, and interest on divers funds had to be drawn 
 upon. These receipts generally averaged ^200,000, and by 
 the year 1905-6, the time fixed for the conclusion of the expan- 
 sion programme, will have furnished between 500,000 and 
 ;,^i, 800,000 ; for the remainder it will be necessary to have 
 recourse to a loan, and supposing that during this period the 
 subvention of the Japanese Budget to Formosa, which must 
 necessarily diminish year by year, rises to about ^,^4, 000, 000, 
 another loan of between ;^2, 000,000 and ;^2, 500,000 will 
 have to be raised. Japan would therefore have to borrow about 
 ;i^24,ooo,ooo from 1896 97 to meet the extraordinary expenses 
 she had undertaken. On the other hand, when these were met, 
 
 • The Japanese took care to stipulate that the indemnity should be paid 
 in gold at the exchange of the tael in 1895, which allowed them to know 
 exactly on what amount of money they could count, which was of extreme 
 importance to them, Japan having adopted the gold standard, and the 
 greater part of the indemnity being destined to be spent in purchases in 
 Europe and the United States. 
 
 146 
 
JAPAN 
 
 her ordinary Budget still remained greatly augmented by the 
 necessity of maintaining an army and navy double what they 
 were before the war. 
 
 This being the case, two important questions presented 
 themselves. In the first place, was it possible to raise without 
 difficulty a loan of ;^24, 000,000, and from whence was it to be 
 obtained? In the second, was the country sufficiently rich, 
 once the scheme was executed, to maintain this increased 
 expenditure, and by what means would it be able to obtain 
 fresh resources to pay current expenses ? The first question 
 contained the principal difficulty. Not only did Japan need 
 to borrow ;^24,ooo,ooo, but she had to borrow most of this 
 without loss of time. Naturally, the Administration decided 
 to carry out with the least possible delay the essential 
 parts of the programme already determined upon, especially 
 those connected with the national defence, and the Budgets 
 of 1896, 1897, and 1898 were therefore most heavily charged 
 with the extraordinary expenses. The extraordinary Budget 
 of the first year reached 0,300, 00c, that of the second 
 ;^i4,2oo,ooo, that of the third ;j^6,ooo,ooo. In no case, 
 however, could the surpluses of the previous Budgets and 
 the part already paid out of the indemnity (which was 
 ;;^ 2 o, 6 oo,ooo, of which ^8,000,000 had been handed over to 
 the War Office) have sufficed to provide such large amounts. 
 It was therefore necessary to borrow in 1896-97 ^1,830,000, 
 in 1897-98 ;^6,88o,ooo, while in 1898-99 a further issue of 
 ;^4.5oo,ooo had to be made. Now the grave situation which 
 arose was this ; the issues of 1896-97 were readily taken up 
 by the public, but in 1897-98 only a third of the sum needed 
 could be obtained, because the conditions of the market were 
 too unfavourable and disposable capital was lacking. Whereas 
 in the summer of 1897 ^^4, 000, 000 of a 5 per cent. Japanese 
 loan was floated on the London market at par, the Government 
 offered the Japanese people bonds bearing the same interest at 
 94, but they were not placed without much difficulty. 
 
 All the capital in Japan is locked up either in previously 
 contracted State loans or in the innumerable commercial 
 enterprises which have sprung up in the country during the past 
 few years. When we remember that nine-tenths of the 
 p^4o,ooo,ooo, at which the National Debt stood after the war, 
 is in Japanese hands, and that it is with their own money 
 that they have constructed railways and established new in- 
 
 147 L 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 dustries, there is no ground for surprise at this lack of ready 
 capital. In view, however, of the evident impossibility 
 of placing a domestic loan for the sum required, two alterna- 
 tives remained : a foreign loan, or a reduction to more modest 
 proportion of the programme of expansion. 
 
 The result of an appeal to foreign capitalists would no doubt 
 have proved successful if the attractive interest of from 5 to 
 5J per cent, had been offered. Japan offers excellent security. 
 Her finances have hitherto been admirably managed, and her 
 liabilities do not appear to be in excess of the capabilities of 
 her people. Nevertheless, the project of a foreign loan seems 
 to have met with serious opposition from many eminent 
 people in Japan, which arose from a twofold cause: first, fear 
 of compromising the independence of the country by supplying 
 foreigners with a pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of 
 the Empire, in case there was any difficulty in fulfilling obliga- 
 tions ; and, secondly, the national pride, which regarded it as 
 humiliating for Japan to become indebted to Europe. This 
 latter motive was doubtless the most powerful, but it rested 
 upon an altogether exaggerated notion of national dignity. 
 What all the great Powers of the world, except, perhaps, 
 France and England, have done, Japan might do without 
 sacrificing her dignity. The Japanese Government, after long 
 hesitation, in which it perhaps missed the most favourable 
 opportunity, decided in June, 1899, to issue a 4 per cent, loan 
 on the London market at the rate of 90 francs. The high rate 
 of issue did not greatly tempt the public, but that part of the 
 loan not then subscribed will be gradually issued and advanced 
 by the banks which undertook the issue, and thus the Japanese 
 Treasury will find itself in possession of sufficient funds to 
 proceed with its programme until money is more plentiful at 
 home. In the meantime, so far as concerns the honourable 
 intentions of the Japanese to fulfil their obligations, we may 
 rely with safety upon their natural high sense of honour, and 
 rest assured that they will do everything in their power to meet 
 their obligations. Moreover, the resources of Japan, which I 
 will briefly analyze, appear sufficient to enable the country to 
 meet without much difficulty the interest on the loans as well 
 as the permanent expenditure resulting from its greater national 
 importance 
 
 Let us, to begin with, review the principal items in the 
 revenue as tabulated in the Budget of 1897-98 ; 
 
 uS 
 
JAPAN 
 
 Land tax ... 
 
 
 
 ••• 
 
 • •• 
 
 ,^3,870,000 
 
 Income tax 
 
 
 
 
 
 190,000 
 
 Tax on drinks ... 
 
 
 • *« 
 
 
 
 2 , 0 QO,OOO 
 
 „ tobacco ... 
 
 • •• 
 
 
 
 
 310,000 
 
 Registration 
 
 • •• 
 
 • •• 
 
 
 **« 
 
 750,000 
 
 Tax on sales, contracts. 
 
 etc. 
 
 • •• 
 
 *»• 
 
 
 590,000 
 
 Customs ... 
 
 
 
 *»• 
 
 
 660,000 
 
 Various duties 
 
 • •• 
 
 
 »•« 
 
 • •• 
 
 490,000 
 
 Posts and telegraph 
 
 • •• 
 
 • •• 
 
 • •• 
 
 • •• 
 
 1,210,000 
 
 Profits of the State railways 
 
 • •• 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 540,000 
 
 Crown land products 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 290,000 
 
 Other items 
 
 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 250,000 
 
 Receipts from Formosa 
 
 ... 
 
 — 
 
 
 ... 
 
 810,000 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ;^i2,95o,ooo 
 
 This Budget is higher by one-half than that of 1893-94, the 
 total of which we have already given, and whose ordinary 
 receipts did not quite reach 8,600,000. This increase results 
 from four causes : (i) better returns from the public services — 
 railways and posts; (2) a slight increase in the revenue from 
 taxes whose rate has not changed, and also in the Crown lands ; 
 (3) the establishment of two new taxes on registrations and sales, 
 contracts, and other commercial deeds, the aggregate value 01 
 which increased the revenue by about ;^i, 200,000; (4) the 
 reorganization of the tax on drink, increased by ;^i, 150,000, 
 and of that on tobacco, in consequence of this product having 
 been converted into a monopoly, the effects, however, of which 
 were not felt in 1897 98, for it only came into force in January, 
 1 898. To these we must add the receipts from Formosa, which, 
 unfortunately, are not net receipts. The total revenue for the 
 fiscal year 1897-98 was 2,950,000, and exceeded ordinary 
 expenses by j£6oo,ooo ; but these figures will undoubtedly be 
 greatly augmented when the programme of expansion is com- 
 pleted. It is calculated that by the year 1904-5 the ordinary 
 expenses will stand as high as 7,300,000, in order to meet 
 which it will be necessary to raise another ;^4,4oo,ooo by 
 increased taxation. 
 
 Taxation in Japan has a natural tendency to increase. 
 During the years 1887-94 the annual rise was between and 
 ij per cent, at a time, when it was not affected by any un- 
 usual excitement. This was before the war. Assuming that 
 it only advances at the rate of f per cent., it is expected that 
 by the year 1904-5 the increase will add ^^500,000 to the 
 ;^9,8oo,ooo of 1897-98. On the other hand, the Customs 
 
 149 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 tariff, which was kept exceedingly low by the treaties with 
 foreign Powers, has risen in consequence of the revision of 
 these treaties, and, it is hoped, will produce an increase of 
 600 , 000 . The tobacco monopoly will also, it is anticipated, 
 produce ;^8oo,ooo per annum, an absolute increase of 
 ;^5oo,ooo on the existing returns. There remains, therefore, 
 ;z^ 2 , 8 oo,ooo to find, which will doubtlessly be obtained from 
 the increased receipts of the posts, telegraph, and tele- 
 phones, and by the extension of the State railways now in 
 existence, and the exploitation of those in process of construc- 
 tion. 
 
 The recent excessive activity in commercial circles has 
 suffered a check of late, a halt not very surprising after 
 such a forced march. In the meantime, there is some risk 
 that the returns of the posts and railways may not increase 
 as rapidly as the more sanguine anticipate, for the new rail- 
 ways are not likely to prove as profitable as those already in 
 existence, which pass through richer regions. During the 
 interval 1892-96 the net railway returns to the State, without 
 including any remarkable increase in the lengths of their lines, 
 was doubled. By the year 1904 it is calculated that there will 
 be 1,250 miles of rail instead of the 600 in 1897, which it is 
 estimated will yield an increase of ^^550, 000 upon the present 
 returns. As to the posts, telegraph, and telephones, whose rough 
 receipts were augmented by about 80 per cent, during the last 
 four years, there is every reason to believe that they will in 
 1904-5 be _;;^85 o,ooo above what they are at present. Thus we 
 have ;Ji, 400,000 added to the necessary ;£'2, 800,000. The re- 
 maining p^i,4oo,ooo will have to be taken from various other 
 sources of taxation. The question now arises : Will the country 
 stand further taxation without protest ? The answer seems to 
 me reassuring. The land tax before the Restoration and even 
 to the close of the seventeenth century, as can be verified by 
 reference to many important historical documents, was seven 
 times more burdensome than it is at present, and was paid in 
 kind — in rice, or other kindred products — and yielded to the 
 daimios and the Central Government 147,000,000 bushels of 
 rice per annum. At the price fetched by rice in 1897, when 
 the harvest returned a fair average, the land tax should now 
 represent about a sixth of this amount, and the total 
 Budget of .5^17,300,000 anticipated for the year 1894-95 only 
 claimed 93,100,000 bushels. If we add to these all the 
 
 150 
 
JAPAN 
 
 provincial and communal Budgets, we find not more than 
 127,400,000 bushels of rice. It is therefore untrue that the 
 Japanese are not better off to-day than they were under the old 
 regime. Since the introduction of the present financial con- 
 ditions and the abolition of the feudal system, prices have in- 
 creased enormously. From 1887 to 1897, according to the 
 Monthly Returns published by the Bank of Japan, on the returns 
 of about forty principal products of the Empire, we find that 
 they have increased in value by no less than 73 per cent. 
 Salaries have augmented even to a greater extent, and the popu- 
 lation has risen 4,000,000, so that an addition of 45 per cent, 
 upon the taxes leaves the taxpayer less heavily burdened than 
 before. The most important of all these taxes may strike us 
 as distinctly heavy, but we must not forget that in former times 
 it was the only form of taxation. In those good old days nine- 
 tenths of the population lived in the country, which was divided 
 up among the daimios, the peasantry being their tenants ; but at 
 the abolition of the feudal system the peasants, under the new 
 law, became proprietors, without having to pay a fraction either 
 to their former masters or to the Government. 
 
 In 1896 the agricultural produce of Japan was valued at 
 ;^62, 600,000, exclusive of the produce of the fens, which, 
 however, is very important. The land taxes, therefore, at 
 ;^ 3 , 8 oo,ooo are only 5 6 per cent., and the local land tax 2‘8 
 per cent of this total. All this is not excessive. 
 
 Finally, the land tax includes ;^352,5oo derived from the tax 
 on urban building land, which pays 12s. per acre, only four 
 times as much as the rice-fields, and should easily return from 
 j^2oo,ooo to _;^30o,ooo more. As regards the total of the 
 land tax, it was decreased by one-sixth in 1877 ; an equivalent 
 increase would bring in a return of about ^600,000 more, and 
 this could be effected without much inconvenience, owing to 
 the general increase in the value of property. The tax on sa^e, 
 the principal drink of the country, was raised in 1897 about 
 one-half. It would bear augmentation, as at present it pays 
 5d. per gallon on a drink which is worth is. 3d. a gallon. In 
 general, the Japanese financiers prefer to raise existing taxes 
 rather than establish new ones. If we study the question 
 from another point of view, and examine how best to in- 
 crease Japanese taxes, let us consider the Budget as it will be 
 five years hence, after the necessary taxes already mentioned 
 have been added to it. Of the 17,300,000 of the Revenue, 
 
 151 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 ;j^3, 400,000 will be derived from Crown lands, railways, and 
 posts, ^850,000 from Formosa, and ;^i3, 000,000 from mono- 
 polies and taxes paid by Japan proper. The population, 
 increasing as it does at the rate of 350,000 to 400,000 souls 
 a year, will have reached 45.500,000, contributing to the 
 State at the rate of 13,000,000, or about 5s. gd. per head, 
 which does not seem to us excessive when compared with 
 what is paid by people of other countries. A Frenchman, for 
 instance, pays an Italian i 12s., a Russian 12s. 9d., an 
 Egyptian i6s. gd., and a Hindu 3s. gd. I have not selected 
 these nationalities haphazard, but because each of them has 
 some special characteristic in common with Japan, especially 
 Egypt, essentially an agricultural country. I do not thinx that 
 anybody can maintain that an Italian, as a rule, is five or six 
 times richer than a Japanese, or an Egyptian three times, or 
 that the 130,000,000 of Russians, 20,000,000 of whom are 
 Asiatics, possess incomes double the average to be found in 
 Japan, and there is no doubt an immense inverse difference 
 between a Hindu and a Japanese. Bearing in mind these 
 facts, one must certainly conclude that the amount which the 
 Jap will pay to his Treasury is considerably lighter than that 
 obtained from almost every people in the Old World. With 
 regard to the National Debt, five-sixths of which is held 
 by natives, at the present moment it does not exceed 
 _p^4o,ooo.ooo, but it will reach its maximum in 1901, when it 
 will stand at ;i^49, 930, 000. The annual repayment stands at 
 present at ^^720,000, but will increase to ^£^1,000,000 in 1903, 
 and go on augmenting, so that by 1938, unless fresh obligations 
 are incurred beyond those already in view, Japan will be free 
 of debt. 
 
 The financial difficulties confronting Japan at the present 
 moment are therefore not so formidable as they appear. In 
 1899 the Chamber increased the land tax, which it had pre- 
 viously very persistently refused to do. At the same time it 
 raised the tax on sa/^e and on the posts. The Budget of ordi- 
 nary receipts was therefore advanced to ;^i9,ooo,ooo. This 
 figure may appear excessive, but it shows a surplus of 
 ;^4,ooo,ooo on the actual expenses, a fact which indicates the 
 intention of the Government to pay off as soon as possible the 
 extraordinary expenses of the Ito programme, which means 
 that these increased taxations are to be considered merely as 
 temporary. They may possibly impede commerce at first, a 
 
JAPAN 
 
 thing which, unfortunately, cannot be helped, but, at any rate, 
 the future will be considerably benefited thereby. The finances 
 of Japan have, happily, always been managed in a highly satis- 
 factory and prudent manner, and if the Empire carries out the 
 present plan of expansion, and does not embark on any fresh 
 schemes involving further outlay, Japan seems to have found 
 a clear way out of the transient difficulties which at one time 
 weighed upon her finances. 
 
 153 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE DOMESTIC POLITICS AND PARLIAMENT OF JAPAN 
 
 Present social organization — The nobles, or kwazoku ; the shizoku, or 
 ancient samurai ; and the heimin — Equal civil rights for all citizens — 
 Preponderance of the samurai in politics since the Restoration — 
 Survival of the clan spirit — ^Japan governed during the past thirty 
 years by the Choshiu and Satsuma clans — Creation in 1889 of a Con- 
 stitution modelled on that of Prussia — Parliamentary struggles against 
 Cabinets governed by Southern clans — Frequent crises and dissolutions 
 — A Ministerial crisis in Japan — Efforts of the Chamber to impose 
 Ministerial responsibility and to replace the Government of clans by 
 that of parties — Signs of improvement in the working of the repre- 
 sentative system — Its prospects in Japan. 
 
 We have now to study the least praiseworthy of the many 
 institutions borrowed from Europe by modern Japan, that 
 relating to the home politics of the country, which are very 
 unsettled. Since 1889, when the Mikado, in fulfilment of the 
 promise made to his people at the Restoration, first granted a 
 Constitution analogous to that of Prussia, the Chambers have 
 been dissolved not less than five times. A constant anta- 
 gonism has existed between the representatives of the people 
 and the various Cabinets which have succeeded each other ; 
 and if we except the time of the Chinese War, when the 
 patriotism of the Japanese was so intense as to absorb even 
 party feeling, we shall find that no Cabinet has been able to 
 dispose of an important majority. In order to understand this 
 state of affairs, we must recall the manner in which the Restora- 
 tion took place, bearing in mind the actual social organization 
 of Japan, and also the fact that the clan instinct has survived 
 both class prejudice and feudal privileges, which were sup- 
 pressed without the least opposition or regret. 
 
 Twenty-five years have now elapsed since the abolition of 
 the old regime, and in the meantime the feudal system has been 
 
 154 
 
JAPAN 
 
 replaced, primarily by a centralized and absolute monarchy, and 
 now by Parliamentary representation modelled on the European 
 plan. The eighty odd historical provinces have become forty- 
 five departments, each administered by a Prefect. The people 
 are, however, still divided into three distinct classes : the 
 aristocracy, or kwazoku, formed of a fusion of the ancient 
 daimios with the kuges, or Court nobles, and of the shin- 
 kwazoku, or newly ennobled persons (in all 644 families, con- 
 sisting of about 4,162 persons); the shizoku, or ancient 
 samurai (numbering 432,458 families, or 2,049,144 persons); 
 and finally the heimin, or commoners ; but apart from the 
 predominance of the nobility in the composition of the Chamber 
 of Peers* no privileges have been granted either to them or to 
 the shizoku: their duties are exactly the same as those of 
 any other members. From the social point of view we shall, 
 however, very soon find that far less exclusiveness exists in this 
 country, where feudalism was in full force only so recently as 
 thirty years ago, than we should in many in Europe, where its 
 abolition dates back in some instances several centuries. A 
 Japanese gentleman recently said to me : ‘ In Japan we never 
 dream of asking a person the first time we see him to what 
 class he belongs.’ I dare say some time-honoured privileges 
 still linger in their inner circle, and that a few old-fashioned 
 noblemen do consider themselves superior to the heimin, but 
 they take great care not to display any such feeling. One 
 meets members of the Japanese aristocracy in every public 
 resort and place of amusement, and they mingle without the 
 least hesitation with the rest of the public. I remember one 
 day at Tokio being present at a wrestling match, a very 
 favourite sport with the Japanese. Someone pointed out to 
 
 me Prince K , the President of the House of Peers, seated 
 
 among the crowd on one of the steps of the ring. The 
 Marquis H— — , the descendent of a great family of daimios, 
 was also present, as well as the Marquis Tokukawa, who is an 
 ardent admirer of the sport and belongs to the family of the 
 Shoguns, to have merely looked upon a member of which a 
 generation or so back would have cost a man of the people his 
 life. These gentlemen appeared to thoroughly enjoy the 
 
 * Many of the daimios, whose personal property was very small, are now 
 extremely poor. The largest fortunes in Japan are those of the merchants 
 and bankers, who under the old regime used to hide their wealth to avoid 
 taxation. 
 
 15s 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 entertainment, and evidently thought very little or nothing at 
 all of their former exclusiveness. 
 
 Although the highest positions in the Government are open 
 to all, they have hitherto always remained in the hands of the 
 samurai. Just as immediately after the Restoration, so to- 
 day the country is governed by members of this very numer- 
 ous and intelligent gentry. All the successive Ministers, the 
 majority of whom have been ennobled, even made kwazoku, 
 have sprung from its ranks. The same may be said of all 
 the high officials, and, with very few exceptions, of the majority 
 of the smaller employes of the Government, even down to 
 the very police agents and the vast majority of the military 
 and naval officers. This is not surprising when we remember 
 that the samurai constituted before the Restoration not only 
 the military, but also the student and literary class. Even 
 now the greater number of the students at the University are 
 recruited from among them, and as a proof that a sort of 
 special respect is still entertained for them, they form the 
 majority of the members of the Lower House, although they 
 only possess one-twentieth of the voting power of the country. 
 The mass of the Japanese people may be described as caring 
 very little about public affairs ; and it is, after all, perhaps as 
 well that the political and administrative affairs of such a new 
 country should be in the hands of a distinct and cultured 
 class. This is, however, merely a transitory state of affairs, not a 
 privilege. It is already observed that the proportion of the 
 heinmi in all public offices, even in the army, tends to increase 
 rapidly. 
 
 The only marked feature of the former regime which still 
 survives the many social changes that have recently taken place 
 in Japan is the clan spirit, which is as strong to-day as ever. 
 The bond which united the followers of a former feudal prince 
 among themselves still subsists, although the prince himself 
 may have fallen almost to the level of his clansmen. The 
 men who have up to the present governed modern Japan 
 have always belonged to southern clans, especially to those of 
 Choshiu and Satsuma ; the two others, Hizen and Tosa, are 
 less united, and although certain imitortant political person- 
 ages are of their number, they have had to fight their way 
 to the front rather by dint of hard work than through any 
 clan influence. The influential combination formed by the 
 first-named clans, and unitedly known as the Sat-Cho, holds in 
 
 156 
 
JAPAN 
 
 its hands the reins of administration, rules the army, and makes 
 its influence felt even more strongly in the navy. Their politics, 
 however, are not quite identical. Those of the Satsuma, for 
 instance, are usually believed to be rather more conservative 
 and authoritative than otherwise, and it is from its ranks that 
 are recruited the majority of the military party. The men of 
 the Choshiu, on the other hand, are more progressive and more 
 subtle, but they are also accused of being too fond of money. 
 The chiefs of these clans appear to understand each other 
 sufficiently well to establish a sort of balance of power between 
 themselves, occasionally collaborating in a Cabinet, at other 
 times succeeding each other as distinct Ministries. In the 
 rank and file there is considerable rivalry, positions and 
 honours being more liberally distributed among the followers 
 of those in power. During the earlier part of my visit to Japan, 
 under the last Premier, Count Matsukata, the Satsuma clan 
 was in the ascendant, and to give some idea of its influence 
 all I need say is that the Minister of Finance, the President 
 of the Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Home 
 Minister, and the Minister of War and Marine — in short, the 
 five most important Ministers out of eight — were of their 
 number, and a sixth was a prominent member of the Choshiu, 
 their allied clan. Now the provinces of Yamaguchi and Kago- 
 shima, which are the home of these two clans, contain only 
 one out of the forty-two million inhabitants of the entire 
 Empire. It is therefore not surprising that people in other 
 parts of the country should complain of having so small a share 
 in the Government. Imagine France ruled exclusively for 
 thirty years by Provengaux ! It would only be natural that such 
 a state of affairs should lead to great dissatisfaction throughout 
 the Republic. 
 
 So long as Japan remained an absolute monarchy, in which 
 the Legislature was concentrated within a narrow circle, the 
 Choshiu and Satsuma Ministries succeeded each other without 
 any noisy opposition ; but when in 1890 Parliamentary 
 Government was established, an immediate collision occurred 
 between the Lower Chamber, which is composed of repre- 
 sentatives from all parts of the country,* and the Cabinet, 
 
 * The Japanese Parliament is composed of two Chambers — the House 
 of Lords, or Peers, to which belong (i) the Princes of the Blood (13) ; 
 (2) all the Princes and Marquises (40) ; (3) such representatives as are 
 elected for seven years by the Counts, Viscounts, and Barons (123) ; 
 
 157 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 dominated by the Sat-Cho combination. Although according 
 to the Constitution, analogous to that of Prussia, the Ministers 
 are not responsible to the Chambers, but to the Emperor alone, 
 and although the Budget of the current year, if the finance 
 bill is not voted in due time, becomes by law that of the fol- 
 lowing year also, the irreconcilable opposition which manifested 
 itself from the beginning greatly embarrassed the first Matsukata 
 Ministry in 1891 and 1892, and the Ito Ministry which suc- 
 ceeded it. This latter, whose plans for the extension of the 
 Navy were obstinately rejected by the Chamber, twice dissolved 
 it : in December, 1893, and again in May, 1894. After the war 
 patriotic feeling ran so high that people cared very little about 
 the Government and its measures, and projected laws were 
 adopted without the least opposition ; but when affairs began 
 to settle down it was otherwise. In 1897 and 1898 there were 
 two dissolutions, and in the latter year the Ministry in power 
 was the ninth since December, 1885, and the seventh since the 
 establishment of the Parliamentary system. This gives an 
 average of about two years for each Cabinet, and even less 
 for the Chamber, of which not one has yet attained its legal 
 term. 
 
 The reason for this persistent conflict is due in the first place 
 to the popular assembly being hostile to the Government of 
 the clansmen, and in the second because it is displeased that 
 the Ministers are not responsible to it. Whilst professing the 
 greatest respect for the Emperor, the Chamber considers that 
 the Government should possess a Parliamentary majority in 
 
 (4) members who are nominated for life by the Emperor (too) ; {5) members 
 elected, one for each department, and selected from among the fifteen more 
 important personages of the department over thirty years of age (45). The 
 Chamber of Deputies is composea of 300 members, one for every 128,000 
 inhabitants, and is elected by all Japanese subjects over twenty-five years 
 of age who have resided in an electoral district for a term of twelve months, 
 and who pay 30s. direct taxes. To be elected, the candidate must be over 
 thirty years of age and fulfil the same conditions as above. The heads of 
 noble families can neither be electors nor elected to the Lower Chamber. 
 In 1895 there were 467,887 voters (ii per 1,000 inhabitants), and in all 
 517,130 persons (12 per i,ooo), paying more than 30s. direct taxes. 
 Among the first class there were 21,070, and among the second class 25,405 
 shizoku, or ancient samurai, from which fact we may take it for granted 
 that there are fewer rich men among the ancient samurai than among the 
 rest of the population. As to the nobles, so-called kwazoku, at least a third 
 of the heads of noble families pay less than 30s. The proportion of shizoku 
 among those having the right of vote is less than 5 per cent. 
 
 158 
 
JAPAN 
 
 order to retain power. It, moreover, complains of a certain 
 lack of respect, Ministers rarely troubling to appear before 
 it, and that it is seldom, if ever, addressed by any but high 
 functionaries, appointed Government Commissioners for 
 matters within their several departments. In a word, there 
 exists considerable friction in the popular assembly against 
 this state of affairs, which reduces it to the position of a mere 
 debating society. 
 
 Now, all successive Cabinets have resolutely refused to 
 consider the Lower Chamber in any other light, which gave 
 rise to some curious incidents during the Ministerial and 
 Parliamentary crisis of December, 1897, and January, 1898, 
 which I had the good fortune to witness. The Cabinet, per- 
 suaded that the majority was hostile to it, determined to avoid 
 even the semblance of dependence upon the Chamber, and 
 therefore did not wait for the passing of a vote of censure, 
 but dissolved the Chamber and offered their own resignation 
 to the Emperor, to whom alone they considered themselves 
 responsible. 
 
 Consequently, on December 24th the Emperor, accord- 
 ing to custom, came in person to read the Speech from the 
 Throne to the two united Chambers, who forthwith voted 
 the usual answer. These two documents were very short, and 
 the second, containing merely protestations of respect and 
 loyalty, was unanimously adopted. On the morrow, scarcely 
 had the order of the day been read and certain financial 
 projects of the Government presented, than the doyen of the 
 Chamber, Mr. Suzuki, asked leave to speak, and proposed the 
 amendment, so as to enable the House to discuss a vote of 
 censure. This amendment, which did not come as a surprise, 
 being unanimously passed, the same gentleman returned imme- 
 diately to the tribune and read out the following resolution, 
 
 ‘ That the Chamber of Deputies declares it has no confidence 
 in the present Ministry,’ whereupon somebody presented a 
 folded paper to the President, who silenced the speaker by 
 announcing that he had just received an Imperial rescript, the 
 tenor of which he informed the Chamber was as follows : 
 ‘In virtue of Article 3 of the Imperial Constitution, We hereby 
 ordain that the Chamber of Deputies be dissolved forth- 
 with.’ The House rose, having met for only seven minutes, 
 and simultaneously the Upper House was prorogued. Two 
 days later, on the 27th, the Emperor received the resignation 
 
 159 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 of Count Matsukata and his colleagues. On the evening of 
 the same day the Marquis I to, who had already twice been 
 Premier, in 1886 88 and in 1892-96, and who is certainly the 
 best known living Japanese statesman, was summoned to the 
 palace. At first he hesitated about accepting the leadership 
 of the Government under such very difficult circumstances, 
 especially with respect to foreign affairs, Japan being at that 
 time at the acute stage of her Chinese question, while home 
 matters were embarrassed by several economical and financial 
 obstructions of a very serious character, but nevertheless, the 
 Marquis finally accepted. After ten days’ fruitless negotia- 
 tions, he was obliged to give up his difficult task ; but he was 
 able, however, by the 12th of January to compose another 
 Cabinet containing some excellent names, but it was a clan 
 Ministry, including four Choshius and two Satsumas. In June 
 he was obliged to dissolve Parliament, and the Ito Cabinet 
 had to give way to another, formed under the Presidency 
 of Count Okuma, a statesman of very progressive views, which 
 may be described as the only genuine Parliamentary Cabinet 
 Japan has yet known. The new Cabinet was not composed 
 from a single party, but by a coalition of the two already 
 existing, and leagued against the clans. It lasted but a short 
 time, and towards the end of 1898 the Satsuma and Choshiu 
 parties returned to office under the Premiership of Marshal 
 Yamagata. 
 
 As in the case of the clans, the parties are formed of 
 groups of persons and interests. They have no defined pro- 
 grammes, but are constantly changing their views, and are mere 
 cliques surrounding one or two influential politicians who 
 aspire to replace the clan in office merely for the sake of the 
 advantages to be obtained, and to be able to distribute posts 
 among their relatives and friends. In the Parliament which 
 was dissolved in 1897 by Count Matsukata the most im- 
 portant of these groups was that of the ‘ Progressives,’ in- 
 cluding some 90 to 95 members out of 300 ; then came the 
 ‘Liberals,’ with about 80 adherents; then the ‘National 
 Unionists,’ 25 to 30 ; and, lastly, some twenty other sub- 
 divisions, besides the ‘ Independents.’ The Progressives are 
 more consistent, possibly because they have only been in exist- 
 ence since 1896. The Liberals, although the oldest group, have 
 almost completely lost their influence and cohesion during the 
 last two or three years. 
 
JAPAN 
 
 If you question a Japanese about the programmes of these 
 different parties he will give very vague answers, and, for 
 the matter of that, they are hardly distinguishable one from 
 another. The demands presented by the Progressives to Count 
 Matsukata in the autumn of 1897 were formulated in the 
 vaguest terms, and confined to generalities, such as reforms in 
 the administration, a magnanimous system of government, etc. 
 The National Unionists are somewhat conservative in their 
 tendencies, but their programme is also extremely nebulous. 
 On one point, however, everybody seems agreed, and that is a 
 horror of any attempt to increase taxation, and not even the 
 most seductive of projects will induce the Chamber to budge 
 an inch in this direction — an economical consistency which is 
 a distinct virtue considering the youth and inexperience of the 
 Japanese House of Representatives. 
 
 The influential politicians do not forma part of the Chamber, 
 nearly all of them having been ennobled, and, what is more, 
 with one exception, they are not avowed chiefs of any 
 party. If Count Itagaki, an old Radical, is the official leader 
 of the Liberals, Count Okuma, by far the most original states- 
 man in the Empire, does not profess to be the leader of the 
 Progressives, although he is extremely intimate with them. 
 Neither does Marshal Yamagata openly declare his influence 
 over the National Unionists. This action on the part of those 
 who in any other country would be popularly known as leaders 
 of the various parties undoubtedly weakens the influence of 
 the several groups in the Japanese Parliament. As to the re- 
 presentatives of the two clans in power in the House, needless 
 to say, the feeling of clanship carries all before it, even party 
 interests. Three Satsuma deputies who belong to the Pro- 
 gressives immediately withdrew when this party in a prelim 
 inary meeting declared opposition to the Matsukata Ministry. 
 
 The men of the Southern clans have now governed Japan 
 for over thirty years, and governed her well. The able and 
 energetic statesmen of the first days of the Restoration have 
 been succeeded by others of equal ability, and of the same 
 school. They are surrounded, however, by a bureaucracy 
 which existed in Japan even in the days of the last Shoguns, 
 and closely resembles that of Prussia, which, although arro- 
 gant, is highly educated and progressive. They are sup- 
 ported by a powerful and well-disciplined army, a navy whose 
 officers are for the most part members of the same clans as the 
 
 161 M 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Ministers, and the heads of the Civil Service. These men 
 have led their country happily through a series of unexampled 
 changes, transforming her from a feudal to a modern State 
 administered on advanced principles. They have placed her 
 in an excellent financial position, they have covered her 
 with military glory, and have assured her a period of extra- 
 ordinary prosperity and economic development. These ob- 
 servations force themselves upon the impartial spectator who 
 visits Japan with the object of studying the remarkable progress 
 she has made in so surprisingly short a time. 
 
 It is impossible not to feel some anxiety lest affairs should 
 be wrenched from the hands of such experienced statesmen as 
 those of the Satsuma and the Choshiu clans, only to be 
 scrambled for among the groups into which the Chamber is at 
 present divided. This, however, need not make us despair 
 of the success of Parliamentary Government in Japan. We 
 must not forget that the British Parliament was not shaped in 
 a day, and that in all countries in which this particular form of 
 government has been accepted many years have had to elapse 
 before it attained anything approaching perfection, and it is 
 but natural that Japan should go through the same experience. 
 To be just, however, considerable progress has lately been 
 made in the right direction. The parties which possess 
 any kind of adhesion have occasionally participated more or 
 less directly in the Government. Marquis Ito brought Count 
 Itagaki into the Cabinet of 1895, at the end of his Ministry 
 was himself supported in the Chamber by the Liberals. Then, 
 again, in 1896 Count Matsukata came into power in company 
 with Count Okuma, favoured by the Progressives. Throughout 
 the whole of the Session of 1896-97, thanks to their support 
 and to that of the secondary groups, the Government pos- 
 sessed a decided majority which did honour to the political 
 acumen of the Ministers and to the wisdom of the members. 
 Unfortunately, in the autumn of 1897 the Progressives grew 
 tired of a Cabinet which did not fulfil its promises, and with- 
 drew, carrying with them Count Okuma ; but this attempt 
 showed on the one hand that the Government had recognised 
 the importance of an understanding with a party, and on the 
 other that such an understanding possessed some staying power. 
 Since the month of October, 1898, the Yamagata Ministry has 
 had to deal with a very reasonable Parliament, which has un- 
 hesitatingly passed those laws which were required to extricate 
 
 162 
 
JAPAN 
 
 the country from its financial difficulties, and also divers 
 measures necessitated by recently concluded treaties with Euro- 
 pean Powers. All this seems to indicate that under certain grave 
 circumstances the Japanese Parliament is quite capable of 
 rising to the occasion, and possesses the great quality, as I have 
 said once before, of a spirit of economy often, unfortunately, 
 absent from the more experienced Parliaments of Europe. 
 If the Japanese Parliament ever returns to its old turbulent and 
 boisterous humours, and insists upon governing instead of con- 
 trolling. and if its irreconcilable Opposition incurs the risk of com- 
 promising the interests of the country, it is not at all improbable 
 that the Constitution may be seriously embarrassed by a series 
 of crises, but at present there is not much chance of exceptional 
 measures creating any serious trouble. If the voters of Japan 
 are apt to display an over-exuberance at elections, this is due 
 in the main to the fact that they are new to their business, and 
 moreover they form but a very small proportion of the popu- 
 lation. The masses are absolutely indifferent to political 
 agitation. The newspapers, which are read in the towns, make 
 but slight reference to politics, and are mainly filled with 
 gossip, novels and anecdotes, while to the vast majority of the 
 people the Emperor is still a demi-god, and the last thing the 
 commercial classes would approve would be a series of riotous 
 scenes in the Chamber. 
 
 163 
 
 M 2 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 japan’s foreign policy and her military power 
 
 The military forces of Japan — The part they may play in the Far East — 
 Japanese army and navy — Excellent qualities and sound instruction of 
 the troops — Remarkable power of organization displayed during the 
 war with China — Importance of a Japanese alliance for the Powers 
 interested in China — The feeling of Japan towards foreign countries — 
 Her conservative policy in China since the war — Her policy hostile to 
 Russia and favourable to England — The Korean Question — Motives 
 which might lessen her feeling of hostility towards Russia — Japan the 
 champion of the integiity of the Celestial Empire. 
 
 The Japanese Parliament having voted the necessary funds for 
 carrying out the programme of military, naval and economic 
 expansion which was formulated by the Government after the 
 Chino-Japanese War, the Empire will have, as we have already 
 seen, without mentioning new railways and other public works, 
 an army of 150,000 men on a peace footing, instead of from 
 70,000 to 75,000, and will be able to send into the field 500,000 
 men instead of from 270,000 to 280,000 men. Her fleet will 
 be increased to 67 men-of-war, of 258,000 tons, ii torpedo- 
 boat destroyers, and 1 15 torpedo-boats, instead of the 33 vessels 
 of 63,000 tonnage and 26 torpedo-boats she had before the war 
 with China. 
 
 It is not expected that the completion of this programme 
 of defence will take place before 1905 as regards the navy, 
 and 1903 with respect to the army. As the matter stands, 
 however, more than half the work is finished. Of the 
 ;^2 1,300,000 voted to defray the expenses of the augmenta- 
 tion of the navy, which includes arsenals, docks, etc., it was 
 stipulated that _;^i 3,300,000 was to be disbursed before 
 April 1st, 1899, and ;^3, 400,000 more between that date 
 and April ist, 1900. The lengthy opposition made by the 
 
 164 
 
JAPAN 
 
 Parliament with regard to the raising of taxes and foreign loans 
 possibly may have retarded the works a little, especially those 
 which have been executed in Japan ; but the foreign orders 
 have been fulfilled, and the Mikado’s navy is now in possession 
 of nearly all the new vessels contracted for. The completion of 
 at least three out of the five arsenals is also far advanced. The 
 same may be said of the army. Of the ;^7, 900,000 demanded 
 for its increase, ;^4,2oo,ooo was spent before April, 1896, and 
 000,000 between that date and April, 1900. It may be well 
 to remind my readers that when everything is completed the 
 army will consist of twelve divisions instead of six, exclusive 
 of the Imperial Guard. Three of these new divisions were 
 completed when I was in Japan in 1898. 
 
 What constitutes the great importance of the Japanese factor 
 in the Far East, and consequently throughout the world — the 
 question of the Far East dominating all others — is that her 
 military and maritime forces are on the spot. I'he Japanese 
 navy would be respectable under any circumstances, for it is 
 equal to that of either Italy or Germany ; but it should be 
 remembered that the Western nations cannot leave their coasts 
 and their colonies unprotected, and consequently can only 
 send a secondary portion of their maritime force, otherwise 
 scattered throughout the world, into Chinese waters. It follows 
 therefore that no other European Power, excepting perhaps 
 England, could bring into these waters in case of war a fleet 
 in any way comparable with that of the Mikado.* 
 
 What has been said of the naval power may be repeated with 
 still greater emphasis of the military. It is needless to recall 
 the diflficulties to 'oe overcome in transporting, notwithstanding 
 the immense size of vessels now in use, even a single army 
 corps to the Far East, the long and minute preparations 
 necessary for such an enterprise, or the perils that are likely to 
 be encountered, unless the sending Power is absolute mistress 
 of the sea. Japan, thanks to her railways and Inland Sea, can 
 now in a few days concentrate her whole army where no hostile 
 vessel dare pursue it, in the island of Kiu-Siu, 125 miles from 
 the coast of Korea, barely 500 miles from the mouth of the 
 Yang-tsze-Kiang, a distance equalling that between Marseilles 
 and Algiers, and 625 miles from the Bay of Pe-chili, and 
 
 * In normal times, before the exceptional augmentation of the effective 
 resulting ^Tom the events of 1898, England had in the Far East only 
 twenty-six vessels, and even now her fleet is still inferior to that of Japan. 
 
 165 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 940 miles from the entrance to the Pei -ho, the river which 
 flows to Peking. It could, therefore, in a few days after the 
 declaration of war land in China and especially in Korea such 
 a force as no European Power, excepting Russia, once the 
 Trans-Siberian line is finished, could introduce in so short a 
 time.* Since her fleet can easily protect her own territory, she 
 need keep only a part of her reserves at home. 
 
 We have already seen that in the struggle with China, Japan, 
 with her naval and military forces, easily overcame that rather 
 contemptible enemy. It was evident that in this campaign 
 the Japanese displayed remarkable organizing ability, and that 
 the whole working of the delicate machinery of transports, 
 ambulances, commissariat, etc., was admirably managed. This 
 is a great point in their favour, especially when we remember 
 that a similar compliment could not be paid to many a 
 European expedition sent out against enemies less redoubtable 
 than the Chinese. Even the English, after observing the 
 manoeuvres of the Japanese squadron during the Chino-Japanese 
 War, did not hesitate to praise their excellence ; and the 
 military attaches who followed the Korean and Manchurian 
 campaign expressed themselves equally impressed by the 
 Japanese army. 
 
 The courage of the Japanese cannot be questioned. They 
 have proved it in their long and bloody feudal wars, and, again, 
 only twenty years ago, during the insurrection in Satsuma. Their 
 patriotism is equally sincere, for they are the only Orientals 
 among whom this sentiment exists, and with them it easily 
 rises to fanaticism. The endurance of their troops is extra- 
 ordinary. The subjects of the Mikado are unquestionably the 
 best pedestrians in the world ; and it needs no strain on the 
 imagination to realize what must be the excellence of the 
 infantry of a country whose peasantry use no cattle to draw 
 their waggons, and who pass their winter months in making 
 pilgrimages to distant sanctuaries in their own and in neigh- 
 bouring provinces. 
 
 In Japan two men think nothing of dragsiing a jinrikisha 
 sixty miles in twelve hours, taking only two for rest, and re- 
 commencing their journey the next day quite fresh. A Japanese 
 battalion has been known to march twenty-five to thirty miles 
 in a day, knapsack on back, without leaving any stragglers 
 
 * At the present time the Russian troops in Manchuria and the Lower 
 Amur do not exceed 60,000 men. 
 
 166 
 
JAPAN 
 
 behind. The instruction of the soldiers — cavalry, perhaps, ex- 
 cepted — is excellent, and they learn very quickly. 1 have 
 watched the manoeuvres of some recruits who had only been 
 six weeks in the regiment, and, although they had never in 
 their lives been in European dress before, they wore their 
 uniforms much more easily than many of our young soldiers. 
 The Japanese are, moreover, excellent shots. 
 
 The raw material of the Japanese army is, therefore, exceed- 
 ingly good. It is provided with first-class guns and cannon, 
 and as the navy is com.posed of vessels built by the best 
 builders in Europe and America, according to the latest 
 models, it goes without saying that the artillery is worthy of 
 the vessels which convey it. The staff may possibly not attain 
 the same high standard as the rank and file, but this is difficult 
 to pronounce upon, the data not being sufficient to assist us in 
 forming a correct opinion. It seems, however, that it has been 
 accused of lacking decision, and also of being too much under 
 the influence of academic and technical theories, not paying 
 sufficient attention to the exigencies of modern warfare. 
 
 Be this as it may, it is very probable that in the case of Japan 
 going to war as the ally of a European Power, these defects 
 would be much modified if they listened to the advice of 
 their friends. In addition to the above, we must not forget to 
 add that Japan is the only country of the Far East which works 
 important coal mines, and that two of the principal of these are 
 situated in the island of Kiu-Siu, quite close to that part of the 
 coast nearest Korea and China, and that she is, moreover, at 
 the present day mistress of the Pescadors, a strategical point 
 which Courbet valued very highly, situated in the middle 
 of the China Sea. It will thus be easy to estimate of what 
 value the co-operation of this nation would be to those Powers 
 who are interested in the Middle Kingdom. 
 
 It is, therefore, necessary to know something of the feeling 
 entertained by Japan towards the Sick Man of Peking, as well 
 as towards the various doctors assembled round his bed, 
 thinking less of the patient’s recovery than of the eventual 
 division of his legacy. So far as China is concerned, 
 Japan is undoubtedly favourably disposed towards her, and 
 since the war she has had no warmer, and, it may be added, 
 no sincerer friend than her late enemy. If Japan had 
 been allowed a free hand, she would undoubtedly have re- 
 organized China to her own profit, but possibly Europe, in 
 
 167 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 preventing this, displayed considerable acumen, for her so doing 
 m-ight in the long-run have proved dangerous. Next to being 
 able to reform China herself, Japan would like her to undertake 
 her own reformation, and place herself in a position to main- 
 tain her autonomy, so as not to fall a prey to the European 
 Powers. 
 
 The Ministers of the Mikado are very naturally somewhat 
 alarmed at the thought that their country may soon be the only 
 one in the whole world inhabited by a non European race 
 that maintains its independence, and they cannot forbear asking 
 themselves how long this independence may be allowed to 
 last, all the more so since Japan is in immediate contact with, 
 numerically speaking, the most powerful State in the world, the 
 colossal Russian Empire, which borders upon China. Might 
 not Japan under these circumstances be constantly menaced 
 by so formidable a neighbour? Doubtless she would be able 
 to resist an invasion, but at a terrific sacrifice — for to conquer 
 Japan it would be necessary to exterminate many millions of 
 Japanese. In any case Japan’s foreign influence would be at 
 an end, especially in Korea, which she has several times con- 
 quered, and upon which she still cherishes pretensions that 
 date over 2,000 years. Even from the purely economic side 
 she would suffer greatly ; for her principal commercial outlet, 
 China, might be closed to her for good. 
 
 These are the principal reasons which oblige the Japanese 
 to remain the devoted friends of the Chinese Empire, and at 
 the same time the adversaries of Russia, who, they believe, 
 wishes to absorb China, and thereby dominate, if not the 
 whole, at least the north, of the Asiatic Continent, and which 
 compel them to throw in their lot with England. This latter 
 Power does not aim at the political annexation of China ; she 
 only wishes to obtain additional facilities for her commerce and 
 concessions for public works, and has therefore no intention 
 whatever of surrounding the Celestial Empire by a formidable 
 ring of Custom-houses. Undoubtedly Japan bas had good 
 reason to seek an alliance with England, and we need not be 
 surprised at her distrust of Russia, which, having deprived her of 
 the fruits of her continental conquests in 1895, three years later 
 annexed them herself. As to England, her interest in obtaining 
 the co-operation of Japan is so self evident as only to need 
 a passing allusion. Through her friendship with Japan she 
 could obtain what she wants, not only in the Far East, but 
 
 168 
 
JAPAN 
 
 elsewhere, a large and well-organized army that, owing to an 
 unquestionable supremacy on the sea, the result of the com- 
 bination of two formidable fleets, could be easily and safely 
 transported to the neighbouring continent. 
 
 May there not, however, be certain other reasons which 
 might eventually induce not so much Great Britain to break 
 off her Japanese alliance as Japan to sever her side of the 
 compact and ultimately extend her hand to Russia ? There 
 is ground for the belief that such a proposition does exist, since 
 there are Russophiles at Tokio and Japanophiles at St. Peters- 
 burg. Is it not, moreover, rather imprudent to oppose the 
 progress the Tsar’s Empire is making on the continent ? 
 It is, after all, an irresistible force resulting from the very 
 nature of things, and therefore it were perchance wiser to be 
 rather with Russia than against her. Then, again, it should 
 be remembered that Russia displayed her goodwill towards 
 Japan by leaving her a free hand in Korea, not, however, until 
 after she had seized Port Arthur. True, the situation created 
 in Korea by the compact of April, 1898, was precarious; and 
 possibly, when once her position in the Far East is con- 
 solidated by the completion of the Trans Siberian line, the 
 Tsar’s Government may rescind the concession which it has 
 signed and occupy the peninsula. But even if we admit that 
 this contingency is a possible one — and it is by no means 
 absolutely certain that Russia does entertain any such pro- 
 ject — Japan may still hope for compensation elsewhere in 
 the centre or south of China round the province of Fu-kien, 
 where she has already made her influence felt, as also at 
 Borneo. Russia might also give certain tariff guarantees, and 
 might it not be to her interest, less urgently, perhaps, than in 
 the case of England, to secure the co-operation of Japan in 
 case of conflict? And, finally, is Great Britain a very safe 
 ally? May she not be simply using Japan for her own ends, 
 thrusting her forward only perhaps to abandon her when she 
 is committed? Will she lend assistance to a commercial 
 rival? 
 
 These are arguments which are not without their influence 
 at Tokio, where the difficulty of opposing a solid and durable 
 barrier against the encroachments of Russia on the continent 
 is fully appreciated, and where there certainly exists a feeling of 
 distrust, not only of the English, but of all other Europeans. 
 Political and military interference in continental affairs has 
 
 169 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 never resulted otherwise than in weakening an insular power, 
 and much as the subjects of the Mikado may desire Korea, it 
 should not be forgotten that, however great Japan’s interests 
 may be in that direction, she may easily renounce her pre- 
 tensions on terra firma if she were offered some material and 
 tangible compensation elsewhere. It has been said that Japan 
 had cast a longing eye on the Philippines, and certain signs 
 led many to think that at one time she had played with the 
 rebels in those islands much the same part enacted by the 
 United States in Cuba ; but now America has seized upon 
 these islands, and has also annexed Hawaii, another spot 
 coveted by Japan. Unfortunately, Japan has come too late 
 into the world to possess colonies, and must therefore content 
 herself with the solitary Formosa, which, however, is a posses- 
 sion by no means to be despised. 
 
 Still, even now, Japan does not lose all hope of eventually 
 obtaining a footing upon the continent ; but, providing that 
 others do not handle China too roughly, she has no intention 
 of interfering with her neighbour, certainly not to menace her 
 integrity. She wishes only to consolidate her by augmenting 
 at the same time her own influence, and would not intervene 
 even if she thought the Celestial Empire were in danger. From 
 the point of view of international politics, Japan is certainly a 
 conservative element ; but in the day of struggle, should it 
 ever oocur, she is destined to weigh very heavily in the scale, 
 not only in the solution of the question of the Far East, but 
 also in the problem which rises behind it — that of supremacy 
 in the Pacific, which will one day be fought out, not between 
 the Whale and the Elephant, but between the Elephants of the 
 Old and the New Worlds — that is to say, between Russia and 
 the United States. But whatever may be the events which will 
 eventually transpire, Japan apparently does not wish to precipi- 
 tate a struggle, provided only that the maintenance of the status 
 quo is not threatened by others. 
 
 170 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE FUTURE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN JAPAN — RELA- 
 TIONS BETWEEN JAPANESE AND FOREIGNERS 
 
 Questions which are raised by the recent evolution in Japan — Can the 
 Japanese assimilate the civilization of peoples of a different race? — 
 Precedents and analogies — Up to what point does Japan wish to 
 resemble Europe ? — Character and degree of the changes which have 
 taken place in Japan from the social, political, and economical point 
 of view — Adaptation of Western institutions in Japan — Feeling of the 
 Japanese towards foreigners — The revision of treaties with foreign 
 Powers — The absolute necessity for Japan to enter into intimate 
 relationship with the rest of the world if she wishes to retain her 
 newly-acquired civilization. 
 
 To one who has studied Japan on the spot, a very serious 
 question presents itself for solution, one of vast importance, 
 not only to the inhabitants of that island Empire, but to the 
 entire human family, i.e.. Will the evolution which this country 
 has undergone prove permanent and not likely to collapse at a 
 given moment, bringing with it the ruin of the State ? In a 
 word, the question is, whether it be possible for a people so 
 suddenly to assimilate the old-established and elaborate 
 civilization of another race. Let us, to begin with, remember 
 that the Japanese have already afforded precedents proving that 
 they possess powers of assimilation in a rare degree. From the 
 third to the sixth century of our era they introduced Chinese 
 civilization into their dominions, and from the ethnographic 
 point of view, whether the Japanese belong to the jMongol or 
 to the Malay family, they are not so far removed from the 
 Chinese as the whites ; nevertheless they are quite as distinct 
 from them as are the Aryans from the Semites, and as the 
 French or the Germans from the Arabs. The example of Russia 
 is perhaps less marked, because more intimate affinities unite 
 the Slavs to the Western races, and yet the Russians are the 
 
 171 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 least Slav of any of the Slavs, being in reality for the most part 
 Finns who have submitted to Slav influences. The Finns are 
 related to the Mongols, and Muscovy, moreover, was under 
 the Tatar yoke for three centuries, a dominion which has left 
 a very profound impression on the race. Peter the Great’s 
 enterprise was therefore not an easy one. The principal 
 objection, however, which can be brought against the example 
 of Russia is that her evolution was never completed, and did 
 not influence the lower strata of society sufficiently for it to 
 become completely Europeanized. Hungary offers a better 
 field of investigation in this direction, for the peoples who 
 originally invaded her were distinctly Oriental, but now this 
 country has become absolutely European, the result probably 
 of an intimate connection between its inhabitants and their 
 neighbours. But beyond these facts, there is one point which 
 we should not overlook. Our own civilization is not the 
 monopoly of one race, but was constructed by the concurrence 
 of many people. It results directly from Roman and Greek 
 civilization, and through these from Phoenician and Egyptian. 
 The Egyptians, needless to say, were a branch of the Hamites, 
 the most degraded white race of our time ; the Phoenicians, on 
 the other hand, were Semites, and it was another Semitic 
 race, the Arab, that during the Middle Ages held the light 
 of civilization, and transmitted to us the inheritance of 
 antiquity, after having widely extended its scientific uses. The 
 whole history of our civilization, therefore, protests against its 
 having ever been at any time monopolized by the Aryan 
 branch of the white race. 
 
 Modern ethnography, based upon recent linguistic and 
 anthropological discoveries, has shaken to its foundations those 
 notions concerning the white races which were universally 
 accepted in bygone times. We no longer hold that it was from 
 the high plateau of Asia that swept those tribes who eventually 
 peopled Europe, but that they radiated from the centre of 
 Europe herself. Far from forming the majority of the inhabi- 
 tants of the Continent, the Aryans, if that term still preserves 
 its meaning, are but one of its elements. They have mingled 
 everywhere in variable quantities among the different hordes of 
 Finnish and other races who have overrun our continent. 
 The varied formation of the skulls which has been observed 
 among the different inhabitants of a single country corre- 
 sponds with the predominance of one or other of these original 
 
 172 
 
JAPAN 
 
 elements, with the result that the unity of race which has 
 hitherto been imagined to exist among all Western peoples is 
 now proved to be chimerical. 
 
 Whatever truth these theories may contain, they are never- 
 theless subject to frequent modification, but it seems im- 
 possible with the present facts to sustain a priori that one race 
 cannot assimilate the civilization of another. No doubt the 
 Japanese differ more completely from the Europeans of the 
 West than do the Russians, or even the Arabs, or than they 
 themselves do from the Chinese ; but once the unity of the 
 human race is admitted, this becomes a mere question of degree 
 of parentage. Must we, therefore, draw a line of degree 
 between peoples beyond which the transmission of the civiliza- 
 tion of the one cannot penetrate to the other, even as the 
 French law fixes a limit to the transmission of inheritance? 
 Nothing short of experience can solve the question. For the 
 matter of that, the phenomenon is constantly taking place before 
 our eyes, and if there be a people who might attempt it with 
 hope of success, it is surely the Japanese, who to exceptional 
 intelligence and remarkable powers of assimilation add a great 
 spirit of enterprise and an uncommon energy. 
 
 Japan cannot be compared fora moment with China; for, 
 much younger than her Celestial neighbour — since she re- 
 ceived her civilization at her hands at a period contemporary 
 with the fall of the Roman Empire, when the annals of China 
 reached as far back into the night of time as those of Egypt — 
 she has not had time to fossilize herself in sterile admiration of 
 the past, and she has never adopted that mandarinate which 
 China considers one of her chief glories, but which is in reality 
 slowly ruining her. Above all, like Europe in the Middle 
 Ages, she has submitted to the virile influences of the feudal 
 system, and, therefore, there is no reason a priori why she 
 should not succeed in her enterprise. Whether or no Japan 
 wishes to convert herself on every point into an absolutely 
 Europeanized nation, and a Western European nation at that, 
 is another question which demands close attention. Possibly 
 it is an exaggeration to say that the promoters of the remark- 
 able series of reforms which have lately been effected in Japan 
 had ever an eye to so complete a transformation. The first 
 reform which engrossed their attention was undoubtedly to 
 place their country, which had so suddenly broken through her 
 ancient tradition of isolation, on a military, naval, and an 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 economical basis, that would enable her to treat as an equal 
 with any of the other nations of the world. The Japanese are 
 the only Oriental people who have understood the conditions 
 necessary to attain this aim. Japan discerned that by accept- 
 ing a military and economic position equal to that of any 
 European country, she was also obliged to undergo immense 
 changes in every department of her national existence, and she 
 unflinchingly faced her new position, resolved to accomplish 
 every sort of transformation in order to place herself on a firm 
 footing. 
 
 It seems to me that Japan has solved the difficult question 
 as to which were the changes she ought to undergo. The fact 
 that she has accepted the entire programme of European 
 civilization, barring a few domestic usages, certain traditions of 
 family existence and religion, speaks for itself. The religious 
 question is one of the most interesting and curious phases of 
 Japanese experience. Until the present day history has always 
 demonstrated that the first act of a people which desired to 
 model itself upon another was to adopt its religion, and in Japan 
 itself 1,500 years ago Buddhism paved the way for the advent 
 of Chinese civilization. In the sixteenth century, at a time 
 when she was first brought into contact with Europeans, Chris- 
 tianity played an important part, and soon made many 
 proselytes. To-day it is otherwise. The Mikado, it is true, 
 does not prevent his subjects from embracing Christianity, but 
 he does not encourage them to do so. Most probably this is 
 the result of the fact that religion is no longer the foremost 
 factor in Western civilization, and is somewhat veiled by im- 
 portant scientific discoveries and material improvements, and, 
 whether rightly or wrongly, there can be no question that the 
 spirit of the century pretends to solve political and social 
 problems outside of the sphere of religion. 
 
 The Japanese have evidently arrived at the conclusion that 
 it was unnecessary to efiect a transformation in an order of 
 ideas which the Europeans themselves apparently consider 
 accessory. If one day they find that they have made a mis- 
 take, it probably will not take them long to change their minds; 
 but for the present they have preferred to rally round the 
 popular idea, neutrality of the State in matters of religion and 
 freedom of conscience to all, and this allows them to retain 
 Buddhism and Shintoism as the religion of the immense 
 majority of the people. 
 
 174 
 
JAPAN 
 
 From the civil point of view, on the other hand, they have 
 introduced many European reforms. Japanese society formerly 
 resembled in many ways that of ancient Rome, especially with 
 respect to the constitution of the family. The new civil code 
 which has been carried into effect is more in accordance with 
 modern ideas, and modifies the excessive habit of adoption, 
 diminishes the power of the head of the family over his married 
 children and his younger brothers, and raises somewhat the 
 position of women, who were already freer in Japan than in 
 any other Oriental country. But it also permits, in accordance 
 with Japanese traditions, very slight difference to exist between 
 legitimate and illegitimate children, and on this point, as on 
 that of divorce — whether for good or otherwise I do not 
 consider myself called upon to judge — it shapes itself very 
 much on the same lines as does modern legislation elsewhere. 
 The personal status, therefore, of a Japanese is very much the 
 same as that of a European, and the laws relating to property 
 have for a long time been identical with our own. As to the 
 penal code, it is one of the most moderate in the world, and 
 the death sentence is only passed in cases of crime against the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Politically speaking, the Japanese have gone further still, 
 and have given themselves a Constitution analogous, as 
 already stated, to that of Prussia. It may perhaps be queried 
 whether they were wise in accepting so entirely our repre- 
 sentative system; but undoubtedly within the last eight years 
 Parliamentary life in Japan has made rapid strides, and, indeed, 
 is neither better nor worse than it is in many a European 
 country, d'he parties do not come to stay long, and their 
 programmes are very confused. The relation between the 
 clans and the provinces plays a very conspicuous part in the 
 Parliamentary existence ; but, for the matter of that, so they 
 do in Italy and elsewhere. Even if it has been a rather pre- 
 mature experience, nevertheless Parliamentary Government in 
 Japan seems likely to stay. The numerous provincial and 
 communal assemblies carry out their business fairly well, 
 although, to be sure, there are whispers of a slight amount of 
 corruption — but where is it otherwise ? One of the happiest 
 traits of Japanese evolution is that there appears little pro- 
 bability of its ending, like the great Russian transformation 
 under Peter the Great, in the creation of two distinct classes, 
 separated by an insurmountable barrier. There is no serfdom 
 
 175 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 or anything to maintain the Japanese peasantry in the same 
 position of inferiority as the Russian mujik, and the mass of 
 the nation unhesitatingly follows the lead of its chiefs. 
 
 Refined by from twelve to fifteen centuries of civilization, 
 the subjects of the Mikado are much better educated than were 
 those of Peter the Great, and therefore can march with far 
 greater assurance on the road to progress. While the small- 
 ness of the country and the density of its population, con- 
 centrated for the most part on the coast line, are likewise 
 aids to the rapid penetration of new ideas, still further assisted 
 by a well-organized system of primary instruction and a military 
 service, it is, however, rather from the material point of view 
 that the change has been most striking and rapid. 
 
 Without returning to the matter of the extraordinary rapidity 
 of the increase of industry, there is one subject connected with 
 it which I cannot forbear dwelling upon, and that is the ex- 
 cessive ability with which the Japanese have succeeded in 
 organizing certain public services introduced from the West in 
 such a manner as to place them within the reach of even the 
 poorest. In many European colonies the high tariff of the 
 rail and postal services deters the natives from using them; but 
 in Japan it is otherwise. There you pay on the railway |d. a 
 mile first class, -|d. second, and Jd. third, which latter is used by 
 the majority of the people, and the total returns for 2,290 miles 
 of Japanese rail, notwithstanding these low rates, reached in 
 1895 .^^1)878,600 (of which 1, 1 79,600 were paid by travellers), 
 as against ;^7 66,300 for expenses, the profits being ;^i, 112,300, 
 or about 10 per cent, upon the outlay capital, which was 
 ^11,649,200. The post is also extremely cheap in Japan, 
 being charged for letters and Jd. for post-cards. In 
 1896-97 503,000,000 objects passed through the post-office, of 
 which 263,000,000 were post-cards, 122,000,000 letters, and 
 87,000,000 newspapers. The preponderating number of post- 
 cards, which surpasses that of letters, is strikingly in contra- 
 distinction to what one observes in every other country, and is 
 a proof of the economical habits of the people and of their 
 appreciation of this cheap method of correspondence. The 
 enthusiasm with which the population profits by all the inno- 
 vations introduced from the West is a convincing proof of the 
 very slight resistance which the implanting of our civiliza- 
 tion receives. Yet another favourable sign is the exceptional 
 number of students in the new universities and public schools 
 
 176 
 
JAPAN 
 
 of all descriptions. Practical science, law, and medicine attract 
 the majority of the students, and already many of them have 
 attained marked success in their several careers. As an example, 
 I may mention that it was a Japanese who discovered the 
 microbe of the bubonic plague. The Japanese are sometimes, 
 and possibly with some truth, accused of lacking the inventive 
 faculty ; but those peoples who are from many points of view 
 at the head of civilization at the present day, the English 
 and the Americans, are not those among whom the power of 
 invention is exceptionally prominent, it is in France or in 
 Germany that the principles of nearly all modern discoveries 
 have been found, but it is in England and the United States 
 that their application has been perfected. No one, however, 
 can refuse the Japanese this latter gift, and they unquestionably 
 possess an almost excessive faculty of attention to minute 
 detail. Possibly they have not so far materially assisted in 
 advancing science, and surely it is somewhat premature to 
 pronounce judgment on this subject ; but with good technical 
 teachers — and everything points that they will have them — 
 they can certainly soon acclimatize European civilization in 
 their country, precisely as they did in days of old that of China, 
 but only on the condition that they keep themselves well in 
 touch with Europe. 
 
 Their principal danger, however, seems to me to consist in 
 their attempting to isolate themselves too much, and to believe 
 that they have learnt everything that can be taught them, and 
 consequently have no further use for their masters. Perhaps, 
 too, in certain cases they have got rid only too quickly of the 
 services of foreign functionaries and councillors. Throughout the 
 whole of the eighteenth century Russia, so to speak, modelled 
 herself on the German plan, and Japan would also do well not 
 to forget too hastily the advice of Western teachers. Already 
 a certain amount of negligence is noticeable in the post-office 
 and on the railways, whose systems are occasionally dislocated by 
 many irregularities and also by a certain carelessness, usually 
 attributed to excess of work or to the breakdown of machinery, 
 but which is more probably due to the inexperience of the 
 public servants of the entire hierarchy. The fact is, Japan 
 does not at present value the most characteristic feature of 
 modern civilization — punctuality ; but, to be just, when we 
 consider the indolent habits of Asiatics in general, we should 
 not be surprised at this, rather the contrary. It would, how- 
 
 177 N 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 ever, be well for the Japanese, until they have got thoroughly 
 trained to an appreciation of the value of time, to retain 
 officials who will remind them of its importance. 
 
 It may also be added that in the commercial development 
 considerable inexperience and too great zeal in every branch, 
 industrial, financial, and commercial, has been displayed : in 
 the over- rapid increase, for instance, of banks and companies 
 of all kinds, in the mismanagement of new societies, and in 
 the abuse that has frequently been made of credit. All these 
 things are new to Japan, and they have occasionally not been 
 treated as they should have been. We have bestowed so 
 much praise on the economical development of the country 
 that we may surely be allowed to observe that much has been 
 done too quickly. But this has been the case in all new 
 countries, in the two Americas, as well as in Australia, and 
 one must not therefore be too severe on Japan in this respect, 
 but also not surprised if it occasionally results in the paralysis 
 of business and even in an occasional crisis. As often occurs, 
 a rise in salaries accompanied industrial expansion, and proved 
 very inconvenient to export industries, all the more so as these 
 are for the most part mainly nominal, and prices rose almost 
 immediately. During the last two years an inverse movement 
 has taken place, and we must do the Japanese the justice to 
 say that when they saw the danger they displayed considerable 
 sagacity, and both the Government and the public expressed a 
 wish to limit their desire for expansion. If there were serious 
 economic difficulties in Japan in 1897-98, they seem now to 
 have passed away j they were but the result of over-activity, and 
 the present outlook in the Mikado’s dominion, although not 
 as brilliant as it was immediately after the war, is once more 
 normal. 
 
 The transitory troubles of the Empire of the Rising Sun will 
 not, in our opinion, become very grave if the Japanese thoroughly 
 understand that it is to their interest rather to increase their 
 contact with foreigners than to limit it. Since 1889 there has 
 existed in Japan a reactionary movement against strangers, 
 which apparently reached its culminating point in 1896, and 
 now seems gradually diminishing. It is sincerely to be hoped 
 that this feeling of suspicion will absolutely disappear. One 
 of the numerous reasons which contributed to raise a certain 
 hostility against Europeans was their attitude with respect 
 to the renewal of the treaties. This important question, which 
 
 178 
 
JAPAN 
 
 so closely concerned the relations between the Japanese and 
 foreigners, has now been settled, and if Japanese statesmen are 
 well inspired, the solution that has been arrived at should 
 greatly enhance the true interests of their country. 
 
 Almost immediately after the Restoration, the Government 
 of the Mikado expressed the desire to revise the treaties con- 
 cluded between it and the foreign Powers during the last 
 years of the old regime. What it most desired was to abrogate 
 the extra-territorial privileges granted to strangers, and to 
 render them responsible to the native tribunals. It also hoped 
 to re-possess itself of the right to modify the Custom-house 
 tariff, which was very low, not with a view to protection, but 
 in order to augment the revenues. In exchange for these con- 
 cessions Japan offered to open the country to Europeans, to 
 allow them to reside and to establish their industries anywhere 
 outside of the five ports in which they had hitherto been con- 
 fined. Joint negotiations were opened with the seventeen 
 Powers who had signed the treaties on several occasions, but 
 without favourable results, and the check they received in 1897 
 greatly irritated public opinion in Japan. The Government 
 then decided to negotiate separately through the intermediary 
 of its representatives in Europe. The first success was with 
 England, by the treaty concluded in 1894; the other nations 
 followed suit, and the new treaties were enforced on July 17th, 
 1899. 
 
 For several years, however, a change had taken place in 
 public opinion in Japan, and many people began to think that 
 it might be as dangerous to completely open the country 
 to foreigners as to grant them privileges of proprietorship. 
 ‘They are much richer than we are,’ said they, ‘and will buy 
 up all our lands and strip us of our resources, so that in time 
 we shall cease to be masters in our own house.’ On the other 
 hand, the Europeans began to make an outcry at the thought 
 that they would be obliged to submit to Japanese jurisdiction, 
 which, although founded on the European system, might be 
 misapplied by the Yellow people, who were still barbarians, 
 and who might use it to make the existence of foreigners in 
 Japan intolerable. Both views of the case were exaggerated, 
 and rendered the task of the various diplomatists an exceedingly 
 difficult one. Diplomacy, however, carried the day, not with- 
 out sacrificing the proposed absolute equality of rights between 
 Japanese and foreigners. 
 
 179 
 
 N 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 The new treaties accepted the Japanese desideratum re- 
 specting the suppression of consular tribunals and European 
 municipalities, but foreigners were, in their turn, to renounce 
 proprietary rights. The English treaty thus summarizes the 
 principal concessions granted : ‘ All members of the prin- 
 cipal contracting parties may carry on any wholesale or retail 
 business, in any sort of product, manufactures and merchandise, 
 personally or by their representatives, individually or through an 
 association, either with other foreigners or with natives ; and 
 they shall have the right to possess, let or occupy houses, 
 shops, manufactories and other premises as they deem neces- 
 sary, or to hire lands, to live therein, or to engage therein in 
 business, by conforming themselves to the laws, and the police 
 and Custom-house regulations of the country, as if they were 
 natives thereof.’ This gave rise to considerable controversy. 
 It confirmed the right of foreigners to possess, let or occupy 
 houses and divers places of business, but on the other hand, it 
 only allowed them to rent land, which according to Japanese 
 law can only be hired on short leases of between thirty and 
 fifty years, as the case may be, which is, of course, a great 
 hindrance to the installation of any important industry. 
 
 This apparent contradiction formed the subject of an agitated 
 controversy carried on by the English papers printed at the 
 various ports, which pointed out with rather thoughtless 
 acrimony that the new treaty was only intended as a blind to 
 deprive foreigners of their extra-territorial liberties. They 
 forgot that outside of property and of the leasehold system the 
 Japanese code contains another method of tenure, called 
 ‘ Surface Right,’ whereby the purchaser of a piece of land has 
 the right to everything that is on the surface thereof (excepting 
 the crops), that is, to plant or cut dowm trees and to build 
 thereon. One can purchase the surface of the land in accord- 
 ance with Japanese law for as long a period of time as one 
 likes, a thousand years even, either on payment by instalments 
 or complete purchase. For any enterprise which is not purely 
 agricultural this purchase is equivalent to absolute possession 
 of the land. 
 
 Foreigners can thus establish industries in Japan, and it is 
 therefore to the interests of the Japanese to encourage them so 
 to do. Private individuals, as well as the Government, ought 
 to do everything they can to attract foreign capital, but this 
 can only be done in the case of industrial enterprises by allow- 
 
 i8o 
 
JAPAN 
 
 ing foreigners to take the direction of affairs. I have been 
 asked whether it is not possible to induce foreign capitalists to 
 lend their money on sharing terms to Japanese companies as 
 they do to the American railways, without taking any part in 
 the direction, but I am afraid this is a hope the Japanese 
 would do well not to entertain. Whether it be through pre- 
 judice or otherwise, it is quite certain that Europeans will do 
 nothing of the sort, and the Japanese seem to be aware of the 
 fact, and several railway companies have modified their statutes 
 in order to admit a clause whereby foreigners can become 
 shareholders; but as the Japanese possess all the land over which 
 the lines run as well as the stations, I do not think that this 
 proposition can be legal. It is, therefore, to be regretted that 
 public opinion has not insisted upon a concession of the right 
 of proprietorship being bestowed upon foreigners. 
 
 It is, however, not improbable that before long the Legisla- 
 ture may get over this difficulty by deciding that in companies 
 constituted according to Japanese laws, and registered in 
 Japan, the members, though they be foreigners, become thereby 
 Japanese citizens, and can also be absolute land-owners. How- 
 ever, on all points the Japanese Government, supported by Par- 
 liament and public opinion, has taken the necessary precautions 
 to apply the new treaties in the most liberal manner possible. 
 If there have been some unfavourable verdicts pronounced 
 in the Japanese tribunals in the short time they have been in 
 existence, these have generally been revised on appeal. The 
 greater experience gained by contact between the Japanese and 
 Europeans, and the wish to see foreign capital collaborating in 
 the development of the resources of the country, will doubtless 
 suggest, little by little, new measures calculated to smooth 
 down any feeling of irritation between the native and the 
 foreign population. If there still exists a feeling of hatred 
 of the foreigner among individual fanatics, a certain ill-will 
 in the lower and more ignorant class of the people, some abuse 
 of authority among inferior officials, the Government of the 
 Mikado is too sagacious to allow any flagrant cause of an- 
 noyance to disturb European residents, which would soon 
 be resented by their respective Governments and might even 
 lead to the scattering of the fruits of thirty years’ progressive 
 effort. 
 
 Japan has already done much, but especially because she 
 has done so much in so short a time, and because the immense 
 
 i8i 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 majority of her inhabitants had no idea thirty years ago of 
 European affairs, and therefore have no means of comparison, 
 they are apt to exaggerate their progress, however marvellous it 
 may be, and consequently they are not in a position to notice 
 that certain European importations come to them slightly 
 deteriorated. Foreigners act the part of critics, and even if 
 their criticism is sometimes severe, it is nevertheless useful. 
 The functionaries and the young men who are sent on foreign 
 missions also fulfil the same critical office, and this is an 
 additional reason why the Government is so wise in maintaining 
 these missions. Unless, indeed, from time to time the new 
 civilization which has been imported in Japan is refreshed at 
 its primary source, it will soon run a risk of losing strength, 
 and, for the matter of that, any people, even European, that 
 isolated itself too much and became absorbed in self-admiration, 
 would inevitably deteriorate. It is not belittling the extra- 
 ordinary progress so rapidly accomplished by the Empire of the 
 Rising Sun to say that it can only be perfected if the people 
 of that wonderful country remain in contact with the in- 
 habitants of Europe and America. 
 
PART III.— CHINA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE CHINESE PROBLEM 
 
 Actual position of the Far Eastern Question — The Sick Man of Peking— 
 The wealth of his heritagj — The immense resources of the soil and 
 subsoil of China, the latter of which is still virgin — The results which 
 may be expected from the opening up of China — Change in the 
 attitude of the Powers towards the Celestial Empire since the 
 Japanese victories revealed its weakness — The origins of the Far 
 Eastern problem. 
 
 The decisive victory which Japan obtained over China five 
 years ago revealed to the civilized world me existence in the 
 East of Asia of another Sick Man, an even greater invalid 
 and infinitely richer than the better known patient at Con- 
 stantinople. Four times the size, and twelve or fifteen times 
 more densely peopled than the Ottoman Empire, China 
 contains a much smaller proportion of deserts, her resources 
 are greater and far more varied, and her inhabitants are not 
 only more industrious, but more peaceful and apparently much 
 easier to govern. Therefore, at the end of the nineteenth 
 century — when the material wealth of a country is of far greater 
 importance than its historical memories, and men are more 
 eager to discover fresh openings for enterprise, new lands to 
 cultivate, or mines to exploit than relics to preserve or peoples 
 to liberate — Europe abandons the bedside of the Grand Turk 
 to occupy herself with her chances of inheriting far greater 
 riches from the Son of Heaven. The Sick Man on the shores 
 of the Bosphorus may be afflicted with some dreadful con- 
 vulsion or crisis in his illness, but the nations pretend not to 
 perceive his contortions, and joyfully welcome any evidence of 
 
 183 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 even a feeble return to health ; in a word, they only seek to 
 prolong his existence. If the preservation of peace in Europe 
 has its share in this attitude, the wish not to be disturbed in 
 the work which she pursues in China has also its share in the 
 position which Russia and more than one other Power have 
 assumed with regard to the Chinese Empire. 
 
 'I'he fact is, the nations have promised themselves a booty 
 in the Middle Kingdom as precious as it is easy to obtain. 
 China from this point of view is worth a great deal more than 
 Turkey, or even Africa, which Europe has so eagerly sought to 
 divide. Although less extensive than the Dark Continent, 
 China is much more thickly peopled, and the climate is less 
 unhealthy, access easier, the rivers more navigable, and the 
 soil far more fertile. The patient and laborious Chinese will 
 eventually facilitate the exploitation of the wealth of their vast 
 territory, which is more than can ever be expected from the 
 barbarous, ignorant and indolent peoples of Africa. 
 
 The resources of China are greater than those of Africa, 
 and many of them are still absolutely undeveloped. The 
 Chinese peasants, moreover, are among the best agriculturists 
 in the world. As evidence of this assertion, it should be remem- 
 bered that, by the perfection of their method of cultivation, 
 they extract from the soil of their plains sufficient to enable 
 their rural population to multiply in a manner unknown in the 
 Western world. Certain provinces in the Valley of the Yang- 
 tsze-Kiang — Shan-tung, Hu-pe, Kiang-su, and others — in spite 
 of their being purely agricultural, are as densely peopled as 
 Belgium, and we may further observe that, as is the case 
 throughout the Far East, wherever rice dominates, the mountain 
 regions are almost uninhabited. If the soil is admirably culti- 
 vated, the subsoil, on the other hand, is absolutely neglected, 
 and only an insignificant quantity of coal is extracted from the 
 immense coal-beds which cover over 40,000 square miles on 
 the banks of the Yellow River, in the plains of Hu-nan, and 
 under the terraces of Shan si, which, together with those equally 
 important in the basin of Shan-tung, were so highly extolled 
 by the celebrated traveller Richthofen. The coal-beds in 
 Central China appear to be even more extensive, and the car- 
 boniferous basin of Sze-chuan, where there is also petroleum, 
 covers an area equal to half France. The coal-beds of 
 Hu-nan are also very considerable, and minerals are equally 
 abundant. The copper-mines of Yunnan are so rich as to have 
 
 184 
 
CHINA 
 
 proved one of the chief inducements that attracted the French 
 to Tongking. Mines of precious ore are known to exist 
 in many other places, but, notwithstanding their very ancient 
 civilization, the Chinese have scarcely touched the wealth 
 beneath their feet. In this respect they have proved them- 
 selves inferior to the classical nations of antiquity, and have 
 left their riches to be garnered by foreigners. 
 
 We can form some idea of the development of which China 
 is susceptible by considering the example of two other Asiatic 
 nations placed in much the same conditions — British India and 
 Japan. India, with all her dependencies, is about a sixth 
 larger than China proper, but contains only about three- 
 quarters of the number of her inhabitants ; yet although her 
 subsoil is much less rich and her population far more indolent 
 than the Chinese, she carries on double the trade with Europe 
 that the Chinese Empire does. Japan, nine times smaller and 
 nine times less peopled than China, but reformed by an 
 enlightened Government and by the introduction of European 
 methods, has seen her commerce rise in thirty years from 
 p^5,ooo,ooo to p^44,ooo,ooo, more than three-quarters higher 
 than that of her enormous but stationary neighbour. 
 
 Unfortunately, an imbecile Government, as corrupt as it is 
 absurdly exclusive, impedes the progress of China with far 
 greater obstinacy than do the prejudices of her people. So 
 long as the illusion lasted as to the power of this unwieldy 
 Empire, no one ventured to tear from it by force what it was 
 imagined could be obtained by persuasion, and the nations 
 resigned themselves to permit the immense resources of the 
 interior to remain untouched, contenting themselves merely 
 with the opening of a few ports to commerce. But in 1894 
 the brilliant victories of the Japanese revealed to an astonished 
 world the weakness of the colossus, its corruption, and utter 
 incapacity to regenerate itself ; hence the reason why the 
 Chino- Japanese War may be rightly considered one of the 
 greatest events in contemporary history. From it dates the 
 change in the attitude of the foreign Powers towards the 
 Celestial Empire. They now command where formerly they 
 begged, and have mustered up couiage to force the Son of 
 Heaven to put a price on the treasures of his Empire, or else 
 to allow them to do so in his stead. If they have not already 
 divided up his territory, they mortgage portions of his provinces, 
 and obtain mining, railway, and all sorts of other concessions. 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 In the eyes of the Powers China is no longer a country to be 
 counted with as a probable ally, but merely one which they 
 may one day reduce to vassalage. 
 
 In 1895, after the conclusion of the war, Russia inaugurated 
 the new policy with respect to China. She was at that time 
 the only European nation that seemed to have any idea 
 of the weakness of China, and was already preparing, by 
 the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, to play an 
 important part in the Far East. Get many, France, and 
 
 England in 1897 obtained the ‘leases’ of various strategical 
 points on the coast and the recognition of what they were 
 pleased to call ‘ spheres of influence.’ Russia now returned to 
 the game, and Japan also took a part in the struggle. From 
 the middle of 1898 a lull has occurred, which recent events, 
 however, have disturbed and proved that the Far Eastern 
 problem is far from settled. It would certainly have surprised 
 men who were living at the beginning of this dying century if 
 they had been told that it would close before the Grand Turk 
 was driven out of Europe, and yet the destinies of Eastern 
 Asia are even now far from being determined. The problems 
 which rise round the future of the Celestial Empire are neither 
 less grave nor less complicated now than they ever were. 
 Although China is infinitely less heterogeneous than Turkey, 
 she runs the same dangers from internal disturbance ; for she 
 is governed by a foreign dynasty and honeycombed by secret 
 societies. The Central Government is feeble and without 
 cohesion. On the other hand, the rivalry which exists between 
 the European Powers, to whom should be added the United 
 States and Japan, is not less active in the East than it is in 
 the West of Asia. The only, but still enormous, result which 
 has been more or less definitely obtained consequent upon the 
 events of the last five years — the end of the isolation from 
 Europe in which China has hitherto existed, and her being 
 brought for the first time since the beginning of her history 
 into contact with a civilization which has developed quite in 
 dependently of her own — creates a situation of the intensest 
 interest. If the lack of military qualities among the Chinese 
 and the insufficiency in numbers of the Japanese renders the 
 Yellow Peril, comparatively speaking, little to be feared from 
 the war side of the question, many people, and among them 
 the most enterprising representatives of European civilization, 
 the Americans and Australians, are greatly exercised over the 
 
 186 
 
CHINA 
 
 matter from the economic point of view. It would, however, 
 be presumptuous to attempt to prophesy what would be the 
 consequences of the dissolution of the Chinese Empire 
 through internal disorder, or of its partition amongst the 
 Powers in consequence of an international treaty, or after 
 a war which would be sure to become universal, or even of the 
 reawakening of this oldest State in the world by the introduction 
 of Western ideas and methods, or finally of a struggle between 
 the White and the Yellow races; but it is comparatively easy, 
 now that the question poses itself for the first time, to deter- 
 mine its multiple elements, to study the relative position of 
 its diverse factors, the near prospect of their action, and the 
 situation of the patient round whose sick-bed eagerly press 
 the many doctors and heirs of so wealthy an invalid as China. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CAPITAL OF CHINA 
 
 The coasts of Pe-chi-li and the mouth of the Pei-ho — Ta-ku and Tien-tsin — 
 From Tien-tsin to Peking by rail — Peking ; the Forbidden, Imperial, 
 Tatar and Chinese cities ; the walls, streets, houses, shops and monu- 
 ments — Behaviour of the natives towards foreigners — Decadence of 
 the capital and of the whole Empire. 
 
 If one enters China from Eastern Siberia by the Gulf of 
 Pe-chi-li after a long voyage round the Korean Peninsula, 
 the first impression of the Celestial Empire is distinctly un- 
 attractive. The contrast between the shallow waters where 
 the vessel casts anchor, some miles distant from the mouth 
 of the Pei-ho, and the noble port of Vladivostok, or the 
 enchanting Bay of Nagasaki, with its verdant shores and 
 blue waters, enlivened by the picturesque sails of the fishing- 
 junks, is, to say the least, extremely depressing. 
 
 Nearly all the ports of the Celestial Empire are thus formed, 
 and can only be entered during a few hours of the day. Even 
 the mouth of the great Blue River is encumbered with shoals, 
 and its famous rival, the Yellow River, in its lower basin, 
 is divided up into such a multitude of channels that meander 
 through the marshy lands as to interrupt all direct navigation 
 from the sea. The Gulf of Pe-chi-li, which may be described 
 as the port of Peking, although situated closer to the Equator 
 than the Bay of Naples, or the mouth of the Tagus, seems, 
 with its choked-up estuaries, its storm-beaten shores, its fogs 
 and icy coat in winter, thoroughly typical of China and her 
 traditional inhospitality, and her eagerness rather to repulse 
 than to invite the stranger within her gates. From the 
 anchorage outside the bar it is difficult to discern the low- 
 lying coast ; and the first objects to attract attention are mud 
 forts, mud houses in mud villages, and mud heaps marking the 
 
 i88 
 
CHINA 
 
 graves in the cemeteries. This uninviting place is Ta-ku, 
 beyond which, a little higher up, at Tang-ku, the Pei-ho 
 ceases to be navigable for vessels of any tonnage. On landing, 
 a surprise awaits you — the railway. Commenced by Li Hung- 
 chang, for the purpose of transporting the coal from his 
 mines at Kaiping, a few miles to the north east, branches 
 have been added, and since the summer of 1897 it takes 
 the traveller to Peking via Tien-tsin. An hour and a half 
 after leaving Tang-ku, I alighted at the former town amid a 
 mob of noisy coolies, who pounced upon me and my luggage. 
 We crossed the Pei-ho in a sampang instead of the ordinary 
 ferry-boat which conveys the Celestials, packed together like 
 sardines in a box, and stuck, apparently immovably, in the 
 most extraordinary postures. From the landing-place, we were 
 trotted in a jinrikisha drawn by a Chinaman through the Rue 
 de France, up Victoria Road to the Astor House, an American 
 hotel kept by a German ; opposite it is a garden, over which 
 a white flag with a crimson circle in its centre, the emblem 
 of the Rising Sun, announces that the garden and the house 
 belong to the Japanese Consul. Thus was I first initiated to 
 the cosmopolitanism of a foreign concession in the Far East. 
 
 Tien tsin is the biggest open port in North China and the 
 third in rank in point of activity and commerce in the whole 
 CBestial Empire. It is, moreover, an immense Chinese city 
 of nearly a million inhabitants, but its European concession is 
 very inferior to that of Shanghai, and as a native city it is 
 of little interest in comparison with Peking, Canton and many 
 other towns. It is from here that travellers used, in former 
 times, to begin the disagreeable journey to the capital, either 
 on horseback or by junk up the Pei-ho. The river route 
 was usually performed partly by sail and partly by oar, but 
 occasionally the boat had to be towed by men. The junks 
 took two or three days to ascend the sinuous course of the 
 river. Sometimes, however, when the wind was to the north, 
 and the shoals numerous, the journey occupied from four to 
 five days before Peking was reached. Now the daily express, 
 which speeds along at the rate of twenty miles an hour, takes 
 three hours and fifty-three minutes to cover the ground which 
 separates Tien-tsin from the station at Peking. 
 
 The country through which it passes is very flat, and it is 
 only just before arriving at its terminus that the blue outline 
 of some rather high hills come into sight towards the north- 
 
 TS9 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 east. In the month of September, when the rains are over 
 and are replaced by a drought that lasts until the end of 
 winter, the environs of Tien-tsin, including the cemetery, are 
 entirely under water, and as we looked from the train window, 
 we could see a coffin floating about, and another like gruesome 
 object stuck on the embankment of the line, which led us to 
 reflect that, though the Chinese make such a fuss over their 
 ancestors, they apparently care very little for their graves. The 
 inundation at first stretched as far as the eye could see. 
 Presently the land began to peep out. If you expect to find 
 the soil from which the waters have just retired uncultivated, 
 it will only be an evident proof that you know very little 
 about the indefatigable industry of the Chinese agriculturist, 
 and the great care and skill which he brings to his task. All 
 that emerges has already been carefully sown, even down to 
 the very brink of the water, and at a few steps from the 
 limits of the inundation, the future harvest which has sprang 
 up under the hot September sun from the moist but rich 
 soil begins to make its appearance. The mud villages now 
 succeed each other rapidly, and presently the traveller reaches 
 an admirably cultivated country where not an hich of soil is 
 wasted, and where the wheat and sorghum fields are alternated 
 by kitchen gardens and orchards. 
 
 The temporary station at Peking, built of planks and 
 galvanized iron, stands in the midst of this landscape. Very 
 little is to be seen of the high walls of the city, which are 
 almost entirely hidden by trees, and by a slight rising in the 
 land. Nothing indicates that the gates of the capital of the 
 oldest Empire in the world are so near. In order to traverse 
 the mile which separates the station from the entrance to 
 Peking, it is necessarj’ to exchange the most highly perfected 
 of human conveyance for the most barbaric. The Chinese 
 are unwilling that the stranger should dispense, in order to 
 enter their most holy capital, with a thorough jolting in their 
 national carriage, unto which the Siberian tarantass may be 
 compared as the most luxurious of vehicles. Two enormous 
 wheels, covered with iron and garnished with a triple row 
 of nails, support this shapeless waggon, which is protected by 
 a blue awning, and is dragged along by two mules harnessed 
 one in front of the other. Whilst the driver sits in front 
 under the awning, the hapless traveller has to accommodate 
 himself on the floor, with his legs stretched out in front of him. 
 
 190 
 
CHINA 
 
 Now begins the torture, for one is literalty jolted about against 
 the wooden sides of the cart like a pill in a box. Presently the 
 wheel goes over a huge stone, only to fall into a deep hole, or 
 stick in a rut. Meanwhile, the diabolical waggon behaves in a 
 most abominable manner, to the unutterable agony of its 
 wretched inmate, who lives in terror of being either precipitated 
 into the mud, or of having his brains knocked out by the 
 collapse of the whole structure. Of this latter catastrophe 
 there is little or no likelihood, for about the only good quality 
 this appalling conveyance can boast of is solidity : nothing 
 could break it. About twenty minutes after leaving the station 
 a high battlemented wall, surrounded by a mud-filled moat, is 
 reached. Next, you pass over a bridge, beyond which a gate 
 admits into a sort of half-moon surrounded by walls, beyond 
 which is yet another gate admitting to the city proper, where, 
 after another hour’s jolting, the unhappy traveller alights at a 
 hotel in Legation Street kept by a Frenchman. 
 
 Although not the most ancient city in the Celestial Empire, 
 Peking is an epitome of the rest of China, together with its 
 ancient civilization and its present stagnation and decadence. 
 It belongs to a very different type from the cities of Europe, or 
 even of the Moslem w’orld, and the sight of its immense wall 
 and successive enclosures, which divide it into four distinct 
 parts, reminds one of Nineveh or Babylon. In the centre is 
 the ‘ Forbidden ’ or ‘ Purple City,’ about a league in length 
 from north to south, and a quarter of a league in width, con- 
 taining the palaces of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, 
 and the gardens and the residences of a swarm of parasites 
 numbering, it is said, between six or eight thousand persons, 
 inclusive of guards, concubines, eunuchs, functionaries, gar- 
 deners and other attendants upon the Imperial harem. The 
 only Europeans who are allowed to cross the sacred threshold 
 of the Purple City are the members of the Diplomatic Corps, 
 to whom the Emperor gives audience on New Year’s Day, 
 as well as since quite recently on the occasions of their arrival 
 or taking leave. Around the Purple City extends the Imperial 
 City, its walls painted pink, which in its turn is surrounded 
 by the Tatar City, a rectangle of 4 miles in length, by 3 
 miles in width, whose sides face the cardinal points. Its 
 colossal walls are 50 feet high, and at their summit are 
 50 feet wide. Their external fronts consist of two strong 
 brick walls, rising from a substructure of stone. The interior 
 
 191 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 is filled up with earth, and the summit, covered with flagstones, 
 forms a walk bordered by embattled stone parapets. Bastions 
 project outwards, and huge pavilions built of brick, pierced 
 with many balastraria, and coated with highly varnished 
 coloured tiles, ornament its four corners and gates. It rises 
 only 99 feet above the ground, beyond which height it is 
 never allowed to build, lest the flight of the good spirits might 
 be inconvenienced thereby. This magnificent rampart, which 
 to the north-east and to the west rises abruptly from the midst 
 of the country, Peking having no suburbs, presents a most im- 
 posing aspect ; and it is not less impressive when beheld from 
 any one of the half-moons, which are very vast, and are built 
 before the various gates, but which, owing to the height of the 
 embattled walls which surround them on all sides, each of 
 which is surmounted by a massive brick pavilion, look like 
 wells. 
 
 To the south of the Tatar City is a group of less imposing 
 walls surrounding the lengthy rectangle which includes the 
 Chinese City, the commercial part of Peking. The broad 
 street that intersects it from north to south, and cuts it into 
 two equal parts, especially close to the Tsieng-Men Gate, by 
 which you pass into the Tatar City, is the most animated 
 artery of the city. In the central walk, paved with magnificent 
 flag stones, not one of which is now in its right place, and 
 which apparently only serve as stumbling-blocks to pedestrians, 
 and are covered with mud a foot deep in summer, and by a 
 pestilential dust in winter, circulate in the utmost confusion 
 the ever-present waggons, already described, palanquins, sedan- 
 chairs, whose colours vary with the dignity of the owner, chairs 
 drawn by mules, men riding on small Manchurian ponies, 
 indefatigable asses, which are the best means of locomotion in 
 the place, enormous one wheeled barrows, coolies struggling 
 under the burden of huge baskets filled with fruit, vegetables, 
 and other comestibles, fixed to the end of a very long pole 
 slung across their shoulders — all this busy world bustles along, 
 filling the air with shouts and cries of every kind, from the 
 croaking of the porters to the stentorian shouts of the waggoners. 
 Occasionally a long string of huge two humped camels, a cord 
 running from the nostrils of one animal to the tail of the other, 
 and led by a Mongolian urchin, adds to the incredible con- 
 fusion. All this crowd, together with beasts and vehicles, has 
 to content itself with what, under ordinary circumstances, would 
 
 192 
 
CHINA 
 
 be a very broad roadway, if at least a third of it were not en- 
 cumbered by a sort of permanent open-air fair, carried on in 
 rows of booths, some of which are used as restaurants, others 
 as shops of every description. These booths turn their backs 
 to the middle of the street, and thus hide the line of shops 
 beyond, of which, from the centre of the road, you can only 
 perceive the enormous and innumerable sign-boards hanging 
 from a veritable forest of gaily-painted poles. 
 
 Beyond the Tsieng-Men Gate is situated the Beggars’ Bridge, 
 always thronged by groups of wretches clamouring for alms 
 and ostentatiously displaying the most appalling mutilations, 
 with all kinds of loathsome diseases added to their sordid 
 misery to excite compassion. The narrow side-walks, which 
 are bordered on the one hand by booths, and on the other by 
 big shops, are filled by a motley gathering of small shop- 
 keepers, each plying his business in the open air — barbers, 
 hair-dressers, and fortune-tellers, among whom the crowd has 
 no little difficulty in threading its way. Here you see men in 
 light-blue blouses, with long pigtails ; Chinese ladies with their 
 hair dragged back magpie-tail fashion, who balance themselves 
 painfully as they go along on their tiny deformed feet ; Tatar 
 women, whose hair is puffed out on each side of their faces, and 
 who, like their Chinese sisters, stick a big flower behind their 
 ears. Not being crippled by bound feet, like their less fortunate 
 Chinese sisters, these women strut along with as firm a step as 
 their high-heeled clogs will permit. Their faces are bedaubed 
 with rice-flour, and their cheeks painted an alarmingly bright 
 red. Children with their heads shaved in the most comical 
 manner, dotted about with little tufts, that have a very funny 
 appearance, being cut according to the taste or caprice of 
 their parents, also run about. Among the well-clad children of 
 a better class are others, stark-naked, looking for all the world 
 like small animated bronzes, so dark and warm-coloured is 
 their polished skin. In order to avoid being mobbed, one 
 has occasionally to seek refuge in a shop, which usually opens 
 on to the street, and is without windows. In the back the 
 shopkeepers are peacefully seated behind their counters smoking 
 long pipes, whilst exhibiting their goods and listening to the 
 bargainings of their customers. These shops are always very 
 clean, and the goods are arranged with great order and even 
 considerable taste. A bowl with goldfish, or a cage full of 
 birds, adds not a little to the charm and peacefulness of the 
 
 193 o 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 scene, which is peculiarly refreshing after the noise and dirt of 
 the streets. 
 
 All the great arteries of Peking are equally filthy and closely 
 resemble each other, excepting that not one of them can equal, 
 either in the size of the shops or wealth of their contents, 
 the famous High Street that leads to the Tsieng-Men Gate. 
 In summer, after the rains, a coating of mud some two feet 
 and a half deep covers both road and footpath, which when 
 the weather dries again is converted into thick clouds of 
 dust. The sideways, always lower than the central road, are 
 usually filled by pools of green water, whence arises the most 
 horrible stench of decayed vegetables and rotting carcases of 
 animals, in addition to the accumulated offal of the neigh- 
 bouring houses. The wonder of it all is that the entire popu- 
 lation of Peking has not long since been swept away by some 
 appalling epidemic. 
 
 Leaving aside the few broad streets, one frequently comes 
 across immense open spaces, whose centres are generally 
 occupied by a huge dunghill. The narrow little streets that 
 branch out in all directions can be divided into two classes — 
 those which border on the three or four principal commercial 
 thoroughfares, which, like them, are lined with shops, but are 
 scarcely broad enough to allow of the passage of a single cart, 
 although they are thronged from morning to night by a seething, 
 noisy crowd ; and the silent and deadly dull private streets, 
 where the dwelling-houses are to be found. On either side 
 runs a gray wall, whose monotony is broken at intervals by 
 a series of shabby little doors. If any one of these happens 
 to be open, one can only perceive from the street a small 
 courtyard a few feet square, and another dead wall, beyond 
 which is the inner courtyard, shut off from all observation, 
 and on which open all the windows of these singular dwellings, 
 not one of which is more than one story high, and always 
 protected by a gray double-tiled roof, usually ornamented at 
 the four corners by some grotesque stone beast or other, but 
 never turned up at the ends as are invariably those of the 
 temples and the monuments. There is no movement whatever 
 in these streets. A few children play before the doors, a dog 
 or so strays about in the road, and now and again a coolie or 
 an itinerant merchant, with two baskets suspended from a pole 
 across his shoulders, breaks the silence by a shrill cry ; some- 
 times a donkey or a cart passes along but fails to enliven the 
 
 194 
 
CHINA 
 
 deadly quiet of the street, which is so still and monotonous 
 that one might almost imagine one’s self in a village instead of 
 in one of the most populous cities in the world. 
 
 The scene changes entirely when Peking is seen from the 
 heights of the walls which form the only agreeable promenade 
 in the capital, to whose summits ascends neither the mud nor 
 the stench of this dirtiest of cities. The eye wanders pleasantly 
 over a forest of fine trees, for every house has one or two in 
 its courtyard, and barely a glimpse of the offensive streets is 
 to be had : only the gray roofs of the little houses ; and thus 
 Peking looks for all the world like an immense park, from 
 whose midst rise the yellow roofs of the Imperial Palace, and 
 to the northern extremity of the city, a wooded height called 
 the Coal Mountain, surmounted by a pagoda. 
 
 As to monuments, there are very few in Peking worth the 
 seeing, and into these foreigners are never allowed to enter. 
 Twenty-five or thirty years ago visitors were admitted into a 
 great number of the temples : that of Heaven, which is now 
 being restored, and where the Emperor goes annually to make 
 a sacrifice, and the Temples of the Sun, the Moon, and of 
 Agriculture, and they were even allowed to peep into the 
 Imperial Gardens ; but since the entry of the Anglo-French 
 troops into Peking, in i860, the Chinese have been very 
 reticent with respect to their monuments, doubtless a conse- 
 quence of the salutary lesson they then received, which they 
 are philosophical enough to endeavour to forget, as all wise 
 folk should do things that wound their pride. To-day the 
 people affect to believe the official story invented on that 
 occasion to save appearances, wherein it was stated that the 
 Emperor Hien-feng, instead of fleeing before the allies, 
 merely went on a hunting excursion in his park at Johol in 
 Mongolia. Their usual insolence towards foreigners had com- 
 pletely returned, to be modified, however, so soon as they heard 
 of the successes of the Japanese, and they were seized with 
 absolute terror at the prospect of beholding the Mikado’s 
 army marching through their gates. 
 
 When I was in Peking in the autumn of 1897 Europeans 
 were very rarely insulted in the streets. Before the War it was 
 otherwise, and I myself, like many another, did not escape the 
 impertinence of the Chinese at Canton. All the same, they took 
 good care to close their monuments to the inspection of the 
 ‘ foreign devils,’ and the only temple now open for our inspec- 
 
 195 o 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 tion is that of Confucius, an immense but rather common- 
 place hall with a steep roof supported on pillars painted a vivid 
 red. Foreigners are also permitted to visit the place where 
 the literati undergo their examinations. It consists of some 
 thousands of little cells lining several long, open corridors, 
 wherein the unfortunate candidates for law and medicine are 
 shut for several days while they answer the questions set them. 
 Then there is the old Observatory, wherein are two series of 
 highly useful instruments. The first dates from the time of 
 the Mongol Dynasty in the thirteenth century, and lies scattered 
 half buried among the weeds at the bottom of the courtyard ; 
 the second series is less antiquated, having been made under 
 the direction of the Jesuit Verbiest, who was astronomer to the 
 Emperor of China in the early part of the seventeenth century. 
 They art shown on the walls. After seeing these thoroughly 
 up-to-datt astronomical instruments, one has visited all there 
 is to be seen in the Imperial city of Peking. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that walking in the streets, or 
 at the foot or on top of the enormous walls, is far more inter- 
 esting and instructive than visiting temples and palaces. At 
 every step the observer is struck with the activity and energy of 
 the Chinese people in contradistinction to the systematic stag- 
 nation of its governing classes, and he soon comes to the con- 
 clusion that China is in a state of decadence strongly resembling 
 in many details that of the Roman Empire at the time of the 
 invasions of the Barbarians. This erstwhile magnificent capital 
 is now only the shadow of its former self. The number of its 
 inhabitants, 700,000 to 800,000, is gradually decreasing, and 
 many houses are already in ruins. Some of the best streets, 
 which must at one time have been splendidly paved, are now 
 almost impassable, the result of neglect ; drains, which at one 
 time were covered in, now run open through the streets, and 
 are choked up by nameless deposits which are never removed, 
 and even immense blocks of the celebrated walls are occasion- 
 ally allowed to crumble to ruin. Now and again an effort to 
 repair them is started, but as half the money intended for the 
 work usually remains in the hands of the officials and con- 
 tractors it is never well done, great care being taken not to 
 do the repairs thoroughly, for fear of preventing fresh disaster 
 and losing a chance to do it all over again. On the other hand, 
 on the rare occasions when the F.mperor betakes himself and 
 his court to some summer residence or other, or to make a 
 
 196 
 
CHINA 
 
 sacrifice at one of the temples, things are furbished up a bit, 
 to make him believe that his capital is well looked after. The 
 ruts and the mud-heaps in the streets through which the pro- 
 cession passes are hidden under a thick coating of sand, and 
 everything likely to offend the eye of the Son of Heaven is 
 covered over ; even the miserable booths which encumber the 
 streets are removed, and the half-moons in the rampart have 
 their walls painted white, but only so high as the Imperial 
 eyes may be lifted as His Celestial Majesty passes by, lolling 
 back indolently in his magnificent palanquin. 
 
 197 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE COUNTRY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF PEKING — NU- 
 MEROUS SIGNS OF THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE 
 
 From Peking to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall of China — The 
 temples in the hills — Striking neglect of monuments and public works 
 — Remains of ancient and well-paved highroads, now replaced by 
 wretched ones, which are only temporarily repaired when the Emperor 
 or the /.mpress Dowager passes — The manner in which useful works 
 are negh cted in China, and her treasure wasted. 
 
 A TOUR in the environs of Peking, to the Great Wall and to 
 some of the temples built on the hills to the west of the town, 
 confirms the bad impressions received in the city. This excur- 
 sion occupies between three and four days, and can be performed 
 with relative comfort, and in ordinary times without the least 
 danger. A ‘ boy,’ that is to say, a domestic servant — a 
 combination of guide, interpreter, valet and cook, and who is 
 often, by the way, a very expert disciple of Vatel — a donkey and 
 donkey-boy, a waggon, drawn by two mules, and a waggoner, 
 are the staff necessary for this journey, which is usually per- 
 formed partly on foot and partly on donkey-back. This suite 
 may be considered somewhat numerous, but no other human 
 being but his own master would get a Chinese donkey to budge 
 a step forward, and the same may be said of the mules. As 
 to the ‘ boy,’ he is the indispensable party into whose hands 
 you must trust yourself absolutely, even to the extent of 
 handing over your purse, so that he may settle your accounts 
 at the various inns and give the expected backsheesh to the 
 servants or to the guides and bonzes in the temples. Need- 
 less to say, he perfectly understands how to take care of himself 
 in ihe matter of reserving for his own benefit the ‘ squeezee,’ as 
 they say in pigeon-English. All Europeans who travel in the 
 Far East are obliged to have a retinue, which adds to their im- 
 portance, and in which every man has his particular function 
 
 ig8 
 
CHINA 
 
 to fulfil, and will not undertake the least share of his fellow- 
 servants’ work. 
 
 On leaving Peking by the Northern Gate, one crosses a sandy 
 and barren space, occupied in the thirteenth century by a part 
 of the town, which has now disappeared. Then come some 
 outlying towns, mainly inhabited by merchants, succeeded by 
 the admirably cultivated plain which extends from the north of 
 Peking to the foot of the hills. It is more barren to the south, 
 and trees only grow close to the villages, which are invariably 
 surrounded by groups of weeping-willows. In this region the 
 soil and the climate are too dry to allow of the cultivation 
 of rice, but a crop of winter wheat is obtained, and I have seen 
 it sown, and even appearing above the ground, in the month 
 of October. It does not freeze in the very dry earth, although 
 the thermometer falls twenty degrees, and the snow is never 
 very deep. This crop of wheat is harvested during ^’^dy. 
 Presently you see fields of sorghum, millet, the staple for<l of 
 the people in these parts, and also of buckwheat. On all sides 
 the peasantry are hard at work, usually alongside strong 
 waggons, better built than those of the Siberian mujiks, and 
 drawn either by two mules or two horses, or sometimes by 
 three little donkeys. In the villages you can sometimes see 
 the grain thrashed or the long leaves of the sorghum being 
 bound in sheaves, which when dried are made into mats and 
 screens. The women help in the latter work, which invariably 
 takes place close to their doors, for they are never seen in 
 the fields. The roads are generally very bad, but have not 
 always been so. Many of the bridges are still in a superb con- 
 dition, although the fine flagstones with which they are paved 
 are in a shocking condition. Others, however, are in absolute 
 ruin, and the rivers which they once spanned have conse- 
 quently to be forded. Everything points to the fact that we 
 are passing over a once magnificent highroad, and effectively 
 it leads to the Tombs of the Mings, which explains why it 
 was built in such a sumptuous manner by that Dynasty, as 
 well as the state of abandonment into which it has fallen 
 since it has come into the hands of the Manchus, who de- 
 throned the Mings in 1644. 
 
 Very few places that I have ever visited have produced upon 
 me a greater impression of grandeur than the amphitheatre 
 formed by the lofty hills on whose last slopes stand the Tombs 
 of the thirteen Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Each of these 
 
 199 
 
THE AWAKENING Of THE EAST 
 
 monuments is formed of an aggregation of buildings shaded by 
 magnificent trees, that present a striking contrast to the usual 
 gray barrenness of Chinese hills. The broad road which leads 
 to them, once paved but now in ruins, passes under a superb 
 triumphal arch into the silent valley, which seems deserted, 
 although in reality it is highly cultivated ; the little villages 
 clustering at the foot of the heights, too, are, as a rule, difficult 
 to make out After passing under numerous elegant gateways, 
 supported by winged colums, we at length arrive at a gigantic 
 alley of colossal monoliths, representing figures of animals and 
 monsters alternately sitting and crouching, and statues of 
 famous legislators and warriors. Roads radiate towards each 
 of the Tombs, of which I only visited that of the first Ming 
 Emperor who reigned in Peking. 
 
 After having passed through a high wall by a porch with 
 three badly-kept gates, we crossed a spacious courtyard planted 
 with trees, and presently entered the great hall. Before the 
 whole length of the fagade extends several flights of marble 
 steps with exquisitely sculptured balustrades. The hall itself is 
 not less than 200 feet long by about 80 feet wide and 40 feet in 
 height. It is nearly empty, and at first you can only perceive 
 the forty gigantic wooden columns, each formed of the trunk of 
 a tree, that support the roof, and which two men cannot 
 embrace. These columns are said to have come from the con- 
 fines of Indo-China. In the midst of them, half hidden away, 
 is a small altar, ornamented with a few commonplace china 
 vases, which are crumbling to pieces and full of dust. Beyond 
 the altar, enclosed in a sort of tabernacle, is the tablet inscribed 
 with the deceased Emperor’s name in three Chinese characters. 
 His body lies beyond, at the end of a gallery a mile long, 
 which penetrates straight into the heart of the hill, but is walled 
 up a short distance from the entrance, which one reaches 
 through two courtyards separated by a portico. From the lofty 
 tower that rises over this entrance, the walls of which, by .the 
 way, are embellished with names which numerous Chinese and 
 a few Europeans have been vulgar enough to scratch on the 
 walls with the points of their knives, the view includes the whole 
 semicircle of hills, as well as all the Tombs, which, by reason 
 of the very simplicity of their design, create an impression 
 of extreme grandeur. Their erection must have cost as great 
 an amount of labour as that which was bestowed by the 
 Egyptians upon the sepulchres of their Pharaohs. 
 
 200 
 
CHINA 
 
 The Great Wall of China is another colossal undertaking, in 
 order to reach which you take the high road to Mongolia that 
 passes through the Pa-ta-ling Gate at the extremity of the pass 
 of Nan-kow. This highroad, which for centuries has been 
 daily traversed by long caravans of camels, engaged in the 
 traffic between Mongolia, Siberia, and China, was formerly 
 paved with blocks of granite, of which no trace is now to be seen, 
 either on that part of the road in the little town of Nan-kow, or 
 in the difficult mountain pass, and the traveller may therefore 
 conclude that they have either been used in the construction 
 of houses or washed away by some torrent. Nan-kow is a 
 walled town, like almost all those in the neighbourhood of 
 Peking, including the curious old suburb of Chao-yung-kwan, 
 over one of the doors of which there is an inscription in six 
 languages, one of which has not yet been deciphered. Every- 
 where on the mountain sides towers and picturesque ruins of 
 fortifications manifest how great has ever been the fear of the 
 Chinese of the Tatars and Mongols, for protection against 
 whom the Great Wall was built. It is divided into two parts, 
 the inner and the outer wall, the first of which extends for 
 nearly 1,560 miles, from Shan-hai-kwan on the Gulf of Pe-chi-li 
 into the Province of Kan-su on the upper Yellow River. 
 Built two hundred years before our era, needless to say, it 
 has been often repaired and rebuilt. Near the sea it is con- 
 structed of stone, but brick has been used on the inland portions. 
 In thickness it varies from 16 feet to 20 feet, and is about the 
 same in height, but to the west it is nothing like so lofty. 
 
 The inner wall, which dates from the sixth century, was 
 almost entirely reconstructed by the Mings in the sixteenth 
 century, and is 500 miles long. This is the wall to be seen 
 from Pa-ta-ling, passing over the hill, and then proceeding 
 right and left to climb in zigzag fashion to the very summit of 
 the mountains. It is constructed after the model of the walls of 
 Peking, on a substructure of stone, with two rows of brick battle- 
 ments. The top is paved, and forms a roadway ii feet in 
 width. Its height varies, according to the irregularity of the 
 land, between 12 feet and 20 feet, and at about every 300 feet 
 there are towers twice the height of the wall, also surrounded 
 by bastions and battlements. Although less imposing than the 
 Wall of Peking, the Great Wall of China does not deserve 
 the flippant remarks that have been made about it. Against an 
 enemy unprovided with artillery, and horsemen like the Mongols 
 
 201 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 and Tatars, it must have presented a very serious obstruction, 
 and if occasionally they have been able to scale it, it has 
 generally resisted every attempt at invasion. Although it has not 
 been used under the present Dynasty, which is of Tatar origin, 
 it has remained, thanks to the care bestowed upon it in 
 former times, one of the best preserved monuments in China. 
 
 It is otherwise with the greater number of the temples 
 scattered over the hills, which stand amidst groups of magni- 
 ficent trees, whose green foliage contrasts so pleasantly with 
 the gray, barren hills which the Chinese, like all other peoples 
 of the Far East, never cultivate. Visitors are pleasantly re- 
 ceived in the temples near Peking, some of which are used 
 as summer residences by European diplomatists tired of being 
 shut up in the city, whose pestilential miasmas occasionally 
 reach even their houses, although they are surrounded by 
 parks. Some of them are only wooden structures, with dwell- 
 ings for the bonzes surrounding courtyards on to which open 
 the various sanctuaries. The use of wood in the Far East for 
 building purposes does not prevent a certain display of magnifi- 
 cence and art, and the Japanese temples at Nikko and many 
 other places are marvels of richness and beauty, although they 
 are entirely built of wood. Unfortunately, unless they are very 
 carefully looked after, they are naturally apt to deteiiorate much 
 quicker than stone buildings. Needless to say, the Chinese 
 temples are in a very dilapidated condition. I cannot say that 
 I was impressed by the amazing collection of Buddhas, some 
 life-size, others colossal, some gilded and others painted, no 
 two of which are said to be exactly alike ; or by the crowd of 
 horrible monsters with ferocious faces and abominable gestures 
 who guard the entrances to these temples. They one and all 
 filled me rather with disgust than with the slightest impression 
 of awe. This degenerate Buddhism is very different from that 
 which exists in Ceylon, and among certain Japanese sects. 
 The only traces of the original character of the religion, or at 
 any rate of the land from which it sprang, are to be found in 
 the lovely stone pagoda of the Pi-Yuen-Sse, whose style is 
 pure Hindu, and contains some exquisite bas-reliefs repre- 
 senting scenes in the lives of Sakyamuni and his saints, or, 
 again, in the even more beautiful sculpture to be admired in 
 the Temple of the Yellow Tower. 
 
 The Summer Palace, which, by the way, was not a genuine 
 Chinese building, but erected under the direction of the Jesuits 
 
 202 
 
CHINA 
 
 in the eighteenth century in the style of Versailles, has not 
 been rebuilt since its destruction by the Allies in i860, and all 
 access to its ruins has been prohibited. Not far distant is the 
 summer residence of the Empress Dowager, surrounded by 
 magnificent gardens. The road which leads to it is well kept 
 For the matter of that, as the Empress was about to make a pil- 
 grimage to a neighbouring shrine at the time I passed that way, 
 all the roads were being tinkered up for her advent. Hundreds 
 of coolies were working under the direction of mandarins of the 
 second or inferior rank, with the white or gold button, who 
 were dashing on horseback hither and thither, giving orders 
 and generally superintending so that all irregularities were 
 rapidly disappearing under cartloads of sand. These costly 
 repairs were, however, only ephemeral. 
 
 The Chinese Government never hesitates about wasting 
 money on trivialities. On one occasion, a river happening to 
 upset certain arrangements in one of the Imperial gardens, 
 it was, at enormous cost, drained from its bed, and allowed 
 to inundate and ruin hundreds of farms belonging to the 
 unfortunate peasants. On another occasion, with a view to 
 worthily celebrating the sixtieth birthday of the Dowager 
 Empress, the money intended for the reorganization of the 
 army in Pe-chi-li was squandered on processions, illuminations, 
 and fireworks. Whenever money is needed for anything but 
 the gratification of the greed and vanity of the Court officials, it is 
 never forthcoming ; and every traveller who has been to China 
 will corroborate what I have said concerning not only the 
 neighbourhood of Peking, but also of Canton and Shanghai. 
 The highroads have practically ceased to exist, and the bridges 
 are rapidly crumbling to ruin. The Imperial canal, one of the 
 most magnificent works of past generations, which goes from 
 Hang-Chow to Tien-tsin, a distance of over 940 miles, and 
 unites the Blue, the Yellow, and the Pei-ho Rivers, and also 
 the capitals of the middle provinces, whence are obtained the 
 best provisions, is now at many points choked up with sand and 
 stones, and in others it is only a few inches deep, and can only 
 be used for local traffic. China of to-day is but a shadow of 
 what she has been, for her sole object in existence is to deceive, 
 and her administration is rotien to the core. This decadence 
 dates centuries back, but it culminated five years ago, when an 
 Empire of 400,000,000 inhabitants was obliged to humble itself 
 to a nation ten times its inferior in population and resources. 
 
 203 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE LITERARY AND MANDARIN CLASS — PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF 
 THE DECADENCE OF THE EMPIRE 
 
 The literati or governing class — How it is recruited from the mass of the 
 people through examinations — Bachelors, Masters of Arts and Doctors 
 — Enormous number of candidates — The functionaries exclusively 
 selected from the literati — Most of the posts sold — The syndicate for 
 the exploitation of public offices — The gravest defect of the system, 
 the examinations, the subjects selected being merely exercises in 
 rhetoric and memory about an immense quantity of nonsensical 
 matter supplied by the Chinese classics and ancient annals — Abortive 
 attempts to introduce small doses of Western science into these ex- 
 aminations — Superstitions of the literati — This stupid system of ex- 
 amination the principal cause of Chinese isolation — Complete disap- 
 pearance of the military spirit resulting from the same fatal cause — 
 Hostility and contempt entertained by the literati against all European 
 progress — Difficulty of suppressing or reforming the mandarinate. 
 
 The curse of China and the main reason why her remarkable 
 people, who once deserved to be compared with the ancient 
 Romans, have sunk to the degraded condition in which we 
 find them at present, is the mandarinate, which she has the 
 misfortune to consider one of her chief glories. It is this 
 corrupt and antiquated system that is destroying the Celestial 
 Empire. It has often been observed that nations generally 
 have the Government they deserve, and it is undoubtedly 
 true that the administration of China is, in a measure, the 
 logical result of her geographical situation and singular history, 
 to which might be added the peculiar character of her people. 
 On the other hand, there is no question that the worst traits of 
 the national character are accentuated in the mandarin class 
 which governs the country, and saps its activity and energy. 
 
 Theoretically, the Chinese Government is based on paternal 
 principles ; as a matter of fact, it is entirely in the hands of 
 the class known as ‘ literati,’ from whose ranks all the State 
 
 204 
 
CHINA 
 
 officials, or mandarins, are recruited ; and if we wish to under- 
 stand the primary causes of the misgovernment of the Celestial 
 Empire, we must become thoroughly acquainted with the origin 
 and manners of the mandarins, who are not hereditary, but 
 recruited from the mass of the people in the most democratic 
 manner in the world by means of public competitive examina- 
 tions. These examinations confer three honorary degrees, 
 which might be likened to those bestowed by our Universities : 
 Bachelors, Masters of Arts, and Doctors. The degree of 
 Bachelor is competed for in each district (there are sixty districts 
 per province), and that of Master of Arts in the eighteen pro- 
 vincial capitals ; that of Doctor, on the other hand, is only to be 
 obtained in Peking. One may imagine the esteem in which 
 these degrees are held by the people when I mention that in 
 1897, when I was at Shanghai, no less than 14,000 candidates 
 came up for examination at Nan-king, with only 150 honours to 
 be distributed amongst them. It is considered a great honour 
 for a family to include a literate amongst its members, and his 
 obtaining his degree is celebrated throughout the entire province 
 which enjoys the privilege of being his birthplace. Should he 
 be fortunate enough to obtain his laureate at Peking, he is wel- 
 comed on his return to his native town as a veritable conquering 
 hero. It is quite true that, in order to pass his examination, he has 
 to go through an amount of physical suffering and patient 
 endurance which would deter any but a Chinaman from the 
 attempt. Each candidate is shut up for three whole days 
 in a box-like cell four feet square, in which he cannot 
 even lie down, with no other companions than his brush, 
 paper and stick of Chinese ink ; and barely an examination 
 passes without some student or other being found dead in his 
 cell. According to popular rumour, it is said that the all- 
 pervading corruption penetrates even into these cells, and that 
 not a few candidates succeed less through their merits than 
 through the golden gate ; and it has even been observed that 
 the sons and near relatives of existing high functionaries are 
 pretty sure to pass ; but as a rule, however, it seems that merit 
 generally obtains its reward. It is, however, after the exami- 
 nations that begin the real difficulties of those who are not rich 
 and are without influential friends. One might naturally expect 
 that after the trouble, fatigue, and expense of the examination 
 were over, some post or other would surely be forthcoming 
 to recompense the efforts of the candidate ; but the contrary 
 
 205 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 is the rule, and many a man has had to wait a lifetime before 
 obtaining the reward for which he has striven so hard. Never- 
 theless, those students who seem to possess exceptional ability 
 generally push themselves forward in the following manner : a 
 syndicate has been formed which advances the funds necessary 
 to assist the aspirant in mounting the first rung on the ladder of 
 fame, and to help him further, until he is in a position to return 
 the money borrowed, either in cash or kind, with a very hand- 
 some interest. The idea of exploiting public offices as a 
 sort of commercial concern is, to say the least, ingenious, and, 
 what is more, it seems to be occasionally exceedingly remu- 
 nerative. On the other hand, the expense and the intrigue that 
 such a pernicious system must necessarily involve can better 
 be imagined than described. As an instance in point, I was 
 assured that the position of Tao-tai or Governor of Shanghai, 
 worth, for not more than three years, a salary of 6,000 taels, 
 or j^goo, a year, was recently bought for over ^30,000. 
 
 Even worse than the purchase of public offices, and the 
 favouritism shown at examinations, are the subjects chosen for 
 competition, which are exclusively selected from Chinese 
 classical and scholastic literature. The works of Confucius, 
 those of his disciples, of Mencius and of other philosophers who 
 enlightened the world two thousand years ago, and a mass of 
 quaint lore derived from the ancient Chinese chronicles, form 
 the subject of these extraordinary examinations, and the students 
 have to learn some hundred volumes as nearly as possible by 
 heart, memory being the one thing most highly prized by the 
 Board of Examiners. The student is expected to quote 
 certain extracts word by word as they appear in the books, 
 and his examination papers must, moreover, be embellished by 
 a great quantity of quotations — the more the better. An 
 elegant style is obtained only through acquaintance with as 
 many of the 60,000 Chinese ^’laracters as possible, from which 
 the student is expected to make an appropriate selection, and. 
 as each sign means a word, and not a few of these are almost 
 unknown, and only to be found in some hidden corner of an 
 ancient volume, the waste of time is appalling. The preparatory 
 instruction, therefore, simply consists in cramming the wretched 
 candidate with a knowledge of as great a number of signs or 
 characters, and quotations from the Celestial classics, as 
 possible. One of the most curious features of the Chinese is 
 that, although everybody knows how to read and write a little, 
 
CHINA 
 
 no one can do so perfectly, for the simple reason that no 
 Chinaman has ever been known to completely master the 
 voluminous alphabet of his country. The most ignorant has 
 acquired some ten or a dozen characters relating to his trade, 
 and sufficient for his purpose. When a man has mastered 
 6,000 or 8,000 he is considered learned, and, when we come 
 to think of it, there must be very few ideas that cannot be 
 expressed by so many thousands of words. Many of the 
 higher literati manage to acquire even 20,000 words, and 
 the state of the mind of that man may safely be left to the 
 reader’s imagination, especially if we reflect that he must 
 have passed his entire youth studying by rote thousands of 
 signs only distinguishable from one another by the minutest 
 strokes, and in acquiring a prodigious amount of obsolete 
 knowledge from classical books and annals whose authors 
 lived in remote antiquity. Of late years a slight modification 
 has been introduced in the shape of certain concessions to 
 what is officially called the ‘ new Western culture.’ To the 
 usual questions selected from the works of Confucius and other 
 philosophers have now been added the identification of names 
 mentioned in modern geography, and since the Chino-Japanese 
 War the examiners at Nan-king ask their candidates some very 
 grave and informing queries in astronomy, as : ‘ What is the 
 apparent diameter of the sun as seen from the earth ? and what 
 would be that of the earth as seen from the sun' or from some 
 other planet?’ The following sage question is typical of 
 the intellectual condition of both examiner and examined : 
 ‘ Why is the character in writing which represents the moon 
 closed at the bottom, and the one which represents the sun 
 left open ?’ 
 
 In the capital of a province near Shanghai the learned 
 examiners wished to encourage the study of mathematics, and, 
 accordingly, prizes were offered for competition and a solemn 
 circular sent out to encourage young men to take part in the 
 examination. Some young fellows, who had been educated in 
 the missionary schools, solved most of the problems offered 
 fairly well, and in accordance with the rules of modern elemen- 
 tary education. Others, on the other hand, who were better 
 acquainted with the Four Books and the Five Great Classics 
 than with Western geometry, made the remarkable discovery 
 that the problems were explained in an old work written many 
 centuries ago, with the result that they simply copied word by 
 
 207 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 word the fantastical solutions therein formulated, and, of 
 course, carried off the prizes. In the following year one of the 
 professors of a foreign missionary college asked leave for a 
 competent European teacher to be included in the examining 
 committee in order to assist in the preparation of the papers 
 and to pronounce a verdict upon the answers sent in. Need- 
 less to say, the demand was refused and the questions were 
 sent out without the least attempt to insure their being loyally 
 answered. Among the questions asked at a competitive 
 scientific examination in Chekiang in 1898 were the follow- 
 ing ; ‘ How are foreign candles made, and in what consists 
 their superiority over those manufactured in China ?’ ‘ Name 
 
 the principal ports touched at by the steamers running between 
 Japan and the Mediterranean.’ ‘ To which of the new sciences 
 and methods which people are endeavouring to introduce 
 should the greatest importance be attached ?’ ‘ Write an essay 
 
 on international law.’ Comment is needless. 
 
 These foolish innovations, of course, do not change the funda- 
 mental scholastic and rhetorical character of Chinese exami 
 nations, and the usual themes for the compositions remain 
 identical. Here are two examples quoted by Mr. Henry 
 Norman : ‘ Confucius hath said, “ In what majesty did Chun 
 and Yu reign over the Empire, as though the Empire was 
 as nothing unto them!” Confucius hath said, “Yao was 
 verily a great sovereign. How glorious he was ! Heaven 
 alone is grand, and Yao only worthy to enter it. How exalted 
 was his virtue ! The people could find no words wherewith to 
 qualify it.” ’* This was the theme that had to be developed 
 by many a flower of rhetoric. It is only through the study of 
 these books, written twenty centuries ago, and encumbered by 
 parables and affected maxims, and of ancient annals crammed 
 with fantastic legends believed in as absolute facts, that are 
 selected the members of the class who are expected to govern 
 China! 
 
 The result of this method of education was exemplified as 
 late as 1897, two years after a war which had brought the 
 Celestial Empire within an inch of ruin, when a censor, one of 
 the highest officials in the Empire, addressed a document to 
 the Emperor, wherein he protested against the concessions 
 made to the inventions of the Western barbarians, which he 
 
 * ‘ Politics and Peoples of the Far East.’ London : Fisher Unwin. 
 1895. 
 
 208 
 
CHINA 
 
 did not hesitate to qualify as calculated to disturb the peace 
 of the dead. Instead of constructing railways, he gravely 
 insisted, it were wiser to offer a handsome reward to the man 
 who should recover the secret of making flying chariots to be 
 drawn by phoenixes which certainly existed in the good old times. 
 A little time previously a member of the Tsung-li-Yamen had 
 lifted his voice to protest against the various railway embank- 
 ments and the nails that studded the lines, which, he believed, 
 were likely to inconvenience and wound the sacred dragons 
 who protect the cities of the Empire, and who dwell beneath 
 the soil. The strange superstitions of the fengshui geomancy 
 dealing with the circulation through the air of good and evil 
 spirits, and with the prescribed height to which buildings may 
 be erected, and the exact positions of doors and other like 
 grave matters, which, it seems, unless they be properly attended 
 to, are apt to upset and offend the flying spirits in their pro- 
 gress through space, exercise a greater empire over the minds 
 of Chinese officials in the very highest places than matters 
 which we should consider of the greatest importance. 
 
 The fact that the mandarinate is recruited from the demo- 
 cracy renders it even more pernicious than if it constituted a 
 hereditary aristocracy, for, as it stands, nobody has any interest 
 in overthrowing it. The most intelligent people try to enter 
 it, and it attracts all the most gifted men in the Empire, but 
 only to corrupt them. The literary class enjoys an enormous 
 prestige, and the poorest man lives in the hope of seeing his 
 son one of its learned members. It, therefore, does not excite 
 any of that hatred usually provoked by caste privilege, and 
 thus does not stand the least danger of being upset. On 
 the other hand, the condition to which it has reduced the 
 Celestial Empire is a condemnation of the system of examina- 
 tion for Government office, and many a Western State might 
 do well to study this question and to take its lesson to heart. 
 That its effects have been more accentuated in China than 
 elsewhere is undeniable, being the result of diverse historic 
 and ethnographical circumstances peculiar to that nation. The 
 Chinese reached a high state of civilization long before our 
 era, and being more numerous and intelligent than their neigh- 
 bours, so soon as they were cemented into one compact 
 nationality they proceeded to subjugate Indo- China and 
 Korea; and so it came to pass that China had no dangerous 
 foes to disturb her, Japan being isolated in her island Empire, 
 
 209 p 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 and she was separated from India by a formidable mountain 
 barrier and from the West by immense deserts. From that 
 time the Chinese had nothing to trouble them, and had but 
 to live in quiet admiration of the labours of their ancestors, 
 who were the authors of the perfect peace which they enjoyed, 
 and thus little by little they accustomed themselves to look 
 upon them as superior beings and as types of perfection. 
 More advanced than any of their tributary subjects, and having 
 nothing to fear from competition, they became lost in self- 
 admiration, or, rather, in the admiration of those who had 
 made their country what it was, and ended by believing that 
 no further progress was either necessary or possible, and thus 
 are now absolutely non-progressive. 
 
 The isolation and the want of emulation in which China has 
 existed for so many centuries have destroyed whatever energy 
 and initiative she might otherwise have possessed. It should be 
 remarked, however, that the Roman Empire was in very much 
 the same condition, and for the same reason, at the time of the 
 invasion of the Barbarians, and that outside the moral revolution 
 effected by Christianity — which, by the way, only obtained its 
 fullest developments by the overthrow of the Empire — no further 
 progress was being made. The sterile admiration of bygone 
 greatness, therefore, is the foundation-stone of the doctrines of 
 Confucius. The Chinese people, who are essentially practical 
 and positive, and less given, perhaps, than any other in the 
 world to study general questions and lofty ideals, soon de- 
 teriorated under so retrogressive a system, and eventually lost 
 all sight of the origin of many of their most important institu- 
 tions. Religion and morals were reduced to mere rites and 
 ceremonies that only conceal the emptiness of Chinese civili- 
 zation, and so the nation came to the conclusion that the one 
 thing in this world worth the doing was to save appearances, 
 and conceal corruption beneath a flimsy mask. 
 
 The isolation of China and her superiority over her neigh- 
 bours produced another very grave consequence — the ruin of 
 that martial spirit which has obliterated all idea of duty and 
 sacrifice. The military mandarins are despised by their civil 
 colleagues, and their tests consist almost exclusively of physical 
 exercises such as archery and the lifting of heavy weights. 
 ‘ One does not use good iron to make nails, nor a good man to 
 make a soldier,’ says the Chinese proverb, and thus it is that 
 the Chinese army is recruited from a horde of blackguards 
 
 210 
 
CHINA 
 
 and plunderers, whose only good qualities are their contempt for 
 life and physical endurance, which might under proper manage- 
 ment turn this raw material into an excellent army. 
 
 The Celestial Empire is quite as incapable of resisting 
 the advance of modern civilization as it is of assimilating it. 
 From the literati who govern the land nothing is to be expected, 
 for they will neither learn nor forget anything. Their pre- 
 judices are so strong as to prevent their accepting any great 
 movement of reform, even if it were in their interests, and 
 in the stagnant position in which China is at present, aided 
 by the lack of intercommunication between the provinces, 
 the mandarins do exactly as they please. The Peking Gazette, 
 the official paper, described quite recently in the most glowing 
 terms the suppression of a revolt, showing at the same time 
 the expenses incurred and the rewards offered to those who 
 had aided in its suppression. The real truth of the story 
 was that no revolution whatever had taken place in the district 
 mentioned, and the only unusual event which had occurred was 
 the pursuit of a runaway thief by three soldiers. Such an 
 instance could not possibly occur in a well-regulated State, and 
 naturally the men who profited by the lie will not be very 
 desirous of a change in so profitable a system. ‘ Those who 
 despair most of China are those who know her best,’ once 
 said a missionary to me; and his words have been confirmed 
 by nearly every traveller in the Far East with whom I have 
 spoken on the subject. No reform can be expected in the 
 country from within, and a proof in point will be found in 
 the history of the Palace Revolution of September 9th, 1898. 
 The question, therefore, which presents itself is whether 
 external pressure can be brought to bear on China with a view 
 to reforming her Government without causing the dislocation 
 of the Empire. 
 
 21 I 
 
 P 2 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE CHINESE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 Great antiquity of China’s national existence — Stagnation of her organiza- 
 tion as well as of her social, religious and administrative institutions — 
 Unity of Chinese civilization notwithstanding varied surroundings, 
 differences of language and of racial origin, it being much more in- 
 flexible than that of the Western world — Some of the principal 
 characteristics of the Chinese — Love of false appearances — Gulf that 
 divides the theoretical from the practical in all matters of Chinese 
 administration — Corruption of the Chinese Government and its deter- 
 mination to impede progress — Lightness of the taxes — The mass of 
 the people apparently happy under distressing circumstances — The 
 good-humour and liveliness of the Celestials — Pity said to be absolutely 
 excluded from the Chinese character — Why the Chinese make bad 
 soldiers — Organization of the family and position of women — Vices of 
 the Chinese : love of gambling, opium, filthy habits and super- 
 stitions — Their better qualities — The people themselves not in a state 
 of decadence — Primary effects of contact with Western civilization. 
 
 The Chinese are at one and the same time the most numerous 
 and the longest existing nation in the world. The annals of 
 the Celestial Empire date as far back as those of Egypt, and 
 twenty centuries ago, when States which now rule the earth 
 were in process of formation, China, having undergone several 
 evolutions, was already constituted as she is to-day. The 
 Chinese have never been subjected to any of those marked and 
 repeated changes which, during the last two thousand years, 
 have so profoundly modified the social organization and the 
 manners and customs of other countries ; and even the intro- 
 duction of a new religion did not produce in the East anything 
 comparable to the revolution which, at about the same time, 
 occurred in the West through the spread of Christianity. 
 Buddhism did not modify the Chinese people, but the 
 Chinese people modified Buddhism after their own image and 
 likeness, without, however, permitting the doctrines of Sakya- 
 
 212 
 
CHINA 
 
 muni to exercise the least influence over their character, or 
 change an iota of their ideas concerning life and morality, 
 which were determined by Confucius and other sage Celestials, 
 being in reality derived less from the meditations of philosophers 
 or the inspiration of prophets than from the intuitive instinct 
 of the race. The institutions of China have not altered the 
 mental habits or method of life upon which they profess to be 
 modelled, any more than has the theoretical principle of family 
 existence altered the Imperial Government; for the Chinese 
 even now often qualify their high officials by the endearing 
 epithets ‘ father ’ and ‘ mother.’ Political revolutions have not 
 made a deeper impression upon the fossilized organization of 
 the Chinese Government, than has religion on the character 
 and manners of the people. The various dynasties that have 
 succeeded each other have changed nothing, although some 
 of them have been of foreign origin ; the Mongolian in the 
 thirteenth century and the Manchurian in our own time ; but 
 they effected no variations in the system of Government, and 
 only placed certain functionaries to \vatch over the mandarins, 
 precisely as the Tatar marshals are instructed to spy upon the 
 officials of nowadays. 
 
 China has always been governed after Chinese methods, and 
 although she has occasionally been conquered by foreigners, she 
 has invariably absorbed them into her own civilization, and 
 obliged them to observe her traditions. The Chinese care 
 very little about the future, the greatness or the independence 
 of their country ; but they cling with extraordinary tenacity to 
 their old manners and customs, and thereby offer a striking 
 contrast to their neighbours the Japanese, who, notwithstanding 
 their intense patriotism, will make any sacrifice, even that of 
 religious principle and most cherished tradition, if they think 
 that they may thereby benefit their Empire. The Japanese 
 have almost the same conception of patriotism as Europeans, 
 but not so the Chinese, with whom this virtue is merely a racial 
 affair, which in the hour of danger invariably proves of little 
 or no avail, especially against adversaries of a kind never 
 previously encountered. 
 
 Does there exist, beyond this intense love of old customs 
 and of an immutable civilization, any bond of union among 
 the three or four hundred millions of human beings who 
 constitute the population of China ?* At first sight no people 
 * The population of China has been very variously estimated. There 
 
 213 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 could possibly appear more thoroughly homogeneous than the 
 Chinese; but it is not necessary to stay long among them 
 to perceive that even from the physical point of view there are 
 certain racial differences which make it more difficult at first 
 to note the dissimilarity which separates their race from our 
 own. Even more striking are the diverse dialects spoken in 
 the Empire, several of which are not mere patois, but distinct 
 languages, rendering it impossible for a native of Canton or 
 Foo-chow to make himself understood at Peking ; and in 
 many provinces these idiomatic peculiarities are very interest- 
 ing. In Fo-kien no less than three patois are spoken — the 
 Amoy, Swatow, and the Foo-chow, which are utterly different 
 from each other. Between the cities of Peking and Tien-tsin, 
 scarcely thirty leagues apart, there is already a marked differ- 
 ence in the matter of dialect. It is also a noteworthy fact 
 that very little sympathy exists among the Chinese from different 
 provinces, who keep aloof from each other even when circum- 
 stances oblige them to live in the same town. Very marked, 
 too, are the divergent characteristics and temperaments ob- 
 servable between the inhabitants of the North and those of 
 the South, the former being much the most energetic and enter- 
 prising, but at the same time more hostile to foreigners. The 
 Central Government is almost unknown by the multitudes out- 
 side of Peking, and it would be a comparatively easy task to 
 raise an army in one part of China to fight against the inhabi- 
 tants of another. 
 
 The question may now be asked whether China, which covers 
 an area equal to that of Europe, and is even more thickly 
 peopled, is less homogeneous than our own Continent. Does 
 there exist between the various Chinese provinces the same 
 differences that mark each of the nations that in the aggregate 
 form Europe ? From the geographical and climatic point of 
 view it is evident that the difference is not very' great, although 
 China possesses very high mountains only on her Western 
 
 exist ofiBcial statistics, but the question is, what faith can be placed in 
 them ? The ‘ Statesman’s Year Book,’ which is generally well informed, 
 returns 383,000.000 for China Proper, and 402,000,000 for the entire 
 Empire. Some travellers, however, are of opinion that these figures should 
 be greatly modified, and hold that the correct medium is between 
 200,000,000 and 250,000,000, because the mountainous regions are very 
 thinly populated, and travellers erroneously form an opinion from the con- 
 dition of the valleys through which they pass, which are generally densely 
 populated. 
 
 214 
 
CHINA 
 
 frontier, and her plains are much more extensive and con- 
 tinuous. But from the ethnical point of view it would be an 
 exaggeration to state that there is much analogy between China 
 and Europe, since the former is certainly much the more homo- 
 geneous. The different countries of our Continent are inhabited 
 by peoples who are only remotely related to each other, and 
 who are merely united by the ties of a common civilization, 
 whereas amongst the subjects of the Son of Heaven the ties 
 are much stronger and the physical resemblance is more 
 marked. I am, of course, speaking of the inhabitants of China 
 proper only — of the eighteen provinces, to which might be 
 added a nineteenth, Ching-king, or Southern Manchuria, now 
 in process of colonization by the Chinese. The various 
 tributary peoples belonging to the Celestial Empire, such as 
 the Mongolians, the Thibetans and the Turki in Eastern 
 Turkestan, are absolutely distinct from each other and from 
 the predominant race; but although the dependencies which 
 they cover constitute two-thirds of the surface of the entire 
 Empire, they only form a twentieth of the entire population, 
 and do not share in its Government. 
 
 It should be observed that the absence of any sympathy 
 between the inhabitants of the different Chinese provinces might 
 have been found quite recently exemplified in Europe, not 
 merely between nation and nation, but between province and 
 province in the same country, and that linguistic variations are 
 still noticeable even in the most homogeneous countries. 
 History is full of instances of intestine troubles which have 
 existed in nearly every European nation, and it is but thirty 
 years since the Germans were at war with each other. 
 
 I have often heard related the misadventures of two 
 Celestials, natives of different provinces, who, whilst travelling 
 in Europe, met one day only to discover that their sole 
 means of making themselves understood was by speaking 
 English. But does not this story recall the recent Slav 
 Congress in Austria, whose debates had to be held in German 
 in order that they might be followed by all the delegates ? 
 The existence of patois and dialects results from the inhabitants 
 of certain districts having neither the time nor the money to 
 go beyond their village further than the nearest market-town. 
 Then, again, education in China does not tend, as in Europe, 
 to produce unity of language, since its writing is quite inde- 
 pendent of pronunciation, and the innumerable letters of its 
 
 215 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 alphabet represent, not sounds, but ideas. The lack of any 
 spirit of patriotism may be largely attributed to this state of 
 absolute isolation, to which may be added a general and very 
 profound ignorance. But patriotism as we understand it is, 
 after all, a matter of modern sentiment, therefore not to be 
 looked for in so antiquated a nation as the Chinese. 
 
 It matters little whether there be a common origin or not, 
 since our notions of race are very difficult to define, and modern 
 anthropological and ethnographical discoveries tend more and 
 more towards the acceptance of the theory of the existence 
 of distinct races. Whereas the patois of the ten northernmost 
 provinces are merely dialects of the Manchurian languages, 
 those of the south, especially of Fo-kien and Canton, are totally 
 different, and apparently confirm the theory that the Chinese 
 invaders who came from the north-east found the land already 
 inhabited by a people whom they assimilated, precisely as they 
 are doing in our time in Manchuria, and as did the Romans 
 in ancient Gaul. 
 
 The entire population of China, excepting a few obscure 
 mountain tribes, the remainder, possibly, of the autochthones 
 of the South, whatever their origin, have for centuries moulded 
 themselves on a civilization that penetrates far deeper into the 
 details of every-day life than any known in Europe. The 
 result is a greater uniformity among the people who have 
 adopted it than will be found among men who follow a less 
 rigid code that permits of greater latitude and affords a freer 
 scope for the exercise of individuality. Many peculiarities in 
 the Chinese character appear at first contradictory, even to 
 those who have lived long in the country, and who assert that 
 no European can ever thoroughly understand a Chinaman 
 because his mind is so differently constituted. 
 
 The most striking characteristic of the Chinese, says Mr. 
 Arthur H. Smith, an American missionary who has lived 
 twenty-two years in China, in his admirable book ‘ Chinese 
 Characteristics,’ is their remarkable manner of ‘ facing ’ a 
 thing. To save appearances, or to ‘face ’ a difficulty cunningly 
 rather than boldly, is the endeavour of the inhabitants of the 
 Kingdom of the Son of Heaven, and is the key, moreover, to a 
 great many other matters that might otherwise appear incom- 
 prehensible. Every Chinaman considers himself an actor, 
 whose public words, acts, and deeds have nothing in common 
 with reality. The most praiseworthy and even the most in- 
 
 216 
 
CHINA 
 
 nocent of actions, unless it be performed in a certain way, 
 will only cover its author with shame and ridicule. If a fault 
 is committed, the guilty party is expected to deny it with the 
 utmost effrontery in spite of convincing evidence, and on no 
 account must he confess himself guilty, even if he is obliged to 
 repair the injury done. From the highest to the lowest, the 
 Chinese entertain a profound respect for shamming. A boy 
 caught stealing will slip the coveted object up his sleeves, 
 stoop down and pretend to pick it up, and with the smile of 
 an angel present it to his master, saying, ‘ Here is what you 
 have lost.’ A little over a hundred years ago the mandarins 
 who were escorting Macartney, the English Ambassador, into 
 the presence of the Son of Heaven, profited by his ignorance of 
 their language to place over his carriage an inscription to the 
 effect that it contained ‘ the Ambassador bringing tribute from 
 the Kingdom of England,’ and thus kept up the fiction of the 
 universal sovereignty of their lord and master. 
 
 Undoubtedly the observance of a certain amount of etiquette 
 is both useful and praiseworthy, and so considered by all 
 civilized nations ; but Chinese etiquette is the most punctilious 
 and complicated that was ever imagined, and never on any 
 account to be neglected for a single instant. This excessive 
 attention to outward forms, which, if they be but observed, 
 may conceal any kind of iniquity, explains the fact that in 
 China there is a deeper gulf between theory and practice than 
 in any other country in the world. That it has always been so 
 may be questioned, but at present the morals of Confucius 
 have long since been lost in a code of etiquette which defines 
 virtue as consisting in the observance to the letter of the three 
 hundred rules of ceremony and the three thousand regulations 
 of conduct, without paying the least attention to the spirit 
 in which they were originally formulated. 
 
 It is in the system of Government in China that the con- 
 trast between precept and practice becomes most evident. 
 As Mr. Henry Norman remarks with hardly exaggerated 
 severity, ‘ Every Chinese official, with the possible exception 
 of one in a thousand, is a liar, a thief and a tyrant 1’ 
 Exam [lies confirming this assertion are very numerous, and 
 even the celebrated Li Hung-chang cannot be included in the 
 list of those officials who are noted for their honesty, since he 
 had' to disgorge a great part of the immense fortune he had 
 accumulated— twenty millions, it is reputed — to save his head 
 
 217 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 during the Chino- Japanese War, when he had to purchase 
 the goodwill of many Court dignitaries, eunuchs and others, 
 notwithstanding which, money matters still occupy a great deal 
 of his attention. I had the honour while I was at Peking to 
 dine at the French Legation in the company of this exalted 
 personage, on the occasion of the visit of the Admiral com- 
 manding the French Fleet in the Far East and several officers 
 of his staff. Li conversed through the intermediary of an 
 interpreter named Ma, to whom he spoke in the Fo-kien, his 
 native dialect ; it appears he speaks Manchu very badly. He 
 put to each of the guests several polite questions usual among 
 Orientals, inquired after their rank, their age, and invariably 
 wound up his courteous inquiries by asking : ‘ Well, and what 
 is your salary?’ With us the income of an official is a matter 
 of very little importance, but with the famous mandarin it was 
 the essential. 
 
 For centuries the administration of China has been as corrupt 
 as it is to-day, but for all this it has never driven the people 
 to rebellion. It is true that occasionally there are local agita- 
 tions, whose chiefs go so far as to pounce upon offending 
 representatives of authority and convey them to the capital of 
 the district, or province, to demand their degradation, which 
 is more often than not accorded — a fact which inspired an 
 English paper at Shanghai to descant on the ‘ democratic 
 manner in which the Chinese participate in their government.’ 
 Oppression tempered by revolt is the rule which prevails in the 
 Celestial Empire, but there is no fear of a general revolution 
 against so degenerate a system. This administrative machine, 
 however, which appears to us to be so detestable, only impedes 
 progress, but does not affect the population, which is accus- 
 tomed to routine habits hundreds of years old, and has not 
 the remotest idea that a reform is either necessary or practi- 
 cable. When an enterprising man wishes to introduce even 
 the most insignificant of modern trades, he invariably attracts 
 the attention of the mandarins, to whom he is obliged to apply 
 for permission to carry on his novelty, and will only obtain it 
 after much bribery and a promise to pay such a huge per- 
 centage on his profits as to render the returns of his venture 
 too insignificant to be worth his continuing it. But for the 
 uncomplaining and unprogressive, w'ho have nothing to do 
 with administrative affairs, life in China flows easily and quietly 
 enough. The taxes are very light, especially for the peasantry, 
 
 218 
 
CHINA 
 
 who live by what they harvest in their fields, or for the work- 
 people, whose wants are very small They fall, however, heavily 
 upon commercial transactions and the transport of merchan- 
 dise, are a great impediment to commerce, and though they 
 never affect them directly, for their poverty is far too great to 
 permit of their buying anything, they contribute indirectly to 
 keep the inferior classes in a state of abject poverty. Accord- 
 ing to the investigations of Herr von Brandt, former German 
 Minister to Peking, and a man who has studied China pro- 
 foundly, the land tax in China reaches _;^5,25o,ooo, being 
 about 3s. per acre in the North, with a maximum of 13s. in 
 the South. This is not much when we consider the intense 
 activity of Chinese agriculture, which extracts from the soil 
 almost everywhere two harvests annually. The total of the 
 Budget, according to the same authority, reaches 100,000,000 
 taels, or 5,000,000. Other authorities estimated it as high 
 as ;,^24,ooo,ooo, but even this is not excessive. The following 
 is Von Brandt’s account of the different sources of revenue of 
 the Chinese Empire : 
 
 Inland Revenue ... ... 
 
 Treaty port Customs (obtained by the International Customs 
 Service) ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 Right for transit in the interior (likin ) ... 
 
 Native Customs and tax on native opium 
 
 Salt tax ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 Sale of titles and honorary distinctions 
 Tribute of rice ... ... ... .« ... 
 
 Licenses, etc. ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 ;^S, 250,000 
 
 3.450.000 
 
 1.800.000 
 
 1.500.000 
 1,500,000 
 
 750.000 
 
 450.000 
 
 300.000 
 
 Total ;^i 5,000,000 
 
 The public revenues, gathered by the provincial treasuries, are 
 sent on to Peking after deduction of the amount necessary for 
 the requirements of the district. It is stated that only a third 
 of these receipts is disposable for the needs of the Central 
 Government. 
 
 The mass of the Chinese people endure, therefore, without 
 much discontent, a Government which in ordinary time weighs 
 very lightly upon them, that meddles very little in the affairs 
 of their villages or communes, always very strongly consti- 
 tuted in the Far East, and, above all, never disturbs their 
 ancient customs. Exceedingly poor, and only able to live by 
 dint of hard work, and having a very severe struggle for life, 
 
 219 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 the people have no time to waste on philosophical reflections, 
 and, moreover, possess no standard of comparison to assist it 
 to judge of the hardness of its fate. In addition to this, we 
 must not forget that the Chinese are endowed by nature with 
 an excessive spirit of conservatism and a patience and per- 
 severance quite beyond praise, to which must be added a 
 jovial good-humour that enables them to endure an existence 
 which to the people of any other country would appear in- 
 tolerable. Peasants and work-people alike have no hope of 
 ever seeing their humble condition improved, and their pro- 
 spective existence is one of absolute monotony, entirely passed 
 in sowing and reaping, in carrying heavy burdens, in the 
 turning of looms, or in labouring the earth, without having, 
 excepting on a few feast-days, a moment’s rest, save what is 
 absolutely necessary for meals and sleep. None the less, they 
 always seem very happy, complain very little, and thoroughly 
 enjoy their few pleasures, and apparently absolutely ignore their 
 troubles. 
 
 This happy spirit of resignation explains why the Chinese, 
 notwithstanding their poverty, are one of the most contented 
 people in the world, and, consequently, one of the happiest; 
 but, unfortunately, they are exposed from time to time to 
 dreadful calamities : an inundation, an epidemic, or a bad 
 harvest, which brings about inevitable misery and famine 
 to the entire population, who are left without any resources 
 because their work has not been sufficiently remunerative to 
 enable them to put anything by for a rainy day. Not a year 
 passes without a dreadful calamity occurring somewhere or 
 other in the immense Celestial Empire, causing the deaths of 
 hundreds of thousands of people, so that, notwithstanding the 
 astonishing number of children born, the population apparently 
 does not increase. Here, then, we have a striking application 
 of the doctrines of Malthus ; for in this society, into which no 
 ray of progress is admitted, men multiply quicker than their 
 means of subsistence, but natural calamities re establish the 
 balance by annually overwhelming a prodigious number of 
 men, women and children. 
 
 The exaggerated sense of conservatism and the improvidence 
 of the administration are in part responsible for the occurrence 
 of these grave calamities, which are generally accompanied by 
 a recrudescence of that chronic piracy and brigandage which 
 is peculiar to China, being the sole means of gaining a liveli- 
 
 220 
 
CHINA 
 
 hood left to many ruined wretches. Sometimes, however, the 
 agents of the Government, after having done nothing either 
 to prevent a catastrophe or to mitigate its consequences, in- 
 crease it in times of famine by their avidity in seizing the rice, 
 and thus provoke a rebellion, as happened in 1898 at various 
 parts of the Yang-tsze-Kiang. But beyond these cases, in 
 which the authorities are manifestly guilty, the Chinese people 
 submit with the utmost resignation to calamities which they 
 foresee and consider as merely natural, and which, when they 
 happen, barely ruffle their habitual placidity. Death to such a 
 people cannot have the same terrors it has for us. 
 
 Europeans are of all the civilized peoples of the earth those 
 who complain most of life, but yet who hold most dearly to it. 
 The people of the Far East, the Chinese as well as the Japanese, 
 on the other hand, consider it least. Indifference to death 
 seems to be with them almost a physical characteristic, the 
 result of the singular insensibility of their nervous system. 
 With respect to this last, we have plenty of evidence. The 
 doctors in the European hospitals where natives are treated 
 relate with amazement how their patients undergo the most 
 painful operations without a murmur and without the necessity 
 of having to resort to ansestheiics. In every-day life, too, the 
 same curious apathy is to be observed in the extraordinary 
 facility with which they can fall asleep whenever they choose, 
 even in the midst of the most awful din and noise, and they 
 can, moreover, remain for hours in one position without 
 making the slightest motion. The reverse of the medal is 
 that, although they are so indifferent to their own sufferings, 
 they are without the slightest feeling for those of others, and 
 can watch the writhing agony of a human being without ex- 
 pressing the least horror or sympathy. The dreadful custom 
 of binding the feet of women in such a manner as to push the 
 heel forward and double up the toes under the sole of the 
 foot, inducing a sore that is never healed, is but one out of 
 many examples of Chinese cruelty. The various and horrible 
 tortures inflicted by the judicial tribunals are another illustra- 
 tion of the same dreadful instinct. The idea of bargaining 
 with a person in danger of death, or with a man who has 
 fallen into the water before attempting to rescue him from 
 drowning, are things which would never suggest themselves to 
 a European, but they come naturally to the Chinese. 
 
 The little value in which human life is held in the Far East 
 
 221 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 is exemplified by the frequency of suicide, merely to vindicate 
 a point of honour which in many parts of Europe would be 
 settled at the point of the sword. The hara-kiri is not re- 
 stricted to Japan, or to the upper classes of Chinese society. 
 A Chinaman, even of the lowest order, will commit suicide 
 out of vengeance, spite, or even through what he considers a 
 matter of honour. Sacrifice of life is common even among 
 women, if we may believe the following narrative extracted from 
 a Chinese newspaper : 
 
 ‘ One day a sow belonging to a certain Madame Feng, having 
 done some slight injury to the door of a certain Madame Wang, 
 that lady forthwith demanded compensation with interest, which 
 was refused, whereupon Madame Wang announced her intention 
 of committing suicide. This dreadful threat proved altogether 
 too much for Madame Feng, who there and then determined 
 to beat her enemy with her own weapon by flinging herself 
 into the nearest canal.’* Suicides are by no means rare among 
 the upper classes of the literati, and quite recently a censor, 
 a high functionary who possesses the privilege of addressing 
 petitions to the Sovereign, awaited the passing of the Imperial 
 cortege and then killed himself as a political demonstration, in 
 order to add weight to a memorial he had presented concern- 
 ing some promise of the Government which had not been 
 fulfilled. The innumerable public executions form a pendant 
 to the equally numerous cases of suicide. 
 
 The reader may be somewhat surprised that a people fearing 
 death so little should make such bad soldiers ; but, after all, 
 however lightly a man may hold his life, no one sacrifices it 
 unless it be for some ideal or other. If the Celestials care so 
 little about existence, they care still less for the grandeur of 
 their country, patriotic feeling being absolutely absent from 
 their nature. During the French campaign in Formosa it was 
 no uncommon thing to see Chinese prisoners refuse to do tasks 
 which they considered beneath them, and which they could 
 only be induced to perform after having seen the heads of a 
 few of their comrades fall under the sword. These very people 
 who prefer death rather than derogate from their dignity are the 
 same who have often been seen throwing down their arms on 
 the battlefield. It is but fair to add that it is the military 
 mandarins or officers who generally give the signal for a stam- 
 pede. Possibly, if commanded by other officers, the Chinese, 
 * Quoted by Mr. Henry Norman, ‘ Peoples and Politics of the Far East.’ 
 
 222 
 
CHINA 
 
 with their wonderful power of enduring privation and callous- 
 ness for death, would eventually form an admirable army 
 which, even if it were unable to defend China against foreign 
 Powers, would certainly prove a valuable ally to one or other 
 of them.* 
 
 The practice of infanticide, especially of female infants, is 
 another example of the different w’ays in which the Chinese 
 and Europeans regard life and family ties. With us the love 
 of parents for children is often greater than that of children 
 for their parents ; but in China it is quite the reverse. Ac- 
 cording to Confucius, filial piety was the noblest of virtues, 
 indeed, the fountain-head of them all, and it is the one which 
 his compatriots still practise most assiduously. Among the 
 lower orders, however, this virtue is confined to the support 
 of parents ; but this is a duty never neglected. Among the 
 twenty-four famous examples of filial piety is mentioned the 
 case of a man who, at the very moment that he was about to 
 bury his little three-year-old girl alive because he could not 
 afford to keep her as well as his old mother, had his infant 
 saved by the unexpected discovery of a treasure purposely 
 placed in the intended grave by a good genie, who was eager to 
 reward so beautiful an instance of filial piety. A still greater sin 
 against this virtue is that of not possessing male posterity ; for 
 then the family becomes extinct, and the ancestors are deprived 
 of those sacrifices to which they have a right, and which it is the 
 first duty of every well-thinking man to offer them at regular 
 intervals. Marriages are contracted very early, and there is 
 no stronger evhience needed against a wife to obtain her divorce 
 than that she has not had a son. The doctrine of filial piety 
 as it is understood by the Chinese, and the worship of ancestors, 
 which is its highest expression, have their good as well as their 
 bad side. It forms the principal mainstay of that useless 
 system of admiration of an irrevocable past in which everything 
 is supposed to have been better than it can possibly be to-day, 
 and which of necessity turns the people of the Celestial Empire 
 from all desire for progress, because to do so would be an 
 outrage to an ancestry whose wisdom can never be surpassed. 
 
 If this belief produces unfortunate social consequences, it 
 
 * The admirable and even gallant conduct of the Chinese Regiment from 
 Wei-hai-wei under its British officers in the recent severe fighting about 
 Tien-tsin affords a striking confirmation of M. Leroy- Beaulieu’s words. — 
 
 H. N. 
 
 223 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 at the same time serves to consolidate family ties ; but ever, 
 so it is pernicious, especially with respect to the condition 
 of women. The lot of Chinese women is certainly not a 
 happy one. Lodging rather than living with her husband, 
 under his parents’ roof, the young wife is never allowed to see 
 her own family, excepting at certain fixed periods prearranged 
 by custom. In their earlier years married women in China 
 are exposed to the caprices and rebuffs of a shrewish mother- 
 in-law, who is the tyrant of the family, and whose humble 
 servants the daughters-in-law are expected to be. For all 
 this, they enjoy a certain amount of liberty, for they are neither 
 cloistered nor veiled ; but they very rarely leave their house, 
 a state of semi-seclusion which does not prevent their morals 
 being often very indifferent. ‘ In a district near mine,’ an 
 American missionary at Fo-kien assured me, ‘ there are very 
 few husbands who are not deceived by their wives ; and in the 
 one which is under my direction the state of morality, or rather 
 of immorality, is pretty nearly the same.’ Theoretically speaking, 
 adultery in a Chinese woman is considered a very grave crime. 
 As for the husband, he is not expected to practise fidelity. The 
 average Chinaman delights in obscenity, and revels in improper 
 stories and jests ; and when he has a little money to spare, 
 spends it very freely in the loosest company. Those places of 
 entertainment where Venus reigns supreme are not, as in 
 Japan, situated in the best and most brilliantly lighted quarter 
 of the town, for such of my readers who have visited Canton 
 may possibly remember to have had pointed out to them the 
 ‘ flower-boats ’ — floating constructions two stories high, whose 
 internal decorations are of the most magnificent. 
 
 The national vice of the Chinese, however, is gambling, and 
 it is one very few of them can resist. In his interesting 
 monograph on Peking, Mgr. Favier tells us how the beggars in 
 rags will stake their last scrap of clothing. Certain fanatics 
 will stake their wives and children, and men have been known 
 to wager away their finger-joints. A young Christian, who was 
 an inveterate gambler, on one occasion staked and lost his wife, 
 who was only twenty years of age, for the large sum of 15s. 
 The missionary paid the debt and returned the young woman 
 to her mother. A few months afterwards she rejoined her 
 husband, and, adds the author, with the authority of his thirty- 
 eight years of missionary life in China, ‘ in all probability he 
 has staked and lost her again.’ 
 
 224 
 
CHINA 
 
 Intemperance, on the other hand, is extremely rare ; but 
 those who would be drunkards in Europe, Mgr. Favier assured 
 me when I was in Peking, are opium-smokers in China, where 
 he estimates that about one-fifth of the population of the towns 
 give themselves over to this horrible practice. In the country 
 districts the number is very much less, and another missionary, 
 who lives at Fo-kien in Southern China, estimates it at not 
 more than five per cent. The habit of opium-smoking is very 
 widely spread among the upper classes and the literati ; but its 
 effects are not so pronounced among the rich as among the 
 poor, who, by reason of bad diet, are less prepared to resist 
 its effects, especially as they generally indulge in this vice in 
 their leisure hours in the most dreadful dens, and, moreover, 
 smoke a very inferior quality of opium. A young man who 
 begins to indulge in this pernicious habit in his twentieth year 
 usually shuffles off this mortal coil before he is twenty-two.' 
 The vices of the Chinese do not particularly shock foreigners 
 who live among them, for they are not obliged to see them ; 
 but it is otherwise with their universal and repellently filthy 
 habits and intense love of all kinds of horrible noises, which 
 they indulge in on every possible occasion, be it a sad or 
 merry one, a marriage or a funeral, at festivals as well s at 
 fires. What exasperates a European, however, more than any- 
 thing else are the vulgar superstitions which replace among the 
 Celestials the spirit of religion, which is quite absent, and which 
 constitute another hindrance to progress. Their strange ideas 
 with respect to feng-shui, or geomancy, often upset the least 
 attempt at introducing any improvement even in European con- 
 cessions or in such cities as Hong-Kong and Singapore. Then, 
 again, the disposition of the Chinese mind does not admit of 
 general or abstract ideas, and repudiates all sense of the ideal, 
 and, in a word, is sterilized by such absolute materialism as to 
 shock even the most cynical of Europeans. Take them for all 
 in all, therefore, the Celestials may be described as a not parti- 
 cularly seductive or sympathetic people, all the less so as their 
 ugly appearance is not compensated for by the charm of 
 manner which renders the Japanese so agreeable and which 
 enables them to gild even their vices. 
 
 The Chinese, however, have certain great qualities which 
 are not precisely amiable, in spite of their extreme politeness, 
 a matter rather of ceremony than of sincerity. These qualities 
 are of a serious nature : patience, perseverance, hard work, the 
 
 225 Q 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 greatest aptitude for commercial pursuits, industry, economy, 
 singular resistive power, and respect for parents and old age, 
 to which may be added a remarkably contented frame of mind. 
 Therefore, even if the Chinese Government presents every 
 indication of decadence, it would be unjust to say the same of 
 its energetic and hard-working subjects. Unquestionably the 
 Government is not the only thing that needs reforming in 
 China. There is the secular habit of always looking to the 
 past for a type of perfection, which produces a certain atrophy 
 of the Chinese intelligence, depriving it of all elasticity, origin- 
 ality and power of invention, and making it only capable of 
 servile imitation, lacking even discernment — a fact which is 
 admirably illustrated in the well-known story of the tailor to 
 whom a European sent an old pair of breeches in order that 
 he might copy them. This he did so conscientiously that he 
 cut a hole in the exact place where there had been one in the 
 well-worn pair which had been entrusted to him. In the same 
 order of ideas is an instance supplied me by the Jesuit Fathers 
 at Sicawei, near Shanghai, who showed me some drawings 
 executed by young Chinese students, intended for the plates 
 to be introduced in a publication on the fauna of the Far East. 
 They included some drawings of the skeletons of animals, which, 
 however, were disfigured, notwithstanding the entreaties of the 
 Fathers, with certain accidental blots and marks that appeared 
 upon the models. It is not impossible to induce the Chinese 
 to learn new habits, but it is almost impossible to induce them 
 to correct those which have been bequeathed to them by their 
 ancestors. It is possible to teach them how to work modern 
 machinery, but no power, human or divine, could teach a 
 Chinese carpenter to work otherwise than he has been trained 
 to do. At the orphanage at Sicawei, under the direction of 
 the Jesuits, I was shown over the carpentry department, and 
 was surprised to find each bench occupied by only one work- 
 man. The Father who showed me over the school informed 
 me that it was absolutely impossible to induce two workmen 
 to occupy the same bench. The younger orphans saw the 
 older children and the adults who had remained in the service 
 of the mission working thus, and insisted upon doing likewise. 
 
 The awakening of any sense of originality or invention in 
 the mind of this people, by whom these qualities have been lost 
 for the simple reason that they have been systematically trained 
 to look backwards rather than forwards, will be a work of 
 
 226 
 
CHINA 
 
 centuries, and only brought about by prolonged contact with 
 the peoples and ideas of the West, and this contact is only 
 now beginning. Before it produces its full effects upon the 
 race it will doubtless do so upon the land of China itself, if 
 permission can only be obtained to exploit the great natural 
 wealth which lies undisturbed beneath the soil of this enor- 
 mous Empire, and is thus lost to humanity. If the work 
 of developing the economic resources of China be undertaken 
 in a spirit of selfish interest, it will nevertheless very consider- 
 ably ameliorate the lot of the Chinese people, if only by ex- 
 tending their field of activity, which is now limited to agri- 
 culture and small industries. It will allow them, for example, 
 to exploit the subsoil, which is as much neglected in the 
 Celestial Empire as the soil itself has been perfected by 
 exceedingly skilful farming. If, as we believe, the great in- 
 dustries resulting from modern scientific discoveries have really 
 contributed to better the condition of the people of Europe, 
 surely their introduction into China should be most beneficial 
 to the inhabitants of that vast Empire. 
 
 Q 2 
 
 227 
 
CHAPTER V] 
 
 FOREIGNERS IN CHINA — THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHINH^E 
 TOWARDS WESTERN CIVILIZATION 
 
 Concessions successively made by China to foreigners after the Wars of 
 1842, 1858-60, and 1895-98 — Increasing tension between the Chinese 
 and Europeans in consequence of the latter desiring to extend their 
 action — Refusal of Europeans to conform to Chinese usages — Frequent 
 breaches made by them against the rules and ti national customs of 
 the Chinese — Contempt in which Western civilization is held by the 
 Chinese notwithstanding their acknowledgment of its power and 
 material advancement — This hostile spirit more marked among the 
 literati, who direct public opinion, than among the people. 
 
 The position of foreigners in the Middle Kingdom has 
 been defined by various formal conventions, the first of which 
 was the Treaty of Nanking, signed between England and China 
 after the war of 1842, known in history as the Opium War. 
 This was followed in 1844 by other treaties upon the same 
 subject with France and the United States, and still later with 
 other nations ; in 1858 the treaties of Tien-tsin, which were 
 concluded with France and England after a short war, but 
 which were not ratified until i860, after a much more serious 
 campaign and the entry of the allied troops into Peking, greatly 
 ameliorated the condition of foreigners in the Celestial Empire. 
 Lastly, in 1895, the treaty of Shimonosaki, imposed upon China 
 by victorious Japan, gave fresh facilities to foreign commerce. 
 It is a characteristic fact, however, that no serious concession 
 has been obtained from China until after a disastrous war, the 
 Government of Peking never ceding to persuasion, only to 
 force. 
 
 Since the sixteenth century Europeans have been able, as 
 the Arabs and Malays had before them, to carry on commerce 
 
 228 
 
CHINA 
 
 with Canton without being molested, simply because they did 
 not show any intention of extending their commerce further. 
 But in the second quarter of the present century they be- 
 came more numerous and exacting, and tension began to 
 manifest itself. The pride of the Westerners, who were more 
 than ever convinced of the superiority of their civilization, 
 and whose progress at home was making giant strides, burned 
 to impose their ideas upon the whole world, and thereby 
 wounded the equally great pride of the Chinese, stub- 
 bornly attached to those very ancient customs so haughtily 
 despised by the barbarians, as they were pleased to call us. 
 The port of Canton, consecrated by tradition as the exchange- 
 mart between foreigners and natives, no longer sufficed for 
 European ambition, and a clamour was raised to get rid of the 
 twelve merchants, or hongs, to whom the Chinese Government 
 had conceded the monopoly of trading with the outer world. 
 The foreigners, moreover, demanded the right to deal with 
 whomsoever they pleased, and refused to submit any longer to 
 the arbitrary taxation and treatment to which they had hitherto 
 been subjected by the local authorities. These demands and 
 others of a similar character, which appear to us perfectly 
 reasonable, were considered exorbitant by the Chinese. To 
 our incessant protests they answered exactly as they had done 
 twenty — nay, fifty — years before, that we wished to compel 
 them to do in their own country exactly as we chose, whereas, 
 considering that we were their guests, the contrary should be 
 the case, and that we ought to submit to their ways, however 
 objectionable they might seem to us, and even contrary to the 
 interests and development of our commerce. This is precisely 
 what Europe to-day, as then, refuses to admit, unless the 
 Chinese very considerably mend their ways, being of opinion 
 that so vast a country has no right to refuse to allow its 
 wealth being exploited for the benefit of humanity, and that 
 if it cannot, either through want of goodwill or of the 
 necessary means, turn it to account itself, it should allow 
 others who possess implements perfected for the purpose to 
 use them. In short, Europe demands the right not only to 
 trade, but also to exploit, and she intends to have it, whatever 
 may be the consequences. 
 
 This radical difference in looking at the same thing is the 
 origin of every difficulty that exists between the Powers and 
 the Celestial Empire. The peoples of the West, once they 
 
 SS9 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 have made up their minds that a thing is likely to further their 
 interests, insist upon its being carried into efect whether the 
 Chinese like it or not, and care very little whether they offend 
 the prejudices or even the sanctity of Chinese tradition. It 
 is not merely in matters of commercial transactions that 
 foreigners behave thus, but also with regard to religion. We 
 profess the most profound admiration and respect for those 
 men who at the risk of their lives bring the Gospel to those 
 who know it not, and who sacrihce everything in the hope of 
 saving souls, and we are thoroughly convinced of the vast 
 superiority of the teach.ng of Jesus Christ over that of Con- 
 fucius. Christianity, however, upsets not only the traditions, 
 but also the foundations of Chinese society. No Government 
 of Europe would tolerate a religion which advocated polygamy, 
 and that of the United States rigorously opposes the spread of 
 Mormonism. We must not therefore be surprised if the 
 Chinese do not behold with a friendly eye a religion which 
 opposes their great doctrine of the cultus of ancestors, and if 
 they consider it nothing short of sacrilege and well calculated 
 to overthrow morality and law, and infinitely worse from their 
 point of view than polygamy is from ours. The employ- 
 ment of female missionaries by certain Protestant sects is 
 another scandal, and the sight of young women living under 
 the same roof as men who are not their husbands gives rise 
 in their minds to a train of thought the reverse of edifying. 
 It matters little that the worship of ancestors is but mere 
 outward form, and that the lives of the missionaries are without 
 any reproach: ancient traditions and customs are violated, and 
 to these the average Chinaman holds far more tenaciously than 
 he does to the truths they conceal. 
 
 The utter disregard paid by Europeans to even the most 
 cherished customs of the Chinese, and the vast difference 
 which exists between the two civilizations, together with the 
 sense of superiority which both peoples with perfect good faith 
 entertain for themselves, is doubtless at the bottom of that 
 bitter feeling of contempt that causes every Chinaman to 
 despise as well as to hate the intruders. They look upon 
 them as so many barbarians, although Article 51 of the Treaty 
 of Tien-tsin officially ordained the proscription of the particular 
 character describing foreigners by this objectionable word. 
 Our most complicated and wonderful scientific instruments are 
 not considered by the Chinese as criterions of our superiority, 
 
 230 
 
CHINA 
 
 and they recognise us to be skilful workmen and clever 
 jugglers, but otherwise only vulgar and ill-educated fellows, 
 and our lack of acquaintance with their ancient lore and 
 literature brings a smile of pity and contempt to their bland 
 countenances. They attach little or no importance to our 
 inventions. ‘ I quite understand,’ said Prince Kong to a 
 foreign Ambassador who had just explained to him the theory 
 and practice of railway travelling, ‘ that in Europe you should 
 employ iron rails to transport you from one end of your 
 country to another. Here we obtain the same effect with our 
 waggons. We may not travel so expeditiously ; but, then, we 
 are never in such a hurry.’ This quaint observation was spoken 
 twenty-five years ago, but it might easily be made to-day : the 
 condition of mind which inspired it is identical and un- 
 changed. 
 
 The Chinese may bow to our power, but it does not inspire 
 them with the least awe. They entertain for us about the same 
 agreeable sentiment that the traveller does for the footpad who 
 suddenly puts a pistol to his head and demands his money or 
 his life. And as this same ill-used traveller, in order to avoid 
 a repetition of the assault, if he has to pass that way, procures 
 the same arms as his aggressor, so the Chinese now and again 
 appropriate some of our weapons of defence without knowing 
 how to use them ; but, nevertheless, they remain thoroughly 
 convinced as to the superiority of their civilization. There 
 can be no doubt that if they were left to themselves, and 
 European influence and pressure suddenly ceased, the Chinese 
 would quickly pull up the telegraph-poles and the few miles of 
 rail which with infinite patience and trouble have been laid, 
 close their ports, and efface every trace of the detested innova- 
 tions of the ‘ barbarians.’ 
 
 This would naturally be the act of the Government. As to 
 the people, it will continue to use the facilities introduced by 
 Western civilization. The boats which ply along the coasts 
 and up the Yang-tsze-Kiang are crowded with native passengers, 
 who apparently enjoy the trip, and who pay the better share of 
 the profits made by the various steam navigation companies, and 
 the trains between Tien tsin and Peking are always crowded. 
 The Chinese also know perfectly well how to appreciate 
 European administration, and three hundred thousand Chinese 
 live upon the French, English, and American concessions at 
 Shanghai, two hundred thousand at Hong-Kong, which was 
 
 2^1 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 only inhabited by a few fishermen before the English occupa- 
 tion, and all the large towns belonging to the European 
 colonies in the vicinity of China — Vladivostok, Manila, Saigon, 
 Singapore, Batavia — are practically Chinese towns. They 
 like to have their property and their commercial interests pro- 
 tected, and strongly object to being exploited and harassed as 
 they are under their own Government. At the time of the 
 occupation of Manchuria by the Mikado’s troops, an English 
 missionary who had long resided in the country assured me 
 that the Chinese were very glad to escape from the ‘ squeezee ’ 
 system, and from the many vexations to which they had been 
 subjected by the mandarins, and were amazed to see the 
 Japanese pay for everything they required. 
 
 The Chinese are not, therefore, unappreciative of our civiliza- 
 tion, and since we afflict them with our presence, they think it 
 wise to profit by the material advantages which we have intro- 
 duced among them ; but, with few exceptions, doubtless they 
 would prefer the loss of these advantages to our company, 
 and they never cease to despise ,us. From the moment that 
 they can read they go to their old books as to a fountain-head, 
 whence they drink intoxicating draughts of pride and vanity, 
 and of profound contempt for all that is not of the wisdom of 
 Confucius. 
 
 After all, it is not by means of the ignorant classes, but 
 through the initiative of a few thinkers, that progressive ideas 
 gradually filter into a country and reform it. Unluckily, in 
 the Chinese Empire, owing to a defective system of educa- 
 tion, the very class which ought to benefit their fellows — the 
 literati — is precisely that which is the most obstinately retro- 
 gressive. 
 
 The gross superstitions, too, which are entertained by the 
 people in the interior of China against foreigners form another 
 barrier to an advance movement. That the lower classes 
 should believe that the missionaries pull out the eyes of little 
 children and use their bowels as the ingredients of infernal 
 and magical concoctions, or that our doctors spread the pest 
 whenever we want a war, is not much to be wondered at, for 
 the same things have been repeated in Astrakhan and in some 
 of the Russian provinces whenever there has been a rumour of 
 an epidemic. But what is really very grave is that the literati, 
 who are so all-powerful in China, foster these superstitions, 
 and even spread them broadcast among the people in order 
 
 232 
 
CHINA 
 
 the better to keep up the feeling of hatred which they ought to 
 attenuate. At the bottom of all the risings against the mis- 
 sionaries are the mandarins and the literati. The great influence 
 which these men exercise over the people, and their abhorrence 
 of Western civilization, is the real cause why no progress has 
 hitherto been made in the Chinese Empire. 
 
 =33 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE POSITION AND WORK OF FOREIGNERS IN CHINA 
 
 The privileges of foreigners in China — The open ports and the concessions 
 — Great extension of privileges granted to foreigners by the treaty 
 of Shimonosaki (1895) — Opening of fresh ports — Facilities conceded 
 to commerce, and the right of establishing factories in the Treaty 
 Ports — The speedy effects of these concessions — Silk industries — 
 Chinese workmen : rise in their salaries — Prospects of Chinese 
 industry — Fresh concessions granted in 1898— Opening of the water- 
 ways — Railways and mines — Great expectations resulting from these 
 additional treaties — The likins, or native Custom-houses — Their 
 oppressive exactions — Slow development of foreign commerce in 
 China — Necessity for Europeans to penetrate into the interior and 
 take their affairs into their own hands — Chinese resistance to this pro- 
 posal. 
 
 Foreigners who live in China, with the exception of the 
 missionaries, are at present penned up in the twenty-six open 
 ports, to which may be added six other towns or markets, 
 situated on the frontiers of Indo-China^ assimilated to the free 
 ports, but doing a very limited trade. In each of these so- 
 called open ports* spaces have been let on long leases, or 
 
 * The following is the list of the Treaty Ports : To the north of the 
 Blue River, Niu-chwang, Tien-tsin, Chefoo, and near the mouth of the river 
 Shanghai and its annex, Wusung. On the Yang-tsze-Kiang ; Chin-Kiang, 
 Nanking, Wuhu, Kiu-kiang, Sha-shi, Hankow, It-chang, Chung-king — in 
 all eight river stations, of which Nanking is not really ‘ open,’ although 
 mentioned in the French treaty of Tien-tsin. Not far from Shanghai is 
 Su-chow, on the inland canals. On the coast south of the Blue River are 
 Hangchow, Ning-po, Wenchow, Foochow, Amoy, Swatow. At the mouth 
 of the West River is Canton, and higher up the river Sam-shui, Wuchow, 
 and since the spring of 1899 Nanning-fu. On theGulfof Tongking: Pakhui, 
 and in the island of Hainan, Hoi-how. The open towns on the frontier of 
 Indo-China are : Lung-chau, Mongtse, Ho Kau, Szemao, Tchoun-ning-fu, 
 and a sixth, Tong-hing, is not as yet occupied. The open ports were in 
 1842, according to the Treaty of Nanking, only five in number, but were 
 increased by the treaty of Tien-tsin to nineteen ; others were opened by 
 
 234 
 
CHINA 
 
 even sold to foreign Powers — England, France, the United 
 States and of late years even Germany, who has acquired a 
 concession at Tien tsin, where, by the way, Japan also has one. 
 Although these concessions are on Chinese territory, they are 
 considered as so many small republics, independent of the 
 native authorities, and administered by Europeans, who reside 
 there under the protection of their Consuls, who hold both 
 judicial and executive powers. In these ports, protected by 
 European law, is concentrated the whole foreign commerce of 
 China. 
 
 The appearance of these treaty ports varies according to 
 their importance, from the few houses surrounded by walled-in 
 gardens, built on the sands of Pakhui to the flourishing cosmo- 
 politan port of Shanghai, whose aspect is admirably calculated 
 to flatter the vanity of Europeans. Once the bar of Wusung 
 is passed, after some hours’ journey down the Blue River, whose 
 shores are covered with monotonous rice and cotton fields, the 
 traveller might easily imagine that he was in Lancashire, so 
 great is the number of factory chimneys that come into sight. 
 The landing-place, or Bund, the principal thoroughfare of the 
 town, which follows the quay, is lined on the one side with 
 trees, and on the other by magnificent houses, built in the 
 European fashion, the offices of the principal banks, steamship 
 companies, etc. The other streets, inhabited by Europeans, 
 although not very straight or broad, run either parallel to 
 the Bund or else meet it at some point or other. Further 
 inland is the Chinese quarter (within the concession), with 
 its open shops, monstrous and gaudy signboards, and its 
 fragile paper lanterns, fairly well kept, however — thanks to 
 European supervision — and forming a marked contrast in this 
 respect to the other native quarter beyond the concession, 
 which is absolutely filthy. Once outside the town, we cross the 
 cricket-field, the racecourse, the lawn-tennis court, and reach 
 Bubbling VVell Road and other wide avenues, fringed with the 
 beautiful villas, surrounded by gardens, belonging to the wealthy 
 European residents. 
 
 Before the Chino- Japanese War foreigners only had the right 
 
 the treaty of Shimonosaki in 1895, and by the convention with England 
 signed in 1897. A more recent treaty with this Power (1898) promises, but 
 without fixed date, however, the opening of three new ports : Kin-chau in 
 Manchuria, Fu-ning in Fo-kien, and Yo-chau in Hu-nan (opened in 
 December, 1899). 
 
 23s 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 to carry on their commercial undertakings in the open ports, 
 and had to have a passport in order to travel in the interior. 
 Isolated as much as possible from the native population, they 
 could traffic with the Chinese only on the condition that they 
 never attempted to alter any of the native methods of pro- 
 duction, or introduced any European innovations, or en- 
 deavoured to exploit a single one of the innumerable natural 
 resources of the country. 
 
 On the other hand, nothing was to be expected from private 
 initiative or from the Government, which latter would unques- 
 tionably have vetoed any improvement, and only reluctantly 
 permitted, on account of its political value, the creation of 
 the telegraph-line connecting Peking with the extremities of 
 the Empire. In 1877 the Europeans had actually to pull up 
 the rails laid down on the short line between Shanghai and 
 Wusung, and though the Chinese since 1889 have pretended 
 to consider the construction of a line from Hankow to Peking, 
 it has only been with the object of misleading the Europeans. 
 No progress is possible in China under these unfavourable 
 conditions, and the antiquated methods of the natives continue 
 to hamper all commercial and financial prosperity. 
 
 The treaty of Shimonosaki, signed in 1895 at the close of 
 the war between China and Japan, effected some very im- 
 portant changes in this respect, and in virtue of the most- 
 favoured-nation clause, inserted in the treaties with the Powers, 
 opened out a better prospect for foreigners of every nation- 
 ality, who were thus able to benefit by the advantages con- 
 ceded to the Japanese. Article 6 of this important document 
 stipulated the opening of several new ports, and permits steam 
 navigation along the coasts and up the rivers and canals 
 leading thereunto. It goes on to declare that foreigners 
 may visit the interior to purchase or sell merchandise, and that 
 Japanese subjects may establish depots for the same wherever 
 they like without paying any extra tax, and erect factories of 
 all sorts in the Chinese open towns and ports, and import 
 into China all kinds of machinery on payment of a fixed 
 tariff. Goods manufactured by Japanese subjects on Chinese 
 territory should be placed on the same footing with respect 
 to inland and transit duties and other taxes, charges, and 
 facilities for warehousing, etc., in the interior, as goods im- 
 ported into China by other foreigners, and enjoy the same 
 privileges. 
 
 236 
 
CHINA 
 
 This clause is of very great importance, since it permits 
 the combination of highly-perfected European machinery and 
 cheap Chinese labour in the production of articles the raw 
 materials for which, especially silks and cotton, can be obtained 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of the free ports. The clause 
 above cited may appear at first somewhat extraordinary, and 
 in any other country but China it would be superfluous to 
 stipulate that goods manufactured in the country itself should 
 not be treated with less consideration than similar articles im- 
 ported. But the Japanese negotiators understood their men, 
 and are perfectly aware that if they had not inserted these 
 special clauses, the advantages obtained would have been an- 
 nulled by the Chinese authorities by a system of arbitrary 
 taxation and other vexatious measures. 
 
 No very long time elapsed before the advantages of Article 6 
 of the Shimonosaki Treaty were made strikingly evident. In 
 three years’ time an entire district of Shanghai was occupied 
 by not less than nine large cotton factories, working 290,000 
 spindles, which in 1898 were increased to 390,000, and close 
 to them presently rose some thirty silk factories, which, in due 
 time, will be considerably increased both in numbers and im- 
 portance. In the other ports this industrial impulse has not 
 yet been much felt, except at Tien-tsin, where a woollen factory 
 has lately been established. In that great centre of industry, 
 Shanghai, a certain falling-off has been observed in this ex- 
 treme briskness, due to over-production, and also to a very 
 legitimate desire to watch the results of industries already 
 existing before launching into further speculations. Then, 
 again, there was a fear that wages might presently rise to an 
 exaggerated extent. 
 
 The labour market of China is undoubtedly enormous, but 
 the supply does not respond as readily to the demand as in 
 Europe, because the distances are great and the means of 
 communication correspondingly few and difficult. However, 
 the labourers living on the banks of the Yang-tsze, who are 
 called ‘ Water-fowls,’ constantly flock into Shanghai in search of 
 work. They belong to that class of poor creatures who crowd 
 the great Chinese cities, and whose only home is their sampang, 
 in which an entire family accommodates itself in a space that 
 would barely suffice for a single European. One can see their 
 floating huts moored alongside the arroyos that furrow the 
 suburbs of Shanghai. Once they begin to earn a little, they 
 
 237 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 build a hut on shore, using up the material of their old boat- 
 house, until they can erect something bettev by way of a dwell- 
 ing. Salaries are distinctly rising in Shanghai, and when I 
 was there in 1898 the factories were wrangling over their work- 
 men and w'omen — who are in the majority — in consequence 
 of certain enterprising but unscrupulous managers of rival 
 firms intriguing, by offers of higher w'ages, to induce the 
 most skilled to leave their employers and come to them. The 
 quality of the labour at Shanghai appears to be satisfactory, at 
 least, so say the different managers, and in the manufactories 
 which I visited I noticed that everything was scrupulously 
 clean and orderly, quite as much so as in any average 
 European or American factory of the same class. The work- 
 girls do not live, as in Russia and Japan, and, indeed, .as they 
 did formerly in England and in other manufacturing countries, 
 in a building near the place of business set apart for the 
 purpose, and at the expense of the firm, but at home with their 
 own families. Many of them are married women, and a great 
 number, instead of leaving their little girls over ten years of 
 age at home, request that they may be employed, so as to 
 remain under their supervision. They are usually engaged on 
 ve:y light work, such as shifting the cocoons in the boiling 
 w’ater for the weavers. In the silk factories I visited they were 
 allowed half an hour every day for what was known as ‘school,’ 
 during which some senior workwoman — the mother or the 
 elder sister — taught them the rudiments of their work. This 
 system is excellent, and the managers declare themselves highly 
 pleased with it, as it is likely to train good workers. 
 
 The working hours at Shanghai in the silk factories are 
 usually from six in the morning to six in the evening, including 
 an hour and a half for meals. In the silk manufactories the 
 little girls earn i^d. per day at first, which is increased to 2^d. 
 after a short time. A clever workw'oman gets about Qd. In 
 1891-92 the wages in the same factory, which was then on a 
 very small scale and under a Chinese name, were about 30 per 
 cent. less. In the larger factories the children got 2^d. a day 
 and the women from 6d. to 7d. During the first few months 
 that elapsed after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonosaki 
 salaries were on an average about 3d. As exchange has not 
 varied much since then, the rise is very considerable. ‘ The 
 women and children now working in the better factories here,’ 
 says the British Consul at Shanghai in his Report, 1897, ‘can 
 
CHINA 
 
 now earn from los. to 30s. a month, which is quite a fortune 
 for people who in the native factories rarely make more than 
 4s. a month, although they work hard all day !’ The same 
 Report observes that in certain branches of industry the 
 Chinese workwomen earn more than would the same class in 
 Italy. The under-manager who took me round one of the 
 Shanghai factories, a Peruvian by birth, and, I fancy, a coloured 
 man by origin, judging from his curly hair and high cheek- 
 bones, told me that in his boyhood in Peru he had earned 2^d. 
 a day at the same business, which is what is paid to child- 
 workers in Shanghai. 
 
 It is, therefore, a distinct mistake to imagine that China is 
 destined to remain the land of low salaries. Some consider- 
 able time may elapse before wages reach the high figure 
 obtained in Europe, but there is every prospect that in the 
 course of time a very considerable rise will take place, especially 
 as industry improves, and the demand for skilled labour in- 
 creases. The Celestials are pretty sure to look after their own 
 interests in the matter by forming trades unions. Strikes are 
 not unknown either in China or Japan. 
 
 These facts tend, I think, to dissipate, if not entirely, at any 
 rate in part, the illusion about the famous ‘Yellow Peril’ which 
 has so greatly disturbed certain worthy people. That ‘ peril ’ 
 seems to me to be still remote, for, even if the people of the 
 Far East did succeed in producing nearly all the articles which 
 they now import from Europe, it would necessarily follow that 
 the trade in them, being infinitely greater than it now is, 
 would increase their profits likewise very considerably. It is 
 equally certain that the first effect of the introduction into 
 China of European industries must lead, as it already has done, 
 to the bettering of the condition of the Chinese labouring 
 class, both by augmentation of wages and consequent improve- 
 ment in manner of living. If, therefore, European export 
 trade may apparently suffer from the manufacturing of goods 
 hitherto imported by the Chinese, such as cottons, for instance, 
 matters will balance themselves eventually for the simple 
 reason that, the richer the Chinese get, the more they will buy. 
 Japan has already shown how the introduction of machinery 
 has created a new branch of import of great value. 
 
 In order to realize these brilliant prospects, several very 
 drastic alterations in the present position of affairs are 
 needed. The permission, granted at the instance of Great 
 
 239 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Britain in 1898, allowing European navigation on the inland 
 waters of China, and the concessions for the creation of 
 railways and exploitation of mines, may subsequently lead to 
 very remarkable results, but up to the present they have not 
 been entirely successful Industrial activity is still limited to 
 the free ports and their immediate vicinity. The reasons for 
 this state of affairs are worth examining, especially as they illus- 
 trate the determined opposition of the Chinese authorities to 
 all measures of reform, and also indicate many points against 
 which Europeans should complain. 
 
 The Chinese Custom-house duties were determined accord- 
 ing to the treaties as much as possible 5 per cent, ad valorem. 
 They may therefore be safely described as comparatively light, 
 and are collected with great regularity for the Imperial Govern- 
 ment on the European system by a staff admirably organized 
 by Sir Robert Hart 
 
 The undesirability of exposing foreign merchants to the 
 arbitrary and corrupt methods of Chinese Custom - house 
 officials led to the formation of an international staff of officers, 
 which works perfectly and gives universal satisfaction. On the 
 other hand, the great native firms are most scrupulously honest 
 in all their transactions, having discovered from experience 
 that ‘ honesty is the best policy,’ and European merchants can 
 only praise their way of transacting business. It is, therefore, 
 neither on entering nor leaving China that difficulties occur, 
 whether for importation or exportation. The trouble arises 
 in the transport between the open ports and the places of con- 
 signment or expedition ; the principal grievance arises through 
 the system of likin., or of inland Customs, whereby an arbitrary 
 and variable scale of taxation is exacted on goods passing 
 through towns or over the frontiers of the various provinces, or 
 even at certain determined places on the high-roads and rivers. 
 This pernicious system is a great drawback to the expansion of 
 European trade, and gives rise to endless bother and expense. 
 
 ‘ Let us suppose,’ said a gentleman, thoroughly acquainted 
 w’ith commerce in the Far East, at a meeting of the London 
 Chamber of Commerce in 1898, ‘ that a train going from 
 London to Newcastle had to be stopped three or four times on 
 the way, so that goods might be overhauled and examined by 
 officials whose main object is to extort as much as they can in 
 their own interests, and who value goods arbitrarily at sight. 
 Imagine, for instance, a consignment of skins getting damaged 
 
 240 
 
CHINA 
 
 by the rain through careless packing, and on being weighed 
 found heavier than declared in the invoice : the result is, that 
 the luckless owner is charged, not according to the increased 
 weight, but fined according to his personal property, say ^^50 
 or ;^ioo on ;^i,ooo! Or, finally, what would become of 
 British trade if we had to put up with likin officials, one of whom 
 examines goods once in every three days, and another announces 
 his intention of only doing so when ten trains have arrived ?’ 
 
 There is a remedy for the likin system, and that is a ‘ transit 
 pass ’ ; but more often than not, as with most things in China, 
 this is merely a theoretical improvement. On payment of a 
 sum equal to half the original entry duty, all imported goods 
 should be considered free of inland duty. But this regulation 
 does not work, and no one avails himself of it, since the 
 Chinese very ingenuously manage to evade it by charging ‘ a 
 duty on arrival at destination,’ which comes to the same thing. 
 
 It is not therefore surprising that, with all these drawbacks, 
 in addition to a very rudimentary monetary system, Chinese 
 commerce only attains _;^5o,ooo,ooo, of which ;^2 7, 200,000 
 represents imports, which is very small when one considers the 
 enormous size of the country and its great wealth. The half 
 of this commerce is divided up between four articles : 
 ;^8,ooo,ooo cotton and ;^4,8oo,ooo opium (imported), and 
 ;^8,ooo,ooo silk, and ;^5,ooo,ooo tea (exported). The last 
 figures are inferior to what they formerly were, Indian tea 
 having greatly affected Chinese tea as far as England is con- 
 cerned. Its preparation still follows the old system, and its 
 lasting quality is distinctly inferior to Ceylon and other teas 
 grown in India. This is another example of the vast importance 
 of introducing into China better and more scientific methods. 
 
 The export trade of China must inevitably remain very 
 limited so long as foreigners are prevented from penetrating 
 into the country and directing the exploitation of its resources. 
 Whilst it was a mere matter of opening a few ports, the 
 Chinese Government made no very serious opposition ; but 
 only the realization of its incapacity to resist pressure induced 
 it to permit the introduction into the Celestial Empire of 
 foreign capital, machinery, and industrial methods. Well may 
 we ask. Can the Sick Man of Peking endure such violent treat- 
 ment ? Will he not succumb to the very powerful remedies 
 that are being administered to him, and thereby fulfil the secret 
 wishes of those who are anxious for his legacy ? 
 
 241 R 
 
CHAPTER VIli 
 
 CHINA AND THE POWERS 
 
 The Question of the Far East unexpectedly brought to an issue by the 
 defeat of China — Foreign misconception of Chinese power, and the 
 amazement of European diplomacy at its collapse — The new state 
 of affairs created by Japanese victories — The aims of the various 
 Powers in the Far East and their policy — England seeks an ally against 
 Russia — Her sudden change of policy in 1895 — She abandons China 
 for Japan — Russia covets the whole of Northern China — Japan’s wish 
 to conquer the Celestial Empire — The treaty of Shimonosaki — Oppo- 
 sition of Russia to Japanese policy — Russia becomes the interested 
 protectress of China — The convention between the three Powers, 
 France, Germany, and Russia — Attempt to bring about a reconcilia- 
 tion between China and Japan — Substitution of a powerful Russian 
 influence for that of England. 
 
 The Chinese Question presents many difficulties, not only 
 because the details are extremely complicated and the rival 
 pretensions which it has created difficult to reconcile, but 
 because of the unexpected manner in which it was thrust on 
 the attention of Europe, at a time when diplomacy had no 
 ready remedy. 
 
 The present position in the Far East is not the result of a 
 gradual chain of events, but of the absolute surprise created by 
 the unexpected results of the Chino-Japanese War. No doubt 
 the collapse of China in 1894 was only the last act in a long 
 drama of decadence, but it revealed to astonished Europe 
 the utter incapacity of China either to reform or to defend 
 herself, a fact for which we were quite unprepared. Japan 
 alone knew the truth, and profited by her knowledge of her 
 colossal neighbour’s almost incredible weakness. Russia had 
 suspected it, but was not sufficiently convinced to venture on 
 carrying her conviction into effect. Thanks to the astuteness 
 of the Chinese and their remarkable aptitude in all arts of 
 
 242 
 
CHINA 
 
 deception, and the effect mentally created by the prodigious 
 multitude of her population — between three and four hundred 
 million souls — China had systematically fooled both Govern- 
 ments and public alike, who shared the same illusion as to her 
 power. Certain events had, it must be confessed, conspired 
 to maintain this illusion, notably the bold resistance which 
 the French army had met in Tongking, under, no doubt, 
 peculiar circumstances, but, nevertheless, such as induced 
 people to forget, at least for the time, the facile victories of 
 the Allies in i860. Certain far-seeing writers — Mr. Henry 
 Norman and Mr. Curzon, the latter one of the most brilliant 
 young statesmen of the United Kingdom — had indeed realized 
 that under a smooth surface there existed in China amazing 
 weakness and corruption. But they preached in the desert. 
 The war had only just broken out, when one of the best-in- 
 formed organs of the English press, the Spectator^ stated : ‘ We 
 think the weight of opinion is with those who believe, as we 
 do, that, if necessary, China could organize a most formidable 
 army.’ This was the illusion universally entertained in Europe, 
 and, strange to relate, shared by the majority of foreigners living 
 in the Far East. 
 
 By dissipating these illusions and exhibiting to the world the 
 truth concerning China’s decrepitude, the Japanese victories 
 produced almost the effect of an earthquake. European diplo- 
 macy had foreseen that the war was likely to give rise to trouble, 
 and Lord Rosebery even proposed to the Powers at the begin- 
 ning of the conflict to come to an understanding with a view of 
 stopping hostilities ; but if the Queen’s Prime Minister feared 
 that complications in Korea might lead to Russian interven- 
 tion, the other Powers were not less unfavourably disposed to 
 see a naval demonstration in Chinese waters in which England 
 should take the lead. It was therefore resolved that European 
 diplomacy should remain inactive and watch proceedings, 
 everyone believing that Japan would soon be expelled from 
 Korea, and that both the Japanese and Chinese fleets, weakened 
 in one or two naval battles, would collapse altogether from 
 sheer lack of combatants. When, however, the Chinese forces 
 were annihilated in the autumn of 1894, Europe was taken 
 aback with amazement, so great was her surprise, not to say 
 consternation. By the spring of 1895 the Powers had recovered 
 from the shock they had received, but their policy had con- 
 sequently to be changed with respect to a Power which they had 
 
 243 R 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 believed to be formidable, but whose weakness was now re- 
 vealed. 
 
 England, with perhaps excessive frankness, turned her back 
 on her old ally China. At the beginning of the conference 
 she had been the champion of the Celestial Empire, and 
 the newspapers related at the time a curious incident which 
 happened before Wei-hai-wei, which the Japanese squadron 
 was about to attack. The British fleet upset their plan by 
 saluting Admiral Ito, contrary to all precedents, before sun- 
 rise, whereby the sleeping Chinese were warned of their danger. 
 On more than one occasion the English did not hesitate to 
 threaten the Japanese, especially after the latter had fired on 
 a British merchant ship conveying some Chinese troops.* 
 There was no mistaking the peremptory tone of England 
 when she gave the Japanese to understand that she had no 
 desire to see the war extend to Shanghai and the region of the 
 Yang-tsze. 
 
 But the battle of the Yalu and the taking of Port Arthur in 
 one morning by the troops of the Mikado opened the eyes of 
 the Cabinet of St. James’s. What Britain desired in the Far 
 East was, on the one hand, a political prop, and even a military 
 one, if necessary, against the Empire of the Tsar — ‘ a bolt to 
 fasten the door against the ambitions of Russian expansion,’ 
 to use the significant expression of Herr von Brandt, and, on 
 the other, a wide opening for her commerce and capital. Once 
 convinced that Japan, firmly established in Korea and on the 
 northern coast of the Gulf of Pe-chi-li, would become a far more 
 efficacious ‘ bolt ’ than China, England began to favour the 
 Japanese, and at the same time to advise the Chinese Govern- 
 ment to abandon Peking, and establish itself nearer the centre 
 of the Empire. If the Middle Kingdom was no longer a useful 
 ally, it might still become a splendid prey, a field of extra- 
 ordinary economic activity, so that the transfer of the capital to 
 some point on the banks of the Yang-tsze accessible by sea — to 
 Nanking, for instance, would have placed China at the mercy 
 of the supreme mistress of the seas. The English, moreover, 
 fully intended to force China to open her ports, and their 
 commercial superiority and the influence which they have 
 
 * The story of the improper salute was a newspaper fiction. No 
 foundation for it has ever been adduced. The ‘ threats ’ after the sinking 
 of the Kow-Shing were wholly unofficial, and the matter was referred to 
 arbitratioD by the two Governments. — H. N. 
 
 244 
 
CHINA 
 
 already established over the peoples in the Far East would 
 soon have enabled them to profit largely by this revolution. 
 
 If, however, the consequences of the Chinese defeat were 
 realized in London, they were no less so in St. Petersburg, and 
 subsequent events proved that Russian diplomacy was equal to 
 the occasion. The Government of the Tsar had beheld the 
 war with quite as much displeasure as England, and would 
 have preferred the Far Eastern Question remaining in abeyance 
 until the termination of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The object 
 pursued by Russia in tne Far East is, it should be remembered, 
 absolutely opposed to that of England, and concentrates itself 
 on the one issue — the securing of open sea. The vast Empire 
 of the Tsars possesses no port in Europe, where the ‘keys of 
 the house ’ are in the hands, so to speak, of other Powers, and 
 England barred her way to the south fifteen or twenty years ago 
 in Afghanistan and Beluchistan. In the Far East somewhere 
 in the middle of the century Russia contrived to descend from 
 the Polar Sea of Okhotsk and to advance at the expense of 
 China as far as Vladivostok ; but this port remains closed for two 
 months on account of the ice, and Russia has always considered 
 her provinces of the Amur and of the Littoral merely in the light 
 of temporary stations, whence she intended on some future and 
 favourable occasion to push her way further south. Between 
 1880 and 1886 it was reported that she was about to obtain 
 a concession somewhere in the Bay of Korea, or even in the 
 isle of Quelpart, which is in the strait separating that country 
 from Japan. A little later she seemed to covet Port Arthur 
 or Talien-wan, which are free of ice, and are situated at the 
 extremity of the peninsula of Liao-tung, which would provide 
 her access to an open sea at the back of Korea and other 
 advantages. At the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Pe-chi-li 
 and only 50 miles from the opposite coast of Shan-tung, are 
 ports which offer great advantages as naval stations, whence a 
 rapid transport fleet could easily convey troops in twenty-four 
 hours to Taku, and thence in four days’ march to the Chinese 
 capital. Once established at Port Arthur, and having plenty 
 of elbow-room in Pe-chi-li, Russia could exercise over the 
 Chinese Government, in its present capital, even a more irre- 
 sistible pressure than could England have done had she been 
 able to induce the Imperial Court to transport itself to the banks 
 of the Yang-tsze. 
 
 Unquestionably the dreams of Russian aggrandizement have 
 
 245 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 become much more ambitious since she has discovered how very 
 weak the Sick Man of Peking is. She no longer seeks an open 
 port on the Pacific, but apparently pursues her object, un- 
 ostentatiously however, towards the complete domination of 
 the Middle Kingdom, especially over her vast dependencies 
 in Turkestan, Mongolia, and Manchuria — in a word, over the 
 whole of North China, And as the Muscovite temperament is 
 ever a dreamy one, who knows but that on the shores of the Neva 
 the heir of Peter the Great does not already picture himself 
 on the throne of the Sun of Heaven, commanding the latter’s 
 multitude of subjects, who are accustomed to submit to a 
 foreign yoke, and might obey the Tsar as unresistingly as they 
 did Ghengis Khan, even as to-day they pay homage to a de- 
 generate Manchu, and as indeed they would have done to the 
 Mikado, had not Europe put a stop to further advances on the 
 part of the Japanese? The Mikado, too, who had been driven 
 into the war by the repeated insolence of the Chinese and also 
 by the justifiable desire to protect his commercial interests in 
 Korea, may also, when intoxicated by his surprising successes, 
 have entertained the thought that it might be possible for him 
 one day to annex China. If this war had taken place fifty, or 
 even twenty-five, years ago, when Europe paid less attention to 
 foreign affairs, it is probable that the Manchu Dynasty would 
 have been replaced by that of Japan. Possibly then the 
 ‘Yellow Peril’ — the military ‘ Yellow Peril’ — which to-day is 
 but a mere chimera, might have become a very evident reality. 
 The Japanese, after having thoroughly reorganized and disci- 
 plined the Chinese army, might at a given moment have let 
 loose its innumerable hordes upon the Western world ; but 
 if in 1895 they had allowed themselves for a moment to dream 
 of placing their Emperor upon the throne of Peking, the 
 Japanese were not allowed to indulge in this pleasant vision 
 for long, and were soon made to feel how intently and jealously 
 their movements were watched by European diplomacy. 
 
 By the treaty of Shimonosaki, signed April 2, 1895, the 
 Celestial Empire granted to her conquerors all their demands, 
 recognising at the same time the independence of Korea, and 
 allowing Japan, whose troops still occupied that country, a free 
 hand. If this treaty had been ratified as it was originally 
 drawn up, Russia would have had to renounce for a long time 
 to come all hope of possessing an outlet to the open sea, and 
 would certainly have had to see her influence substituted by 
 
 246 
 
CHINA 
 
 a rival at Peking, who would have reorganized China possibly 
 in a hostile spirit. She could not allow this, but she dared 
 take no initiative by herself, fearing lest she might sud- 
 denly find herself confronted by England and Japan. She, 
 therefore, before the signature of the treaty of peace, placed 
 herself in communication with France and Germany, and 
 endeavoured to make those Powers understand that the installa- 
 tion of Japan on the coast was as detrimental to their interests 
 as it was to her own. She successfully converted them to her 
 way of thinking, and on April 22 the three Powers addressed 
 a Note to the Mikado, couched in the most courteous terms, 
 begging of his Majesty to renounce his pretensions over the 
 peninsula of Liao-tung, the establishment of his authority in 
 that country being likely to create a permanent danger to the 
 peace, not only of the Far East, but of the whole world. At 
 first the Mikado, so it seems, was determined to resist at any 
 cost, and to refuse to yield. His Government cast an eye 
 towards England, to see if her support could be counted 
 upon ; but at that time the Cabinet of St. James’s had not 
 made up its mind whether it would openly espouse the cause 
 of Japan or not. Possibly it was influenced by the absolutely 
 anti-Japanese feelings entertained by the vast majority of English 
 subjects living in the Far East, and it is also by no means im- 
 probable that she did not wish to assist a Power that might 
 eventually become a dangerous rival to her own commercial 
 supremacy. Perceiving at last that England would neither join 
 the three great Powers nor back the Mikado in his pretensions, 
 the Government of Tokio very wisely consented, at the time 
 bearing great ill-feeling towards England, who now found herself 
 isolated in the Far East. Nevertheless, resentment against 
 Russia was so powerful, and the feeling of alarm entertained by 
 the two insular Powers at the spectacle of the progress made 
 by Russia so great, that in a short time a reconciliation was 
 effected between them. 
 
 The intervention of what is known in the Far East as the 
 New Triple Alliance resulted in consequences quite as grave 
 and durable as the war itself. Its immediate effects dominated 
 the politics of the Far East until the end of 1897, and even 
 now continue to do so. The essential features of the new situa- 
 tion were the substitution in China of Russian influence, now 
 become all-powerful, for that of England, the antagonism which 
 has risen between Russia and Japan, and the friendly feeling 
 
 247 
 
THE AWAKENING Oi*- THE EAST 
 
 which now exists between this last Power and England. The 
 mandarins and the Court of Peking, whilst never ceding an 
 iota of their pride or their firm belief in the superiority of their 
 civilization, were, nevertheless, obliged to admit the irremedi- 
 able weakness of the military power of the Celestial Empire. If 
 the majority did not care much for China as their country, they 
 one and all considered her to be their prey, and consequently 
 required a protector against the Japanese, and they proceeded 
 from Legation to Legation in quest of one ; as their situation 
 was desperate, they were obliged to take what they could get, 
 and, Russia being agreeable, they accepted her friendly offer, 
 even though their new ally might eventually become a domineer- 
 ing master. This gave them time, and they counted upon their 
 cunning, when a favourable opportunity presented itself, to set 
 the Powers by the ears. Probably at heart they entertain less 
 dislike for the Muscovite Empire than for any other European 
 country, and, indeed, China has less friction with the Russians 
 than with any other nationality. Russia can enter the Celestial 
 Empire over her land frontier through countries very thinly 
 populated by inhabitants not of Chinese race, who are not 
 hostile to strangers ; whereas the other Europeans coming by 
 sea are brought into immediate contact with the turbulent 
 crowds of the seaport towns, where the least act of imprudence 
 may give rise to grave incidents. Moreover, the subjects of 
 the Tsar exhibit a greater degree of forbearance than the 
 peoples of the West. They do not experience that innate 
 contempt for men of colour, they are more tractable to the 
 habits of the countries in which they establish themselves, and 
 are not so forward in protesting against petty annoyances. The 
 Orthodox Church, too, scrupulously abstains from all propa- 
 ganda in China, and the Russian Legation is therefore spared 
 those delicate questions concerning the rights and the wTongs 
 of missionaries which so greatly irritate the Chinese. All this 
 facilitates the substitution of Russian influence for that of the 
 English. 
 
 We must, however, seek for the causes which induced France 
 and Germany to enter, under the Russian auspices, into an un- 
 expected alliance outside the question of the Far East. The 
 harmony that exists between these two Powers is due to their 
 desire to gain the good graces of the Tsar. Rivals in en- 
 deavouring to please him, they both answered all proposals 
 which came from St. Petersburg favourably. Germany had no 
 
 248 
 
CHINA 
 
 political interests in the East of Asia, and France only those 
 of secondary importance connected with Indo-China, and there- 
 fore these nations never hesitated to regulate their line of 
 conduct in the Far East in accordance with their political 
 aspirations in Europe, and, the better to please Russia, forthwith 
 modified their previously somewhat hostile attitude. During 
 the war both Powers had been more or less favourable to 
 Japan. 
 
 This change of conduct involved a considerable sacrifice, 
 especially in the case of France, and signified the rupture of 
 her old friendship for Japan, whose army had been formed by 
 a French military mission, and whose battleships and arsenals 
 had been in great part constructed and organized by French- 
 men, services which the Japanese recognised shortly after the 
 victory of the Yalu by sending to the eminent naval engineer, 
 M. Bertin, the grand cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. 
 France had not obtained great advantages from this friendship, 
 but if she did not do so, it was more or less because she did not 
 wish it, for it is certain that the alliance of the Mikado was 
 offered to her in 1884 on the condition that she conveyed to the 
 coasts of Pe-chi-li a Japanese army corps, intended to march 
 on to Peking. France had also the right to expect after the war 
 some commercial advantages, notably some important com- 
 mercial orders to her great industrial firms, for the renovating 
 of the fleet, much damaged by the war. By placing herself on 
 the side of China, whose friendship might have been useful, 
 the more so as she was a neighbour, although she was con- 
 stantly wrangling with her, France gave up an alliance with 
 the one country in the Far East which represents progress and 
 has a future, and, what is more, she literally pushed her into 
 the arms of England, who may one day make use of her 
 against the French. 
 
 The sacrifices made by Germany were less important, for she 
 could not expect in the Far East any considerable advantages. 
 To begin with, she had seized the opportunity to play a political 
 part on a stage where she had never appeared before, but 
 being much more commercial than France, she had more to 
 gain from the concessions which China would be obliged to 
 make, and she could thus include this vast market in the 
 sphere of her industrial activity and commercial enterprise. 
 By mixing in the affairs of the Far East the youthful German 
 Empire only obeyed the instinct of foreign expansion which 
 
 249 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 obliges her to watch over her political and commercial interests 
 in all parts of the world. 
 
 On the other hand, the action of the three Continental 
 Powers presented considerable danger, aggravated as it was by 
 the warlike intentions of the commanders of the Russian fleet 
 A rumour certainly existed in 1896 in the Far East, and, more- 
 over, has since been confirmed to me by most credible witnesses, 
 that between April 25, the day on which the Note of the three 
 Powers was presented, and May 5th, the date on which the 
 representatives of Japan announced their acquiescence. Admiral 
 Tyrtof, who commanded the Russian fleet and who has since 
 become Minister of Marine, invited Admiral de la Bonnini^re 
 de Beaumont to proceed with him to meet the Japanese fleet 
 at the risk of provoking a collision, in which the latter would 
 inevitably have been crushed. The presence of mind of the 
 French Admiral, who evaded the invitation by protesting that 
 he had received no instructions from his Government, and 
 therefore delayed matters as long as possible, prevented an 
 aggression which might have resulted in dreadful consequences, 
 and led to a massacre in Japan itself of Russian and French 
 residents, and, moreover, might have brought about extremely 
 grave international complications. Who knows, too, but that 
 public opinion in England might have been offended by such 
 an act, and that on the morrow of an easy victory over the 
 Japanese the Allies might have found themselves face to face 
 with the British fleet ? 
 
 It is certain that by taking sides with Russia in a question of 
 only secondary interest to herself France incurred the grave 
 risk of a war not only with Japan, but with England, a war 
 in which her stake was far greater than that of Russia or of 
 Germany, and the consequences of which she would have been 
 obliged to bear alone. Fortunately, the prudence of Admiral 
 de Beaumont smoothed over the angry feeling of the Russian 
 commanders, which, however, manifested itself once more on 
 May 8, 1895, date on which the ratifications of the treaty 
 of peace between China and Japan were to have been ex- 
 changed. On that day the Russian fleet was stationed in the 
 roads off the Chinese port of Chefoo, at the entrance to the 
 Gulf of Pe-chi-li, opposite Port Arthur, where the exchange of 
 ratifications was to have occurred, ready for fight in case Japan 
 refused her acceptance, in which case it was agreed between 
 the admirals to oppose the Japanese near Ta-ku, at the mouth 
 
 250 
 
CHINA 
 
 of the Pei-ho, close to Wei-hai-Wei, where their fleet was 
 anchored. Alongside of the Russian fleet were two German 
 cruisers, representing the German navy in the Far East ; but 
 Admiral de Beaumont steamed away, leaving only at Wei-hai- 
 Wei the Forjait, thereby showing very clearly that he had no 
 intention of taking part in a superfluous demonstration, which 
 would only have resulted in increasing the irritation of Japan 
 against the three Powers. 
 
 These warlike demonstrations presented a singular contrast 
 to the extremely courteous tone of the Notes presented to Japan 
 by the Russian, French, and German ministers. They had the 
 effect of convincing Japan that she had in the future to count 
 with the lasting hostility of the Tsar, and that the secret desire 
 of the Government of St. Petersburg was not only to prevent 
 her establishing herself on the Asiatic Continent, but also 
 eventually to completely annihilate her. By a curious right- 
 about-face, Japan now turned towards China, who received her 
 overtures favourably. The fact was that at Peking the pre- 
 tensions of Russia had created great alarm, and Li Hung-chang 
 opened his heart to the Japanese Consul at Tient-sin, and 
 begged the Cabinet of Tokio to give a conciliatory answer with 
 respect to the question of Liao-tung, and solve it in a friendly 
 manner, and thereby avoid increasing the responsibilities which 
 weighed upon his shoulders. The Chinese Government, he 
 added, was entirely at the mercy of the Russians, and could only 
 be saved by Japan. 
 
 Was this intended on the part of the old diplomatist as a dis- 
 guised offer of service ? It is impossible to say. One thing 
 only is certain — the Tsung-li-Yamen proposed that the Japanese 
 minister, M. Hayashi, should negotiate directly, and offer as a 
 compensation for Liao-tung not an indemnity, but an alliance 
 with China and a concession for the railway to be built between 
 Tien-tsin and Peking. The Government of the Mikado was 
 inclined to accept this solution, but the three Continental 
 Powers — that is to say, Russia — did not view the matter favour- 
 ably. They wished, for better security — that Japan should not 
 be bound to China only, but that the retrocession of Liao-tung 
 should not be subjected to clauses calculated to prolong 
 matters, and, above all, a cessation of the continuance of the 
 Japanese occupation of Korea. They therefore insisted that 
 the matter should be settled at once by the payment of a sup- 
 plementary indemnity of 30,000,000 taels, or ^^4,500,000, 
 
 251 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 payable on November i8th, 1895, the Japanese evacuation to 
 take place within three months. 
 
 Japan was obliged to accept these propositions by an 
 exchange of Notes signed on the 19th October, and she, more- 
 over, agreed to withdraw her troops from Korea immediately. 
 The attempt at a reconciliation and an alliance with the 
 Celestial Empire had failed; but since then the language of 
 the Japanese press and of many of her statesmen proves that 
 at Tokio this idea has not been entirely abandoned, and if 
 they have not been able to confiscate China to the advantage 
 of the Mikado, the Japanese wish to see her placed in a position 
 to resist the pressure of other Powers and to exist by her own 
 resources. On the payment of the indemnity, Japan endeavoured 
 to obtain from China a formal promise that she would never 
 cede to any other Power the territories which she had been 
 obliged to restore. But Russian influence was already too 
 firmly established, and the promise was refused. The new 
 political line of conduct which the European Powers and 
 those which had at first come to her assistance were about to 
 follow with respect to China was now openly developed. If 
 the Setting Sun had more worshippers now than the Rising 
 Sun, it is assuredly not the result of any sentiment of 
 chivalrous disinterestedness — quite the contrary. 
 
 25a 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 RUSSIA, FRANCE, AND ENGLAND IN THE FAR EAST IN 1 895-9 7 
 
 The immediate results of the war — Issue of an important Chinese loan — 
 Russia becomes guarantee for China, and in return obtains the right 
 to construct the Manchurian Railway — Ability of Russian diplomacy 
 in Korea — Faults and abuses of the Japanese in that country — Revolu- 
 tion in the Korean palace at Seoul — The King of Korea under the 
 protection of Russia — Preponderance of Muscovite influences in the 
 Far East at the beginning of 1897 — Important advantages obtained by 
 the Tsar’s allies — Apparent disinterestedness of Germany — Treaty 
 with France signed on June 20th, 1895 — Energy of the French 
 Minister — French protectorate over the Catholics of the East — Efforts 
 made by England in 1896 to regain her influence at Peking — Anglo- 
 Chinese Convention, February 4th, 1897 — Opening of the West River 
 to European navigation — A few fresh concessions granted to France in 
 1897 - 
 
 In the events which have transpired in the Far East since the 
 War, and which have led to the present situation, two distinct 
 phases mark the violent aggression of Kiao-chau. The first 
 extends from the spring of 1895 to the autumn of 1897, and is 
 that in which the Powers, after having come to China’s 
 assistance, obtained from her concessions in return for their 
 good offices, whilst pretending moderation in their demands. 
 
 Altogether, the most important consequence of the War was 
 the establishment of a heavy foreign debt. Hitherto China 
 had only contracted in Europe insignificant loans of a few 
 millions of francs. During hostilities her foreign indebtedness 
 rose to ^7,000,000, a mere trifle, and, moreover, the lenders 
 were in possession of excellent security ; but the War 
 Indemnity and other urgent expenses necessary for the re- 
 habilitation of the country mounted up to ^^48,000,000, so 
 that now the interest on this debt, taking the rate at 5 per 
 cent, would absorb ^^2, 400,000, and, by adding the arrears 
 
 253 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 of already existing loans, this figure would attain about 
 ;^2, 800,000, equivalent to nearly the whole of the Customs 
 revenue. The Customs duties are paid in silver, but it would 
 be absolutely necessary to stipulate, if a considerable loan is to 
 be floated on the European market, that the interest should be 
 paid in gold. The question, therefore, very naturally arises 
 whether, in view of so small a margin, the fluctuations in the 
 value of silver, which have already caused the hai-kivan tael to 
 fall from 6s. 7d., its value a quarter of a century ago, to 2s. rod., 
 the average rate since 1897, will not sooner or later result in 
 the Customs receipts proving insufficient to cover the payment 
 of the arrears. Nobody in his senses would dream of lending 
 money to China on the mere security of her general resources, 
 and she would, consequently, be obliged to assign to her 
 creditors new securities, and place in their hands the adminis- 
 tration of new branches of revenue. On the other hand, 
 stripped of about ^2,800,000 from the total revenue, which 
 the most optimistic estimate gives at ;^24,ooo,ooo, she would 
 have to look for new channels to add to her income, either 
 by increasing the taxes, or by permitting foreigners to exploit 
 the resources of the country, conceding to them railway and 
 mining concessions on the basis of leases or joint profits. 
 The first proposal ran the risk of unpopularity ; the second 
 was more tempting, but it meant the introduction into the 
 country of that very Western civilization which the Chinese 
 Government had opposed with all its might for the last fifty 
 years. 
 
 The monetary difficulties of the Celestial Empire brought 
 about a renewed interference by Europeans in her affairs, if 
 only in the collecting of the taxes, and, also, a sort of financial 
 embargo, the dangers of which are sufficiently manifest in 
 countries like Egypt. The Government of Peking was well 
 aware of this, and, therefore, spared no effort in obtaining a 
 reduction on the ^34,500,000 War Indemnity, and even at- 
 tempted to arrive at an understanding with Japan respecting the 
 retrocession of Liao-tung without supplementary disbursement. 
 
 The great importance of this money question was nowhere 
 better understood than at St. Petersburg, and one cannot help 
 admiring the boldness and ability of the policy pursued by 
 Russia. That countries like France and England, literally 
 overflowing with money, should have ventured to secure a 
 preponderating position in China by means of financial 
 
 254 
 
CHINA 
 
 manoeuvrings is not at all to be wondered at ; but that Russia, 
 already heavily indebted with a public foreign debt amount- 
 ing to over ;^24o, 000,000, should have been shrewd enough 
 to subject China to a sort of vassalage, through the pecuniary 
 services she rendered her, was indeed a masterly achievement. 
 
 M. de Witte, the Tsar’s Minister of Finance, who devised 
 this remarkable scheme and conducted it to a triumphant 
 issue over the head of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 
 exhibited throughout the rarest political ability and foresight 
 combined with business acumen. Russia was unable to lend 
 China money, but she was willing to become her guarantor, 
 and thus enable the Celestial Empire, backed by the 
 principal banks of Paris, where Russian funds were at their 
 height, to float a loan of 16,000,000 at 4 per cent, issued 
 at ninety-four — that is to say, at the same issue price at which, 
 before this security was granted, the French and German 
 financial houses had offered to raise a loan at 5 per cent. 
 The annual interest to be paid by China, thanks to Russian 
 intervention, was thus reduced by a fifth, whereby the Celestials, 
 although they obtained a bargain, at the same time committed 
 a grave political error. 
 
 In accepting a foreign Power as guarantor, the Chinese 
 Government rendered itself responsible to that Power only, 
 and placed her financial and, above all, her political inde- 
 pendence in far greater peril than she could have done had 
 she negotiated directly with individual capitalists of various 
 nationalities, whose pressure, in case of non-payment, would 
 have been considerably weakened by the inevitable differences 
 which would subsist between their Governments. This danger 
 seems to have been thoroughly understood at Peking, where 
 the necessary documents were not signed until the expiration 
 of the last day’s delay granted by Russia, and then only under 
 extreme pressure, because the Chinese Government had 
 evidently failed to find assistance elsewhere. 
 
 The Government of St. Petersburg, well pleased with this 
 success, proceeded to strengthen its policy in China by further 
 financial operations, and with the assistance of the Bank of 
 Russia next created the Russo-Chinese Bank, Parisian financiers 
 supplying the greater part of the capital, but leaving the direc- 
 tion of affairs almost exclusively in Russian hands. The 
 Comptoir d’Escompte transferred its agencies in China to 
 Russia, and the new bank established at the same time branches 
 
 255 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 at Peking, Tien-tsin, Shanghai, and Hankow. Since then this 
 bank has continued to be the principal agent of Russian influ- 
 ence in China, and undoubtedly it was at first almost entirely 
 through its mediation that Russia negotiated the concession of 
 the East Chinese Railway, which enabled her to continue her 
 Trans-Siberian Railway southward through Manchuria, thus 
 shortening the original line by several hundred miles, and 
 enabling it to pass within 350 miles of the Gulf of Pe-chi-lL 
 Russia, moreover, obtained the authorization to protect the 
 works by her own troops, whereby she made herself mistress of 
 Manchuria, whence she was able to dominate Peking until 
 events allowed her to occupy Liao-tung. 
 
 Whilst she was amply paid for her services by China, Russia 
 made herself no less active in Korea. The Japanese, who had 
 occupied that country, perpetrated error on error. They had 
 attempted to impose upon the Koreans with great abruptness 
 the most varied and radical reforms. Many of these were 
 possibly useful enough, but they ought to have been introduced 
 with discretion ; others were unnecessary, and greatly irritated 
 the people by wounding their most cherished customs and 
 traditions. The Koreans, although not particularly clean in 
 their habits, are invariably clad in white, are, moreover, addicted 
 to smoking very long pipes, and to rolling their hair up into a 
 huge chignon, which they surmount by an enormously broad- 
 brimmed hat, whose crown is so small that they are obliged to 
 fasten it to their heads by a long string. The Mikado issued a 
 sumptuary law against long pipes, chignons, and wide-brimmed 
 hats, and, moreover, ordered that the traditional white robe 
 should henceforth be replaced by the dark-blue one usually 
 worn by the Japanese. It is said that this unfortunate incident 
 was the result of a conviction that Koreans, being obliged to 
 hold their pipe with one hand, and to balance their enormous 
 hats with the other, could never become hard workers. Be 
 this as it may, the Japanese sentinels at the gates of Seoul 
 made life unendurable to the unfortunate Koreans. Armed 
 with a big pair of scissors, they pounced upon the unfortunate 
 peasants as they entered the towm on their way to market, and 
 cut not only the strings of their monumental hats, but severed 
 their beloved chignons, and shortened by at least three-quarters 
 of their length the stems of their pipes — arbitrary measures 
 well calculated to break their hearts with mortification and 
 vexation of spirit It is not to be wondered at that such 
 
 256 
 
CHINA 
 
 impolitic conduct, added to occasional acts of violence, soon 
 roused the indignation and hatred of the natives, otherwise a 
 very inoffensive and peaceable people. On October 7, 1895, 
 the Korean Queen was murdered in her palace by assassins 
 in the pay of the Japanese, and with the complicity of the 
 Legation. King Li-Hsi, a very poor creature at the best, 
 whose reign has been one tissue of Court intrigue and palace 
 revolution, after the assassination of the Queen, fell into a con- 
 sternation of abject terror, completely abdicating his regal 
 authority, and became so degraded that he even consented to 
 sign an edict insulting the memory of the late Queen, and 
 accusing her of shameful crimes. Innocent persons were now 
 executed at Seoul as guilty of the murder, whereas the actual 
 assassins were acquitted by a self-constituted Japanese tribunal. 
 
 In the meantime Russia very ably exploited the general 
 discontent, and in an underhand manner offered her services 
 to the timid King, who was not only terribly afraid of the 
 Japanese, but also of his father, the Tai-wen-kun, a ferocious 
 old gentleman, whose ambition had disturbed Korea for over 
 twenty years, and who had been raised to power by the natives. 
 His Majesty seemed disposed to accept the Russian proposal, 
 but dared not leave his palace, in which he was kept a close 
 prisoner. A riot ensued, whether spontaneous or provoked 
 has never been divulged, which, on the night of February ii, 
 1896, offered him a chance of escape. The Tai-wen-kun was 
 killed, and Li-Hsi obtained shelter at the Russian Legation, 
 then guarded by a detachment of sailors fresh landed at 
 Chemulpo, the port of Seoul, without any attempt on the part 
 of the Japanese to prevent them. Li-Hsi, once safe in the house 
 of the Russian Minister, where all the members of the Korean 
 Government had found shelter, acted like a King in a comic 
 opera, and became the plaything of Russia, precisely as he had 
 recently been of Japan. He forthwith revoked all the reform- 
 ing edicts he had previously signed, and annulled the decree 
 degrading the memory of the unfortunate Queen, the trial 
 of whose assassins took place in a High Court presided over 
 by judges selected from various European nationalities, with 
 the result that the responsibility for her murder was thrown on 
 the Japanese. 
 
 The reactionary movement now became violent, and many 
 useful reforms had perforce to disappear. A committee, com- 
 posed of the highest native functionaries, the British Controller 
 
 257 s 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 of Customs, and a few Americans, was appointed to study 
 measures of reform, but they only met two or three times, and 
 nothing came of it, so that in a few months all the old abuses 
 reappeared. Nevertheless, by her sagacious conduct, Russia 
 had the ability to win over the foreign representatives in Korea 
 to her side, and Japan, in order to preserve the remnant of her 
 influence in a country whose commerce was mainly in her 
 hands, and w’here not less than ip,ooo of her subjects resided, 
 was now obliged to arrive at an understanding with Russia. 
 The Convention of Seoul, signed May 14th, 1896, by the 
 representatives of the two Powers, completed by that of July 
 29th, concluded at Moscow at the time of the coronation of 
 Nicholas II., and drawn up by Prince Lobanof and Marshal 
 Yamagata, accorded Japan merely the right to keep 1,000 
 troops in Korea for the protection of the Japanese telegraph 
 wires between Fusan and Seoul and of her subjects settled in 
 the capital and in the open ports of Fusan and Gensan. Russia 
 also obtained the same rights, and, moreover, a concession 
 to construct a telegraphic line from Seoul to the Siberian 
 frontier. 
 
 The two Powers further agreed to lend the Korean Govern- 
 ment their support for the reorganization of its finances and a 
 sufficient police force to maintain order, and to permit, as soon 
 as possible, of the withdrawal of their garrisons. In appear- 
 ance it was a sort of Russo-Japanese condominium that was 
 established in Korea ; but Russian influence, now all-powerful 
 with the King, met with no further obstacle after the restora- 
 tion of that Sovereign to his palace in February, 1897. A 
 decree, ordering that all railways to be constructed in Korea 
 should have the same gauge as that of the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway, and that the debt of ^-^00,000 contracted by Korea 
 with Japan should be repaid, and, moreover, that none but 
 Russian instructors should be engaged in reorganizing the 
 Korean army, was also issued, which Japan considered a 
 distinct breach of the Treaty of Moscow. 
 
 Russian influence was therefore, at the beginning of the 
 year 1897, absolutely preponderant in Korea as well as in 
 China. In both countries the Tsar’s Government had played, 
 with extraordinary ability, the part of protector of the conquered 
 against the abuses of the conqueror,, and also that of a 
 redresser of wrongs, whereby it won universal approbation 
 throughout the Far East. The Japanese victories now appeared 
 
CHINA 
 
 only to have been obtained for the benefit of Russia, who 
 substituted herself everywhere for Japan, in Manchuria as well 
 as in Korea, and thus profited very considerably by the War 
 without having to pay any of its expenses. If at its close 
 Russia had the discretion to perceive the advantages which 
 she might derive from intervention, and if she acted with 
 energy and decision, she also knew how to curb the im- 
 petuosity of her admirals, who were eager to commit those 
 very faults into which Japan had fallen, which undoubtedly 
 would have brought about very serious European complica- 
 tions. She therefore at first abstained from annexing the 
 peninsula of Liao tung and the important stations of Port 
 Arthur and Talien-wan, which she had compelled the Japanese 
 to evacuate, and officially she made no annexations in Korea ; 
 but, possessing the right to construct a railway through Central 
 Manchuria and to protect its works by her own troops, and 
 being at one and the same time mistress of the situation 
 at Seoul, Russia was able at the right moment to annex 
 either Korea or Liao-tung, and bring the Trans-Siberian to the 
 open sea through one or the other of these two peninsulas. 
 She hesitated as to which she should select; the first was 
 nearer Peking, the second brought her more directly to the 
 Pacific, whence she could menace simultaneously the mouth 
 of the Yang-tsze and the South-east of Japan. At St Peters- 
 burg, however, it seemed that the Government was waiting for 
 the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was pro- 
 ceeding in hot haste, and which it was expected would reach 
 the Amur in the first months of 1900, ere the psychological 
 moment should arrive to strike a decisive blow. 
 
 Side by side with immense advantages acquired by Russia, 
 those obtained by her allies seemed insignificant. Germany 
 had not shown herself exacting ; all she asked was a few acres 
 of land at Tien-tsin and other naval ports where she might 
 establish independent concessions intended to satisfy her sense 
 of dignity. The absence of special concessions had not 
 hitherto prevented Germany from achieving an extraordinary 
 commercial success in China, but the future will prove that the 
 German Empire entertains great designs in the Far East, the 
 realization of which are merely postponed. 
 
 As to France, she got in return for her services the two 
 Conventions signed at Peking by her Minister, M. Gdrard, on 
 June 20th, 1895. The first of these documents accords divers 
 
 259 s 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 facilities to the extension of her commerce on the frontier 
 between China and Indo-China ; the second ratifies, to her 
 advantage, the frontier limits. A new market — Semao, in the 
 Yunnan — was now added to the towns of Mong-Tze and Lung 
 Chau, opened to Franco-Annamite commerce in 1887. The 
 customs on goods entering or leaving these markets and 
 passing through Tongking, already reduced to three-quarters 
 of the maritime Custom-house tariff of 1887, were again lowered 
 to about two-fifths of the general tariff, so far as concerned 
 products exported from any other Chinese port, or intended to 
 be re-imported into any one of these said ports. In Article 5 
 of this Convention the following passage occurs : ‘ It is under- 
 stood that China, in the exploitation of mines situated in the 
 provinces of Yunnan, Kuang-si, and Kuang-Tung, may apply, 
 in the first place, to French merchants and engineers, the ex- 
 ploitation remaining subject to the rules laid down by the 
 Imperial Government in all that concerns national industry. 
 It is agreed that the railways already existing, or to be con- 
 structed in Annam, may, after a mutual understanding, be 
 extended on Chinese territory.’ Finally, it was further stipu- 
 lated that the French and Chinese telegraph lines should be 
 combined. The Convention respecting the frontier definitely 
 extended the French possessions to the eastern shore of the 
 upper Mekong, thereby giving France the territory situated on 
 the border of the Shan State of Xieng-hong. England in 1894 
 had admitted the right of suzerainty of China over this little 
 principality, as well as over one or two others, thereby creating 
 a sort of neutral zone between her Indian Empire and French 
 Indo-China. 
 
 A great deal was made over this Convention in France, and 
 the energetic manner in which the French Minister at Peking 
 had been able to obtain these concessions under the very nose 
 of his English colleague. Sir Nicholas O’Connor. The ne- 
 gotiations closed, M. Gdrard proceeded to the Tsung-li-Yamen 
 on the day arranged for the exchange of signatures, to find, 
 however, only one of the two Chinese plenipotentiaries present. 
 This personage offered profuse apologies for the non-appear- 
 ance of his colleague. ‘Nothing should have prevented his 
 being here,’ replied the French diplomatist. ‘I pray you find 
 him at once and tell him so.’ A few moments afterwards the 
 second Celestial appeared alone, looking very sheepish. ‘And 
 your colleague, is he coming back?’ asked M. Gerard. ‘No; 
 
CHINA 
 
 I am afraid he is detained, and that he cannot return. Shall I 
 go and fetch him?’ ‘ I beg your pardon,’ M. Gdrard shrewdly 
 replied ; ‘ I will keep you here, and will go myself in quest of 
 your friend.’ At the end of an hour or so the two Celestials 
 were finally brought together, and on being asked to explain 
 their dilatory conduct, stated that the British Minister was 
 in the next room, threatening, if they ventured to sign, forth- 
 with to haul down his flag. M. Gerard was soon able to 
 convince the Celestial plenipotentiaries that they had nothing 
 to fear, but that they must immediately affix their signatures to 
 the document. Sir Nicholas O’Connor, he assured them, once 
 he was convinced of the futility of his intimidation, would soon 
 turn his attention to other affairs. This anecdote, whilst it 
 reflects great credit on the energy of the French Minister, and 
 displays his knowledge of the Chinese character to advantage, 
 emphasizes the declining influence of England in China in 
 1895 and 1896, as well as the annoyance experienced by this 
 Power at the ratification of the French frontier and its extension 
 towards Mekong. By confirming it, China violated, it is true, 
 the engagements she had made when England recognised her 
 position at Xieng-hong, but this did not concern PTance, for 
 the State in question was as much the vassal of Annam or of 
 Siam as it is of Burmah or of China. 
 
 What was the real value of the commercial concessions 
 granted to France by China, and concerning which her press 
 had made such capital ? The reduction of the duties on all 
 products passing by Tongking would have been of great value 
 if the neighbouring Chinese province had been a rich one, but 
 it is, unfortunately, quite the reverse. It is now time to glance 
 over the region that can be provisioned and exploited through 
 Tongking. It includes the greater part of Yunnan and 
 Kwang-si, the southern half of Kwei-chau, and a small part of 
 Kwang-tung, that long and narrow band of territory which this 
 province projects over the Tongking frontier between the sea 
 and Kuang-si. The Yunnan, the Kwang-si, and the Kwei-chau 
 are the three poorest provinces of China, and cover a fifth of 
 her territory, whilst possessing barely the fifteenth of her popula- 
 tion, or, in other words, about 24,000,000 out of 380,000,000. 
 They have been unfortunately devastated by the great insurrec- 
 tion of the Taipings and the Muhammedan revolts, especially 
 Yunnan ; the country is really only a conglomeration of 
 mountains and plateaux, some of them 6,500 feet in height, and, 
 
 261 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 moreover, the communications are very scanty, and it would 
 cost an enormous sum to improve them. The report of the 
 Lyons Mission, which explored this part of China in 1895-97, 
 frequently mentions the great difficulties of transport and the 
 steepness of the ascents, such, for instance, as the famous 
 Imperial road of Ten Thousand Steps, which you ascend from 
 the bank of the Red River to the Yunnan plateau, between 
 Manhao and Mong tze, and which in a distance of only 30 
 miles rises from 485 to more than 6,500 feet. It also mentions 
 the paucity of population, as contrasted with its superabundance, 
 in the basin of the Yang-tsze-Kiang and the coast provinces, 
 In the Far East the mountains are almost invariably barren, 
 even when there is very little cultivable soil in the plain 
 below. It is said that the Yunnan is extremely rich in mineral 
 ore, but, as once remarked an acute observer, who has recently 
 visited nearly the whole of China, when explorers find nothing 
 worth noticing on the surface of a country, they generally arrive 
 at the conclusion that there must be something worth looking 
 for underneath. Undoubtedly both copper and tin have been 
 exploited for years past in Yunnan, but thus far the actual 
 wealth of these mines is unknown, and it would be mere matter 
 of conjecture to affirm whether they are worth working or not, 
 or whether it would pay to construct a railway 300 miles in 
 length to transport the ore, as these Chinese provinces on 
 the frontier neighbouring Tongking produce neither silk, tea, 
 nor any other valuable Chinese export product, and do not 
 offer a particularly brilliant prospect at present. As to Article 5, 
 relating to mines, if taken in the literal sense, it is simply a 
 truism, but if one wishes to discover in it a disguised engage- 
 ment, and read ‘ ought ’ instead of ‘ may,’ it is a violation of the 
 clause granted to the most favoured nation inserted in all 
 Chinese treaties with European Powers. France had soon to 
 recognise its futility on January 15th, 1896, at the time of the 
 signing of the Anglo-French treaty relating to the affairs of 
 Siam, by which, it is true, she profited little by the difficult 
 circumstances in which Great Britain then found herself, and 
 the two Governments of Paris and London agreed that all the 
 rights and privileges acquired, or to be acquired, either in the 
 Yunnan or more to the north at Sze-chuan, were to be equally 
 shared. 
 
 The profit which France might have obtained from the con- 
 vention of June 20th, 1895, was thus reduced to little or 
 
 262 
 
CHINA 
 
 nothing. During the following year the negotiations which 
 were being persistently pursued at Peking brought about other 
 results. The right to reconstruct the arsenal at Foochow 
 established by the French in 1866, and which they destroyed 
 in 1884 under Admiral Courbet, was again restored to them. 
 Several naval engineers are working there at present, and French 
 foundries are supplying material. Such has been the share 
 derived by France in the concessions made by China, to obtain 
 which the nations made such flattering advances to Li Hung- 
 chang when that astute old gentleman made his recent famous 
 tour through Europe and America. It certainly compensated 
 after a fashion for the loss of the custom of Japan, who at one 
 time gave frequent orders to French factories, but who now 
 deals exclusively with England and America for the ships and 
 cannon necessary for her greatly augmented fleet. 
 
 Meanwhile, the French Minister at Peking has exerted 
 himself in a creditable manner for the benefit of the Catholic 
 missionaries. He has obtained the abrogation of those regu- 
 lations which prohibited missionaries from purchasing estates 
 in the interior of China, and exacted a promise that the next 
 edition of the Ta-tsing-lu-lieh, a collection of laws issued by the 
 Tsing Dynasty, should appear without the list of punishments 
 against missionaries contained in the edition of 1892. Finally, 
 he obtained authorization for the Lazarists to rebuild on the 
 same spot the cathedral at Tien-tsin, burnt at the time of the 
 massacre of the missionaries and nuns during the insurrection 
 of June, 1870. 
 
 It is assuredly as the protectoress of Catholicism that France 
 has of late years most worthily played her part in the Far East. 
 Possibly she has not known how to convert to her material 
 advantage the influence which ought to be derived in China 
 from her religious position, and doubtless French policy in the 
 Celestial Empire has been lacking in enterprise. She certainly 
 did not derive from the intervention in favour of China a 
 profit proportionate to the risks incurred, and has obtained 
 from China not only less than her ally, Russia, but even 
 than England, and by uselessly opposing the demands of 
 this latter Power she has run the risk of irritating without any 
 benefit that ill-feeling which divides these two great Western 
 nations. 
 
 After a period of inaction during the year which followed the 
 War, the British Governmentj if it has not positively reconquered 
 
 263 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 its former influence, has at least gained a renewed hearing at 
 Peking. Although China trembled before Russia, the presence 
 in her waters of the British fleet did not fail to inspire her with 
 a feeling of profound respect ; but, once the first moment of 
 alarm was over, she again bethought herself as much as possible 
 to begin afresh her old game of pendulum between the various 
 Powers. The slow work of British diplomacy throughout the 
 year 1896 fructified in the signing of the Anglo-Chinese Con- 
 vention of February 4th, 1897, by which China conceded to 
 Great Britain certain important modifications on the Burmese 
 frontier ; granted her back a part of the Shan States ; recog- 
 nised her right to establish a Consul somewhere in Western 
 Yunnan, Manwyne, or Chunning-fu ; engaged to open the 
 roads leading to these places as well as to others ; and finally 
 allowed the railways to be constructed in Yunnan to be united 
 with those of Burmah. Lastly — and this is the most important 
 point of all — a separate article prescribed that the Si-Kiang, or 
 VVest River, which flows through Canton, should be open to 
 European navigation as far as Woochow, on the Kwang-si and 
 Kwang-tung frontier, 125 miles from Canton. The two river 
 ports Samshui and Wuchow became treaty ports, and European 
 concessions were established there. 
 
 This was for England some return for the mortification she 
 had experienced twenty months earlier at the time of the 
 Gerard Convention. If, therefore, in Yunnan, in spite of the 
 equality of rights existing between Great Britain and France, 
 the advantage was with the latter, by reason of the natural 
 conditions rendering access less difficult from Tonking than 
 from Burmah, the opening of the West River was a check 
 for French policy, which had vigorously opposed it. By 
 this waterway European vessels — that is to say, almost exclu- 
 sively British steamers coming from Hong-Kong — would, in 
 the first place, be able to trade with the rich valley of the 
 lower Si-kiang, which crosses Kwang-tung, and reascends to 
 the frontier of Kwang-tung, where they would meet the junks 
 which bring to this point at a small cost the varied products 
 of this province, and, moreover, distribute merchandise from 
 Hong-Kong to the extreme navigable points of the West 
 River and its affluents. These points are situated at a great 
 distance in the interior, almost on the frontiers of Yunnan and 
 Tongking, and at Lung-chau, thirty miles from Lang-son, one 
 can see at high tide Junks from Canton. Therefore all the 
 
 264 
 
CHINA 
 
 commerce of Kwang-si which France had so coveted was to be 
 drained by this new channeL 
 
 French diplomacy endeavoured to repair the unfavourable 
 impression produced by this Anglo Chinese treaty, which 
 effaced the greater part of the advantages conceded to her on 
 the frontier of Tongking, and in June, 1897, it was stated in 
 Paris that China had ceded to France the right to construct a 
 railway from Lao-kai, on the Red River, between Tongking 
 and Yunnan-hsien, the capital of Yunnan, and to prolong it 
 to Nanning-fu and even northward beyond the line projected 
 to Lang-son and Lung-chau. This last concession should 
 reserve for France all the traffic of the western Kwang-si, pro- 
 vided that it is really worth while constructing a railway to 
 obtain it ; for unquestionably navigable rivers have a distinct 
 advantage over railways in so mountainous and poor a country. 
 As soon as the former are opened they can be navigated, 
 whereas it will require time to construct the railways, which, 
 moreover, are very costly. In February, 1898, I was able to 
 see for myself that the Si kiang was already traversed by 
 steamers, whereas the railway from Lang-son to Lung-chau, the 
 concession for which was given in 1896, was not even com- 
 menced, on account of the many difficulties that had arisen 
 with the local authorities. The opening in 1899 of Nanning 
 to foreign commerce is well calculated to deprive France even 
 of this little traffic, which will revert to Canton. 
 
 265 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 CHINA AND THE POWERS, 1897-99—' SPHERES OF INFLUENCE,’ 
 AND THE ‘ OPEN DOOR ’ 
 
 Political calm in the Far East during the summer of 1897 — Provisionary 
 regulation of the questions that divided the Powers, and the main- 
 tenance of old Chinese methods — Landing of the Germans at Kiao-Chau 
 in Shan-tung in 1897 — England’s anger at this act, and her efforts to 
 avert the probable action of Russia in Pe-chi-li — Anglo-Chinese Con- 
 vention of February, 1898 — Opening of all the waterways to European 
 navigation — The policy of the ‘open door’ — China recognises in 
 March, 1898, the occupation of Kiao-chau and concession of the rail- 
 way granted to Germany in Shan-tung — Session to Russia on lease of 
 Port Arthur, and the immediate occupation of this port — Franco- 
 Chinese Convention, April, 1898 — Divers conventions granted in the 
 Southern Provinces and session of the Bay of Kwang-chau-wan — 
 Irritation of Great Britain, who obtains new and important advantages 
 in June, 1898 — Session of Wei-hai-wei at the entrance of the province 
 of Pe-chi-li, and of Kowloon, opposite Hong-Kong — Fresh Anglo- 
 Russian difficulties in November, 1898 — Railway and other concessions 
 granted to foreigners throughout the Celestial Empire. 
 
 After the diplomatic wrangling which followed the war, a lull 
 occurred in the summer of 1897 in the Far East. Each of 
 the European Powers interested in China — Russia, France, 
 and England — had obtained her share of the spoil. That of 
 Germany was generally deemed modest, but it was believed 
 she had no political interest in the Celestial Empire, and was 
 quite content to develop her commerce. Meanwhile Russia 
 and Japan had patched up their quarrel in Korea. Dou-btless 
 their arrangements were not of a definite character, and their 
 mutual ambitions rather dormant than satisfied ; but the ad- 
 vantages already obtained, and the preparations which both 
 nations would have to make in order to be ready when they 
 wished to return to the game, seemed to promise a respite for 
 some years to come. Russia was constructing her railway, 
 
 266 
 
CHINA 
 
 which, notwithstanding all the diligence brought to bear upon 
 its completion, was not expected to reach the river Amur until 
 the end of 1899, and the Pacific until 1903 or 1904. Japan, 
 whilst preparing for the arduous task of reorganizing Formosa, 
 was arming to the teeth, so as to be ready in case of trouble 
 with Russia, which she feared inevitable. She doubled her 
 army, and ordered a first-class fleet to be built in Europe and 
 America, which was to insure her maritime supremacy on the 
 coasts of China, but which could not be ready until 1904 or 1905. 
 France, having definitely pacified Tongking, was occupied 
 in studying the route of the various railway lines which had been 
 conceded to her. England was hastening the construction of 
 her railways in Burmah, and sending her steamers into the 
 West River, while her capital, amalgamated with that of 
 Germany and America, had the larger share in the industrial 
 movement which had been created in Shanghai, and seemed 
 likely to extend to other ports, especially after the treaty of 
 Shimonosaki. 
 
 China herself, profiting by this lull, returned to her old 
 sleepy habits ; she had learnt nothing, and forgotten nothing. 
 When her chief statesman, Li Hung-chang, was sent to 
 Europe and America in 1896, it was not only because he was 
 better equipped than anyone else, by his long intercourse with 
 foreigners, to treat with them, but principally because he was in 
 disgrace. This mission had been offered to Prince Kung, and 
 even to Prince Ching, the Emperor’s uncles. ‘ What have we 
 done,’ these illustrious personages probably exclaimed, ‘that 
 we should be subjected to this humiliation, and sent on a 
 mission to the barbarians ?’ The tour of Li Hung-chang was, 
 therefore, intended as a severe punishment, supplemented 
 by the loss of his peacock’s feather and his yellow jacket. If 
 the observations which are attributed to him with respect to 
 progress are true, his influence must incontestably have 
 diminished, possibly owing to the vicissitudes to which he has 
 been subjected since his return to China. Be this as it may, 
 one thing is clear : he has not hitherto been able to overcome 
 either the Court prejudices or those of the overwhelming 
 majority of the literati. 
 
 The only progress made has been permission for the con- 
 struction, under the direction of English and American 
 engineers, of a line from Tien-tsin to Peking, to slightly 
 prolong beyond the Great Wall the one which starts from 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Tien tsin and the mouth of the Pei-ho, and ascends northwards 
 along the coast of Pe-chi-li, and to authorize the reconstruction 
 of the little line from Shanghai to its deep-water port, Woosung. 
 These works organized in those parts of the Empire most 
 frequented by Europeans, in the great open port of Shanghai, 
 where half the foreign population of China lives, and in the 
 capital, the residence of the diplomatic corps, were calculated 
 to create an illusory effect. The English may also have wished 
 to unite Peking to the sea, which they dominated in the Far 
 East as elsewhere, to spite Russia for having installed herself in 
 Manchuria. A longer railway from Peking to Hankow, 
 traversing over 650 miles of the heart of China, had been pro- 
 jected since 1889, and a Chinese railway director named Sheng 
 had been commanded to collaborate in the matter of its con- 
 struction with Li Hung-chang and his rival, the celebrated 
 Chang-Chih-Tung, Viceroy of Hankow. Much more progres- 
 sive in all probability than Li Hung-chang, Sheng seemed 
 really desirous of building this line ; but he insisted that the 
 material should be manufactured in China, and to this effect he 
 had erected at Hanyang, near Hankow, and his capital Wu-chang, 
 three towns which in reality form one vast city, an immense 
 foundry, which was not likely, at any rate for many years to 
 come, to supply the necessary material. After the War the 
 united efforts of the Ministers of France and Belgium had 
 obtained permission for a Franco Belgian financial syndicate to 
 construct the line for the Chinese Government, and then to 
 exploit it. Obstacles, however, were thrown in the way, and 
 although the Chinese had commenced the works on the Peking 
 side, they were stopped in the autumn of 1897, owing to diffi- 
 culties which had arisen concerning the interpretation of several 
 clauses in the contract It was the old story of Chinese shifty 
 dilatoriness, and nothing came of any one of the reforms pro- 
 posed, civil or military. 
 
 Momentarily satisfied by their newly-acquired privileges, the 
 foreigners ceased, for the time being, clamouring for fresh 
 favours. Everything was calm at Peking, and no one seemed 
 to see any grave event likely to occur in the Far East, at any 
 rate, before the termination of the Trans-Siberian Railway, 
 which would give Russia the chance of making an advance step, 
 when all of a sudden, in the month of November, 1897, Europe 
 learnt with surprise that Germany had landed sailors in the 
 Bay of Kiao-chau, in the Shan-tung Peninsula. The motive 
 
 268 
 
CHINA 
 
 for this unexpected movement, we were assured, was to put 
 pressure on the Government at Peking to conclude certain 
 long-standing negotiations connected with the assassination 
 of two German missionaries, and which, as usual in China, 
 dragged unconcernedly along. At first the importance of this 
 matter did not seem to create the impression that might have 
 been expected. Many even believed that it was but an ingenious 
 artifice on the part of the German Emperor to display the uses 
 of a navy, and to force the Reichstag to vote the necessary 
 credit for the increase of the fleet. But when William II. sent 
 into the Far East his brother Prince Henry, in command of a 
 squadron, requesting him at the time of his departure to make 
 the weight of his ‘ mailed fist ’ felt, if need arose, there was now 
 no possible doubt that the occupation of Kiao-chau was defini- 
 tive, and that Germany was paying herself, tardily, it is true, 
 but with less ceremony than her allies, for the services she had 
 rendered to China in 1895. She had taken, no doubt, a long 
 time about it, for she was hesitating as to which place she 
 should choose for the naval station she was anxious to establish 
 in the Far East. 
 
 If the landing at Kiao-chau had been thoroughly matured, 
 it, nevertheless, appeared that the Berlin Cabinet had not taken 
 the precaution to insure the consent of the other Powers. It 
 was asked if Russia herself, who had her eye on this bay, in 
 which her Far Eastern squadron had passed the winter of 
 1896-97, had not been caught napping. When the occupation 
 of the bay became known in England, public opinion became 
 violently excited. Although Germany seemed to have gradually 
 detached herself from the Franco-Russian group, and to have 
 approached Great Britain, and although English and German 
 banks combined had agreed in 1897 to float a second Chinese 
 loan of ^16,000,000 on the European market, and notwithstand- 
 ing that the finances of the two countries had often co-operated 
 in China, the cordiality which exists between the subjects of 
 Queen Victoria and those of her grandson were even now 
 strained in the Far East. As soon as the occupation of Kiao- 
 chau became known, there was a positive explosion of invective 
 throughout the English press, soon followed by an avalanche of 
 jokes when William II. toasted his brother, on the eve of his 
 departure for the Chinese Seas, in an amusingly melodramatic 
 speech. The misadventures of Prince Henry, who was delayed 
 by divers accidents, and constantly obliged to coal at English 
 
 269 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 naval stations, added not a little to the general and very ironical 
 merriment 
 
 It was not so much the action of Germany that gave rise 
 to genuine anxiety in England as the fear that the Government 
 of the Tsar might take advantage of it to make another advance 
 in North China. If it mattered little to the English that 
 Russia should occupy a harbour free of ice throughout the year, 
 they were greatly exercised at the prospect of her approaching 
 the capital of the Celestial Empire close enough to obtain 
 direct influence in Chinese affairs. England insisted that a 
 port of this sort should be open to the commerce of all nations, 
 precisely like her own Hong-Kong or the Treaty Ports. 
 Thus, while Mr. Balfour, in the early days of 1898, almost 
 invited the Russians to secure for themselves an issue to the 
 open sea, a few days later another of Her Majesty’s Ministers 
 —Sir Michael Hicks-Beach — declared, amid the applause of 
 the entire press, ‘ that the British Government was absolutely 
 determined, at any cost, even at the risk of war, that the “ open 
 door” in China should not be closed.’ In order to oppose the 
 quiet advance of Russia, Great Britain anticipated her by 
 appropriating her hitherto successful financial policy, and offered 
 to lend the “Son of Heaven” ^ 16 , 000 , 000 , which he particu- 
 larly wanted. This last of the three great Chinese loans was 
 the least guaranteed. The Customs receipts no longer sufficed 
 to assure the interest, and it therefore gave the lender a greater 
 excuse for meddling in the internal administration, and to 
 exercise the stronger pressure on the politics of Peking. The 
 conditions for this loan included the addition to the list of 
 open ports of Talien-wan, in the peninsula of Liao-tung, which 
 Russia had long coveted. By throwing it open to the com- 
 merce of all the Powers, its appropriation by any one of them 
 would be rendered very difficult, if not impossible. 
 
 The game was certainly very well played, but in order to 
 carry it to an issue, it was necessary to have a sufficient force 
 on the spot to impose upon China the acceptation of its con- 
 ditions. Now, the season was not propitious ; in winter, when 
 the Pei-ho is frozen over, Russia must remain more powerful 
 at Peking than England. Scared by the threats of M. Pavloff, 
 the Russian Charge d’Affaires, the Tsung-li-Yamen dared not 
 accept the demands of Sir Claude Macdonald, the English 
 Minister, notwithstanding the energetic manner in which they 
 were presented. 
 
 270 
 
CHINA 
 
 The direct loan was consequently not concluded, Talien-wan 
 was not opened, and Great Britain had to content herself with 
 an agreement signed at the end of February, 1898, in virtue of 
 which she obtained, however, some very important concessions. 
 European steamers were, after June, 1898, to be allowed to 
 navigate in all the waters of the Empire. No part of the basin 
 of the Yang-tsze-Kiang was ever to be ceded or rented to any 
 foreign Power ; a port was to be opened in the province of 
 Yunnan, and the position of Inspector-General of Customs 
 was to be reserved exclusively to a British subject, so long as 
 British commerce should hold the first rank in the foreign 
 commerce of China. The value of these concessions is apparent 
 when we consider that the basin of the Yang-tsze is the richest 
 and most thickly-peopled part of the Middle Kingdom. As a 
 commentary upon this agreement, the House of Commons in 
 March included in the Address to the Throne: ‘That it was of 
 vital importance for the commerce and influence of Great 
 Britain that the independence of China should be respected.’ 
 In the course of the discussion Mr. Curzon, Under-Secretary 
 for Foreign Affairs, declared in the first place that England 
 was opposed to any attack upon the independence or integrity 
 of China, and that in the second she would resist any attempt 
 to close any Chinese port to her commerce, so long as it 
 was open, or to be opened, to the commerce of any other 
 nation, and that, moreover, she was determined to maintain 
 in their integrity all the privileges which she had obtained 
 by the treaty of Tien-tsin in 1858. This was the enunciation 
 of the famous policy known as the ‘ open door.’ 
 
 Meanwhile, Germany, in the same month of March, made 
 China ratify the occupation of Kiao-chau, which had been leased 
 to her for ninety-nine years, and which she hastened, it is true, to 
 declare a free port An extensive radius of railways was at the 
 same time conceded to her in Shan-tung, which she had con- 
 stituted a ‘ sphere of interest,’ and the right of pre-emption on 
 all the railway and mining concessions which the Chinese 
 Government might grant in that province. 
 
 Russia, on her side, alarmed at the Anglo-Chinese negotia- 
 tions, came to the conclusion that if she delayed her occupation 
 of the peninsula of Liao-tung any longer, she would risk, if not 
 being forestalled by a rival, at least witnessing the creation of 
 international interests calculated to render the execution of 
 her projects more difficult. She hesitated no longer, and on 
 
 271 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 March 27th, 1898, obliged China to sign the Convention ceding 
 to her the lease of Port Arthur and Talien-wan, and the authori- 
 zation to construct a branch line, uniting these ports to the East 
 Chinese Railway. Thus she obtained her object The Trans- 
 Siberian had now a terminus on the open sea, and could threaten 
 Peking from the entrance of the Gulf of Pe-chi-li. It looked 
 for a moment as though the long deferred struggle between the 
 Whale and the Elephant were really about to take place. Two 
 English cruisers were stationed at Port Arthur when this point 
 was ceded to Russia. They put to sea, but on March 29th 
 the formidable British Far East fleet, which had been im- 
 mensely increased during the winter, was mobilized, one part 
 steaming towards the north, while the other remained at the 
 mouth of the Yang-tsze, ready to occupy, so it was said, the 
 Chusan Islands, which command the entrance to the river. 
 Russia was exceedingly prudent, and, in order not to add the 
 powerful support of Japan to that of England, on March i8th 
 she renounced all active intervention in Korea, and left that 
 country open, if not precisely to the political action, at least 
 to the economic interest of the Land of the Rising Sun. A 
 conflict was averted, but the inevitable opposition of Russian 
 and English interests, added to an accumulation in China Seas 
 of warships of every nationality, hastily sent there after the 
 affair of Kiao-chau. kept up a well-founded feeling of anxiety and 
 irritation in the minds of the British public, further increased 
 by a Franco-Chinese agreement signed in April. France 
 remained, according to her habitual policy, confined in the 
 poor regions of the south, but obtained from China the promise 
 not to alienate on any account the territory comprised in the 
 three frontier provinces of Tongking, and never to cede to any 
 other Power than France the island of Hainan. To these 
 clauses were added the renewal of the concession of the Yunnan 
 Railway, and finally the cession on a long lease of the Bay of 
 Kwang-chau-Wang, situated on the eastern coast of the Lei- 
 chau Peninsula opposite Hainan, and, moreover, the Chinese 
 engaged to appoint a French Director-General of Posts. This, 
 of course, was an answer to the promise obtained by Great 
 Britain respecting the Director-General of Customs, and it 
 might have been of great importance to the French by placing 
 in their hands the telegraph lines of the Celestial Empire which 
 joined, independently of the British cable, the lines in Indo- 
 China which stretched to the Russian lines in Siberia and thence 
 
 272 
 
CHINA 
 
 on to Paris. Notwithstanding the great political interest at stake, 
 this advantage was unhappily allowed to lapse, no Director- 
 General of Posts has been nominated, this post. still remaining 
 united to that of the Customs, under the direction of Sir 
 Robert Hart. With respect to the other concessions obtained 
 by France, it does not appear that England or any other Power 
 need be much concerned about them. Hainan may have 
 some importance to France, who could never permit any other 
 Power to establish itself at the entrance to the Gulf of Tongking. 
 As to the harbour of Kwang-chau, which is not of the first 
 rank, the mouth being narrow, it does not extend the French 
 sphere of action, but leaves her mewed up where she was in 
 the far south. It has only brought her annoyances, and is 
 certainly not a strategical point of primary importance, whence 
 she might menace the position of her rivals in the China 
 Seas. 
 
 Far more important were the cessions of territory soon after- 
 wards made to Great Britain in compensation for the occupation 
 of the ports of Liao-tung by the Russians. Their value did not 
 consist in their extent, which was not considerable, being merely 
 Wei hai-wei and a little town in Shan-tung, and 400 square 
 miles of territory in the peninsula of Kowloon, and immediately 
 opposite Hong-Kong. Both were leased for ninety-nine years. 
 The strategical value is, however, of the highest importance. 
 In the peninsula of Kowloon, where the English had up to this 
 time only a small piece of land, they now came into posses- 
 sion of all the heights and bays necessary to shelter the port 
 of Hong-Kong from attack and to insure its extension. Wei- 
 hai-wei, on the other hand, gave them precisely what they had 
 long coveted — a naval station in the North of China, so that 
 when their squadron was in these latitudes it would no longer 
 be obliged to make a voyage of from four to five days in order 
 to take in provisions or seek shelter at Hong-Kong. Wei- 
 hai-wei, the fortifications of which were immediately under- 
 taken, in a measure weakens Port Arthur, the two being exactly 
 opposite each other, with a stretch of sea of only sixty miles 
 between them, and the former is not much more distant from 
 the mouth of the Pei-ho. Needless to say, being in possession 
 of so excellent a station, England with her superior fleet will 
 necessarily during many years to come be in a position to 
 prevent the Russian squadron interfering with her projects, 
 and also, notwithstanding the shortness of the journey, to 
 
 273 T 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 impede any assistance by sea being afforded to Russian 
 troops who might be operating in the north of China. The 
 English, moreover, can from this position, by a dexterous 
 movement, cut the line of railway between Tien-tsin and the 
 Great Wall. 
 
 Notwithstanding these advantages, the insatiable British 
 public was not satisfied, and complained that the Government 
 had allowed Germany to occupy a privileged position in Shan- 
 tung, and had, moreover, promised not to interfere with her 
 rights in that province, nor to construct a railway starting from 
 Wei-hai-wei, and, moreover, to consider this place as a sort of 
 Far Eastern Gibraltar without any commercial pretensions, 
 thereby consenting to the creation of a German sphere of 
 interest in opposition to the policy of the ‘ open door.’ When 
 Parliament was prorogued in August, the Chinese Question 
 had been discussed no fewer than eight times, and the Salis- 
 bury Ministry had been frequently and very bitterly attacked 
 by its own supporters. The intemperate oratory of certain 
 Ministers, and notably of Mr. Chamberlain, who unhesitatingly 
 accused Russia of bad faith, and even went so far as to say 
 one must remember when dealing with Russia the old proverb, 
 
 ‘ He who sups with the devil must have a long spoon,’ had not 
 a little contributed to excite public opinion in Great Britain. 
 In order to soothe matters a little, the Cabinet declared to 
 Parliament that its Minister at Peking had been authorized to 
 inform the Chinese Government that Great Britain would lend 
 its support in order to resist an attempt on the part of any 
 Power to commit an act of aggression against China under the 
 pretext that she had granted to a British subject the con- 
 cession of a railway or other public work. 
 
 This was a return to the policy of the ‘ open door ’ to which 
 England attaches so much importance. She refused to admit 
 that commercial privileges should be given to any one Power, 
 or any preference for public works to be executed ; in a word, 
 she would hear of no ‘ spheres of interest’ Such stipulations 
 are, indeed, diametrically opposed to the wording of the treaties, 
 but in these times hardly, except by force or the threat to use 
 it, can one expect even the most solemn engagements to be 
 observed. England herself was obliged to concur in the 
 Ger man ‘ sphere of interest ’in Shan-tung. In the months of 
 August and September, 1898, it was once more feared that 
 there might be trouble between England and Russia over 
 
 274 
 
CHINA 
 
 the matter of the railway from Shan-hai-Kwan to Niu-chwang, 
 a prolongation beyond the Great Wall of the line between 
 Peking, Tien-tsin, and Shan-hai-Kwan. The principal bank in 
 the Far East, the Hong- Kong and Shanghai Banking Corpora- 
 tion, was to build it for the Chinese Government and exploit 
 it, reserving as security a first mortgage on the line. Russia 
 intervened, and objected that any railway concession should 
 be given to any other Power than herself north of the Great 
 Wall. After considerable discussion, the Powers arrived at 
 an agreement, and the English company kept the concession, 
 but only retained a lien on the already constructed Peking- 
 Shan-hai Kwan line to the south of the Wall. 
 
 In the midst of all the intrigues and unpleasantness which 
 we have just narrated, Europe has, nevertheless, accomplished 
 at Peking a noteworthy and unprecedented work. She has 
 not only obtained very advantageous concessions for her 
 commerce, such, for instance, as the opening to navigation of 
 all the watercourses on which Treaty Ports are situated, but 
 also the allotment to the European Customs Administration 
 of the collecting of likin in the valley of the /ang-tsze, as a 
 security for the third great loan of j^i6, 000,000. She has 
 also obtained the right to introduce into China the best 
 machinery for the exploitation of her natural resources. The 
 English are about to work the coal and iron mines of Shan-si 
 and Ho-nan, the Germans those of Shan tung, and the English 
 and French together the mines of Yun nan. Six thousand 
 miles of railway are to be constructed, not only at the extremities 
 of the Empire in the Steppes of Manchuria and on the plateaux 
 bordering Indo-China, but also in the thickly-peopled central 
 and eastern provinces, from Peking to Han-kau and Canton, 
 from Tien-tsin to the lower Yang-tsze, in Shan-tung and around 
 Shanghai, connecting towns of several hundred thousand, and 
 even over a million inhabitants, through countries at least twice 
 as densely peopled as France. 
 
 275 
 
 T 2 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE FUTURE OF CHINA — MAINTENANCE OR PARTITION OF THE 
 CELESTIAL EMPIRE? 
 
 Necessity of proceeding slowly with the Reform movement in China, if the 
 overthrow of the Empire is to be averted — Weakness of the Govern- 
 ment at Peking— The Emperor and the Reformer, Kang-Yu-Wei — The 
 Empress-Dowager and Li Hung-chang — Palace revolution in Sep- 
 tember, 1898 — Enormous obstacles in the way of the Celestial Empire 
 reforming itself — Reasons why it cannot follow the example of Japan 
 in 1868 — The possibility of partition — The interests of Great Britain, 
 the United States, and Japan, partizans of the ‘open door’ policy, 
 and of Germany, Russia, and France — The dangers incurred by 
 partition — Difficulties of effecting it pacihcally, and also for Europeans 
 to govern the hundreds of millions of Chinese — The anarchy that might 
 result — Services which might be rendered to progress by the Chinese 
 Government in preventing too rapid a transition — Possibility of con- 
 verting the Chinese to material progress. 
 
 ‘ Every time that the bones of China are rattled — and they 
 have never been more vigorously than at present ’ — said a 
 technical English paper, ‘ an increase of commerce follows.’ 
 Nothing can be truer ; but, at the same time, it might be prudent 
 not to shake the old skeleton too violently, too often, or too 
 long, if we do not wish to see it tumble to pieces. China is a 
 sort of amorphous State whose different parts are joined 
 together by the very weakest ties, concerning which we know 
 little or nothing, and whose main force consists in tradition 
 and in the existence of a governing class of literati, recruited 
 throughout the Empire, even among the very people. On the 
 other hand, germs of serious disaffection do exist ; the actual 
 Dynasty is a foreign one, which, at the beginning of the century, 
 the terrible Taiping Rebellion — only suppressed with the 
 assistance of Europeans — nearly ruined, and the descendants of 
 the old national Ming Dynasty are still living. The accession 
 
 2J6 
 
CHINA 
 
 to the throne of the present Emperor was irregular, it seems, 
 according to Chinese procedure, and the country is honey- 
 combed by secret societies, whose object is the overthrow of 
 the existing state of affairs. The mass of the people are totally 
 indifferent to politics, and very rarely exhibit hostility to 
 foreigners, if the latter behave with circumspection, unless, 
 indeed, they are urged on by fanatics or malcontents, when, 
 unfortunately, they are easily roused. In the principal towns 
 of every prefecture and sub-prefecture there exists a hetero- 
 geneous mass of soured and fanatical literati, who pursue the 
 humblest trades in order to keep themselves from starvation, 
 who are intimately mixed up w ith the people, by whom they 
 are treated with great respect, and who will obey their com- 
 mands to overthrow the Europeans and their innovations. 
 
 The Government of Peking is too thoroughly convinced of 
 its external weakness to openly resist any demand imposed 
 upon it by the Powers, but if it be too hardly pressed, and 
 forced to introduce or allow the premature introduction of 
 all sorts of innovations, and in too many places at once, it may 
 run the risk of exciting against it the literati, who regard, and 
 not without reason, any extension of European influence as a 
 menace to their privileges. Such action might easily lead to 
 active opposition to all reform, especially in the central and 
 southern provinces, more backward than those of the north, 
 and, if leaders of the movement can be discovered, lead to the 
 complete disorganization of the Celestial Empire. Trouble 
 has already occurred in Sze-chuan, as well as further in the 
 lower valley of the Yang-tsze. A rather serious insurrection 
 broke out in 1898 in the Kwang-si and Kwang-tung, but 
 without any result. We know that local troubles in so badly 
 governed a country as China of a necessity must become 
 chronic, but in many cases the news concerning them reaches 
 Europe considerably embellished and exaggerated. 
 
 It is certain that the elements of disorder are just now greatly 
 excited. Even at Peking rival factions are disputing for power; 
 the events which occurred there in September, 1898, are little, 
 and possibly never will be completely, known, and it would be 
 impossible to relate with any approach to truth the tragedies 
 and comedies that are constantly being enacted within the 
 walls of the Forbidden City. 
 
 The Emperor Kuang-Su, a young man of twenty-five, with a 
 sickly body, and, it is said, a weak mind, had been completely 
 
 277 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 won over to the Reform movement by a literate of the new 
 school, named Kang-Yu-Wei, who hailed from Canton. His 
 Celestial Majesty, with all the zeal of a neophyte, was induced 
 during the summer to issue a distinctly revolutionary edict. It 
 was said that he went so far as to presume to wear a Euro- 
 pean costume, and that he even intended going personally 
 to Japan to observe there for himself the transformation which 
 had been effected in the last thirty years. The Reform party 
 undoubtedly had entertained Japanese as well as English 
 sympathies, and its chief, Kang-Yu-Wei, passed his last night 
 at Peking in the Japanese Legation. Marquis Ito, it is said, 
 discouraged the precipitation with which it was intended to 
 carry out in a few weeks reforms that had taken more than a 
 quarter of a century to accomplish in Japan. 
 
 Such an attempt had no chance of success, for it not only 
 opposed many prejudices and interests, but was opposed by all 
 the Manchu functionaries, by Li Hung-chang, who had been 
 recently disgraced, and by the Empress- Dowager. His Celestial 
 Majesty pretended to arrest this last-named personage, who is 
 his aunt, and not his mother ; but the astute Princess defeated 
 his object. The great majority of the mandarins being hostile 
 to the movement, she soon possessed herself of the necessary 
 tools for her purpose. The Emperor was in his turn imprisoned 
 in his palace, and forced to apologize and sign an edict 
 placing the reins of Government entirely in the hands of 
 the Dowager. The immediate consequence of this act was 
 that all the mandarins of the old school, among them Li-Hung 
 chang, returned forthwith to power; Kang-Yu-Wei took flight 
 on board an English vessel, and most of his partizans were 
 either beheaded or sent into exile, and very soon all trace of 
 their work was effaced. 
 
 From this imprudent attempt at reform we may derive a few 
 useful lessons. In the first place it showed the instability of 
 the Peking Government, and also the existence, but at the same 
 time the impotence, of the Reform party among the literati ; 
 and in the second it accentuated that dangerous factor in the 
 politics of the Far East, the inflexible antagonism existing 
 between England and Russia. The Empress Tze-Hsi is un- 
 doubtedly a very clever woman ; she first governed the Empire 
 in the capacity of Regent, but since 1887 she has, with the 
 assistance of Li Hung-chang, who is said to have been a 
 former lover, done so in the name of her nephew, absolutely 
 
 278 
 
CHINA 
 
 refusing to abdicate. Her rule has been undoubtedly per- 
 nicious to China, for it has invariably been reactionary. As 
 an instance in point, an important Viceroy has been recently 
 reprimanded for attempting to reorganize on the European 
 system the troops in the provinces which he administered. 
 The Tsung-li-Yamen has likewise in a very short time contrived 
 to strengthen the party opposed to innovation, and all sorts of 
 restrictions have been placed in the way of the exp^ litation of 
 the mines. For all this, be it bad or good, the Gov4.rnment of 
 Tze-Hsi and of Li Hungchang is nevertheless a Government; 
 but both the Empress and her Minister are aged, and one may 
 naturally ask what will occur when they are no longer of this 
 world. 
 
 The Reform party, which seems to have the sympathy of a 
 few high functionaries, does not apparently include many of 
 the mandarin class ; the unsuccessful literati, who struggle for 
 existence in the towns of the interior, and who are in im- 
 mediate contact with the people, apparently remain outside 
 of all notion of progress, being absolutely convinced of the 
 immense superiority of the Chinese over the barbarians. It 
 is therefore very difficult to imagine how a handful of in- 
 novators can ever be able to impose their ideas against so much 
 prejudice. A revolution, such as occurred in Japan in 1868, 
 which rushed that Empire into the ways of reform, stands no 
 chance of being effected in China, and even if it were, it would 
 only receive just such another rebuff as happened in 1898, or 
 else lead to anarchy and the dismemberment of the Empire. 
 
 The situation in China to-day is essentially different from 
 that of Japan thirty years ago. In the first place the Chinese 
 civilization which gave way in Japan to European was not of 
 domestic growth, but essentially an imported article of extreme 
 antiquity, which never succeeded in stultifying the Japanese 
 people as it has done the Chinese ; what is more,’ ancestors 
 and classics were never held by the Japanese in the same 
 veneration as is bestowed upon them by the Chinese. Far 
 above the traditions of Confucius and of the Wise Men of old 
 stood the Mikado of divine descent and the spirit of national 
 independence. The first object of the Japanese Revolution in 
 1 868 was to restore the Emperor to the plenitude of his power, 
 a result attained by the union of the principal clans, as we have 
 already explained. Although it resulted in the suppression of 
 feudalism and the introduction of European civilization, it was 
 
 279 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 originally not presented in this form, and if the entire nation 
 eventually accepted these innovations, it was because they had 
 been consecrated by the divine Emperor, and, moreover, were 
 approved of by a powerful army which had always been friendly 
 to progress and prompt to resist reaction. 
 
 Those advantages that so greatly favoured the Japanese 
 reformers are non-existent in China. There is no military 
 party in Peking friendly to Reform or eager to assist the re- 
 formers in seizing supreme power at the right moment and 
 helping them to retain it. The initiative, therefore, cannot 
 come from either the capital or the provinces. Instead of the 
 Japanese daimios, or hereditary chieftains, surrounded by in- 
 numerable and faithful vassals, we have in China viceroys who 
 are invariably strangers in the provinces they administer, and are 
 spied upon by Tatar marshals having at their disposal by way 
 of an army a horde of ill-disciplined ragamuffins, whom, even if 
 an attempt were made to transform them into genuine soldiers, 
 a task which would require many years to effect, the Court 
 at Peking, being against the scheme, would soon disband. 
 No martial spirit or feeling of patriotism exists in China to 
 induce the governing classes to give up their privileges, even 
 though it were for the benefit of the country. The tenacious 
 attachment of the Chinese to their very ancient but stationary 
 civilization is their greatest impediment to progress, especially 
 as love of country is a mere empty sound to the vast majority 
 of Chinamen. 
 
 Another and very important difference between China to- 
 day and Japan in 1868 is that thirty years ago Europe per- 
 mitted the Island Empire to accomplish its own revolution 
 without interference, whereas to - day the Powers would 
 assuredly prevent any attempt at a too sudden evolution in 
 the Government of the Celestial Empire, which would only 
 plunge the country into a deplorable condition of turmoil. 
 Even now the Dowager-Empress’s party is known as the 
 Russian, and that of Kang-Yu-Wei as the Anglo-Japanese. 
 Possibly this may be an exaggerated view of the case, and that 
 neither party is in the service of any particular Power ; but 
 the incorruptibility of Li Hung-chang must be taken with a 
 grain of salt. It is, however, certain that the Legations watch 
 with a jealous eye the intrigues of the various factions, and 
 that the disgrace of Li Hung-chang is looked upon as a victory 
 for England, and each return to power of the Viceroy of Pe- 
 
 280 
 
CHINA 
 
 chi-li as a Russian success. No worse sign could possibly exist 
 for a State than the perpetual interference of foreign Powers in 
 its affairs. 
 
 ‘Are we about to witness the dismemberment of China?’ is a 
 question people are constantly asking themselves. No one in 
 particular wishes for it, since the division of such an inheritance 
 would be disputed by at least five or six claimants, who will 
 only settle their differences at the sword’s point. For the past 
 twenty five years Europe has trembled at the bare thought of 
 war, and we must not be surprised if she dreads the mere 
 mention of the disruption of China, which would be even more 
 dreadful, since it means universal war, in which the United 
 States, Great Britain, and Japan, as well as the Continental 
 Powers, would each take a share. Even if the matter were 
 settled amicably, what country would care to govern eighty or 
 a hundred millions of Chinamen ? Some people say that it 
 could easily be settled by not attempting to govern them at all, 
 in other words, to let things go their way ; but no European 
 Power would, or could, do otherwise than rule them methodi- 
 cally, according to our modern ideas of government. To- 
 day, if a band of brigands exists in any obscure corner of 
 China, nobody troubles about it, but once that corner belongs 
 to a European Power, the irresistible desire of attempting to 
 establish order would assuredly lead to an insurrection. The 
 introduction of European methods is certain to upset many of 
 the old customs and traditions to which the Chinese hold with 
 almost pathetic tenacity. It requires an amazing tact to govern 
 the Chinese, a fact made daily manifest in Hong- Kong, and 
 illustrated by the recent serious outbreak in the French con- 
 cession at Shanghai, where a disturbance took place over the 
 removal of a time-honoured sanctuary to make way for a public 
 road. 'I'he difficulties encountered by Europeans in every 
 country imbued with Chinese ideas — those of the English in 
 Burmah, the French in Tongking, and the Japanese at 
 Formosa — prove, if proof were needed, how great is the resist- 
 ing power and the risks any European nation would have to 
 encounter which attempted to govern even a fragment of the vast 
 Chinese Empire. 
 
 On the other hand, each Power, whilst dreading the con- 
 sequences of a partition, is equally unwilling to behold a rival 
 carry off the lion’s share. It is, therefore, with an eye to an 
 eventual partition that each nation endeavours to obtain a 
 
 281 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 privileged position in certain regions, and to possess itself of 
 spheres of interest by forcing China to make the singular 
 promise never to cede any portion of territory in certain defined 
 provinces to any nation but to the one which obtains the 
 promise. But this sort of promise is fraught with difficulties, 
 and a source of eventual hostilities between nations having 
 pretensions upon the same region, just as it is between the 
 partizans of ‘ spheres of interest ’ and those of the ‘ open door.’ 
 In order to understand the policy of the various Powers in 
 China, in which they see a very important field for exploita- 
 tion, we must first consider their commercial interests in the 
 Celestial Empire. The British Empire incontestably occupies 
 first place in the foreign commerce of China, which in 1897 
 stood at 366,000,000 hai-kwan taels, or ^54,900,000 (i tael = 
 3s.). Of this 236,934,000 taels, or ^35,540,100, two-thirds of 
 the whole, belongs, according to the Imperial Chinese Customs 
 Report, to Great Britain. Here, however, we must not be 
 misled, for if w'e subdivide this sum, we shall see that about 
 .;!^5>5 oo,ooo alone belong to England, .^5,000,000 to her 
 colonies other than Hong-Kong, through which the remainder, 
 that is to say, about ;^23, 000,000 worth of goods, passes, Hong- 
 Kong being merely a point of transit. Goods imported from 
 Germany, America and Russia into China, passing through 
 this island port, or being exported thence to the four corners 
 of the globe, are put down to England. Then, again, a very 
 important trade is carried on between the North and the South 
 of China through Hong-Kong, and thus it comes to pass that 
 Great Britain gets the credit for commerce which does not 
 really belong to her. If Hong-Kong possessed proper Custom- 
 house statistics, it would be easy to account for the origin and 
 destination of the merchandize which passes through this port ; 
 but such statistics do not exist. Under these circumstances, 
 we must turn either to those of the various countries of Europe 
 and America, or to the detailed statistics of the Chinese 
 Customs, which frequently rectify the total amounts, whereby 
 we learn that jQ6^2,'joo worth of Russian petroleum is imported, 
 whereas the total imports from Russia by sea are only estimated 
 at ^485,100. The difference must, therefore, be accounted 
 for as having passed through Hong-Kong. A comparison 
 between the Chinese Customs statistics and those of Germany, 
 the United States, French Indo-China, and other countries, 
 obliges us, however, to admit that three-fifths at least of the 
 
 282 
 
CHINA 
 
 trade of Hong- Kong really belongs to the British Empire, which 
 leaves to the latter about ^ 2 ^, 000 , 000 , that is, 40 to 50 per 
 cent of the total foreign commerce of the Celestial Empire. 
 In the matter of imports, the English reign supreme, holding 
 at least three-fourths in their hands, and dominating the market 
 by the two principal articles, opium and cotton. Moreover, 
 their flag floats over 65 per cent, of the total tonnage registered 
 in the Chinese ports ; of 636 foreign houses of business 
 established in the open ports, 374 are English; of 11,600 
 foreigners, 5,000 are British subjects; and English is the 
 language most spoken throughout the ports of the Far 
 East. When we take all these facts into consideration, we 
 are obliged to acknowledge that, having so many interests 
 to defend in this part of the globe, England has a right to let 
 her voice be heard clearly in commercial affairs. We must not 
 be surprised, therefore, if she insists upon the ‘open door’ policy 
 in China. The question now arises. Does she seek territory in 
 the Celestial Empire ? She has apparently sacrificed the 
 ‘ spheres of interest ’ theory by exacting from China an engage- 
 ment not to cede anything in the basin of the Yang-tsze, and 
 the English Jingoes are already dreaming that Great Britain 
 will be mistress not only from the Cape to Cairo, but from 
 Cairo to Shanghai. ‘Are not the Arabian Coast and the 
 Persian Gulf,’ I recently read in an English paper, ‘already 
 ours, and morally subject to our protectorate ? Once we 
 possess the valley of the Yang-tsze, who is to prevent our 
 constructing a rival line to the Trans-Siberian from the mouth 
 of the Nile to that of the Blue River?’* Although just at 
 present it were best not to count too much on the wisdom and 
 coolness of the British, nevertheless, their statesmen seem to 
 appreciate the dangers of so beautiful a dream. They, at least, 
 understand that the peril of the British Empire lies in its enormous 
 extent. The majority of the British would, no doubt, be satis- 
 fied if they were allowed to place their capital and their com- 
 merce on a footing of equality with that of other countries 
 in the Celestial Empire, if the territorial encroachments of 
 the Powers did not justify the fear of the creation of a protec- 
 tionist tariff. We may, therefore, hope that Great Britain, 
 having obtained all that she desires in the way of strategic 
 
 * It is to be regretted that the author does not give the name of the 
 newspaper in which he read this ludicrous utterance ; we should doubtless 
 then see that it is far from representative of British opinion, — H. N. 
 
 283 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 points for the benefit of her naval forces, and also a great 
 number of commercial concessions, will remain contented with 
 her lot, and not dream of attacking the independence of China, 
 but rather be inclined to help her to regain power.* 
 
 After England the United States do the greatest business 
 with China. They only figure for 500,000 in the Chinese 
 Customs statistics, but their own official publications give 
 840,000. Petroleum and cotton goods are the principal 
 articles of their commerce, which is sure to be enormously 
 increased in the future as the Middle Kingdom requires more 
 and more machinery, which is manufactured to-day much more 
 cheaply in America than anywhere else. The United States 
 are represented in China by thirty-two houses of business and 
 1,564 citizens j their mercantile marine is, however, very in- 
 significant, but having of late assumed a position among the 
 world’s Powers, and being already installed in the Philippines, 
 they are sure to increase their mercantile fleet very rapidly, and 
 as they aspire to become one day mistress of the Pacific, 
 they watch with a very jealous eye all that happens in the Far 
 East. However protectionist they may be at home, they are 
 resolute partizans of the ‘ open door ’ in this market, of which 
 they justly hope to eventually acquire a large part through their 
 enterprise. Already a coolness has occurred in their friendship 
 with Russia, and in January, 1900, they obtained a guarantee 
 that none of the Powers should establish differential tariffs in 
 leased ‘ spheres of interest.’ 
 
 Japan takes the third rank with a rapidly increasing com- 
 merce, which in 1897 reached ;|C5, 850, 000. Her spun cotton 
 rivals that of England and India. Seven hundred Japanese are 
 registered as residing in the different ports. The Celestial 
 Empire has no warmer friends at the present moment than the 
 Japanese. The Japanese papers are full of articles which 
 compare the position of the two countries to that of Prussia and 
 Austria after Sadowa, and preach reconciliation, and a close 
 alliance was already spoken of with enthusiasm at the close of 
 the War. Many Japanese statesmen are studying this question, 
 among them the Marquis Ito, four times Prime Minister, and 
 Prince Konoye, President of the Chamber of Peers, who 
 travelled in China, and stayed in Peking in 1898 and 1899. 
 
 * M. Leroy-Beaulieu cannot seriously believe that the independence of 
 China is threatened by Great Britain. British policy is, as it always has 
 been, to maintain her independence by every means. — H. N. 
 
 284 
 
CHINA 
 
 According to certain signs, their overtures have not been alto- 
 gether fruitless. The Government of the Empress-Dowager 
 does not seem to entertain any particular rancour against the 
 Japanese for the sympathies which they expressed for the Re- 
 former Kang-Yu-Wei, and undoubtedly seeks some support in 
 order to withdraw itself from the over-exclusive domination of 
 Russia. If this last Power is feared in Peking, it would seem 
 that Japan is at the present time the most considered, whose 
 counsels are best heard, and who best serves as the inter- 
 mediary for progress into China. It is from Japan that China 
 obtains instructors for her army, and that the Viceroy Chang- 
 Chih-tung not only borrowed money, but also engineers for his 
 foundry at Han-yang. The cementing of a formal alliance 
 will no doubt be prevented through fear of Russia, and very 
 probably China does not desire it very sincerely. Possibly at 
 Peking they continue to despise the Japanese as much as they do 
 Europeans, although they may have a preference for the former. 
 One thing is certain, and that is, that the relations between the 
 Governments at Peking and Tokio are better than they were 
 before the War. Of the Western Powers, England is most 
 preferred by the Mikado’s subjects, although even with her 
 they are a little suspicious. A feeling of intense resentment is still 
 expressed by the vast majority of the Japanese against Russia. 
 A small minority, however, desire that an understanding should 
 be arrived at with her. This party, however, also wishes for 
 the ‘ open door,’ China being the only outlet for their young 
 and already important cotton industry. 
 
 These three nations — England, the United States, and Japan 
 — complete the group of the whole-hearted partizans of the 
 ‘ open door.’ The British press has often expressed a desire 
 to see an alliance effected between them, and if this were only 
 created between England and Japan it would be very for- 
 midable in the Far East. The Japanese fleet is excellent, and 
 whatever may be our opinion of the ability of the Mikado’s 
 sailors, it is certain that, once united to the English fleet under 
 the command of an English admiral, it could soon sweep the 
 China Seas, and it would then be easy to embark an army of a 
 hundred, even of two hundred thousand men, whom it would 
 be difficult, even according to Russian officers, for the Tsar’s 
 army in the Far East to resist. Perhaps Russia has pushed 
 the Empire of the Rising Sun too much and too soon into the 
 arms of England. 
 
 285 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Germany, who, according to her own statistics, carries on 
 a trade with China valued at ;jC3, 400,000, of which ;^2,32o,ooo 
 are imports into China, and who counts 104 commercial 
 houses instead of the 78 in 1892, and registers 870 re- 
 sidents in the Treaty Ports, divides her preferences between the 
 policy of the ‘spheres of influence’ and the ‘open door.’ If 
 she has reserved a right of preference in the public works to 
 be undertaken in Shan-tung, she soothes the irritation of the 
 English by making Kiao-chau a free port ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing the antipathy which exists at heart between the two nations 
 and the progress of German commerce, often at the cost of 
 British trade, and thanks to the more obliging manners and 
 greater activity of the German merchants, a distinct ameliora- 
 tion has taken place since the end of 1898 in the relations 
 between the two Governments, and Germany seems for the 
 present to have turned her back upon the Franco-Russian group 
 in the Far East in order to support British policy. One 
 province alone in China is not enough for her commercial 
 enterprise, and she fears to see protection closing the other 
 ports. 
 
 We now come to Russia. Her total commerce with the 
 Celestial Empire does not amount to more than about 
 ;^3,ooo,ooo, half of which passes overland by way of Siberia. 
 Petroleum as an import and tea as an export are the two great 
 articles of Russian trade with the Celestial Empire. There are 
 very few Russians living in China, and those who do so are 
 mainly established in the port of Hankow. Russia’s objects in 
 the East are almost entirely political, and it is very probable that 
 her protective tariff will follow her territorial aggrandizement. 
 Being already mistress of Manchuria, she officially fixed the 
 southern limits of her sphere of influence, at the time of the 
 affair of the Niu chwang Railway, at the Great Wall. To the 
 north is a vast stretch of land almost entirely desert. In all 
 probability this limit is merely temporary, and possibly none 
 really exists in Russian aspirations ; but before declaring her 
 policy she awaits the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway. 
 The Empire of the Tsar, notwithstanding the 60,000 to 80,000 
 men already massed between the Amur, Korea, and Pe-chi-li, 
 does not yet feel sufficiently safe to take a step forward for fear 
 of bringing herself into conflict with England and Japan. The 
 day the Trans-Siberian Railway is finished a step southwards 
 may no doubt be made. The antagonism between Russia and 
 
 286 
 
CHINA 
 
 Great Britain, both of whom aspire to be the leading Asiatic 
 Power, will then no doubt become bitterer than ever. 
 
 The policy of France has been more often than not ostenta- 
 tious, timid at heart and often vexatious in form. She has 
 made a great fuss over a few commercial advantages obtained 
 in the sterile provinces which border on Tongking, and she has 
 opposed England without doing her any injury with respect to 
 the opening of the West River. In certain affairs relating to 
 European concessions at Shanghai and Hankow, France has 
 unfortunately succeeded not only in vexing England, but in 
 alarming the Germans, Americans, and Japanese by the exces- 
 sive regulations which she has introduced in those territories 
 which have fallen into her hands. It does not seem, however, 
 that the French have contrived to obtain sufficient compensa- 
 tion for the enmities which they have provoked in defending, 
 not without peril, interests which after all were not their own. 
 
 The part which France has wished to play in China has not 
 been a strictly commercial one. French highly-finished and 
 expensive fabrics are of no good in the Chinese market. If 
 she only had the common-sense and enterprise to send to 
 Tongking first-class weavers, and establish there a manufactory 
 under French direction, with cheap native labour, she should 
 soon be able, if she copied the cotton industries of India, to 
 compete with Japan in the Chinese market. It is therefore 
 the exportation of capital which ought to be her object in 
 the Far East, in China as well as in Indo-China. Notwith- 
 standing their activity, it is not countries like Japan and Russia, 
 which are without capital, that can attempt to exploit the riches 
 of China, but countries that are already advanced in civiliza- 
 tion like Germany, the United States, and above all, France 
 and England, who, by the introduction of the vast resources 
 of their capital, are in a position to work the mines, railways, 
 and other resources of the Middle Kingdom. If, instead of 
 trying to obtain exclusive privileges in a poor region, which are 
 of no use and only irritate other nations, France had sup- 
 ported them in their ‘ open-door ’ policy, she would have gained 
 a good deal, without losing anything from the purely com- 
 mercial point of view, and thus Frenchmen might have placed 
 themselves on a common footing with men of all nations, in 
 the same manner that the English and the Germans contrived 
 to come to an agreement in business transactions, notwith- 
 standing the divergence which tends to separate them more 
 
 287 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 and more, and she would then have been able to place her 
 capital to great advantage, and thereby have added immensely 
 to her prosperity, not only abroad but at home, as was the 
 case under the Second Empire, when she covered Europe with 
 railways. 
 
 France might, moreover, from the purely political point of 
 view, have played a conciliatory part, and have thus managed 
 to prevent the dominant influences at Pekin from becoming 
 too exclusive, which might ultimately result in a terrible conflict, 
 and she should have worked to maintain the independence 
 of China. Now that the Chinese are permitting Europeans 
 to take their riches in hand by constructing their railways 
 and exploiting their mines, it seems to us that France ought to 
 allow her to retain a sort of communal existence, in which 
 the civilized nations might carry on their economic activity 
 precisely as they do in Turkey, with the difference that the 
 Empire of the Son of Heaven is much vaster, richer, and 
 populated by a far more industrious people than that of Sultan 
 Abd-ul-Hamid. 
 
 This is, of course, a solution of an apparently temporary 
 character, but which might have a chance here, as elsewhere, 
 of lasting longer than a score of other solutions which are 
 deemed definitive, always provided that the Powers do not 
 exert too much pressure on the feeble Government at Peking, 
 and especially if Russia, once the Trans-Siberian Railway is 
 finished, does not insist upon her demands in so violent a manner 
 as to provoke simultaneous action on the part of the Powers, and 
 thereby bring about a partition. The destinies of the Celestial 
 Empire are, however, in a great measure in the hands of the 
 Tsar, who has, fortunately, already given many proofs of 
 sagacity. 
 
 The maintenance of the Chinese Government seems for the 
 moment preferable, even in the interests of the opening up of 
 the country and in the introduction of our civilization in its 
 immense territory, to the partition of China between the various 
 European nations. We do not say this because we believe that 
 the Chinese Government is converted to progress, for we hold 
 that, with very few exceptions, those who direct the fortunes of 
 the Chinese Empire are quite as fossilized in their prejudices, 
 as firmly believe in their decrepit wisdom, as eager to prove 
 their hatred of Western civilization, and, moreover, as corrupt, 
 as ever they were. At the same time, they are convinced 
 
 288 
 
CHINA 
 
 of the impossibility Oi China resisting the encroachments of 
 European civilization, and as resigned as ever to yield to external 
 pressure. Undoubtedly the era of subterfuges on the one 
 side and of menaces on the other is by no means closed, 
 and in spite of reforms which have been, and are still to be, 
 obtained in the future by Europeans, a considerable part of the 
 pecuniary advantages to be obtained from the transformation 
 of China will remain in the hands and up the sleeves of the 
 mandarins. But if progress is somewhat retarded by this 
 resistance, which, after all, will only be temporary, it will be 
 better so than that it should be introduced too suddenly and 
 cause unnecessary trouble. Meanwhile, the Government of 
 Peking plays an extremely useful part. Some people have not 
 hesitated to say that if it ceased to exist progress would be 
 much more rapid, forgetting that anarchy would ensue, the 
 end of which would be as difficult to foresee as it would be 
 to find a means of terminating it, or of discovering a manner in 
 which any European Government could govern 200,000,000 
 Chinamen. The losses which the re-establishment of a stable 
 regime would entail, and the vast expense of subduing rebellion, 
 would certainly exceed those resulting from the procrastination 
 under the actual form of Government. 
 
 At the end of a certain period it is highly probable that 
 the march of events may be accelerated, and when the mass 
 of the Chinese people have been placed in contact with the 
 results of Western progress, it is very probable that its 
 great common-sense will do the rest. It is an appeal to their 
 essentially commercial and money-making instincts that we 
 must make if we wish to convert the Chinese, the most realistic 
 and the least idealistic of nations. Railways will be the best 
 missionaries of civilization in China. 
 
 389 
 
 u 
 
INDEX 
 
 A 
 
 Advances, small, made to immigrants into 
 Siberia, 47 
 
 Agriculture zone, 5, 7; extent, 8; popu- 
 lation, 10 
 
 Agriculture, Siberian peasants’ ignorance 
 of, 24, 25 ; procucts of Japan, 125, 129 ; 
 novel methods of manuring, 130 
 Ahmar Dabam Mountains, 13 
 Ainos, the, 85 
 
 Aibazme, heroic defence of, 3 
 Alexander III. decrees the creation of the 
 Trans-Siberian Railway, 66 
 Alexandrovsk, prison of, 54 
 Altai Mountains, the, 10 ; valleysofthe, 47 
 Amur province annexed by Russia, 13 ; 
 population, 13 ; free from all special 
 Custom duties, 33, note: number of 
 immigrants annually, 47 ; Russian im- 
 migrants have to face a large Asiatic 
 contingent, 49 \ Buddhists in the pro- 
 vince, 51 ; only likely to attract Russians, 
 
 Amur River, Khabar of, establishes himself 
 on the, 3; immigrants settle in the 
 region, 47 ; damp climate, 47 : Govern- 
 ment assists colonization in the Amur 
 basin, 48 
 
 Armstrong, Whitworth, and construct 
 the ferry-boats for Lake Baikal, 69 
 Army, Japanese, strengthened, 141 ; ex- 
 cellence of the troops, 166, 167^ 
 
 Art, Japanese, withstands Chinese in- 
 fluences, 87; under the Tokugawas, 100; 
 art industries, 119 ; hasty production and 
 deterioration, 137 
 
 Artillery employed at the nav'al battle of 
 Shigutake, 93 
 Ar\ ans, the, 172 
 
 Asiatic Ocean, tribes in the region of the, 6 
 Astr^han annexed by Russia, 1 
 
 B 
 
 Baikal, Lake, beauty of, 12 ; used in the 
 transport of tea, 32 ; ferr>-boats to 
 convey trains across, 66 ; its size, 69 
 Barabinsk Stepj>e, the, 11 
 Barley in Siberia, 7, 24 
 
 Bamaoul, 38 ; attractive to immigrants, 47 
 Beer, excellent, at Irkutsk ; Japanese 
 beer, 120 
 
 Behring Straits, native races in the district 
 of the, 53 
 
 Berizof on the Obi, climate, 5 
 Berlin, distance to Vladivostok and Port 
 Arthur, 76 
 
 Biisk attractive to immigrants, 47 
 Birch, predominance of the,- 9 
 Black Current, the, 5 
 Blagovyeshchensk, its prosperity, 30 ; 
 fruit and vegetables brought to, oy 
 Chinese, 51 
 
 Blue River, mouth of the, 188 ; its banks, 
 
 235 
 
 Brandt’s, Herr von, estimate of Chinese 
 revenue, 219 
 
 Bridges, Siberian, carried away by inun- 
 dations, 59 ; bridges of the Trans- 
 Siberian Railway, 68 
 
 Britain, Great, tra e with Siberia, 62; 
 important commerce with Japan, 139 ; 
 Japan’s friendship for her, 168 ; new 
 commercial treaty with Japan, 179, 180; 
 concessions made to, by China, 240 ; she 
 turns her back on China for Japan, 244 ; 
 the treaty with France concerning 
 Yunnan, 262 ; she re|;aias her position 
 in China, 263 ; public wrath at the 
 German seizure of Kiao-chau, 269 ; the 
 ‘open door* policy, 270, 271, 274 ; oflfer 
 of a loan to China, 270 ; important con- 
 vention with China regarding the Yang- 
 tsze-Kiang basin, etc., 271 ; danger ot 
 war with Russia, 272 ; Wei-hai-wei and 
 Kowloon ceded to Great Britain, 273 ; 
 the English public <till dissatisfied, 274 ; 
 the Niu-chwang Railway aflair, 275; 
 Great Britain’s commerce with China, 
 272, 273 ; better relations with Germany. 
 286 
 
 British bombard Kagoshima, 106 
 British Columbia, temperate climate, 5 
 Brushes, Japanese, 120 
 Bubonic plague, microbe of the, discovered 
 by a Japanese, 177 
 
 Buddhism practised by the Buriats, 13 ; 
 in Trans- Baikalia and the Amur, 51 ; 
 introduced into Japan, 86 ; purer in 
 
 290 
 
INDEX 
 
 Japan tban in Chlna^ 87; degenerated 
 in China, 202 
 
 Buriats, the, 12 ; in Trans* Bailcalia, 51 ; 
 
 in the Amur district, 51 
 Butter scarce in Siberia, 19 ; exported to 
 Russia, 22 
 
 C 
 
 Camels employed in the tea trade, 34 ^ 
 Canada compared with Siberia, 4 ; rivers 
 and agricultural area, 4; position su- 
 perior to that of Siberia, 4, 5 ; difference 
 between Canada and Siberia, 55 
 Canton, the foreign man of China, 229 
 Catholics not tolerated in Russia, 14, 15 ; 
 their churches in all large Siberian 
 towns, 15 
 
 Cattle, very numerous in Siberia, 22 ; ex- 
 ported thence to Europe, 22 ; scarcity in 
 Jfapan, 128 
 
 Cedar-trees, Siberian, 11 ; their seeds 
 eaten by the Siberians, ii 
 Cereals in Sifieria, 7; a lengthy summer 
 necessary for their cultivation^ 8 ; in the 
 valleys of the Upper Yenissei and Obi, 
 21 ; the harvest, 23 ; unfavourable 
 climate in Siberia, 25 ; exported, 31 
 Chancellor first enters Russia via the 
 White Sea, 61 
 
 Chartered Company, a, established under 
 the Strogonofs, 2 
 
 Cheliabinsk in the Great Plain, 9 ; scenery, 
 9 ; refuges for immigrants at, 46 
 China allows Russia to build the Man- 
 churian Railway, 67 ; her interest in it, 
 2 ; commercial class have always been 
 onoured in China, 141 ; Japan her best 
 friend, 167; Chinacompared withTurkey, 
 183 ; density of the population, 184 ; 
 enormous coal and copper beds un- 
 touched, 184 ; China more backward 
 than India or Japan, 185 ; the signifi- 
 cance of the Japanese War, 185 ; end of 
 China's isolation, 186 ; possible results 
 of her dissolution, 187, 281 ; first impres- 
 sions, 188 ; cultivation of the soil, 190 ; 
 Peking, 190; Hien-feng’s hunting ex- 
 cursion, 195 ; ruin of the once fine high- 
 roads, 199, 201 ; hills never cultivated, 
 202 ; squandering of money, 203 ; general 
 decay, 203 *, the mandarinate the curse 
 of China, 204 ; the literati, 204-206 ; cor- 
 ruption, 206, 217 ; how the governing 
 class is selected, 208 ; the causes of her 
 isolation, 209, 210 ; the non-existence of 
 any martial spirit among the people, 210 1 
 irregularities in the Government, 2ti ; 
 long existence of the State, 212 ; patriot- 
 ism unknown, 213 ; population, 214, 
 ncte; taxes light, 218, 219; total revenue, 
 219 ; natural disasters, 220 ; population 
 does not increase, 220 ; rapacity of 
 officials, 220, 221 ; the result of the 
 opening up of the country, 227 ; the 
 Treaty of Shimonosaki, 228, 236; op- 
 position to foreigners, 229; nothing to 
 
 be expected from the Government, 236 ; 
 industries, 237, 238 ; increase of wages, 
 23^) 239 > industries still limited to the 
 Treaty Ports, 240 ; China’s commerce, 
 
 241, 282-286 ; her collapse after the War, 
 
 242, 243 ; England turns her back oa 
 China, 244 ; North China coveted by 
 Russia, 246 ; the intervention of Russia, 
 France, and Germany, 247 ; Russia 
 better liked than any other Western 
 Power, 248 ; China becomes alarmed at 
 Russia, 251 ; Russian interference in the 
 War settlement, 252 ; a foreign debt 
 contracted, 253 ; it leads to further 
 foreign interference, 254 ; Russia be- 
 comes guarantor for China, 255; Russian 
 influence predominant, 258 ; concessions 
 to Germany, 259 ; to France, 259-261 ; 
 England regains her position in China, 
 263, 264 ; railway concessions, 267, 268 ; 
 Germany seizes Kiao-chau, 268 ; wrath 
 in England at this act, 269 ; important 
 concessions to England, 271 ; England 
 declares the‘open door'policy,27X,274; 
 China leases the Liao-tung Peninsula to 
 Russia, 271, 272 ; concessions to France, 
 272 ; Wei hai-wei and Kowloon ceded to 
 England, 273 ; the Niu-chwang Railway 
 affair, 275 ; progress made in China, 
 275 ‘f germs of disaffection, 276, 277 ; the 
 Palace Revolution of September, 1898, 
 277, 276 ; the government of the Em- 
 press • Dowager, 278, 279 ; difference 
 between China to-day and Japan in 
 1868, 279, 280 ; friendly feeling for 
 Japan, 285 ; the partisans of the ‘open 
 door,* 285 ; the present government pre« 
 ferable to a partition, 288 ; railways the 
 best missionaries, 289 
 
 Chinese at Vladivostok, 13, 50; supply 
 Blagovyeshchensk with fruit and vege- 
 tables, 51 ; also Kbabarofsk, 52 ; Chinese 
 emigration to Eastern Siberia, 52 ; their 
 distinctness as a race, 84; Chinese civi- 
 lization introduced into Japan, 86; in- 
 tegrity of Chinese merchants, 140 ; 
 patience of Chinese, 184 ; their insolence 
 to foreigners, 195; their energy, 196; 
 their habit of saving appearances, 196, 
 197, 203, 216; the peasantry, 199; the 
 Chinese alphabet, 206, 207 ; the feng- 
 shut geomancy, 209, 225 ; patriotism 
 non-existent, 213 ; physical and linguistic 
 differences among the Chinese, 214, 215; 
 their civilization, 216 ; love of cunning, 
 217 ; Chinese etiquette, 217 ; life very 
 easy for the people, 218 ; the people and 
 the Government, 218, 219 ; their con- 
 tented disposition, 220 ; resignation, 221 ; 
 their indifference to death and cruelty, 
 221; suicides out of spite, 222; why 
 they are bad soldiers, 222, 223 ; they 
 might be better^ 223, note; filial 
 piety and infanticide, 223 ; ancestor 
 worship the cause of non-progressive- 
 ness, 223, 224 ; unhappy lot of married 
 women, 224 ; their immorality, 224 ; 
 
 U 2 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 gambling, the national vice, 224 ; opium- | 
 smoking, 225 ; filthy habits and supersti- 
 tion, 225 j good qualifies of the Chinese, 
 226; their nabit of looking to the past 
 for a type of perfection, 226 ; their lack 
 of discernment, 226 ; scandali7ed by 
 Christianity, 230; Chinese and Western 
 civilization, 230, 231 ; appreciation of 
 our administration, 231, 232 ; their 
 superstitions about missionaries, 232 
 Chino-Japanese War, significance of the, 
 185 ^ 
 
 Christianity introduced into Japan, 93 ; its 
 great progress, 94 ; extirpated, 95 ; not 
 accepted by modern Japan, 174 ; Chris- 
 tianity in China, 230 
 Chuckchis, the, 6 
 
 Churches very numerous in Siberian towns, 
 ^40 
 
 Clans, the south-eastern, a danger to the 
 Shogunate, 99 ; they join the Mikado 
 against the Shogun, 104 ; survival of the 
 clannish spirit in modem Japan, 156 
 Coal, abundant in Siberia, 29, 30; coal in 
 Japan, 167 ; enormous beds in China, 
 184 
 
 Commerce, Japanese, enormous increase 
 of, 135-140; its high standard not main- 
 tained, 140 ; the Treaty of Shimonosaki 
 and Chinese commerce, 236; transport 
 of goods in China, 240 ; the likin system, 
 240, 241 ; total amount of Chinese com- 
 merce, 241 
 
 Confucius’ works studied by the literati, 
 206 ; his views on filial piety, 223 
 Copper mines, Siberian, 29,30; copper ex- 
 ported from Japan, 140 
 Cossacks encounter little opposition, 2 ; 
 they traverse Siberia from end to end, 3 ; 
 they disappear as hardy pioneers, 3 ; 
 the Cossacks of the Vitim region, 12 
 Cotton industry introduced into Japan, 
 119; its wonderful progress, 122 ; cotton 
 factories in Shanghai, 237 ; total amount 
 of cotton imported into China, 241 
 Custom-house duties in Siberia, 33 ; in 
 China, 240 
 
 D 
 
 Daimios forbidden to enter Kioto, 97 ; the 
 five grades, 97, 98 ; their initiation en- 
 feebled, TOO ; horror of the barbarians, 
 104 ; they recognise the uselessness of 
 opposing the foreigners, 106 
 Dan-no-ura, the naval battle of, 89 
 Dogs, Siberian, like wolves, 18 
 Dutch the only Europeans allowed to 
 traffic with Japan, 95, 96 
 
 E 
 
 Education, its backward state in Siberia, 
 
 20 ; making considerable progress, 40 ; 
 education in Japan, 134, 176, 177 ; in 
 China, 206-208 
 
 Electric light in Siberian towns, 40; in 
 Tokio, 1 14 
 
 Emigration from Russia, 44; its manage- 
 ment, 45 {see also Immigration) 
 Empress-Dowager and the Palace Revolu- 
 tion, 278 ; a clever woman, 278, 279 ; her 
 party known as the Russian, 280 
 England {see Britain, Great) 
 
 English attempts to enter Siberia vii the 
 Arctic Ocean, 61-62 ; an English com- 
 any creates an aimual service to 
 iberia by this route, 62 
 Ermak Timof6ef seizes Sibir, 2 
 Eunuchs, the, 16 
 
 Examinations, public, in China, 205 ; the 
 subjects chosen, 206, 208; the ‘new 
 Western culture,’ 207, 208 
 Exiles, two classes of, sent to Siberia, 53 ; 
 allowed to settle in towns, 54 ; occupa- 
 tions, 54; families allowed to accompany 
 them, 55 ; their number in 1894, 55 » the 
 artillery captain at Kluchi, 57 
 
 F 
 
 Feng^shui geomancy, Chinese, 209, 225 
 Ferrj’^-boats to convey trains across Lake 
 Baikal, 66, 69 
 Fetish tree, a, 12 
 
 Finance, Japanese, brilliant condition be- 
 fore the war, 143, 144 ; the programme 
 of expansion, 145; subvention to For- 
 mosa, 146 ; large loan required, 146 ; 
 scarcity of cash, 147 ; a foreign loan, 
 148 ; the revenue of 1897-1898, 149 ; in- 
 crease of taxation, 149 ; new sources of 
 revenue, 150 ; taxes not really heavy, 
 150-152 ; other possible sources, 151 
 Fir-trees, Siberian, 6, 10 
 Fishing industry, importance of Japanese, 
 128 
 
 Flowers, Siberian, n, 23 ; Japanese love 
 of flowers, 133 
 
 Foreigners, Japanese suspicion of, 178, 
 179; the commer .ial treaties, 178-1& ; 
 the land tenure difficulty, 180, 181; 
 foreigners in China, 228 ; demand a free 
 hand to trade, 229 ; opinion of Chinese 
 about them, 230-233 ; before the war, 
 23s, 236 ; IVeaty of Shimonosaki, 236 ; 
 the literati and foreigners, 277 
 Forest Zone, the Great, 5; its trees, 6; 
 marshlands and severe climate, 7 ; may 
 become of great value, 7 ; population, 7 
 Formosa, Japanese subvention to^ 146 
 France, why attracted to Torigking, 185 ; 
 she co-operates with Russia and Ger- 
 many against Japan, 247 ; her sacrifice 
 in turning from Japan, 249 ; Russia en- 
 deavours to draw her into warlike 
 demonstrations against Japan, 250; 
 
 * advantages ’ gained by her intervention. 
 259, 260, 262 ; her treaty with Englana 
 concerning Tongking, 262; France the 
 protectress of Catholicism in China, 263 ; 
 she suffers a check in China, 264 ; more 
 
 2Q2 
 
INDEX 
 
 concessions obtained, 273, 273 ; the part 
 she ought to play, 288 
 yrench settlers in Siberia, 15 ; the Govern- 
 ment generally indulgent towards them, 
 5 ^ . 
 
 Fujiwara family, the, retains the Prime 
 Ministership, 88 
 
 Fukuzawa, Mr., editor of the Jiji Shimpo^ 
 103 
 
 ^‘umiture, absence of, in Japanese houses, 
 
 131 
 
 Furs, exported from Siberia, 31 
 
 G 
 
 Gambling, the national Clynese vice, 22^ 
 
 ^ ermany, commerce with Japan, 139 ; sne 
 co-operates with Russia and France 
 against Japan, 247 ; reason for so doing, 
 249, 250 ; small advantages obtained in 
 return, 259 ; she seizes Kiao-chau, 268 ; 
 constitutes Shan-tung a sphere of^ in- 
 terest, 271 ; her commerce with China, 
 286; netter relations with England, 286 
 Glass in Japan, 120 
 
 Gold mines, Siberian, in the Forest Zone, 7; 
 employ relatively few people, 17 ; their 
 exploitation and yield, 27, 29; Govern- 
 ment the only buyer of Siberian gold, 
 28 ; bad system of taxation and other 
 drawbacks, 28 ; primitive implements 
 used, 28 ; the most important veins 
 generally difficult to get at, 28 ; mining 
 centre removed to the banks of the 
 Amur and Lena, 29 ; exploitation only 
 granted to Russian subjects, 53 
 Great Wall of China, the, 20X-203 
 
 H 
 
 Hankow, on the Yang-tsze, the great tea 
 mart of China, 34 ; projection of a rail- 
 way from Peking to Hankow, 268 
 Hara-kiri, the ferocious custom of, in 
 Japan, 98 ; in China, 222 
 Hart, Sir Robert, 240 
 Heitnino, or commoners of Japan, 99 ; 
 
 keimino in the public offices, 156 
 Henry, Prince, and the ‘mailed fist,' 269 
 Hideyoshi reduces the daimios to 
 obedience, 91 ; orders all missionaries to 
 leave Japan, 94 
 
 Hien-feng’s hunting excursion, 195 
 High-roads of China, dilapidated condition 
 of the, 199, 203 
 
 Hitotoubashi, tries to retrieve the Shogun- 
 ate, 106 ; his overthrow, 107 
 Hong-Kong seventeen days from London 
 via Siberia, 77; commerce with Japan, 
 139; Chinese in Hong-Kong, 231,232; 
 lease of the surrounding heights to 
 England, 273 ; her total commerce, 282 
 Horses sometimes difficult to procure on 
 the Siberian postal-road, 21 ; their great 
 number in Siberia, 22 ; horses in Japan, 
 128 
 
 Hu*nan, coal-beds in, 184 
 
 1 
 
 lemitsu enfeebles the initiative of the 
 daimios, xoo 
 
 leyas, Tokugawa, rises to power, 92 ; he 
 reduces the Court to poverty^ 97 ; 
 creates divergencies among the daimios, 
 99 ; and revives the Chinese classics, 
 100 
 
 Immigrants into Siberia almost exclusively 
 peasants, 45 ; Tobolsk a great meeting- 
 place for them, 45 ; the routes taken, 45 ; 
 length of the journey, 46; refuges 
 erected for their accommodation, 46; 
 those coming from same districts grouped 
 together, 46 ; regulations for their settle- 
 ment, 46, 47 ; small advances made to 
 them, 47 ; where they settle, 47 ; many 
 return again to Russia, 48 
 Imperial canal, Chinese, ruinous condition 
 of the, 203 
 
 Indemnity, Chinese War, 145; paid in 
 gold, 146, note; the Liao-tung in- 
 demnity, 251-252 
 
 India more advanced than China, 185 
 Industries, Japanese, 118; fancy goods, 
 1x9 ; glass, brushes, and foundries, 120; 
 jute carpet and match industries, i2x ; 
 enormous progress of cotton, 122 ; 
 Japanese own all their own industries, 
 122, X23 ; scarcity of workmen, 123; 
 abuses in the employment of women, 
 123 ; hours of labour, 123 ; holidays, 
 124; increase of wages, 124; diminution 
 of capital, 124 ; fisheries, 128 ; Chinese 
 industries, 237 ; women employds^ 238 ; 
 their wages, 238, 239 ; industries limited 
 to the free ports, 240 
 Infanticide in China, 221 
 Inland Sea, the, of Japan, 1x2; its light- 
 houses, X12 
 
 Inundntions in Siberia, 59 
 fourdis, or Kirghiz huts, 46 
 Irbit, the great fair at, 35 
 Irkutsk, difference between the Customs 
 on tea at Odessa and Irkutsk, 36; total 
 Customs in 1896, 37 ; population, 38 ; 
 the theatre, 41 ; Irkutsk once capital 
 of Siberia, 42; Its excellent beer, 54; 
 Government of, population in 1897, 
 12, 13 ; number of immigrants annually, 
 
 Iron mines, Siberian, 27, 30 
 Isbas, the, or Siberian peasants' cottages, 
 x8 ; interior ornamentation, 23 
 Islamism professed by the Kirghiz, xo 
 Ito, Marquis, 160, 162 ; the Ito programme, 
 144, X45 
 
 Ivan the Terrible, x ; grants the Strogo- 
 nofs trading privileges, 2 
 
 J 
 
 Japan, the Black Current, 5 ; her trans- 
 formation, 81, 82 ; European scepticism 
 as to military success, 82 ; early history, 
 83 ; its betilement, 84 ; introduction of 
 
 293 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Chinese civilization, 86 ; also of Budd* 
 hism, the silk-worm, etc., 86 ; resem- 
 blance of the adoption of Chinese 
 civilization in the seventh with that of 
 European in the nineteenth century, 87: 
 the system of heredity, 87, 88 ; r^ 
 authority very rarely vested in the man 
 supposed to exercise it, 88; feudalism 
 established, 88 ; dissensions in the 
 Government, 88 ; the Government over- 
 thrown by Yoritomo, 89 ; increasing 
 power of the daimios, 89 ; the Shogunate, 
 89, 90 ; non-interference of the Mikado 
 in the Government, 90 ; civil wars, 90 ; 
 pitiable condition of Japan at the begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century, 90, 91 ; 
 suppression of the independence of the 
 nobles, 91 ; leyas rises to power, 92 ; 
 arrival of the Portuguese in Japan, 92; 
 St. Francis Xavier introduces Chris- 
 tianity, 93 ; great progress made by it, 
 93> 94 i material progress, 94; Hide- 
 yoshi orders all missionaries to leave 
 Japan, 94, 95 ; Christianity extirpated 
 in Japan and exclusion of foreign in- 
 fluence, 95; Dutch and Chinese only 
 allowed to trade with Japan, 95, 96 ; 
 the three ancient classes of the people, 
 97-99 : the daimios divided by leyas 
 among themselves, 99 ; Japan under the 
 Tokugawas, 100 ; again under Chinese 
 influences, 100 ; the causes of the Revo- 
 lution of 1868 deep-rooted, loi ; decline 
 of the Shogunate, 101 ; penetration of 
 Western ideas into Japan, 102 ; the 
 United States demands the opening of 
 the ports, 103 ; ports opened, 104 ; over- 
 throw of the Shogunate, 104*107 ; nec^- 
 sity of adopting Western civilization in 
 all branches perceived, 107 ; sweeping 
 reforms, 108 ; removal of the Court to 
 Tokio, 108 ; the Satsuma insurrection, 
 108; modem Japan, religio^ 
 
 toleration, iii ; Japan the Gr^t Britain 
 of the Far East, 118 ; her industries, 
 118*124; essentially an agricultural 
 country, 125 ; agricultural products, 125, 
 126, 129, 130 ; scenery, 126 ; density of 
 the rural population, 126 ; small area of 
 cultivatable land, 127, 128 ; sc^city of 
 domestic animals, 128 ; education, 134 ; 
 increase of the population, 134 ; foreign 
 commerce, 135-140; trade despised in 
 ancient Japan, 140; brilliant condition 
 of her finances before the war, 143, 144 ; 
 extensive programme of expansion, 144, 
 145 ; large loan required to meet same, 
 146 ; a foreign loan, 148 ; taxation, 150- 
 152 ; instability of Parliaments, 154 ; the 
 clan spirit in modem Japan, 156 ; the 
 Parliamentary system, 156*163 ; import- 
 ance of Japan’s military forces, 165 ; her 
 coal, 167 ; Japan China's best friend, 
 167 ; her friendship for England and 
 distrust of Russia, 168 ; colonizing ambi- 
 tions, 170 ; her thorough transformation, 
 174 ; refu^ to accept Christianity, 174 ; 
 
 the civil status, 175 ; railway and post 
 176 ; carelessness and unpunctu^ity, 
 177 ; inexperience, 178 ; hostility to 
 foreigners, 178 ; renewal of the com- 
 mercial treaties, 178-180 ; land tenure, 
 180; her foreign missions, 182 ; Japan 
 more advanced than China, 185 ; the 
 Treaty of Shimonosaki, 228 ; England 
 suddenly favours Japan, 244 ; Japan 
 leaves Liao-tung in consequence of the 
 demand by Russia, France, and Ger- 
 many, 247 ; her fears of Russia, 247, 251 ; 
 Russia’s warlike intentions against J apan, 
 250 ; China desires an alliance, 251 ; 
 compensation for leaving Liao-tung, 251, 
 252; Japan’s high-handed policy in 
 Korea, 256, 257 ; agreement with Russia 
 regarding Korea, 258 ; Japan prepares 
 for a conflict with Russia, 267 ; her com- 
 merce with China, 284 ; good relations 
 with China, 285 
 
 Japanese in Vladivostok, 50; origin of the 
 Japanese, 84 ; quite distinct from the 
 Chinese, 85, 171 ; the early Japanese, 
 85; the Shinto religion, 85; their power 
 of assimilation, 9^; costumes, iii, 115, 
 «2 ; proud of their victory over the 
 Chinese, 112; their houses, 114, 115; 
 the children, 115, zx6; European cos- 
 tume, ii6 ; their industries in their own 
 bands, 122, 123 ; their food, 130; dwell- 
 ings of the peasantry, 131 ; disuse of 
 furniture, 131 ; freedom of the women, 
 132; artistic instinct of the Japanese, 
 132 ; cost of living, 133 ; charges brought 
 against merchants, 140 ; Japanese do not 
 yet understand the value of time, 141 ; 
 the three classes of society not exclusive, 
 155 ; indifference to politics, 163 ; their 
 hardiness, 166 ; lack of inventiveness, 
 177 ; attention to detail, 177 ; un- 
 punctuality, 177 ; indifference to death, 
 221 
 
 ews in Siberia, 15 
 
 immo-Tenno, first Emperor of Japan, 83, 
 84 
 
 Jinrikisha, the, in Japan, 116; the fares, 
 117 ; in China, 189 
 
 unks, Japanese, rapidly disappearing, 112 
 ute carpet-making at Osaka, i2z 
 
 K 
 
 Kahorski ichaiy the, 9 
 Kagoshima bombarded by the British, 106 
 Kainsk, the Jerusalem of Siberia, 15 
 Kaiping, coal-mines at, 189 
 Kalmucks, the, 10 
 Kami, or superior beings, 85 
 Kamtchatka reached by the Cossacks 
 Alexief and Dezhnief, 3 
 Kang-Yu-Wei, the Reformer, 278 ; his 
 party known as the ^gl<^ Japanese, 280 
 Kansk, the refuges for immigrants at, 46 
 Kara Sea, navigation only possible during 
 six weeks, 6a 
 
 294 
 
INDEX 
 
 Kazan, the Tatar kingdom« annexed by 
 Russia, I 
 
 Khabarof, the Ataman, establishes himself 
 on the Amur, 3 
 
 Khabarofsk, the military element at, 39 ; 
 its few women, 51^ 52 
 
 Kiakhta, tea passing through, 32 ; the 
 three parts of the town, 32 
 Kiao-cbau seized by the Germans, 268 ; 
 made a free port, 286 
 
 Kioto, feudal princes never allowed to 
 enter, 97 ; Court removed from Kioto to 
 Toklo, 108 ; population, zz8 ; industries, 
 
 12Z 
 
 Kirghiz Steppes crossed by the Russians 
 in 1847, 3 
 
 Kirghiz tribe, the, 10; number and re- 
 ligion, zo ; they export their cattle to 
 Europe, 22 
 
 Kiu-Siu settled by Mongolian pirates, 84 
 Kobylkas, the, 25 
 
 Korea, Japan has a free hand in, 216; 
 Russian activity, 256 ; high • banded 
 conduct of the Japanese, 256 ; murder of 
 the Queen, 257 ; Russia’s offer of ser- 
 vice, 257 ; the agreement between Russia 
 and Japan, 258 ; Russia renounces active 
 intervention in Korea, 272 
 Koreans settled in and about Vladivostok, 
 Z3, 50-53 ; Koreans introduce the art of 
 writing into Japan^ 86 
 Kowloon, the peninsula of, ceded to 
 England, 273 
 
 Krasnoyarsk, the theatre at, 41 ; the 
 English-Siberian Company establishes 
 an agency at, 62 
 
 Kuang-Su, Emperor of China, 277; his 
 reforming tendencies, 278 
 Kuznetsk attractive to Siberian immi- 
 grants, 47 
 
 L 
 
 Lamuts, the, 6 
 
 Land-owners, rich, greatly needed in 
 Siberia, 26 
 
 Land tenure in Japan, z8o 
 Larches, great height of the, 6 
 Leather, Russian, imported into Siberia, 
 26 
 
 Lena, River, discovered in Z637, 3 
 Letters, time occupied to reach the Far 
 East shortened by one-half by the Trans- 
 Siberian Railway, 79 
 Liao-ho, River, 73 
 
 Liao-tung, peninsula of, the Japanese 
 ordered to quit, 247 ; Japan receives 
 compensation for same, 251, 252 ; Russia 
 obtains the peninsula, 271, 272 
 Li-Hsi, King of Korea, his vacillating 
 conduct, 257 
 
 Li-Hung Chang commences the Peking 
 Railway, 189; his immense fortune, 
 2Z7 ; Li and the war settlement, 251 ; 
 his tour to Europe a sort of punishment, 
 267 ; he returns to power, 278 
 Likirtf or Chinese inland Customs, total 
 
 2 
 
 amount, 2Z9 ; a pernicious system, 240, 
 241 
 
 Literati, the, 204 ; the three honorary 
 degrees, 205 ; the public examinations, 
 205 ; syndicate for helping them on, 206 : 
 the subjects they are examined in, 206 ; 
 no progress to be expected from them, 
 2ZZ ; their hatred of foreigners, 232, 233, 
 
 , 277 
 
 Littoral province annexed by Russia, Z3; 
 population, 13, 5Z ; immigrants arriving 
 by sea, 44 ; preponderance of the male 
 over the female sex, 51 ; Russians only 
 slightly in the majority, 52 
 London, distance to Vladivostok and Port 
 Arthur, 76 
 
 M 
 
 Manchu Dynasty, the, dethrones the 
 Mings, 199 
 
 Manchuria, Chinese activity in, 52 ; 
 Russians exploring Manchuria, 66, 67 ; 
 Chinese Manchuria, 73 
 Manchurian Railway, China allows Russia 
 to build the, 67; cannot be completed 
 in contracted time, 67 ; absolutely in 
 Russia’s hands, 7Z ; its length, 72, 73 ; 
 difficulties to be overcome in construc- 
 tion, 73 ; great political importance, 74 ; 
 Port Arthur the terminus, 74 ; its cost, 
 75 
 
 Manchus, the, oppose the Russians in 
 Siberia, 3 ; they prosper in the Amur 
 and Littoral provinces, 13 ; number, 5Z 
 Mandarinate, the, never acclimatized in 
 apan, 87 ; the curse of China, 204 ; not 
 ereditary, 205 ; therefore the more per- 
 nicious 209 ; cowardice of the military 
 mandarins, 223 ; hatred of foreigners, 232, 
 233 ; looks upon China as a prey, 2^8 
 Marshlands on the banks of the Obi and 
 the Irtysh, 7 
 
 Match industry, Japanese, 121 
 Merchants, Siberian, 17 ; charges brought 
 against Japanese merchants, Z40; mer- 
 chants in ancient Japan, Z4t ; honesty 
 of Chinese merchants, 240 
 Mikado, almost a god, 85; Imperial self- 
 effacement, 88, 90 ; the Court reduced 
 to absolute poverty, 97 ; the Imperial 
 family universally respected, Z03 ; ae:ree- 
 mentwith the south-western clans against 
 the Shogun, 104 ; the Mikado refuses 
 to acknowledge the Shogun, Z05; he 
 ratifies the treaties of Z865, zo6 
 Milk, excellent, in Siberia, 22 
 Millet in China, Z99 
 MingSj Tombs of the, 199, 200 
 Minusinsk, the centre of settlement in 
 Siberia, 48 
 
 Jtfzr system introduced in Siberia, 24 
 Missionaries, female, 230 ; Chinese super- 
 stitions regarding missionaries, 232 
 Moji, rapidly rivalling Nagasaki, 112 
 Mongolia, Russian, za 
 Mongolian pirates settle in Kiu-Siu, 84 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Mongols, the Kalmuck, lo 
 Mosque, the northernmost in the world at 
 Tomsk, lo 
 
 Mosquitoes, troublesome, in Siberia, 9 
 ^louravief-Amurski, Count, favours the 
 Trans-Siberian Railway, 64 
 Mujiks, 10 {see also Siberians) 
 
 N 
 
 Nagasaki, Christians in, 94; Nagasaki 
 the only port left open to European com- 
 merce, 96 ; penetration of Western ideas 
 into Japan through Nagasaki, 102 ; its 
 scenery, no; the chief coaling port on 
 the Pacific, in 
 Nan-kow, 201 
 
 Natives of the Tundra Zone, 16 ; declining 
 tribes, 13, 52 
 
 Navy, Japanese, strengthened, 141 ; its 
 importance, 165 
 
 Nertchinsk, treaty of, 3 ; com ripens there, 
 8 ; the silver mines now of little value, 
 29 ; now merely a huge village, 39 
 Newspapers, Japanese, 163 
 Nicholas II. stops transportation into 
 Siberia, 53 
 
 Nikko, magnificent temples at, 202 
 Niu-chwang, railway being laid to ; the 
 Niu-chwang Railway afifair, 275 
 Nobunaga Ota sei2es the government, 91 
 
 O 
 
 Oats, 7, 24 
 
 Obi, climate in its upper valley, 21 ; gold- 
 mines exhausted in its basin, 29 ; the 
 Upper Obi attracts most Siberian immi- 
 grants, 47 ; stores landed at the mouth 
 of the Obi, 62 ; canal between the Obi 
 and the Yenissei, 65 
 
 Odessa, enormous Customs on tea at, 36 
 Okhotsk, the, discovered, 3 ; native tribes 
 in the region of the. «>2 
 Olekma, a tributap’ of the Lena, 7 
 Omsk, situation oi, 38 ; the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway, 45 
 
 Opium-smoking in China, 225, 241 
 Opium War, the, 228 
 
 Orthodox Church, Kirghiz converted to 
 the, 10 ; it abstains from propaganda in 
 China, 248 
 
 Osaka, the Manchester of Japan, 118 ; its 
 industries, 119-121 ; construction of a 
 new harbour, 120 
 Ostiaka, the, 6 ; their origin, 10 
 Ostrogs^ or Siberian block -houses, 3 
 
 P 
 
 Paris, distance to Vladivostok and Port 
 Arthur, 76 ; also to Tokio, 77 
 Parliaments, Japanese, instability of, 154 ; 
 composition of the two Chambers, 157, 
 158, note; opposition to the clan Cabi- 
 nets, 157-159; a dissolution, 159; the 
 
 1 various parties, 160, 161 , signs of im- 
 provement, 162, 163 
 
 Pe-chi-li, Gulf of, Russia dominates the, 
 74 ; its flatness, 188 
 
 Peking, the railway at, 77 ; the city and 
 walls, 191, 192 ; street scenes, 192, 193 ; 
 shops, 193 ; the main thoroughfares and 
 side streets, 194 ; houses, 194 ; scene 
 from the walls, 195 ; insolence of the 
 people to foreigners, 195 ; monuments, 
 195, 196; its decay, 196; the environ^, 
 199 ; entry of the Allies into Peking, 228; 
 projection of a railway to Hankow, 268 
 Phre Marquette, size of the, 69 
 Peter «he Great’s wish to extend Russia 
 westw'ards, 3 
 
 Petersburg, St., distance to Vladivostok 
 and Port Arthur, 76 
 Petroleum, use of, by the Japanese, 114 
 Pigs non-existent in Japan, 120 
 Pine-trees, Siberian, 6, ii 
 Pinto, Feman Mendez, the Portuguese 
 navigator, arrives in Japan, 92 
 ‘ Pity of the Slav,’ the, 21 
 Podorojne, the official passport for Siberia, 
 58 ^ 
 
 Population, Siberian, in 1851, 3, 4 ; in 
 1897, 4, 13 ; superiority of the Russians 
 in Western Siberia, 10 ; in the Amur and 
 Littoral, 13, 14 ; Asiatics in the Amur, 
 49; annual increase of the population, 
 55 ; rural population of Japan, 126, 127 ; 
 its annual increase, 134 ; population of 
 China, 213, 214, note 
 
 Port Arthur better placed than Vladivostok, 
 49 ; to be the principal terminus of the 
 Trans-Siberian Railway, 67 ; its distance 
 from the European capitals, 76; Russia 
 obtains the lease of Port Arthur, 271 ; it 
 is weakened by Wei-hai-wei, 273 
 Ports, Chinese, 188 
 
 Portuguese, first appearance in Japan, 92 ; 
 
 great influx of the, 93 
 Postal-road of Siberia, the, ii ; its anima- 
 tion, 21 ; horses sometimes difficult to 
 obtain, 21 ; eight large towns situated 
 on it, 38 ; cost of travelling, 57, 58 ; fairly 
 well kept, 58 ; its monotony past Lake 
 Baikal, 58 
 
 Postal service, Japanese, cheapness of the, 
 176 
 
 Post-stations, Siberian, each proWded with 
 forty horses, 21 ; the post-master at 
 Kluchi, 57 ; their appearance, 60 ; un- 
 cleanliness, 61 
 Potatoes in Japan, 130 
 Powers’ change of tone towards China 
 after the war, 185 ; their surprise at 
 China’s downfall, 243 
 
 Protestants not tolerated in Russia, 74, 15 ; 
 their churcnes in all large Siberian towns, 
 
 15 
 
 R 
 
 Railway loan, Japanese, 145; extension of 
 lines, 150 ; cheapness of fares, 176 ; 
 
 296 
 
INDEX 
 
 railway concessions granted by China, 
 267, 268 
 
 Raskolniks, the, 16 
 
 Reindeer, the, in Northern Siberia, 6 
 
 Religion, Japan refuses to accept our, 174; 
 
 the Chinese and our religion, 2^0 
 Restaurants on the Trans*Sibenan Rail* 
 way, 78, 79 
 
 Rice, cultivation of, in Japan, 126 ; annual 
 prt^uction, 129 ; its preponderance^ 130; 
 commerce in, 138 
 
 Rivers of Siberia covered for months by 
 ice, 4 ; villages on the banks of the most 
 important, 11 ; Chinese rivers, 188 
 Russia, expansion eastwards, i ; abandons 
 the lower Amur, 3 ; her colonization, 4 ; 
 the Empire as a gold-producing centre, 
 27 ; overland commerce with China, 32 ; 
 population, 43 ; emigration, 44 ; her 
 subjects only allowed to workthe Siberian 
 gold-mines, 53 ; concessions to the Eng- 
 lish Sibenan Company, 62 ; allowed by 
 China to build the Manchurian Railway, 
 67 ; which is absolutely in the hands of 
 Russia, 71 ; Japan’s distrust of, 168 ; 
 her new policy in China, 186 ; Russia 
 displeased by the war, 245 ; desires an 
 outlet to the sea, 245 ; she covets North 
 China, 246 ; Russia, France, and Ger- 
 many order Japan to quit Liao-tung, 
 247 ; Japan’s fear of Russia, 247 ; better 
 liked than any other European Power by 
 China, 248; her warlike intentions 
 against Japan, 250 ; China becomes 
 alarmed of Russia, 251 ; her influence 
 in the war settlement, 251, 252 ; Russia 
 stands guarantee for China, 255 ; her 
 activity in Korea, 256 ; offer of service 
 to Korea, 257 ; agreement with Japan in 
 Korea, 258 ; Russia’s preponderating 
 influence, 258,259 ; she obtains the lease 
 of Port Arthur, 271, 272 ; danger of war 
 with England, 272 ; the Niu-chwang 
 Railway affair, 275 ; Russia’s interests 
 in China political, 286 
 Russians, their religious toleration, 14 ; 
 manner of taking tea, 31, 32 ; prejudice 
 against tea conveyed by sea, 34 ; Rus- 
 sians naturally sociable, 59 ; their no- 
 madic habits, 70 
 
 Russo-Chinese Bank established, 255, 256 
 
 S 
 
 Saigon, 77 
 
 Saigon, ^larshal, quells the Satsuma insur- 
 rection, 108 
 
 Sak/y the Japanese drink, 130, 131 
 Sakhalin, Island of, population, 13 \ in- 
 veterate criminals sent to, 54 
 Samoyeds, the, 6 ; their number, 10 
 Samouraiy the, become hereditary, 90; 
 their position in ancient Japan, 98 ; op- 
 posed to the Shogunate, loz ; corre- 
 spondence between certain samourai 
 and Europeans, 102 ; wearing of the two 
 
 swords prohibited, 108 ; public offices in 
 their hands, 156 
 
 Satsumata-Chosbiu combination, the, 156, 
 157 : its rule, i6z, 162 
 Sayan Mountains, the, 12 
 Scenery of Centr^ Siberia, 9 
 Selenga River, 12 
 
 Serfdom never existed in Siberia, 20 
 Shanghai two days from Port Arthur, 77 ; 
 the town, 235 ; industrial activity at, 
 237 ; railway to Woosung, 268 
 Shan-tung, coal-beds in, 184 ; Germany 
 constitutes Shan-tung a sphere of in- 
 terest, 271 
 
 Sheep unknown in Japan, 128 
 Shimonosaki, Strait of, 112; treaty of, 
 228 ; Article 6, 236, 246 
 Shintoism, 85 ; its rites, 86 
 Shogunate, the, 89, 90 ; the kammong 
 daimios allied to the Shogunate, 99 ; the 
 southern clans dangerous to it, 100 ; its 
 decline, loi ; frightened at America’s 
 demand for the opening of the ports, 
 Z04 ; its enemies, Z04 ; powerlessness, 
 Z05 ; its abasement, Z05 ; last bid for 
 power, 106 ; and total overthrow, Z07 
 Siberia, its conquest by Russia, 2 ; treated 
 as a penal settlement, 3 ; opened to 
 colonization, 3 ; population, 3, 4, Z3, 55 ; 
 Siberia compared with Canada, 4, 5, 55; 
 its rivers, 4 ; climate, 5, 25 ; the ihr^^e 
 zones, 5*7 ; its scenery, 9, zz, Z2 ; condi- 
 tions ot existence better in Siberia than 
 in Russia, 9 ; the Russian population in 
 the West, zo; religious toleration, Z4-Z6; 
 Siberia a prolongation of Russia, 15, Z7, 
 49 ; absence of great landlords, Z7, 26 ; 
 land rented to farmers, z8 ; primitive 
 methods of cultivation, 2Z, 25 ; domestic 
 animals, 22 ; the more populous regions, 
 23: land tenure, 24; lack of means of 
 communication, 25 ; mineral wealth, 27- 
 29 ; limited industries, 30; the tea traffic, 
 jz ; other commerce, 37 ; towns, 38, 39; 
 immigration, 43-48 ; transportation of 
 convicts, 53-55; what is needed, 55; 
 loneliness of the country, 58 ; inunda- 
 tions, 59 ; a cross-country journey, 6z ; 
 Siberia entered by the Arctic Ocean, 6z- 
 63 ; trade between England and Siberia, 
 62 ; the Ural Railway, 65 ; trans-conti- 
 nent river and rail system fails, 65, 66 ; 
 the Trans-Siberian Railway, 66-75 ; the 
 transformation it will effect, 79, 80 
 Siberians, conditions of peasant life, 9, to; 
 better off in Siberia than in Russia, z8; 
 their ignorance of hygiene, z8 ; apathy 
 of the peasants, Z9 ; their favourite texts 
 from Scripture, 20; the ‘pity of the 
 Slav/ 21 ; the traffic on the postal-road, 
 at ; ignorance of the peasants of agri- 
 (mltural science, 24, 25 ; rich, 4Z ; do not 
 like the new railway, 42 ; nor immigra- 
 tion, 46 ; their resignation, 59 
 Sibir, Tobolsk erected on its site, 2 
 Silk imported into Siberia, 37 ; Chinese 
 silk exported, 24Z 
 
THE AWAKENING OF THE EAST 
 
 Silver mines, Siberian, 28 
 Stanovoi Mountains, the, 47 
 Stretensk on the Amur, 25 
 Strogonots obtain trading concessions, a 
 Suiki, Empress, 87 
 Sungari River, 73, 74 
 Summer Palace, the, 202, 203 
 Sze'chuan, ccal-beds of, 184 
 
 T 
 
 Tarantass, the, 57 
 
 Tatar, kingdoms annexed, 1 ; Tatar driven 
 southwards, 2 ; the Kirghiz, 10-22 ; Tatar 
 women in China, 193 
 Taxes, Japanese, 150, 151; Chinese, 218, 
 219 
 
 Tea, traffic in Siberia, 31 ; routes taken, 
 32, 35 ; tea passing through Kiakhta, 
 33 ; duty, 33, 36, 37, note ; Hankow 
 the great tea-mart in China, 34; Nijni- 
 Novgorod, 35 ; difficulties of transport, 
 36 ; its value, 36 ; total amount exported 
 from China, 24X 
 Telega, the, 45 
 
 Telephone, the, in Siberia, 40; in Tokio, 
 114 
 
 Temples, Chinese, 202 
 Theatres, Siberian, 41 
 Tien-tsin, the railway at, 77, 189 ; the 
 town, 189 ; inundations, 190 ; the Treaty 
 of Tien-tsin, 228 ; industry at, 237 
 Tiumen, ii 
 
 Tobacco introduced by the Portuguese 
 into Japan, 94 ; its cultivation, 130 
 Tobolsk, its erection, 2 ; the ancient capital 
 of Siberia, 38 ; a meeting-place for im- 
 migrants, 45 
 
 Tobolsk, the Government of, 10 ; popula- 
 tion, 13 : education in, 20, 23 ; excellent 
 soil, 24 ; number of immigrants, 47 
 Tokio, distance to Vladivostok, 77 ; re- 
 moval of the Court to, 108 ; railway to 
 Yokohama opened, 108 ; population, 113 ; 
 its up-to-datedness, 114; fires, 114, 115; 
 means of getting about, 116; badly 
 lighted, 117 
 Tokugawa, the, 100 
 
 Tomsk, the mosque at, 10 ; the neighbour- 
 ing country, ii ; population, 38 ; its new 
 university, 40 ; theatre, 41 
 Tomsk, Government of, population, 13, 23 ; 
 excellent soil, 24 ; number of immigrants 
 annually, 47 
 
 Tongking, its copper-mines attract the 
 French to, 185 ; Customs lowered, 260 ; 
 poor country in the neighbourhood, 262 
 Towns, absence of large, in Siberia, 38 ; 
 those along the highroad, 39 ; their ap- 
 pearance, etc., 39-41 
 
 Trans- Baikalia, climate, 5; scenery, 12; 
 
 population, 13 ; Buddhists, 51 
 Trans-Siberian Railway, 10 ; destined to 
 revolutionize Siberia, 42, 56 ; why ori- 
 ginally designed, 64, 65 ; the Ural Rml- 
 way, 65; Alexander III. decrees its 
 execution, 66; how it will cross Lake 
 
 Baikal, 66, 69 ; length, 66, 73 ; the Man- 
 churian section, 67 ; its construction easy, 
 67, 68 ; bridges, 68 ; workmen, ; its 
 cost, 70; distance via the Trans-Siberian 
 Railway to the Ear East, 76 ; the train* 
 de-luxe^ 77 ; journey to the Far East 
 much shortened by it, 77 ; fares, 78 ; 
 restaurants, 78, 79 ; too expensive for 
 heavy merchandise, 79 ; facilities for for- 
 warding letters to the East, 79 ; Russia 
 awaiting its completion, 259 
 Treaties, Japanese commercial, 178-180; 
 treaties respecting foreigners in China, 
 228 
 
 Treaty Ports, list of Chinese, 234, note; 
 Shanghai, 235, 237 - 239 ; industries 
 limited to them, 240 
 Trees of Siberia, 6 
 Troitskosavsk, 32, 33 
 Troops, Russian, in the East, 13, 166 
 Tundra Zone, the, of Siberia, 5 ; area and 
 population, 6 
 
 Turlu population of Siberia, 14 
 
 U 
 
 United States demand the opening of 
 Japanese ports, 103 ; their commerce 
 with China, 284 
 University at Tomsk, the, 40 
 Ural Railway opened in 1880, 60 
 
 V 
 
 Vegetables not cultivated in Siberia, 19 
 Verkhoyansk, its severe climate, 6 
 Villages of Siberia, ix ; resemblance to 
 those of Russia, 18 ; Japanese villages, 
 
 Vitim, military government of, 12 
 Vladivostok, the sea covered with ice in 
 winter, 5 ; the military element at, 38 ; 
 Vladivostok not so good as Port Arthur, 
 49 ; the town and harbour, 49 ; popula- 
 tion, 50 ; the journey to, 56 ; main ter- 
 minus of the Trans-Siberian Railw’ay 
 removed to Port Arthur, 67 ; Vladivostok 
 a point of vantage, 74 ; distance from 
 Vladivostok to the European capitals, 
 76 ; to Tokio, 77 ; Chinese in, 232 
 Voltaire's idea of a Siberian highroad, 64 
 
 W 
 
 Wages in China, increase of, 238, 239 
 Wei-hai-wei ceded to England, 273 
 Western civilization not a monopoly of one 
 race, 172 
 
 Wheat in Siberia, 7, 24 ; in China, 199 
 Wiggins, Captain, enters the mouth of the 
 Yenissei, 62 
 
 Witte, M. de, chief promoter of the Man- 
 churian Railway, 71 ; bis successful 
 Chinese financial policy, 255 
 Women, Japanese, (reborn of, 132 ; 
 Chinese, 193 ; they never work in the 
 field, 199 ; binding of their feet, 221 ; 
 
 298 
 
INDEX 
 
 their unhappy lot when married, 224 ; 
 immorality, 224 
 
 Women and children employed in Japanese 
 match factories, 121 ; their unhealthy 
 lodgings, 123; conditions of labour, 123, 
 124 ; women and children in Shanghai, 
 237, 238 ; their wages, 237 
 
 Wood, very dear in China, 34; used for 
 architectural purposes, 202 
 
 X 
 
 Xavier, Sl Francis, visits Japan, 91; 
 introduces Christianity there, 93 
 
 Y 
 
 Yahlonovoi Mountains, the, 67 
 
 Yang-tsze-Kiang, dense population of the 
 valley of the, 184 ; no part of its basin 
 ever to be ceded, 271 
 
 Yakutsk, climate, 6 ; population, 13 ; the 
 eunuchs, x6 
 
 ‘Yellow Peril,* the, 186, 239; if Japan and 
 China united, 246 
 
 Yellow River, coal-beds on the hanks of 
 the, 184 ; its mouth, 188 
 Yenissei, Government of the population, 
 12, 13 ; immigrants, 47, 48 
 Yenissei River, its mouth reached in 1636, 
 3 ; gold-mines near it, 7 ; its beauty, ii *, 
 Captain Wiggins enters it in 1874, 61, 
 62 ; canal between the Yenissei and the 
 Obi, 65 
 
 Yokohama, railway opened to, xo8 ; the 
 third port in the Far East, 113 
 Yoritomo overthrows the Taira, 89 ; his 
 ingratitude, 89 ; first Shogun, 89 
 Yoshitsune wins the Battle of Dan-no-ura, 
 89 ; bis adventures and death, 89 
 Yunnan, copper-mines of, X84 ; a poor pro* 
 vince, 261 
 
 Z 
 
 Zalmka system in Siberia, the, 24 
 
 THE END 
 
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