Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/537

LEFT CHINA 471 CHINA nmg the Hoang-ho into a new channel. Confucius lived and taught 571-544 B c. Shi Hoang-Ti (246-210 B. c.) is the greatest of their heroes; he expelled the Mongols, built the Great Wall, and burned most of the National literature. He was the founder of the Tsin dynasty. Buddhism was introduced A. D. 65. The next 1,200 years were prolific of wars between the Chinese and the Mongols, the latter conquering in 1279 and hold- ing the country till 1368. Then the Ming (native) dynasty regained power, and held it till 1644. The Manchus succeeded, and have held the power till now. In the 19th century they had wars with Great Britain and France (1857-1860) ; the great Tai-ping rebellion, lasting 14 years; a Mohammedan rebellion in Yun- nan lasting 23 years, and another in eastern Turkestan lasting 11 years; war with France (1884-1885), and war with Japan (1894-1895). Russia's occupation of Port Arthur, early in 1898, was fol- lowed by the signing of the Russo-Chi- nese Convention at Peking on March 27, 1898. In substance it leased to Russia Port Arthur and Talien-Wan, together with their adjacent waters, for the term of 25 years from the date of signing of the convention, but provided that at the conclusion of the term it may be pro- longed by mutual agreement between the contracting parties. The district (ter- ritorial and maritime) is to serve as a depot of military and naval supplies to Russia, and the principal officials ad- ministering its affairs are to be Rus- sians. The contracting parties agree to regard Port Arthur as a naval station, to be used by Russian and Chinese ships only, and neither the men-of-war nor the merchantmen of any other power shall have access to it. In the same ar- ticle (No. 6) it says: "Similarly, in the case of Talien-Wan Bay, one part shall serve as a naval station for the warships of China and Russia, but the rest shall be a commercial port, open for the in- gress and egress of the ships of all na- tions." In view of the importance of Port Arthur and Talien-Wan, Russia un- dertook to construct, at her own expense, whatever barracks and forts might be required, and to adopt whatever other means were necessary for the defense of those places. Russia is permitted to con- struct a railway from a point on the Trans-Asian trunk road (for the build- ing of which China gave her consent in 1896) to Talien-Wan, all the details of construction to be in accordance with the Chinese system of Manchurian lines; and a branch of the road may be car- ried from some place midway between New-Chwang and the Yalu river to a convenient point on the sea-coast. Before the convention with Russia was signed France demanded that China should not cede any portion of the four provinces of Kwang-Tung, Kwang-Si, Yun-Nan, and Kwei-Chau, that the rail- road from Lung-Chau-Ting, on the N. frontier of Tonquin, should be extended by way of Pase, Siam, into the Yun-Nan province, and that a coaling station be granted to France at Lei-Chau-Fu, in the Hen-Chau Peninsula (N. of Hai- Nan). Early in 1898, the British Minister, in conference with the Chinese foreign of- fice, demanded a compensatory conces- sion for the purpose of maintaining the balance of power in the Far East, and on April 2 he obtained a lease of the islands and waters of Wei-Hai-Wei on the same terms as those by which Rus- sia had secured Port Arthur; and on May 24, the English occupied the port. On June 9, China ceded to England ter- ritories on the main-land opposite Hong- Kong, including the island of Lau-Tao and all the peninsula to a line joining Mirs bay and Deep bay, both of which are included in the lease, China retain- ing the N. shores. In September, 1898, the emperor issued a number of edicts advocating reforms after European methods in the financial and general ad- ministration of the central and provin- cial governments. These met with the severe disapproval of Tsu-Hsi, the Em- press Dowager, and her strong anti-for- eign party on the Court. On Sept. 22 she obtained from Emperor Hwang-Su an edict restoring the regency, which she had held previous to his accession in 1889; retired him on a pretense of ill- ness; assumed charge of the government, and decapitated the leaders of the reform party, degraded others, and kept the rest in fear of a similar fate. In September, 1899, Secretary Hay in- structed the United States representa- tives in England, France, Germany, Rus- sia, Italy, and Japan to invite from those governments a presentment of their in- tentions in regard to the treatment of the commerce of foreign powers in the newly acquired spheres of influence, with special reference to the treaties existing between China and the United States, ad- vising that China be regarded as here- tofore as an open market for the world's commerce, and that all possible steps be taken to establish much-needed adminis- trative reforms and to preserve and strengthen the Imperial government in its integrity. On March 20, 1900. Sec- retary Hay announced that all the pow- ers concerned had accepted the proposals