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Rh stitution grew, and before long a Chinese servant of the church was accused of kidnapping. The local authorities took up the matter with the church and the French consulate, and finally it was brought to the attention of Ch'ung-hou. By June 21 the people were so aroused that the church was besieged by a mob. On the same day a meeting was arranged between Ch'ung-hou and Fontanier 豐大業, the French consul. Before discussion could proceed, Fontanier lost his temper and used his pistol. The meeting broke up without a conciliation. In disregard of Ch'ung-hou's advice to remain in seclusion for a while, Fontanier ventured on the streets. Near the church where the mob spirit was running high he met the prefect of Tientsin, Liu Chieh 劉傑. Once again Fontanier drew his pistol and shot, wounding one of Liu's servants. Seeing this, the mob became infuriated, set the church on fire and killed the consul, two priests, ten Sisters of Charity and a score or more of Chinese servants. While the French chargé d'affaires, Rochechouart 羅淑亞 was waiting for instructions from his government,, then governor-general of Chihli, stationed at Paoting, was ordered to go to Tientsin to take personal charge of the situation. By October, sixteen Chinese convicted as the murderers were executed, and Ch'ung-hou was appointed envoy to France to convey China's apology.

Ch'ung-hou was thus the first Chinese envoy sent to the West, not counting those who had previously accompanied Burlingame (see under ). Leaving Peking after an audience on October 25, 1870, he sailed from Shanghai on November 16 and arrived at Marseilles on January 25, 1871. As the Franco-Prussian War was then going on and Paris was beseiged, he stopped at Bordeaux, the temporary seat of the government. Unable to obtain an audience with President Thiers, he proceeded, after several months, to England to attend the South Kensington Exposition. By the middle of September he was in New York planning to go back to China by way of the Pacific. In the meantime the French government communicated with the Chinese government and Ch'ung-hou was ordered to return to France. By October 5 he had returned; the interview with Thiers took place on November 23 and Ch'ung-hou had an opportunity to deliver China's expression of regret. Having fulfilled his mission, he set sail, arriving at Shanghai on January 26, 1872.

Upon reporting at the capital, Ch'ung-hou was appointed senior vice-president of the Board of War and served concurrently in the Tsung-li Yamen. When on June 29, 1873 the first imperial audience was granted to the foreign ministers in Peking, Ch'ung-hou, being a member of the Tsung-li Yamen, took part in the ceremony. When Ch'ung-shih died at his post as military governor of Mukden in 1876, Ch'ung-hou was appointed to act in place of his deceased brother. With Ch'ung-hou as chief editor a work on the ordinances of Mukden, entitled 盛京典制備考 Shêng-ching tien-chih pei-k'ao, in 8 chüan, was compiled, and printed in 1878. In the summer of the same year he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Russia.

having succeeded in 1878 in tranquilizing the whole of Chinese Turkestan, the Chinese government informed Russia that China was ready to take over the administration of Kuldja and the territory of Ili which Russia occupied in 1871 (see under and ). Hence Ch'ung-hou was sent on a special mission to negotiate for the return of Ili. Arriving at St. Petersburg on December 31, 1878, he had an audience with the Tzar (Alexander II) and presented his credentials on January 20, 1879. Various conferences were held, chiefly between Ch'ung-hou and Butzow (see under ). By the latter part of September negotiations came to a close and the terms of a treaty were agreed upon. As the Tzar and his high officials were then on their customary summer vacation at Livadia on the Black Sea, Ch'ung-hou left for that place on September 23. This treaty, known thereafter as the Treaty of Livadia—consisting of 18 articles with a set of trade regulations of 17 articles, and two special protocols, one concerning Aigun, the other concerning the cost of Russian occupation—was signed on October 2. Assuming that his mission was fulfilled, Ch'ung-hou left St. Petersburg for China October 11, entrusting his first secretary, Shao Yu-lien 邵友濂, with further responsibilities in Russia. The treaty, however, encountered obstacles in China. From the moment its terms became known opinion in official circles was unfavorable. The treaty was regarded as a failure—involving diminution of Chinese territory and unfavorable trade concessions. Memorials denouncing Ch'ung-hou and the treaty—among them one by —poured into Court. On January 2, 1880 an imperial edict was issued stating that the prevailing denunciation of Ch'ung-hou 210