Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/164

 theless Buzurg 布素魯克, a son of Jehangir (see under ), and Yakoob were sent to his aid. The two arrived in Kashgaria in January 1865. Yakoob, being the more able and aggressive, emerged by 1873 as master of the entire Tarim Basin from the Pamirs to Lob Nor. In the same year Po Yen-hu escaped from Shensi and Kansu to Sinkiang and paid allegiance to Yakoob who stationed him at Urumchi to guard the region north of T'ien shan. As soon as Yakoob assumed the leadership of all the Mohammedans in this area he attracted the attention of Delhi, London, St. Petersburg and Constantinople, and in the same year (1873) the Sultan of Turkey conferred upon him the title of Amir of Kashgaria. In that year, too, the British sent to Kashgar the Forsyth Mission to form an estimate of the situation. Yakoob had fought against the Russians for Khokand and he had no friendly feelings toward Russia which in turn feared lest he hold designs on regions farther north. In July 1871 Russia had occupied Kuldja. But in 1872 she signed a treaty of commerce with Yakoob, and in the following year Britain signed a similar treaty with him, thus effectually giving international recognition to his régime.

But Tso Tsung-t'ang, having secured the necessary funds and made his preparations, planned his campaign and started westward. One city after another fell into his hands, and during the year 1876 the north T'ien-shan region was pacified. At this juncture the British government, through Sir Thomas Francis Wade 威妥瑪 (1818–1895) in Peking and through Kuo Sung-tao in London, proposed that Yakoob Beg would surrender should China, allow him to keep his kingdom under Chinese suzerainty. When the offer was reported to Tso he memorialized the throne that the status of Yakoob was purely a domestic question and if Britain wished to create a buffer state in Central Asia she was herself well able to furnish the territory. In the following spring (1877) Tso's victorious forces moved southward. The much heralded Yakoob Beg did not put up a vigorous defense for his régime and, with the fall of Turfan on May 16, 1877, the kingdom of Kashgaria came to an end and Yakoob is reported to have committed suicide by poison. Po Yen-hu and Yakoob's sons struggled along for a short period and later fled across the border to Russia. Early in 1878 all of Turkestan was recovered. Tso Tsung-t'ang was rewarded by being raised to a second class marquis (侯), and Liu Chin-t'ang was made a baron. Among other generals who were rewarded with minor hereditary ranks for their services, may be mentioned: Chang Yüeh (see under, posthumously raised to a baron in 1891); Yü Hu-ên 余虎恩 (raised to a baron in 1891, d. 1905); Huang Wan-p'êng 黃萬鵬 ; Chin-shun 金順 ; and Tung Fu-hsiang (see under ). The official account of Tso's campaign against the Mohammedan rebels, entitled P'ing-ting Shan, Kan, Hsin-chiang, Hui-fei fang-lüeh (see under ), was printed in 1896.

Since Sinkiang had now become tranquilized, negotiations about the Russian evacuation of Ili began. When Russia moved her troops into Ili in 1871, she gave aSsŭrances to the Chinese government and to the world that the territory would be restored to China as soon as that country was in a position to assert her authority there. At the close of 1878 was sent to St. Petersburg to demand the return of Ili, and in the following year he concluded with Russia the Treaty of Livadia. When the terms of this Treaty became known in China they met severe opposition, and it was obvious that it would not be recognized. Hence on February 12, 1880 was appointed minister to Russia to negotiate a new one, but as the outcome of the renewed negotiation remained uncertain, China continued her military preparations. In May Tso Tsung-t'ang's forces took up positions in Sinkiang and, in June, he made his headquarters at Hami. At the same time there were troop movements in Tientsin, Mukden and Shantung. If Tsêng Chi-tsêis to be praised for his diplomatic success in concluding the new Treaty of St. Petersburg (February 24, 1881), it must be granted that the achievement of Tso Tsung-t'ang in recovering Chinese Turkestan was an important factor in that success.

From the area in Turkestan recovered by Tso, and the territory of Ili returned by Russia, a new province was created in 1884, and given the name, Hsin-chiang (Sinkiang). Liu Chin-t'ang was the first governor (1884–89), being succeeded by Wei Kuang-tao (see under ).

On August 11, 1880 an Imperial order was issued, summoning Tso Tsung-t'ang to Peking for advisory duties. He arrived at the capital on February 24, 1881, on the very day that the Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed. After an Imperial audience he was appointed to serve 766