Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/754

* CHINESE EMPIRE. 656 CHINESE EMPIRE. that upon his resignation he was asked to head a Chinese embassy accredited to eleven leading nations. In 1808 he set out from Peking at the head of an inijwsing deputation of the highest Chinese officials, and during the short time be- fore his death in 18G9 he did nuu-h to bring about friendly relations between China and the Christian powers. The liirlingame Treaty with the Inited Slates siipplemented the Heed Treaty in some im|)ortanl respects. Even as late as this China had not recognizi'd the full equal- ity of other nations by admitting their envoys to" personal audience with the Emperor, but on .June 29. 1873, the Chinese Emperor, under the enlightened influence of Prince Kung and his associates, gave i)ersonal audience to the .Japa- nese Anibassador and to the .Ministers of Russia, the United States. Great Britain. France, and Holland, with the (ierman secretary as int<'r- preter. The significance of this audience is evi- dent. It represented the linal breaking down of Chinese isolation, and the recognition of the great powers of Europe as the equals of China. In 18S4. France, in attempting to make good her protectorate over Annam (q.v.), became involved in a campaign against the Chinese forces in Tongking. The war was ended in .June, 188i), by a treaty giving France control of Tongking and .Vnnam. but leaving open the question of Chinese suzerainty. In 1894 .Japan took advantage of disorders in Korea to revive certain old claims to rights in that country (see .J.p. and Korea), and sent an expeditiimary force into the peninsula. China, which had always claimed suzerainty in Korea, but had allowed .Japan to obtain distinct diplo- matic advantages in 187(i and 1882. hastened to meet this demonstratiim. and after minor colli- sions had taken place .Japan cU'ilared war, August 1, and on the 2tith concluded an otleiisivc and de- fensive alliance with loiva. On September 10 the Chinese were defeated at I'ing-Yang. and on the 18th a Chinese fleet was destroyed in a severe naval battle at the mouth of the Yalu River. In November Port Arthur, in the Liao-tiuig Penin- sula. China's strongest fortress, was invested, while the main column of the invading army pressed on through Mnnclinria toward I'eking. Prince Kung mailc an appeal to the Powers for intervention. The United States ofJered its ser- vices as nK'diator. but they were declined by .Japan. Port Arthur was taken on the 21st. The .Jai)anese jmslied their operations vigonmsly, without regard to the approach of winter; de- feated the Chinese at Ivung-wa-sai. December 19; (aptured Kai-|Hng, .January 10. 189,5; and the strongly fortified port of "ei-hai-wei, in the Shantung Peninsula, on Feliniary 14. The loss of Wei-hai-wei. together with the remnant of her navy, left China at the mercy of her enemy, Avith Peking in imminent danger of capture. Li Hung Chang (q.v.) was commissioned to nego- tiate a peace. IJy the Treaty of Shimonoscki, April 17, 189.5. China recognized the full inde- pendence of Korea, (^eded to .Japan the peninsula of J>iao-tung, the island of Formosa, and the Pescadores, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 290.000.000 taels. A new commercial treaty with .Japan, much more favorable than that which had been invalidated by the war, was promised. .Japan was to retain military occu- pation of Wei-hai-wei until the commercial treaty was made and the second installment of the in- demnity paid, the balance of the latter to be se- cured by pledging the customs revenue. The collapse of China surprised most of the world, which had bwu taught to believe that there was tremendous reserve force and power of endurance in this unwieldy but ancient empire. The reve- lation of its weakness seemed to l)e just the op- portunity for the great Kuropean I'owers that were ambitious of influence in the Far East. Russia, France, and (Jcrniany promptly protested against the cession of the peninsula of l.iao-tung, and brought such pressure to bear that Japan relin(|uished this part of its conquest. In the weakened condition of the Chinese Gov- ernment,, it was more than ever a]iparent that commercial development in China. The embar- rassments of the Imperial Govenimeiit resulting from the war afVorded an o|i]]oitunit_v to the Powers to obtain valuable concessions. Russia in 1895 placed, through l-'raiice. a loan amount- ing to .$77,200,000, to enable China to meet the payments of the indemnitv. In 1890 the sum of' .$80,000,000 was provided by German and American eapitiilists, and in 1898 the same amount was advanced bv the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and the Deutsch- .siatische Bank. In return for these loans, valu- able railway and trading concessions were exact- ed, with a view to establishing in the deeaving empire spheres of inlluence which could in any event he guarded against dangerous rivals. In 1807 Gennany, by way of reparation for the murder of two German missionaries, seized the jiort of Kiao-chau, on the Shantung Peninsula, and obtaineil from China extensive mining, trad- ing, and railway privileges in the ricli Province of Slian-tung. In llic early part of 1898. while the British (iovcrnment was eiiileavoring to secure guarantees that the Yang-tse-kiang region should not be alienated in any way, and that the river should be more freely opened to naviga- tion, Russia obtained a lease of the harbors of I'ort Arthur ami Ta-lien-wan in the Liao-tung Peninsula, with railway concessions in the ad- jacent territory. As an offset, (!reat Britain at once demanded and obtained Wei-hai-wei on similar terms. The danger to China from the foreign Powers now became so evident that two jiarties appeared, divided upon the method of resistance. One was a nationalist reform partv. led by Kang Yu- Wei, a Cantonese, and including Chang Cliih Tung, the Viceroy of llu-[)eh and Ilu-nan ; the other a reactionary conservative party, inspired by the Dowager Kmpress. For a brief period the reformers seemed to have gained control at the palace, and held the ear of the young Emperor. Kwang Su. Their wish was to bring China into the ranks of modern nations, along the road which .Japan had trod so swiftly and so surely, and to throw off foreign influence b.v creating a strong and independent Chinese nation. Numerous edicts issued from the palace during the summer of 1898. which seemed to point to the regeneration of China. But against this attempt at reform by procla- mation there were the inertia of the most con- servative of |)eo])le. the hatred of all things for- eign, and the constant intriguing of the Kmpress Dowager, a relentless and unscrupulous woman, mother of the late Emperor Tung Chih and aunt of the present ruler, whom she had put
 * )olitical influence must go hand in hand with