BOOKS.

CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER.* RARELY is a book written round State papers which is at once so sound in learning, so informing, and so fascinating to read as this. It publishes for the first time documents Vrhich but for the diligence of the authors would probably never have come under English eyes ; it gives us an enthralling narrative of the vicissitudes of feeling and policy in the Forbidden City at the time of the "Boxer" rising and the attacks on the Legations in Peking ; and it comes as near as any book could to explaining the enigmatic character of the Empress Dowager Tad Hai. That character is unquestionably impressive. Tzt. Hsi was guilty of both cruelty and licentiousness, but her environment and the traditions of her race explain much which could not possibly be condoned according to English standards. An intelligent reader will not resort to the folly of judging her by standards she never heard of, and he will have to admit that her great qualities—her courage, foresight, and power of governing— were at least as remarkable as her bad ones. She was the Queen Elizabeth of the Chinese Throne. No one who wishes to understand the China of the last half-century—we might say also the China of immemorial ages—should leave this book unread.

The narrative begins with an account of the origin of Yehonala, who became the senior concubine of the Emperor Hsien-Feng—a weak debauchee—and was destined to make herself the ruler of China for nearly fifty years. In 1856 she was raised to the Royal position when she bore a son who was the Heir-Apparent. The authors work into the narrative a singularly attractive diary by a Chinese doctor, who tells how he was making proper prepara- tions for the burial of his mother, but incidentally gives us a great deal of curious information about the rise to power of the concubine Yi, otherwise Yehonala, the future Empress Dowager. In 1860, when the British and French appeared before the walls of Peking, the Emperor and his Court fled to Jehol. The characteristic Imperial announcement stated that ho had gone for "an autumn tour of inspection." At Jehol the wretched man died, and at once there began an intrigue for the succession. The masterly and intrepid manner in which Yehonala outwitted Tsai Yuan and the rest of her opponents was the first true taste of her skill and resolution. There is a remarkable account of the return journey to Peking from Jehol, during which she and Prince Yi (one of her most dangerous enemies) exchanged courtly compliments conveying the gratitude of each to the other for taking such good care of the late Emperor's remains ; yet all the time she knew that he was plotting to have her assassinated, and that the play of compliments was really part of a game of death. At Peking Yehonala had her rivals executed, and for the rest of her life ruled China unchal- lenged except for the very mild challenges which came for some years from her fellow Empress Regent, and except for the period during which she herself was in retreat previous to the coup d'elat of 1898.

We shall come to the revelations as to the "Boxer" outbreak in their due order, but first we must say something of the wholesome lessons this book teaches as to the absurdity of taking Chinese decrees, official reports, and diplomatic utter- ances as representing the truth, or even the approximate truth. Englishmen who remember the pre-eminent services of Charles Gordon to the Manchu cause in the Taiping Rebellion will be interested to read the official report describing the suppression of that rebellion. The writer of the report, Tsong Kuo-fan, was an honest and sincere man, and yet he mentions Gordon only once, and then incidentally as having recommended (which, of course, he did not) the conveying of the fallen leader of the rebels in a cage to Peking ! Again, we find a genuine belief during the " Boxer outbreak that when some European troops moved about with- out guns to convey to the Chinese a hint of their moderation, the reason was that the troops had no guns. An attack upon them was accordingly recommended. It is strange that in China, where there is such a high veneration for learning,

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• China under the Empress Dowager : being the History of the Life and Times of Tea Hsi. Compiled from State Papers and the Private Diary of the Comptroller of her Household by J, 0. P. Skutt and E. Backhouse. London: William Liaineniaan. Liss. net.]

there should be pure ignorance of the simple facts about Europe ; but that it is so is proved over and over again in these pages. In discussing the character of Imperial messages, often founded on such pure ignorance as we have just mentioned, the authors say :—

" These Imperial messages throw into strong relief the elemen- tary simplicity of China's foreign policy, a quality which foreigners frequently misunderstand, in the general belief that the Oriental mind conceals great depths of subtlety and secret information. Looking at these documents in the light of the known facts of China's political situation at that moment, and stripping them of all artificial glamour, it becomes almost inconceivable that any Government should publish to the world and file in its archivjs such puerile productions. But it is frequently the case that this very kindergarten element in Chinese politics is a stumbling-block to the elaborate and highly specialised machinery of European diplomacy, and that, being at a loss how to deal with the sus- piciously transparent artifices of the elderly children of the Wai- wupu, the foreigner excuses and consoles himself by attributing to them occult faculties and resources of a very high order. If one must be continually worsted, it is perhaps not unwise to attribute to one's adversary the qualities of Macchiavelli, Talleyrand and Metternich combined."

It is amusing to read the highly respectable condemnations

of profligacy and extravagance which emanated from the Forbidden City when Ter Hsi was yielding to any and every kind of orgies suggested by her eunuchs. A wonderful contrast with this insincerity and irresponsibility are the honesty and courage of some of the Censors, who did not hesitate to say exactly what terms ought to be applied to a want of regularity in the Government. The document left behind by the Censor Wu K'o-tu, who committed suicide as a protest against the manipulation of the succession (by which manipulation the Empress Dowager kept the power in her hands upon the death of the Emperor, her son), is one of the simplest and gravest things we have ever read. Given the point of view, it is really admirable. When the new Emperor was seventeen years old the Empress Dowager went into retreat for ten years, and it is an open question whether she did so meaning definitely to retire, or whether, as some think, she drew back only to leap better. In 1898, the year of the coup Vtat, the Emperor plotted to kill Jung Lu (the brave and capable soldier who was the most faithful follower of the Empress Dowager) and to imprison Tail Hsi herself. Yuan Shi-kai, the well-known and high-minded statesman, revealed the plot, and it was the Emperor himself who was imprisoned. Then Tzti Hsi returned to power. She succeeded in inducing the Diplomatic Corps to believe that the Emperor's scheme of reforms was silly as well as premature. She was never more firmly established in authority. The authors have no doubt that only fear of foreign opinion, however, prevented her from murdering the Emperor.

When the period of the "Boxer" outbreak is reached, the authors present us with a quite invaluable document ill the diary of Ching Shan. This diary was discovered in the private study of Ching Shan, who was related to Tail Hsi, and was intimate with many high officials about her person, and wrote down what was happening day by day during the attacks on the Legations in 1900. Tad Hsi edited her State papers when peace was restored in order to make out that she bad played a consistent part, but this diary lays bare the simple truth about her vacillations. She was heartily with the " Boxers " when success in extinguishing the "foreign devils" seemed likely, and she hesitated and listened to prudent counsels and sent in presents of water-melons, ice, and food to the Legations when the news was disconcerting. Another revelation is the vindication of Jung Lu. He has been denounced as one of the worst and most treacherous enemies of Europeans, but it turns out that he consistently pointed out the madness of attacking foreigners, and that at the imminent peril of his life. It is fair to say that the "Old Buddha," as Tall Hsi was affectionately called for many years, was enraged against the foreigners for a good reason : a forged document was pre- sented to her in which the Powers threatened to take the rule of China out of her hands. On June 20th, 1900, the diary of Ching Shan says :- "With tears in his eyes Jung Lu knelt before Her Majesty ; he confessed that the foreigners had only themselves to blame if China declared war upon them, but ho urged her to bear in mind that an attack on the Legations, as recommended by Prince Tuan and the rest of the Council, might entail the ruin of the ancestral shrines of the Dynasty, as well as the altars of the local and tutelary Gods. What good purpose, he asked, would i

be served

by the besieging, nay, even by the destruction, of this isolated handful of Europeans ? What lustre could it add to the Imperial grini? Obvlouily, it Omit be waste of energy and misdirected purpose, The Old Buddha replied that if these were:his views, he had better persuade the foreigners to leave the city before the attack began`; she could no longer restrain the patriotic move- ment, evert if she wished. If, therefore, he had no better advice than this to offer, he might consider himself excused from further attendance at the Council. Jung Lu thereupon kowtowed thrice and left the audience hall to return to his own house. Upon his departure, Ch'i Hsiu drew from his boot the draft of the Decree which was to declare war. Her Majesty read it and exclaimed, Admirable, admirable!'" Here is an unforgettable glimpse of affairs in Peking on June 23rd :— " The Boxers who occupy my courtyard tried to take away my cigars from me, but subsequently relented and allowed me to keep them because of my extreme old age. Nothing of foreign origin, not even matches, may be used nowadays, and these Boxer chiefs, Chang Te-ch'eng and Han Yi-li, both of whom are common and uneducated men, are treated with the greatest respect even by Princes of the blood: a curious state of affairs indeed ! Duke Tsai Lan came to see me this afternoon. He tells me an extra- ordinary story how that the Heir Apparent called the Emperor a

Devil's this morning, and when rebuked for it, actually boxed His Majesty's ears. The Emperor then reported the facts In a memorial to Her Majesty, who flew into a towering rage, and gave orders.to the eunuch Will to administer twenty sharp strokes of the whip on the Heir Apparent's person. Prince Tuan is much enraged at this, but he is horribly afraid of Her Majesty, and, when she speaks to him, he is on tenter-hooks, as if thorns pricked him, and the sweat runs down his face."

On July 10th the diary says :- " Early this morning Jung Lu had informed the Old Buddha that he had ascertained beyond doubt that the document, which purported to come from the Foreign Ministers, demanding her abdication, was a forgery. It had been prepared by Lien Wen- cling, a Secretary of the Grand Council, at Prince Tuan's orders. The Old Buddha was therefore in no soft mood ; angrily she told Prince Tuan that if the foreigners entered Peking, he would certainly lose his head. She was quite aware of his motives: he wanted to secure the Regency, but she bade him beware, for, so long as she lived, there could be no other Regent. Let him be careful, or his son would be expelled from the Palace, and the family estates confiscated to the throne.' His actions had indeed been worthy of the dog's name he bore. Prince Tuan left the palace, and was heard to remark that the thunderbolt had fallen too quickly for him to close his ears."

We must quote no more, but advise every one to read this most instructive book, and especially Ching Shan's diary. Readers will find the valedictory message of Jung Lu, which has never been published in China. It is an important paper, as it corroborates the diary of Ching Shan and incriminates

the " Old Buddha." No wonder it was not published ! They will learn the manner of the deaths of Tall Hsi and the late Emperor. They will learn also the manner of the deaths of the " Boxer" leaders ; and they will be given reasons for sup- posing that when peace was restored, Tail Hsi's conversion to reform was genuinely sincere and thorough. She could hardly escape condemnation by Manchus for having erred in judgment if it were not the Manchu fashion to assume the infallibility

of the Throne. As soon expect public criticism of the Pope from the Vatican ! But in spite of all one can see why the " Old Buddha" was admired as Queen Elizabeth was admired. She starved the Fleet to decorate the Summer Palace (Eliza- beth also starved her Fleet) ; but she was a real Governor, and in the North of China she was as much liked as she was detested in the independent South. Unlike Elizabeth, she did

not tolerate flattery—Euphuists would have had no chance with her—but she impenitently carried on her amours, and was somehow forgiven for them. She wrote an admirable style, but certainly fulfilled Frederick the Great's aphorism that every man has a wild beast inside him. Yet this woman was spoken of by certain American ladies who saw her as fascinating, naïve, and gentle. Well, very likely she was,— the apparent contradictions are possible only in a singularly complex character, and that extraordinary character is revealed more in this book than in any yet published.