The rebellion at Changsha, the capital of one of the largest and richest provinces of China, in which all the property of the foreign residents has been destroyed, is at present a local rising.
But its causes are by no means so local as some of the telegrams would have us understand, and herein lies its grave significance.
The Changsha riots are a symbol of a great anti-foreign movement which has been maturing throughout the whole of Asia for many years, and which has received a tremendous impetus since the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War.
It was the real cause of the Boxer rising, and it has since made itself outwardly manifest in many outrages on missionaries and foreigners throughout the length and breadth of China, and in the alarming spread of sedition and anarchy in Indian and in Egypt, culminating in boycotts, bomb-outrages, and murder.
In China the movement has more excuse than elsewhere, for whilst the foreigner has undoubtedly done much for the development of the country, there have been many unseemly exhibitions of "grab" and "squeezing" for concessions on the rival Powers, with the result that the impression prevails throughout the country that Europe is anxiously hoping for the "break up" of China in order to divide the spates.
Turned into the right channels, the movement may be productive of much good; but owing to the peculiar character of the Chinese, it is doubtful whether the saner members of the reform party are strong enough to make their views prevail.
Should they be unable to do so, we may see a turmoil in Asia which will turn the whole world upside down.
In any case, the evolution which is now taking place -- and which is being badly "missed" by the whole of Europe and America, as we shall presently find to our cost -- is an epoch-making movement.
A regular army consisting of 500,000 men and about 200,000 reserves has now been organised on an up-to-date footing, and is being trained throughout by Europeans -- mostly Germans -- and Japanese.
Properly led, properly fed, and properly paid -- which they have never been before -- he Chinese according to so high an authority as Lord Wolseley, would make the finest fighting material in the world. Under the present reform scheme they hope to be a first-class military Power within five years.
The Navy, also trained by Europeans -- mostly British -- and Japanese, is also being rebuilt and reformed. It will be remembered that only a few months ago a Chinese Naval Commission -- the most important even dispatched from China -- arrived in this country under the charge of Prince Tsai-Hsum, the brother of the Prince Regent.
The object of the Mission was to "devise means" for the organisation of the Chinese Navy.
The visit to England marks the beginning of a new movement which aims at placing China among the Naval Powers of the world.
One of the main proposals of the Chinese new Naval movement, which has in the main received the sanction of the Prince Regent, is the placing of orders with Western ship-building yards for eight battle-ships, twenty crusers, ten gunboats, as well as a large number of torpedo craft.
These facts, taken in conjunction with the knowledge that China contains vast undeveloped (menial) mineral wealth and four hundred and thirty million people -- one fourth of the whole population of the world -- will show the importance of the movement of which the anti-foreign riots at Changsha are a small but significant sign.
Stirring Up Strife
The province of Hunan, where the rioting has broken out, is the most anti-foreign province in China. Foreigners who penetrate into the interior, even with the help of the mandarins, by means of a military escort, do so at the risk of their lives.
Until the last few years nearly all the traders and missionaries went no further up the river than Hankow, the place where the refugees have now taken shelter, and which is 296 miles away from Changsha, but recently the capital has become a treaty port, and a British Consulate and many missionary stations have been built, and a number of European and Japanese merchants have opened branches in Changsha. It is a very prosperous trading centre with the Chinese, but great opposition has always been placed in the way of foreign trade.
For years the anti-foreign propaganda has gone on unceasingly in Hankow and Changsha, the funds being provided by the rich native residents.
Outrages and riots in both places have been very frequent, and on every occasion the local government has declared itself unable to control the populace, as it has done again on this occasion. Indeed a large proportion of the army has gone over to the rioters.
In 1898 the mob was roused up by anti-foreign pamphlets to set fire to the town of Hankow. Over two miles of the city and its suburbs were devastated, 1,000 people were burnt, and property worth about 1,300,000 was destroyed.
Yet the authorities had received warning in advance that the town would be burnt in order to create a disturbance as a protest against the people's taxes being paid to the foreigner!
The British merchants in Changsha and Hankow have repeatedly called attention to the inadequate protection which they receive for their lives and property.
At the time of this fire in a city of a million inhabitants, where there were riots almost daily, the only outward sign of the might and majesty of the greatest sea Power that the world has ever seen was the "Esk," a tiniy wasp of a river gunboat, which, under the most favourable conditions, can go only six knots an hour, and which in order to bring her one gun to bear was obliged to turn round first -- an awkward thing in a country where the enemy do not often get in front!
Since then the British Government, in order to protect British interests in China, have put a small fleet of gunboats in the Yangtze River, and it was in one of these that the missionaries from Changsha made their escape.
The "fleet," so called, consists of two or three flat-bottomed river gunboats, dispersed over a length of 1,500 miles of the Yangtze, besides some hundreds of miles of lakes and small rivers. To reach Changsha some difficult rapids have to be negotiated.
Vile and malicious anti-foreign pamphlets have recently been distributed broadcast amongst the people by the various secret societies, who are behind the scenes of the "China for the Chinese" movement, and it is these undoubtedly which have led to the outbreak.
For some time attempts have been made to boycott all foreign goods by "loyal" Chinese in the same manner that the recent boycott of British goods was carried out in Calcutta and other parts of India, by the sedition mongers of the Congress Party.
One of these anti-foreign pamphlets begins with a passionate protest against the cruel laws made by America against the Chinese, and it calls on the people to maintain the boycott of American goods. It points to the success of the boycott, and asserts that "it is carried on in such a civilised manner that no excuse can be found for its suppression."
"The foreigners have characterised us Chinese as being without patriotism and without unity," it says. "It is our duty to prove that this is not true. Mr. Chang, a wealthy merchant of Shanghai left his great fortune uncared for in order to start the boycott. Mr. Fung, a young man of great talents, sacrificed his life for the purpose of encouraging his countrymen on. Mr. Liang, Chinese Minister at Washington, fought for the cancellation of the cruel exclusion laws at the risk of losing his appointment.
"Wealth, honour, and life are things we all care for. But these three gentlemen were ready to give them all up in order that they should help their own countrymen. Ought we not to respect their motives and avoid the disgrace of being called cold-blooded creatures? Boycott! Boycott!
There are cold-blooded creatures of the lowest order who still buy American goods. Do not argue with them. Let all Chinese with warm blood flowing in their veins apply to those low beings the same methods that they have done to American goods."
The circular concludes with details of the marks on American goods, so that all can know them.
Another points out that "China today is surrounded by many nations -- Japan to the East, Russia to the North, England, France, Germany, American to the West. All of these are stronger than China, and they have all determined to steal Chinese territory. "If a nation's land is gone that nation is ruined. What can be done to stop them?"
What Has Happened
The riots at Changsha were first said to be due to a "rice corner" -- rice being one of the biggest products of the district -- but it has now been clearly proved that the outbreak is another anti-foreign revolution.
The mission stations, warehouses, and other buildings occupied by foreigners have been looted and destroyed. The city itself has been burnt to the ground.
Six thousand troops stationed at Changsha have joined the rioters, 24,000 of whom are engaged in looting. The Governor's residence was attacked, and he and his son killed.
All foreigners have left, many of them seeking refuge in vessels on the river. The most satisfactory feature of the riots is that no foreigner appears to have been killed up to the time of writing.
Originally published by Valentia Steer on 23 April 1910 under the title of "The Inner Meaning of the Anti-Foreign Riots in China" in The Penny Illustrated
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