CHAPTER XXIII

AN EMPEROR FOR A DAY

My family had gone to Peitaiho for the summer. I was staying at the residence alone with Mr. F.L. Belin, who had recently come to Peking to join my staff. I slept rather late on Sunday, July 1st, as the morning was cool. When Kao, the first boy, came in to take orders he appeared excited and cried: "Emperor has come back again!"

I did not immediately grasp the significance of this astonishing announcement; but he went on volubly telling me that it was true, that the Emperor had returned, that all the people were hanging out the yellow dragon flag. I sent out for information and soon learned that the little emperor, in some mysterious way, had been restored during the night.

The monarchical movement came as a complete surprise to everybody, for it was entirely the personal act of General Chang Hsun. The men whose names were recited in his proclamations as assisting him had known nothing about it; it was undreamed of even by those who found themselves forced to assist, such as the Chief of Staff and the heads of the gendarmerie and of the police.

Kang Yu-wei, the "Modern Sage" of China, arrived in Peking on June 29th, and with him the restoration was planned. Kang Yu-wei, who had been the leader of the first reform movement in 1898, when he made a stand against absolutism, had always remained a consistent believer in constitutional monarchy. He encouraged Chang Hsun with philosophical theory, and wrote all his edicts for him. The two believed that the Imperial restoration would immediately bring to the active support of the Government all the military governors, whose true sentiments were notoriously imperialistic. Their consent was taken for granted, and the edicts, as drawn up, expressly assumed that it had been given.

It became known to me that Chang Hsun had also discussed the possibility of an Imperial restoration with the Japanese minister. The latter expressed the opinion that the movement should not be undertaken without first making sure of the assent of the chief military leaders. Chang Hsun had no doubt of this support; he evidently regarded the advice of the Japanese minister as encouraging, and believed that his movement would have diplomatic countenance.

Chang Hsun had his intimate advisers, particularly Kang Yu-wei, draw up the requisite Imperial edicts on the 30th of June. In these it was stated that leading governors, like Feng Kuo-chang, Lu Yung-ting, and others of equal prominence, had petitioned for the restoration of the monarchy. Lists of appointments to the highest positions in the Central Government and the provinces were prepared. The existing military governors were in most cases reappointed. In the Central Government the important men designated were Hsu Shih-chang as Guardian of the Emperor, Liang Tun-yen as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Chu Chi-pao as Minister of the Interior. Wang Shih-chen was retained as Chief of the General Staff.

As an amazing instance of how consent was taken for granted, it was recited in an Imperial edict that President Li Yuan-hung had himself petitioned for the reëstablishment of the Empire; this edict appointed Li a duke of the first class.

So soon as these edicts were prepared and ready for presentation, a dinner was arranged for the evening of the same day, to which the heads of the Peking military and police establishments were invited. They met at the Kiangsu Guild Hall. After great quantities of wine had been consumed, Chang Hsun broached his project for the salvation of China, stating that all preparations had been made and that military and diplomatic support was assured. Then, pointing to the Chief of Staff, he said: "Of course, you are supporting the movement."

General Wang, completely taken aback, saw no way to refuse--since he was in the presence of an accomplished fact. In the same way the consent of General Chiang, head of the gendarmerie, and of General Wu, head of the police, was obtained.

Thus the enterprise was launched. Chang Hsun directed General Wang and four others to proceed immediately to the residence of President Li, to wake him up, and to obtain his consent to a memorial asking for reëstablishment of the monarchy. Chang Hsun himself proceeded to the Imperial City. Not being able to obtain the support of the Imperial dukes for his movement, he had lavishly bribed the eunuchs in charge of the palace, who opened the gates for him and his retinue, and took him to the private residence of the young Emperor. Chang Hsun prostrated himself, and informed the Emperor that the whole nation demanded his return to the throne. Thereupon he took the frightened boy to the great throne room, and, in the presence of his retainers and members of the Imperial Family, who had been summoned, formally enthroned the Emperor. Then the edicts which had been prepared were formally sealed.

As may be imagined, there were some comic incidents. A rather distinguished man had been summoned by the Premier to discuss with the President his assumption of one of the cabinet portfolios. A Chinese friend of mine who had just heard of the restoration saw him at the hotel about ten o'clock in the morning. On being asked what was his errand in Peking, the distinguished personage stated confidentially that he was awaiting a carriage to take him to the President's palace. "There is no President," he was told. "This is now an Empire; the Emperor was enthroned at four o'clock this morning." The great man's astonishment was amusing.

As the military chiefs were deceived on the preceding night, so Peking was deceived for one day. As the news spread, the population showed an almost joyous excitement. Everywhere the yellow dragon flags appeared, soon the entire city took on a festive appearance. Revived memories of past splendour seemingly made the population of Peking imperialist to a man. But the height of this movement was reached as early as the morning of the 2nd of July.

I had avoided receiving General Chang Hsun. Mr. Liang Tung-yen came to assume office as Minister for Foreign Affairs; I also abstained from seeing him, as well as the rest of General Chang's ministers, asking Doctor Tenney to talk with those who presented themselves. Mr. Liang had always been an imperialist, and was in high spirits, believing that at last China was saved. He had been led to believe that the foreign diplomats would readily recognize the restoration.

Strong doubts as to the character of the movement became manifest on Monday, the 2nd of July. Tuan Chi-jui did not figure in the Imperial official lists. When asked about this, Chang Hsun declared that General Tuan was unimportant, having no troops under his command. But Liang Chi-chao had been playing cards with friends at about 2 A.M. on the fateful night, when the news was telephoned to Tientsin. Liang immediately went to General Tuan's residence, where the latter was similarly engaged at cards. General Tuan, who was thoroughly weary of public affairs, was difficult to rouse; he begged to be spared the trouble of thinking of what might be occurring in Peking. More details came in, and it became apparent what a thoroughly one-man affair the movement was. Then Tuan roused himself.

Tuan was at that time actually only a private citizen, without authority or command. But I learned later that Liang Chi-chao had gone to Japanese friends for funds to enlist the military against the Imperial movement, and he got 1,000,000 yen as a loan to himself and General Tuan for this purpose. It was to be treated as a government loan upon restoration of normal conditions.

The two proceeded on Tuesday to Machang, where the Eighth Division had been encamped since the attempt to overawe President Li Yuan-hung. General Tuan, it was stated, felt nervous as to the outcome of his venture, but he called the commanders, declaring that he had always been opposed to a restoration of the monarchy, and that it was now being attempted by a single general. To resist this act he proposed to take command of the republican troops.

General Tuan was at once recognized as commander-in-chief. President Li, on his part, did not yield to the importunities of Chang Hsun. He gave out an absolute denial of the statement that he favoured the restoration. After issuing a mandate that turned over the Presidential powers to the Vice-President and appointed General Tuan Chi-jui Premier and Commander-in-Chief, he took refuge in the Legation Quarter. I sent a personal representative to General Tuan at Tientsin, who declared that he already had complete control of the military situation and could finish Chang Hsun inside of ten days.

As hostilities threatened in and around Peking, and as the danger of looting was always present, I discussed the precautions to be taken with several of my colleagues, and agreed with the Japanese minister that we would each bring a company of reinforcements from Tientsin. Meanwhile, the movements of Tuan's troops began. To hinder their advance, Chang Hsun's men broke the railway at a point about one third of the way from Peking to Tientsin.

Certain members of the diplomatic corps urged that we give notice that no fighting should take place on or near the railways. As we had made no objection to the bringing in of Chang Hsun's troops and to their being stationed in Peking and along the railway, I took the position that we were not justified in objecting to the troops of the government to which we were accredited taking necessary action against Chang Hsun. We might, however, insist upon the right of keeping the railway open. This met with approval. On the 5th of July a demand was made upon the belligerent generals that the railway must be kept open, and that at least one train be allowed to pass in each direction every day.

The damaged line was reconstructed, and on July 6th, the American infantry arrived in Peking; on the 7th, the first trains travelled between Peking and Tientsin--one train actually passing between the armies during a battle. Fighting went on during these days between the troops of General Tuan, directly commanded by General Tuan Chi-kwei, and Chang Hsun's forces; there was much firing but small loss of life, and the latter's forces were finally driven back toward Peking. The troops of General Tsao Kun also advanced upon Peking from the west.

Mr. Grant, of the National Printing Bureau, on Friday rushed into the legation compound in his automobile, with the report that looting was going on in the southern part of the city. We ascended the wall. From the Chenmen Tower we saw excited groups moving up and down the main streets, but nothing was happening save the bringing in of a few wounded men. To investigate the cause of the excitement I went with Mr. Belin in our private rickshaws to the Chinese city, passing to the end of the broad Chenmen thoroughfare. The street was still crowded, the people were excited though well behaved; the shops all had their shutters up. Near the south end of the street some shopkeepers posted in front of their shops told us that the return of Chang Hsun's troops from outside the walls had been reported. Looting had been expected but had not taken place. We proceeded to the Temple of Heaven, where great crowds were walking about among the tents of the troops. On returning, we entered a shop to look at some antiques, remaining half an hour. When we came out our rickshaws had disappeared. Doctor Ferguson joined us as we searched for our men. Suddenly, Belin shouted to a rickshaw man, who with a dozen others was conveying some of Chang Hsun's petty officers southward. We insisted that the non-commissioned officer occupying the rickshaw get out, and he finally complied.

The rickshaws had been requisitioned by these bandits. Upon our return to the Legation, my rickshaw-runner had just arrived, excited to the point of tears. Our two coolies had drawn the men who originally commandeered them up to the Imperial City; there they were requisitioned again to convey other men back to the Temple of Heaven. But my man, when opposite the entrance to Legation Street, had upset his bandit into the road and made a quick entry into the Legation Quarter, where the angry and sputtering trooper dared not follow him. That the rickshaws belonging to foreigners should thus be pressed into service shows the disregard which these troopers had for everything but their own desires.

As we returned to the Legation we noticed a wonderful colour effect. Coal-black clouds were banked against the western sky, above which were lighter clouds or angry shreds of flaming colour. Against this the dark walls and towers of Peking stood out in sharp relief. In the streets the crowds still surged, in restless expectancy. Suddenly the sunset light disappeared; the sky became black with clouds; a sharp gust of wind whirled the dust of the Chinese city northward; then came a flash of lightning, a clap of thunder, and a heavy downpour, which cooled the excited heads and drove all to shelter. The late afternoon had been weird and fantastic, and appeared to presage the happening of still stranger things.

I was lunching with a friend at his race-course house on Sunday, the 8th of July, when word was brought to me that a certain Colonel Hu, coming from Chang Hsun, had persuaded the French minister that the city was in imminent danger of sacking, fighting, and general disturbances. The only salvation, Colonel Hu had said, lay in asking Hsu Shi-chang to come from Tientsin to mediate. The French minister thereupon induced his Entente colleagues to agree to transmit a note to General Tuan Chi-jui urging him to prevail upon Hsu Chi-Chang to come as mediator. This seemed to me ill-advised. It meant, at a time when Chang Hsun was already as good as defeated, that he would be solemnly treated as entitled to dictate the terms and personnel of mediation by influential members of the diplomatic corps. I returned to Peking and saw my colleagues, urging my opinion strongly. The British chargé withdrew his consent; he had just received a telegram from his consul in Tientsin reporting that General Tuan was absolutely opposed to mediation. The action contemplated was not taken, though Chang Hsun persisted in his attempts to gain recognition from the diplomatic corps. The French minister, who hated Dr. Wu Ting-fang--this would explain his support of Chang Hsun--gradually came to see the obverse side of his policy as certain Germanic affiliations of Chang Hsun became known.

Kang Yu-wei presented himself at my house on the 8th, seeking refuge, and I assigned him rooms in one of our compounds. He informed me that Chang Hsun had had full assurances of support on the part of Hsu Chi-Chang and other important monarchists. Next day he informed me that Prince Tsai Tze was anxious to consult me.

I arranged to have the Prince come to the house assigned to Mr. Kang, where I had two hours' conversation with the Manchu and the sage. Kang Yu-wei commenced with a long disquisition on the advantages of a constitutional monarchy. He wished to explain his action and to prove to me that he was not a reactionary, but was aiming only for progress under the monarchical form, which he considered most suitable to China.

All this time the Prince was silent. He seemed greatly depressed, not inclined to say anything at first. After inquiries about his health, I asked him what he would like to say to me. With eyes of real sadness he looked me full in the face, saying: "What shall we do? My house has been drawn into this affair without our consent. It has been forced on us. We did not wish to depart from the agreements we had made with the Republic. But Chang Hsun would not listen to us. He thought he saw the only way. Now what shall we do?"

I told him that I appreciated the difficulty in which the Imperial Family found itself, but that I of course could not know the details of the situation sufficiently to give any opinion. One thing, however, seemed to me certain: if the leaders of the republican government knew the true attitude of the Imperial Family, and if the Emperor would formally and absolutely dissociate himself from the movement of Chang Hsun, I believed that they would not make the Imperial Family suffer. I asked him whether they had considered having the Emperor issue a decree, absolutely and for all time renouncing all rights to the throne and declaring his complete fealty to the Republic.

The Prince regarded me aghast. "Oh, _no_! No matter how desirable that might be from many points of view, it is not in the power of the Emperor to do it. The rights he has inherited are not his. They came to him in trust from his ancestors. He will have to maintain them, and hand them on to his descendants. He, and we of his family, shall not do anything to make these rights prevail against the State, but as the sons of our ancestors, we cannot repudiate them."

Never had I been so deeply impressed with the complexity of Chinese affairs as by this answer--an Imperial family maintaining traditions of empire in the midst of a republic, an emperor continuing to reside in the Imperial Palace, a neighbour of the republican President in his residence, and yet no desire to enter again into politics and to grasp the sovereign power! I could now understand why the Chinese had allowed the Emperor to remain in the palace; it was the house of his ancestors, from which he might not be driven. That common reverence was the one point of understanding between Chinese and Manchus.

Prince Tsai Tze evidently still hoped that Hsu Shih-Chang, the loyal friend of the Imperial Family, might be brought to Peking to mediate, and that he might be prevailed upon to preserve the favourable treatment hitherto accorded the Imperial Family. I could not give Prince Tsai Tze any encouragement on this point, on which I had very definite opinions, but had to content myself with general expressions of sincere sympathy with the strange fate of this family.

The question of mediation was again taken up by the diplomatic corps on the afternoon of this day. Some of the ministers feared that the city would suffer greatly if things should be allowed to go on. I was strongly of the opinion that our interference in this matter could have no good result, but would only further confuse and complicate the situation. For once, the Chinese must settle it themselves, regardless of any incidental inconvenience. From what I knew of the strength of the contending forces and of the whole situation, I had no doubt whatsoever that if left alone the republican forces would be easily successful and that there would be no disturbances. I was on principle against any action which would be in substance intervening in behalf of a general who had attacked the Republic and whom nothing could now save from overthrow except such diplomatic action.

I was approached on the 10th of July by a representative of General Chiang, chief of the gendarmerie. He stated that it was desired to bring Chang Hsun into the American Legation, for his own safety though against his will, and that an agreement to this effect had been made among the different commanders. I stated that in the circumstances it would be better for the diplomatic corps to discuss what protection could be extended to Chang Hsun. An informal meeting was held, at which the British chargé agreed that he would receive Chang Hsun if he were brought in.

The legations were notified by General Tuan, late in the afternoon of July 11th, that during the night the troops would move against Chang Hsun's forces in the city, and bombardment of the Temple of Heaven and the quarters near the Imperial City held by Chang Hsun would begin at dawn on the 12th of July. In conjunction with the commandant of the legation guard, I sent notice to the American residents in the quarters particularly affected, directing them to seek safety. Eighteen refugees came to the Legation, where they were cared for during the day at the Students' Mess. A company of the Fifteenth Infantry, which had been brought up from Tientsin, was encamped in the compound in front of my residence, to which their tents and military equipment imparted an aspect of great military preparedness.

I was awakened at daybreak on July 12th by the sound of artillery and rifle fire. As the fighting commenced people went out of curiosity upon the city wall. But stray bullets frequently fell on the wall, and the commandant ordered it cleared. Unfortunately, several of these onlookers--among them three Americans--were injured. During the battle I received word from the Imperial tutors that the Dowager Empresses were preparing to bring the Emperor to my residence. Since the 9th of July they had wished to remove the Emperor to this legation for safety. While the Empresses and some of the dukes desired this, the eunuchs under Chang Hsun's influence opposed the removal. The Prince Regent, also influenced by Chang Hsun, took the same view. Thus on various occasions the eunuchs, whose existence had almost been forgotten, came out on the stage of action in this curious affair.

About eleven o'clock, while the firing was at its height and after several bombs had been dropped from aeroplanes upon the Imperial City, telephone messages came to the effect that several friends of the Imperial Family and Doctor Ferguson of the Red Cross were about to rescue the Emperor from danger and bring him to the Legation. I had the house prepared. Half an hour later two automobiles with the Red Cross flag flying entered the legation compound. Mr. Belin ran to the door, expecting to see the Emperor and Empress emerging from the automobiles, but he returned with only Mr. Sun Pao-chi, who was shivering with excitement. I took him to the reception room and comforted him with tea. He still expected the Emperor to come. The automobiles left again for the Imperial Palace, but as the aeroplanes had ceased dropping bombs and the artillery fire was decreasing in violence, the people in the palace decided against carrying out the flight.

As I sat in the library all through the forenoon receiving reports and giving directions, there was a constant hissing of bullets and shells overhead. No shell dropped in our legation, although two or three fell in the British. The Chinese artillery fire was remarkably accurate. Sitting there and listening to the tumult of shouting and firing from the Chenmen gate and the volleys of guns and artillery exceeding in volume of sound any Fourth of July I had ever experienced, I felt thankful to have seen a day when the Chinese would stand up and fight out a big issue. I soon found that the battle was not commensurate with its sound.

Shortly before noon Chang Hsun was brought to the Dutch Legation, accompanied by a German employé of the Chinese police. Chang Hsun had been persuaded to come by his generals almost with the use of force. He was still under the illusion that he could mediate. When the Dutch minister informed him that this was impossible, he wished to return to his troops. This, of course, could not be permitted.

Firing was violent from dawn until nearly noon. The field guns, machine guns, and rifles filled the air with enormous tumult, but from eleven o'clock on the firing gradually diminished, and it entirely ceased at four in the afternoon. Immediately thereafter I proceeded by motor car to the various centres of fighting. I found that Chang Hsun's house had been struck by several shells and that the indirect artillery firing of the government troops had been managed with considerable accuracy. The human dead had already been removed from the neighbourhood although numerous carcasses of horses remained. Thence I proceeded to the Temple of Heaven, where I was astonished to find Chang Hsun's troops encamped with all their guns and artillery, eating, drinking, and talking in the best of spirits. They told me that five of their men had been killed, and that their bodies were still there. The absence of visible results from the enormous expenditure of ammunition during the day was astonishing. I found, however, that the method of fighting employed by the troops was to creep up as closely as possible behind a high wall, and fire into the air in the general direction where the enemy might be. Hence, the bystanders were in rather greater danger than the combatants themselves. In fact, the total number of killed as a result of the fighting of July 12th was twenty-six; seventy-six were seriously wounded, and more than half of these were civilians.

The Chang Hsun contingents in the Temple of Heaven had hoisted the republican flag at 10 A.M. An agreement was reached by which they were to be paid $60 per man upon the delivery of their arms. Chang Hsun's troops about the Imperial City held out for a larger payment. To my astonishment, as late as Saturday, the 14th of July, I saw fully armed soldiers of Chang Hsun on guard at the central police headquarters. Asking the reason for this--for Chang Hsun's troops were supposedly routed in pitched battle on the 12th of July--I was told that the commanders had not yet settled upon the sum these contingents were to be paid. Eighty dollars per man was finally agreed upon, and by the 15th of July Chang Hsun's troops, deprived of their arms and their pigtails, had left Peking with their money, and were on their way to their rural homes in Shantung.

The dragon flags disappeared on the 12th of July as suddenly as they had appeared on the 2nd. The city quickly resumed its ordinary life.

The swift failure of Chang Hsun's enterprise was due to no inherent weakness of monarchical sentiment in north China. In fact, monarchist leanings among the northern military party are quite well known. It had been assumed that such a movement would be launched, and, if it had been more prudently planned and prepared, it might easily have succeeded, at least for a time. Its total failure was due to the fact that Chang Hsun, counting on monarchist tendencies among the northern military men, neglected to make those preparatory negotiations which would have turned the potential support into real strength. While this is true, there can be no doubt that Chang Hsun's failure gave an enormous setback to the cause of monarchism in China. After two failures to reëstablish the empire, ambitious men will think many times before embarking on such a venture again. Which is to say that the efforts to restore the Empire actually served to entrench more deeply the republican form of government.