From the date of these edicts up till 1862 A.D., the last year of Hien Feng’s reign, there is nothing recorded of special note. In this last mentioned year, however, there broke out the great Mohammedan insurrection of the north-west, which is comparable only to the Panthay rebellion in the south, and lasted from 1862 to 1876 A.D.
In 1861 A.D. some rebels who had been devastating the province of Szechwan invaded Shensi. Some have asserted that these rebels were connected with the Taiping Rebellion, but that is uncertain. To resist them the people of Shensi organised their local militia, the Mohammedan militia keeping themselves distinct from the Chinese troops under their own leaders. The rebels were successful in capturing the city of Weinanhsien, situated on the river some thirty English miles east of the capital. The Mohammedan militia from the neighbouring city of Hwachow marched against them and retook the city, in which they found considerable treasure, either brought by the rebels as booty from Szechwan or abandoned by the original inhabitants of the city who had fled. This stroke of good fortune on the part of the Mohammedans created envy in the minds of the native Chinese militia who claimed at least a share of their gains. This was refused, and thus was engendered bitter feelings of antagonism, which only needed a suitable opportunity to lead to strife.
The occasion was not long in arriving. In a small town named Hiaoyi, dependent on Weinanhsien, the Mohammedans cut down some bamboo in a small wood without having obtained the permission of the proprietor. When complaint was made they replied that what they had done was for the making of lances to be used in the common interest of all. The mandarin was appealed to, but he, not daring himself to punish the delinquents, advocated a general massacre, with the result that all the Mohammedans of a village named Tsinkia were attacked and put to the sword.
The Mohammedans throughout the whole district arose, and on the 17th of the 4th moon of the 1st year of the new Emperor Tong Chi, there broke out in and around Hwachow a terrible slaughter which lasted for three days and nights. The Imperial troops who arrived upon the scene were defeated, and soon the whole province was in a blaze. Peking, hearing of these troubles and fearing their inability to suppress the outbreak by force, first tried conciliation. Two high officials were despatched, the one, Tsang Peh, a native of Shensi who had been a Han-lin from the age of twenty-six and subsequently governor of Shantung; and Ma Peh-ling, who was a Mohammedan Tao-tai. Tsang Peh was soon assassinated by a Mohammedan fanatic, and the Emperor in rage ordered the total extermination of all the Mohammedans of the Shensi province, and charged the Tartar General To with the execution of this decree.
The Emperor had been led to this dreadful decision, not only by the facts mentioned above, but also by a serious incident which had occurred at Sinanfu, the capital. In many parts of the north-west, Tungan soldiers formed part of the Chinese garrison. At Sinanfu the Tungan soldiers had a quarrel with their Tartar colleagues, of whom some were wounded. The local authorities attempted to punish the Tungan delinquents, who thereupon took up arms and joined their coreligionists of Hwachow. By this combine, and by the disloyalty of part of the garrison of the capital, the outbreak assumed much more alarming proportions.
… city of Lingchow. In the meantime the Chinese troops stationed at the prefectural city of Kunchang had massacred the Mohammedans of the city and suburbs. Immediately all the Mohammedans of the Kansu province arose en masse, and it was not long ere some thirty thousand of the sixty thousand troops charged with the protection of Hami and Urumchi, in the present province of Sinkiang, joined the rebels. These rebellious troops found the merchants and farmers of Sinkiang sympathetic, and in this way the Tungan ranks soon mustered a very large and formidable force.
The Imperial troops found themselves hopelessly defeated, and the victorious Mohammedans divided themselves into two bands and made themselves masters of the two routes north and south of the Tienshan range.// General To, who sought to arrange terms with the Mohammedan rebels by the employment of two prominent Mullahs who acted as intermediaries, failed. Annoyed that his agents had not been more successful, he beheaded them. This action only the more inflamed the anger of the Tungans, who again defeated the Imperial troops and decapitated General To.
Every effort on the part of the Chinese Imperial troops failed until the famous General, Tso Chung-tang, appeared upon the scene about 1870 A.D. Tso was a native of Hunan who had shown himself conspicuously successful in dealing with the Taipings. In a little time he had pacified the provinces of Shensi and Kansu, and had it not been that the rebellions in these two provinces had encouraged a similar outbreak in the far west, it would not have attracted much attention. The sub- sequent developments, however, severed the Chinese provinces of Central Asia from the Empire for a period of several years. Before proceeding to briefly relate the …
The Mohammedan rebels were chiefly confined to the suburbs of all the cities, and most of the walled towns on the main roads of the province were able to resist them. It is stated by those who visited the province soon after the rebellion, that the soldiers and not the insurgents destroyed and looted the villages and devastated the country. Rebel bands scoured the country and great distress and even cannibalism are said to have prevailed. Colonel Bell affirms that the population of Kansu was reduced from 15,000,000 to 1,000,000, and that nine out of every ten Chinese were supposed to have been killed, and two out of every three Mohammedans. These figures may be somewhat overstated, but in an extended journey through the province he states that “all the villages and farmsteads for miles and miles in all direc- tions were in ruins, and the huge culturable hills were for the most part deserted.”
The Khodjas, however, who had been defeated and expatriated by China in 1760 A.D., settled at Khokand, and thence, as opportunity allowed, intrigued against their old enemy. Khokandis came and settled in that country, and China subsequently allowed the government of Khokand to appoint its own agents or tax collectors to arrange the levy upon their own people. The intervention of this third party eventually succeeded in establishing a formidable opposition to the Chinese Throne, after at least four unsuccessful attempts. The Tungan revolt in Kansu and Shensi, and the serious defeat of the Chinese army by these rebels at Taraussa, which is situated some little distance north-east of Ansichow, gave them their long-looked-for opportunity.
All the cities garrisoned by the Chinese north and south of the Tienshan range, fell into the hands of the Tungans with the exception of Yarkand, Kashgar, and Yangihissar. The successful Tungans, having no great leader to unite them, soon broke up into numerous petty states with local Moslem leaders. The Chinese garrisons at Yarkand, Kashgar, and Yangihissar, unable now to obtain help from the Central Government, shut themselves up in their citadels, and the Chinese governor at Yarkand, knowing that there were many Tungan soldiers among his own Imperial troops, held a council of war to discuss the best mode of procedure. Fearing that these Tungan levies might ‘prove disloyal in the day of battle, he advocated their massacre, but the Tungans themselves, getting wind of the plot against them, surprised the Chinese troops during the night, murdered more than two thousand of them, and then opened the gates of the citadel and entered the city, where they founded an independent government. The Chinese governor of the citadel, knowing that relief by China was hopeless and being subsequently hard pressed to surrender, gathered his family and men together, and then throwing his lighted pipe into the powder magazine, perished with all his company.
In the events which followed, Yakoob Beg came from Khokand in 1864 A.D., as a subordinate officer with some sixty odd men. Being a man of ability he soon made himself master of the situation. Yangihissar, Kashgar, and Yarkand all fell into his hands, and under the title of Atalik Ghazi, which the Emir of Bokhara conferred upon him, he set up an independent kingdom which lasted for some twelve years. Many of the surrounding little states soon yielded to him, so that ere long he found the cities of Koucha, Aksu, Urumchi, and Turfan added to his territory.
While these events were proceeding in the south-west, an independent Tungan-Taranchi government had been established at Ili, which, disturbed by constant strife and bloodshed, lasted for some five years, until in 1871 A.D., the Russians stepped in and seized Kuldja for themselves. A glimpse into the horrors of these days is given by the statement made by Colonel Prejevalsky that at the New or Manchu city of Kuldja, where there was a flourishing Chinese city of about 75,000 inhabitants, the Mohammedan rebels put the whole population to the sword and reduced the place to ashes.
Yakoob Beg on his part proved himself an able and astute ruler. His independence was recognised by Russia in 1872, and subsequently by the Sultan of Turkey and by Great Britain. The Sultan of Turkey, rejoicing at such Moslem successes, conferred upon him the title of Emir- al-mumenin, or Commander of the Faithful, a title formerly borne by the Caliphs of Bagdad. In 1874, Great Britain, through Sir Douglas Forsyth, who visited the country at that time, stated that his kingdom had been brought into. wonderful order, so that crimes of violence and robbery were almost unknown. Yakoob Beg faithfully observed the treaties he had made with both Great Britain and Russia, though at times he had many inducements to do otherwise.
It was these astounding successes of a new Moslem power in Central Asia, and the deep interest it awakened among the Moslem peoples of the world, which led Professor Vasil’ev in his work on the Mohammedans of China to make such alarming statements as to the Moslem dangers which threatened that country. As the situation then appeared to him, it seemed not impossible, but even probable, that China might become a great Moslem state.
This view was shared by quite a few of the most competent observers of the time. Dr. Anderson, when writing of Yunnan, said:
“The fact that these Mohammedans claim kindred with those of Kansu and Shensi is one which seems destined to exercise a powerful influence on the future of the Chinese Empire; and the present course of events points in the direction of a Mohammedan monarchy, which will comprise the provinces of Yunnan, Szechwan, Shensi, and Kansu.”
The writer of the able article in the Edinburgh Review,’ said to be Mr. A. Wylie, states that “we really have before us grounds to surmise that this remote part of the world may at present be the scene of a great Moslem revival.”
Though these fears have passed away, it is necessary to remember the situation as it then existed, which accounts for the somewhat alarming views expressed.
… recognised that China had before her in the north two great problems if she was to recover her lost power. The first of these was the overthrow of Yakoob Beg, and the second that of obtaining back from Russia the important territory of Kuldja, which is reputed to be the richest land in the Chinese Empire outside the limits of China proper, and the key to the land route between eastern and western Asia. Russia, who had, as she asserted, only occupied Kuldja until such time as China could restore order elsewhere, promised to withdraw when China had been successful. To this end the Chinese government now addressed itself.
With prodigious pains she commenced to prosecute one of the most remarkable of modern campaigns, which was conducted under the direction of Tso Chung-tang, a campaign which cost the country something like thirty million pounds sterling. General Tso appointed two assistant generals to co-operate with him, named Kin Shun and Chang Yao. With Suchow as base, they were ordered to march across the Gobi desert and subdue the country.
“Then followed one of those strange episodes which could not occur in any other country in the world except China. Chinese methods occasionally grind surely, but they always grind slowly, and with the most leisurely indifference the two chiefs arranged that, on the several oases in the desert, crops should be grown for the supply of the expedition which was to be dispatched into Central Asia. For the time being the soldiers were turned into farm labourers. They sowed their seeds, they watered their fields, and when the autumn sun had ripened their crops they reaped their harvests.“1
This extraordinary “agricultural army” was successful. In 1876 A.D., Urumchi fell without striking a blow, and ere long the important city of Manass also succumbed, but not without a desperate resistance, when the whole garrison was massacred. From this point onward the Chinese troops experienced little resistance, and Russia became also a substantial though secret helper. Whether this was because Russia now recognised that the days of Yakoob Beg were numbered, and she desired to obtain the goodwill of China, or whether events in Europe guided her policy in the Far East, we cannot say. Certain it is that at this time Russia was engaged in war against Turkey in Europe, and this may have decided her to sacrifice the other Moslem power in the East.
While Tso Chung-t’ang waited north of the Tienshan, his subordinate officers pressed forward in their march to the south of that range. At this critical stage of the conflict, Yakoob Beg suddenly died on 1st May 1877 A.D., whether from fever or by poison will probably never be known. The remaining period of strife was not prolonged, though the reconquest of Kashgaria had at Yakoob Beg’s death but partly commenced. General Tso unexpectedly crossed the Tienshan range by almost unknown passes, and thus suddenly appeared before the walls of Aksu. All resistance collapsed, and by 17th December 1877, Kashgar, the capital, fell before the Chinese troops by a coup de main, when the re-conquest of Eastern Turkestan was practically complete. Thus closed a rebellion which had throughout its various stages lasted from 1862 to the close of 1877, or almost as long as the Panthay rising in the south. Yakoob Beg, who for twelve years had been the Mohammedan Sultan of this northern region, corresponds to Tu Wen-siu who had governed at Talifu in the south.
Concerning the subsequent diplomatic negotiations which proceeded between China and Russia for the restoration of Kuldja we need not go into detail. Suffice it to say that China in the long run came off better than many had expected, though Russia still retained those parts of that territory which were of most strategic importance.
Less than twenty years had elapsed from the settlement of the above-mentioned troubles, when another serious outbreak occurred. This took place during 1895, when many of the Chinese troops were away engaged in conflict with the Japanese. This new rebellion was occasioned by the development of a new sect, among the Salars’ at the village of Kaitsikong, not far from Sün-hwating. The contentions between the old and new sects, sometimes concerned merely with the question of whether incense should be burned or not, led to fighting. During the intervention of the Yamen runners from the neighbouring city, one of the Mohammedans was killed. Immediately the two conflicting sects united in an attack upon their common enemy, the unbeliever, with the result that the Chinese officials issued a proclamation ordering a general massacre of the Salars. Though a subsequent edict attempted to undo the evil that such harsh measures encouraged, the stage when conciliation was possible had passed.
On the Chinese side the General Tung Fu-hsiang- famous or infamous for his attack upon the Legations at Peking in 1900-who, though a Mohammedan, because of some small personal pique, had sided against his co- religionists, played an important part as leader of the Imperial troops. In a few months the conflict spread from place to place, neither party giving quarter to the other. Many of the finest valleys of western Kansu were fearfully devastated, and the trees by the roadside were in many cases decorated with Moslem heads. Several missionaries were residing in these scenes of disturbance, and Mr. and Mrs. Ridley, with a baby not a year old, and Mr. Hall, all of the China Inland Mission, endured the terrors of several months’ siege within the walls of the prefectural city of Sining.’
The horrors of these days may be readily imagined from the one statement that, during one month only more than eight hundred Mohammedans in the city of Sining were beheaded at the magistrate’s yamen. Though these troubles threatened to spread and even involve Kashgaria, that catastrophe was in the providence of God averted, and order was restored after many months of heartless bloodshed and cruelty on both sides.
It is quite impossible to arrive at any reliable estimate as to the loss of life during these terrible upheavals. Some authorities state that during the rebellion of 1862- 1878 A.D., as many as ten million persons perished. There is no question whatever that these great rebellions in the north-west and south-west largely depopulated the provinces affected, ruined local industries, and resulted in famine, plague, and pestilence. They have also permanently imposed restrictions upon the Mohammedans’ liberties which did not exist before, so that in many parts they are not allowed to reside within the cities, and are handicapped in their business pursuits.
It would not be wise to attempt to generalise in regard to these matters, for localities vary considerably, but when one writer states concerning the prefectural city of Tungchwan in Yunnan that “No Mohammedan was allowed even to live within the city,” and another writer says that at Titaochow in Kansu, “Since then (1895) all Mohammedans have been positively forbidden living on this side of the river” (east of the Tao river), and when many other testimonies could be quoted to the same effect concerning other districts, it will be recognised that great changes have come over the status of the Mohammedan subject during the present dynasty.
Up to the time when the Manchus conquered China, nearly three hundred years ago, as has already been stated, there is no record of any Mohammedan rebellion, and everything points to the Moslems having enjoyed equal liberty with their Chinese fellow-subjects. In view of the rebellions as mentioned in the preceding pages, when the policy on both sides was one of wholesale massacre, it is only natural to conclude that the Mohammedan population has been greatly reduced during the last fifty years. In regard to the several millions of Moslems who still remain, it is hardly strange that they are more hated and more restricted in their liberty than they have ever been before.
Yunnan thinning
Yunnan.-There is great diversity of opinion as to the Mohammedan population of Yunnan, estimates vary- ing from 100,000 to 1,000,000. Undoubtedly the Panthay rebellion, referred to elsewhere, greatly diminished their numbers, and it is possible that the Mohammedans may intentionally under-estimate their strength to avoid Chinese jealousy.
“No doubt the numbers of the Yunnan Mohammedans were considerably thinned by wholesale massacres when the Chinese troops finally got the best of them, but I do not suppose that they ever formed a very large proportion of the inhabitants of the province. At present I should say at a guess they would not amount to more than three per cent of the total population. Mohammedans are [[209]]distributed all over China, and I do not think there is any province which has none, but I believe the proportion in Yunnan is greater than in any other province except Kansu. It is often supposed that Chinese Mohammedans are more honest and straightforward than the real China-man, but from what I have seen of them I very much doubt if this is the case in Yunnan; their customs and ways of thought are quite Chinese.”