“The ancient system whereby our Dynasty has selected the scholars at public examinations by means of essays taken from the Four Books, is based on the principle that the foundation of all education lies in expounding the fundamental doctrines of our national Sages and the Standard Commentaries on the Confucian doctrine. For over two centuries this system has worked most satisfactorily, and it is only quite lately that certain meretricious tendencies have sprung up in connection therewith, and that candidates at these examinations have succeeded in obtaining degrees by the use of parrot-like repetitions and empty catch-words. The fault has been wrongly attributed to the system; it is in reality due to incapable examiners, who have allowed these abuses to creep in. Critics have failed to realise the truth in this matter, and have allowed themselves to abuse the system, going as far as to assert that the classical subjects in themselves are of no practical value. They forget that the classical essays set at these examinations are merely a first stage, a test for entrance upon an official career, and that, if the candidate is really a man of ability, the fact that he has been made to compose verses in accordance with the time-honoured methods of the T’ang and Sung dynasties will never prevent him from making his way in the world. But should he be a man in whom there exists already a tendency towards rash and unorthodox principles, it may safely be said that to set him essays on subjects of contemporary interest for the purposes of this examination would only serve to aggravate the evil and further to demoralise his nature. For these reasons, therefore, I now definitely decree that, for the future, the old system shall be restored, and that public examinations shall henceforward consist of themes and extracts from the Classics. A special examination for students of political economy, lately authorised, has been shown to be productive of evil, and is therefore abolished. It is the wish of the Throne that these public examinations shall be in reality a sound test of merit. Examiners and candidates alike should avoid meretricious adornments of style, and endeavour to conform strictly to the classical models. We desire, of course, that studies of a practical nature should be continued, but these had best be conducted under the guidance of local officials. It is certainly desirable that agriculture, and the promotion of industrial and commercial enterprises, should be placed on a more effective basis of organisation, but owing to difficulties of inter-communication and voluminous correspondence, it is inadvisable that these matters should be centralised at Peking. Let Bureaux be established at the various provincial capitals, and let a beginning be made at Tientsin, as a test case and an example for the rest of the Empire. The Peking Bureau is hereby abolished.”
Souvent femme varie, and the mind of Tzŭ Hsi never ran consistently for long in the same groove. Anxious always as to her popularity with all parties in the State, and with a view to adjusting that nice equilibrium of conflicting forces which constituted the pride of her statecraft and the strength of her rule, we find her next issuing a Decree which set forth the principles by which she professed to be guided. This Decree reflects a certain amount of anxiety and a doubt as to whether the punishment inflicted on the leading reformers might not be severely criticised by the outside world. Her Majesty therefore decrees:—
“From times of remote antiquity it has always been recognised that the perfect Government is that which is based on consistent maintenance of the doctrines of the Sages, but, in practice, the exigencies of any particular crisis must always justify modification of these principles, so that there can be no such thing as final and absolute adherence to any particular principle or method. Recently there have been introduced certain energetic measures of reform intended to put an end to the many and increasing abuses which admittedly exist all over the Empire; but certain evil-disposed persons have made these reforms the excuse for a revolutionary movement. These we have punished, so that the flood of treason and rebellion has been stemmed. This does not mean, however, that we shall fail to initiate and enforce all such measures, whether of a liberal or conservative nature, as may be necessary in the interest and for the welfare of our subjects. Was ever any man deterred from eating for fear lest a mouthful should choke him? There can surely be no real misapprehension in the public mind in the face of all the Decrees which we have issued on this subject, but we regret to note a marked lack of coherent opinion on the subject amongst our official advisers, for, at the time when these treasonable schemes were rife, we received scarcely any Memorials alluding to this national danger, and no suggestions for meeting it. It was only when the plot had been discovered and suppressed that certain attempts were made to acquire merit by those who thought they had fathomed the motives which had actuated our action. These misguided persons overlooked the important fact that it is the public interest, and the public interest only, which guides the policy of the Throne in matters of administration. The path we pursue is that of the just mean, diverging neither to right nor left. Once more would we admonish you, our officials throughout the Empire, bidding you purify your hearts and get rid, once and for all, of these false distinctions between reaction and reform. Let your Memorials consider only the needs of each day and each case as they come, and cease to submit haphazard schemes on the chance of their meeting with our personal approval.”
Her Majesty next turned her attention to the necessities and distressing condition of her people at large, and ordered that measures should once more be taken to prevent the constant destruction of life and property by the Yellow River in Shantung Province. She was under no delusion as to the nature of the measures taken in the part to remedy “China’s Sorrow” which, from time immemorial has been the happy hunting ground of peculating officialdom; nor could she expect that her stereotyped exhortations to virtue in this matter would afford her subjects any particular gratification. Her Majesty alluded to the fact that “frequent repairs to the banks of the Yellow River had not appeared to produce any permanent results,” but the remedy which she applied, viz., a consultation between the Grand Council and the various Ministries with the Censorate, was not very reassuring. Nor was her subsequent decision to send Li Hung-chang, to estimate on the spot the sum required for the construction of effective river conservancy works, calculated to convince the public of the sincerity of her benevolent intentions.
As in the days immediately following her first assumption of power after the overthrow of the Tsai Yüan conspiracy in 1861, the Empress Dowager at this period displayed remarkable activity in every direction, as is shown by the number of her Decrees at this period. After dealing with the Yellow River, she turned her attention to another permanent and crying evil, which for centuries has weighed heavily upon the lower classes of the Chinese people, viz., the interminable delay and heavy cost of legal proceedings and the hardships thus inflicted on all who may be compelled to seek justice at the hands of Chinese officials.
Her Majesty, in her Edict on the subject, showed a very close knowledge of the abuses with which, indeed, all Chinese are fully acquainted, but which official documents usually ignore. It is no doubt largely to her frankness in cases of this kind that the Old Buddha’s widespread reputation for good nature and tender-heartedness may be ascribed. Throughout the country, but especially in the north, it has always been the opinion of the peasantry and of the merchant class, that the Old Buddha was, if anything, too tender-hearted, and that her extreme mildness of disposition, though no doubt laudable, was on many occasions a source of danger. To her untimely “benevolence” the populace in Peking in 1900 undoubtedly ascribed the fact that the foreigners and native Christians were not massacred en masse before the arrival of the relief expedition. In this Decree on the subject of lawsuits, Her Majesty states that she has recently learned that legal proceedings are frequently hung up for several months at a time, and that innocent persons have been detained in custody for indefinite periods pending enquiry.
“Every sort of extortion is apparently practised in these courts, and their gaolers deliberately obstruct the hearing of cases unless they are heavily bribed. But if one member of a family is thrown into prison, it is evident that his whole household must suffer. Who would willingly enter upon legal proceedings, unless suffering from injustice too grievous to be borne, when the myrmidons of the law are able thus to ill-treat claimants? At the root of the whole evil lies the fact that the magistrates wilfully delay their business, being deaf to the needs of the people. From our hearts we pity them, and we now decree that regulations shall at once be drawn up for the expediting of outstanding cases. Any delay in this matter will involve heavy penalties.”
Again, another Edict thus reflects the benevolence of the “Divine Mother” and her desire to conciliate public opinion:—
“In the majority of recent cases of summary executions in the provinces, the culprits have been guilty of robbery under arms. However heinous the offences of such criminals, they really deserve our sincere pity. The excuse generally given for their folly is that they have been forced into crime by starvation; under such conditions men are apt to forget that their evil acts will bring upon them the death penalty. These criminals are hardy men and resolute; if they could only be turned from their evil ways to service in our Army or to agriculture, they might become good citizens: how preferable such a result to seeing them cast into prison and finally dismembered? Apart from this consideration, the crimes which they commit involve their parents and families, a thought sufficient in itself to disturb their conscience for ever. Here, in the remote seclusion of our Palace, we think only of our people’s welfare, and we long for the time when virtue may prevail and punishment become a thing of the past. We therefore now implore you, our children, to remember how real is our sympathy in all your troubles; strive then to be virtuous citizens, and cease from acts of violence which only bring trouble and misery in their train. Let this our Decree be made known to the most remote districts of our Empire, so that all may be aware of our solicitude and tender regard for our people.”
The Empress Dowager was much incensed at the sympathy for the Emperor shown by foreigners both in China and abroad, a sympathy which was reflected for a time in the attitude of the British Minister and other members of the Diplomatic Body at Peking. Adopting, however, that policy of “conciliation pending a fitting opportunity for hostilities,” which (as will be seen in another place) she had learned from study of the classics, she invited the wives of the foreign Ministers and other Legation ladies to an audience in the Palace at the beginning of the winter, and treated them with such courtesy and consideration that she won their hearts in a day. That her friendliness was entirely assumed, we have learned from her own statements, and there is no doubt that, from this time forward, she came more and more under the influence of the chief reactionary Kang Yi, who, during the absence of Jung Lu on leave, was able to persuade her that the first essential towards improving the country’s military resources was the organisation of bands of militia throughout the Empire. By missionaries who were close observers of events in Shantung and other head-quarters of this patriotic movement, it was soon realised that this military activity was directed primarily against foreigners, and owed its origin in the first instance to the Empress Dowager’s approval of Kang Yi’s policy of violent reaction.
The following Decree, promulgated towards the close of the year may, in a certain sense, be regarded as the beginning and the charter of the Boxer Movement; it was undoubtedly inspired by Kang Yi and his party.
“There has never been a time when the relations between Sovereign and people could safely dispense with a good understanding and certain general common objects. It is of course for the local Magistrates to initiate measures in all questions of local importance, but no successful national policy can be maintained unless the gentry and the lower classes co-operate with the Government. If we consider, for example, the question of food-supply reserves, the organisation of police, the drilling of militia or train-bands, and so forth: they may seem very ordinary matters, but if they are efficiently handled they may be made of the very greatest value to the nation; for by making due provision against famine, the people’s lives are protected, and similarly, by the organisation of local police, protection is afforded against bandits. As to the train-bands, they only require to undergo regular training for a sufficient period to enable us to attain to the position of a nation in arms. At any crisis in our country’s affairs their services would then be available and invaluable.
“We therefore decree that a beginning be now made in the Provinces of Chihli, Mukden, and Shantung, where all the local authorities must admonish the gentry and common people, so that these measures may be carried out with the utmost energy. Where any organisation already exists for the purposes mentioned, it need only be remodelled, and brought into line with the general system. Let steps be taken first at the provincial capitals, and extended thence throughout the Provinces. Eventually it is our intention that the system adopted shall be enforced throughout the Empire, on the basis of the new regulations adopted in these three Provinces.”
The rest of the Decree consists of the usual exhortations and warnings, and is of no particular interest. It is not certain from this document that the Empress herself understood clearly the forces that were about to be let loose in these so-called military train-bands, and her subsequent vacillation in regard to the Boxers would seem to afford an indication, if not proof, that she acted impulsively and without full knowledge, under the influence of Kang Yi. But the question rapidly increased in importance, so that a few days later we find Her Majesty issuing a second Decree, which shows that the potential power of the train-bands as a national force was gradually impressing itself upon her mind, where, as we know, the hope of revenge on foreigners was ever latent. In this second Decree occurs the following passage:—
“Recent events have caused me the greatest grief and anxiety; by day and by night, in the seclusion of my Palace, my thoughts dwell on these matters, and my one object is now to secure the tranquillity and prosperity of my subjects by the organisation of adequate military forces. My purposes, set forth in numerous Decrees, regarding the organisation of a strong army, the improvement of communications, and the formation of train-bands and militia, aim all at strengthening the Empire and promoting the contentment of my people.”
After reiterating the substance of former Decrees, Her Majesty proceeds pathetically to complain “that they have to a large extent been ignored, or merely transmitted by one provincial authority to another, descending from the Governor to the District Magistrate through the usual routine channels, and eventually pigeon-holed as so much waste paper.” She admits frankly that this method of treating Imperial Decrees is quite usual, and that it has the sanction of tradition, but she insists that the time has come for a change, and therefore now directs that all her Decrees are in future to be printed on special Imperial yellow paper, and their contents made known throughout the length and breadth of the Empire.
After further earnest exhortations to patriotism, and to that keen sense of duty which alone can develop efficiency in the public service, she directs that the local officials should keep closer touch with the gentry and the elders of the people, and that officers in command of military forces are to explain clearly to the rank and file the objects which Her Majesty has in view in deciding upon military organisation.
The Decree concludes with the following words:—
“If in times of peace my people are prepared to face all possible dangers, and to put away from them selfish and ignoble ease, they will find that, when the hour of trial comes, their common resolution is in very truth a tower of strength, which shall not fail to bring about its due reward. By this means shall the foundations of our Empire be strengthened, and its prestige increased, and thus shall my purposes be fulfilled, for which I have issued to you this solemn admonition.”
This Decree was followed by another, in the classical manner, exhorting the troops to practise patriotism, which calls for no especial notice, and certainly produced no more conspicuous effect than her repeated warnings to the provincial Mandarins and her appeals for more energy and intelligence in the public service. Certain writers have pointed to the numerous and plain-spoken Decrees issued by Tzŭ Hsi at this period, as proof that her heart was really set upon effectively reforming the country’s administration, but it is always difficult for foreigners, and even for Chinese outside the Palace, to form any concise idea as to the inner meaning of these lucubrations, and how much of them was, on any particular occasion, to be taken as something outside of the traditional and stereotyped utterances of the Throne. It is certain that she herself failed to exercise the personal influence and example that would have convinced the world of her sincerity, and that she did nothing to put her house of the Forbidden City in order or to do away with the manifest and notorious abuses at her Court.
The Old Buddha concluded this remarkable display of literary and political activity by returning once more to the grievance which rankled most deeply, viz., that the chief conspirator against her sacred authority and person had made good his escape. Professing to believe that the heinousness of K’ang Yu wei’s crimes was not fully realised by her people, she issued another Decree on the subject, in December, as follows:—
“T’an Chung-lin, Viceroy of Canton, has memorialised stating that he has brought to light, by searches at K’ang Yu-wei’s birthplace, a large quantity of documents, chiefly correspondence between the members of K’ang’s party, together with certain seals, made of stone; all of which he has forwarded for our personal inspection. These letters contain a mass of treasonable matter. In one place the suggestion is actually made that T’an Ssu-t’ung (one of the reformers executed) should be nominated as President of the Chinese Republic! The writers ignore the present Dynasty even in dating their correspondence, and use instead a chronology which begins with the birth of Confucius; one of them has actually had the unbounded audacity to describe the present Dynasty as ‘perfectly useless.’ Abominable wickedness of this kind shows that these men were something worse than ordinary rebels and parricides. Their correspondence implicates an enormous number of persons, but, as the Throne desires to show mercy and to refrain from any further enquiry into this matter, the whole correspondence has now been burnt by our orders.
“When first we stated in our Decrees the nature of the treasonable conspiracy that K’ang Yu-wei had organised and of his revolutionary programme, it was our object to nip rebellion in the bud. But it would appear, from information which has reached us, that certain misinformed people still hold to the opinion and express it, that K’ang Yu-wei was nothing worse than an over-zealous reformer. We mention therefore this matter of the correspondence of these traitors, as proving beyond possibility of doubt that K’ang Yu-wei was indeed a base and unnatural malefactor, and we feel convinced that our loyal subjects, from the highest to the lowest, realising this truth, will now relegate his revolutionary utterances to their proper position of insignificance. Thus shall right principles triumph and the wrong be wiped out.”
Thus was Tzŭ Hsi established in her pride of place and thus were sown the seeds of that great upheaval which was soon to shake the Empire to its foundations.