Stars of the Orient: New Martyrs of China
Part 2: Slicing of the Melon
The Dawn of the "Millennium of Peace"
Addressing German troops in 1900, Kaiser William II encouraged them in the following bold words which might have caused a few brows rising among the rulers from the European Christian past :
"Just as the Huns a thousand years ago, under the leadership of Attila, gained a reputation by virtue of which they still live in history, so may the German name become known in such a manner in China that no Chinese will ever again dare to look askance at a German."[7]
While the leader of the highly civilized German nation sets a simple practical goal to learn from the Huns, a contemporary American ideologist Prof. J.W. Davis adds a theological spin to the subject:
"China needs protection and guidance, even to the point of wise compulsion... China will be delivered from its effete civilization and will come under the power of those motives which have their source in the vital truth of the Christian revelation."[8]
And here is what Senator A. Beveridge of Indiana had to say to his colleagues about the U.S. foreign policy and its underlying principles:
"God has not been preparing the English-speaking and Teutonic peoples for a thousand years of nothing but vain and idle self- contemplation and self-admiration. No! He has made us the master organizers of the world... that we may administer government among savage and senile peoples."[9]
Such were the dominant opinions of the day. Racial superiority over the "savage and senile peoples" coupled with irresistible desire to convert it into cash were viewed as legitimate manifestation of "the motives which have their source in the vital truth of the Christian revelation". It was not a shortage of oxygen, fresh water of arable land, but rather progress in the range of naval vessels, accuracy of fire and destructive force of projectiles, that suddenly rendered the planet too small. Old countries on the world map were rapidly changing their colors, and familiar human fallacies like "the Millennium of peace", "wise compulsion", "end justifies the means", etc. have found amazingly broad practical implementation.
Under the Attack of Free Trade
China remained one of the few juicy pieces still to be divided among the "civilized nations". Her plight was exacerbated by the weakness and impending fall of the ruling Manchu dynasty which had been in power since XVII century. Crises of that kind are painful for any monarchy; China had experienced a number of them in her long history, and all of them brought about civil strife, turmoil, and human suffering. Under such conditions the much-coveted "opening up" of ancient China was taking place; the Chinese, however, saw it as "slicing of the melon".
As usual, the first issue on the table is free trade; then claims are made for "concessions" and "zones of influence" for every trade partner; and soon the country itself is gone, split into colonies and protectorates. Again as usual, the leadership was Great Britain's. Problems with export of Chinese tea to Europe began in early XIX c.: British tea clippers, those white-winged sea beauties, returned to China loaded with opium, the hottest item in the noble gentlemen's business plans. China had never known opium before: in a matter of few decades it swept the country and became the scourge of the nation. Christian missionaries, who helped their flock get rid of the loathsome addiction, proudly ascribed their success to the "advantages of the Western civilization"; they never stopped to think who introduced the drug in China in the first place.[10]
Little wonder that the government of China did not share the British views on free trade and "advantages of the Western civilization"; hence the First Opium War with Britain, then the Second, with Britain and France, than with Japan, than again with France, than once again with Japan, all with the same outcome: defeat of the Chinese army, humiliation of the Chinese state, expansion of foreign influence.
Pistol Diplomacy
Thus, traditional isolationist tendency of the Chinese and their distrust of the aliens were continually fueled during the XIX c. and eventually grew into a steady hatred. The infamous Tientsin massacre of 1870 offers a graphic example:
"A serious disturbance apparently having been nipped in the bud, Ch'ung-hou began to draft a proclamation to pacify the inhabitants of the city. Shortly after noon, however, he was suddenly informed that a brawl had begun at the Catholic church between some converts and a group of bystanders. Just as he was deputing soldiers to quell the riot, the French consul arrived at the yamen and Ch'ung-hou went out to greet him.
"Fontanier, accompanied by his chancellor, M. Simon, was armed with two pistols and in an ugly mood. Upon seeing Ch'ung, he began to use abusive language and, in an act of incredible folly, shot at the Chinese official, fortunately without hitting him. Fontanier was then seized by the onlooking attendants, and Ch'ung-hou, finding it inconvenient to wrangle with him further, withdrew for the moment into the yamen. The consul then entered, and, shouting furiously, started to make a shambles of the room's contents.
"When his fury had abated somewhat and he prepared to go, Ch'ung-hou advised him that since popular feeling was enraged and a mob of several thousand Chinese -- including members of the gentry and official classes -- had gathered in the streets outside, he had best not leave the yamen. The Frenchman, according to Ch'ung, replied that he was not afraid of the Chinese common people and angrily stalked out into the crowd.
"Outside Fontanier encountered the Tientsin magistrate, purportedly on his way back from having suppressed the disturbance at the church. The consul again fired his pistols, missing the magistrate, but fatally wounding one of his attendants.
"Whether the hideous atrocities which followed were pre-meditated, as the "immense majority" of contemporary foreigners seemed to feel, or not, they were now inevitable. Fontanier and Simon were ripped open on the spot. The crowd then plundered and set fire to the French consulate, the orphanage, the church, and other Catholic properties, and killed and savagely mutilated every Frenchman that could be found..."[11]
The Underlying Crisis
Unfortunately, we have to admit that Western missionaries -- both Protestant and Roman Catholic -- had something in common with consul Fontanier and his kind. A young American woman, a preacher of the Word, is riding on the horseback in Shansi Province in 1898. A Chinese villager calls her "a foreign devil" (common derogative for the aliens) from far away; she catches up with him and treats him with her whip. Worst of all, no one of her fellow missionaries seems to have any problem with that...[12]
Arrogance and contempt are often explained away by "cultural differences". There are indeed enough peculiarities in the Chinese culture, from an evasive manner of speech (mistaken by many for deception), unusual food, clothing, and hygienic rules, to the already mentioned addiction to drugs, propensity for litigation (some Chinese viewed conversion to Christianity as a means to prevail over the contestants in numerous lawsuits), swindling, and horrible custom of killing the "unneeded" newborn. All that is true, and all that could be counted as an excuse for someone who came here as a merchant -- but hardly as a Christian missionary.
Considering Sino-Western relations in general, including politics, commerce, culture and religion, we have to conclude that the events of 1900 were caused not by the "transgressions" of the West, but by the very nature of the Western influences. The ancient Chinese state could be seen as a victim of the conflict between opposing trends within the Western culture itself, -- or, in other words, of its crisis.[13]
Tragically, Russia took her part in the "slicing of the melon". A. Solzhenitsyn observes that
"...it was wrong for Russia not only morally, but also practically, to overstep her vast natural boundaries. The Russian government since 1895 joined forces with the European powers in the Far East, which resulted in the shameful act of sending troops to Beijing in 1900: for many decades China had been weak, and all international predators were scrambling to take a bite."[14]
We shall see below to which extent Solzhenitsyn is justified in calling Russian military operation "shameful"; but in any case, there is much to lament here, both in particular -- when Russian names are mentioned in connection with violence against the civilians, -- and in general, when we speak of Russian involvement in Manchuria, of Russo-Japanese war, and the following events. And, as always, the enemies of Russia use every opportunity for their advancement:
"British policy of the moment was to play up to Germany and defeat Russian territorial ambitions in the Far East. For that policy decision, nameless Chinese villagers would die of English bullets."[15]
The Sections of the New Martyrs of China:
- The Celestial Empire and her Northern Neighbor
- Traditional Way of Life
- Albazinians in Beijing
- The Ecclesiastical Mission
- Slicing of the Melon
- The Dawn of the "Millennium of Peace"
- Under the Attack of Free Trade
- Pistol Diplomacy
- The Underlying Crisis
- Red Fist vs. Mailed Fist
- Young Liberators
- Swift Success...
- ... And Crushing Defeat
- "Compensation for Damage"
- The Glory of the Huns
- "Preaching the Lamb of God, ye were also slain as lambs..."
- Orthodox Martyrs in Beijing
- "We came here to bring you the Good News..."
- One Hundred Years Later
- Dewey, Marx and Lenin
- "Multicultural Developments" at Home
- Memory lives
References
[7] Hannah Arendt. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Meridian Books, 1958, p. 185
[8] R. O'Connor. The Spirit Soldiers. G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1973, p. 28
[9] Ibid., p. 29
[10] Nat Brandt. Massacre in Shansi. Syracuse Univ. Press, 1994, p.48
[11] P. Cohen. China and Christianity. Harvard Univ. Press, 1963, p.232-233
[12] Brandt, p. 152
[13] Arthur N. Holcomb. Chinese Problem. The Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, Vol.3, 1930
[14] A.I. Solzhenitsyn. Russkij Vopros k Konysu XX Veka. Novyj Mir, 7, 1994
[15] O'Connor, p. 299
