Foreign Relations of the United States, 1901, Appendix, Affairs in China, Report of William W. Rockhill, Late Commissioner to China, with Accompanying Documents
Mr. Rockhill to Mr. Hay.
Peking, June 6, 1901.
Sir: For convenience of reference 1 inclose herewith copies of all the correspondence down to the present date exchanged between the representatives of the powers and the Chinese plenipotentiaries in reference to the suspension for five years of official examinations in all towns in which foreigners were massacred or cruelly treated during last year’s troubles.
The only serious obstacle in the way of a complete settlement of this question is the British minister’s refusal to agree to allow the metropolitan examinations to be held and candidates from provinces in which no antiforeign trouble occurred to come up for them.
I hope the British Government will finally agree with the other powers that to allow these last-mentioned examinations within the limitation mentioned is advisable and just.
I have the honor, etc.,
Mr. de Cologan to the Chinese Plenipotentiaries.
Highness and Excellency: Carrying out the terms of the conditions contained in the Joint Note of December 22, 1900, which was accepted by His Majesty the Emperor of China, the representatives of the powers have drawn up a list of the cities in which, foreigners having been massacred or been subjected to cruel treatment, in accordance with Article II, paragraph b, all official examinations shall be suspended for five years.
I have the honor to transmit to you herewith this document and to request you, in the name of my colleagues, to be pleased to ask His Majesty the Emperor of China to issue an Imperial decree suspending all official examinations during five years in the towns mentioned in the list, and in which foreigners were massacred or were subjected to cruel treatment.
I avail myself, etc.,
List of places where examinations are to be suspended.
- Province of Shansi: Tai Yuan Fu, Hsin Chou, Tai Ku Hsien, Ta Tung Fu, Fen Chou Fu, Hsiao I Hsien, Chu Wo Hsien, Ta Ning Hsien, Ho Ching Hsien, Yueh Yang Hsien, Shuo Ping Fu, Wen Shui Hsien, Shou Yang Hsien, Ping Yang Hsien, Chang-Tzu Hsien, Kao Ping Hsien, Tse Chou Fu, Hsi Chou, P’u Hsien, Chiang Chou, Ping Yao Hsien, Lu Cheng Hsien, Lu An Hsien, Hung Tung Hsien, Kuei Hua Cheng, Sui Yuan Cheng.
- Province of Honan: Nan Yang Fu, Ho Nei Hsien, Chang Chou, Kuang Chou, Chen Chou Fu, Chun Hsien, Nei Huang Hsien, Chang Te Fu, Tai K’ang Hsien, Hsiang Cheng Hsien, Si Hua Hsien.
- Province of Chekiang: Chü Chou.
- Province of Chihli: Pao Ting Fu, Yung Ching Hsien, Tientsin Fu, Shun Te Fu, Wang Tu Hsien, Huai Lu Hsien, Hsin An Hsien, Tung Chou, Kalgan, Chao Yang Hsien, Tung An Hsien, Tsang Chou, Tsun Hua Chou, Chi Chou, Wu I Hsien, Ching Chou, Luan Ping Hsien, Ho Chien Fu.
- Province of Shantung: Tai An Fu, Lin Ching Chou.
- Eastern Manchurian provinces: Moukden, Chia Tzu Chang, Lien Shan, Tzu Ching Chieh, Pei Lin Tzu, Hu Lan Cheng.
- Province of Shensi: Ning Chiang Chou.
- Province Kiangsi: Po Yang Hsien.
- Province of Hunan: Heng Chou Fu, Ching Chuan Hsien.
- Shun T’ien Fu (Peking).
Chinese Plenipotentiaries to Mr. de Cologan.
Your Excellency: On the 11th day of the 2d Moon of the 27th year of Kuang Hsu (30th of March, 1901) we received from your excellency a dispatch (dated March 29) in which you say that “to carry out the conditions of the Joint Note of the 22d of December, 1900, which was accepted by His Majesty the Emperor of China, the foreign representatives have drawn up a list of the towns in which, in conformity with Article II, paragraph b, foreigners having been massacred or subjected to cruel treatment, all official examinations shall be suspended for five years.” Your excellency transmits this list with the request, in the name of your colleagues; that His Majesty the Emperor of China, be asked to publish an Imperial decree suspending all official examinations for five years in the towns indicated in this list, in which foreigners have been massacred, or have been subjected to cruel treatment.
The suspension of civil and military examinations is a condition provided for by the last paragraph of Article II of the peace protocol drawn up last year, and the said article stipulates that the suspension during five years of the civil and military examinations would only apply to the towns in which people of various countries have been massacred or have been subjected to cruel treatment.
We stated in our memorandum of the 11th Moon of last year (January, 1901) “that the cities and towns in each prefecture, subprefecture, department, and district are very numerous. It will be necessary to ascertain in what cities and towns foreigners have been massacred or been subjected to cruel treatment, when of course action as laid down will be taken. This provision evidently applies to the Sui and Ko examinations. As regards the provincial and metropolitan examinations, these are collective examinations for each province. Should there be in a province cities or towns where foreigners have been massacred or subjected to cruel treatment, separate enquiry, as above mentioned, ought to be made and action taken accordingly. In other cities and towns, not in any way implicated, examinations ought to take place as usual. Such a course of procedure will serve as an exhortation and warning.” The representatives of the powers are already fully aware of this.
Notwithstanding this, in the list drawn up of localities in which examinations shall be suspended, the designations have been made by prefectures and districts, and not by towns, and this is a noteworthy amplification of the original text of the last paragraph of Article II. If, for example, in a district there happens to be a town in which foreigners have been massacred or have been subjected to cruel treatment, the suspension of examinations should apply at that town alone, and it would not be proper to exclude from the examinations candidates throughout the entire district.
[Page 221]As regards prefectures, such territorial divisions comprise a number of districts, one remote from the other. In such cases it would be even more impossible to apply the suspension of examinations to a whole prefecture, because this measure is applicable to a town situated within it. Such a mode of procedure would not be logical. If it is alleged that examinations begin with the prefectures and districts, and that there are no special examinations for towns of inferior rank, and for that reason it was only possible to speak of prefectures and districts, such would not be the language of one who was thoroughly conversant with the true condition of things; for when the prefectural examinations, as well as the district examinations, take place, the students of the towns in which examinations have been suspended would not be authorized to have themselves entered for them. All others, however, should take part in these examinations as in ordinary times. The distinction is easily made.
If because in a certain town evil doers have brought about disorders, it would result, if the above plan was followed, that peaceful and honest people living in the other cities would all have to be subject to the suspension of examinations for several years, in which case the sense of the phrase in the memorandum “as encouragement and warning.” would be distorted and simply be a warning to evil doers and no encouragement to the law-abiding people. Would such a mode of procedure be equitable and likely to produce a good impression on the population?
We are therefore naturally led to ask the plenipotentiaries of the powers to have drawn up a detailed list giving the towns, and not a general designation by prefectures and districts, in which foreigners have been massacred or have been subjected to cruel treatment. This will be in conformity with the text of article II, and will place us in a position to ask for an edict stating the localities in which examinations should be suspended.
Such is the official reply which we send you, Monsieur le Doyen, requesting you to bring it before the plenipotentiaries of the powers so that they can act accordingly.
Mr. de Cologan to the Chinese plenipotentiaries.
Highness and Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your dispatch of 2d of April, replying to the demand which the plenipotentiaries of the powers sent you concerning the execution of Paragraph B of article II of the Joint Note accepted by His Majesty the Emperor of China.
You seem to believe that my colleagues have given to the application of the measure on the principle of which they reached an agreement with you an extension which it does not comport. You invoke in this regard a paragraph of memorandum of the 16th of January in which you formulated observations on the conditions which were imposed on you.
I must call your attention, in the first place, to the fact that the terms of this memorandum have never been accepted by the plenipotentiaries of the powers, who have, on the contrary, reserved to themselves to pursue the integral carrying out of the articles of the Joint Note.
I may add as concerns the particular question which is the object of this dispatch that you misapprehend entirely the intentions which inspired the drafting of the paragraph concerning the suppression of examinations in the towns in which foreigners have been massacred or have been subjected to cruel treatments. The object of this article was to insure, by means to which the Empire has itself sometimes had recourse, the prevention of crimes committed with the assistance and most frequently at the instigation of the literati class. This object would not be attained if the plan which you suggest were accepted, because it would permit the literati to evade the penalty which the representatives of the powers have sought to inflict on them, and to preserve by fraud or by eluding the application of the intended measure the right of which it is intended to deprive them.
My colleagues have consequently decided to insist on the necessity of granting them the satisfaction which they have demanded, and which could only be rendered more stringent if they entered, as you ask them, into a detailed examination of the cities in which the examinations should be suspended, because they would be led, without a doubt, to extend this measure to whole provinces.
I avail myself, etc.,
Chinese plenipotentiaries to M. de Cologan.
Your Excellency: On the 2d of May we received from the Grand Council at Si-an a telegram stating that the governor of Hunan had wired that by the terms of the Joint Note there shall be a suspension of all official examinations for five years in all the towns where foreigners have been massacred. It appears that in the matter of the missionary cases in Wei Yang and Ch’ing Chuan, in the Hunan Province, these were the result of trouble brought about by rebels and not the literati, and naturally the order of suspension should not apply there. The trouble only occurred in the towns of Huang-sha-han and Chiang-tzu-k’ou, in the jurisdiction of the above-named districts. Even if the examinations were to be suspended, it should only be done at the two towns mentioned where the trouble occurred. The suspension of examinations merely refers to places where the Boxers created trouble last year. This rule should not apply to missionary cases that occurred in other places. If the examinations must be suspended, it would seem necessary to clearly state that the suspension shall apply to the two towns where the trouble occurred, and not involve the whole province. This is important, for the sake of justice and fairness.
Having received the above we would beg to observe that in the matter of the suspension of examinations, correspondence on the subject has passed between the foreign representatives and ourselves, but nothing has been definitely settled. We would embrace the opportunity, however, of again expounding our views in a clear and minute way.
The suspension of examinations for the period of five years refers to the people living in places where disturbances have occurred—the result of the Boxer movement—who can not compete during that time; it has no reference to places where disturbances occurred (not the result of the Boxer movement). Take, for instance, Peking, where last year a revolution took place resulting in loss of life to foreigners of all nationalities. The native scholars resident in the capital are punished by the examinations not being open to them, which is perfectly right and proper. But Peking is the capital of China, and the “Chü-jen” of the various provinces come here to enter the metropolitan examinations. Then, as to the examinations for the second degree in the Shün-t’ien prefecture, we may add that these are open to senior licentiates and students of the imperial academy of the southern, northern, and central provinces. This examination is not confined alone to students of the metropolitan prefecture. If the metropolitan examinations for the third degree and the metropolitan prefecture examinations for the second degree are to be suspended, then in that case the students of all the provinces will not be able to compete for the above degrees, and as the result of the disturbances in many cities and towns the scholars of the Empire would all thus be cut off from entering the official carrier. Besides, it is the illiterate vagabonds who cause trouble, and by such a mode of procedure the peaceable, law-abiding scholars would in like maner be implicated with them. Would this be strictly in accordance with justice? Foreign missionaries are a class associated with the scholars of China, and if the examinations at Pekin are suspended to scholars this would create a feeling of enmity which would not be befitting.
We therefore ask that the examinations be suspended only to persons resident in the places where it is right they should be prohibited, but not to those living in said cities or towns (where disturbances occurred). The examinations of an entire prefecture or district should not be suspended—a discrimination should be made. The suspension of examinations for five years should apply to places where the Boxers created trouble last year; other places should not be affected by this ruling.
In sending this communication to your excellency, we beg that you will confer with your colleagues on this subject and favor us with a reply, in order that a memorial may be sent to the throne asking the issuance of a decree in reference to the places contained in the list forwarded to us some time ago re suspension of examinations.
Mr. de Cologan to the Chinese plenipotentiaries.
Highness and Excellency: You asked me in a dispatch, under date 4th of May, to communicate to my colleagues a telegram from the grand council concerning the towns in which examinations were to be suspended during a period of five years, in compliance with article 11 of the Joint Note.
[Page 223]You explain in this connection that according to your opinion the suspension of examinations should consist “in the interdiction for the residents of localities in I which troubles have occurred to present themselves at the examinations during a period of five years, and not in the interdiction during five years to allow examinations in localities in which troubles occurred.” It is on the contrary this last interpretation which is the correct one. To convince you of this, it is sufficient to consider the text Paragraph B of article II of the Joint Note accepted by His Majesty the Emperor of China. This paragraph is worded as follows:
“Suspension of all official examinations during five years in all the towns in which foreigners have been massacred or subjected to cruel treatments.”
You observe, as confirming your explanations, that at Peking in particular the suppression of examinations would work a hardship on people from all the provinces who may not have taken part in the troubles of last year, and you add that those guilty of the disorders were ignorant people and ruffians. You show yourself thus most severe on the princess and high officials whom you have already recognized as responsible for the crimes to which you refer. We entertain grave doubt whether the criminals can be considered as ignorant, though we do not contest that they behaved like ruffians.
Speaking in a general way, it has been, on the contrary, the literati who have always been and who were, particularly last year, the real authors or accomplices of the antiforeign movement, and the Chinese people can only be held responsible, as it were, for having been dragged into the movement.
The representatives of the powers insist, therefore, on the demands which they have made on you, and which are entirely in conformity with article 11 of the note which you have accepted.
I avail myself, etc.
Chinese plenipotentiary to Mr. de Cologan.
Your Excellency: On the 13th instant we had the honor to receive a communication (dated March 11), in reply from your excellency in regard to the matter of the suspension of examinations for a period of five years. Your excellency states that the real purpose is that the examinations should be suspended for that period at places where disturbances took place. The foreign representatives must, in accordance with the terms of article II of the Joint Note, still adhere to their original views, etc.
In reply, we may observe that the suspension of the examinations for five years to persons in places where disturbances occurred is a most complete way of exposing them to undergo punishment in public. Since the foreign representatives are acting in accordance with the terms of article II of the Joint Note, having relation to the suspension of examinations, we may state that we agree to the suspension at the places named in the list, in accordance with the terms of your excellency’s note; hence there is no need for further discussion on that point by us.
We may point out, however, that there are extreme difficulties to overcome as regards the metropolitan examinations at Peking, the examinations for the second degree held in the metropolitan prefecture. These are collective examinations for the scholars of all the provinces and can only be held at Peking. If these examinations are not to be allowed, then, on account of trouble caused by persons in, say, one or two provinces, the scholars of twenty-two and more provinces will surfer by their suspension. Really this means the examinations for the whole of China, and would not seem to be fair and just. The provincial examinations in Shansi are held, according to law, at Tai-yuan Fu. It is estimated that in the troubles in Shansi, taking the departments and districts of the whole province where foreigners were massacred, that only one-fourth of the province is concerned. If the examinations are to be suspended at Tai-yuan Fu, then that would mean the suspension of the provincial examinations for the whole province, and if no provincial examinations are held, then the students will have no way of competing at the metropolitan examinations. Suspension should be at the places where trouble occurred and not every place. It would be no easy matter to be reconciled to this method of procedure. We believe it is not by any means certain that the views of the foreign representatives are not with us in this matter. Therefore the metropolitan examinations at Peking, and the provincial examinations at Shun-tien Fu and Tai-yuan Fu should be carried on as heretofore, and not suspended for five years.
[Page 224]Farther, it appears that in Ho Chien and Tsang Chou, in Chihli, no massacre of foreigners took place. The missionaries know this to be the case. Examinations at these places should not be suspended.
We had already prepared a memorandum on the above subject, but we did not send it to your excellency. We therefore send this communication to your excellency and will thank you to confer with your colleagues on the subject here presented and favor us with a reply at an early date.
Mr. de Cologan to the Chinese plenipotentiaries.
Highness and Excellency: In reply to your dispatch of 19th of May concerning the examinations, I am requested by my colleagues to inform you that they insist on their demand concerning the suspension of provincial examinations at Tai-yuan Fu and at Shun-tien Fu. They reserve to themselves to study later on the question of the metropolitan examinations.
As to your observations concerning Tsang Chou, the diplomatic corps has recognized that they are well founded, and consents to strike this locality off the list.
It has also requested me to transmit to you a list of localities in which, for the same reasons, there is no occasion to suspend examinations.
Regarding Ho-chien Fu, the diplomatic corps will secure information, of which I will communicate later on to you the result.
In reply to another communication of your highness and your excellency under date the 25th of May, I hasten to inform you that the locality in the province of Shensi, which had been designated under the name Ping-yang Hsien, is in realty Ping-yuan Fu.
I avail myself of this opportunity, etc.,