THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1891. THE DISTURBANCE IN CHINA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2258, 24 September 1891, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1891. THE DISTURBANCE IN CHINA.

From recent cablegrams it would appear' that things are in a very troubled condition in China. We are told that large numbers of the inhabitants are becoming very rebellious: that they aim at overthrowing their Tartar ruler and establishing in his stead the Ming dynasty. This is a very old question in China, and it led to the Taeping rebellion, which took place about forty years ago. In 1366 the Ming dynasty, of real native extraction, was established, but in 1644 a war broke out between China and the Manchu Princes, resulting in placing on the throne of China a Manchu ruler. Ever since there has existed a feud between the two races, and the most successful effort put forth to dethrone the Tartar was that of forty years a go, in which General Gordon won his laurels and established his reputation as a great military leader. This rebellion had its origin in a very humble way. A village schoolmaster named Hung-tsue-tseun represented himself as Divinely commissioned to expel the Tartar rulers, and to reestablish on the throne a native sovereign. The country was much discontented at the time,’; partly over the opium question, in which the English figured. Before the introduction of opium was legalised a great trade in it was carried on by smugglers, and these, with other discontented spirits, flocked to the standard of the Heaven-sent liberator. In order to win sympathy, Hung and the leaders of the movement represented themselves as converted Christians. Hung called himself a younger brother of Jesus Christ, and pretended to be in direct communication with Heaven. Very soon he had a large army at his back, and next year he had conquered a large portiou of China. He established himself as Heavenly King, and appointed four others as subordinate king, or, as they,were called, Wangs, and set up his Court at Nankin, the ancient capital of the Ming dynasty. Instead of turning out religious, as many in England expected, they became cruel and barbarous, and spread woe and desolation over the length and breadth of the land, over which their reign extended. Until the great commercial city of Shanghai was threatened, the English looked on all this with complacencz. The more China was wasted with internal dissensions the better it suited them from a military point of view. But large English, French, and American factories and commercial houses had been estab- » lished at Shanghai, and it was seen at * once that it would not do to allow such marauders to take possession of it. It i was then that a small force of foreigners was established to defend the pity, but this grew to what was known as the “ ever victorious army,” of j which General Gordon eventually obtained command. It took about three years to put down the rebellion, and without doubt the rebels would have been successful only for the able generalship of the hero of Khartoum,

The probabilities are that the present disturbance is a renewal of the old trouble, and if it is true, as we are told it is, that the Government is afraid of attempting to put it down, we may safely gay that it has grown to large dimensions. There hi pot on earth a more egotistical class than the i'lflsrd of the Chinese empire. They actually arrogate to themselves power over all the universe, qnd would not blush to assert that it is by by their will the remainder of the world lives. The power of the rebels, therefore, must be strong if the governing classes admit that they fear them- H would be a mistake to think that they shrink from a war in which they feel they would be successful. There is not, perhaps, any nation which claims to be ciyijUfeed, which sets less value on human | life. In % sis 9 of the Taeping war, as

many as 30,000 persons were massacred in one town. The chief practice indulged in so far. however, appears to be the murder of missionaries or “ foreign devils.” This is, too, an old passion with Chinamen. The old policy was to “ treat barbai’ians (foreigners) as beasts and not as citizens.” It is probable that the Government are conniving at the attacks on the missionaries, and that the hesitancy to suppress the disturbance is a subterfuge. They are adepts at duplicity and cunning, as has been proved on all occasions on which Europeans have had any diplomatic relations with them. However it may be, it does not appear that the country at the present time is in a very settled condition, but one consolation we can draw from it: while they continue to fight among themselves there is danger of their coming to conquer these colonies, as some people seemed to dread a few years ago.