CHINA. 



return, and, in the mean time, ask permission to take 

 leave of your Excellency in renewing the assurance 

 of our high esteem. 



The foreign ministers at Peking were much 

 disturbed by the atrocity, and the Emperor 

 forbade any of them to leave Peking until the 

 excitement should be over. The Chinese Gov- 

 vernment promised to comply with all reason- 

 able demands for satisfaction ; but as to the 

 extent of this satisfaction it was found difficult 

 to arrive at an agreement with the representa- 

 tive of France in Peking. In October, the 

 French demands were so far granted, that six- 

 teen Chinese were sentenced to be beheaded, 

 and two mandarins to be exiled. The execu- 

 tion of the former took place on the 27th of 

 October, while Mr. Seward and his party were 

 entertained at the Russian embassy. The lead- 

 ing officials who were implicated in this mas- 

 sacre were left unpunished, and the sincerity 

 of the Chinese Government was greatly doubt- 

 ed by the diplomatic corps in Peking. 



The additional articles* to the treaty be- 

 tween the United States and China, of June 

 18, 1868, which were concluded and signed by 

 the plenipotentiaries of the two Governments, 

 at "Washington, July 18, 1868, were ratified in 

 1869 by the Chinese Government. The Chi- 

 nese Government was so well pleased with the 

 results of Mr. Burlingame's mission in the United 

 States and England that it extended his term 

 to two years, and appropriated the sum of 

 $140,000 in gold for expenses. In January, 

 1870, he succeeded in concluding a treaty with 

 the North-German Confederation, similar in 

 all important provisions to the treaties con- 

 cluded with the United States and England. 

 From Berlin he went to St. Petersburg, where 

 he was received with the greatest distinction ; 

 but, before his negotiations for an additional 

 treaty were concluded, he died. 



The rebellions in the southwestern and 

 northwestei'n provinces of the empire main- 

 tained their strength during the year. The 

 disturbances first broke out among the Mo- 

 hammedan Panthay of the southwest prov- 

 ince of Yunnan, about twelve years ago. They 

 were occasioned by the heavy taxation and the 

 misconduct of the Mantchoo officers. At first 

 the movement was considered as of no impor- 

 tance, and only a small detachment of troops 

 was sent againt the rebels. This force was 

 soon repulsed. "When more energetic measures 

 were adopted, the insurrection had acquired 

 such strength that nothing was accomplished. 

 The Chinese forces were not able to cross 

 the borders of the disturbed region. The 

 rebels divided their territory into four dis- 

 tricts, and chose their leader, Ta-wia-tsin 

 King. He assumed the name of Solimon. The 

 royal palace was established at Tali-fu. Since 

 then Yunnan has been an independent king- 

 dom. In 1866 the Chinese Government sent 

 an embassy to King Solimon, which sought, by 



* See the text of these articles in the AMEEICAN AN- 

 NUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1868. 



conceding to him the territory he already held 

 and his independence, to obtain from him a 

 promise that he would make no more conquests. 

 He refused to give any such promise. Another 

 Mohammedan rebellion which has been going 

 on for years is that of the Soongarians, in the 

 northern provinces of Kan-suh and Shen-si, 

 who rose under similar provocations to those 

 which had occasioned the revolt in Yunnan. 

 This insurrection commenced in 1862, at Sin- 

 gan-fu, the capital of Shen-si, and spread very 

 rapidly in the northwest. Messengers were 

 sent from Ssalar, the largest community of 

 Soongarians in China, to every place where 

 Soongarians dwelt, to call them to the holy 

 war against the Mantchoos. All the Soonga- 

 rian men, without exception, were required to 

 join the military force, and to bring their 

 goods to the mosques to be appropriated to the 

 common fund. The insurrection was headed 

 by Sso-chun-schan, and was organized on a 

 radical democratic basis, yet under very strict 

 discipline. Officers and common soldiers were 

 paid equal rates out of the common treasury ; 

 the use of tobacco, opium, and wine, was 

 strictly forbidden. "Wherever the Soongarians 

 have made their way, they have removed the 

 officials of the Mantchoos, and reorganized the 

 country. The Mohammedans have laid aside 

 the Chinese costume, and adopted that of 

 Bokhara. The Chinese and Calmuck temples 

 have been pulled down, and all the children, 

 without distinction, have been taken to the 

 mosques, to be brought up in the religion of 

 Islam. Chinese, who accept Islamism, enjoy 

 the same rights as the Soongarians ; but who- 

 ever remains a Buddhist is made a laborer or 

 herdsman ; only the women are permitted to 

 adhere to their faith. The insurrection spread 

 steadily from city to city, along the northern 

 part of the Thian-Shan to the extreme border 

 trading-towns of Knld-shee on the Hi (August, 

 1864), and Tuguchuk (1865). Another division 

 of the insurrectionists advanced along the 

 roads which follow the mountain-ranges of 

 Toorkistan, and the cross-roads between Oksu 

 and Yarkand. Of the nomadic tribes around 

 Tuguchuk the Kirgheez took the side of the 

 Soongarians, and, of course, the Calmucks, the 

 hereditary enemies of the Kirgheez, allied them- 

 selves with the Chinese party. The Calmucks 

 at length obtained the ascendency, and the 

 Soongarians were put back on the defensive in 

 Tuguchuk. But, in the beginning of 1866, the 

 Mantchoos had possession of only three points 

 in the province of Ili, and in 1868 the Mo- 

 hammedans ruled not only all of old Soonga- 

 ria, but also the whole of East Toorkistan and 

 Khoten, Kashgar and Yarkand. At the end 

 of 1869 and the beginning of 1870 the insurrec- 

 tion also extended to the hitherto quiet Mongo- 

 lia. "When the insurgents had pressed forward to 

 the vicinity of Urga, the Russian authorities, 

 at the solicitation of the chief in the province 

 of Urga, sent a detachment of Cossacks over 

 the border. Urga is about 170 miles south of 



