124 



CHINA. 



The values of the principal exports were as 

 follow : 



KX PORTS. I-Uikwan taeli. 



Silk fabrcs 



6.WO.if'0 



Mraw braid 



Shoe. Dd clothing 



Pai>er manufactures 



I ,O*O,UIM) 



. ],816,000 



. 1,181,000 



[::;<:;;:::::::::::::.: :: ........ ww* 



Tobacco ............................ 1,075,000 



Tin- total export of tea was 1,622,081 piculs (1 

 picnl= 188$ pounds), of which 535,818 piculs went 

 to Russia, 361,458 to Great Britain, 307,923 to 

 the rnited States, 162,727 to Hong-Kong, and 

 ir.J.s^ to Australia. 



Tin- Korean Question. Korea was tribu- 

 tary to Japan from the third century till 641 

 A. i).. and was occupied near the close of the 

 sixteenth century by Taiko Hideyoshi, the fa- 

 mous Japanese general who planned the con- 

 quest of China. From that time Japan claimed 

 suzerainty over the kingdom. China has claimed 

 rights of suzerainty since 2000 B. c. In 1637 

 A. D. a Chinese force overran the country and 

 exacted the conditions of vassalage that have 

 since been observed till recent times : That every 

 Korean king and his heir apparent must apply 

 for and receive investiture from the Emperor of 

 China; that an annual mission must be sent 

 with tribute to Pekin ; and that no important 

 engagement with other powers should be en- 

 tered into without the consent of China. After 

 the fall of the Shogunate in 1867 the Japanese 

 made an unsuccessful attempt to reassert their 

 suzerainty. They have long taken the leading 

 part in whatever "progress has been made in the 

 industrial development of Korea, where the Jap- 

 anese settlers are more numerous than all other 

 foreigners, numbering 0,890 in 1892, while there 

 wen- only .'. .")<; Chinese and 185 Americans and 

 Europeans, and they are the bankers and mer- 

 chants of the country, while much of the petty 

 trade is in the hands of Chinamen. Among the 

 Koreans two parties grew up, one in favor of prog- 

 i- achieved in Japan and of foreign inter- 

 course, and one hating all forms of Western arts 

 and culture, deeming their adoption treason to 

 Confucian principles. After the marriage of 

 tli" King, in 1*7:5, and the fall from power of his 

 father, the masterful Tai Wen Kun, Queen Cho 

 became the ruling spirit, at the Korean court, 

 and the main pillar of the party devoted to Chi- 

 traditions. The Chinese in 1877 annexed 

 the neutral strip, (JO miles broad, beyond the 

 Valu riv.-r, which had once been a part 'of Korea 

 ;md afterward devastated and left as a "no 

 m in's land." The Japanese countered Chinese 

 interference with a naval demonstration, the 

 outcome of which was a treaty, signed Feb. 27, 

 1871), in which China and Janan recognized the 

 independence of Korea. The Japanese legation 

 having 1 ..... n ai lacked in 1882. a military guard 

 was then-after maintained. Tai Wen Kun, the 

 supposed instigator of the disturbances, which 

 were aimed really at the Queen's party and its 

 Chinese protectors, was soon afterward enticed by 

 the Chinese minister on board a man-of-war and 



carried off to Pekin, where he was held captive 

 for four years. 



The Min family, of which the Queen was a 

 member, dominated the politics of the country 

 once more after'the suppression of its chief an- 

 tagonist, but it had other foes to deal with in 

 the young reformers who had imbibed advanced 

 notions from the Japanese. Led by a capable 

 noble named Kim Ok Kiun, ex-minister to Ja- 

 pan, a band of conspirators, on Dec. 4, 1884, 

 killed the principal courtiers and the ministers, 

 and seized the person of the King. The guard 

 of the Japanese legation, numbering 140 men, 

 interfered and obtained the custody of the mon- 

 arch, whereupon the Chinese soldiery encamped 

 outside the town attacked and overwhelmed the 

 Japanese, and the angry populace compelled the 

 conspirators to flee the country and take refuge 

 in Japan. The Japanese guard, after inflicting 

 heavy losses upon the Chinese, fought its way to 

 the seaport of Chemulpo. Japanese settlers who 

 were unable to reach the sea were slaughtered, 

 and the legation was looted. In the following 

 year a convention was concluded whereby Korea 

 agreed to apologize, restore the legation, and 

 build permanent barracks for the Japanese 

 guard. The last provision, suggesting a per- 

 manent military occupation, created alarm in 

 Pekin. The Chinese Government opened nego- 

 tiations for a treaty to regulate the relations of 

 both countries with Korea, the result of which 

 was the treaty signed at Tientsin in April, 1885, 

 providing that China and Japan should both 

 withdraw their troops stationed in Korea, and 

 should advise the King to employ European 

 officers to organize and train an efficient force 

 sufficient to assure public security. Each power 

 engaged not to send any of its own officers to 

 Korea, and agreed, in case any grave disturbance 

 necessitated the sending of troops to Korea by 

 either or both of them, that they would give 

 previous notice in writing each to the other, 

 and would withdraw their troops immediately 

 on the restoration of order and not further sta- 

 tion them there. 



The habitual extortion of the Korean taotais 

 and other provincial officials has become more 

 exorbitant of late years because the Government, 

 which fills its coffers by the sale of offices, need- 

 ing larger sums for military and other expenses, 

 has changed the officials frequently. An asso- 

 ciation called Tong Hak, representing the idea 

 of independence of both Japanese and Chinese 

 influences, perhaps instigated by Tai Wen Kun. 

 incited the people of the southern province of 

 Chulla to rebel against their oppressors in the 

 spring of 1894. A force of 1,000 soldiers that 

 was sent against the insurgents on May 8 would 

 not fight, sympathizing with the people, and as 

 the rebellion spread into other districts King 

 Li Hi, at the suggestion of Yuan, the Chinese 

 resident, called upon the Chinese Government 

 for aid. Li-Hung-Chang sent a force of 2,000 

 men into the country. The Japanese Govern- 

 ment protested against this act as a violation of 

 the treaty. 



Another complication had arisen to embroil 

 the Japanese Government with the Korean court 

 party and the Chinese. Kim Ok Kiun, who had 

 been a, pensioner on the Japanese Government 

 since his flight from Korea, was decoyed to 



