Li Hongzhang

“ Without carrying the exhaustive process further, it is safe to say that whatever concrete statesmanship there has been in China during the past generation has been embodied in the person of Li Hung-chang. He alone has a continuous record, has followed a definite line, and kept his ideals, like a captive balloon, strictly attached to the earth on which he had to work. ”

“ He answered untruthfully, "Several leagues beyond the Yen-p'ing Gate," hoping that they would ask him to stay. The old lady said, "The drum has sounded. You will have to go back at once, unless you mean to break the law."
The young man answered, "I was being so agreeably entertained that I did not notice how rapidly the day had fled. My house is a long way off and in the city I have no friends or relations. What am I to do?" Miss Li then interposed, saying, "If you can forgive the meanness of our poor home, what harm would there be in your spending the night with us?" ”

“ From the earliest period of his career Li Hung-chang stood out far in advance of his fellows, and in all the troubles which have beset the empire during his time, it is he who has been thrust into the breach and made to bear the brunt of its misfortunes. ”

“ Miss Li was evidently very much pleased. He heard her saying, "Be sure not to let him go away. I am just going to do my hair and change my clothes; I will be back in a minute." The young man, in high spirits, followed the page-boy into the house. A white-haired old lady was going upstairs, whom he took to be the girl's mother. Bowing low, the young man addressed her as follows: "I am told that you have a vacant plot of land, which you would be willing to let as building-ground. Is that true?" The old lady answered, "I am afraid the site is too mean and confined ”

“ Li Hung-chang's greatness made him many enemies. Those whom he defeated, those whom he would not or could not help, those whom he punished or put out of office, and those whose enmity was the result of jealousy. When the war with Japan closed and the Chinese government sent Chang Yin-huan to negotiate a treaty of peace, the Japanese refused to accept him, nor were they willing to take up the matter until "Li Hung-chang was appointed envoy, chiefly because of his great influence over the government, and the respect in which he was held by the people." ”

“ Li and Wang were standing. The others were in the inner room prepared to await his orders.
At that moment the Chinese caught sight of Mr. Li and Wang, and a fiendish smile of triumph lighted up their faces. Mr. Li also smiled.
"Not so fast, my friends," he said, quietly; and as the first man landed on the ground he gently pushed Wang in front of him through the door leading into the inner apartment, and slid the bolt.
"That bolt will be no good, sir," said Wang; "they will force the door in a few minutes, and we shall all be tortured and killed." ”

“ Li, drily, "and your attachment to us being so great, you will do all in your power to help instead of hindering us. I cannot have these ladies alarmed. Now see," he said, turning to Lilian and Nina, who had turned a shade whiter, for though they placed unbounded confidence in Mr. Li, it was not pleasant to hear the sounds in the outer room.
"Now see: I touch this button, and look at the result!" As he spoke he pressed a spring in the wall, and a huge sliding door shot right across, protecting the door through which they had passed, and which the Chinese were forcing from the outer side. ”

“ He is a man of great integrity and broad talent. He should take charge of Xuzhou. I would like to retire to a life of leisure, so that I can restore my health." Xuande said, "Kong Wenju compelled me to come to the aid of Xuzhou out of a sense of justice. If I were to now occupy it for no good reason, the world will judge me to be without any sense of justice." Mi Zhu said, "The house of Han is now in a state of decline, and the world is turned upside down. If you desire to make a name for yourself, now is the time. Xuzhou is full of wealth and there are hundreds of thousands households. ”

“ It was as though the fan resented the light and flung it back into the alleys. And Li Hsein, a shapeless mass, sat and crooned, forever waving the fan, crooned in a cracked harsh voice, broken melodies, unintelligible gibberish which might have been curses or prayers.
The shifting cycles of time are rather odd to contemplate. A few years and one is flung from one cycle of existence into another. The change is almost as great as the transition from one planet to another. In China the position of woman is on a very low plane, not much better than that of cattle or dogs. ”

“ Ho Chih-chang sat near by, abundantly pleased at the informality with which Li Po had been received by Ming Huang. His interest was intense. He was thankful for the privilege of being permitted to listen. Being a true poet, there was no jealousy in his being; being a true statesman he was inordinately pleased that his introducing Li Po to the Emperor was having such a happy effect.
And Li Po said, "Tu Fu is like an Elder Brother. Who strikes one of us, wounds both. Who honors one of us, honors both. ”

“ It was saddening to be deprived of so gallant a maker of songs. But Yang Kuei-fei was unhappy. There were tears trembling on the edge of her eyelids. Above all else, happiness must return to this loveliest of women. As a parting gift, he gave Li Po a large sum of money.
Although Li Po accepted the gift, his gratitude was seasoned with bitterness. When he had angered the Grand Eunuch, he had offended an army of eunuchs. Eunuchs never forgot a slight. And now that Kao Li-shih had been made a Generalissimo, there was an outside chance that all the soldiers of China were also his enemies. ”

“ Li Hung had sinned the unforgivable sin. He had defiled his family's holiest of holies—the ancestral tablets which, to the Mongol, are more even than the Savior on His Cross to the Christian, which are the center, the core, the secret and intimate essence of Chinese life! The ancestral tablets of the Li's! Tab lets of smaragdine jade, reaching back to the days of the Ta-Ming, the Bright-clear Dynasty, when already the Li clan had been honorable burgesses and literati in the great city of Canton!
"And—my parents?" faltered Li Ping—"what did they do?" ”

“ By this time old goody Liu had taken a seat on the edge of the stove-couch. As for Pan Erh, he had gone further, and taken refuge behind her back; and though she tried, by every means, to coax him to come forward and make a bow, he would not, for the life of him, consent.
"Relatives though we be," remarked lady Feng, as she smiled, "we haven't seen much of each other, so that our relations have been quite distant. But those who know how matters stand will assert that you all despise us, and won't often come to look us up ”

“ If Yang Kuei-fei should learn the magnitude of the power she held over him, there would be no managing her.
He thought of the words of Confucius: "Don't become a fool while trying to be a great scholar."
"It is far worse," he reflected bitterly, "to be a fool while striving to be a good Emperor."
One morning, Tai Shan loomed up before them like an island floating in the sky. They quickened their pace and by evening they had reached its base.
At dawn the next morning, Ming Huang, attended only by Kao Li-shih and Li Po, set out on the Great Pan Road that leads to the top of the mountain. ”

“ The wisdom and greatness of the Empress Dowager were thus manifested in binding to the throne the greatest men not only in the capital but in the provinces. Li Hung-chang had won his title to greatness during the Tai-ping rebellion, for his part in the final extinction of which he was ennobled as an Earl. From this time onward she placed him in the highest positions of honour and power within sufficient proximity to the capital to have his services within easy reach. ”

“ In Li’s whole works there are said to be only nine poems in the strict seven-character metre. Most of his familiar short poems are in the old style, which neglects the formal arrangement of tones. The value of his poetry lay in beauty of words, not in beauty of thought. Unfortunately no one either here or in China can appreciate the music of his verse, for we do not know how Chinese was pronounced in the eighth century. Even to the modern Chinese, his poetry exists more for the eye than for the ear. ”

“ In an essay on "the Spirit of the Chinese people," I said that the one word which will sum up the total impression which the Chinese type of humanity makes upon you is the English word, "gentle." If this is true of the real Chinaman, it is truer of the real Chinese woman. In fact this "gentleness" of the real Chinaman, in the Chinese woman, becomes sweet meekness. The meekness, the submissiveness of the woman in China is like that of Milton's Eve in the "Paradise Lost," who says to her husband,
God is thy law, thou, mine ”

“ Liu exclaimed:
"Surely this woman has a loyal heart! Since she acts so, she must not be allowed to suffer. I am going to act as mediator in your marriage."
Leaving Li in his house, he went himself to ask for loans on all sides. In two days he had amassed a hundred and fifty ounces. He gave them to the young man, saying:
"I have stood guarantor for you, for I am deeply touched by Shih-niang's sentiment."
Li took the silver, as delighted as if the money had fallen from the sky, and ran to see his mistress. It was the ninth day. She asked him: "Has it been very difficult? ”

“ He had great ambition, and was particularly adept at forging relationships with men of outstanding ability. He grew to a height of eight chi. [20] His ears drooped down to his shoulders, and his hands went past his knees. He could see his ears with his own eyes. He had a striking face, like one of the jade ornaments which adorn so many hats, [21] with lips that were red and plump. He was the descendant of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, and he was also a distant descendant of Emperor Jing of Han. His surname was Liu, and his given name was Bei; his style name was Xuande. ”

“ They'll chant your songs to their children, sing them to the moon on a summer night, and in sleep they will sweeten their dreams."
Li Po was stirred by emotion as he said, "You are now called 'The Brilliant Emperor,' the ruler who recaptured poetry from oblivion. Henceforth this reign shall always be known as 'The Golden Age of China.' count myself blessed to be alive in such an era."
"Before your noble words I am humbled. The culture of China some day will be a light to which all men look up. And the poet who will add great luster to it, is Li Po. ”

“ This liberty, this privilege is sometimes and even—when the sense of honour in the men in the nation is low as now in this anarchic China, often abused. But still I say the protection for the wife in China where the husband is allowed to take a concubine, is the love of her husband for her, the love of her husband, and, I must add here, his tact.—the perfect good taste in the real Chinese gentleman. I wonder if one man in a thousand among the ordinary Europeans and Americans, who can keep more than one woman in the same house without turning the house into a fighting cockpit or hell. ”

“ When lovers are agreed, not even the mandate of a parent will deter them. But my daughter is of humble birth. Are you sure that she is fit to 'present pillow and mat' to a great man?"
He came down from the daïs and, bowing low, begged that she would accept him as her slave. Henceforward the old lady regarded him as her son-in-law; they drank heavily together and finally parted. Next morning he had all his boxes and bags brought round to Mrs. Li's house and settled there permanently. ”

“ When they had sung these lines they fell weeping into each others’ arms.
“The minister is awaiting my report,” said, Li, “and you delay too long. Think you that there is any hope of succour?”
The Empress broke into another fit of railing.
“The rebel forces us to death, mother and son, and Heaven has abandoned us. But you, the tool of his crime, will assuredly perish.”
Thereupon Li grew more angry, laid hands on the Empress and threw her out of the window. Then he bade the soldiers strangle Lady T‘ang and forced the lad to swallow the wine of death. ”

“ I saw things in a different light."
"From the eyes of a frog," chuckled Li Po. "In my dilemma, I fell asleep."
"Sleep levels the fool and the wise man."
"A line of thought I leave to you. I care not to walk on dangerous ground again. But to go on with my report, when I awakened, far above I beheld one bright star. In ancient days Confucius ascended Tai Shan and esteemed the world small. In modem times, I tripped and fell down a well and the world is still small. Does that not lend itself to meditation? If falling down a well or struggling to mountain peaks is all one, why toil?" ”

“ The Sheng-li or Li proper, called also La, Le or Lauy, are probably connected with the Laos of Siam and the Lolos of China. Though not gratuitously aggressive, they are highly intractable, and have given great trouble to the Chinese authorities. Among themselves they carry on deadly feuds, and revenge is a duty and an inheritance. Though they are mainly dependent on the chase for food, their weapons are still the spear and the bow, the latter being made of wood and strung with bamboo. In marriage no avoidance of similarity of name is required. ”

“ Goody Liu, at these words, speedily heaved a sigh. "Her venerable ladyship," she said, "is a person advanced in years and not accustomed to any intense fatigue!"
"She has never before been in such high spirits as yesterday!" lady Feng observed. "As you were here, so anxious was she to let you see everything, that she trudged over the greater part of the garden. And Ta Chieh-erh was given a piece of cake by Madame Wang, when I came to hunt you up, and she ate it, who knows in what windy place, and began at once to get feverish." ”