Tientsin

“ During those winter months Tientsin is entirely cut off from the outer world, save for the mails which are brought overland. No one can enter or leave the town to go south, and business is at a standstill until spring breaks up the ice. This isolation comes suddenly, for we heard of a steamer that went aground below Tientsin, and in one night was frozen in by a coat of ice a foot thick. A British gunboat is anchored under the Consulate, sent up since the late riots at Wuhu, and it is a great comfort to the English residents to feel that she is to spend the winter here. ”

“ After that first success, we have seen how Tientsin settlements were attacked by the enemy, and how, after a gallant defence, they were relieved by the column from the forts, who had been reinforced from Port Arthur and Hong-Kong. Immediately after—in fact, at the same time as all this was taking place—we have followed Seymour’s march and ultimate retirement, and the relief of Tientsin brings us to his relief, which followed on the next day. ”

“ The traveler who lets his friends rush him about the foreign concession of Tientsin by trolley or automobile will get an impression of a comfortable Western community in an Oriental land, but he will carry off very little idea of the real China, or even of the real Tientsin, which 106is a swarming Chinese city, none the less so for having had its wall reduced to a street of boulevard width as a punishment for the Boxer uprising. ”

“ On account of its flat surroundings, Tientsin is the least picturesque city of China. There is a recreation ground, Victoria Gardens, native gardens, a race course around a graveyard, a jockey club, much society, naval and military life, theatricals, and facilities for the many athletic, swimming, boating and skating clubs. Except in summer the climate is charmingly dry; the wind and sand storms are greatly feared, however. The loess dust is as penetrating as the alkali dust of Arizona. ”

“ The native population of Tientsin — or Heaven's Ford, according to the English translation — is reputed to tie 1,000,000, but there are no reliable statistics upon which an estimate can be based, for the census taken by the police in 1904 was entirely unsatisfactory. The natives formerly earned the unenviable distinction of being the most violent, as well as the most hostile to the foreigner, of any in the Empire. ”

“ Effect of the Tientsin disturbances on the situation in Manchuria.The threatening situation at Tientsin on the 26th caused the staff officers of the Kwantung Army to propose to the Commander an immediate expedition of troops via Chinchow and Shanhaikwan to reinforce the endangered small force at Tientsin. As a mere transport problem it would have been easier and quicker to despatch reinforcements by sea via Dairen. ”

“ Twenty-four thousand troops landed and 19,000 at Tientsin. General Gaselee expected at Taku to-morrow; Russians at Pei-tsang. Tientsin city under foreign government. Boxer power exploded here. Plenty of troops on the way if you can keep yourselves in food. Almost all the ladies have left Tientsin."
I suppose it was cruel to laugh, but laugh I did with a few others. Never has a man been so abused as was [247] that luckless English Consul who penned such a fatuous message. The spy had already marched our troops half way and more; even the pessimistic allowed that they must have started ”

“ It is not a prepossessing place at first sight, nor did its dusty, bustling quays, warehouses, and noisy, perspiring coolies, make us at all anxious to prolong our stay longer than was absolutely necessary. The trade of Tientsin is not great when compared with the other treaty ports. Nearly all the tea exported thence goes to Russia and Siberia——occasionally by way of Pekin——but in most cases viâ Kalgan and district across the Gobi Desert to Kiakhta, without touching at the capital. The Russian merchants are therefore nearly as numerous as the English at Tientsin. ”

“ The importance of Tientsin has been enhanced by the railways connecting it with Peking on the one hand and with Shanhai-kwan and Manchuria on the other. The British concession, in which the trade centres, is situated on the right bank of the river Peiho below the native city, and occupies some 200 acres. It is held on a lease in perpetuity granted by the Chinese government to the British Crown, which sublets plots to private owners in the same way as is done at Hankow. The local management is entrusted to a municipal council organized on lines similar to those which obtain at Shanghai. ”

“ Everybody's eyes were fixed on Peking. There was nothing else spoken of. That made us stronger than anything else. Poor human nature—we are so egotistical!
But there were other items of news. For the first time we learned that Tientsin has had a siege and bombardment of its own; that all Manchuria is in flames; that the Yangtse Valley has been trembling on the brink of rebellion; that Tientsin city has at last been captured by European troops and a provisional government firmly established; and that many of the high Chinese officials have committed suicide in many parts of China. ”

“ Yet the world is really upside down as far as we are concerned, and it is quite absolutely impossible that the situation should end so normally as to find us quietly retreating down the Tientsin road. Others kept sending out servants to discover at what price carts would undertake to drive the whole way down to the sea, or at least to Tientsin. ”

“ Well, I have no doubt it is something like that, Rex. When the Chinese saw that we were quite determined to get into Tientsin, our obstinacy and fixedness of purpose told upon them, and they began to say: ʻThese people have made up their minds to come, therefore we had better go.ʼ Certainly they showed a great deal of pluck during the first dayʼs fighting; even the tremendous cannonade to which they were exposed did not seem to shake their courage at all, for they fought as stoutly at the end of the day as they did at the beginning. We can hardly say that we gained any advantage whatever. ”

“ The place has, however, risen with new splendour from its half-ruined condition, and now poses as the principal residence of the most powerful of the viceroys. Connected by the river with the seaboard, by the Grand Canal with several provinces to the south, and by rail with Peking, Hankow and Manchuria, Tientsin commands the chief lines of Page 34 communication in northern China. In point of trade it ranks as the third in importance of the treaty ports. ”

“ Tientsin, then, like Shanghai, is a potent, an electric, force in its influence on China. Whatever the Chinese are to become in their struggle towards the light of day will be in some measure due to the example set by these two cities, the only samples of Western civilization which the Chinaman can scrutinize at close range. The missionary tells him of the God of the Western peoples, and of how His Spirit regenerates humankind; the Chinaman listens stolidly, and then turns to look at the samples of regenerated peoples that fringe his Coast. ”

“ Yet a little longer I waited in Pao Ting Fu before starting on my Siberian trip, for the start was to be made from Tientsin and the missionaries were going there in house-boats. They were bound for Pei Ta Ho for their summer holiday and the first stage of the journey was down the Ching River to Tientsin. I thought it would be rather a pleasant way of getting over the country, and it would be pleasant too to have company. I am not enamoured of my own society; I can manage alone, but company certainly has great charms. ”

“ On the 4th the native servants and others began to leave the settlement, and several of them besought their masters to go while there was yet time. “For,” they assured them, “the foreigners are to be utterly exterminated on the 19th,” which was, it will be remembered, the date of the last massacre of Tientsin in 1870.
In spite of these gloomy assurances, no general exodus took place from the settlement, and civilians, many of whom held posts under the government, and whose opinions were listened to with respect, were among the most positive that there would be no general rising. ”

“ The soldiers of Yulu and Yuhien [governors of Shantung and Chihli] are an our men. When we have finished killing in Tientsin, we shall go to Peking. All the officials high and low will welcome us. Whoever is afraid let him quickly escape for his life."]
With a view to protect the foreign settlement at Tientsin, then threatened by Boxers, the combined naval forces stormed the forts at the mouth of the river, and advanced to that rich emporium. The Court denounced this as an act of war, and ordered all foreigners to leave the capital within twenty-four hours. ”

“ The man slept last night near the Chien Men, crawled along the moat, and entered the water-gate without challenge before daylight this morning.
He said the high road to Tientsin is in good condition. Crops everywhere look well. Villagers are attending to their farms, but there is a Boxer organization in every village. When he left Tientsin, the foreign troops had not advanced beyond the defense wall, San Ko Hin Sin’s “Folly,” built by that general against the British and French in 1860 but never defended (hence the name “folly”) surrounding Tientsin city at a distance of one-half to one mile. ”

“ Since then we have been waiting for Parkes, who stayed at Tientsin for a letter from Pekin about the opening of the Yangtze river, which I am anxious to take with me to Shanghae. ... Yesterday was a lovely day; a bright sun, and the air frosty enough to stimulate one to walk briskly. This morning there was a strong gale from the north-west, but it subsided after midday. I had a very satisfactory time at Tientsin. We got through a good deal of business; and, what is most pleasant to me, Frederick seems perfectly satisfied with the whole affair, and the part I have taken in it. ... ”

“ The Tientsin men throughout the empire are known as rowdies, but the rowdies of the streets of Peking (possibly originally from Tientsin) are certainly the worst.
There are only two other men, who can be compared in position with the Emperor of China. One is the Emperor of Russia, also now a young man; the other is the Dalai Lama, popularly reputed to be never allowed to live beyond a certain very youthful age. ”

“ He refused to place Tientsin on the list of open ports, because, as he said, "Foreign powers would make use of it to overawe the Chinese capital,"--just as if overawing was not a matter of prime necessity. He hastened away to India to aid in suppressing the Sepoy mutiny, eventually becoming viceroy after another campaign in China. His brother, Sir F. Bruce, succeeded him as minister in China; and twelve months later (July, 1859) the ministers of the four powers were again at the mouth of the Peiho on their way to Peking for the exchange of ratified copies of the several treaties. ”

“ Details of the formation and development of the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha will be found in the Hongkong section of this volume. The Tientsin branch was established in 1885, and the first manager, Mr. Sasaki, was appointed Consul for Japan. The district sub-offices, such as Peking and Kalgan, are under the supervision of the Tientsin branch, whose business has grown to such an extent that eighteen assistants are employed. The present manager, Mr. Y. Yasukawa, was born at Kyoto in 1870, and received his education at Osaka Commercial College. ”

“ It was disclosed in the conference that the Japanese, whose forces occupied the right bank of the river in and about Tientsin, where also were located the British and American forces, had by various patrols determined that the Chinese were in considerable force in the vicinity of Pei-tsang, about 7 miles distance up the river from Tientsin, and that they were strengthening their position by earthworks extending from the right bank of the river westward something like 3 miles, and from the left bank east to the railroad embankment was also being strengthened. ”

“ It may be said that the same humane line of action that was followed by these three nations during the whole campaign was carried out to the letter in the demoralising times during the looting of Tientsin. It is not proposed to discuss the ways of the other nations; not that it is to be supposed for one instant that they are all tarred with one brush. For instance, the Russians and Germans did not participate in the looting of Tientsin proper, and the Austrians and Italians were so small in numbers, that their looting power suffered in comparison to the troops of other countries ”

“ The Chinese, dispirited at the result of the morning’s work, ceased their bombardment, and the first siege of Tientsin was over.
What a change had taken place in the short fortnight that the bluejackets had been in garrison. On their arrival they found a busy, prosperous, and pretty European town, whose inhabitants vied with each other in getting up amusements and sports for the men. Prettily dressed women and children were everywhere in evidence, and by their presence greatly added to the success of the various entertainments. ”

“ Had he told us the truth, that the officers at Tientsin were at that moment actually discussing whether it was possible to make any advance until the rainy season was over, had he sent this news, there is no saying what would have happened. The disappointment would have been so great that we should probably have attempted some desperate action, with the result that all the Europeans would have been massacred and also the Christian Chinese, to whom the handful of fighting–men available would have been absolutely unable to afford protection. ”