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19. Kweilin to Chuanchow (Kwangsi), 80 miles. Preliminary survey made in 1909; no funds for construction.
20. Langson to Lungchow, 46 miles. A proposed French extension, metre gauge. of the Hanoi-Langson line. It is proposed to continue this line to Nanning (150 miles). 21. Yunnanfu to Szechuan, 450 miles. To Suifu or to Luchow. Two American engi- neers were engaged by the Viceroy of Yunnan to survey in 1909. Probably metre gauge. 22. Bhamo to Teng Yueh (Tien-Mien), 123 miles, Preliminary surveys completed; 2 ft. 6 inches or metre gauge.
23. Shasi to Singyifu (Kweichow) via Chengteh and Kueiyang with branch from Chengteh to Changsha, the whole aggregating 800 miles. An agreement was signed between the Chinese Government and Messrs. Paulings (British) on November 18th, 1913. 24. Kiaochow (Kaomi) Yichow-fu railway (Shantung), to join the Tientsin-Nanking railway on the Kiangsu border; also a line from Tsinanfu (Shantung) to Shuntehfu (Chihli) joining the Tientsin-Nanking and the Peking-Hankow lines. Chinese State railway to be constructed with German capital.
25. Lung-Ts'in to Yü-Hai. Contract made in 1912, between the Chinese Government and the Compagnie Générale de Chemins de Fer et de Tramways en Chine, of Brussels, for the construction and equipment of the Railway, thereby authorising the company to issue a 5 per cent. gold loan of £10,000,000 for that purpose. This line will run generally, in an east and west direction, through the Provinces of Kansu, Shansi, Honan, and Kiangsu. Its course is laid from Lanchowfu, to pass through the important cities of Sianfu and Tungkwan, to absorb the existing line between Honanfu, Chengchow (where it crosses the Peking-Hankow line), and Kaifengfu, then to bend slightly southwards to Süchowfu (where it crosses the Tientsin-Pukow line), and thence to a port yet to be determined. Haichow, on the north coast of Kiangsu, Tungchow (distant about 76 miles from Shanghai) and Haimen (about 20 miles farther east), on the northern shore of the Yangtsze estuary, are all spoken of as the probable terminus of this most important undertaking.
26. Tatungfu to Tungkwan. The Chinese Government in 1913 signed an agreement with the Compagnie Générale de Chemins de Fer et de Tramways en Chine of Brussels for a loan of £10,000,000, to build a railway from Tatungfu, southwards through the centre of Shansi, tó Tungkwan, where it will meet the Lung-Ts'in-Yu-Hai line, the company having the option to extend south westwards to Chengtu, the total length being about 960 miles. Proposals were also in the air for further extensions south-east to Chungking, and then south-west to joint the Yunnan Railway at Yunnanfu.
27. Chingchow to Nanning.-By an agreement, dated February, 1914, with the Banque Industrielle de Chine, a line will be built from Chinchow (Yamchow), on the coast west of Pakhoi, to Nanning, thence through the Yukiang Valley to Paiseting and Kütsingfu (a town north-east of Yunnanfu), where it will join the Yünnanfu-Chungking line.
The year 1900 will ever be memorable in the history of China for the "Boxer" rising, the last and a most determined attempt to break away from foreign influence and to revert to the exclusiveness of twenty centuries. Details of this great social and political upheaval may be found in preceding volumes of this Directory. The object of the rising, which was confined to the North, was the extermination of foreigners, ative Christians and people known to be associated with foreigners The Legation Quarter at Peking was besieged for two months by the Boxer rabble and the Imperial troops, the occupants being reduced to the verge of starvation. Troops were poured into China by all the European Powers, America and Japan, and it was not before 20,000 foreign troops had fought their way to the capital that the siege was razed. Over 250 Europeans were murdered during the rising, and it was estimated that over 10,000 natives perished, most of them being Christians or the kinsmen of Christians.
In November, 1908, occurred the death of the Emperor Kwang Hsu, followed a day later by the death of the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi. This news was unexpected, and there was consequently much suspicion for a time regarding the cause of the dual demise. The public were soon satisfied, however, that the deaths were due to perfectly natural causes. Dying childless the late Emperor Kwang Hsu, acting in obedience to "the benign mandate of the Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi, designated as he lay dying a son of Prince Ch'un, his brother, as his successor to the' Throne. At the time of his accession the new sovereign was barely three years of age, and Prince Ch'un was ap- pointed to act as Regent during the Sovereign's minority. The events of the past ten years had convinced Tsu Hsi, who had been the virtual ruler since 1895, that the salvation of the country lay in a complete reformation of the Government. Accordingly from
being
a reactionary of the worst type, she changed to an ardent advocate of reform. She
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