452
2
translation of which I enclose, setting forth the story as represented by the Chinese authorities. Nothing, you will observe, is said in the Memorandum about the two previous attempts at assassination of which Père Monbeig spoke; while the statement that the Thibetan had been earlier denounced by the Mission is expressly denied. On the other hand, it is declared that, besides the decapitation of the man, Père Vignal had also caused the right ear of a woman to be cut off, an incident concerning which Père Monbeig was silent.
The affair only concerns British interests in so far as it may embitter generally relations between natives and foreigners in the interior, in particular relations between the Thibetans of Weihsi and the friends of the Roman Catholic Mission there. Among the latter is Mr. Forrest, the plant collector, who will by now have returned to the Sub-Prefecture. I have not, however, received any warning from the provincial authorities that Weihsi is unsafe, and I trust that Père Monbeig's assurance is well founded—that the inhabitants will bear no malice for the removal of the man Tz'u-ch'eng by Père Vignal. In the meantime the latter is, if the statement in the Memorandum is correct, to be put on his trial for murder before the French Consul at Mengtzu.
I have, &c.
(Signed) W. H. WILKINSON.
3
Prefect Peng further reported on the 22nd day of the first moon (15th February, 1906) that he had ascertained that Tzu-ch'eng was a peaceable person who had taken no hand in destroying the chapels or in attacking the missionaries. Père Jen (Genestier) had not included his name in the list of the rioters.
A telegram was sent at the time to the Wai-wu Pu at Peking, asking that the French Minister might be officially consulted with a view to the settlement of this affair. Subsequently, on the 12th of the second moon (6th March), a telegraphic reply was received from the Wai-wu Pu stating that in the case where the missionary Wei had done to death Tzu-ch'eng an answer had been sent in by the French Representative to the effect that he was instructing the French Consuls at Ch'engtu, Yunnan-fu, and Mengtzu to search for and arrest (the accused), who, when arrested, was to be handed over to the Consul at Mengtzu to be tried on the charge of murder.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Abstract of the Case of Wrongful Killing by the French Missionary Wei Ya-feng (Vignal)
of Tz'u-ch'eng, an Elderly Inhabitant of Tzu-ta Village, in Weihsi.
(Translation.)
ON the 12th day of the 12th moon of the 31st year of Kuang Hsü (the 6th January, 1906) a telegram was received from Peng Chi-chih, Acting Prefect of Lichiang-fu, in Yunnan, dated the 21st of the 11th moon (the 17th December, 1905), to the following effect: The missionary Wei Ya-feng, who was conducting some converts back from Weihsi to Yen-Ching ("Salt Wells"), in Szechuan, met with trouble on the road, but the crowd of natives took alarm and dispersed. It happened that the Prefect was at Atuntzu at the time, arranging measures of pacification. He exhorted the missionary to proceed on his way peacefully, at the same time detaching soldiers to guard him, and issuing what rations would be required while in the jurisdiction.
A subsequent telegram from Prefect Peng, dated the 1st of the 12th moon (the 26th December), reported that, after the departure of missionary Wei Ya-feng from Atuntzu, a local Headman, Sang Wen-kuei, reported that, on the arrival of Wei Ya-feng at Nati, he (Père Vignal) had ordered his converts to kill an elderly native, Tz'u-ch'eng, to cut off the nose and ears of a woman, and to carry off the cattle, horses, and gear of two households. The villagers were enraged, and danger of disaster was imminent. The Prefect took the story to be an idle rumour, certain that no such thing had happened. Still, he sent an influential Headman to go with all speed and restore quiet. Then Lin Ping-sheng, one of the escort sent, returned to Atuntzu at the close of his charge, and handed in a note from the missionary Wei, saying that, on his arrival at Nati, he had unexpectedly encountered a brigand Chief of the Lamas, named Tzu-ch'eng, who had played a principal part in the burning of the chapels and the slaying of the converts. He had therefore ordered Tzu-ch'eng to be punished by beheading. He had also discovered some articles belonging to the Mission premises. This was his own doing, and did not concern his escort.
The Prefect was astounded at what he read, but Private Liu deposed that missionary Wei had at Nati ordered the convert Chao Shu-fang to decapitate the old man Tzu-ch'eng, and also to cut off the right ear of a woman, and to carry away cattle, horses, and gear of two households. The escort had intervened in vain.
Whether or not the elderly native Tz'u-ch'eng was a ringleader in the attack upon the Mission, he ought to have been handed over to the local authorities for trial and punishment according to law. Still more was this the case when, as here, Yunnan had spared no effort in the arrest of the malefactors and the rounding up of the murderers. For the missionary to presume at the head of his converts to take upon himself to inflict death showed disregard for the majesty of the law and was subversive of all authority. The consequences to be dreaded might be endless.