This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
REC P: 29 DEC 08
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL,
[43869]
No. 1.
December 16.]
SECTION 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.~(Received December 16.)
(No. 521) Sir,
Peking, November 21, 1908.
THE comparatively slight impression which the almost simultaneous deaths of the Emperor and the Empress-Dowager of China have made on the country illustrate once more the futility of attempting to prophesy about events in China. It is safe to assert that a year ago almost every well-informed foreigner and a large majority of Chinese would have viewed the possibility of such a coincidence as almost certain to lead to a struggle for power in Peking, if not a revolutionary movement in the country. And yet in Peking itself the life of the city has gone on almost as usual, and the reports from the provinces, some of which a year ago were in a disaffected state, indicate a similar calm acquiescence in the new order of things. In the capital and some of the larger towns of the Empire there has been a run on the banks, but thanks to the timely intervention of the Government, this has not assumed the character of a financial panic.
That the predictions of trouble in connection with the vexed question of the succession have been falsified is largely due to the stability which the presence of Yuan Shih-k'ai in Peking has for some time past given to the Central Government and to the laudable determination with which both Manchus and Chinese have agreed to sink minor differences and to act in concert in meeting a common danger. It is too early yet to affirm with certainty that the surprising quietude which exists at present will be maintained, but the crisis has so far been met in a way which justifies confidence in the future and attests the reality of the progress which has been made since the Boxer outbreak of 1900.
The Emperor, who has been in a state of chronic ill-health for years, was known to have been gradually growing weaker all the summer, but it was only during the fortnight preceding his death that his condition became really serious. There was no great surprise, therefore, when it was announced on the evening of the 14th instant that His Majesty had died a little after five o'clock that afternoon, but there was a feeling almost of consternation when less than twenty-four hours afterwards it became known that the Empress-Dowager, who had so long guided the counsels of the Empire, had also passed away.
One of the last audiences granted by the Empress to foreigners was that at which Vice-Admiral Lambton was received on the 12th October. Her Majesty was particularly gracious on that occasion, but it was noticed that she had visibly aged, and one of the Chinese Ministers remarked at the time that he was greatly shocked by her appearance. On her birthday, the 3rd November, she ate some fruit, of which she was particularly fond, and contracted an attack of dysentery, but on the 9th November she sent for the Minister to whom I have above alluded, and specially deputed him to come to the Legation and convey her congratulations to His Majesty the King. Her death came therefore with unexpected suddenness, but the retention of all her powers almost to the end enabled her to make all arrangements for the succession, Prince Ching, who had been sent some days previously to see that the Imperial tomb, which has been in preparation for years, was in order, was hastily recalled and arrived back in Peking on the morning before the Emperor's death. A Cabinet Council was at once summoned, and it was decided that Prince Chun, the Emperor's younger brother, should be appointed Regent, and that his son, a child of about three years of age, should be designated as future Emperor. This decision, which had, it is believed, been taken some time back, was probably arrived at not only in deference to the views of the Empress-Dowager, who has always favoured the claims of this branch of the Imperial family, but also as affording the only basis of a settlement which was likely to reconcile the views of the different parties. There were some six or seven adult candidates eligible for the Throne, including Prince P'u-lun and Prince Kung, but none...
[2049 q-1]
717
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
REC P: 29 DEC 08
[B]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL,,
[43869]
No. 1.
December 16.]
SECTION 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.~(Received December 16.)
(No. 521) Sir,
Peking, November 21, 1908. THE comparatively slight impression which the almost simultaneous deaths of the Emperor and the Empress-Dowager of China have made on the country illustrate once more the futility of attempting to prophesy about events in China. It is safe to assert that a year ago almost every well-informed foreigner and a large majority of Chinese would have viewed the possibility of such a coincidence as almost certain to lead to a struggle for power in Peking, if not a revolutionary movement in the country. And yet in Peking itself the life of the city has gone on almost as usual, and the reports from the provinces, some of which a year ago were in a disaffected state, indicate a similar calm acquiescence in the new order of things. In the capital and some of the larger towns of the Empire there has been a run on the banks, but thanks to the timely intervention of the Government, this has not assumed the character of a financial panic.
That the predictions of trouble in connection with the vexed question of the succession have been falsified is largely due to the stability which the presence of Yuan Shih-k'ai in Peking has for some time past given to the Central Government and to the laudable determination with which both Manchus and Chinese have agreed to sink minor differences and to act in concert iu meeting a common danger. It is too early yet to affirm with certainty that the surprising quietude which exists at present will be maintained, but the crisis has so far been met in a way which justifies confidence in the future and attests the reality of the progress which has been made since the Boxer outbreak of 1900.
The Emperor, who has been in a state of chronic ill-health for years, was known to have been gradually growing weaker all the summer, but it was only during the fortnight preceding his death that his condition became really serious. There was no great surprise, therefore, when it was announced on the evening of the 14th instant that His Majesty had died a little after five o'clock that afternoon, but there was a feeling almost of consternation when less than twenty-four hours afterwards it became known that the Empress-Dowager, who had so long guided the counsels of the Empire, had also passed away.
One of the last audiences granted by the Empress to foreigners was that at which Vice-Admiral Lambton was received on the 12th October. Her Majesty was particularly gracious on that occasion, but it was noticed that she had visibly aged, and one of the Chinese Ministers remarked at the time that he was greatly shocked by her appearance. On her birthday, the 3rd November, she ate some fruit, of which she was particularly fond, and contracted an attack of dysentery, but on the 9th November she sent for the Minister to whom I have above alluded, and specially deputed him to come to the Legation and convey her congratulations to His Majesty the King. Her death came therefore with unexpected suddenness, but the retention of all her powers almost to the end enabled her to make all arrangements for the succession, Prince Ching, who had been sent some days previously to see that the Imperial tomb, which has been in preparation for years, was in order, was hastily recalled and arrived back in Peking on the morning before the Emperor's death. A Cabinet Council was at once summoned, and it was decided that Prince Chun, the Emperor's younger brother, should be appointed Regent, and that his son, a child of about three years of age, should be designated as future Emperor. This decision, which had, it is believed, been taken some time back, was probably arrived at not only in deference to the views of the Empress-Dowager, who has always favoured the claims of this branch of the Imperial family, but also as affording the only basis of a settlement which was likely to reconcile the views of the different parties. There were some six or seven adult candidates eligible for the Throne, including Prince P'u-lun and Prince Kung, but none
[2049 q-1]
B
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