CO129-381 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1911 [11-12] — Page 212

Enclosure 1.

Leading Article

CO 41103

263

Res£26 DFC !

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The China Mail

ONGKONG, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1911.

AFFICKING IN HONGKONG.

E tremendous excitement which oke out amongst the Chinese of ongkong last evening, when the bour reached the Colony that eking had fallen, and the EMPEROR, Prince REGENT and Prince NG were in the hands of the bels, reveals the native in a new ht It was generally argued

certainly believed by most eigners that the Chinese are а ry unimaginative people, and that rong feelings, if felt in the breast, for the most part kept there and t allowed to manifest their exist- ce in the face, or in the actions. at night's exhibition dispels this sion entirely and shows how eatly we can misunderstand the very ople among whom we live. Now know, should there be sufficient se, the Chinese like other people feel excitement and show it. The hafficking" on Monday is all the bre remarkable because the exuber- ce of feeling carried the people ay entirely. It is contrary to law for ay crackers to be let off in such vast antities in our public streets, except special occasions carefully provid- for. Yet last evening not only I the Chinese set the law at defiance apparently had made preparations do so. Everybody who was out the streets in the centre of the n last night could not help feeling at it was like two or three New ear's Days rolled into one. Not- thstanding that Hongkong was a ritish Colony the rebel flag also Deared as if by magic, and floated

'from many an upper window and verandah, or was carried through the streets by excited mobs with an enthusiasm that could be called nothing else than wild. For hours the trams where at the mercy of the Revolutionists. They were crowded by literally hundreds of excited youths who were waving white flags, and cheering each other till they grew hoarse. Not only so, but on many of the trams appeared scrolls bearing the four characters which might be rendered: "Long live the Han dynasty", or "The Birthday of the Han Dynasty." Of course such scrolls can be produced by competent Chinese penmen in a very short time, but it would almost appear as if these placards had been long prepar- ed, and so were ready to be used at a moment's notice. The intensity of the feelings of the crowd might be tested by other signs. We saw a crowd of young men standing ex- amining some photographs. The two that were most conspicuous were a group of rebel leaders, and a picture of the recently assassinated Tar- tar General of Canton. Muttered curses were hurled at the photo of the murdered Manchu, and one fellow struck the picture with his fist and threatened to smash it and the frame

⠀

in which it was enclosed. On the other hand acclamations of devotion were accorded the lenders of the revolutionists. All this and a good deal more showed the depth and intensity of feeling that surged up in the breasts of the Chinese on Monday evening.

The excitement, as we remarked before, was running at fever heat, but it must be acknowledged that with the exception of the ill-behaved row- dies who broke into the Sheung Po office, that the mob was in the best of good humour. Few mature men were amongst them. It was Young

China out to enjoy itself with a vengeance. We noticed one youth who was carrying his queue on a pole decorated with white, as a He was handling sign of mourning. it as if it were a snake, and the cheering around him was uproarious. Of course the queue is the badge of the servitude of the Chinese, and many of them have come to hate it with an intense hatred, though other! either from habit or from fear of change, or from dread of what might happen were it removed, have clung to and still retain it. intense was the excitement last even- ing, that temporary barbers were at work in the streets and no was the chair empty than another was ready to take it. Of course foreigners who have been conversant with the Chinese, and especially those who have been following most that has been published in the native tongue during the last three years, knew that the animosity of the people

towards

But

80

sooner

the Government was deep-seated and bitter; but perhaps even the most far-seeing, and the most steeped in these writings, hardly expected to find this feeling so uni- versal, and so wild in its stormy outbreak in the British Colony o Hongkong. It would be safe to affirm that of every hundred Chinese in Hongkong ninety-nine are in sympathy with the rebels, and perhaps seventy- five per cent wildly and recklessly 80.

After what took place last even- ing, it will be unsafe to affirm againthat the Chinese are incapable of displaying their feelings, for the spontaneity of the demonstration was remarkable. We think that the Colonial Government were wise under the circumstances to let the excitement spend itself without interference. But steps should be taken to provent a re-

currence.