LORD ELGIN AND THE TAIPINGS
31
Chinese interior of the treatment they had experienced. He admitted that "almost invariably" the answer was "that at points remote from those to which foreigners have access, there was no diminution, but on the contrary, rather an enhancement of the courtesy exhibited towards them by the natives."32 While these visitors all need not have been referring to Taiping areas, it is a fact that the only exception to this apparent rule during Elgin's own trip on the Yangtze was at Hankow, which was under Ch'ing control. Elgin noted that in this city "we thought we detected symptoms of the old disease of antipathy to foreigners, though of a very mitigated type."33 The English encountered objections to their entering the walled city of Wu-ch'ang,34 and when they walked about Hankow, were treated to the spectacle of having their Chinese official companions "severely bamboo" anyone who came near the foreigners, even if only to gratify understandable curiosity.35 Effort was made to prevent the mission from making purchases of local products of any kind.36
Elgin's general conclusions as the result of this trip were that there was "little or nothing of popular sympathy" for the Taipings, and that the majority of the population was desirous of peace and commerce. The first conclusion is obviously based upon the flimsiest and most suspect evidence, while the latter is merely a gratuitous observation. Our evaluation is harsh, but is based squarely upon a consideration of the motives and circumstances of the expedition, and on reflection upon the composition of the mission itself, with its heavy anti-Taiping bias (there was even a Ch'ing official accompanying the mission). With this background understood, it is a wonder indeed that Elgin himself would not have been more critical of the testimony garnered along the way, for Elgin had pondered the problem of the credibility of such information. His reflection on one aspect of the subject, some present-day interviewers on the China scene might agree, has a certain timeless applicability:
Chinamen of the humbler class are not much addicted to reflection, and when subjected to cross-examination by persons greedy of information, they are apt to consider the proceeding a strange one, and to suspect that it must be prompted by some exceedingly bad motive. Moreover, having been civilized for many generations, they carry politeness so far, that
LORD ELGIN AND THE TAIPINGS
31
Chinese interior of the treatment they had experienced. He admitted that "almost invariably" the answer was "that at points remote from those to which foreigners have access, there was no diminution, but on the contrary, rather an enhancement of the courtesy exhibited towards them by the natives."32 While these visitors all need not have been referring to Taiping areas, it is a fact that the only exception to this apparent rule during Elgin's own trip on the Yangtze was at Hankow, which was under Ch'ing control. Elgin noted that in this city "we thought we detected symptoms of the old disease of antipathy to foreigners, though of a very mitigated type."33 The English encountered objections to their entering the walled city of Wu-ch'ang,34 and when they walked about Hankow, were treated to the spectacle of having their Chinese official companions "severely bamboo” anyone who came near the foreigners, even if only to gratify understandable curiosity.35 Effort was made to prevent the mis- sion from making purchases of local products of any kind.36
Elgin's general conclusions as the result of this trip were that there was "little or nothing of popular sympathy" for the Taipings, and that the majority of the population was desirous of peace and commerce. The first conclusion is obviously based upon the flimsiest and most suspect evidence, while the latter is merely a gratuitous observation. Our evaluation is harsh, but is based squarely upon a consideration of the motives and circumstances of the expedition, and on reflection upon the composition of the mission itself, with its heavy anti-Taiping bias (there was even a Ch'ing official accompanying the mission). With this back- ground understood, it is a wonder indeed that Elgin himself would not have been more critical of the testimony garnered along the way, for Elgin had pondered the problem of the credibility of such information. His reflection on one aspect of the subject, some present-day interviewers on the China scene might agree. has a certain timeless applicability :
Chinamen of the humbler class are not much addicted to reflection, and when subjected to cross-examination by persons greedy of information, they are apt to consider the proceeding a strange one, and to suspect that it must be prompted by some exceedingly bad motive. Moreover, having been civi- lized for many generations, they carry politeness so far, that
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.