Chester Holcombe to Evarts, October 28, 1878

No. 98. Mr. Holcombe to Mr. Evarts.

Sir: I have the honor to hand to you herewith, copies of four dispatches which I have received from our consul at Foochow, narrating the destruction by a Chinese mob, of certain premises owned and occupied by the English Church Missionary Society at his port, and subsequent events in connection with the riot.

The property in question was located upon a hill within the walls of the city of Foochow, and has been in the quiet possession of the missionaries of the society named, for more than twenty years. Quite near to it are buildings and grounds held by the British Government for consular purposes, but which have not been occupied for some considerable time, as the consul of Her Majesty prefers to reside in the foreign settlement which lies across the river. And in the immediate vicinity of the scene of the riot is an establishment of the missionaries of the “American Board.”

So far as 1 can learn no question as to the residence of the foreigners, upon the premises which have been destroyed, had ever been raised until about eighteen months ago, when the populace began to make complaints that foreign buildings, placed upon this elevation and overlooking the native residences, interfered with the “feng shui,” and brought ill fortune upon the lives and the business of the Chinese.

These complaints increased until in the summer of 1877, when the local authorities, through the British consul, proposed to the missionaries to remove from the premises in question, offering to give them in exchange a more valuable property situated in the foreign settlement across the river, and owned by the Chinese Government. Mr. Wolfe, the head of the mission, did not look with favor upon the proposition, objecting that it would remove him to a distance of nearly six miles from the scene of his daily labor, and interfere seriously with the success of his efforts among the Chinese.

Upon being urged he consented, however, to refer the question to his superiors in London.

It was at about this juncture that my visit to Foochow, which you will doubtless remember, took place. During my interviews with the viceroy and governor, they on several occasions adverted to the effort being made to secure the removal of the English, missionaries from the city, and said frankly that they feared disturbances among the people if the point were not granted.

From these remarks I gathered that the object ultimately in view was the removal of not only the English, but of all missionaries from the city to the foreign settlement, and that they “moved upon the position” of the English first, simply because their location offered readier excuses for the effort. It should be remarked that there are no foreigners excepting those of this class, resident within the city of Foochow.

The reply received from London was unfavorable to the views of the Chinese. Thereupon statements began to be made that the title of the foreigners to a part, at least, of the premises in question was invalid. These assertions gained currency to such an extent that they were brought officially to the notice of the British consul by the local authorities, and at length a day was fixed when the officers of the two governments, accompanied by Mr. Wolfe, should visit the property and there examine into their truth. And it was upon this day, August 30, and in the very presence of the officials named that a mob gathered and the destruction of the buildings was accomplished.

This conjunction of events was, to say the least, peculiar, and it is somewhat remarkable that no effort seems to have been made by the Chinese authorities to restrain their people.

Mr. De Lano lost no time in informing me of the occurrences, and as I considered the interests of our people to be threatened to some extent, I at once addressed Rear-Admiral Patterson, requesting him to dispatch a vessel of war to Foochow. I inclose copies of my letters to him and to Mr. De Lano.

I also inclose a copy of the admiral’s answer from which you will see that prior to the receipt of my request he had ordered the United States steamer Alert to proceed to the scene of the disturbance.

I have not time at the moment to comment further upon this affair, but shall have occasion to revert to it at an early day.

I have, &c.,

To the Right Honorable and Most Noble the Marquis of Salisbury, K. G., &c., Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The humble memorial of the undersigned British subjects residing at the port of Foochow, in the Empire of China, showeth:

• That your memorialists view, not only with indignation, but with much apprehension, the incidents of an outrage by a Chinese mob on the evening of the 30th ultimo, when property belonging to the Church Missionary Society at Wu Shih Shan, within the walls of the city of Foochow, was wantonly and premeditatedly destroyed.
• That being interested in the rights of property, provided by Article XI and XII of the Tientsin treaty, your memorialsts naturally feel concerned in drawing your lordship’s attention to this riot, more especially as the circumstances under which it originated and was accomplished, seem calculated to weaken the position of foreign residents, both present and future.
• That while aware that the facts of this case have been already communicated to your lordship by Her Majesty’s consul at this port, your memorialists, without being in any way desirous of interfering with the functions or authority of Her Majesty’s consul, wish to add their independent testimony to the gravity of the event.
• That your memorialists have no doubt as to the validity of the deeds under which the Church Missionary Society held the property in question.
• That facts, which have since come to the knowledge of your memorialists, tend to prove that the outrage was an organized affair, connived at by the Chinese authorities.
• That your memorialists are in possession of positive information, charging a certain man, known by the name of Sin Ying Lin, with having taken a principal part in organizing this attack on the mission premises.
• That the said Sin Ying Lin is a member of the native gentry class, and a person enjoying considerable local influence, which he unlawfully used to excite the ordinarily peaceful inhabitants against the missionaries; and that he is charged with having hired a mob by whom the outrage under notice was perpetrated.
• That the Chinese officials whose obvious duty it was, under Article XVIII of the Tientsin treaty, to have exerted themselves in preventing this riot by adopting rigorous precautionary measures, abstained from interfering with Sin Ying Lin and his associates; and that the latter were permitted to openly threaten the missionaries with expulsion, and finally to carry out their settled purpose of destroying the building in question.
• That while the riot was in progress the Chinese officials who were on the spot absolutely declined to interfere with the lawless proceedings, and this, notwithstanding the proximity of a military force which was, there is good reason to believe, quite competent to deal with the rioters.
• That your memorialists can bear personal testimony to the uniform good conduct and friendly disposition of the lower orders of the native population towards the foreign residents of the port; but as regards the local gentry and literati generally, it is only right to state that many members of this class make no concealment of their objection to the presence of foreigners.
• That under these circumstances there can be no reasonable justification of the action, or rather inaction, of the Chinese authorities; nor, in the opinion of your memorialists, can it be fairly urged that the native officials were not in a position to have prevented the late outrage had they desired to do so.
• Finally, your memorialists would respectfully urge the necessity of taking such prompt measures as may seem to your lordship adequate to the case, and they trust that, in obtaining ample redress for the injury inflicted on, and losses sustained by, the Church Missionary Society, your lordship will see fit to convince the Chinese authorities of this port that the treaty rights of Her Majesty’s subjects cannot be violated with impunity.

the wu shih shan riot.

Native placards.

The following are translated copies of placards which have been extensively posted in the city and suburbs during the past week:

1. “The heroic and good men of the empire (Teen heir) are to assemble at the grand meeting to be held at Wu Shih Shan on the evening of the 14th of the 8th moon, for the purpose of exterminating all the foreign thieves residing in the province (Fohkien). They cannot be permitted to live (among our people) and (we must) recover our Feng Shui land, which they have encroached upon.

“If the mandarins interfere, they will be murdered—the official dogs! On recovering our Feng Shui land, then the state will be prosperous, the people peaceable, the winds moderate, and the rains favorable. Let all the people exert themselves.”

“You official dogs! you official dogs!! Remember that the Viceroy of the two Kwang—Yang Wei Chen (? Yeh ming chen) fell into the clutches of the foreign thieves. It was in this way: He was invited by the foreign thieves to an entertainment (led to drink wine) on board of one of their vessels, and as soon as he got on board, they sailed to the foreigners’ country, where they disemboweled him, and exhibited his entrails at the seven gates of their city. They are not brave! They are not brave!!—These barbarian thieves! These barbarian thieves!!

“Issued by the people of the two Kwang (i. e., Kuangtung and Kwanghsi).”

2. “The foreigners are decidedly wrong in encroaching by force upon our Feng Shui land. They insult the ignorant people of our country, and regard them with contempt and aversion. They look upon all our officials, both civil and military, with scorn (for they see) that in the discharge of their official duties there is no one to lead or direct them. They make no distinction between the good and the bad; they wildly brandish (their sticks) like an acrobat. This is very vulgar. They deceive the people, and get them to embrace their religion and join their churches. The vices prevailing among them are well known. Their churches are a banditti hold; they are known to be guilty of uncleanly acts; the more they increase in number the worse they act. They are dangerous! If these terrible men are not exterminated, then we (the people), are not equal to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. We must not try to imitate the officials—they are stupid. These stupid officials are afraid to take action; not like the people, who love to give vent to their feelings, and who fired the foreign house, which the officials could not prevent, for, when they tried to do so the other day, the youngsters exerted themselves with a will, and in a short time the building was destroyed.

“We are still unsatisfied with the work accomplished, and what is the use of deputing soldiers when the will of the people is to destroy (the remaining buildings). Do not blame us! Do not say that we were wrong—for the land is public property, and if there had been (a single person) unwilling to assist in the destruction of the building he would have offended the people. Not one of us could bear being charged with having carried dissatisfaction among the people.

“We therefore explain to you in a straightforward manner (and request you to) carefully view the condition of affairs (?) Bear in mind that ten of the literati petitioned the officials about the land in question; and if they are involved in trouble, we (the people) are to come forward in a body and assist them, and see what action the officials will take. If they are to be punished, then we are to exert ourselves to the utmost, and see who will gain the day! This matter concerns the entire populace of the city; every man has an interest at stake, and succeed (we must), if we break out in open rebellion. Let there be no encroachment on our Feng Shui land; if there is, we will then declare war (lit: invite you to fight us).

“Issued by the people of the entire city (Foochow) for the information of the foreigner Hu.”