THE FIRST RIOT IN SHANGHAI, 1874

The opportunities for friction between the small body of foreign residents and the large Chinese population in whose midst they lived were innumerable, and it is truly remarkable that serious disturbances were so infrequent. The avoidance of trouble was undoubtedly due in large measure to the fair-mindedness of the first British officials who had been sent out to represent their country.

Causes of Friction between Chinese and Foreigners

There were many causes leading to possible misunderstandings. The foreign community and the Chinese population had little in common, except the desire to trade. Their religious, moral, social, and political ideas were different, and had few points of contact.

The foreign residents, with the exception of the missionaries, were content to live their own lives in their own way among a people whom they made little effort to understand. Outside of the missionaries and official interpreters few endeavoured to study the Chinese language, and communication between foreigners and Chinese was largely carried out in "pidgin" English.

Merchants conducted their trade through compradores who acted as middlemen and thus the principals in a business transaction seldom came into touch with each other.

The foreign resident was too apt to regard himself as one of the elect and to look down upon the Chinese with a contemptuous and patronizing attitude. Many of the Chinese disliked the foreigners who had forced an entrance into their country and regarded them as greatly inferior to themselves in culture. They did not welcome their coming, and resented the necessity of granting them a settlement.

They did not welcome the missionary. Prince Kung declared to Sir Rutherford Alcock on his departure from Peking in 1869, "Take away your opium and your missionaries, and you will be welcome!" At the same time Wen-siang, another high official, said to him, "Do away with your extraterritorial clause and merchant and missionary may settle anywhere and everywhere; but retain it and we must do our best to confine you and our troubles to the treaty ports."

The unpopularity of the missionary was due not so much to his teaching or to his good works as it was to the fact that his religion was foreign, and considered unnecessary for China. Furthermore, as missionaries were not content to remain in the treaty ports but wanted to carry on propaganda throughout the whole country it was feared they would introduce a disturbing element into Chinese social and political life. The fact that mission work was protected by the treaties gave rise to the criticism that the Christian Church relied on force for its extension. A great deal of the opposition to mission work was caused by the ignorance and superstition of the masses, who were stirred up to believe that missionaries carried on nefarious practices, such as taking out children's eyes and making them into medicine.

But enough perhaps has been said Lo show how easily good relations between the foreign residents and the Chinese could be upset.

Attacks on Missionaries

We find that in the years 1868 and 1869 attacks were made on missionaries in different parts of the Empire, first at Yangchow and then in Szechuen, where two French priests were murdered. The Rev. J. Williamson was beaten to death in his boat at Tientsin. These attacks culminated in the Tientsin Massacre in 1870, when the French Consul and his Secretary, a number of Sisters of Mercy in the Roman Catholic Orphanage, a Russian merchant and his wife, and several others - numbering 19 in all - were cruelly done to death by the Imperialist troops.

Further, a party of five foreigners had met with rough handling in the vicinity of Shanghai, when they were returning to the Settlement along the shores of Pootung. One of them, Mr. Grant, was found lying bleeding and senseless in a creek, with bound hands and feet.

Shanghai is sensitive to all that goes on in China, and fears began to be felt for its own safety. One immediate effect was to revive the Volunteer Corps which has ever since been maintained on an effective footing.

Riot in the French Concession

The first riot in Shanghai occurred in 1874 in the French Concession, and originated in the following way. A portion of the Chinese population who had their homes in Ningpo had erected a Guild House toward the back of the French Concession, with a mortuary hall for the deposit of coffins, to be sent later to their ancestral homes, and with a cemetery for the burial of those whose families were too poor to send the coffins back.

In 1863 this area had been included in the extension of the French Concession. The French Municipal Council drew up plans for the making of new roads, one of which was to run through the cemetery, and in 1874 it was decided to begin the construction. The Ningpo Guild on January 27, 1874, made representations, objecting to the opening of the road through the cemetery, pointing out that the ground should be regarded as sacred, and that it would offend the Chinese people to have the bodies removed and the spirits of the departed disturbed. The Council, perhaps not realizing how much Chinese susceptibilities would be injured, was determined to carry out its purpose. A lengthy discussion was held between the Taotai and the French Consul, but both parties remained obdurate. Consequently the populace became more and more excited and on May 3, a riot broke out.

An attempt was made to destroy the residence of M. Percebois, the French Council's Road Inspector, and he, with his wife and family of young children, narrowly escaped being murdered. Houses were set on fire and the lives of foreigners were imperilled. Many were wounded, some severely and some slightly, but none were killed. Although the riot was directed against the French, it was difficult for the rioters to distinguish between French and English and both alike were in danger.

The spread of the riot was prevented by the active measures taken by M. Voisin, the Chairman of the French Council, and M. Barbe, the Captain of the French Police, who called in the aid of the volunteers, police and firemen of the International Settlement. In addition, 20 men were landed from the French gunboat "Couleuvre," and 78 men, with a Gatling gun, from the U.S. despatch boats "Ashuelot" and "Yantic." The Taotai later sent 150 Chinese troops.

In fighting the fire on that occasion, the firemen of the International Settlement under the District Engineer, Mr. Brodie A. Clarke, had to be escorted by armed police and soldiers through a wildly excited mob.

On the night of the same day, rioting was renewed and some seven Chinese were shot and 12 severely wounded by the men from the "Couleuvre," who broke loose from discipline, and used their weapons as often as not against innocent people, allowing the ringleaders to escape.

Attitude of the French Consul

During the crisis, the French Consul,M. Godeaux, acted with indecision. He hesitated about getting men from the ships, and the Council had been obliged to take matters into its own hands.

On the day following the riot, when the Consuls and Taotai met to consider what should be done to restore peace, the French Consul put out "an Urgent Proclamation" in which he abandoned the proposed road and enjoined the Guild to enclose its land with a wall.

The residents in the International Settlement felt that the French had shown little tact at the beginning of the affair, and that Godeaux's hasty concessions appeared to be placing a premium on mob-violence. Many of the French, and the Swiss, who were under the care of the French Government, criticized their Consul severely and in retaliation he withdrew for a time his protection from his Swiss proteges.

Attitude of the British Authorities

Mr. Medhurst, the British Consul, refused to send British bluejackets to assist in putting down the riot, on the grounds that the English should not be mixed up in a quarrel between the French and a Chinese clan, that the native authorities should be called upon to restore order, and that no intervention should take place unless the native authorities failed.

The British Minister, Sir Thomas Wade, was of a different opinion. He approved of the actions taken and pointed out that if there had been no ships in harbour, the whole French Concession might have gone up in a blaze before order could have been restored.

Terms of Settlement

In the settlement of claims for damages, it was arranged that the Chinese authorities should pay for the cost of damage to foreign property, a sum of Tls. 37,000, while the French should pay Tls. 7,000 to the families of the Chinese who were killed.

One unscrupulous foreigner attempted to get rich by claiming that Tls.10,000 was due him on account of a bruise received on the head and the loss of two teeth!

It was agreed that the Ningpo Joss House and cemetery should remain the property of the Guild forever and that no roads or drains should be made through the burial ground. As we shall see, the agreement was broken in 1898, at a time when the Chinese were less able to resist than in 1874, and the road was then constructed.

We have dwelt at length upon this first riot, as it is a good example of difficulty arising between two peoples on account of their different points of view. To the Westerner, with his desire for that which is useful, it seemed absurd that the construction of a road should be held up by the unwillingness of the Chinese to remove some graves. To the Chinese it seemed that the Westerner was wanting in respect for the dead, the strongest cult in China.