Tranquillity Was Restored,
And The Miners Resumed Their Occupations.
But the peace was deceptive, and
in a little time the struggle was renewed with increased fury.
In this
emergency the idea occurred to some of the officials that an easy and
efficacious remedy of the difficulty in which they found themselves would
be provided by the massacre of the whole Mussulman population. In this
plot the foremost part was taken by Hwang Chung, an official who bitterly
hated the Mohammedans. He succeeded in obtaining the acquiescence of all
his colleagues with the exception of the viceroy of the province, who
exposed the iniquity of the design, but who, destitute of all support, was
powerless to prevent its execution. At the least he resolved to save his
honor and reputation by committing suicide, and he and his wife were found
one morning hanging up in the hall of the yamen. His death simplified the
execution of the project which his refusal might possibly have prevented.
May 19, 1856, was the date fixed for the celebration of this Chinese St.
Bartholomew. But the secret had not been well kept. The Mohammedans,
whether warned or suspicious, distrusted the authorities and their
neighbors, and stood vigilantly on their guard. At this time they looked
chiefly to a high priest named Ma Tesing for guidance and instruction. But
although on the alert, they were after all, taken to some extent by
surprise, and many of them were massacred after a more or less unavailing
resistance. But if many of the Mussulmans were slain, the survivors were
inspired with a desperation which the mandarins had never contemplated.
From one end of Yunnan to the other the Mohammedans, in face of great
personal peril, rose by a common and spontaneous impulse, and the Chinese
population was compelled to take a hasty refuge in the towns. At Talifoo,
where the Mohammedans formed a considerable portion of the population, the
most desperate fighting occurred, and after three days' carnage the
Mussulmans, under Tu Wensiu, were left in possession of the city. The
rebels did not remain without leaders, whom they willingly recognized and
obeyed; for the kwanshihs, or chiefs, who had accepted titles of authority
from the Chinese, cast off their allegiance and placed themselves at the
head of the popular movement. The priest Ma Tesing was raised to the
highest post of all as Dictator, but Tu Wensiu admitted no higher
authority than his own within the walls of Talifoo. Ma Tesing had
performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, he had resided at Constantinople for
two years, and his reputation for knowledge and saintliness stood highest
among his co-religionists.
While Ma Tesing exercised the supremacy due to his age and attainments,
the young chief Ma Sien led the rebels in the field. His energy was most
conspicuous, and in the year 1858 he thought he was sufficiently strong to
make an attack upon the city of Yunnan itself. His attack was baffled by
the resolute defense of an officer named Lin Tzuchin, who had shown great
courage as a partisan leader against the insurgents before he was
intrusted with the defense of the provincial capital.
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