The Yangtze Riots， 1891
In 1891 serious riots occurred along the Yangtze River anddispelled the vision of China"s immediate entrance on the pathof progress. The prime instigator was a scholar in Hunan， namedChou Han， who employed the members of a secret society， knownas the Kolaohwei （venerable brothers） for carrying on anti-foreignpropaganda. This society is said to have been founded by disbandedtroops at the close of the Taiping Rebellion. A series of vile postersaccusing missionaries of barbarous crimes， such as the kidnapping andvivisection of Chinese children， were spread broadcast， and the peoplewere incited to rioting and murder.
Disturbances broke out in many places along the Yangtze，churches were demolished， missionary residences wrecked and looted，and missionaries themselves were obliged to abandon their stationsand to seek refuge in Shanghai. At Wusueh two British subjects weremurdered， one， an officer of the Maritime Customs， and the other， amissionary.
Posters were put up calling on the people to rise and attack theimportant mission establishments at Siccawei and Jessfield. Naturallythere was considerable apprehension in the Settlements and thevolunteers were ordered to stand by.
The Legations in Peking felt that the riots must be checked， andmade strong representations to the Tsung-1i Yamen （Foreign Office），and brought pressure to bear on the Chinese Government by theassembling of foreign warships， British， French， and American.
Ultimately， the riots were suppressed， reparations were made andthe danger passed away.
In connection with the Kolaohwei riots an attempt was made byan Englishman named Mason to start a rebellion. He was a fourthclass assistant in the Maritime Customs at Chinkiang where he becameconnected with the Kolaohwei. Having entered its service， he undertookto procure arms and ammunition， and to smuggle them intoChinkiang for the of starting a revolt against the Manchus.
Proceeding to Hongkong， he secured 35 cases of arms andammunition and shipped them in piano cases as freight on board theS. S. “Chi-yuan.” He and his associates took passage on the same ship，intending to start a mutiny， gain control of the vessel， and proceeddirectly up the Yangtze to Chinkiang， without calling at Shanghai. Atthe last moment his nerve failed， and instead of assisting in the mutiny，he helped to suppress it. On arrival at Chinkiang， his share in the plothaving been discovered， he was arrested and sent to Shanghai. At histrial he pleaded guilty and was given nine months‘ sentence. While ingaol he tried to escape， but was recaptured and finally deported.
The trial caused a good deal of discussion in Shanghai and it wasfollowed with considerable interest. It is generally supposed that Masonwas obsessed by the idea that he might， through a successful rebellion，make himself Emperor of China.
He was the type of adventurer found occasionally in China， readyto take part in any nefarious traffic， and causing the reputation of hisfellow countrymen to suffer accordingly.
The Shanghai JubileeShanghai celebrated its semi-centennial on November 17th and18th， 1893， and the International Settlement was en fête.
There was considerable discussion in regard to the establishmentof some permanent memorial of the occasion and various proposalswere made， such as the opening of a new park， the founding of ahospital for infectious diseases， the building school for foreign children，the starting of schools for Chinese， and the erection of a Town Hall，but it was finally decided to collect a sum of Tls. 15，000， the capitaland interest to be placed at the disposal of the Shanghai MunicipalCouncil to be used at its discretionto benefit public institutions.
An elaborate programme was carried out. On Friday， November17th， there was a parade of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps and menfrom the men-of-war in harbour. An address by the Rev. Dr. WilliamMuirhead was delivered from a raised platform on The Bund， at halfpast eleven in the morning， in which the orator reviewed the historyof the past fifty years and the progress made during that period. Asalute of 50 guns was fired by the artillery at noon， a banquet washeld at one o"clock， and at two o"clock there was a children"s fête onthe Race Course. The fountain in the Public Gardens was illuminatedat night and made a very beautiful spectacle. The Bund， NankingRoad， the Garden Bridge and a part of Hongkew were bright Wltnilluminations after dark. At night there was also a procession of theShanghai Volunteer Fire Brigade， followed at ten o"clock by a display offireworks.
On Saturday， November 18th， in the morning there was a paradeof the native guilds and in the afternoon there was a performance forthe children by the Amateur Dramatic Club at the Lyceum Theatre.
Among the distinguished guests were the Governor of Hongkongand Admiral Sir Edmund Fremantle， R. N.
In connection with the Jubilee Mr. Thomas Hanbury， who wasvisiting Shanghai， presented a gift of Tls. 5，000 to be used for somepermanent memorial.
Sion-Japanese War
The next stirring event in the history of China， which had animportant influence upon the future of the Settlements， was the warbetween China and Japan， which began in 1894.
It is not necessary to enter into the causes of the conflict， morethan to state that the control of Corea was the matter in dispute. TheJapanese， fearing encroachment by Russia from the north， were anxiousto dominate the government of Corea， so that it could be used as abuffer state between Russia and Japan.