Chapter I: Introduction

Mrs. Gull (Mrs. Bulstrode as she then was) had the fortune, not to mention the pluck, to be in Urga at a time when history was being made for Mongolia. I well remember the perturbation in British official circles in Peking when this adventurous lady, at a time when the Chinese were fighting the Mongols, sought a passport to take her through the opposing lines, and so to the desired destination. Needless to say the passport was not forthcoming, whereupon Mrs. Gull, without papers, went off by herself, and succeeded in making a considerable journey which brought her perilously close to the unsettled region in which guerilla warfare was proceeding.

Her experiences in Inner Mongolia made it plain that getting through to Urga meant a detour so long, expensive, and risky as not to be worth while. Accordingly, she and her sporting companion, Mr. E. M. Gull, a fire-eater in the pursuit of political developments, went round the back way by train and reached Urga from Siberia, no small adventure, considering the state of Mongolia at the time. What they saw Mrs. Gull describes in her own taking manner, and I need not say more about her book than that it is full of enlightenment as regards the character of both people and country. Mongolia is one of the few remaining great backwaters of the world, neglected because so remote from the sea and the civilisation arising out of marine communication. Nevertheless, through Mongolia, at no distant date, must be constructed that line which will link China with the Siberia Railway, and constitute part of the great trunk route joining Europe with the Far East.

If those of us who dwell in the Far East are not very far out in our calculations, the Pacific is to be one of the great spheres of economic development in the future. In China there is illimitable scope for such development, and it is obvious that the question of the control of the quickest route between China and the West is one of much importance to all interested. Mongolia, moreover, is not all Gobi desert, nor is the Gobi a desert except in an unimportant degree. It is, in fact, a monster plateau, huge areas of which are capable of cultivation. At present, its pastoral inhabitants are like the Arabs of Mesopotamia, roaming the land with flocks and herds, but the land is a land of much promise. Its mineral wealth has hardly been examined at all, though gold and coal are known to exist. But, when we recollect the known mineral wealth of the whole of the mountainous region of the southern confines of Siberia, we realise that there is a corresponding region over the Mongolian border which is, in fact, part of the same mountain system. If the one is minerally wealthy, there is every reason to suppose that the other is similarly so. In thinking of the Mongolia of the future, then, it is only reasonable to suppose that, when penetrated by communications, it will develop out of all recognition, as compared with its present state.

Mrs. Gull is particularly instructive in her analysis of Mongol character. The Mongol is simple, happy, good-natured, intensely lazy, and apparently entirely lacking in practical qualities. His very disposition is the cause of his past and present troubles. He is, in short, not fitted to compete with the outside world. Therefore, he has become the sport of other peoples, and the destiny of his land is being decided for him by foreigners. To begin at the beginning of recent developments, it is necessary to go back only to 1911. The Japanese defeat of the Russians had set the Chinese thinking, and, suffering much from foreign pressure at home, they thought to assert themselves in distant lands. They initiated a forward policy on the Burmah frontier that gave us trouble for some years, culminating in the Pienma incident. They invaded Thibet and occupied Llassa, establishing a degree of control over their vassal which they had never claimed before. They next turned their attention to Mongolia, where, as suzerain, they maintained only a few residents with trifling escorts. They planned to occupy Urga with a large force, and actually built huge barracks there. Meanwhile, Chinese colonists had been pressing into Inner Mongolia, buying land from the nomads and establishing great cultivated areas. Chinese bankers had been lending money at usurious rates to the simple Princes. All trade was in the hands of the Chinese. The Mongols became alive to the fact that China was acquiring a strangle-hold over them. They saw what had happened to their cousins of Thibet, and they became alarmed for their freedom, the overwhelming passion of the nomad. Russia, sore at the Japanese defeat, also, at this time, began to think of a future in which an arisen China might prove a danger, as Japan had proved dangerous. Chinese designs upon Mongolia might presage a threat against her at some far-off time. Accordingly it became Russian policy to block China in Mongolia, and, if possible, to set up Mongolia as a buffer State. To that end, Russian agents commenced a propaganda against the Chinese, emphasising the danger of absorption by China. Then arose a pro-Russian party in Urga, urging alliance with Russia as a protection against China.

Then occurred the Revolution in China. The Manchus were dethroned. Then followed the expulsion of the Chinese from Thibet, and the declaration of independence by the Thibetans. Egged on by the Russians, the Mongols did likewise, justifying the breaking of the ancient connection by declaring that their allegiance had been to the Manchus, and that, as there was no more a Manchu dynasty in China, they no longer owed anything to China. Russia promptly recognised the new State, and signed political and commercial treaties with it. The Chinese refused to accept the _fait accompli_, and immediately made war upon Mongolia. Fighting was proceeding when Mrs. Gull was in Inner Mongolia, and later on at Urga. To make a long story short, the Chinese troops utterly failed to make any impression upon their opponents. Internal difficulties forced the Chinese to relinquish the struggle, and in 1919 was signed the tri-partite Kiachta Convention. This document recognised and confirmed the treaties made with Russia, gave Mongolia autonomy and a guarantee against the intrusion of Chinese troops and colonists into Mongolia. The effect of the Convention was to give Russia exactly what she wanted--a buffer State.

It is necessary now to jump to the date when Japanese troops, in agreement with the Allies, entered Siberia. The Japanese found it convenient to maintain at Chita, in Transbaikalia, the Cossack adventurer Semenov, a man with Buriat (or Mongol) blood in him. Admiral Kolchak dismissed Semenov from the command of the Trans-Baikal Division for malpractices, but the Japanese refused to allow his removal by force. Semenov, some months ago, inaugurated a pan-Mongol movement for the creation of a Mongol State, which should include the Mongols of Barga (a region of North Manchuria), the Buriats of Transbaikalia and Mongolia. The Hut’ukt’u, the Living Buddha of Mongolia, was invited to join, and, after consultation with the Princes, refused. Semenov next threatened invasion. It is difficult to know how much reality there is in Semenov’s movement, but it is still to the fore, and we are warned that developments from it may yet be expected. At any rate, it is established that the Japanese have been, and still are, closely associated with Semenov, and the assumption is that they are perfectly cognisant of the activities of their protégé.

Returning to Urga, we find the Mongolians dissatisfied with the Russians, for a variety of reasons. They had done nothing for the economic development of the country, nor had they helped to organise an effective military force. Russia, as a protector, having vanished, the Mongols were helpless, and they were genuinely alarmed by the threats of Semenov. They appealed to the Chinese for military assistance, and in the twinkling of an eye, as it were, 4000 Chinese troops were in Urga, commanded by a General Hsu Shu-cheng, the most aggressive of those militarists who have done so much to involve China in political and financial trouble. It is instructive to note that the forces commanded by Hsu were equipped with Japanese money, and that Hsu himself is regarded throughout China as being entirely in the hands of the Japanese. It will, therefore, be perceived that the Mongols were frightened into calling in Chinese troops by the actions of one protégé of Japan, and that the assistance, when it came, proved to be an army under another Japanese protégé! The unfortunate Mongols were soon to be enlightened as to the meaning of these manœuvres. A pro-Chinese party, since the collapse of Russia, had been urging a return to the Chinese fold, and proposed a petition to China cancelling autonomy and asking for re-instatement. The Hut’ukt’u and a majority of Princes and Lamas were opposed to this step. General Hsu Shu-cheng, on arrival at Urga, immediately pressed for signature of the petition, and, on refusal, delivered an ultimatum, threatening deportation to China of the Hut’ukt’u and the Premier if his demands were not complied with. He further threatened the Mongols with Japanese troops from Transbaikalia, which threat the Japanese officially denied in Peking had been made with authority. The Mongols, however, were browbeaten into submission; the Government signed the petition, and the President of China has since issued a Mandate denouncing the Kiachta Convention and other relative treaties, and granting the prayer of the Mongols to become again subject to China. Autonomous Mongolia, therefore, is no more. The Chinese plan military occupation on a large scale, and will shortly send three more brigades into Mongolia. If the Chinese were more successful in the administration of their own country, it might be said that the Mongols would be better off under Chinese rule than their own; for, as Mrs. Gull says, there can be no doubt that the Mongols are closely akin to their southern neighbours. But the question seems to be rather whether Japan is not to be the predominant power in Mongolia in the future. She openly claims predominance in China, and, for the time being, is predominant. Through China she may yet acquire control over Mongolia, or may arrive at the same result by basing action in Siberia. She has plainly told the powers seeking to form the banking Consortium for China that she wishes Manchuria and Mongolia to be excluded from its operations, thereby indicating her desire for an exclusive position in Mongolia. Most significant is the announcement just published in the local press, and confirmed by other indications, that the Chinese Government propose the immediate extension of the Peking-Suiyuan Railway to Urga. The Chinese Government has no money for such an enterprise, and no possibility of getting it except by a foreign loan. This, above all, is a scheme that should be financed by the Consortium, yet it seems far more than likely that the railway will be built with Japanese money. And whoso builds the railway will assuredly be the master.

DAVID FRASER

PEKING, _January, 1920_

A word of explanation as to the tardy appearance of this book in relation to the date of its completion seems necessary. It will suffice to say that the manuscript reached the publishers within a day or two of the declaration of war. The Introduction by Mr. David Fraser, “Times” correspondent in Peking, is designed to give a bird’s-eye yet comprehensive impression from the date of the visit to Urga up to the present time of the political relations existing between Mongolia and China.

B. M. G.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MAP OF MONGOLIA _Inside front cover_

THE AUTHOR _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

THE AUTHOR ON A PEKING CART AT THE STARTING-POINT 14

THE GREAT NORTH GATE AT KALGAN LEADING STRAIGHT INTO
MONGOLIA 14

A BIRD FANCIER, KALGAN 28

SERVANTS IN THE COURTYARD 28

WITH DOBDUN, READY TO START 34

CROSSING THE HAN-O-PA PASS 34

A CAMEL CARAVAN 58

THE LAMA IN EMBRYO AND HIS LITTLE SISTER GATHERING ARGOL 58

CARRYING MAILS 60

A WELL BY THE WAYSIDE 60

HE DREW REINS TO TAKE STOCK OF THE FOREIGNER 60

METHUSELAH AND HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW 70

ONE OF THE LARGEST CAMEL CARAVANS I HAD EVER SEEN 70

A MONGOL BRIDE 72

A TYPICAL CHAKHAR 74

TWO OR THREE HUNDRED LAMAS SQUATTING ON THE GROUND IN
THE SUNNY FORECOURT OF A TEMPLE 78

HANKARAWA 78

A PASTORAL SCENE 98

TROITZE-CASAVSK 114

OUR BURIAT HOSTESS 114

THE JAMSCHIK AND HIS TARANTASS 114

A RUSSIAN SAMSON SEPARATED THE COMBATANTS 128

THE LAMA AND HIS MAIDEN 128

A MONGOL AND HIS FAMILY ON THE PLAINS NEAR URGA POSED
FOR MY BENEFIT 142

HE INVITED US TO INSPECT HIS CARAVAN 144

THE SUMMIT OF THE ALTAI BERG 144

THE GREAT WHITE TEMPLE, URGA 152

THE HORSE AND CAMEL MARKET, URGA 152

A BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE AT MAI-MAI-CH’ENG 158

A MONGOL PRINCESS IN HER OFFICIAL ROBES, ACCOMPANIED BY
HER TWO LADIES 158

BOGDO’S BODYGUARD 176

LITTLE LAMA BOYS PLAY “TAG” ROUND THE BARRIERS 176

CHURCH AND STATE: MONGOL PRINCE AND HIGH LAMA 180

THE GREAT STATE UMBRELLA OF SILKEN EMBROIDERY 182

IN AN ECSTASY OF WORSHIP THE MONKS PROSTRATE THEMSELVES
NEAR THE THRESHOLD OF THE SANCTUARY 182

THE MEETING OF THE ARCHERS: THEY RANGED THEMSELVES IN
COUPLES AT THE STANCES 184

SCORING THE HITS AT THE BUTTS 184

A MASK AT THE DANCE OF THE GODS 186

A MONGOL PRINCESS WEARING A HEADDRESS OF GOLD 186

A MONGOL GLADIATOR 190

A WRESTLING BOUT 192

YOUNG LAMAS 192

PRISONERS AT URGA, SHUT UP FOR THE REMAINDER OF THEIR
LIVES IN IRON-BOUND COFFINS 196

(_Reproduced by permission of the Illustrated London News_)

A TOMB IN URGA: DAGOBAS ERECTED OVER PRIESTS’ GRAVES 206

SOUTHERN SOLDIERS 206

A MONGOL ORTON 226

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY ON OX-CARTS, DRAWN BY PONIES 226

A REMARKABLE ONE-YEAR-OLD BOY 228

THE TALE OF A TOUR IN MONGOLIA