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TONGKING
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TONGKING ,I a See also:province of See also:French Indo-See also:China, and See also:protectorate of See also:France, situated between 200 and 231° N. and mo2° and Io81° E., and bounded N. by the See also:Chinese provinces of Kwang-Tung, Kwang-Si and Yun-nan, W. by See also:Laos, S. by See also:Annam, and E. by the Gulf of Tongking. See also:Area, about 46,000 sq. m. The See also:population is estimated at 6,000,000, including 33,000 Chinese and about 4000 Europeans. Geographically, Tongking comprises three regions: (I) the See also:delta of the See also:Song-Koi (Red See also:river), which, beginning at Son-See also:Tay and coalescing with the delta of the Thai-Binh, widens out into the See also:low-lying and fertile See also:plain within which are situated the See also:principal cities. (2) Two mountainous tracts, to the See also:north and See also:west of the delta, See also:running approximately from north-west to See also:south-See also:east, one separating the basins of the Song-Koi and the See also:Canton river, the other those of the Song-Koi and the See also:Mekong. (3) A region of plateaus and low hills forming a transition between the delta and the mountains. The See also:main See also:geographical feature in the See also:country is the Song-Koi, which, taking its rise near Tali Fu, in Yun-nan, enters Tongking at Lao-See also:Kay (the Lao boundary), and flows thence in a south-easterly direction to the Gulf of Tongking. It was this river which mainly, in the first instance, attracted the French to Tongking, as it was believed by the explorers that, forming the shortest route by See also:water to the See also:rich province of Yun-nan, it would prove also to be the most convenient and expeditious means of transporting the See also:tin, See also:copper, See also:silver and See also:gold which are known to abound there. This belief, however, has proved fallacious. The upper course of the stream is constantly impeded by rapids, the lowest being about See also:thirty See also:miles above Hung-Hoa. Beyond Lao-Kay See also:navigation is impracticable during the dry See also:season, and at all other times of the See also:year goods have to be there transferred into See also:light junks. Below Lao-Kay larger junks, and in the summer months See also:steam launches of shallow See also:draught use the river. Within the limits of Yun-nan the navigation is still more difficult. Near Son-Tay the Song-Koi receives the See also:waters of the Song-Bo (See also:Black river) and the Song-Ka (Clear river), parallel affluents rising in Yun-nan, and from that point divides into a network of waterways which empty themselves by countless outlets into the See also:sea. The Song-Cau rises in north-eastern Tongking and below the See also:town of See also:Sept Pagodes, where it is joined by the Song-Thuong to See also:form the Thai-Binh, divides into numerous branches, communicating with the Song-Koi by the See also:Canal See also:des Rapides and the Canal des Bambous. The See also:coast See also:line of Tongking from Mon-Kay on the Chinese frontier to Thanh-Hoa, near,.that of Annam, has a length of 375 M. From Mon-Kay as far as the See also:estuary of the Song-Koi it is broken, rugged and fringed with islands and rocky islets. The See also:bay of Tien-Hien, to the south of which lies the See also:island of Ke-Bao, and the picturesque bay of Along, are the See also:chief indentations. Beyond the island of Cac-Ba, south of the Bay of Along, the coast is low, See also:flat and marshy, and tends to advance as the alluvial deposits of the delta accumulate. The See also:climate of Tongking is less trying to Europeans than that of the See also:rest of French Indo-China. During See also:June, See also:July and See also:August, the temperature ranges between 82° and moo° F., but from See also:October to May the See also:weather is cool. The country is subject to typhoons in August and See also:September. In the wooded regions of the mountains the See also:tiger, See also:elephant and See also:panther are found, and See also:wild See also:buffalo, See also:deer and monkeys are See also:common. The delta is the See also:home of ducks and many other varieties of aquatic birds. See also:Tea, See also:cardamom, and mulberry grow wild, and in See also:general the See also:flora approximate to that of See also:southern China. The Annamese (see ANNAM), who form the bulk of the population of Tongking, are of a somewhat better physique than those of the I See also INDO-CHINA, FRENCH, and ANNAM. rest of Indo-China. See also:Savage tribes inhabit the See also:northern districts—the Muongs the mountains bordering the Black river, the Th6s the regions bordering the Clear river and the Thai-Binh. The Muongs are bigger and stronger than the Annamese. They have square foreheads, large faces and prominent cheek-bones, and their eyes are,' often almost straight. See also:Rice, which in some places furnishes two crops annually, is incomparably the most important product of the delta. Elsewhere there are plantations of See also:coffee, See also:tobacco, See also:ramie, See also:paper-See also:tree (See also:Daphne odora), See also:cotton, jute, See also:sugar-See also:cane, See also:pepper and mulberry. The cultivation of silkworms is of growing Importance. Gold, copper, tin, See also:lead and other metals are found in the higher regions of Tongking, but only gold and tin are exploited, and these only to a very limited extent. There is a large output of See also:coal of inferior quality from Hon-See also:Gay on the bay of Along and there are coal-workings on the island of Ke-Bao. See also:Hanoi, See also:Hai-phong and Nam-Dinh carry on cotton-See also:spinning, and Hanoi and Nam-Dinh are well known for the manufacture of carved and inlaid See also:furniture. The natives are skilful at enamelling and the See also:chasing and ornamentation of gold and other metals. The manufacture of paper from the fibrous bark of the paper-tree is a wide-spread See also:industry and there are numerous distilleries of rice-spirit. The imports of Tongking, which in 1905 reached a value of £3,501,422, comprise railway material, cereals, See also:flour, liquors, See also:woven goods, See also:petroleum, glassware, paper, prepared skins, clocks and watches, arms and See also:ammunition, &c. Exports (valued at £I,393,674 in 1905) comprise rice, See also:rubber, See also:manila See also:hemp, ramie, See also:lacquer and badian See also:oils, raw skins, See also:silk-See also:waste, coal, Chinese drugs, rattan, mats, See also:gamboge. The transit See also:trade via Tongking between Hong-See also:Kong and the province of Yun-nan in southern China is of considerable importance, reaching in 1905 a value of £5,146,000. This trade is entirely in the hands of Chinese houses, the tin of the Yun-nan mines and cotton yarns from Hong-Kong constituting its most important elements. Goods in transit enjoy a See also:rebate of 8o% of the customs duties. Goods are carried on the Song-Koi to Lao-Kay or See also:Man-Hao, thence on mules. The waterways of the delta are lined with embankments, the causeways along which form the chief means of See also:land communication of the region. (For See also:railways, see INDO-CHINA, FRENCH.) The protectorate of Tongking approaches nearer to See also:direct See also:administration than that of Annam, where the conditions of the See also:protector-See also:ate are more closely observed. Till 1897 the See also:emperor of Annam was represented in Tongking by a See also:viceroy (kinh-luoc), but now the native officials are appointed by and are directly under the See also:control of the See also:resident-See also:superior, who resides at Hanoi, presides over ,the protectorate See also:council, and is the chief territorial representative of France. Tongking is divided into nineteen provinces, in each of which there is a resident or a See also:vice-resident, and four military territories, the latter administered by commandants. In each province there is a council of native " notables," elected by natives and occupied with the discussion of the provincial See also:budget and public See also:works. There is also a deliberative council of natives (instituted 1907) for the whole of Tongking. The provincial administration, See also:local See also:government and educational See also:system are analogous to those of Annam (q.v.). Two See also:chambers of the See also:court of See also:appeal of Indo-China and a criminal court sit at Hanoi; there are tribunals of first instance and tribunals of See also:commerce at Hanoi and Hai-Phong. When both parties to a suit are Annamese, it comes within the See also:jurisdiction of the An-Sat or native See also:judge of the province.
The following is a See also:summary of the budgets of 1899 and 1904:
Receipts. See also:Expenditure.
1899 461,235 427,993
1904 756,648 494,034
The chief source of See also:revenue is the direct taxes (including especially the See also:poll-tax and land-tax), which amounted in 1904 to £417,723, while the chief items of expenditure are the cost of the residencies and general See also:staff, public works and the See also:civil guard.
For the See also:early See also:history of Tongking, see ANNAM and INDO-CHINA, FRENCH. Tongking was loosely See also:united to Annam until 18ot, when Gia-See also:long, See also: The Franco-See also:German See also:War of 1870-71 put an end to the project for a See also:time, but the return of See also:peace in See also:Europe was the See also:signal for the renewal of hostilities in the East. The See also:appearance of See also:Garnier's See also:work on his expedition up the Mekong again aroused an See also:interest in Tongking, and the reported wealth of the country added the powerful See also:motive of self-interest to the yearnings of patriotism. Already See also:Jean See also:Dupuis, a trader who in the pursuit of his calling had penetrated into Yun-nan, was attempting to negotiate for the passage up the Song-Koi of himself and a See also:cargo of military stores for the Chinese authorities in Yun-nan. Meanwhile See also:Captain Senez appeared from See also:Saigon, having received instructions to open the route to French commerce. But to neither the trader nor the See also:naval officer would the Tongkingese lend a favourable See also:ear, and in See also:default of See also:official permission Dupuis determined to force his way up the river. This he succeeded in doing, but arrived too See also:late, for he found the Taiping See also:rebellion crushed and the stores no longer wanted. On the return of Dupuis to Hanoi, the Tongkingese general at that See also:place wrote to the king of Annam, begging him to induce the See also:governor of Cochin-China to remove the intruder. An See also:order was thereupon issued calling upon Dupuis to leave the country. This he declined to do, and, after some negotiations, See also:Francis Gamier with a detachment was sent to Hanoi to do the best he could in the difficult circumstances. Gamier threw himself See also:heart and soul into Dupuis's projects, and, when the Tongkingese authorities refused to treat with him except on the subject of Dupuis's See also:expulsion, he attacked the citadel in See also:November, 1873, and carried it by See also:assault. Having thus secured his position, he sent to Saigon for reinforcements, and meanwhile sent small detachments against the five other important fortresses in the delta (Hung-yen, Phu-Ly, Hai-Duong, Ninh-Binh and Nam-Dinh), and captured them all. The Tongkingese now called in the help of Lu-Vinh-Phuoc, the See also:leader of the " Black Flags," 1 who at once marched with a large force to the See also:scene of See also:action. Within a few days he recaptured several villages near Hanoi, and so threatening did his attitude appear that Gamier, who had hurried back after capturing Nam-Dinh, made a sortie from the citadel. The See also:movement proved a disastrous one, and resulted in the See also:death of Gamier and of his second in command, Balny d'Avricourt.
Meanwhile the See also:news of Garnier's hostilities had alarmed the governor of Saigon, who, having no See also:desire to be plunged into a war, sent Philastre, an inspector of native affairs, to offer apologies to the king of Annam. When, however, on arriving in Tongking Philastre heard of Garnier's death, he took command of the French forces, and at once ordered the evacuation of Nam-Dinh, Ninh-Binh and Hai-Duong—a measure which, however advantageous it may have been to the French at the moment, was most disastrous to the native See also:Christian population, the withdrawal of the French being the signal for a general See also:massacre of the converts. In pursuance of the same policy Philastre made a See also:convention with the authorities (See also: The tie which bound the tributary nation to the See also:sovereign See also:state had been for many generations slackened or See also:drawn closer as circumstances determined, but it had never been entirely dissevered, and from the Annamese point of view this was one , Bands of Chinese rebels who infested the mountainous region of Tongking.of the occasions when it was of See also:paramount importance that it should be acknowledged and acted upon. With much more than usual regularity, therefore, the king despatched presents and letters to the court of See also:Peking, and in r88o he sent a See also:special See also:embassy, loaded with unusually costly offerings, and bearing a See also:letter in which his position of a tributary was emphatically asserted. Far from ignoring the responsibility thrust upon him, the emperor of China ordered the publication of the letter in the Peking See also:Gazette. The death of Riviere and the defeat of his troops had placed the French in a position of extreme difficulty. M. Jules See also:Ferry, who had become premier of France in See also:February 1883, determined on a vigorous forward policy. But for the moment the outlying garrisons, except those of Nam-Dinh and Hai-Phong, had to be withdrawn and Hanoi itself was besieged by the Black Flags. Reinforcements brought by See also:Admiral See also:Courbet and General Bouet were insufficient to do more than keep them at bay. So continued was the pressure on the See also:garrison that Bouet determined to make an advance upon Son-Tay to relieve the See also:blockade. He attacked Vong, a fortified See also:village, but he met with such resistance that, after suffering considerable loss, he was obliged to See also:retreat to Hanoi. In the See also:lower delta See also:fortune sided with the French, and almost without a casualty Hai-Duong and Phu-Binh fell into their hands. Meanwhile, in order to put more effective pressure upon the court of See also:Hue, Dr Harmand, See also:commissary-general, supported by Courbet, proceeded with a naval force to the Hue river. They found that, though King Tu Duc was dead, his policy of resistance was maintained, and therefore stormed the See also:city. After a feeble See also:defence it was taken, and Harmand concluded a treaty with the king (August 1883) in which the French protectorate was fully recognized, the king further binding himself to recall the Annamese troops serving in Tong-king, and to construct a road from Saigon to Hanoi. Though this treaty was exacted from Annam under pressure, the French lost no time in carrying out that See also:part of it which gave them the authority to protect Tongking, and Bouet again advanced in the direction of Son-Tay. But again the resistance he met with compelled him to retreat, after capturing the fortified See also:post of Palan. Meanwhile, on the determination to attack Son-Tay becoming known in See also:Paris, the Chinese See also:ambassador warned the See also:ministry that, since Chinese troops formed part of the garrison, he should consider it as tantamount to a See also:declaration of war. But his protest met with no See also:consideration. On the arrival of reinforcements an advance was again made; and on the 16th of See also:December 1883, after some desperate fighting, Son-Tay fell. During 1884 the French made themselves masters of the lower delta. Throughout the campaign Chinese regulars fought against the French, who thus found themselves involved in war with China. While hostilities were in progress M. See also:Fournier, the French See also:consul at See also:Tientsin, had been negotiating for peace, so far as China was concerned, with Li Hung-chang, and in May 1884 had signed and sealed a memorandum by which the Chinese plenipotentiary agreed that the Chinese troops should evacuate the northern provinces of Tongking " immediatement." In the following See also:month anothertreaty, signed at Hue, confirmed the French protectorate over Annam and Tongking. It was not, however, followed by a cessation of military operations. A misunderstanding arose between the French and the Chinese as to the exact date for the evacuation of their posts by the Chinese, and in June General Millot, then See also:commander-in-chief of the French forces, dispatched See also:Colonel Dugenne at the See also:head of a strong force to occupy See also:Lang-Son. The expedition was badly arranged; the baggage See also:train was far too unwieldy; and the See also:pace at which tLe men were made to march was too See also:quick for that scorching time of the year. They advanced, however, to Bac-Le, within 25 M. of Lang-Son, when they suddenly came upon a Chinese See also:camp. An irregular engagement began, and, in the pitched See also:battle which ensued, the Chinese See also:broke the French lines, and drove them away in headlong See also:flight. This brought the military operations for the season to a See also:close. During the See also:rainy season fevers of all kinds became alarmingly prevalent, and the number of deaths and of men invalided was very large. In the meantime, however, an expedition, led by Colonel Donnier, against the Chinese garrison at Chu, about ro m. south-east from Lang-kep, was completely successful; and in a battle fought near Chu the Chinese were defeated, with a loss of 3000 killed, the French loss being only 20 killed and 90 wounded. In the skirmishes which followed the French were generally victorious, but not to such a degree as to See also:warrant any enlargement of the campaign. In See also:January 1885 large reinforcements arrived and Briere de l'Isle, who had succeeded Millot as commander-in-chief, ordered an advance towards Lang-Son. The difficulties of transport greatly impeded his movements, still the expedition was successful. On the 6th of February three forts at Dong-Song, with large supplies of stores and ammunition, fell into the hands of the French. Three days' heavy fighting made them masters of a See also:defile on the road, and on the 13th Lang-Son was taken, the garrison having evacuated the town just before the entrance of the conquerors. With his usual See also:energy General Negrier, who commanded a See also:division under Briere de 1'Isle, pressed on in pursuit to Ki-Hea, and even captured the frontier town of Cua-Ai. But Briere de 1'Isle had now to See also:hurry back to the See also:relief of Tuyen-Kwan, which was doggedly resisting the attacks of an overwhelming Chinese force, and Negrier was See also:left in command at Lang-Son. The withdrawal of Briere de l'Isle's division gave the Chinese greater confidence, and, though for a time Negrier *was able to hold his own, on the 22nd and 23rd of March he sustained a severe check between Lang-Son and That-Ke, which was finally converted into a See also:complete rout, his troops being obliged to retreat precipitately through Lang-Son to Than-Moi and Dong-Song. Briere de 1'Isle reached Tuyen-Kwan, the garrison of which was commanded by Colonel Domine, on the 3rd of March, and effected its relief. The disaster at Lang-Son caused the downfall of the Ferry ministry (March 30). Shortly afterwards See also:Sir See also:Robert See also:Hart succeeded in negotiating peace with China. By the terms agreed on at Tientsin (June, 1885), it was stipulated that France was to take Tongking and Annam under its See also:protection and to evacuate See also:Formosa and the See also:Pescadores. (For further history, see INDOCHINA.)
See J. Dupuis, Le Tong-See also:kin et l'intervention francaise (Paris, 1898) ; C. B. See also:Norman, Tonkin or France in the Far East (See also:London, 1884) ; See also:Prince Henri d'See also: Chailley, See also:Paul See also:Bert au Tonkin (Paris, 1887) ; E. Lunet de Lajonquiere, Ethnographie du Tonkin Septentrional (Paris, 1906); A. Gaisman, L' Euvre de la France au Tonkin (Paris, 1906) ; also the bibliography under INDO-CHINA, FRENCH. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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