(1897) Germans in Tsingtao & Kiaochow

Most of 1897 passes quickly. After the Chinese New Year they made house calls. In May Dr. and Mrs. Randle visited. It was especially good to see Mrs. Randle, Hedvig says. On June 22nd the whole family traveled to the village of Tsingtao and stayed until July 10. In Tsingtao they were cared for by German soldiers and officers who offered them a place to stay on government-owned property. Near Tsingtao they enjoyed the wonderfully fresh ocean air, the warm sandy beaches, and swimming in the salt water of the North China Sea. They returned home strengthened and revived.

A week after returning to Kiaochow, Johan Alfred came down with malaria. But in a few days he was up again. In August little Oscar was sick with dysentery, and there were no doctors to help him. The house girl became sick at the same time. Things seemed very dark. Hedvig tried to calm her fears by putting the fate of those she loved in the hands of Jesus. "How wonderful that during [this] time we have the best physician, Jesus Christ, and bless be his name for his goodness and trust and help." By the time medicine arrives, the worst is over.

On August the 24th their friends the Lindbergs are blessed with their second child, Sven.

In September they met the Lindberg children returning from Tsingtao where they had been since July 4 enjoying the village and the ocean air for the summer. At the end of the month Johan Alfred started their travels in the countryside. In October Hedvig and the children accompanied the men on their itinerary to the villages in the countryside.

German Soldiers

On November 16 Lindberg traveled to Po market fair where he was to stay for a few days and found that the people in Po were very nervous and concerned. They heard that foreign soldiers had come ashore at Chintao, driven away the Chinese troops there, and were marching directly toward Kiaochow. The missionaries thought these to be only groundless rumors until they returned to Kiaochow on November 20 and found 200 to 300 German soldiers in the town with the people of the town were very worried for their own safety.

The missionaries inquired further. On November 1 the Chinese Big Sword Society had brutally murdered two German Roman Catholic priests, Franz Nies and Richard Henle, in southern Shandong. Of the Steyler Mission in Juye County, Shantung. The German government demanded reparation for the murders. Taking this a an opportunity to establish a German port on the coast of China the German government ordered three German warships, the armored frigate SMS Kaiser, the light cruiser SMS Prinzess Wilhelm and the small cruiser SMS Cormoran to Tsingtao. On November 14 they dropped anchor in Tsingtao harbor. So as not to shed any blood, the Germans sent an emissary to the Chinese general in charge of Tsingtao, and informed him that they wanted to put German troops in Tsingtao for military 'openings'. The German troops who were actually sailors from the three warship armed with only rifles, about 700 in number, marched in by land to take their posts. After taking their positions -- without firing a shot -- the [German navy?] sent another message to the Chinese general. It demanded he clear out his troops by 3:00 PM that day. The Germans in the end, however, did allow the Chinese soldiers by evening to gather their clothes and other belongings. Each was allowed to take his gun, but no ammunition.

[Add explanation of German occupation found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_East_Asia_Squadron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiautschou_Bay_concession

[In above links check what the following is about: "As a result of the German-Chinese lease contract the Chinese government gave up all its sovereign rights within the leased territory of approximately 83,000 inhabitants (to which the city of Jiaozhou did not belong), as well as in a 50 km wide security zone. "]

When the Germans had gotten as far as Kiaochow, the Chinese responded by sending troops to various locations including 5000 soldiers to Pingtu. The citizens of Kiaochow expected the Chinese troops to continue on to their town, but no troups came to free Kiaochow or the Tsingtao area.

Confusion and panic spread among the town's population. Many fled. Some committed suicide fearing much worse from the foreign troops. Stores and schools closed. Weddings were postponed. Families who had had family members die did not dare to take the time to bury them. With the panic came chaos. Robberies increased, people were beaten to death by thieves and robbers. The roads could not be traveled after dark. When robberies were reported to the police the response was, "I cannot do anything about it." Lawlessness was the rule. The country folk seemed to suffer the worst. In the midst of the panic, however, many Chinese of the town demonstrated calmness and confidence in their situation.

The Germans took their proclamation [demands?] to Chingtao, Kiao Chio Chi. But without [omnejd as 'part' China] had given them full satisfaction. After they had pasted up their proclamations in the town and had reported the situation to the local police department, they left the next day.

Hurl of the Spoon

The missionaries tried to stand apart from what was happening during the German-Chinese conflict. To take sides could get them in serious trouble with one side or the other. But despite their avoiding any involvement they were considered to be involved. As Johan Alfred commented, "in the German-Chinese conflict we still got a 'hurl of the spoon'" which is a Swedish saying for getting involved in something. Opponents within the town accused Johan Alfred and Lindberg that the German soldiers' arrival was due to their work. Some even insisted that both of them had lead the battle front when the soldiers came into the town. Such accusations if they were to be believed by the townspeople were very dangerous. It could mean their lives. Their accusers' case was weakened when it was proved that both he and Lindberg had been visiting the market at Po at that time, and had arrived in the town [Kiaochow?] two to three hours after the German troops had arrived. Besides that, the German troops had come from the east and they had arrived at the town from the west.

During this time of lawlessness and fear mission work suffered. The missionaries worked hard, but with little results. The bookstore for instance had been doing well. Now sales came to a complete stop. In Wangtai where the Christian books had always sold well at the markets, hardly anyone wanted to buy. The missionaries traveled to Wangtai two times and sold no more than nine books a day. Everyone's thoughts, concerns, and conversation were about the Germans.

Later, in the Chinese 12th month the missionaries could hold daily meetings in their facility in town and the sales of books picked up a bit.

Despite the occupation by the Germans toward the end of the year and the resulting slow down in mission activity, mission work in 1897 had been significant. Johan Alfred himself had spent 88 days outside of the town in surrounding villages preaching and selling books. He had traveled 3354 li (1677 kilometers or 1040 miles) on horse or donkey, and sold 1923 books, big and small. He sent as many as 158 letters to foreign countries and received 103.

[See poem on page 148-149 written on new year's eve. Not translated.]

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Footnotes