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THE CHRISTIANS. 151
co-religionists. Nevertheless the civil war raged for thirteen years longer, when
it was concluded by the slaughter of 30,000 Panthays
Tali-fu.
in the streets of
In North China the insurrection began in 1860 with the massacre of the Chinese
of Hoachew, east of Singan-fu. At first the Chinese and Mongolians everywhere
escaped to the mountains or deserts, or even allowed themselves to be killed without
resistance. In Shensi and Kansu the work of destruction was carried out with
pitiless fury, and here the heads of families were seen to slay
their women and
children in order to devote themselves entirely to the holy war. In the valley of
the Wei not a single village remained standing. With the exception of the
Christians, all the inhabitants who could not escape were put to the sword ; the
prisoners were burnt alive ; old and young alike were murdered ; and the dead were
numbered by the million. In certain districts a few solitary buildings still stand-
ing excite the wonder of strangers, and but for the impregnable
works of a few
large cities, the northern and western provinces would have been entirely freed
from their Chinese inhabitants. The country seemed finally lost to the empire,
when the lack of cohesion and a common plan of operations proved fatal to the
Dungan rebels. After fifteen years of strife victory remained with those who
commanded the best-disciplined troops. The Chinese generals successively
recovered Shensi and Kansu, and after seizing the military stations in the Tian-
shan they were able to scatter the last embers of revolt in the Zungarian steppes.
But although thus vanquished at both extremities of the empire, the worshippers
of Allah still constitute a power in the State, and certain writers, perhaps some-
what prematurely, foresee the time when they will become the ruling element in
the extreme East.
THE CHRISTIANS.
Although they entered China contemporaneously with the Mohammedans, the
Christians are far less numerous, and their influence may, relatively speaking, be
regarded as of no account. But it was not always so, for the Nestorians from
Mesopotamia and Baktria had at one time developed flourishing
communities in
the empire. Besides the evidence of the native records, there existed till recently
a rock inscription commemorating the entry of the Christian missionaries into
China. Discovered near Singan-fu in 1620, and since frequently visited by Euro-
peans, this stone was probably destroyed during the Ta'iping rebellion. It was
seen so recently as 1867 by Williamson, but it had already disappeared when
Richthofen visited Shensi in 1872. About its authenticity there can be no doubt,
the inscription having been frequently reproduced, and a correct copy deposited in
the National Library. According to this document the Syrian missionary, Olo-
peunn. reached China in 635 with the sacred writings and images, and three years
afterwards obtained permission to build a church in Singan. The new belief
spread rapidly, and in spite of subsequent persecutions, especially in the ninth
century, Christian communities were found in all the provinces when Marco Polo
traversed the country. To these communities is probably due the legend of