This was the fourth time I had entered YUNG LO's, K'ANG Hsi's and CH'IEN LUNG'S capital. Scarcely two years had elapsed since I had left it last. And again a radical change had taken place. CIIANG Ts0-LIN and his government were no longer in power. He himself had been murdered by the Japanese on June 4th 1928, and at the end of the year the Nationalist Emblem was hoisted in Mukden. The central republican power had established itself in Nanking. Peking was no longer the capital of China, but only the seat of the authorities and Governor of the province of Hopei (formerly Chihli) . The name of the city had also been altered to Peiping (Pei-p'ing = The Northern Peace)1. That a change had taken place was only too plain. Life in the streets and public places went on as usual, it is true, but it was no longer swarming, as of yore; and Government House stood abandoned by its former occupants. It was said that a couple of thousand shops had closed down on account of lack of custom. All the legations remained as before in their inviolate quarter; and when ambassadors had important business with the government they were obliged to journey down to Nanking, a trip that was not always so convenient.
MEETING WITH OUR COMMITTEE
The first meeting with our committee took place on January i6th in premises in the Temple of the Jade Buddha in Yüan-ch'eng at the entrance to the Pei-hai park. The atmosphere was very different and much more cordial than that of two years since; but then there had been no friction in the relations between the Chinese and the Europeans in the course of the expedition. Old CHOU CHAO-HSIANG bade us welcome to Peking. Afterwards, Liu Fu acted as chairman and asked
1 This was in fact a revival of the name borne by the city during the very first years of the Ming dynasty, when Nanking was the capital. Peking (Pei-ching — The Northern Capital) was used from 1436 onwards. In the following the form Peking has been retained in accordance with the author's wish. F. B.
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