egarding
China as a whole the attitude of the people towards Europeans was held
to indicate that the general view was, not that the Boxer teaching was
false, but that the spirits behind Western religion were more powerful
than those behind Boxer-dom. The spiritual prestige of Christianity and
respect for the power of the foreigner were direct outcomes of the
failure of the Boxers.[58] The British expedition to Tibet in 1904, the
occupation of Lhassa in August of that year, the flight of the Dalai
Lama to Mongolia, gave grave concern to the Chinese government--which
showed much persistence in enforcing its suzerain rights in Tibet--but
did not, apparently, cause any ill-feeling towards Great Britain among
the Chinese people--who viewed with seeming equanimity the flight of the
head of the Buddhist religion from the headquarters of that faith. The
country generally was peaceful, a rebellion in Kwang-si--where a
terrible famine occurred in 1903--being suppressed in 1904 by the forces
of the viceroy at Canton.

Commercial and railway progress.

The expiatory measures required of China in connexion with the Boxer
rising were carried through. China during 1902 recovered possession of
the Peking-Tientsin railway and of the city of Tientsin, which was
evacuated by the foreign troops in August of that year. The foreign
troops were also all withdrawn from Shanghai by January 1903. The
conclusion of a new commercial treaty between Great Britain and China in
September 1902 has already been recorded. The payment of the indemnity
instalments occasioned some dispute owing to the fall in silver in 1902,
but the rise in the value of the tael in subsequent years led China to
agree to the payment of the indemnity on a gold basis. The increase in
revenue was a notable feature of the maritime customs in 1903-1905. This
result was in part due to the new arrangements under the commercial
treaty of 1902, and in part to the opening up of the country by
railways. In especial the great trunk line from Peking to Hankow was
pushed on. The line, including a bridge nearly 2 m. long over the Yellow
river was completed and opened for traffic in 1905. The first section of
the Shanghai-Nanking railway was opened in the same year. At this time
the Chinese showed a strong desire to obtain the control of the various
lines. During 1905, for instance, the Canton-Hankow railway concession
was repurchased by the Chinese government from an American company,