him with all his men. He was freed from alarm from his eastern frontier; for just then the king of Gaogowli, probably to curry favour with the now powerful Yen Wang, sent on as prisoner one who was formerly a commander of Liaotung Hoo barbarians, who had fled into Gaogowli when Whang marched eastwards. Jwun freed and made this prisoner an officer.
We have already incidentally seen that many Hienbi and Chiang families took up their abode on Chinese soil from the time of Han down, and that many more were carried thither captive by Jao Wang. There were, doubtless, also not a few Hiwngnoo families. These had caused trouble in the early days of the Tsin empire, acting as spies and guides to their plundering relations from beyond the border. Jao Wang began to prepare for the coming storm by ordering all the "Hoo"[1] within his territories to be put to death. Over 200,000 families were thus put to the sword to prevent their becoming traitors in the hour of danger. The work of slaughter had to be done speedily, like another St. Bartholomew massacre, else many would escape. As all those people spoke Chinese like the original natives, their tongue could betray only very recent arrivals. Hence the marks given by which a Hoo could be discovered were, "Much hair on the face and a high nose." Every man possessing these unlucky marks was cut down, be he what he might, and in spite of his strongest asseverations, often doubtless true, that he was no Hoo, but a real Chinaman. Thus many Chinese perished among the Hoo; for the Chinese wore better beards then than they do now. Having thus put to death a whole army of civilians, Jao Wang had a brief breathing space before the storm burst upon him. But that frightful butchery would, doubtless, hurry on the northern preparations, and steel the hearts of Jwun's men with a cry of revenge. If Britain went mad for blood over the atrocities of the brutal Sepoys, what would she have done if so many of her children were cut down and maltreated as only Asiatics and Turks know how to do!
- ↑ Thus the term will be seen to embrace all the strangers resident among the Chinese, from whatever tribe of nomads.
