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Macartney At Kashgar: New Light On British, Chinese, And Russian Activities In Sinkiang, 1890-1918
Sir George Macartney spent 28 years around the turn of the century as British representative in Sinkiang - one of the most remote and lonely posts ever maintained by the British government. As this account makes clear, it was a career remarkable chiefly for dedicated service and objective reporting. All those interested in the history of the British Empire and the History of China and Russia.
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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January 18, 2026
** OLD REVIEW; RESHELVED AS "AVAILABLE FREE" — SEE NOTE BELOW REVIEW **
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I could write a much longer review here;* but since there've been only three GR readers in this book's 50 year history, there's obviously not a lot of outstanding interest out there.
And perhaps understandably so, as I gotta say — this one was a real slog. Macartney himself is an interesting if not quite fascinating peripheral character in Central Asian history, and was a late player in the waning days of the Great Game; but as told here his story is far too textbookish, with way too much dry (and excruciatingly specific) information on the titular "Activities in Sinkiang" and far too little personal details on "Macartney in Kashgar." (That said, Macartney didn't help himself any by not leaving any personal papers behind, so the authors could really only piece this story together from his official reports back to India and England, combined with his wife's memoir, An English Lady in Chinese Turkestan, which has also been on my bookshelf for several decades).
Born in Nanjing to a Chinese mother and Scots father, (Halliday Macartney, a colorful character in his own right who fought with Gordon's Chinese Army during the Taiping Rebellion), George spent his first decade in China immersed in the local language and culture, then returned to Europe to be educated in England and France. Once back in Asia — and already fluent in English, Chinese and French — he began his colonial career as Francis Younghusband's companion and interpreter during an 1890 expedition to Kashgar, (in fact, that's a young [27] Frank sitting front and center in the book's cover photo, while a 24-year-old Macartney sits on the far left). Macartney then remained in Kashgar for the next 28 years, spending two decades as the unofficial British Agent before finally being appointed the first British Consul, (and along the way, of course, picking up Turki, Hindustani and Persian**).
Throughout the book, Macartney comes across as a kind of "anti-Flashman," acting as a distant witness to many of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries' most formative events, all of which impacted his work in Sinkiang (Xinjiang), but in none of which did he play a direct role — the Boxer Rebellion; the First Sino-Japanese War (which among other things ceded Taiwan to Japan); the Russo-Japanese War (which cemented Japanese dominance in Korea and Manchuria); the British invasion of Tibet; both China's and Russia's anti-imperial revolutions; and ultimately WWI. Along the way, Macartney and his wife also played frequent host to a number of Central Asia's most famous explorers and adventurers, including Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin, and Albert von Le Coq (as well as — briefly — famous British spy Col. F. M. Bailey); and as a result Macartney is mentioned in a good dozen other and better books on that area and era, (including three of Peter Hopkirk's classics, where I first learned of him). But again, his role in all these events is largely that of observer more than active participant.
Compared to those more global events, the actual "activities in Sinkiang" in which he was directly involved are an endless (and far less interesting) litany of back-and-forth diplomatic tussles between the three main players of the title, concerning trade privileges, issues of travel and taxation, boundary disputes, and figuring out just exactly who Macartney was there to represent (the "British subjects" for whom he was nominally responsibility being largely a blend of Indian traders and regional "tribals" — Afghans, Chitralis, Bhadakhshis, etc. — who generally fell under Raj protection; in fact, one of Macartney's greatest achievements was "securing the freedom of several hundred British-born slaves from captivity in Kashgaria, which he accomplished almost single-handedly and without alienating or embarrassing the Chinese"). Of course, as with any book on this topic or period, the corrupt, Byzantine and overall unfathomable nature of Chinese politics — especially out in the "far reaches" — doesn't make this all any easier to follow, especially when dealing with the various regional leaders and titles: Hsietai, Titai, Taotai, Taoyin, Amban, Aksakal, etc…
The book picks up towards the end, and actually wraps up on a bit of a cliffhanger. Macartney's departure coincided with the end of World War I, and with it ended the very real threat or a German-Turkish sponsored uprising in Central Asia that formed the factual basis for Peter Hopkirk's Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire (which surprisingly is one of Hopkirk's few books in which Macartney is not mentioned), and the fictional setting for John Buchan's Greenmantle.*** However, with Republican China fragmenting into the various warlord states, the indigenous "Moslem" unrest in the Far West only continued to grow from then on, and so top choices for further reading here would be Aitchen Wu's Turkistan Tumult, or more likely a long-overdue rereading of Peter Fleming's News From Tartary: A Journey From Peking To Kashmir and/or Ella Maillart's Forbidden Journey.
Macartney's wife and children had left Kashgar at the beginning of the war, and so he once again spent a few lonely years in Sinkiang before finally returning to the Channel Islands for a well-earned retirement. He lived there throughout WWII under German occupation, and passed away there just days after Germany's defeat.
While not remembered today as a "significant" figure in the larger history of the region, Sir George Macartney carried out an important and exceedingly lonely mission with humility, dignity, courage, honor and ability (again, the "anti-Flashman"); relying mainly on his intelligence and linguistic/cultural knowledge and operating for years at a time with no official title, no formal instructions, and little support. As such, I believe there remains a great story here somewhere, still waiting to be better told.
* I know; hard to believe as this still ended up getting pretty out of hand. But seriously, there really is a LOT more I could say here.
** Macartney also befriended and for a while even lived with Father Hendriks, a destitute Dutch priest in Kashgar; throughout their lengthy relationship these two deeply intellectual individuals conversed solely in Latin, as it was the only language they had in common. Apparently "languages" is what one did in the days before television and the internet…
*** And which created a bizarre (if temporary) alliance in Kashgar between the now-on-the-same-side British and Russian consuls, after over 20 years of daily confrontation — indeed, as two of the sole Europeans stranded in this literal remote desert outpost, Macartney and Petrovsky (and his several successors) "enjoyed" a bizarre (and IMO filmworthy) love/hate relationship that ranged from the antagonistic to the comic to the at times almost bromantic. In fact, as late as 1930 Macartney was in contact with the last Tsarist consul in Kashgar, Prince Mestchersky — who following the Revolution fled to Paris where he worked as a hotel waiter — and provided him with financial support. (As a side note — and I'm nothing if not all about the side notes — it's also interesting to remember that during WWI, Japan actually sided with Britain and Russia, using its navy to seize German possessions in China and the Pacific; a timely reminder of Lord Palmerston's famous dictum that: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow," which is generally dumbed down and better known as "there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent self-interests.")
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NOTE: A copy of this book is available free to any Goodreads friend who is willing to pay for shipping, (or pick up in person, if living in the Northern Virginia/WDC area). If interested and you have my email, just send a note with the word "Goodreads" somewhere in the text or subject, so I can find in a search. If you DON'T have my email, add a comment on this review with YOUR email, and I'll get back to you to set something up. Happy reading!
You can see other books on my "available free to friends" bookshelf (still under construction); meanwhile, here are a few blurry photos with some of the other available titles:
____________________________________
I could write a much longer review here;* but since there've been only three GR readers in this book's 50 year history, there's obviously not a lot of outstanding interest out there.
And perhaps understandably so, as I gotta say — this one was a real slog. Macartney himself is an interesting if not quite fascinating peripheral character in Central Asian history, and was a late player in the waning days of the Great Game; but as told here his story is far too textbookish, with way too much dry (and excruciatingly specific) information on the titular "Activities in Sinkiang" and far too little personal details on "Macartney in Kashgar." (That said, Macartney didn't help himself any by not leaving any personal papers behind, so the authors could really only piece this story together from his official reports back to India and England, combined with his wife's memoir, An English Lady in Chinese Turkestan, which has also been on my bookshelf for several decades).
Born in Nanjing to a Chinese mother and Scots father, (Halliday Macartney, a colorful character in his own right who fought with Gordon's Chinese Army during the Taiping Rebellion), George spent his first decade in China immersed in the local language and culture, then returned to Europe to be educated in England and France. Once back in Asia — and already fluent in English, Chinese and French — he began his colonial career as Francis Younghusband's companion and interpreter during an 1890 expedition to Kashgar, (in fact, that's a young [27] Frank sitting front and center in the book's cover photo, while a 24-year-old Macartney sits on the far left). Macartney then remained in Kashgar for the next 28 years, spending two decades as the unofficial British Agent before finally being appointed the first British Consul, (and along the way, of course, picking up Turki, Hindustani and Persian**).
Throughout the book, Macartney comes across as a kind of "anti-Flashman," acting as a distant witness to many of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries' most formative events, all of which impacted his work in Sinkiang (Xinjiang), but in none of which did he play a direct role — the Boxer Rebellion; the First Sino-Japanese War (which among other things ceded Taiwan to Japan); the Russo-Japanese War (which cemented Japanese dominance in Korea and Manchuria); the British invasion of Tibet; both China's and Russia's anti-imperial revolutions; and ultimately WWI. Along the way, Macartney and his wife also played frequent host to a number of Central Asia's most famous explorers and adventurers, including Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin, and Albert von Le Coq (as well as — briefly — famous British spy Col. F. M. Bailey); and as a result Macartney is mentioned in a good dozen other and better books on that area and era, (including three of Peter Hopkirk's classics, where I first learned of him). But again, his role in all these events is largely that of observer more than active participant.
Compared to those more global events, the actual "activities in Sinkiang" in which he was directly involved are an endless (and far less interesting) litany of back-and-forth diplomatic tussles between the three main players of the title, concerning trade privileges, issues of travel and taxation, boundary disputes, and figuring out just exactly who Macartney was there to represent (the "British subjects" for whom he was nominally responsibility being largely a blend of Indian traders and regional "tribals" — Afghans, Chitralis, Bhadakhshis, etc. — who generally fell under Raj protection; in fact, one of Macartney's greatest achievements was "securing the freedom of several hundred British-born slaves from captivity in Kashgaria, which he accomplished almost single-handedly and without alienating or embarrassing the Chinese"). Of course, as with any book on this topic or period, the corrupt, Byzantine and overall unfathomable nature of Chinese politics — especially out in the "far reaches" — doesn't make this all any easier to follow, especially when dealing with the various regional leaders and titles: Hsietai, Titai, Taotai, Taoyin, Amban, Aksakal, etc…
The book picks up towards the end, and actually wraps up on a bit of a cliffhanger. Macartney's departure coincided with the end of World War I, and with it ended the very real threat or a German-Turkish sponsored uprising in Central Asia that formed the factual basis for Peter Hopkirk's Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire (which surprisingly is one of Hopkirk's few books in which Macartney is not mentioned), and the fictional setting for John Buchan's Greenmantle.*** However, with Republican China fragmenting into the various warlord states, the indigenous "Moslem" unrest in the Far West only continued to grow from then on, and so top choices for further reading here would be Aitchen Wu's Turkistan Tumult, or more likely a long-overdue rereading of Peter Fleming's News From Tartary: A Journey From Peking To Kashmir and/or Ella Maillart's Forbidden Journey.
Macartney's wife and children had left Kashgar at the beginning of the war, and so he once again spent a few lonely years in Sinkiang before finally returning to the Channel Islands for a well-earned retirement. He lived there throughout WWII under German occupation, and passed away there just days after Germany's defeat.
While not remembered today as a "significant" figure in the larger history of the region, Sir George Macartney carried out an important and exceedingly lonely mission with humility, dignity, courage, honor and ability (again, the "anti-Flashman"); relying mainly on his intelligence and linguistic/cultural knowledge and operating for years at a time with no official title, no formal instructions, and little support. As such, I believe there remains a great story here somewhere, still waiting to be better told.
* I know; hard to believe as this still ended up getting pretty out of hand. But seriously, there really is a LOT more I could say here.
** Macartney also befriended and for a while even lived with Father Hendriks, a destitute Dutch priest in Kashgar; throughout their lengthy relationship these two deeply intellectual individuals conversed solely in Latin, as it was the only language they had in common. Apparently "languages" is what one did in the days before television and the internet…
*** And which created a bizarre (if temporary) alliance in Kashgar between the now-on-the-same-side British and Russian consuls, after over 20 years of daily confrontation — indeed, as two of the sole Europeans stranded in this literal remote desert outpost, Macartney and Petrovsky (and his several successors) "enjoyed" a bizarre (and IMO filmworthy) love/hate relationship that ranged from the antagonistic to the comic to the at times almost bromantic. In fact, as late as 1930 Macartney was in contact with the last Tsarist consul in Kashgar, Prince Mestchersky — who following the Revolution fled to Paris where he worked as a hotel waiter — and provided him with financial support. (As a side note — and I'm nothing if not all about the side notes — it's also interesting to remember that during WWI, Japan actually sided with Britain and Russia, using its navy to seize German possessions in China and the Pacific; a timely reminder of Lord Palmerston's famous dictum that: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow," which is generally dumbed down and better known as "there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent self-interests.")
____________________________________
____________________________________
NOTE: A copy of this book is available free to any Goodreads friend who is willing to pay for shipping, (or pick up in person, if living in the Northern Virginia/WDC area). If interested and you have my email, just send a note with the word "Goodreads" somewhere in the text or subject, so I can find in a search. If you DON'T have my email, add a comment on this review with YOUR email, and I'll get back to you to set something up. Happy reading!
You can see other books on my "available free to friends" bookshelf (still under construction); meanwhile, here are a few blurry photos with some of the other available titles:
April 11, 2019
Macartney At Kashgar: New Light On British, Chinese, And Russian Activities In Sinkiang, 1890-1918
by Clarmont Percival Skrine, and Pamela Nightingale
As a prelude to my trip to China, following the classical Silk Road I have read this book, that describes the career of Sir George Macartney, who spent twenty-eight years at the turn of the nineteenth century as British representative in Sinkiang, China's most westerly province.
George Macartney first arrived in Sinkiang in 1890, traveling as interpreter for Captain Francis Younghusband, who was on a mission for the Indian government. When Younghusband departed he left Maccartney behind as the sole and unofficial representative of British interests in the region, where he was to remain until 1918. For a long time his unofficial status created immense difficulties for him. He was for the most part powerless to intervene in the quarrels and rivalries between the Chinese administration and the Russian foreign officials and military representatives in the province in China's most westerly province Sinkiang. Maccartney’s neutrality, calmness and integrity won him the respect of both sides. By the time he was officially made Consul in 1908 he had already achieved much that enhanced British prestige in Central Asia. During the remainder of his stay in Sinkiang he was to witness the effects there of both the Chinese and Russian revolutions.
Macartney was in a unique position to observe political and diplomatic manoeuvres by the key players trying to establish a sphere of influence in China's strategically vital hinterland before and during the Chinese and Russian revolutions.
George Macartney was married to Catherine Theodora, Lady Macartney (1877-1949). Catherine (née Borland) was born in Bexley, Kent, England. She was the second daughter of James Borland, she married Sir George Macartney, the British Consul in Kashgar, in 1897. Catherine's father had studied in Scotland with George Macartney's father, Halliday Macartney. She published her memoirs detailing her time in Kashgar in 1931. She helped the archaeologists who discovered the Dunhuang manuscripts. The Macartneys had three children.
A nice read, but al together a little to much into detail for my more general interests. In all this international intrigue there is one small Dutch connection also. To be precise that of father (Paul-Piet) Hendricks (March 17, 1846 in Venlo – June 22, 1906 in Kashgar) a Roman Catholic missionary. Accompanied by a Polish nobleman called Adam Ignatovich whom he had met in Omsk on his way to Chinese Turkestan, Hendricks arrived in Kashgar in 1885 and remained there until his death. During his stay in Kashgar, Hendricks clashed with Nikolai Petrovsky, the Russian consul-general, and lived for a time with George Macartney at Chini-Bagh. Chini-Bagh was the Kashgar residence of George Macartney and his wife, Lady Catherine Macartney, for 28 years. Over the years, Chini-Bagh saw an incredible procession of adventurers, explorers and other exciting characters, including Aurel Stein, Father Hendricks, Albert von Le Coq, Sven Hedin and two of Count Otani's Central Asian archaeologists/spies, Eizaburo Nomura and Zuicho Tachibana pass by.
Although the house still stands, its famed gardens (the phrase "Chini-Bagh" means Chinese Garden in Uygur) were later destroyed. Chini Bagh now a days is turned into a hotel, were we hope to stay a few days next month (May 2019)
Father Hendricks frequently had to travel to British India, and despite good relations with Macartney, he occasionally had troubles crossing the border. British agent Ralph Cobbold reported that in the late 1890s Hendriks was detained by the British for several weeks at Hunza on the border with Sinkiang. This Father Hendricks appears to have been a colourful figure how turns up as a footnote in traveller stories by the likes of Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin and Peter Hopkirk. After a conflict with the Dutch mission he continued his missionary work as a one man band. Daily reading mass before a complete empty church and living in utter poverty, on a few scraps of bread and vegetables as Macartney puts is. George Macartney supports him so at least he had a decent meal and bath every now and then. He ran his church out of a mud hut and was apparently able to only convert one person, a Chinese cobbler, during his time in Kashgar. Next to a failed missionary father Hendricks was also a very educated man, how spoke many languages and Macartney and travellers like Sven Hedin and Aurel Stein enjoyed his company and discussions. He was Macartney’s eyes and ears on the streets and bazaars of Kashgar. In 1906 father Hendricks died of throat cancer and was carried to his grave by a Cossack escort. Who knows if next month I am ably to trace his grave in that case I put a Chinese rose on it.
by Clarmont Percival Skrine, and Pamela Nightingale
As a prelude to my trip to China, following the classical Silk Road I have read this book, that describes the career of Sir George Macartney, who spent twenty-eight years at the turn of the nineteenth century as British representative in Sinkiang, China's most westerly province.
George Macartney first arrived in Sinkiang in 1890, traveling as interpreter for Captain Francis Younghusband, who was on a mission for the Indian government. When Younghusband departed he left Maccartney behind as the sole and unofficial representative of British interests in the region, where he was to remain until 1918. For a long time his unofficial status created immense difficulties for him. He was for the most part powerless to intervene in the quarrels and rivalries between the Chinese administration and the Russian foreign officials and military representatives in the province in China's most westerly province Sinkiang. Maccartney’s neutrality, calmness and integrity won him the respect of both sides. By the time he was officially made Consul in 1908 he had already achieved much that enhanced British prestige in Central Asia. During the remainder of his stay in Sinkiang he was to witness the effects there of both the Chinese and Russian revolutions.
Macartney was in a unique position to observe political and diplomatic manoeuvres by the key players trying to establish a sphere of influence in China's strategically vital hinterland before and during the Chinese and Russian revolutions.
George Macartney was married to Catherine Theodora, Lady Macartney (1877-1949). Catherine (née Borland) was born in Bexley, Kent, England. She was the second daughter of James Borland, she married Sir George Macartney, the British Consul in Kashgar, in 1897. Catherine's father had studied in Scotland with George Macartney's father, Halliday Macartney. She published her memoirs detailing her time in Kashgar in 1931. She helped the archaeologists who discovered the Dunhuang manuscripts. The Macartneys had three children.
A nice read, but al together a little to much into detail for my more general interests. In all this international intrigue there is one small Dutch connection also. To be precise that of father (Paul-Piet) Hendricks (March 17, 1846 in Venlo – June 22, 1906 in Kashgar) a Roman Catholic missionary. Accompanied by a Polish nobleman called Adam Ignatovich whom he had met in Omsk on his way to Chinese Turkestan, Hendricks arrived in Kashgar in 1885 and remained there until his death. During his stay in Kashgar, Hendricks clashed with Nikolai Petrovsky, the Russian consul-general, and lived for a time with George Macartney at Chini-Bagh. Chini-Bagh was the Kashgar residence of George Macartney and his wife, Lady Catherine Macartney, for 28 years. Over the years, Chini-Bagh saw an incredible procession of adventurers, explorers and other exciting characters, including Aurel Stein, Father Hendricks, Albert von Le Coq, Sven Hedin and two of Count Otani's Central Asian archaeologists/spies, Eizaburo Nomura and Zuicho Tachibana pass by.
Although the house still stands, its famed gardens (the phrase "Chini-Bagh" means Chinese Garden in Uygur) were later destroyed. Chini Bagh now a days is turned into a hotel, were we hope to stay a few days next month (May 2019)
Father Hendricks frequently had to travel to British India, and despite good relations with Macartney, he occasionally had troubles crossing the border. British agent Ralph Cobbold reported that in the late 1890s Hendriks was detained by the British for several weeks at Hunza on the border with Sinkiang. This Father Hendricks appears to have been a colourful figure how turns up as a footnote in traveller stories by the likes of Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin and Peter Hopkirk. After a conflict with the Dutch mission he continued his missionary work as a one man band. Daily reading mass before a complete empty church and living in utter poverty, on a few scraps of bread and vegetables as Macartney puts is. George Macartney supports him so at least he had a decent meal and bath every now and then. He ran his church out of a mud hut and was apparently able to only convert one person, a Chinese cobbler, during his time in Kashgar. Next to a failed missionary father Hendricks was also a very educated man, how spoke many languages and Macartney and travellers like Sven Hedin and Aurel Stein enjoyed his company and discussions. He was Macartney’s eyes and ears on the streets and bazaars of Kashgar. In 1906 father Hendricks died of throat cancer and was carried to his grave by a Cossack escort. Who knows if next month I am ably to trace his grave in that case I put a Chinese rose on it.
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