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86-660: The army was officially disbanded in 1885 as a result of the Treaty of Tientsin between France and China . However, remnants of the army continued to wage a guerilla war against French colonial authorities for years. With the sanction of both Vietnamese and Chinese authorities, the Black Flags joined the Vietnamese irregular forces, stemming French encroachment beyond the Red River Delta . In 1857, Liu Yongfu ,

172-515: A Hakka soldier of fortune , commanded a group of about 200 men within a larger Highwayman group in Guangxi province headed by Huang Sihong (Chinese: 黃 思 宏 ). He allied with the Taiing forces in the region. He defected with his men to the band of Wu Yuanqing (Chinese: 吳 元 清 ) under his own black flag. Liu organized a ceremony reminiscent of the tiandihui (天地会) rituals and what became known as

258-579: A protection system, as well as robbing villages in the countryside. The profits accrued from this venture were so great that Liu's army swelled in numbers in the 1870s, attracting to its ranks adventurers from all over the world. Although most of the Black Flag soldiers were Chinese, the junior officers included American and European soldiers of fortune, some of whom had seen action in the Taiping Rebellion. Liu used their expertise to transform

344-570: A 'general of the black tiger'. The Black Flag Army is named from the colour of Liu's command flags. French sources invariably mention that Liu Yongfu's personal command flags were very large, black in colour, and rectangular. In December, 1873, when Liu Yongfu confronted Francis Garnier outside Hanoi, the Black Flag Army was described as marching under enormous black flags. At the Battle of Palan (September 1, 1883), Liu Yongfu's headquarters

430-513: A repetition of the same blunder Riviera sufiered defeat and death in 1883. Both the Black and Yellow Flags have greatly increased in number since they were expelled from Chinese territory, the former numbering in 1883 probably not fewer than 5,000 warriors, and the latter perhaps twice as many." In 1873, the Vietnamese government enlisted the help of the Black Flag Army to face an attempt to conquer Tonkin by French naval lieutenant Francis Garnier , who

516-425: Is above reproach, shall enjoy the same security for their persons and their goods as French protégés. ARTICLE TWO China, having decided to do nothing which could compromise the work of pacification undertaken by France, engages herself to respect, in the present and in the future, the treaties, conventions and arrangements directly concluded or to be concluded between France and Annam. In those things which concern

602-417: Is need, boundary markers designed to clearly delineate the line of demarcation. In the case where they can not agree among themselves on the placement of the markers or on the rectifications of detail in the actual frontier of Tonkin which it may be necessary to make in the common interest of both parties, they will refer it to their respective governments. ARTICLE FOUR When the frontier has been identified,

688-519: The Battle of Paper Bridge (19 May 1883), in which the French naval captain Henri Rivière was ambushed and killed. It was a swift and striking victory for the Black Flag Army. In the Battle of Phủ Hoài (15 August 1883), the Black Flag Army successfully defended its positions against a French attack launched by General Alexandre-Eugène Bouët, though it took considerably higher casualties than

774-531: The Cần Vương resistance movement against the French. It took months for the French to reduce them, and the route between Hưng Hóa and the border town of Lào Cai was only secured in February 1886. In 1887, Black Flag bandits remained sufficiently powerful to ransack and pillage Luang Prabang . Liu Yongfu evidently had a personal preference for the colour black, having dreamt in his youth that he would one day become

860-885: The Penghu Islands (which Admiral Courbet had wanted to retain as a French counterweight to the British colony of Hong Kong), the Chinese withdrawal from Tonkin left the way clear for the French to reoccupy Lạng Sơn and to advance up the Red River to Lào Cai on the Yunnan-Tonkin border. In the years that followed the French crushed a vigorous Vietnamese resistance movement while consolidating their hold on Annam and Tonkin. Tang Jingsong Tang Jingsong ( Chinese : 唐景崧 ; Wade–Giles : T'ang Ching-sung ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : Tn̂g Kéng-siông ; 1841–1903)

946-601: The Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The Black Flags assisted the Chinese forces during this war, best known for the fierce Siege of Tuyên Quang when the joint Black Flag-Chinese armies besieged a battalion of the French Foreign Legion defending the citadel. The Black Flag Army formally disbanded at the end of the Sino-French War, though many of its members continued to harass

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1032-724: The Viceroy of Yun-Gui . Captain Jean-François-Alphonse Lecomte, one of the more discerning officers of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps , also paid tribute to the skill T'ang's army had shown in its siegecraft at Tuyên Quang: The mandarins had directed the attack on Tuyen Quang in a very intelligent manner. Owing to the Moslem insurrection in Yunnan, an insurrection that had nearly engulfed

1118-583: The Anamese army were the irregular soldiers known as the Black and the Yellow Flags. These troops were not Anamese but Chinese, and it is not known to what extent they were augmented by volunteers from the neighboring Chinese provinces. They are survivors of the valorous Taeping rebels who held the military power of the Chinese Empire at bay for many years. In 1865 the rebels, who had retired before

1204-520: The Battle of Hòa Mộc fifteen months later does not bear out this assessment. The Black Flag Army took no part in the Bắc Ninh Campaign (March 1884). After the French capture of Bac Ninh, the Black Flags retreated to Hưng Hóa. In April 1884 the French advanced on Hưng Hóa with both brigades of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps . The Black Flags had thrown up an impressive series of fortifications around

1290-523: The Black Flag Army also successfully fought other groups of bandits and mercenaries, such as the White Flag Army and Yellow Flag Army. Ten years later, with France again pushing into Tonkin, undeclared hostilities broke out in 1883 and the first half of 1884 as a prelude to the Sino-French War . The Black Flags fought several engagements against French forces in Tonkin. The first major clash was at

1376-495: The Black Flag Army emerged from their defences and advanced across open ground to attack the French left wing; according to a French eyewitness, the advancing Black Flag units bore numerous black banners decorated with Chinese characters in either red or white. Surviving Black Flag banners include a black triangular banner with a representation in white of the seven stars of the Great Bear . The reconstruction shown here displays

1462-468: The Black Flag Army into a formidable fighting force. Under his command in Tonkin he had 7,000 soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi. The harassment of European vessels trading on the Red River triggered the dispatch of the French expeditionary force to Tonkin under Commandant Henri Rivière in 1882. The resulting clashes between the French and the Black Flag Army (the latter abetted by the regular Vietnamese and Chinese forces) escalated, resulting eventually in

1548-631: The Black Flag Army was born. The "army" operated as an independent unit under Wu Yuanqing and under his son and successor, Wu Yazhong (Chinese: 吳 亞 終 ) or Wu Hezhong. Although not part of the Taiping forces, both Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yazhong laid claim to be Taiping "princes". After Qing forces crushed the Taiping Rebellion in 1864 in Nanking , the Qing army proceeded to destroy systematically

1634-437: The Black Flags is at Aokai, on Red river; that of the Yellow Flags at Hagiung, farther in the interior and east of that place. The Anamese subsidized the Yellow Flags partly to act as a check upon the troublesome Black Flags, and were glad to avail themselves of both in their conflicts with the French. It was through a want of precaution against the skill aud courage of the Black Flags that Garnier lost his life in 1873, and through

1720-468: The Chinese Empire and foreign countries that community of interests which has always most effectively cemented friendships between peoples. If the imperial government holds the same sentiments in this respect as the government of the Republic, this treaty will confer real and lasting benefits on everyone. Li Hongzhang made the following reply: We Chinese have a saying: 'Friendship shines as brightly as

1806-473: The Chinese Viceroy of Canton, or Governor-General of the two Kwang, they were finally expelled from the low country and confined to the upper course of the river. Soon after Watsong died, and his followers divided into two bands. The main body of the original Taeping rebels were disposed to settle down to peaceful pursuits, and to make their submission to the Chinese and Anamese authorities. They adopted

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1892-571: The Chinese agreed to withdraw their armies from Tonkin by the end of May 1885. As a surety for Chinese good faith, the French maintained their 'rice blockade' of the Yangtze River and the Chinese ports of Ningbo and Beihai while continuing to occupy both Keelung and the Pescadores Islands. The Chinese carefully observed the terms of the peace settlement; thus, both the Yunnan and Guangxi Army withdrew from Tonkin. Recognizing

1978-514: The Chinese character 令 , which, translated to English, currently means "order" or "command". Treaty of Tientsin (1885) The Treaty of Tianjin ( Chinese : 中法新約 ), signed on June 9, 1885, officially ended the Sino-French War . The " unequal treaty ", or colonial treaty, restated in greater detail the main provisions of the Tianjin Accord , signed between France and China on May 11, 1884. As Article 2 required China to recognize

2064-456: The Chinese troops into the province of Kwangsi, were finally driven across the border into Tonquin, and found a secure retreat in the mountains on both sides of the Red river valley. This band of exiles, numbering about 5,000, were accompanied by their wives and families. Their chief was Watsong, one of Taeping Wang's principal lieutenants, and many of them continued the freebooting practices into which

2150-632: The Emperor of China, and after that it will be ratified by the President of the French Republic, the exchange of ratifications to take place at Beijing after the shortest possible delay. Done at Tianjin in four examples, 9 June 1885, corresponding to the 27th day of the fourth month of the eleventh year of Guangxu . The signing of the treaty on 9 June was followed by a banquet at which the two plenipotentiaries expressed their satisfaction with

2236-577: The French Government. ARTICLE SIX A special regulation, annexed to the present treaty, will specify the conditions in which will be carried out the land commerce between Tonkin and the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong. That regulation will be prepared by commissioners who will be named by the High Contracting Parties within three months of the signing of the present treaty. The merchandise which will be

2322-414: The French Republic and His Majesty the Emperor of China, animated, the one and the other, by an equal desire to put an end to the difficulties they have given each other by their simultaneous interventions in the affairs of Annam, and wishing to reestablish and ameliorate the former relations of friendship and commerce which existed between France and China, have resolved to conclude a new treaty responding to

2408-521: The French for years afterwards as freelance bandits. Remarkably, Liu Yongfu revived the Black Flag Army again in 1895 in response to the Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895) . Liu Yongfu crossed to Taiwan at the appeal of his old friend Tang Jingsong , the island's former governor-general and now president of the short-lived Republic of Formosa . Liu was to command the Formosan resistance forces against

2494-403: The French from storming Sơn Tây. Even with large Chinese and Vietnamese regular contingents at Sơn Tây, the Black Flag Army bore the brunt of the fighting, and took very heavy casualties. In the opinion of the British observer William Mesny , a senior officer in the Chinese army, the fighting at Sơn Tây broke the power of the Black Flag Army, though the stubborn defence put up by the Black Flags in

2580-502: The French government consented to the conclusion of a definitive peace treaty between France and China. A comprehensive peace treaty in ten articles, based on the provisions of the Tianjin Accord of May 11, 1884, was signed at Tianjin on June 9, 1885, by Li Hongzhang on behalf of China and by Jules Patenôtre on behalf of France. Li had been widely criticized in China for too many concessions to France. Conservative officials prevented

2666-669: The French protectorate over Annam and Tonkin established by the Treaty of Hue in June 1884, implicitly forcing China to abandon its claims to suzerainty over Vietnam , the treaty formalized France's diplomatic victory in the Sino-French War . In December 1884, alarmed by Japanese ambitions in Korea, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered her ministers to extricate China from the undeclared war with France that had broken out on 23 August. Key French victories in Tonkin and Formosa in February and early March 1885, respectively strengthened her desire to end

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2752-441: The French, French protégés and foreign inhabitants of Tonkin who wish to cross it in order to go to China will only be allowed to do so after having previously furnished themselves with passports delivered by Chinese authorities at the frontier on the request of the French authorities. For Chinese subjects, an authorization by the imperial Frontier Authorities will suffice. Chinese subjects who wish to travel from China to Tonkin, by

2838-532: The French. In the Battle of Palan (1 September 1883) the Black Flags did less well, being driven from a key position on the River Đáy . In December 1883, the Black Flag Army suffered a major defeat at the hands of Admiral Amédée Courbet in the Sơn Tây Campaign . Despite fighting with fanatical courage in the engagements at Phù Sa on 14 December and Sơn Tây on 16 December, the Black Flags were unable to prevent

2924-539: The Government of the Republic will provide her with every facility for the procurement in France of the personnel that she needs. It is also intended that this clause will not be considered as constituting an exclusive privilege in favor of France. ARTICLE EIGHT The commercial stipulations of the present treaty and the regulations arising from them can be revised after an interval of ten years has elapsed, dating from

3010-463: The Japanese, and proclaimed Taiwan an independent Republic of Formosa . Tang was inaugurated as the republic's president on May 25, 1895. The republic lasted no longer than the time it took the Japanese to invade and occupy Taiwan. The Japanese invaded northern Taiwan on May 29, 1895 and defeated Chinese forces at Keelung on 3 June. When the news of the defeat at Keelung reached Taipei on 4 June,

3096-553: The Japanese. Liu took a number of aging Black Flag veterans back into service to join the fight against the Japanese, but the reconstituted Black Flag Army was swept aside with ease by the Japanese Imperial Guards Division . Liu himself was obliged to disguise himself as an old woman to escape capture. An entry on the Black Flags in "Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events, Volume 8; Volume 23": "The Black Flags-More formidable than

3182-1109: The Ministry of Justice, Administrator of the Treasure of the Ministry of Finances, Director of the Schools for the Education of the Hereditary Officers of the Left Wing of the Tartar Army of Beijing, Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Contingent of the Yellow Bordered Banner; and DENG CHENGXI, Imperial Commissioner, Member of the Ceremonial Estate; who, after communicating to each other their plenipotentiary powers, which they have recognized as in good and due form, are agreed on

3268-494: The Pescadores Islands on 22 July 1885. Ratifications of the Treaty of Tianjin were exchanged at Beijing on 28 November 1885. Article 3 of the treaty provided for the appointment of a Sino-French commission to demarcate the border between Tonkin and China, which largely forms today's China-Vietnam border . China's commissioners were Zhou Derun  [ zh ] and Deng Chengxiu  [ zh ] . The French commission

3354-781: The Polar Star of Sweden, etc; and His Majesty the Emperor of China: LI HONGZHANG, Imperial Commissioner, First Grand Secretary of State, Tutor of the Heir Presumptive, Superintendent of Trade of the Northern Ports, Viceroy of Zhili , holder of the First Degree of the Third Rank of Nobility, with the title Souyi ; assisted by XI ZHEN, Imperial Commissioner, Member of the Council of Foreign Affairs, President of

3440-475: The Qing government to Vietnam to assess the ability of the Vietnamese government to resist French expansion in Tonkin. During his stay he was able to persuade Liu Yongfu to take the field against the French with the Black Flag Army . Liu's intervention resulted in the French defeat in the Battle of Paper Bridge on 19 May 1883, in which the French commandant supérieur Henri Rivière was killed. In

3526-430: The Sino-French War. Although the Chinese won an unexpected victory in Tonkin in late March, defeating General de Négrier's 2nd Brigade at Bang Bo and reoccupying Lạng Sơn , this success was counterbalanced by the simultaneous French capture of the Pescadores Islands . Despite the fall of Jules Ferry's ministry in France at the end of March in the wake of the retreat from Lạng Sơn , China's position in early April 1885

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3612-527: The Yunnan Army down the Red River from Lào Cai to threaten the French post of Tuyên Quang, and Liu Yongfu took service with him as a subordinate general. Although he ultimately failed to capture the French post, Tang's intelligent and methodical conduct of the Siege of Tuyên Quang was praised by many of his Chinese colleagues, including Zhang Zhidong , the Viceroy of Liangguang , and Cen Yuying ( 岑毓英 ),

3698-556: The capture of Tuyên Quang, the Black Flags would probably have been driven from Tonkin there and then. But French attention was diverted by the sudden crisis with China provoked by the Bắc Lệ ambush (23 June 1884), and during the eventful summer of 1884 the Black Flags were left to lick their wounds. The fortunes of the Black Flag Army were transformed by the outbreak of the Sino-French War in August 1884. The Empress Dowager Cixi responded to

3784-625: The common interests of the two nations, based on the Preliminary Convention signed at Tianjin, 11 May 1884, and ratified by imperial Decree, 13 April 1885. To that effect, the two High Contracting Parties have designated their plenipotentiaries, to wit: the President of the French Republic: M. JULES PATENÔTRE, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of France in China, Officer of the Légion d'Honneur, Grand-Cross of

3870-422: The development of conditions advantageous for commercial relations and neighbourliness which the present treaty has for its object to reestablish between France and China, the Government of the Republic will construct roads in Tonkin and will encourage the construction of railways there. When, on her side, China decides to construct railway tracks, it is intended that she will address herself to French industry, and

3956-497: The entire province and was only put down by Marshal Ma after several sieges, they were now experts in the art of siegecraft. Their troops were excellent, and although they were unable to capture the fortress, defended as it was by a handful of heroes and relieved in the very nick of time by Giovanninelli's brigade, this siege was nonetheless a glorious feat of arms for the Celestials and showed that when necessary they could rise to

4042-416: The evening of 11 April, seeing Brière de l'Isle's Turcos and marine infantry emerging behind their flank at Xuân Đông, the Black Flags evacuated Hưng Hóa before they were trapped inside it. They set alight the remaining buildings before they left, and on the following morning the French found the town completely abandoned. The Black Flag Army retreated up the Red River to Thanh Quan, only a few days march from

4128-402: The exchange of ratifications of the present treaty. But, in the case where, six months before the appointed time, neither one nor the other of the High Contracting Parties has manifested a desire to proceed with revision, the commercial stipulations will remain in force for a new period of ten years and so forth. ARTICLE NINE After the present treaty has been signed, French forces will receive

4214-399: The following Articles. ARTICLE ONE France engages herself to reestablish and maintain order in the provinces of Annam which border upon the Chinese Empire. To that effect, she will take the measures necessary to disperse or expel the bands of pillagers and vagabonds which compromise the public tranquility, thus preventing it from reforming itself. Nevertheless, French troops will not cross

4300-497: The frontier town of Lào Cai . Several hundred Black Flag soldiers, demoralised by the ease with which Courbet and Millot had defeated the Black Flag Army, surrendered to the French in the summer of 1884. One of Millot's final achievements was to advance up the Lô River and throw the Black Flag Army out of Tuyên Quang in the first week of June, again without a single French casualty. If the French had seriously pursued Liu Yongfu after

4386-438: The frontier which separates Tonkin from China, a frontier which France promises to respect and guarantee against all aggression. On her side, China engages herself to disperse or expel the bands which take refuge in her provinces bordering on Tonkin, and to disperse those which seek to organize themselves on her territory in order to spread trouble among the populations placed under the protection of France, and in consideration of

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4472-481: The gate and, when they were repulsed, led a party of 18 French marine infantrymen out of the gate in pursuit. Garnier and three of his men charged uphill in a bayonet attack on a party of Black Flags but was speared to death after stumbling in a watercourse. The youthful enseigne de vaisseau Adrien-Paul Balny d’Avricourt led a similar small column to reinforce Garnier but was also killed in front of his men. Three other French soldiers were also killed in these sorties, and

4558-476: The guarantees which have been accorded to her for the security of her frontier, she categorically pledges not to send troops to Tonkin. The High Contracting Parties will fix by a special convention the conditions under which wrongdoers will be extradited between China and Annam. Chinese colonists or former soldiers who live peaceably in Annam, earning their living by agriculture, industry or commerce and whose conduct

4644-453: The highest casualty rate and the heaviest loss in a single day's fighting sustained by the French during the Sino-French War. Many French officers at Hòa Mộc said that the carnage was even worse than at Sơn Tây fifteen months earlier. One of the conditions of the peace treaty between France and China that ended the Sino-French War was that Liu Yongfu should leave Tonkin. By the end of the war Liu had only around 2,000 troops under his command and

4730-402: The isolated French posts of Phủ Doãn and Tuyên Quang during the autumn of 1884. In the winter and spring of 1885 3,000 soldiers of the Black Flag Army served during the Siege of Tuyên Quang . At the Battle of Hòa Mộc (2 March 1885), the Black Flag Army inflicted heavy casualties on a French column marching to the relief of Tuyên Quang. French casualties at Hòa Mộc were 76 dead and 408 wounded,

4816-472: The land route, must be provided with regular passports by the French authorities on request by the Imperial Authorities. ARTICLE FIVE Import and export trade will be permitted to French merchants or French protégés and to Chinese merchants on the land frontier between China and Tonkin. It must be carried out, however, at certain points which will be determined later and the choice as well as

4902-410: The laws and regulations laid down by each of the contracting states on its territory. The export and import of opium will be regulated by special arrangements which will be part of the above mentioned commercial regulations. The sea trade between China and Annam will be equally the object of a special regulation, provided that it contains no deviations from common practice. ARTICLE SEVEN In view of

4988-407: The many armed bands of south-eastern provinces. Hotly pursued, the desperate Wu Yazhong, with Liu and his Black Flag Army who had also taken over the former Taiping army in the region, crossed into Upper Tonkin in 1865, looting and pillagin villages on their way. The Black Flags demonstrated their usefulness to the Vietnamese court by helping the suppression of the indigenous Hmong tribes populating

5074-461: The mountainous terrain between the Red and Black Rivers , and for this Liu was rewarded with an official military title. Secured with the backing of the Vietnamese court, Liu Yongfu established a profitable extortion network along the course of the Red River, "taxing" river commerce between Sơn Tây and Lào Cai at a rate of 10%. He and the Black Flag Army also took over mines in the region and created

5160-445: The news of the destruction of China's Fujian Fleet at the Battle of Fuzhou (23 August 1884) by ordering her generals to invade Tonkin to throw the French out of Hanoi. Tang Jingsong , the commander of the Yunnan Army, knew that Liu's services would be invaluable in the war with France, and Liu agreed to take part with the Black Flag Army in the forthcoming campaign. The Black Flags helped the Chinese forces put pressure on Hưng Hóa and

5246-425: The number will be in agreement with the direction of flow as well as the importance of the traffic of the two countries. The regulations in force in the interior of the Chinese Empire will be taken into account in this respect. Two trading posts will be designated on the Chinese frontier, one above Lào Cai and the other above Lạng Sơn. French merchants may establish themselves there under the same conditions and with

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5332-461: The object of this commerce will be subject to, on entering and leaving Tonkin and the provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi, the same duties as those stipulated for foreign commerce. However, the reduced tariff will not be applied to merchandise transported across the land frontier between Tonkin and Guangdong and will not have effect in the ports opened by the treaties. Trade in arms, machinery, provisions and munitions of war of all kinds will be subject to

5418-611: The occasion. Tang succeeded Shao Youlian ( 邵友濂 ) as governor of Taiwan in 1894. Upon the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) he invited his old friend Liu Yongfu to assume command of Qing forces in southern Taiwan. Following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in April 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki . A number of Chinese officials in Taiwan decided to resist

5504-557: The order to retire from Keelung and to cease visitation, etc., on the high seas. Within one month after the signature of the present treaty, the Island of Formosa and the Pescadores will be entirely evacuated by French troops. ARTICLE TEN The provisions of older treaties, accords and conventions between France and China, not modified by the present treaty, remain in full force. The present treaty will be ratified first by His Majesty

5590-511: The others fled back to the citadel after their officers fell. Despite Garnier's death, the attempt to retake Hanoi had failed and the French remained in control of the greater part of the Red River Delta. However, the French government disapproved the unauthorized conquest and lieutenant Paul Philastre was sent to remove Garnier's men from the cities they occupied and repatriate them back to Saigon in February 1874. During this period,

5676-503: The practical difficulties faced by Tang Jingsong 's Yunnan Army, located deep in Tonkinese territory around Hưng Hóa, the French extended the April 4th deadline specified in the accord for its withdrawal, and the Yunnan Army finally returned to China via Lào Cai on June 2, 1885. Under pressure from Chinese commanders, Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army also withdrew from Tonkinese territory. Satisfied that China intended to honor its obligations,

5762-496: The provisions of the Tianjin Accord from being put into effect, resulting in a clash between French and Chinese troops at Bắc Lệ in Tonkin. This confrontation had led directly to the outbreak of the Sino-French War on 23 August 1884. Although the hardline elements in the Qing court were unable to prevent the empress dowager from again appointing Li Hongzhang to negotiate a peace treaty with the French, they insisted that Li

5848-408: The rebellion degenerated in its latter period. They offered no further hostility to the Chinese Government, but rather became the supporters and instruments of Chinese policy and influence in Anam. The Anamese troops were sent against them several times, but were invariably defeated. In 1868 they held undisputed possession of the whole right bank of the Red river above the capital. With the assistance of

5934-443: The relationships between China and Annam, it is intended that they will be of a nature such as not to affront the dignity of the Chinese Empire, and not to lead to any violation of the present treaty. ARTICLE THREE After an interval of six months from the signature of the present treaty, commissioners designated by the High Contracting Parties will go to delineate the frontier between China and Tonkin. They will place, wherever there

6020-437: The republican leaders promptly abandoned ship. During the night of 4 June Tang Jingsong fled to Tamsui, and from there sailed for the mainland on the evening of 6 June aboard the steamship Arthur . His departure was delayed for a day because of disorder in Tamsui. After Tang's flight, the republican forces continued to resist the Japanese in Taiwan under the leadership of Liu Yongfu . The republican forces were no match for

6106-434: The results of the negotiations. Patenôtre spoke as follows: I have every confidence that the diplomatic agreement we have just signed will do more than just put an end to our past disputes and—I hope—speedily efface them from our memory. By creating new links between France and China, by opening new markets for the commercial activity of all nations, the Treaty of 9 June will indubitably help to entrench and develop between

6192-409: The same advantages as in the treaty ports. The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of China will set up customs posts there, and the Government of the Republic will be able to maintain consuls there with the same privileges and prerogatives accorded to similar agents in the treaty ports. His Majesty the Emperor of China may appoint consuls in the principal towns of Tonkin, subject to the agreement of

6278-477: The sun.' This proverb applies particularly to the bonds that link two great countries. China also desires the general welfare and wellbeing. From now on, the friendship between our two countries will shine as brightly as the morning sun when it emerges from the gloom of night. On 10 June 1885, immediately after the signature of the peace treaty, the French lifted their naval blockade of the Yangtze River, Ningbo, and Beihai. They evacuated Keelung on 21 June 1885 and

6364-472: The town, but General Charles-Théodore Millot , the French commander-in-chief, took it without a single French casualty. While General François de Négrier's 2nd Brigade pinned the Black Flags frontally from the east and subjected Hung Hoa to a ferocious artillery bombardment from the Trung Xa heights, General Louis Brière de l'Isle 's 1st Brigade made a flank march to the south to cut Liu's line of retreat. On

6450-467: The transfer of a large tract of fertile arable land between Mabaiguan (馬白關) and Nandan Mountain (南丹山) to China. An agreement confirming the new border between Vietnam and China was signed in Beijing on 26 June 1887 by French and Chinese representatives. The peace treaty of June 9, 1885 formalized France's diplomatic victory in the Sino-French War. Although the French were obliged to evacuate Keelung and

6536-431: The wake of this disaster, Jules Ferry 's government committed substantial military and naval forces to Tonkin. Tang was the only senior Chinese commander to take part in the Sơn Tây Campaign (December 1883). Although Liu Yongfu and his Vietnamese and Chinese allies failed to hold Sơn Tây against the French, Tang's loyalty to Liu on that occasion was never forgotten by the Black Flag leader. In September 1884 Tang led

6622-442: The yellow flag for their ensign, and chose for their chief llwang Tsoug In, who had been a soldier in the Chinese territorial army of Kwangsi. The smaller band, which retained the black flag, was composed of criminals and desperate characters who had joined the band of Watsong in the hope of plunder or to escape from justice, and their new leader was formerly the most famous brigand in the province of Kwangsi. The principal settlement of

6708-594: Was a Chinese general and statesman. He commanded the Yunnan Army in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), and made an important contribution to Qing dynasty China's military effort in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) by persuading the Black Flag leader Liu Yongfu to serve under Chinese command. His intelligent, though ultimately unsuccessful, direction of the Siege of Tuyên Quang (November 1884–March 1885)

6794-657: Was accompanied by two members of the Zongli Yamen , Xi Zhen and Deng Chengxiu  [ zh ] . Deng was a prominent member of the hardline Purist party and his appointment, a deliberate insult to Li Hongzhang, was one of the last occasions on which the Purists were able to influence court policy. Discredited by China's defeat in the Sino-French War, the Purists rapidly lost influence at court thereafter. Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce, concluded between France and China at Tianjin on 9 June 1885 The President of

6880-469: Was acting without orders after having been sent there on a diplomatic mission. On 21 December 1873, Liu Yongfu and around 600 Black Flags ( French : pavillons noirs, drapeaux noirs ), marching beneath an enormous black banner, approached the west gate of the Hanoi Citadel. A large Vietnamese army followed in their wake. Garnier ordered the shelling of the Black Flags with a field piece mounted above

6966-574: Was completed in 1887. The French rejected Chinese claims to the Vietnamese town of Đồng Đăng, close to the Guangxi border and the site of a French victory during the Sino-French War, but agreed that the Bailong peninsula on the western border of Guangdong province should be awarded to China. A dispute over two areas on the border between Yunnan province and Tonkin was settled by the award of Mengsuo  [ zh ] and Menglai (猛賴) to Vietnam, and

7052-871: Was critical. Thus, seizing the opportunity offered by the fall of the Ferry ministry, the Chinese agreed to implement the provisions of the May 1884 Tianjin Accord , which recognized France's protectorate over Vietnam. In return, the French dropped their longstanding demand for an indemnity for the Bắc Lệ ambush . After a flurry of negotiations in Paris in the first days of April 1885, peace was made on this basis. Preliminaries of peace between France and China were signed on 4 April 1885. The preliminary peace protocol provided for an immediate ceasefire in both Tonkin and Formosa. The French agreed to lift their blockade of Formosa immediately, and

7138-429: Was in no position to resist pressure from Tang Jingsong and the other commanders of the Yunnan Army to remove the Black Flag Army. Liu crossed into China with some of his most loyal followers, but the bulk of the Black Flag Army was disbanded on Tonkinese soil in the summer of 1885. Unpaid for months and still in possession of their rifles, most of the unwanted Black Flag soldiers immediately took to banditry, under cover of

7224-641: Was led by M. Bourcier Saint-Chaffray, and its members included M. Scherzer, the French consul in Canton, Dr Paul Neis, a noted Indochina explorer, Lieutenant-Colonel Tisseyre, Captain Bouinais, and M. Pallu de la Barrière (though the latter took no part in the commission's work). In preparation for the commission's work General de Courcy dispatched French troops to occupy Lạng Sơn, That Khe and other border towns in October 1885. Demarcation work began in late 1885 and

7310-438: Was marked with seven identical black flags that were bordered in silver. In the Sơn Tây Campaign (December, 1883), Liu Yongfu ordered three large black flags to be flown above the main gate of the citadel of Sơn Tây, bearing Chinese characters in white. Individual Black Flag units flew a variety of flags, some rectangular and others triangular. In the afternoon of August 15, 1883, during the Battle of Phủ Hoài , several units of

7396-531: Was widely praised. He later became governor of the Chinese province of Taiwan . Following China's cession of Taiwan to Japan at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) he became president of the short-lived Republic of Formosa . Tang Jingsong played an important role in the Sino-French War and during the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded it. In 1882 he was sent by

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