Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering

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James A. Crowder · John N. Carbone
Russell Demijohn

Multidisciplinary
Systems
Engineering
Architecting the Design Process
Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering
James A. Crowder • John N. Carbone
Russell Demijohn

Multidisciplinary Systems
Engineering
Architecting the Design Process
James A. Crowder John N. Carbone
Chief Engineer, Raytheon Intelligence, Engineering Fellow, Raytheon Intelligence,
Information and Services Information and Services
E. Nichols Place, CO, USA Garland, TX, USA

Russell Demijohn
Chief Engineer, Raytheon Intelligence,
Information and Services
Aurora, CO, USA

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ISBN 978-3-319-22397-1 ISBN 978-3-319-22398-8 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-22398-8

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Foreword

The authors, accomplished senior systems engineers, have developed a comprehen-

sive book for systems engineering students by taking into account both theoretical
and practical aspects of this important and growing discipline. In addition to cover-
ing all critical processes of systems engineering, they have uniquely provided a
contextual introduction so that the reader learns about the systems engineering
within the framework of all related disciplines. I see this as a unique contribution to
the area and place this book at the top of the list.
At the very beginning of their introduction, the authors state the purpose of this
book is “to arm the student with System Engineering principles, practices, and
activities applicable to developing programs and systems within today’s complex,
distributed multi-discipline converging enterprise environments.” They further
promise to focus on “the overwhelming design gaps and needs of the current
Systems Engineering discipline with foundations of new and relevant procedures,
products, and implements.”
The review of the content convinces me that the promise is delivered. Furthermore,
they claim that the book is intended to be an introductory text book. In my opinion,
although the book can be used as an introductory book, it can also be used in an

v
vi Foreword

advanced class with proper supplements. Another unique aspect of this book is its
comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, which is not very common among sys-
tems engineering books. In this respect, the book is an answer to a 150-page road-
map published by the National Academy of the Sciences titled “Convergence:
Facilitating Transdisciplinary Integration of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences,
Engineering, and Beyond” (ISBN 978-0-309-30151-0). This comprehensive docu-
ment states convergence as “an approach to problem solving that cuts across disci-
plinary boundaries. It integrates knowledge, tools, and ways of thinking from life
and health sciences, physical, mathematical, and computational sciences, engineer-
ing disciplines, and beyond to form a comprehensive synthetic framework for tack-
ling scientific and societal challenges that exist at the interfaces of multiple fields.”
Therefore, systems engineering, as an engineering of the twenty-first century, pro-
vides the engineering framework to the problems associated with convergence.
Interestingly, (SDPS) Society for Design and Process Science, www.sdpsnet.org,
which the authors have been involved with from the beginning, has been investigat-
ing convergence issues since 1995. The founding technical principle of SDPS has
been to identify the unique “approach to problem solving that cuts across disciplin-
ary boundaries.” The answer was the observation that the notions of Design and
Process cut across all disciplines, and they should be studied scientifically in their
own merits, while being applied for the engineering of artifacts. This book brings
the design and process matters to the forefront of Systems Engineering, and as such,
brings a complete flavor of convergence into the discipline of Systems Engineering.
During SDPS-2000 Keynote Speech, Nobel Laureate Herb Simon said, “…
Today, complexity is a word that is much in fashion. We have learned very well that
many of the systems that we are trying to deal with in our contemporary science and
engineering are very complex indeed. They are so complex that it is not obvious that
the powerful tricks and procedures that served us for four centuries or more in the
development of modern science and engineering will enable us to understand and
deal with them. We are learning that we need a science of complex systems, and we
are beginning to construct it…”
This talk punctuated the initiation of engineering aspects in SDPS with the estab-
lishments of Software/Systems Engineering Society (SES) as a function of
SDPS. Since then SDPS is transforming towards the next generation leadership.
The current systems engineering book is a testimony that next generation leaders
are producing. They are developing SDPS-SES into an organization that can address
all the twenty-first century needs of software/systems professionals. There is not a
single dedicated organization doing this nor are they equipped with the broad-based
systems-oriented expertise that exists in SDPS. Furthermore, SDPS/SES should
play a leading role in the development of the processes for next generation knowl-
edge dissemination. The time for knowledge dissemination with classical methods
and traditional journal publications is passing. We should play a critically leading
role in this arena with new publishing initiatives. Book publishing with distin-
guished publishers such as Springer is one way of achieving this goal.
Foreword vii

A decade later, in his SDPS-2010 keynote speech, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg
described the hard realism of scientific knowledge generation combined with the key
social role of scientists and engineers. These observations add to the urgency of our
action as a society to spread “thinking for understanding” with the notions of Design
and Process. Systems engineering books like this are a step in this direction.
SDPS is an international, cross-disciplinary, multicultural organization dedi-
cated to transformative research and education through transdisciplinary means.
SDPS is celebrating its 20th year in Dallas during November, 2015. Civilizations
depend on technology and technology comes from knowledge. The integration of
knowledge is the key for the twenty-first century problems.
This book is a very timely addition to serve this purpose and will be celebrated
in our 20th year SDPS conference in Dallas. The comprehensive nature of the book,
addressing complex twenty-first century engineering problems in a multidisci-
plinary manner, is something to be celebrated. I am, as one of the founders of SDPS,
a military and commercial systems developer, and a teacher, very honored to write
this foreword for this important book. I am convinced that it will serve generations
to come in the growing arena of Systems Engineering.

Dr. Murat M. Tanik

Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Wallace R. Bunn Endowed Chair for Telecommunications
UAB School of Engineering
Preface

The current global “content revolution” is characterized by information creation

overload and mired in a vast swamp of ambiguous complexity and insecurity which
we currently call “The Big Data” problem. Analogously, the Industrial Revolution
spanned 50–100 years and was characterized by massive transition from hand pro-
duction to machines. Each technology revolution has evolved from years of pooling
knowledge until a critical mass of technology allowed for a major leap forward. We
are swimming in oceans of data collectors and creators and drowning in the data.
Simultaneously, we are trying to keep our head above water by spending billions of
dollars to develop analytics to provide intelligence and knowledge from the massive
data stores, as we try to automate the analysis, reasoning, and decision-making to
handle our data problems. What is emerging is yet another great migration to handle
the architecture and design of ever more complex System of Systems. The content
revolution driven by seven billion people, five billion phones, one billion PCs, and
~90 PB of Facebook data holdings (2011) has resulted in current system designs
that must fuse dozens of overlapping disciplines.
To further complicate current Systems Engineering efforts, there is growing
interest in autonomous systems with cognitive skills to monitor, analyze, diagnose,
and predict behaviors in real time that makes this problem even more challenging [139].
Systems today continue to struggle with satisfying the need to obtain actionable
knowledge from an ever increasing and inherently duplicative store of non-context-
specific, multidisciplinary information content. Hence, increased automation and
complex System of Systems is the norm for current Systems Engineers and truly
autonomous systems are the growing future. Additionally, the size, speed, and
increased functionality of systems continue to increase rapidly, significantly chal-
lenging current Systems Engineering methods. Simultaneously however, develop-
ment of valuable readily consumable knowledge and context quality continues to
improve more slowly and incrementally.
Lastly, the complexity of systems and information today requires expertise in
many disciplines and domains leaving engineering, just like during the industrial
revolution, without the tools and level of understanding required to engineer across

ix
x Preface

disciplines, much less obtain knowledge outside of their silos of expertise. Therefore,
new Systems Engineering concepts, mechanisms, and implements are required to
facilitate the development and competency of the Systems Engineering discipline
and complex systems themselves, in order to simply be capable of proper operation,
much less autonomous operation, self-healing, and critical self-management of
knowledge and real-time operational self-awareness. Presented in this first of a
series of books are new Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering concepts, processes,
methodologies, notional architectures, and tools to support the engineering disci-
pline in understanding and evolving engineering of systems across the full spectrum
of disciplines required today. The materials include the rationale for Multidisciplinary
System Engineering (MDSE) as the standard for systems engineering and develop-
ment; ensuring new System of Systems (SoS) designs are successful and avoid the
failures introduced by complexities of the information overloads facing our cus-
tomer and management teams.

E. Nichols Place, CO James A. Crowder

Garland, TX John N. Carbone
Aurora, CO Russell P. Demijohn
Contents

1 Introduction: Systems Engineering—Why? ......................................... 1

1.1 The Need for Formal Systems Engineering ..................................... 1
1.2 A Brief Historical Perspective ......................................................... 2
1.3 Systems Engineering Practices and Principles ................................ 3
1.3.1 Integrated Technical Planning ........................................... 4
1.3.2 Risk Management .............................................................. 4
1.3.3 Integrity of Analyses (Integrity Engineering) .................... 5
1.3.4 System Architecture........................................................... 5
1.4 Inter-discipline Relationships .......................................................... 8
1.4.1 Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering ............................. 9
1.4.2 Systems Engineering Process ............................................ 12
1.4.3 Software Engineering Process ........................................... 12
1.4.4 Test Engineering Process ................................................... 14
1.4.5 Maintenance Engineering Process ..................................... 15
1.4.6 Operations and Sustainment Engineering Process ............ 15
1.4.7 Safety Engineering Process ............................................... 15
1.4.8 Security Engineering Process ............................................ 16
1.4.9 Mission Assurance Engineering Process ........................... 17
1.4.10 Specialty Engineering Process ........................................... 18
1.4.11 Cognitive Systems Engineering Process............................ 19
1.4.12 Risk Management .............................................................. 20
1.5 Overview of the Book ...................................................................... 22
1.5.1 Chapter 2: Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering ........... 23
1.5.2 Chapter 3: Multidisciplinary Systems
Engineering Roles .............................................................. 23
1.5.3 Chapter 4: Systems Engineering Tools and Practices ........ 23
1.5.4 Chapter 5: The Overall Systems Engineering Design ....... 24
1.5.5 Chapter 6: System of Systems Architecture Design .......... 24
1.5.6 Chapter 7: Systems Engineering Tasks and Products ........ 24

xi
xii Contents

1.5.7 Chapter 8: The System of Systems

Engineering Process........................................................... 25
1.5.8 Chapter 9: Plan Development Timelines ........................... 25
1.5.9 Chapter 10: Putting It All Together: Systems
of Systems Multidisciplinary Engineering ........................ 25
1.5.10 Chapter 11: Conclusions and Discussion .......................... 25
2 Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering ................................................ 27
2.1 Multidisciplinary Engineering for Modern Systems........................ 27
2.1.1 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Knowledge .................... 28
2.1.2 Multidisciplinary Engineering as on Overriding
Guide for the Design .......................................................... 29
2.1.3 Multidisciplinary System of Systems Engineering............ 31
2.1.4 Establishing an Effective Frame of Reference:
The Heart of Multidisciplinary Engineering...................... 33
2.1.5 Creating a Unifying Lexicon ............................................. 42
2.2 Software’s Role in Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering ............ 43
2.2.1 Computational Thought and Application .......................... 43
2.3 The Psychology of Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering............ 46
2.3.1 Resistance to Change ......................................................... 47
2.4 Case Study: Application Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering
(MDSE) for Information Systems Applications to Biology ............ 48
2.4.1 Discipline Background Investigation ................................. 49
2.4.2 Current System Design: Experimental Approaches .......... 50
2.4.3 Current Hardware and Infrastructure ................................. 51
2.4.4 Current Software Environment .......................................... 52
2.4.5 Current Experiment Algorithms ........................................ 53
2.4.6 System Upgrades ............................................................... 54
2.4.7 Camera Model ................................................................... 57
2.4.8 Illumination Model ............................................................ 60
2.4.9 Object Model ..................................................................... 61
2.4.10 Scene Model ...................................................................... 61
2.4.11 Example of Discovery Research for Systems
Biology Infrastructure ........................................................ 61
2.4.12 Multidisciplinary Application Discussion ......................... 63
2.5 Discussion ........................................................................................ 64
3 Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering Roles ...................................... 65
3.1 Systems Architect/Analyst ............................................................... 65
3.1.1 The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) ...... 67
3.2 System Designer .............................................................................. 72
3.2.1 Top-Down Design Methodology ....................................... 73
3.2.2 Bottoms-Up Design Methodology ..................................... 74
Contents xiii

3.3 System Integrator ............................................................................. 74

3.3.1 Vertical Integration............................................................... 75
3.3.2 Horizontal Integration .......................................................... 75
3.3.3 Star Integration..................................................................... 76
3.4 Systems Information Security Engineer .......................................... 76
3.5 Configuration Management ............................................................. 76
3.6 Case Study: Knowledge Management and the Need
for Formalization ............................................................................. 77
3.6.1 Ontology Development ........................................................ 77
3.6.2 Knowledge Management Conceptual Architecture ............. 81
3.6.3 Knowledge Management Upper Ontology .......................... 82
3.6.4 Upper Services Fault Ontology ............................................ 85
3.7 Discussion ........................................................................................ 87
4 Systems Engineering Tools and Practices ............................................. 89
4.1 System Architecture Frameworks .................................................... 90
4.1.1 The Zachman Framework .................................................... 91
4.1.2 DoDAF ................................................................................. 93
4.1.3 TOGAF ................................................................................ 98
4.1.4 The Ministry of Defense Architecture
Framework (MODAF) ......................................................... 98
4.1.5 The International Defense Enterprise
Architecture Specification (IDEAS) .................................... 100
4.1.6 UML..................................................................................... 100
4.1.7 SYSML ................................................................................ 101
4.2 System Architecture Analysis Methodologies
and Productivity Tools ..................................................................... 102
4.3 Case Study: Failures in Change Management ................................. 102
4.3.1 Satellite Launch Systems ..................................................... 102
4.4 Discussion ........................................................................................ 103
5 The Overall Systems Engineering Design ............................................. 105
5.1 Designing for Requirements ............................................................ 105
5.1.1 Requirements Decomposition .............................................. 106
5.2 Designing for Maintenance .............................................................. 111
5.2.1 Enhancing System Maintainability ...................................... 111
5.2.2 Standardization of Components ........................................... 113
5.2.3 Standardization of Interfaces ............................................... 113
5.2.4 Standardization of Maintenance Manuals............................ 114
5.2.5 Ease of Accessibility ............................................................ 114
5.2.6 Ease of Maintenance Activities............................................ 114
5.2.7 Handling of Component Materials....................................... 115
5.2.8 Designed for Safety.............................................................. 115
5.2.9 Designed for Modularity ...................................................... 115
xiv Contents

5.2.10 Designed for Failure Modes .............................................. 116

5.2.11 Designed for Enhanced Reliability .................................... 116
5.2.12 Designed for Enhanced Monitoring................................... 116
5.2.13 Designed for Expandability ............................................... 117
5.2.14 Designed for Testability ..................................................... 117
5.2.15 Designed for Redundancy.................................................. 117
5.2.16 Designed for Flexibility ..................................................... 118
5.2.17 Designed for Fault Recovery ............................................. 118
5.2.18 Designed for Robustness ................................................... 118
5.2.19 Designed for Environmental Issues ................................... 119
5.2.20 Designed for COTS Management...................................... 119
5.2.21 Designed for Parts Management ........................................ 120
5.2.22 Designed for Equipment Monitoring ................................. 120
5.2.23 Designed for Prognostic Health Management ................... 120
5.2.24 Designed for Data Management ........................................ 121
5.2.25 Designed for Tools Standards ............................................ 121
5.2.26 Designed for Staffing Considerations ................................ 122
5.2.27 Designed for Maintenance Documentation ....................... 122
5.3 Designing for Test (Test-Driven Development) ............................... 122
5.4 Designing for Integration (DfI) ........................................................ 123
5.4.1 Standards-Based Integration .............................................. 124
5.5 Designing for Operations ................................................................. 124
5.5.1 Operational Suitability: Ease of Use.................................. 125
5.6 Case Study: Designing for Success That Ends
in Potential Failure ........................................................................... 126
5.6.1 Sale of IBM Blade Server Division to Lenovo
(A Chinese Company) ....................................................... 126
5.6.2 Superfish Spyware Software Discovered
Installed on Lenovo PCs .................................................... 126
5.7 Discussion ........................................................................................ 127
6 Systems of Systems Architecture Design .............................................. 129
6.1 System of Systems Complexity ....................................................... 130
6.2 System of Systems Enterprise Architecture ..................................... 132
6.2.1 System of Systems Modeling and Simulation ................... 133
6.3 Use Cases ......................................................................................... 135
6.4 Activity Diagrams ............................................................................ 138
6.5 Sequence Diagrams .......................................................................... 140
6.6 Architecture View Discussion .......................................................... 141
6.7 Architecture Pitfalls: An In-Depth Discussion ................................ 142
6.7.1 The Good and Bad Sides of Experience ............................ 145
6.7.2 More Process Is Not the Answer ....................................... 147
6.8 Discussion ........................................................................................ 147
Contents xv

7 Systems Engineering Tasks and Products............................................. 149

7.1 Technical Planning ......................................................................... 149
7.2 Technical Assessment .................................................................... 150
7.3 Technical Coordination .................................................................. 150
7.3.1 Key Decisions/Assumptions ............................................ 150
7.3.2 Change Control/Configuration Management ................... 151
7.3.3 Technical Documentation/Engineering Database ............ 151
7.4 Business/Mission Analysis ............................................................ 151
7.5 Defining System Technical Requirements ..................................... 152
7.5.1 Formal vs. Informal Requirements .................................. 152
7.5.2 New Systems.................................................................... 153
7.5.3 Acronym(s) ...................................................................... 153
7.5.4 System Tiers .................................................................... 154
7.5.5 Categories of Technical Requirements ............................ 156
7.5.6 Primary/Contractual Requirements ................................. 156
7.5.7 Derived Requirements ..................................................... 157
7.5.8 Parent/Child Requirement Relationships ......................... 157
7.5.9 Technical Requirements and Attributes ........................... 158
7.5.10 Language and Requirements............................................ 158
7.5.11 Defining Technical Requirements.................................... 159
7.6 Defining System Architecture and Development........................... 160
7.7 Further Decomposing the System .................................................. 162
7.8 Determining External and Internal Interfaces ................................ 162
7.9 Trade Studies.................................................................................. 164
7.10 Life Cycle Cost Modeling.............................................................. 164
7.11 Technical Risk Analysis ................................................................. 166
7.12 Safety and Quality.......................................................................... 167
7.12.1 Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) ................. 168
7.13 Logistics Support ........................................................................... 169
7.14 Verification and Validation............................................................. 169
7.15 Establishing and Controlling the Technical Baseline .................... 171
7.16 Case Study: Why Good Requirements Are Crucial—
The Denver International Airport Baggage Handling System ....... 172
7.17 Discussion ...................................................................................... 173
7.17.1 Requirements Linking ..................................................... 173
7.17.2 Functional Correlation ..................................................... 173
8 Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering Processes ............................... 175
8.1 High-Level Program Structures ..................................................... 177
8.1.1 System Breakdown Structure (SBS) ................................ 177
8.1.2 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ................................. 177
8.1.3 Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) ................... 178
8.2 High-Level Program Plans ............................................................... 179
8.2.1 Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) ........... 181
xvi Contents

8.3 Systems Engineering Logistics and Support Concept

Development .................................................................................. 189
8.4 Software Engineering: The Master Software Build Plan ............... 189
8.5 Transition Plan Development ......................................................... 192
8.6 Information Assurance Plan Development .................................... 193
8.7 System Safety Plan Development .................................................. 193
8.8 Operational Site Activation Plan Development ............................. 193
8.9 Facilities Development Plan .......................................................... 195
8.10 Systems Engineering IV&V Plan .................................................. 198
8.11 Human Engineering Plan Development ......................................... 199
8.12 Case Study Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering
and System of Systems Complexity Context ................................. 199
8.12.1 Human Behavior and System of Systems Design ........... 200
8.13 Discussion ........................................................................................ 202
9 Plan Development Timelines .................................................................. 203
9.1 Authorization to Proceed (ATP)-to-Systems
Readiness Review (SRR) Development ......................................... 205
9.1.1 Authorization to Proceed (ATP) ...................................... 205
9.1.2 System Readiness Review (SRR) .................................... 205
9.2 System of Systems Element and Subsystem Design
Development .................................................................................. 207
9.2.1 Configuration Items (CIs) ................................................ 208
9.2.2 Subsystem and Element Design Reviews ........................ 208
9.3 Final Design Reviews to-Integration and Test Completion
Process Plan Flows......................................................................... 210
9.3.1 Final Design Reviews ...................................................... 210
9.3.2 CI (Service and Component) Integration and Test .......... 211
9.4 Subsystem Integration and Test Process Flow ............................... 212
9.4.1 Top-Down Element and Subsystem Integration
and Test ............................................................................ 212
9.4.2 Bottom-Up Element and Subsystem Integration
and Test ............................................................................ 215
9.4.3 Integration and Test Process Flow Through
Subsystem Integration and Testing .................................. 216
9.5 Systems Integration and Test Development ................................... 216
9.6 Alternative Integration and Test Methodology:
Functional Testing .......................................................................... 216
9.7 Case Study: What Happens When Test-Driven
Design Isn‘t: The Problem of Test Data ........................................ 219
9.7.1 Garbage in Garbage Out .................................................. 219
9.7.2 Providing Data Management Across the SoS .................. 219
Contents xvii

9.7.3 Test-Driven Design and Test Case Development ........... 220

9.7.4 Integration Testing Data ................................................. 221
9.8 Discussion ...................................................................................... 222
10 Putting It All Together: System of Systems
Multidisciplinary Engineering ............................................................... 225
10.1 Taking the Enterprise View of Systems Engineering..................... 225
10.1.1 Perspective ..................................................................... 225
10.2 The Pitfalls of Bottoms-Up Engineering ....................................... 229
10.2.1 HCI Failures ................................................................... 230
10.2.2 Data Management Problems .......................................... 230
10.2.3 Interface Complexity ..................................................... 232
10.2.4 Security Management Problems .................................... 233
10.2.5 Redundancy in Code ...................................................... 233
10.2.6 Integration and Test Costs .............................................. 234
10.2.7 Documentation Shortfalls .............................................. 234
10.2.8 LCC Growth................................................................... 234
10.2.9 Reactionary Engineering................................................ 235
10.2.10 Pitfalls Summary............................................................ 236
10.3 Case Study: Classical Disasters in Systems Engineering .............. 236
10.3.1 The Classical Pitfall ....................................................... 236
10.3.2 Typical Outcomes .......................................................... 236
10.3.3 Background Material ..................................................... 237
10.3.4 Historical Reference....................................................... 237
10.4 Discussion ...................................................................................... 241
11 Conclusions and Discussion ................................................................... 243
11.1 Useful Systems Engineering .......................................................... 243
11.2 When Systems Engineering Goes Right ........................................ 243
11.3 When Systems Engineering Goes Wrong ...................................... 244
11.4 A Look at Agile Systems Engineering........................................... 245
11.4.1 The Knowledge Paradigm .............................................. 246
11.4.2 The New Paradigm: Horizontal Integration
of Knowledge ................................................................. 247
11.4.3 A Simple Functionbase Approach ................................. 248
11.4.4 Engineering Tools: The MDSE Sandbox ....................... 249
11.4.5 Automated Process Documentation ............................... 251
11.4.6 The MDSE Engineering Design Reuse
Problem Solution ........................................................... 253
11.4.7 Groupware for Knowledge Management:
The MDSE Electronic Notebook ................................... 256
xviii Contents

11.5 Organizational Changes for MDSE ............................................... 262

11.5.1 The MDSE Organization ............................................... 262
11.5.2 MDSE Continuous Improvement Paradigm .................. 264
11.6 Discussion ...................................................................................... 267

Assignments ..................................................................................................... 269

Acronyms ......................................................................................................... 283

References ........................................................................................................ 287

Index ................................................................................................................. 293

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Revenue vs. profits scalability ........................................................ 6

Fig. 1.2 Enterprise architecture engineering process flow........................... 7
Fig. 1.3 Discipline evolution ....................................................................... 10
Fig. 1.4 Discipline type comparison ............................................................ 11
Fig. 1.5 Multidisciplinary systems engineering process flow ..................... 11
Fig. 1.6 Basic systems engineering process ................................................ 12
Fig. 1.7 Basic software engineering process ............................................... 13
Fig. 1.8 Basic integrated test engineering process ...................................... 14
Fig. 1.9 Basic security engineering process ................................................ 16
Fig. 1.10 Security engineering assessment process ....................................... 17
Fig. 1.11 Basic mission assurance engineering process ................................ 18
Fig. 1.12 Human factors engineering process ............................................... 20
Fig. 1.13 Basic cognitive system engineering process .................................. 21
Fig. 1.14 The risk management recurring process ........................................ 22
Fig. 2.1 Multidisciplinary systems engineering as a convergence
of multiple skills............................................................................. 28
Fig. 2.2 Balance between systems engineering knowledge depth
and a multidisciplinary knowledge breadth ................................... 30
Fig. 2.3 The multidisciplinary success process dynamics ........................... 30
Fig. 2.4 Example of a data/information ontology........................................ 36
Fig. 2.5 Picture of carving showing a roman building project
from 113 AD .................................................................................. 40
Fig. 2.6 Systems vs. software roles of the multidisciplinary
systems engineer ............................................................................ 44
Fig. 2.7 Knowledge recombination domains ............................................... 45
Fig. 2.8 Yeast processing system diagram ................................................... 51
Fig. 2.9 System UML class diagram ........................................................... 52
Fig. 2.10 Ten agar plate input scan ................................................................ 53
Fig. 2.11 Sample spot detection file .............................................................. 54
Fig. 2.12 2D vs. 3D sampling ........................................................................ 55
Fig. 2.13 Before J2EE ................................................................................... 56

xix
xx List of Figures

Fig. 2.14 After J2EE ...................................................................................... 57

Fig. 2.15 Perspective projection .................................................................... 59
Fig. 2.16 Retinal coordinates to image coordinates ...................................... 59
Fig. 3.1 High-level ATAM process .............................................................. 68
Fig. 3.2 QFD A1 quality matrix .................................................................. 70
Fig. 3.3 The A4 QFD architecture domain matrix ...................................... 72
Fig. 3.4 QFD as part of a continuous process/product
|improvement lifecycle ................................................................... 73
Fig. 3.5 High-level ontology development for systems design ................... 79
Fig. 3.6 Knowledge management upper ontology....................................... 82
Fig. 3.7 Knowledge space management ...................................................... 83
Fig. 3.8 Distributed SoS enterprise major fault categories .......................... 83
Fig. 3.9 SoS enterprise service fault ontology ............................................. 86
Fig. 4.1 High-level systems architecture layer view.................................... 91
Fig. 4.2 DoDAF 2.2 architectural framework documentation views........... 93
Fig. 4.3 Simplified view of the DoDAF architecture
development process ...................................................................... 97
Fig. 4.4 TOGAF to DODAF mapping ......................................................... 99
Fig. 4.5 Overview of the MODAF views .................................................... 100
Fig. 4.6 9 SYSML views ............................................................................. 101
Fig. 5.1 Analytical process for reuse of legacy systems in a new
or enhanced system ........................................................................ 106
Fig. 5.2 Systems optimization trade-off analysis parameters ...................... 107
Fig. 5.3 High-level requirements decomposition criteria ............................ 107
Fig. 5.4 Consequences of not designing for maintenance ........................... 112
Fig. 5.5 (a) Stand alone server configuration, (b) blade server
configuration .................................................................................. 112
Fig. 6.1 High-level SoS architecture process feeding the software
engineering process ........................................................................ 131
Fig. 6.2 System of systems architectural characteristic dependences ......... 132
Fig. 6.3 Example use case diagram: debug and logging ............................. 137
Fig. 6.4 Sample activity diagram: system of systems enterprise
transaction management ................................................................. 140
Fig. 6.5 Sample sequence diagram: data access object creation
and retrieval .................................................................................... 141
Fig. 6.6 OV-2 for a house cleaning service.................................................. 142
Fig. 7.1 High-level tiered architecture ......................................................... 154
Fig. 7.2 The overall trade study process ...................................................... 164
Fig. 7.3 Factors contributing to lifecycle cost analysis ............................... 165
Fig. 7.4 High-level risk analysis and management process ......................... 167
Fig. 7.5 Risk mitigation timeline: predictive
mitigation vs. reactionary mitigation ............................................. 167
Fig. 7.6 The basic FMEA process ............................................................... 168
Fig. 7.7 The V&V process........................................................................... 170
List of Figures xxi

Fig. 8.1 Multidisciplinary systems engineering systems

of systems process flow .................................................................. 176
Fig. 8.2 Basic system breakdown structure ................................................. 177
Fig. 8.3 WBS example: House Cleaning Service ........................................ 178
Fig. 8.4 High-level organization breakdown structure example .................. 179
Fig. 8.5 OBS based on the WBS in Fig. 8.3 .............................................. 179
Fig. 8.6 Development of the Systems Engineering Management Plan ....... 182
Fig. 8.7 Hardware development phases ....................................................... 187
Fig. 8.8 System logistics and supportability plan ........................................ 190
Fig. 8.9 Software master build plan development ....................................... 191
Fig. 8.10 System transition development plan .............................................. 192
Fig. 8.11 Information Assurance Plan development ..................................... 194
Fig. 8.12 System Safety Plan development ................................................... 195
Fig. 8.13 Site Activation Plan development .................................................. 196
Fig. 8.14 Facilities Plan development............................................................ 197
Fig. 8.15 Integrated Verification and Validation Plan development .............. 198
Fig. 8.16 Human Engineering Plan development .......................................... 199
Fig. 8.17 Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering discipline
context diagram for system of systems .......................................... 201
Fig. 9.1 Traditional program development cycle ......................................... 204
Fig. 9.2 Agile system development process ................................................ 204
Fig. 9.3 Plan development through ATP and SRR ...................................... 206
Fig. 9.4 Element and subsystem design reviews plan flows ........................ 209
Fig. 9.5 Integration and test readiness flow ................................................. 213
Fig. 9.6 Subsystem and element integration and test example .................... 214
Fig. 9.7 Subsystem integration and test flows ............................................. 217
Fig. 9.8 System of systems integration and test flows ................................. 218
Fig. 9.9 Classical systems engineering influence on the SoS design
and development process ............................................................... 222
Fig. 9.10 MDSE influence on the SoS design and development process ...... 223
Fig. 10.1 The MDSE SoS data architecture process ..................................... 231
Fig. 10.2 MDSE SoS data management process ........................................... 232
Fig. 10.3 MDSE collaboration framework .................................................... 242
Fig. 11.1 Pre-industrial business communication
and knowledge paradigm ............................................................... 246
Fig. 11.2 The post-industrial business information paradigm ....................... 247
Fig. 11.3 Business paradigm for the knowledge age ..................................... 248
Fig. 11.4 MDSE automated engineering tools for integrated analysis
and design....................................................................................... 250
Fig. 11.5 Generalized functionbase reuse...................................................... 252
Fig. 11.6 MDSE design for reuse methodology ............................................ 255
Fig. 11.7 Bridging the sandbox and the target system .................................. 256
Fig. 11.8 Architecture for the MDSE electronic engineering notebook........ 258
Fig. 11.9 The Expert Designer: Agile Systems Engineering......................... 263
xxii List of Figures

Fig. 11.10 MDSE continual improvement through an integrated

approach to engineering ............................................................... 265
Fig. A.1 Alternative power management and control center
with power storage devices ........................................................... 271
Fig. A.2 Whole house power grid ............................................................... 271
List of Tables

Table 2.1 Requirements decomposition and derivation criteria .................. 38

Table 2.2 Naming conventions for real-world model entities ..................... 57
Table 3.1 The A3 quality attribute cross-correlation matric ....................... 71
Table 3.2 SoS enterprise fault error sources ................................................ 71
Table 4.1 High-level Zachman framework matrix ...................................... 92
Table 4.2 DoDAF architectural documentation views ................................ 94
Table 5.1 Requirement directive decomposition weighting example ........... 108
Table 6.1 Modeling/simulation techniques vs. system
of systems characteristics ............................................................ 136
Table 6.2 Use case example ........................................................................ 137
Table 6.3 Use case elements........................................................................ 138
Table 6.4 Activity diagram elements........................................................... 139
Table 7.1 Types of functional correlation.................................................... 174
Table 8.1 OBS—WBS Mapping for House Cleaning Service .................... 180
Table 9.1 Final design review entrance criteria ........................................... 211
Table 9.2 SoS data management attributes.................................................. 220
Table 11.1 MDSE electronic engineering notebook functionality ................ 259

xxiii
Chapter 1
Introduction: Systems Engineering—Why?

The purpose of this text book is to arm the student with System Engineering
principles, practices, and activities applicable to developing programs and systems
within today’s complex, distributed multi-discipline converging enterprise environ-
ments. Specifically, the focus is to match the overwhelming design gaps and needs
of the current Systems Engineering discipline with foundations of new and relevant
procedures, products and implements. Therefore, this introductory text book
provides the basis for a modern Multi-disciplinary Systems Engineering approach.

1.1 The Need for Formal Systems Engineering

System Engineering is an overarching process that trades off and integrates capabili-
ties within a system’s design to achieve the best overall product and/or capabilities.
To achieve successful design solutions, System Engineering requires quantitative
and qualitative decision making. This involves trade studies, optimization, selec-
tion, and integration of the results from many engineering disciplines [1]. This is
accomplished via an iterative process that derives and defines requirements at each
level of the system, beginning at the top level requirements and propagates those
requirements through a series of steps that eventually leads to a physical design at
all levels. Iteration and design refinement lead successively to preliminary design,
detailed design, and final approved design. At each successive level, there are
supporting lower level design iterations that are necessary to gain confidence in
the design decisions. During these iterations, many conceptual alternatives are
proposed, analyzed, and evaluated in trade studies, resulting in a multi-tier set of
requirements. These requirements form the basis for controlled, formal verification
of performance. System Engineering (SE) closely monitors all development activi-
ties and integrates the results to provide the best solution at all levels of the system.

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 1

J.A. Crowder et al., Multidisciplinary Systems Engineering,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-22398-8_1
2 1 Introduction: Systems Engineering—Why?

One of the most important reasons SE exists is that it provides the context,
discipline, and tools to adequately identify, refine, and manage all system require-
ments in a balanced manner. Systems engineering provides the disciplines required
to produce comprehensive solution concepts and system architectures. It also
provides the discipline and tools to ensure that the resulting system meets all
requirements that are feasible within specified constraints.
Uncertainty and Risk are intrinsic components of engineering projects. One of
the major challenges of System Engineering is the effective management of perfor-
mance, cost, schedule, technology, and risks. Most of all, Systems Engineers are
held responsible for ensuring that the system doesn’t simply perform to the letter of
the requirements but that it performs to the expectations and the critical needs of the
system user. Therefore, any student of Systems Engineering must understand that
true success in Systems Engineering will include Science and Art across many
disciplines. System Engineering has had successes, as well as failures. Some of the
major lessons learned are:
1. Formal System Engineering processes are essential, but not sufficient for good
System Engineering implementation.
2. Successful System Engineering requires:
(a) Systems-level thinking: Having the discipline to look at the entire system and
perform functional analysis and decomposition without thinking about imple-
mentation. Understanding how our systems fit within the context of the over-
all enterprise and the specifics of our customer’s mission simultaneously.
(b) Sound engineering development processes and procedures.
(c) Proven risk management processes

1.2 A Brief Historical Perspective

Systems engineering began its development as a formal discipline during the 40s
and 50s at Bell Laboratories. It was further refined and formalized during the 1960s
during the NASA Apollo program. Given the aggressive schedule of the Apollo
program, NASA recognized that a formal methodology of systems engineering was
needed, allowing each subsystem across the Apollo project to be integrated into a
whole system, even though it was composed of hundreds of diverse, specialized
structures, sub-functions and components. The discipline of system engineering
allows designers to deal with a system that has multiple objectives with a balance
that must be struck between objectives which differ wildly from system to system.
System engineering seeks to optimize the overall system functionality, utilizing
weighted objectives and trade-offs in order to achieve overall system compatibility
and functionality [2]. During the 70s and 80s as engineering systems continued to
increase in complexity, it became increasingly difficult to design each new system
with a blank page. As system quality attributes like reliability, maintainability,
re-usability, availability, etc. became more and more important, the concept of
Object-Oriented design techniques were developed. The first Object-Oriented
1.3 Systems Engineering Practices and Principles 3

languages began to emerge during the 70s. By the 1980s, the first books on Object-
Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD) were published and available. Unfortunately
there were many different OOAD methodologies and no consistency among methods.
At one point in the 90s, there were over 50 different OOAD methods [3]. This
became increasingly difficult for the Department of Defense (DoD), because con-
tract proposals from competing contractors utilized entirely different OOAD meth-
ods to design their systems, making comparison between proposals nearly impossible.
Finally, in 1993, the Rational Software Company began the development of a Unified
Modeling Language (UML), based on methodologies by Grady Booch, James
Rumbaugh, Ivar Jacobsen, coupled with elements of other methods [4]. Here the
Rational Software Company simplified current methods from several authors into a
set of OOAD methods that included Class Diagrams, Use Case Diagrams, State
Diagrams, Activity Diagrams, Data Flow Diagrams, and many others [5].

1.3 Systems Engineering Practices and Principles

As mentioned earlier, System Engineering requires both art and science for success-
ful design, implementation, test, sell-off, and acceptance of programs. Therefore,
successful programs require that Systems Engineering embody the following
principles [6]:
1. Tailor the SE activities to the scope and complexity of the program.
2. Ensure that the system design meets the needs of the customer and addresses
the complete life-cycle for the system.
3. Acts as the interface and “glue” between the other engineering disciplines to
ensure that:
(a) The hardware and software components of the system meet their require-
ments, functionality, and are operationally supportable.
(b) Subsystems are compatible with each other.
4. Establish and maintain the System Architecture
5. Ensure that the system is compatible with all external interfaces.
6. Establish and maintain requirements. This includes planning for requirement
changes as insight into the need and the program solution and implementation
“evolves.”
7. Manage technology and innovation by generating a wide range of implementa-
tion alternatives before converging on a solution (trade studies).
8. Understand the program risk/benefit trade-off strategies among performance,
cost, and schedule.
9. Manage technical risks and opportunities for the program.
10. Manage and maintain quality throughout the program.
11. Create and maintain appropriate system documentation.
12. Institute continuous improvement.
13. Overall oversight of all technical activities.
4 1 Introduction: Systems Engineering—Why?

Along with these System Engineering activities, the System Architecture and
three overarching processes that interact with all program/system activities through-
out all engineering disciplines are employed. These processes, which continue
throughout the system’s Life Cycle, are described below: Integrated Technical
Planning, Risk Management and Integrity of Analyses, and System Architecture.

1.3.1 Integrated Technical Planning

Integrated Technical Planning provides the technical guidance tools required to

track and manage program activities at every level within the system design and
implementation. The goal of Integrated Technical Planning is to ensure cooperation
and participation from all customers. This includes the management, and engineer-
ing staff in order to examine and agree on the economic, social, environmental costs
and overall benefits of the system and system design. This allows the project MDSEs
to choose the most appropriate design options, and to plan viable and suitable
courses of action throughout the system life cycle. This includes the Integrated
Master Plan and Integrated Master Schedule for the system:
• Integrated Master Plan (IMP): an event-based plan providing a hierarchical view
of project/system events; each being supported by specific tasks with entry and
exit criteria for each. The IMP usually provides a narrative which explains the
overall management philosophy for the project.
• Integrated Master Schedule (IMS): an integrated and networked schedule that
contains all the project work and planning packages required to support the
events, accomplishments, and criteria laid out in the Integrated Master Plan.
In short, the IMS should be directly traceable to the IMP, where the schedule
tasks have measurable entry and exit criteria to ensure IMP criteria satisfaction.
This includes all elements required to drive the development, implementation,
testing, production, and delivery of the system.

1.3.2 Risk Management

The Role of Risk Management is to provide an organized, systematic decision-

making approach to identify risks that affect achievement of program goals. Risk
management involves the analysis, assessment, control, avoidance, minimization,
and/or elimination of unacceptable risks within the system and overall project. This
includes the identification, assessment, and prioritization of potential risks to the
technical, schedule, and cost across the entire project/system life cycle. The purpose
of Risk Management is to control the probability and/or impact of risk events to the
program, and to maximize possible opportunities that benefit the program. Risk
Engineering is discussed in detail later in this chapter and later in the book.
1.3 Systems Engineering Practices and Principles 5

1.3.3 Integrity of Analyses (Integrity Engineering)

Integrity Engineering ensures provision of credible, useful, and sufficient data/

results for program management’s decisions-making process throughout the
program’s Life Cycle and ensures the integrity and fidelity of the various analysis
processes, trade studies and tools. Integrity Engineering’s involvement throughout
the engineering Life Cycle helps to ensure that the end product, the engineering
processes, and the overall system design meets the appropriate and intended require-
ments. Integrity Engineering seeks to acquire the technical, economic, social, legal,
and practical knowledge required to provide assurance and verification of function-
ality to ensure that the system/project meets and continues to meet the mission/
business requirements, as well as the safety, legal, performance, and other
requirements for overall system long-term viability.

1.3.4 System Architecture

The system architecture is a conceptual, physical and logical blueprint that defines
the structure and operation of a system or system of systems. The intent of the
systems architecture is to determine what the system does, and how a system can
most effectively achieve current and future objectives [7]. The system architecture
is utilized within a project’s organization to integrate people, technology, and infor-
mation resources in sometimes vastly different proportions, based upon the overall
goals and Conceptual Operations (CONOPS) for the system. As a result, all system
architectures are unique. Each has unique requirements, depending on the overall
business or mission goals and Strategic Vision(s) of the overall project. Hence, the
result can comprise situations where Revenues and Profits scale differently, depend-
ing on the required labor, technology, software, and information needs. Figure 1.1
illustrates this concept.
The discipline of Systems Architecture and especially of System of Systems
Enterprise Architecture is a multi-tier, multi-discipline engineering specialty that
requires an understanding of the strategic, mission/business and technical require-
ments, their processes, and their interrelationships [8]. Figure 1.2 illustrates the
layers and functionality of the Enterprise Systems Architecture process.
Several architecture types are required within a complete System of Systems
Enterprise Architecture:
• Business/Mission Architecture: defines the mission/business processes and
strategies required, based upon the CONOPS and System Requirements.
Business/Mission architecture takes into account the processes required for sys-
tem development and operations, as well as the goals, objectives, technology
environment, and external interfaces. Business/Mission process mapping allows
these processes to be translated into an overall Enterprise Information Strategy.
These information strategies are utilized to define the overall Enterprise
Information Architecture.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 The Viceroy’s Memorial is chiefly interesting as an example of that
chief and unalterable sentiment which actuates the Chinese literati
and has been one of the strongest pillars of Manchu rule, namely,
that the Emperor is infallible, a sentiment based on the fact that
complete and unquestioning loyalty to the Throne is the essential
cornerstone of the whole fabric of Confucian morality, filial piety, and
ancestral worship. While deprecating the Imperial folly, the Viceroy is
therefore compelled to ascribe it to everyone but Her Majesty, and to
praise the Imperial wisdom and benevolence.
His Memorial is as follows:—

“The present war is due to bandits spreading slaughter and

arson on the pretext of paying off a grudge against
Christianity; thus we are face to face with a serious crisis. The
Powers are uniting to send troops and squadrons to attack
China on the plea of protecting their subjects and suppressing
this rebellion. Our position is critical and the provinces are
naturally bound to look now to their defences. I have already
made the necessary preparations, so that if those hordes of
foreigners do invade us, we shall resist them with all our
might. I feel that our Sovereigns are displaying glorious virtue
and that your Majesties are as bountiful as the Almighty. Your
indulgence to the men from afar indicates the boundless
magnanimity and good faith which animate all your actions.
“At present, the first essential is to make the Throne’s
embarrassments, which have led up to the present situation,
widely known, as well as the quality of consistent kindness
with which you are imbued. By so doing, rebels will be
deprived of any pretext for further rioting.
“At the beginning of the war, my colleagues and I issued a
proclamation bidding the people go about their avocations as
usual, and not to give heed to suspicious rumours. A petition
has now reached me from Chinese residents abroad to urge
effective protection for foreigners in China, so that there may
be no risk of revenge being taken on themselves. The
language used is very strong, and we have taken advantage
of the visit of the foreign Consuls, who suggested certain
measures for the protection of missionaries and merchants, to
give orders to the Shanghai Taotai to come to an arrangement
with them in regard to the preservation of peace in the
Yangtsze valley, and at Soochow and Hangchow. This
arrangement will hold good so long as they do not invade the
region in question. The Consuls have telegraphed to their
respective Governments, and I to our Ministers abroad,
explaining fully this arrangement. The Germans, owing to the
murder of their Minister, were disposed to oppose it, but
finally, under compulsion from their colleagues, gave their
consent also.
“I respectfully quote your Majesties’ decree of the 29th of
the 5th Moon (June 25th): ‘The foreign Ministers are now in a
desperately dangerous position; we are still doing our best to
protect them.’ The decree proceeds to direct us to guard well
our respective provinces and to take such steps as policy may
dictate at this emergency. Again, on the 3rd of the 6th Moon
(June 29th), your decree to our Ministers abroad states ‘We
are now sending troops to protect the Legations, but we are
weak and can only do our best. You are to carry on the
business of your missions abroad as usual.’
“In other words, the Throne is inflicting stern and exemplary
punishment on those foreigners in Tientsin who provoked
hostilities, while doing its utmost to protect those innocent
foreign officials, merchants and missionaries who were not
responsible for those attacks. Your benevolence and the
majesty of your wrath are displayed simultaneously,
manifested as brightly as the sun and moon.
“We have again and again implored you to protect the
foreign Ministers: this is the one all-important step which must
on no account be deferred a day, not only because your
Majesties’ own anxiety recognises its necessity, but because
the crisis now forces it upon you.
 “The Ministers abroad, Yang Ju and his colleagues, have
telegraphed to the effect that our first duty is to protect the
lives of the foreign Ministers and of all foreigners in China. I
therefore humbly ask you to send competent troops to protect
the Legations in Peking, and by so doing to protect the lives
of your own Envoys abroad. I also urge you to instruct the
provincial authorities to protect all foreigners within their
respective jurisdictions, and thereby to protect our Chinese
subjects residing in foreign lands. My anxiety is intense.”

To this memorial Tzŭ Hsi replied, by express courier and telegram,

as follows:

“Your memorial has reached us. The Throne was reluctant

lightly to enter upon hostilities, as we have already informed
the several foreign Governments and the various provincial
authorities. We have also issued several decrees ordering
protection for the Ministers and foreign residents all over
China. Hence our ideas seem to be identical with your own.
[101] Happily all the Ministers, except Baron von Ketteler, are
perfectly well and quite comfortable; only a day or two ago we
sent them presents of fruits and viands, in order to show our
commiseration. If the Powers now dare to invade your
provinces, you must all protect your territories and resist with
all your might. Even though at the moment peace may prevail,
you must make most strenuous preparations against possible
emergencies. In a word, we will not willingly be the
aggressors. You are to inform our various Legations abroad of
our calm and kindly feelings towards all foreigners, so that
they may think out some plan of a peaceful settlement, in the
general interest. It is highly desirable that you give no ready
ear to vague rumours which are calculated only to lead to
further lack of unity. This decree is to be conveyed by special
courier, at six hundred li (two hundred miles) a day.”
 A few days before this Decree, i.e., on the 1st of July, Her Majesty
had drafted with her own pen an explanatory decree for the
edification of the foreign Powers, recounting how the Throne had
been led into its present unpleasant situation. It is interesting to note
that, ten days before, she had offered rewards for the heads of
foreigners in Peking and had sent orders to Yü Hsien to kill every
foreigner in Shansi, which he did. But Tzŭ Hsi had studied her
classics and knew from her own experience how easily dissension
and jealousies could be created among the barbarians.

“Owing to a succession of most unfortunate circumstances,

rapidly and confusedly following each other, we are utterly at
a loss to account for the situation which has brought about
hostilities between China and the Powers. Our
representatives abroad are separated from us by wide seas,
and besides have no special knowledge of the facts, and they
are therefore unable to explain to the respective Foreign
Offices the real state of the Chinese Government’s feelings.
We therefore desire now to place before you the following
detailed statement of the facts.
“In the Provinces of Chihli and Shantung there has arisen a
certain class of disorderly characters who, in their respective
villages, have been wont to practise the use of the quarter-
staff and pugilism, combining these exercises with certain
magic arts and incantations. Owing to the failure of the local
Magistrates to detect and stop these proceedings, the result
has been that gradually a state of unrest has shown itself
throughout that region until, all of a sudden, the Boxer
movement assumed serious proportions. They spread even to
Peking, where they were regarded as possessed of
supernatural powers, so that they gained vast numbers of
followers and universal sympathy. Following in their train the
disorderly people of the lower sort raised a cry of ‘Death to
the Christians!’ following upon which, in the middle of the 5th
Moon, they proceeded to carry their words into deeds, and to
slaughter the converts. The churches were burned, the whole
city was in an uproar, and the population passed completely
out of our control.
“When the first rumours of the coming disaster were noised
abroad, the Legations asked our consent to bring up special
guards, which consent, in view of the special necessities of
the case, was readily given. In all some five hundred foreign
troops came to Peking, which in itself shows plainly the
friendly disposition of the Throne towards all foreign nations.
Under ordinary circumstances the foreign Legations and their
guards do not come in contact with the local Chinese
authorities, and have no relations with them, friendly or
otherwise; but since the arrival of these troops, the soldiers
have not confined themselves to the duty of protecting the
Legations, but have gone upon the city walls and have even
patrolled the outlying parts of the capital, with the result that
shots have been exchanged and blood has been shed.
Indeed, so great are the liberties which they have taken in the
course of their walks abroad, that on one occasion they
actually endeavoured to force their way into the Forbidden
City, which, however, they failed to do. For these reasons
great and widespread indignation has been excited against
them, and evil-doers have seized the opportunity to commit
deeds of slaughter and arson, waxing daily bolder. At this
stage the Powers endeavoured to bring up[102]
reinforcements from Tientsin, but these were cut to pieces on
their journey from the sea, and the attempt was perforce
abandoned. By this time the rebels in the two provinces had
become so intermingled with the people that it was impossible
to identify them. The Throne was by no means averse to give
orders for their suppression, but had we acted with undue
haste, the result might have been a general conflagration, and
our efforts to protect the Legations might have ended in a dire
calamity. If we had proceeded to destroy the rebels in the two
provinces, no single missionary or native Christian would
have been left alive in either, so that we had to proceed
cautiously in this dilemma.
 “Under these circumstances we were compelled to suggest
the temporary withdrawal of the Legations to Tientsin, and we
were proceeding to make the necessary arrangements to this
end when the German Minister was unfortunately murdered
one morning on his way to the Tsungli Yamên. This incident
placed the rebel leaders in a desperate position, like that of
the man who rides a tiger and who hesitates whether it be
more dangerous for him to continue his ride or to jump off. It
became then inexpedient that the proposed withdrawal of the
Legations to Tientsin should proceed. All we could do we did,
which was to enforce urgent measures for the due protection
of the Legations in every emergency. To our dismay, on the
16th ultimo, certain foreign naval officers from the squadron
outside Taku had an interview with the Commandant of the
forts, demanding their surrender, and adding that, if their
demand were refused, they would take them by force on the
following day. The Commandant was naturally unable to
betray the trust confided to him, and the foreigners
accordingly bombarded the forts and captured them after a
vigorous resistance. A state of war has thus been created, but
it is none of our doing; besides, how could China be so utterly
foolish, conscious as she is of her weakness, as to declare
war on the whole world at once? How could she hope to
succeed by using the services of untrained bandits for any
such a purpose? This must be obvious to the Powers.
“The above is an accurate statement of our situation,
explaining the measures unavoidably forced upon China to
meet the situation. Our representatives abroad must carefully
explain the tenor of this decree to the Governments to which
they are accredited. We are still instructing our military
Commanders to protect the Legations, and can only do our
best. In the meantime you, our Ministers, must carry on your
duties as usual, and not pose as disinterested spectators.”

Supplementing this Decree, the Empress, possibly instigated by

some of the master-minds of the Grand Council, proceeded to
prepare the way for a time-honoured, and invariably successful,
device of Chinese statecraft, namely, the creation of dissension and
jealousy between the Powers, and to this end she addressed
telegrams to the Emperor of Russia, Queen Victoria, the Emperor of
Japan, and other rulers. It is typical of the infantile naïveté of
Chinese officials in such matters of foreign policy, that copies of
these extraordinary messages, intended solely to mislead public
opinion abroad, should have been sent in to the (still besieged)
Legations with the cards of Prince Ch’ing, and the Ministers of the
Tsungli Yamên.[103] It is certain that these artless telegrams, as well
as the conciliatory instructions subsequently sent to China’s
representatives abroad, were but the outward and visible signs of
Tzŭ Hsi’s inward and spiritual misgivings caused by the fall of the
Taku Forts, the capture of the native city of Tientsin, and the massing
of the armies of the Allies for the advance on her capital. If possible,
she would therefore make friends in advance among the humane,
and invariably gullible, sovereigns of Europe, making good use of
her knowledge of their little weaknesses in matters of foreign policy,
and be ready to pose in due course as the innocent victim of
circumstance and fate. But “in the profound seclusion of her Palace”
she continued to hope against hope for the Boxers’ promised
victories and the fall of the Legations which she was so carefully
“protecting.”
And here let us briefly digress. Students of modern Chinese
history, desirous of applying its latest lessons to future uses, will no
doubt observe, that in advising the Throne either for peace or war, all
Chinese and Manchu officials (no matter how good or bad from our
point of view, how brave or cowardly, how honest or corrupt) agree
and unite in frankly confessing to their hatred of the foreigner and all
his works. This sentiment, loudly proclaimed by the simple-minded
braggart Boxers, is politely re-echoed by the literati, and voiced with
equal candour by the picked men of the Government, men like Yuan
Shih-k’ai, Jung Lu, and Liu K’un-yi. Those who pose as the friends of
foreigners merely advocate dissimulation as a matter of expediency.
The thought should give us pause, not only in accepting at their
current value the posturings and pronouncements of the monde
diplomatique at Peking, and the reassurances given as to our
excellent relations with such-and-such officials, but it should also
lead us to consider what are the causes, in us or in them, which
produce so constant and so deep a hatred? If we study the
Memorials of high Chinese officials for the past fifty years, the same
unpleasant feature presents itself at every turn. We may meet with
exceptional cases, here and there, like Yüan Ch’ang, who will
profess respect for the European, but even his respect will be
qualified and never go to the length of intimate friendship. Our
perennial gullibility, that faculty which makes the Chinese classical
“allurements” invariably successful with the foreigner, accounts, no
doubt, to some extent for the Chinese official’s contempt for our
intelligence, and for our failure to learn by experience. It is fairly
certain that the Boxers of to-morrow will be pooh-poohed (if not
applauded) in advance by our Chinese Secretariats, as they were in
1900. But for the Chinese official’s unchanging hostility towards us,
no such explanation offers, and it is perhaps, therefore, most
satisfactory to our amour propre to assume that his attitude is
dictated by feelings similar to those which inspired Demetrius of the
Ephesians, ostensibly fearful for the cult of Diana, but in reality
disturbed for his own livelihood.
To return. The following are translations of the telegrams sent
under date 3rd July, by order of the Empress Dowager, to the
Emperor of Russia, Queen Victoria, and the Emperor of Japan. The
text of those which were sent at the same time to the Presidents of
the French and American Republics, and which were dated,
curiously enough, on the 19th of June (the Taku Forts fell on the
16th), have been published in Monsieur Cordier’s most accurate and
painstaking work, Les Relations de la Chine, Vol. III.
Telegram dated 3rd July:—

“To the Emperor of Russia:—Greeting to your Majesty! For

over two hundred and fifty years our neighbouring Empires
have enjoyed unbroken relations of friendship, more cordial
than those existing between any other Powers.
 “Recent ill-feeling created between converts to Christianity
and the rest of our people have afforded an opportunity to
evil-disposed persons and rebels to create disturbances, and
the result has been that the foreign Powers have been led to
believe that the Throne itself is a party to their proceedings
and is hostile to Christianity. Your Majesty’s representative at
my Court (M. de Giers) has actually requested our Foreign
Office to suppress the rebellion and thus to allay the
suspicions of the Powers. But at the time that he made this
request, Peking was thoroughly infested with rebels, who had
stirred up the people and gained for themselves no small
prestige. Not only our soldiery but the mass of the people
were burning for revenge against those who practised the
foreign religion, and even certain Princes of our Imperial Clan
joined in the movement, declaring that there was no room in
the Celestial Kingdom for Christianity and the ancient
religions of the soil. My chief anxiety has been lest any
precipitate action on the part of the Government might lead to
some dire catastrophe (i.e., the destruction of the Legations),
and I feared, too, that the anti-foreign movement might break
out simultaneously at the Treaty Ports in the South, which
would have made the position hopeless. I was doing my
utmost to find a way out of the dilemma when the foreign
Powers, evidently failing to realise the difficulties of our
situation, precipitated matters by the bombardment and
capture of the Taku Forts: now we are confronted with all the
dire calamities of war, and the confusion in our Empire is
greater than ever before. Amongst all the Powers, none has
enjoyed such friendly relations with China as Russia. On a
former occasion I deputed Li Hung-chang to proceed to your
Majesty’s capital as my special Envoy; he drew up on our
behalf and concluded with your country a secret Treaty of
Alliance, which is duly recorded in the Imperial Archives.
“And now that China has incurred the enmity of the civilised
world by stress of circumstances beyond our power to control,
I must perforce rely upon your country to act as intermediary
and peacemaker on our behalf. I now make this earnest and
 sincere appeal to your Majesty, begging that you may be
pleased to come forward as arbitrator, and thus to relieve the
difficulties of our situation. We await with anxiety your
gracious reply.”

On the same day the Empress Dowager addressed Her Majesty

Queen Victoria in a telegram which was sent in the Emperor’s name
and forwarded through the Chinese Minister in London. Its text runs
as follows:—

“To your Majesty, greeting!—In all the dealings of England

with the Empire of China, since first relations were
established between us, there has never been any idea of
territorial aggrandisement on the part of Great Britain, but only
a keen desire to promote the interests of her trade. Reflecting
on the fact that our country is now plunged into a dreadful
condition of warfare, we bear in mind that a large proportion
of China’s trade, seventy or eighty per cent., is done with
England: moreover, your Customs duties are the lightest in
the world, and few restrictions are made at your sea-ports in
the matter of foreign importations; for these reasons our
amicable relations with British merchants at our Treaty Ports
have continued unbroken for the last half century, to our
mutual benefit.
“But a sudden change has now occurred and general
suspicion has been created against us. We would therefore
ask you now to consider that if, by any conceivable
combination of circumstances, the independence of our
Empire should be lost, and the Powers unite to carry out their
long plotted schemes to possess themselves of our territory,
the results to your country’s interests would be disastrous and
fatal to your trade. At this moment our Empire is striving to the
utmost to raise an army and funds sufficient for its protection;
in the meanwhile we rely upon your good services to act as
mediator, and now anxiously await your decision.”
 Again, in the name of the Emperor and through the Chinese
Minister at Tokio, the following message was addressed to the
Emperor of Japan:—

“To your Majesty, greeting!—The Empires of China and

Japan hang together, even as the lips and the teeth, and the
relations existing between them have always been
sympathetic. Last month we were plunged in deep grief when
we learned of the murder of the Chancellor of your Legation in
Peking; we were about to arrest and punish the culprits when
the Powers, unnecessarily suspicious of our motives, seized
the Taku Forts, and we found ourselves involved in all the
horrors of war. In face of the existing situation, it appears to
us that at the present time the Continents of Europe and Asia
are opposed to each other, marshalling their forces for a
conflict of irreconcilable ambitions; everything therefore
depends upon our two Asiatic Empires standing firm together
at this juncture. The earth-hungry Powers of the West, whose
tigerish eyes of greed are fixed in our direction, will certainly
not confine their attention to China. In the event of our Empire
being broken up, Japan in her turn will assuredly be hard
pressed to maintain her independence. The community of our
interests renders it clearly imperative that at this crisis we
should disregard all trifling causes of discord, and consider
only the requirements of the situation, as comrade nations.
We rely upon your Majesty to come forward as arbitrator, and
anxiously await your gracious reply to this appeal.”

These remarkable effusions have been inscribed in the annals of

the Dynasty, by order of Her Majesty, those same annals from which
all her Boxer Edicts have been solemnly expunged for purposes of
historic accuracy. One cannot but hope that, in process of time,
consideration of facts like these may cure European diplomacy and
officialdom generally of its unreasoning reverence for the Chinese
written character, a species of fetish-worship imbibed from the native
pundit and aggravated by the sense of importance which knowledge
of this ancient language so frequently confers.
These Imperial messages throw into strong relief the elementary
simplicity of China’s foreign policy, a quality which foreigners
frequently misunderstand, in the general belief that the Oriental mind
conceals great depths of subtlety and secret information. Looking at
these documents in the light of the known facts of China’s political
situation at that moment, and stripping them of all artificial glamour, it
becomes almost inconceivable that any Government should publish
to the world and file in its archives such puerile productions. But it is
frequently the case that this very kindergarten element in Chinese
politics is a stumbling-block to the elaborate and highly specialised
machinery of European diplomacy, and that, being at a loss how to
deal with the suspiciously transparent artifices of the elderly children
of the Waiwupu, the foreigner excuses and consoles himself by
attributing to them occult faculties and resources of a very high
order. If one must be continually worsted, it is perhaps not unwise to
attribute to one’s adversary the qualities of Macchiavelli, Talleyrand
and Metternich combined. As far as British interests are concerned,
one of the chief lessons emphasised by the events of the past ten
years in China is, that the reform of our diplomatic machinery (and
particularly of the Consular service) is urgently needed, a reform for
which more than one British Minister has vainly pleaded in Downing
Street.
 XX
THE FLIGHT FROM PEKING AND THE COURT IN
EXILE

The diarist, Ching Shan, has described in detail the flight of the
Empress Dowager and Emperor from Peking, before dawn, on the
morning of the 15th August. From an account of the Court’s journey,
subsequently written by the Grand Secretary, Wang Wen-shao, to
friends in Chekiang, and published in one of the vernacular papers of
Shanghai, we obtain valuable corroboration of the diarist’s accuracy,
together with much interesting information.
Wang Wen-shao overtook their Majesties at Huai-lai on the 18th
August; for the past three days they had suffered dangers and
hardships innumerable. On the evening of the 19th they had stopped
at Kuanshih (seventy li from Peking), where they slept in the
Mosque. There the Mahommedan trading firm of “Tung Kuang yü”
(the well-known contractors for the hire of pack animals for the
northern caravan trade) had supplied them with the best of the poor
food available—coarse flour, vegetables, and millet porridge—and
had provided mule litters for the next stage of the journey. As the
troops of the escort had been ordered to remain at some distance
behind, so long as there was any risk of pursuit by the Allies’ cavalry,
their Majesties’ arrival was unannounced, and their identity
unsuspected. As they descended from their carts, travel-stained,
weary, and distressed, they were surrounded by a large crowd of
refugee idlers and villagers, eager for news from the capital. An eye-
witness of the scene has reported that, looking nervously about him,
the Emperor said, “We have to thank the Boxers for this,” whereupon
the Old Buddha, undaunted even at the height of her misfortunes,
bade him be silent.
 Next day they travelled, by mule litter, ninety li (thirty-two miles),
and spent the night at Ch’a-Tao, just beyond the Great Wall. Here no
preparations of any kind had been made for their reception, and they
suffered much hardship, sleeping on the brick platform (k’ang)
without any adequate bedding. But the Magistrate of Yen-Ch’ing
chou had been able to find a blue sedan-chair for Her Majesty, who
had thus travelled part of the day in greater comfort. Also at midday,
stopping to eat at Chü-yung kuan, Li Lien-ying, the chief eunuch, had
obtained a few tea cups from the villagers.
On the 16th they travelled from Ch’a-Tao to Huai-lai, a hard stage
of fifty li. Some of the officials and Chamberlains of the Court now
joined their Majesties, so that the party consisted of seventeen carts,
in addition to the Old Buddha’s palanquin and the Emperor’s mule
litter. As the cortège advanced, and the news of their flight was
spread abroad, rumours began to be circulated that they were
pretenders, personating the Son of Heaven and the Old Buddha,
rumours due, no doubt, to the fact that Her Majesty was still wearing
her hair in the Chinese manner, and that her clothes were the
common ones in which she had escaped from the Forbidden City. In
spite of these rumours the Magistrate of Huai-lai, a Hupeh man (Wu
Yung), had received no intimation of their Majesties’ coming, and,
when the Imperial party, accompanied by an enormous crowd,
entered his Yamên, he had no time to put on his official robes, but
rushed down to receive them as he was. After prostrating himself, he
wanted to clear out the noisy and inquisitive rabble, but the Old
Buddha forbade him, saying, “Not so; let them crowd around us as
much as they like. It amuses me to see these honest country folk.”
Here, after three days of coarse fare, the Empress Dowager rejoiced
once more in a meal of birds’-nest soup and sharks’ fins, presented
by the Magistrate, who also furnished her with an outfit of woman’s
clothing and suits for the Emperor and the Heir Apparent, for all of
which he received Her Majesty’s repeated and grateful thanks.
It was here, at Huai-lai, while the Court was taking a day’s rest,
that Wang Wen-shao came up with them. He was cordially, even
affectionately, greeted by the Old Buddha, who condoled with him on
the hardships to which he had been exposed, and insisted on his
sharing her birds’-nest soup, which, she said, he would surely enjoy
as much as she had done after so many and great privations. She
rebuked the Emperor for not greeting the aged Councillor with warm
thanks for his touching devotion to the Throne.
From Huai-lai, Prince Ch’ing was ordered to return to Peking to
negotiate terms of peace with the Allies. Knowing the difficulties of
this task, he went reluctantly; before leaving he had a long audience
with Her Majesty, who assured him of her complete confidence in his
ability to make terms, and bade him adopt a policy similar to that of
Prince Kung in 1860.
Wang Wen-shao’s account of the first part of the Court’s journey is
sufficiently interesting to justify textual reproduction.

“Their Majesties fled from the palace at the dawn of day in

common carts. It was only after their arrival at Kuanshih that
they were provided with litters. The Emperor and Prince P’u
Lun rode on one cart until their arrival at Huai-lai, where the
District Magistrate furnished a palanquin, and later on, at
Hsüan-hua, four large sedan chairs were found for the
Imperial party. It was at this point that the Emperor’s Consort
overtook their Majesties.
“So hurried was the flight that no spare clothes had been
taken; the Empress Dowager was very shabbily dressed, so
as to be almost unrecognisable, the Chinese mode of hair-
dressing producing a very remarkable alteration in her
appearance. On the first night after leaving Peking, they slept,
like travellers of the lowest class, on the raised brick platform
of the inn, where not even rice was obtainable for the evening
meal, so that they were compelled to eat common porridge
made of millet. In all the disasters recorded in history, never
has there been such a pitiful spectacle.
“It was only after reaching Huai-lai that their condition
improved somewhat, but even then the number of personal
attendants and eunuchs was very small, and not a single
concubine was there to wait upon the Old Buddha. For the
first few days’ flight, neither Prince Li, nor Jung Lu, nor Ch’i
Hsiu (all of them Grand Councillors), were in attendance so
that Her Majesty nominated Prince Tuan to serve on the
Council. She reviled him at the outset severely, reproaching
him for the misfortunes which had overtaken the Dynasty, but
as time went on, as he shared with her the privations and
troubles of the day’s journey, she became more gracious
towards him. This was to some extent due to the very great
influence which Prince Tuan’s wife exercised at Court.
“When I reached Huai-lai, the Court consisted of the
Princes Tuan, Ching, Na, Su, and P’u Lun, with a following of
high officials led by Kang Yi, and some twenty Secretaries.
General Ma’s troops and some of the Banner Corps of Prince
Tuan formed the Imperial escort; and they plundered every
town and village on their line of march. This, however, is
hardly remarkable, because all the shops had been closed
and there were no provisions to be purchased anywhere.
“To go back for a few days. Yü Lu (Viceroy of Chihli) shot
himself in a coffin shop at a place south of the Hunting Park,
and Li Ping-heng took poison after the defeat of his troops at
T’ungchow. The Court’s flight had already been discussed
after the first advance of the Allies from T’ungchow towards
Peking; but the difficulty in providing sufficient transport was
considered insuperable. On the 19th of the Moon a steady
cannonade began at about midnight, and, from my house in
Magpie Lane, one could note, by the volume of sound, that
the attack was steadily advancing closer to the city, and
eventually bullets came whistling as thick as hail. The
bombardment reached its height at about noon on the 20th,
when news was brought that two gates of the Imperial City
had been taken by storm. I was unable to verify this report. It
was my turn for night duty at the Palace, but after the last
audience, I was unable to enter the Forbidden City, as all its
gates were barred. It was only at 7 a.m. on the 21st inst.
(August 15th) that I was able to gain admittance to the
Forbidden City, and then I learned that their Majesties had
hurriedly fled. On the previous day five urgent audiences with
the Grand Council had been held; at the last of these only
Kang Yi, Chao Shu ch’iao, and myself were present. Sadly
regarding us, the Old Buddha said, ‘I see there are only three
of you left. No doubt all the rest have fled, leaving us, mother
and son, to our fate. I want you all to come with me on my
journey.’ Turning to me she then said, ‘You are too old. I
would not wish you to share in all this hardship. Follow us as
best you can later on.’ The Emperor expressed his wishes in
the same sense.
“By this time it was nearly midnight, and they still hesitated
about leaving the city; judge then of my surprise to learn that,
at the first streak of dawn, their Majesties had left the city in
indescribable disorder and frantic haste. I could not return to
my house that day because all the gates of the Imperial City
were closed, but at 10 a.m. on the following day, I made my
way out of the Houmen.[104] On my way I came across Jung
Lu; he had fainted in his chair, and had been forsaken by his
cowardly bearers. He said: ‘This is the end. You and I never
believed in these Boxers; see now to what a pass they have
brought the Old Buddha. If you see Her Majesty, tell her that I
have gone to rally the troops, and that, if I live, I will join her
later on.’
“After leaving Jung Lu, I made my way to a little temple
which lies midway between the North and the North-West
Gates of the city, and there I rested a while. It was the opinion
of the Abbot in charge that the foreigners would burn every
temple of the city, as all of them had been used by the Boxers
for their magic rites, and he said that, in times of dire peril
such as this, it was really inconvenient for him to offer any
hospitality to visitors. Just at this moment news was brought
us that the foreign troops were on the wall of the city, between
the two gates nearest to us, and that they were firing down
upon the streets; the city was already invested, but the
foreigners were not molesting civilians, though they were
shooting all ‘braves’ and men in uniform. As the priest
declined to receive me, I sought refuge at the house of a man
named Han, retainer in the Imperial Household, who lived
close by. All my chair-bearers and servants had fled. Shortly
after noon I heard that one might still leave Peking by the Hsi-
chih Men; so leaving everything—carts, chairs, and animals—
where they were, I started off at dusk on foot with such money
and clothing as I had on my person. The road ahead of me
was blocked by a dense crowd of refugees. I took the road by
the Drum Tower, skirting the lakes to the north of the Imperial
City. Towards evening a dreadful thunderstorm came on, so I
took refuge for the night with the Ching family. The
bombardment had ceased by this time, but the whole northern
part of the Imperial City appeared to be in flames, which
broke out in fresh places all through the night. At three in the
morning we heard that the West Gates were opened, and that
the City Guards had fled, but that the foreigners had not yet
reached that part of the city.
“I had intended to travel by cart, but the disorganised troops
had by this time seized every available beast of burden. My
second son, however, was luckily able to persuade Captain
Liu to fetch one of my carts out from the city, and this was
done after several narrow escapes. I had left Peking on foot,
but at the bridge close to the North-West Gate I found this
cart awaiting me, and with it my second son, who was riding
on a mule, and the five servants who remained to us following
on foot. When we reached Hai-Tien (a town which lies close
to the Summer Palace) every restaurant was closed, but we
managed to get a little food, and then hurried on after their
Majesties to Kuanshih, where we passed the night. Next day,
continuing our journey, we learned that their Majesties were
halting at Huai-lai, where we overtook them on the 24th day of
the Moon. We expect to reach T’ai-yüan fu about the middle
of next week.
“The dangers of our journey are indescribable. Every shop
on the road had been plundered by bands of routed troops,
who pretend to be part of the Imperial escort. These bandits
 are ahead of us at every stage of the journey, and they have
stripped the country-side bare, so that when the Imperial party
reaches any place, and the escort endeavour to commandeer
supplies, the distress of the inhabitants and the confusion
which ensues are really terrible to witness. The districts
through which we have passed are literally devastated.”

From Huai-lai the Court moved on to Hsüan-hua fu, a three days’

march, and there remained for four days, resting and preparing for
the journey into Shansi. The Border Warden at Sha-ho chên had
provided their Majesties with green (official) sedan chairs, and the
usual etiquette of the Court and Grand Council was being gradually
restored. Her Majesty’s spirits were excellent, and she took a keen
interest in everything. At Chi-ming yi, for instance, she was with
difficulty dissuaded from stopping to visit a temple on the summit of
an adjoining hill, in honour of which shrine the Emperor Kanghsi had
left a tablet carved with a memorial inscription in verse.
At Hsüan-hua fu there was considerable disorder, but the Court
enjoyed increased comforts; thanks to the zeal and energy of the
local Magistrate (Ch’en Pen). Here the Old Buddha received Prince
Ch’ing’s first despatch from Peking, which gave a deplorable account
of the situation.
The Court left Hsüan-hua on the 25th August (its numbers being
increased by the Emperor’s Consort with a few of her personal
attendants) and spent the night at a garrison station called Tso-Wei.
The deplorable state of the country was reflected in the
accommodation they found there; for the guards had fled, and the
official quarters had all been plundered and burnt, with the exception
of two small rooms, evil-smelling and damp. There was no food to be
had, except bread made of sodden flour. One of the two available
rooms was occupied by the Old Buddha, the other by Kuang Hsü
and his Consort, while all the officials of the Court, high and low,
fared as best they might in the stuffy courtyard. For once the
venerable mother’s composure deserted her. “This is abominable,”
she complained; “the place swarms with insects, and I cannot sleep
a wink. It is disgraceful that I should have come to such a pass at my
time of life. My state is worse even than that of the Emperor Hsüan-
Tsung of the T’ang Dynasty, who was forced to fly from his capital,
and saw his favourite concubine murdered before his very eyes.” An
unsubstantiated report that the Allies had plundered her palace
treasure vaults was not calculated to calm Her Majesty, and for a
while the suite went in fear of her wrath.
On August 27th the Court crossed the Shansi border, and spent
the night at T’ien-chen hsien. The local Magistrate, a Manchu, had
committed suicide after hearing of the fall of Moukden and other
Manchurian cities; and the town was in a condition of ruinous
disorder. Their Majesties supped off a meal hastily provided by the
Gaol Warder. But their courage was restored by the arrival of Ts’en
Ch’un-hsüan,[105] an official of high intelligence and courage, who
greatly pleased the Old Buddha by bringing her a gift of eggs and a
girdle and pouch for her pipe and purse.
On the 30th August the Court lay at Ta-t’ung fu, in the Yamên of
the local Brigadier-General. They stayed here four days, enjoying the
greatly improved accommodation which the General’s efforts had
secured for them.
On September 4th, they reached the market town of T’ai-yüeh,
having travelled thirty-five miles that day, and here again they found
damp rooms and poor fare. But Her Majesty’s spirits had recovered.
On the 16th, while crossing the hill-pass of the “Flighting Geese,”
Her Majesty ordered a halt in order to enjoy the view. “It reminds me
of the Jehol Country,” she said. Then, turning to the Emperor, “After
all, it’s delightful to get away like this from Peking and to see the
world, isn’t it?” “Under happier circumstances, it would be,” replied
Kuang Hsü. At this point Ts’en Ch’un-hsüan brought Her Majesty a
large bouquet of yellow flowers, a present which touched her deeply:
in return she sent him a jar of butter-milk tea.
On the 7th, the only accommodation which the local officials had
been able to prepare at Yüan-p’ing was a mud-house belonging to
one of the common people, in which, by an oversight, several empty
coffins had been left. Ts’en, arriving ahead of the party, was told of
this, and galloped to make excuses to Her Majesty and take her