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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/523-h.zip b/523-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2a48167 --- /dev/null +++ b/523-h.zip diff --git a/523-h/523-h.htm b/523-h/523-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c052fd4 --- /dev/null +++ b/523-h/523-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10126 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Court Life in China, by Isaac Taylor Headland +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.intro {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.footnote {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: smaller } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Court Life in China, by Isaac Taylor Headland + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Court Life in China + +Author: Isaac Taylor Headland + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #523] +Release Date: May, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COURT LIFE IN CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +COURT LIFE IN CHINA +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE CAPITAL +<BR> +ITS OFFICIALS AND PEOPLE +</H4> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND +</H2> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Professor in the Peking University +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND'S THREE BOOKS THAT "LINK EAST AND WEST" +<BR><BR> + Court Life in China: The Capital Its Officials and People.<BR> + The Chinese Boy and Girl<BR> + Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes<BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE +</H3> + +<P> +Until within the past ten years a study of Chinese court life would +have been an impossibility. The Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the +court ladies were shut up within the Forbidden City, away from a world +they were anxious to see, and which was equally anxious to see them. +Then the Emperor instituted reform, the Empress Dowager came out from +behind the screen, and the court entered into social relations with +Europeans. +</P> + +<P> +For twenty years and more Mrs. Headland has been physician to the +family of the Empress Dowager's mother, the Empress' sister, and many +of the princesses and high official ladies in Peking. She has visited +them in a social as well as a professional way, has taken with her her +friends, to whom the princesses have shown many favours, and they have +themselves been constant callers at our home. It is to my wife, +therefore, that I am indebted for much of the information contained in +this book. +</P> + +<P> +There are many who have thought that the Empress Dowager has been +misrepresented. The world has based its judgment of her character upon +her greatest mistake, her participation in the Boxer movement, which +seems unjust, and has closed its eyes to the tremendous reforms which +only her mind could conceive and her hand carry out. The great Chinese +officials to a man recognized in her a mistress of every situation; the +foreigners who have come into most intimate contact with her, voice her +praise; while her hostile critics are confined for the most part to +those who have never known her. It was for this reason that a more +thorough study of her life was undertaken. +</P> + +<P> +It has also been thought that the Emperor has been misunderstood, being +overestimated by some, and underestimated by others, and this because +of his peculiar type of mind and character. That he was unusual, no one +will deny; that he was the originator of many of China's greatest +reform measures, is equally true; but that he lacked the power to +execute what he conceived, and the ability to select great statesmen to +assist him, seems to have been his chief shortcoming. +</P> + +<P> +To my wife for her help in the preparation of this volume, and to my +father-in-law, Mr. William Sinclair, M. A., for his suggestions, I am +under many obligations. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + I. T. H.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—HER EARLY LIFE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—HER YEARS OF TRAINING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A RULER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A REACTIONIST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A REFORMER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS AN ARTIST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A WOMAN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">KUANG HSU—HIS SELF-DEVELOPMENT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">KUANG HSU—AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">KUANG HSU—AS A PRISONER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">PRINCE CHUN—THE REGENT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE HOME OF THE COURT—THE FORBIDDEN CITY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">THE LADIES OF THE COURT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE PRINCESSES—THEIR SCHOOLS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE CHINESE LADIES—THEIR ILLS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">PEKING—THE CITY OF THE COURT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—Her Early Life +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +All the period since 1861 should be rightly recorded as the reign of +Tze Hsi An, a more eventful period than all the two hundred and +forty-four reigns that had preceded her three usurpations. It began +after a conquering army had made terms of peace in her capital, and +with the Tai-ping rebellion in full swing of success.... +</P> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Those few who have looked upon the countenance of the Dowager describe +her as a tall, erect, fine-looking woman of distinguished and imperious +bearing, with pronounced Tartar features, the eye of an eagle, and the +voice of determined authority and absolute command.—Eliza Ruhamah +Scidmore in "China, The Long-Lived Empire." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—HER EARLY LIFE +</H3> + +<P> +One day when one of the princesses was calling at our home in Peking, I +inquired of her where the Empress Dowager was born. She gazed at me for +a moment with a queer expression wreathing her features, as she finally +said with just the faintest shadow of a smile: "We never talk about the +early history of Her Majesty." I smiled in return and continued: "I +have been told that she was born in a small house, in a narrow street +inside of the east gate of the Tartar city—the gate blown up by the +Japanese when they entered Peking in 1900." The princess nodded. "I +have also heard that her father's name was Chao, and that he was a +small military official (she nodded again) who was afterwards beheaded +for some neglect of duty." To this the visitor also nodded assent. +</P> + +<P> +A few days later several well-educated young Chinese ladies, daughters +of one of the most distinguished scholars in Peking, were calling on my +wife, and again I pursued my inquiries. "Do you know anything about the +early life of the Empress Dowager?" I asked of the eldest. She +hesitated a moment, with that same blank expression I had seen on the +face of the princess, and then answered very deliberately,—"Yes, +everybody knows, but nobody talks about it." And this is, no doubt, the +reason why the early life of the greatest woman of the Mongol race, +and, as some who knew her best think, the most remarkable woman of the +nineteenth century, has ever been shrouded in mystery. Whether the +Empress desired thus to efface all knowledge of her childhood by +refusing to allow it to be talked about, I do not know, but I said to +myself: "What everybody knows, I can know," and I proceeded to find out. +</P> + +<P> +I discovered that she was one of a family of several brothers and +sisters and born about 1834; that the financial condition of her +parents was such that when a child she had to help in caring for the +younger children, carrying them on her back, as girls do in China, and +amusing them with such simple toys as are hawked about the streets or +sold in the shops for a cash or two apiece; that she and her brothers +and little sisters amused themselves with such games as blind man's +buff, prisoner's base, kicking marbles and flying kites in company with +the other children of their neighbourhood. During these early years she +was as fond of the puppet plays, trained mice shows, bear shows, and +"Punch and Judy" as she was in later years of the theatrical +performances with which she entertained her visitors at the palace. She +was compelled to run errands for her mother, going to the shops, as +occasion required, for the daily supply of oils, onions, garlic, and +other vegetables that constituted the larger portion of their food. I +found out also that there is not the slightest foundation for the story +that in her childhood she was sold as a slave and taken to the south of +China. +</P> + +<P> +The outdoor life she led, the games she played, and the work she was +forced to do in the absence of household servants, gave to the little +girl a well-developed body, a strong constitution and a fund of +experience and information which can be obtained in no other way. She +was one of the great middle class. She knew the troubles and trials of +the poor. She had felt the pangs of hunger. She could sympathize with +the millions of ambitious girls struggling to be freed from the +trammels of ignorance and the age-old customs of the past—a combat +which was the more real because it must be carried on in silence. And +who can say that it was not the struggles and privations of her own +childhood which led to the wish in her last years that "the girls of my +empire may be educated"? +</P> + +<P> +When little Miss Chao had reached the age of fourteen or fifteen she +was taken by her parents to an office in the northern part of the +imperial city of Peking where her name, age, personal appearance, and +estimated degree of intelligence and potential ability were registered, +as is done in the case of all the daughters of the Manchu people. The +reason for this singular proceeding is that when the time comes for the +selection of a wife or a concubine for the Emperor, or the choosing of +serving girls for the palace, those in charge of these matters will +know where they can be obtained. +</P> + +<P> +This custom is not considered an unalloyed blessing by the Manchu +people, and many of them would gladly avoid registering their daughters +if only they dared. But the rule is compulsory, and every one belonging +to the eight Banners or companies into which the Manchus are divided +must have their daughters registered. Their aversion to this custom is +well illustrated in the following incident: +</P> + +<P> +In one of the girls' schools in Peking there was a beautiful child, the +daughter of a Manchu woman whose husband was dead. One day this widow +came to the principal of the school and said: "A summons has come from +the court for the girls of our clan to appear before the officials that +a certain number may be chosen and sent into the palace as serving +girls." "When is she to appear?" inquired the teacher. "On the +sixteenth," answered the mother. "I suppose you are anxious that she +should be one of the fortunate ones," said the teacher, "though I +should be sorry to lose her from the school." "On the contrary," said +the mother, "I should be distressed if she were chosen, and have come +to consult with you as to whether we might not hire a substitute." The +teacher expressed surprise and asked her why. "When our daughters are +taken into the palace," answered the mother, "they are dead to us until +they are twenty-five, when they are allowed to return home. If they are +incompetent or dull they are often severely punished. They may contract +disease and die, and their death is not even announced to us; while if +they prove themselves efficient and win the approval of the authorities +they are retained in the palace and we may never see them or hear from +them again." +</P> + +<P> +At first the teacher was inclined to favour the hiring of a substitute, +but on further consideration concluded that it would be contrary to the +law, and advised that the girl be allowed to go. The mother, however, +was so anxious to prevent her being chosen that she sent her with +uncombed hair, soiled clothes and a dirty face, that she might appear +as unattractive as possible. +</P> + +<P> +The prospects for a concubine are even less promising than for a +serving maid, as when she once enters the palace she has little if any +hope of ever leaving it. She is neither mistress nor servant, wife nor +slave, she is but one of a hundred buds in a garden of roses which have +little if any prospect of ever blooming or being plucked for the court +bouquet. When, therefore, the gates of the Forbidden City close behind +the young girls who are taken in as concubines of an emperor they shut +out an attractive, busy, beautiful world, filled with men and women, +boys and girls, homes and children, green fields and rich harvests, and +confine them within the narrow limits of one square mile of brick-paved +earth, surrounded by a wall twenty-five feet high and thirty feet +thick, in which there is but one solitary man who is neither father, +brother, husband nor friend to them, and whom they may never even see. +</P> + +<P> +When therefore the time came for the selection of concubines for the +Emperor Hsien Feng, and our little Miss Chao was taken into the palace, +her parents, like many others, had every reason to consider it a piece +of ill-fortune which had visited their home. The future was veiled from +them. The Forbidden City, surrounded by its great crenelated wall, may +have seemed more like a prison than like a palace. True, they had other +children, and she was "only a girl, but even girls are a small +blessing," as they tell us in their proverbs. She had grown old enough +to be useful in the home, and they no doubt had cherished plans of +betrothing her to the son of some merchant or official who would add +wealth or honour to their family. Neither father nor mother, brother +nor sister, could have conceived of the potential power, honour and +even glory, that were wrapped up in that girl, and that were finally to +come to them as a family, as well as to many of them as individuals. +Their wildest dreams at that time could not have pictured themselves +dukes and princesses, with their daughters as empresses, duchesses, or +ladies-in-waiting in the palace. But such it proved to be. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—Her Years of Training +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The kindness of the Empress is as boundless as the sea.<BR> + Her person too is holy, she is like a deity.<BR> + With boldness, from seclusion, she ascends the Dragon Throne,<BR> + And saves her suffering country from a fate we dare not own.<BR> + —"Yuan Fan," Translated by I. T. C.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—HER YEARS OF TRAINING +</H3> + +<P> +The year our little Miss Chao entered the palace was a memorable one in +the history of China. The Tai-ping rebellion, which had begun in the +south some three years earlier (1850), had established its capital at +Nanking, on the Yangtse River, and had sent its "long-haired" rebels +north on an expedition of conquest, the ultimate aim of which was +Peking. By the end of the year 1853 they had arrived within one hundred +miles of the capital, conquering everything before them, and leaving +devastation and destruction in their wake. +</P> + +<P> +Their success had been extraordinary. Starting in the southwest with an +army of ten thousand men they had eighty thousand when they arrived +before the walls of Nanking. They were an undisciplined horde, without +commissariat, without drilled military leaders, but with such reckless +daring and bravery that the imperial troops were paralyzed with fear +and never dared to meet them in the open field. Thousands of common +thieves and robbers flocked to their standards with every new conquest, +impelled by no higher motive than that of pillage and gain. Rumours +became rife in every village and hamlet, and as they neared the capital +the wildest tales were told in every nook and corner of the city, from +the palace of the young Emperor in the Forbidden City to the mat shed +of the meanest beggar beneath the city wall. +</P> + +<P> +My wife says: "I remember just after going to China, sitting one +evening on a kang, or brick bed, with Yin-ma, an old nurse, our only +light being a wick floating in a dish of oil. Yin-ma was about the age +of the Empress Dowager, but, unlike Her Majesty, her locks were +snow-white. When I entered the dimly lighted room she was sitting in +the midst of a group of women and girls—patients in the hospital—who +listened with bated breath as she told them of the horrors of the +Tai-ping rebellion. +</P> + +<P> +"'Why!' said the old nurse, 'all that the rebels had to do on their way +to Peking, was to cut out as many paper soldiers as they wanted, put +them in boxes, and breathe upon them when they met the imperial troops, +and they were transformed into such fierce warriors that no one was +able to withstand them. Then when the battle was over and they had come +off victors they only needed to breathe upon them again, when they were +changed into paper images and packed in their boxes, requiring neither +food nor clothing. Indeed the spirits of the rebels were everywhere, +and no matter who cut out paper troops they could change them into real +soldiers.' +</P> + +<P> +"'But, Yin-ma, you do not believe those superstitions, do you?' +</P> + +<P> +"'These are not superstitions, doctor, these are facts, which everybody +believed in those days, and it was not safe for a woman to be seen with +scissors and paper, lest her neighbours report that she was cutting out +troops for the rebels. The country was filled with all kinds of +rumours, and every one had to be very careful of all their conduct, and +of everything they said, lest they be arrested for sympathizing with +the enemy.' +</P> + +<P> +"'But, Yin-ma, did you ever see any of these paper images transformed +into soldiers?' +</P> + +<P> +"'No, I never did myself, but there was an old woman lived near our +place, who was said to be in sympathy with the rebels. One night my +father saw soldiers going into her house and when he had followed them +he could find nothing but paper images. You may not have anything of +this kind happen in America, but very many people saw them in those +terrible days of pillage and bloodshed here.'" +</P> + +<P> +Such stories are common in all parts of China during every period of +rebellion, war, riot or disturbance of any kind. The people go about +with fear on their faces, and horror in their voices, telling each +other in undertones of what some one, somewhere, is said to have seen +or heard. Nor are these superstitions confined to the common people. +Many of the better classes believe them and are filled with fear. +</P> + +<P> +As the Tai-ping rebellion broke out when Miss Chao was about fifteen or +sixteen years of age, she would hear these stories for two or three +years before she entered the palace. After she had been taken into the +Forbidden City she would continue to hear them, brought in by the +eunuchs and circulated not only among all the women of the palace, but +among their own associates as well, and here they would take on a more +mysterious and alarming aspect to these people shut away from the +world, as ghost stories become more terrifying when told in the dim +twilight. May this not account in some measure for the attitude assumed +by the Empress Dowager towards the Boxer superstitions of 1900, and +their pretentions to be able at will to call to their aid legions of +spirit-soldiers, while at the same time they were themselves +invulnerable to the bullets of their enemies? +</P> + +<P> +It was when Miss Chao was ten years old that the conflict known as the +Opium War was brought to an end. It has been said that when the Emperor +was asked to sanction the importation of opium, he answered, "I will +never legalize a traffic that will be an injury to my people," but +whether this be true or not, it is admitted by all that the central +government was strongly opposed to the sale and use of the drug within +its domains. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the first time +the Chinese came into collision with European governments was over a +matter of this kind, and it is to the credit of the Chinese +commissioner when the twenty thousand chests of opium, over which the +dispute arose, were handed over to him, he mixed it with quicklime in +huge vats that it might be utterly destroyed rather than be an injury +to his people. They may have exhibited an ignorance of international +law, they may have manifested an unwise contempt for the foreigner, but +it remains a fact of history that they were ready to suffer great +financial loss rather than get revenue from the ruin of their subjects, +and that England went to war for the purpose of securing indemnity for +the opium destroyed. +</P> + +<P> +The common name for opium among the Chinese is yang yen—foreign +tobacco, and my wife says: "When calling at the Chinese homes, I have +frequently been offered the opium-pipe, and when I refused it the +ladies expressed surprise, saying that they were under the impression +that all foreigners used it." +</P> + +<P> +What now were the results of the Opium War as viewed from the +standpoint of the Chinese people, and what impression would it make +upon them as a whole? Great Britain demanded an indemnity of +$21,000,000, the cession to them of Hongkong, an island on the southern +coast, and the opening of five ports to British trade. China lost her +standing as suzerain among the peoples of the Orient and got her first +glimpse of the White Peril from the West. +</P> + +<P> +Although the Empress Dowager was but a child of ten at this time she +would receive her first impression of the foreigner, which was that he +was a pirate who had come to carry away their wealth, to filch from +them their land, and to overrun their country. He became a veritable +bugaboo to men, women and children alike, and this impression was +crystallized in the expression yang huei, "foreign devil," which is the +only term among a large proportion of the Chinese by which the +foreigner is known. One day when walking on the street in Peking I met +a woman with a child of two years in her arms, and as I passed them, +the child patted its mother on the cheek and said in an +undertone,—"The foreign devil's coming," which led the frightened +mother to cover its eyes with her hand that it might not be injured by +the sight. +</P> + +<P> +On one occasion a friend was travelling through the country when a +Chinese gentleman, dressed in silk and wearing an official hat, called +on him at the inn where he was stopping and with a profound bow +addressed him as "Old Mr. Foreign Devil." +</P> + +<P> +My wife says that: "Not infrequently when I have been called for the +first time to the homes of the better classes I have seen the children +run into the house from the outer court exclaiming,—'The devil +doctor's coming.' Indeed, I have heard the women use this term in +speaking of me to my assistant until I objected, when they asked with +surprise,—'Doesn't she like to be called foreign devil?'" And so the +Empress Dowager's first impression of the foreigner would be that of a +devil. +</P> + +<P> +Colonel Denby tells us that "A Frenchman and his wife were carried off +from Tonquin by bandits who took refuge in China. The Chinese +government was asked to rescue these prisoners and restore them to +liberty. China sent a brigade of troops, who pursued the bandits to +their den and recovered the prisoners. The French government thanked +the Chinese government for its assistance, and bestowed the decoration +of the Legion of Honour on the brigade commander, and then shortly +afterwards demanded the payment of an enormous indemnity for the +outrage on the ground that China had delayed to effect the rescue. The +Chinese were aghast, but they paid the money." +</P> + +<P> +This incident does not stand alone, but is one of a number of similar +experiences which the Chinese government had in her relation with the +powers of Europe, and which have been reported by such writers as +Holcomb, Beresford, Gorst Colquhoun and others in trying to account for +the feelings the Chinese have towards us, all of which was embodied in +the years of training of our little concubine. +</P> + +<P> +It should be remembered that many concubines are selected whom the +Emperor never takes the trouble to see. After being taken in, their +temper and disposition are carefully noted, their faithfulness in the +duties assigned them, their diligence in the performance of their +tasks, their kindness to their inferiors, their treatment of their +equals, and their politeness and obedience to their superiors, and upon +all these things, with many others, as we shall see, their promotion +will finally depend. +</P> + +<P> +When Miss Chao entered the palace, like most girls of her class or +station in life, she was uneducated. She may have studied the small +"Classic for Girls" in which she learned: +</P> + +<P> +"You should rise from bed as early in the morning as the sun, Nor +retire at evening's closing till your work is wholly done." +</P> + +<P> +Or, further, she may have been told, +</P> + +<P> + When the wheel of life's at fifteen,<BR> + Or when twenty years have passed,<BR> + As a girl with home and kindred these will surely be your last;<BR> + While expert in all employments that compose a woman's life,<BR> + You should study as a daughter all the duties of a wife."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Or she may have read the "Filial Piety Classic for Girls" in which she +learned the importance of the attitude she assumed towards those who +were in authority over her, but certain it is she was not educated. +</P> + +<P> +She had, however, what was better than education—a disposition to +learn. And so when she had the good fortune,—or shall we say +misfortune,—for as we have seen it is variously regarded by Chinese +parents to be taken into the palace, she found there educated eunuchs +who were set aside as teachers of the imperial harem. She was bright, +attractive, and I think I may add without fear of contradiction, very +ambitious, and this in no bad sense. She devoted herself to her studies +with such energy and diligence as not only to attract the attention of +the teacher, but to make herself a fair scholar, a good penman, and an +exceptional painter, and it was not long until, from among all the +concubines, she had gained the attention and won the admiration—and +shall we say affection—not only of the Empress, but of the Emperor +himself, and she was selected as the first concubine or kuei fei, and +from that time until the death of the Empress the two women were the +staunchest of friends. +</P> + +<P> +The new favourite had been a healthy and vigorous girl, with plenty of +outdoor life in childhood, and it was not long before she became the +happy mother of Hsien Feng's only son. She was thenceforward known as +the Empress-mother. In a short time she was raised to the position of +wife, and given the title of Western Empress, as the other was known as +the Eastern, from which time the two women were equal in rank, and, in +the eyes of the world, equal in power. +</P> + +<P> +The first Empress was a pampered daughter of wealth, neither vigorous +of body nor strong of mind, caring nothing for political power if only +she might have ease and comfort, and there is nothing that exhibits the +Empress Dowager's real greatness more convincingly than the fact that +she was able to live for thirty years the more fortunate mother of her +country's ruler, and, in power, the mistress of her superior, without +arousing the latter's envy, jealousy, anger, or enmity. Let any woman +who reads this imagine, if she can, herself placed in the position of +either of these ladies without being inclined to despise the less +fortunate, ease-loving Empress if she be the dowager, or hating the +more powerful dowager if she be the Empress. Such a state of affairs as +these two women lived in for more than a quarter of a century is almost +if not entirely unique in history. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps the incident which made most impression upon her was one which +happened in 1860 and is recorded in history as the Arrow War. A few +years before a number of Chinese, who owned a boat called the Arrow, +had it registered in Hongkong and hence were allowed to sail under the +British flag. There is no question I think but that these Chinese were +committing acts of piracy, and as this was one of the causes of +disturbance on that southern coast for centuries past, the viceroy +decided to rid the country of this pest. Nine days after the time for +which the boat had been registered, but while it continued unlawfully +to float the British colours, the viceroy seized the boat, imprisoned +all her crew, and dragged down the British flag. This was an insult +which Great Britain could not or would not brook and so the viceroy was +ordered to release the prisoners, all of whom were Chinese subjects, on +penalty of being blown up in his own yamen if he refused. +</P> + +<P> +Frightened at the threat, and remembering the result of the former war, +the viceroy sent the prisoners to the consulate in chains without +proper apologies for his insult to the flag. This angered the consul +and he returned them to the viceroy, who promptly cut off their heads +without so much as the semblance of a trial, and Britain, anxious, as +she was, to have every door of the Chinese empire opened to foreign +trade, found in this another pretext for war. We do not pretend to +argue that this was not the best thing for China and for the world, but +it can only be considered so from the bitter medicine, and corporal +punishment point of view, neither of which are agreeable to either the +patient or the pupil. +</P> + +<P> +Britain went to war. The viceroy was taken a prisoner to India, whence +he never returned. As though ashamed to enter upon a second unprovoked +and unjust war alone, she invited France, Russia, and America to join +her. France was quite ready to do so in the hope of strengthening her +position in Indo-China, and with nothing more than the murder of a +missionary in Kuangsi as a pretext she put a body of troops in the +field large enough to enable her to checkmate England, or humiliate +China as the exigencies of the occasion, and her own interests, might +demand. America and Russia having no cause for war, no wrongs to +redress, and no desire for territory, refused to join her in sending +troops, but gave her such sympathy and support as would enable her to +bring about a more satisfactory arrangement of China's foreign +relations—that is more satisfactory to themselves regardless of the +wishes, though not perhaps the interests, of China. +</P> + +<P> +We know how the British and French marched upon Peking in 1860; how the +summer palace was left a heap of ruins as a punishment for the murder +of a company of men under a flag of truce; and how the Emperor Hsien +Feng, with his wife, and the mother of his only son, our Empress +Dowager, were compelled to flee for the first time before a foreign +invader. Their refuge was Jehol, a fortified town, in a wild and rugged +mountain pass, on the borders of China and Tartary, a hundred miles +northeast of Peking. At this place the Emperor died, whether of +disease, chagrin, or of a broken heart—or of all combined, it is +impossible to say, and the Empress-mother was left AN EXILE AND A +WIDOW, with the capital and the throne for the first time at the mercy +of the Western barbarian. +</P> + +<P> +This was the beginning of two important phases of the Empress Dowager's +life—her affliction and her power, and her greatness is exhibited as +well by the way in which she bore the one as by the way in which she +wielded the other. In most cases a woman would have been so overcome by +sorrow at the loss of her husband, as to have forgotten the affairs of +state, or to have placed them for the time in the hands of others. Not +so with this great woman. Prince Kung the brother of Hsien Feng, had +been left in Peking to arrange a treaty with the Europeans, which he +succeeded in doing to the satisfaction of both the Chinese and the +foreigners. +</P> + +<P> +On the death of the Emperor, a regency was organized by two of the +princes, which did not include Prince Kung, and disregarded both of the +dowagers, and it seemed as though Prince Kung was doomed. His +father-in-law, however, the old statesman who had signed the treaties, +urged him to be the first to get the ear of the two women on their +return to the capital. This he did, and as it seemed evident that the +regency and the council had been organized for the express purpose of +tyrannizing over the Empresses and the child, they were at once +arrested, the leader beheaded, and the others condemned to exile or to +suicide. The child had been placed upon the throne as "good-luck," but +now a new regency was formed, consisting of the two dowagers, with +Prince Kung as joint regent, and the title of the reign was changed to +Tung Chih or "joint government." Thus ended the Empress Dowager's years +of training. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—As a Ruler +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +That a Manchu woman who had had such narrow opportunities of obtaining +a knowledge of things as they really are, in distinction from the +tissue of shams which constitute the warp and the woof of an Oriental +Palace, should have been able to hold her own in every situation, and +never be crushed by the opposing forces about her, is a phenomenon in +itself only to be explained by due recognition of the influence of +individual qualities in a ruler even in the semi-absolutism of +China.—Arthur H. Smith in "China in Convulsion." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A RULER +</H3> + +<P> +In considering the policy pursued by the Empress-mother after her +accession to the regency, one cannot but feel that she was fully aware +of the fact that she had been the wife of an emperor, and was the +mother of the heir, of a decaying house. Of the 218 years that her +dynasty had been in power, 120 had been occupied by the reigns of two +emperors, and only seven monarchs had sat upon the throne, a smaller +number than ever ruled during the same period in all Chinese history. +These two Emperors, Kang Hsi and Chien Lung, the second and fourth, had +each reigned for sixty years, the most brilliant period of the "Great +Pure Dynasty," unless we except the last six years of the Empress +Dowager's regency. The other ninety-eight years saw five rulers rise +and pass away, each one becoming weaker than his predecessor both in +character and in physique, until with the death of her son, Tung Chih, +the dynasty was left without a direct heir. +</P> + +<P> +The decay of the imperial house, the encroachments of the foreigner, +and the opposition of the native Chinese to the rule of the Manchus, +awoke the Empress Dowager to a realization of the fact that a stronger +hand than that of her husband must be at the helm if the dynasty of her +people were to be preserved. "It may be said with emphasis," says +Colonel Denby, who was for thirteen years minister to China, "that the +Empress Dowager has been the first of her race to apprehend the problem +of the relation of China to the outer world, and to make use of this +relation to strengthen her dynasty and to promote material progress." +She was fortunate in having Prince Kung associated with her in the +regency, a man tall, handsome and dignified, and the greatest statesman +that has come from the royal house since the time of Chien Lung. +</P> + +<P> +Here appears one of the chief characteristics of the Empress Dowager as +a ruler—her ability to choose the greatest statesmen, the wisest +advisers, the safest leaders, and the best guides, from the great mass +of Chinese officials, whether progressive or conservative. Prince Kung +was for forty years the leading figure of the Chinese capital outside +of the Forbidden City. He appeared first, at the age of twenty-six, as +a member of the commission that tried the minister who failed to make +good his promise to induce Lord Elgin and his men-of-war to withdraw +from Tientsin in 1858. The following year he was made a member of the +Colonial Board that controlled the affairs of the "outer Barbarians," +and a year later was left in Peking, when the court fled, to arrange a +treaty of peace with the victorious British and French after they had +taken the capital. "In these trying circumstances," says Professor +Giles, "the tact and resource of Prince Kung won the admiration of his +opponents," and when the Foreign Office was formed in 1861, it began +with the Prince as its first president, a position which he continued +to hold for many years. +</P> + +<P> +It was he, as we have seen, who succeeded in outwitting and +overthrowing the self-constituted regency on the death of his brother +Hsien Feng, and, with the Empress Dowager, seated her infant son upon +the throne, with the two Empresses and himself as joint regents. This +condition continued for some years, with the senior Empress exercising +no authority, and Prince Kung continually growing in power. The +arrangement seemed satisfactory to all but one—the Empress-mother. To +her it appeared as though he were fast becoming the government, and she +and the Empress were as rapidly receding into the background, while in +reality the design had been to make him "joint regent" with them. In +all the receptions of the officials by the court, Prince Kung alone +could see them face to face, while the ladies were compelled to remain +behind a screen, listening to the deliberations but without taking any +part therein, other than by such suggestions as they might make. +</P> + +<P> +Being the visible head of the government, and the only avenue to +positions of preferment, he would naturally be flattered by the Chinese +officials. This led him to assume an air of importance which +consciously or unconsciously he carried into the presence of their +Majesties, and one morning he awoke to find himself stripped of all his +rank and power, and confined and guarded a prisoner in his palace, by a +joint decree from the two Empresses accusing him of "lack of respect +for their Majesties." The deposed Prince at once begged their +forgiveness, whereupon all his honours were restored with their +accompanying dignities, but none of his former power as joint regent, +and thus the first obstacle to her reestablishment of the dynasty was +eliminated by the Empress-mother. To show Prince Kung, however, that +they bore him no ill will, the Empresses adopted his daughter as their +own, raising her to the rank of an imperial princess, and though the +Prince has long since passed away his daughter still lives, and next to +the Empress Dowager has been the leading figure in court circles during +the past ten years' association with the foreigners. +</P> + +<P> +During her son's minority, after the dismissal of Prince Kung as joint +regent, the Empress-mother year by year took a more active part in the +affairs of state, while the Empress as gradually sank into the +background. She was far-sighted. Having but one son, and knowing the +uncertainty of life, she originated a plan to secure the succession to +her family. To this end she arranged for the marriage of her younger +sister to her husband's younger brother commonly known as the Seventh +Prince, in the hope that from this union there might come a son who +would be a worthy occupant of the dragon throne in case her own son +died without issue. She felt that the country needed a great central +figure capable of inspiring confidence and banishing uncertainty, a +strong, well-balanced, broad-minded, self-abnegating chief executive, +and she proposed to furnish one. Whether she would succeed or not must +be left to the future to reveal, but the one great task set by destiny +for her to accomplish was to prepare the mind of a worthy successor to +meet openly and intelligently the problems which had been too vast, too +new and too complicated for her predecessors, if not for herself, to +solve. +</P> + +<P> +When her son was seventeen years old he was married to Alute, a young +Manchu lady of one of the best families in Peking and was nominally +given the reins of power, though as a matter of fact the supreme +control of affairs was still in the hands of his more powerful mother. +The ministers of the European countries, England, France, Germany, +Russia and the United States, now resident at Peking, thought this a +good time for bringing up the matter of an audience with the new ruler, +and after a long discussion with Prince Kung and the Empress-mother, +the matter was arranged without the ceremony of prostration which all +previous rulers had demanded. +</P> + +<P> +The married life of this young couple was a short one. Three years +after their wedding ceremonies the young monarch contracted smallpox +and died without issue, and was followed shortly afterwards by his +young wife who heeded literally the instruction of one of their female +teachers in her duty to her husband to +</P> + +<P> + Share his joy as well as sorrow, riches, poverty or guilt,<BR> + And in death be buried with him, as in life you shared his guilt.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +That her nearest relatives did not believe, as has often been +suggested, that there was any "foul play" in regard to her death, is +evident from the fact that her father continued to hold office until +the time of the Boxer uprising, at which time he followed the fleeing +court as far as Paotingfu, where having heard that the capital was in +the hands of the hated foreigners, he sent word back to his family that +he would neither eat the foreigners' bread nor drink their water, but +would prefer to die by his own hand. When his family received this +message they commanded their servants to dig a great pit in their own +court in which they all lay and ordered the coolies to bury them. This +they at first refused to do, but they were finally prevailed upon, and +thus perished all the male members of her father's household except one +child that was rescued and carried away by a faithful nurse. +</P> + +<P> +When Tung Chih died there was a formidable party in the palace opposed +to the two dowagers, anxious to oust them and their party and place +upon the throne a dissolute son of Prince Kung. But it would require a +master mind from the outside to learn of the death of her son and +select and proclaim a successor quicker than the Empress Dowager +herself could do so from the inside. She first sent a secret messenger +to Li Hung-chang whom she had appointed viceroy of the metropolitan +province at Tientsin eighty miles away, informing him of the illness of +her son and urging him to come to Peking with his troops post-haste and +be ready to prevent any disturbance in case of his death and the +announcement of a successor. +</P> + +<P> +When Li Hung-chang received her orders, he began at once to put them +into execution. Taking with him four thousand of his most reliable +Anhui men, all well-armed horse, foot and artillery, he made a secret +forced march to Peking. The distance of eighty miles was covered in +thirty-six hours and he planned to arrive at midnight. Exactly on the +hour Li and his picked guard were admitted, and in dead silence they +marched into the Forbidden City. Every man had in his mouth a wooden +bit to prevent talking, while the metal trappings of the horses were +muffled to deaden all sound. When they arrived at the forbidden +precincts, the Manchu Bannermen on guard at the various city gates were +replaced by Li's Anhui braves, and as the Empress Dowager had sent +eunuchs to point out the palace troops which were doubtful or that had +openly declared for the conspirators, these were at once disarmed, +bound and sent to prison. The artillery were ordered to guard the gates +of the Forbidden City, the cavalry to patrol the grounds, and the +foot-soldiers to pick up any stray conspirators that could be found. A +strong detachment was stationed so as to surround the Empress Dowager +and the child whom she had selected as a successor to her son, and when +the morning sun rose bright and clear over the Forbidden City the +surprise of the conspirators who had slept the night away was complete. +Of the disaffected that remained, some were put in prison and others +sent into perpetual exile to the Amoor beyond their native borders, and +when the Empress Dowager announced the death of her son, she proclaimed +the son of her sister, Kuang Hsu, as his successor, with herself and +the Empress as regents during his minority. When everything was +settled, Li folded his tent like the Arab, and stole away as silently +as he had come. +</P> + +<P> +The wisdom and greatness of the Empress Dowager were thus manifested in +binding to the throne the greatest men not only in the capital but in +the provinces. Li Hung-chang had won his title to greatness during the +Tai-ping rebellion, for his part in the final extinction of which he +was ennobled as an Earl. From this time onward she placed him in the +highest positions of honour and power within sufficient proximity to +the capital to have his services within easy reach. For twenty-four +years he was kept as viceroy of the metropolitan province of Chihli, +with the largest and best drilled army at his command that China had +ever had, and yet during all this time he realized that he was watched +with the eyes of an eagle lest he manifest any signs of rebellion, +while his nephew was kept in the capital as a hostage for his good +conduct. Once and again when he had reached the zenith of his power, or +had been feted by foreign potentates enough to turn the head of a +bronze Buddha, his yellow jacket and peacock feather were kindly but +firmly removed to remind him that there was a power in Peking on whom +he was dependent. +</P> + +<P> +Li Hung-chang's greatness made him many enemies. Those whom he +defeated, those whom he would not or could not help, those whom he +punished or put out of office, and those whose enmity was the result of +jealousy. When the war with Japan closed and the Chinese government +sent Chang Yin-huan to negotiate a treaty of peace, the Japanese +refused to accept him, nor were they willing to take up the matter +until "Li Hung-chang was appointed envoy, chiefly because of his great +influence over the government, and the respect in which he was held by +the people." We all know how he went, how he was shot in the face by a +Japanese fanatic, the ball lodging under the left eye, where it +remained a memento which he carried to the grave. We all know how he +recovered from the wound, and how because of his sufferings he was able +to negotiate a better treaty than he could otherwise have done. Then he +returned home, and only "the friendship of the Empress and his own +personal sufferings saved his life," says Colonel Denby, for "the new +treaty was urgently denounced in China" by carping critics who would +not have been recognized as envoys by their Japanese enemies. +</P> + +<P> +In 1896 he was appointed to attend the coronation of the Czar at +Moscow, and thence continued his trip around the world. Never before +nor since has a Chinese statesman or even a prince been feted as he was +in every country through which he passed. When he was about to start, +at his request I had a round fan painted for him, with a map of the +Eastern hemisphere on one side and the Western on the other, on which +all the steamship lines and railroads over which he was to travel were +clearly marked, with all the ports and cities at which he expected to +stop. He was photographed with Gladstone, and hailed as the "Bismarck +of the East," but when he returned to Peking, for no reason but +jealousy, "he was treated as an extinct volcano." The Empress Dowager +invited him to the Summer Palace where he was shown about the place by +the eunuchs, treated to tea and pipes, and led into pavilions where +only Her Majesty was allowed to enter, and then denounced to the Board +of Punishments who were against him to a man. And now this Grand +Secretary whom kings and courts had honoured, whom emperors and +presidents had feted, and our own government had spent thirty thousand +dollars in entertaining, was once more stripped of his yellow jacket +and peacock feather, and fined the half of a year's salary as a member +of the Foreign Office, which was the amusing sum of forty-five taels or +about thirty-five dollars gold, and it was said in Peking at the time +that only the intercession of the Empress Dowager saved him from +imprisonment or further disgrace. +</P> + +<P> +During the whole regency of the Empress Dowager only two men have +occupied the position of President of the Grand Council—Prince Kung +and Prince Ching. While the former was degraded many times and had his +honours all taken from him, the latter "has kept himself on top of a +rolling log for thirty years" without losing any of the honours which +were originally conferred upon him. The same is true of Chang +Chih-tung, Liu Kun-yi and Wang Wen-shao, three great viceroys and Grand +Secretaries whom the Empress Dowager has never allowed to be without an +important office, but whom she has never degraded. Need we ask the +reason why? The answer is not far to seek. They were the most eminent +progressive officials she had in her empire, but none of them were +great enough to be a menace to her dynasty, and hence need not be +reminded that there was a power above them which by a stroke of her pen +could transfer them from stars in the official firmament to dandelions +in the grass. Not so with Yuan Shih-kai—but we will speak of him in +another chapter. +</P> + +<P> +All the great officials thus far mentioned have belonged to the +progressive rather than the conservative party, all of them the +favourites of the Empress Dowager, placed in positions of influence and +kept in office by her, all of them working for progress and reform, and +yet she has been constantly spoken of by European writers as a +reactionary. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as we shall see. +Nevertheless she kept some of the great conservative officials in +office either as viceroys or Grand Secretaries that she might be able +to hear both sides of all important questions. +</P> + +<P> +One of these conservatives was Jung Lu, the father-in-law of the +present Regent. When she placed Yuan Shih-kai in charge of the army of +north China, she also appointed Jung Lu as Governor-General of the +metropolitan province of Chihli. One was a progressive, the other a +conservative. Neither could make any important move without the +knowledge and consent of the other. Whether the Empress Dowager foresaw +the danger that was likely to arise, we do not know, but she provided +against it. We refer to the occasion when in 1898 the Emperor ordered +Yuan Shih-kai to bring his troops to Peking, guard the Empress Dowager +a prisoner in the Summer Palace, and protect him in his efforts at +reform. The story belongs in another chapter, but we refer to it here +to show how the Empress Dowager played one official against another, +and one party against another, to prevent any such calamity or +surprise. It would have been impossible for Yuan Shih-kai to have taken +his troops to Peking for any purpose without first informing his +superior officer Jung Lu unless he put him to death, much less to have +gone on such a mission as that of imprisoning as important a personage +as the Empress Dowager, to whom they were both indebted for their +office. +</P> + +<P> +Another instance of the way in which the Empress Dowager played one +party against another was the appointment of Prince Tuan as a member of +the Foreign Office. After his son had been selected as the +heir-apparent it seemed to the Empress Dowager that for his own +education and development he should be made to come in contact with the +foreigners. Most of the foreigners considered the appointment +objectionable on account of the "Prince's anti-foreign tendencies. But +to my mind," says Sir Robert Hart, "it was a good one; the Empress +Dowager had probably said to the Prince, 'You and your party pull one +way, Prince Ching and his another—what am I to do between you? You, +however, are the father of the future Emperor, and have your son's +interests to take care of; you are also head of the Boxers and chief of +the Peking Field Force, and ought therefore to know what can and what +cannot be done. I therefore appoint you to the yamen; do what you +consider most expedient, and take care that the throne of your +ancestors descends untarnished to your son, and their empire +undiminished! yours is the power,—yours the responsibility—and yours +the chief interests!' I can imagine the Empress Dowager taking this +line with the Prince, and, inasmuch as various ministers who had been +very anti-foreign before entering the yamen had turned round and +behaved very sensibly afterwards, I felt sure that responsibility and +actual personal dealings with foreigners would be a good experience and +a useful education for this Prince, and that he would eventually be one +of the sturdiest supporters of progress and good relations." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—As a Reactionist +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The most interesting personage in China during the past thirty years +has been and still is without doubt the lady whom we style the Empress +Dowager. The character of the Empress's rule can only be judged by what +it was during the regency, when she was at the head of every movement +that partook of the character of reform. Foreign diplomacy has failed, +for want of a definite centre of volition and sensation to act upon. It +had no fulcrum for its lever. Hence only force has ever succeeded in +China. With a woman like the Empress might it not be possible really to +transact business?—Blackwood's Magazine. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A REACTIONIST +</H3> + +<P> +It was between November 1, 1897, and April 16, 1898, that Germany, +Russia, France and England wrested from the weak hands of the Emperor +Kuang Hsu the four best ports in the Chinese empire, leaving China +without a place to rendezvous a fleet. The whole empire was aroused to +indignation, and even in our Christian schools, every essay, oration, +dialogue or debate was a discussion of some phase of the subject, "How +to reform and strengthen China." The students all thought, the young +reformers all thought, and the foreigners all thought that Kuang Hsu +had struck the right track. The great Chinese officials, however, were +in doubt, and it was because of their doubt—progressives as well as +conservatives—that the Empress Dowager was again called to the throne. +</P> + +<P> +Now may I request the enemies of the Empress Dowager to ask themselves +what they would have done if they had been placed at the head of their +own government when it was thus being filched from them? You say she +was anti-foreign—would you have been very much in love with Germany, +Russia, France and England under those circumstances? That she acted +unwisely in placing herself in the hands of the conservatives and +allying herself with the superstitious Boxers, we must all frankly +admit. But what would you have done? Might you not—I do not say you +would with your intelligence—but might you not have been induced to +have clutched at as great a log as the patriotic Boxers seemed to +present, if you had been as near drowning as she was? +</P> + +<P> +"It is generally supposed," says one of her critics, "that Kang Yu-wei +suggested to the Emperor, that if he would render his own position +secure, he must retire the Empress Dowager, and decapitate Jung Lu." If +that be true, and I think it very reasonable, the condition must have +been desperate, when the reformers had to begin killing the greatest of +their opponents, and imprisoning those who had given them their power, +though neither of these at that time had raised a hand against them. +Have you noticed how ready we are to forgive those on our side for +doing that for which we would bitterly condemn our opponents? The same +people who condemn the Empress Dowager for beheading the six young +reformers stand ready to forgive Kuang Hsu for ordering the +decapitation of Jung Lu, and the imprisonment of his foster-mother. +</P> + +<P> +There were two powerful factions in Peking, the progressives, headed by +Prince Ching; and the conservatives, headed by Jung Lu. Now the Empress +Dowager may have reasoned thus: "The progressives and reformers have +had their day. They have tried their plans and they have failed. The +only result they have secured is peace—but peace always at the expense +of territory. Now I propose to try another plan. I will part with no +more ports, and I will resist to the death every encroachment." She +therefore took up Li Ping-heng, who had been deposed from the +governorship of Shantung at the time of the murder of the German +missionaries, and appointed him Generalissimo of the forces of the +Yangtse, where he no doubt promised to resist to the last all +encroachments of the foreigners in that part of the empire while Jung +Lu was retained in Peking as head of all the forces of the province of +Chihli and the Northern Squadron. She then appointed Kang Yi, another +conservative, equally as anti-foreign as Li Ping-heng, to inspect the +fortifications and garrisons of the empire, and to raise an immense sum +of money for the depleted treasury. In his visits to the southern +provinces, Kang Yi at this time raised not less than two million taels, +which was no doubt spent in the purchase of guns and ammunition and +other preparations for war. Yu Hsien, another equally conservative +Manchu, she appointed Governor of Shantung to succeed Li Ping-heng, and +it is to him the whole Boxer uprising is due. Moreover when he, at the +repeated requests of the foreigners, was removed from Shantung, she +received him in audience at Peking, conferred upon him additional +honours and appointed him Governor of the adjoining province of Shansi, +where, and under whose jurisdiction, almost all the massacres were +committed. Indeed Yu Hsien may be considered the whole Boxer movement, +for this seems to have been his plan for getting rid of the foreigners. +</P> + +<P> +But while thus allying herself with the conservatives, the Empress +Dowager did not cut herself off from the progressives. Li Hung-chang +was appointed Viceroy of Kuangtung, Yuan Shih-kai Governor of Shantung +and Tuan Fang of Shensi while Liu Kun-yi, Chang Chih-tung, and Kuei +Chun were kept at their posts, so that she had all the greatest men of +both parties once more in her service. Then she began sending out +edicts, retracting those issued by Kuang Hsu, and what could be more +considerate of the feelings of the Emperor, or more diplomatic as a +state paper than the following, issued in the name of Kuang Hsu, +September 26, 1898. +</P> + +<P> +"Our real desire was to make away with superfluous posts for the sake +of economy: whereas, on the contrary, we find rumours flying abroad +that we intended to change wholesale the customs of the empire, and, in +consequence, innumerable impossible suggestions of reform have been +presented to us. If we allowed this to go on, none of us would know to +what pass matters would come. Hence, unless we hasten to put our +present wishes clearly before all, we greatly fear that the petty yamen +officials and their underlings will put their own construction on what +commands have gone before, and create a ferment in the midst of the +usual calm of the people. This will indeed be contrary to our desire, +and put our reforms for strengthening and enriching our empire to +naught. +</P> + +<P> +"We therefore hereby command that the Supervisorate of Instruction and +other five minor Courts and Boards, which were recently abolished by us +and their duties amalgamated with other Boards for the sake of economy, +etc., be forthwith restored to their original state and duties, because +we have learned that the process of amalgamation contains many +difficulties and will require too much labour. We think, therefore, it +is best that these offices be not abolished at all, there being no +actual necessity for doing this. As for the provincial bureaus and +official posts ordered to be abolished, the work in this connection can +go on as usual, and the viceroys and governors are exhorted to work +earnestly and diligently in the above duty. Again as to the edict +ordering the establishment of an official newspaper, the Chinese +Progress, and the privilege granted to all scholars and commoners to +memorialize us on reforms, etc., this was issued in order that a way +might be opened by which we could come into touch with our subjects, +high and low. But as we have also given extra liberty to our censors +and high officers to report to us on all matters pertaining to the +people and their government, any reforms necessary, suggested by these +officers, will be attended to at once by us. Hence we consider that our +former edict allowing all persons to report to us is, for obvious +reasons, superfluous, with the present legitimate machinery at hand. +And we now command that the privilege be withdrawn, and only the proper +officers be permitted to report to us as to what is going on in our +empire. As for the newspaper Chinese Progress, it is really of no use +to the government, while, on the other hand, it will excite the masses +to evil; hence we command the said paper to be suppressed. +</P> + +<P> +"With regard to the proposed Peking University and the middle schools +in the provincial capitals, they may go on as usual, as they are a +nursery for the perfection of true ability and talents. But with +reference to the lower schools in the sub-prefectures and districts +there need be no compulsion, full liberty being given to the people +thereof to do what they please in this connection. As for the +unofficial Buddhist, Taoist, and memorial temples which were ordered to +be turned into district schools, etc., so long as these institutions +have not broken the laws by any improper conduct of the inmates, or the +deities worshipped in them are not of the seditious kind, they are +hereby excused from the edict above noted. At the present moment, when +the country is undergoing a crisis of danger and difficulty, we must be +careful of what may be done, or what may not, and select only such +measures as may be really of benefit to the empire." +</P> + +<P> +I submit the above edict to the reader requesting him to study it, and, +if necessary to its understanding, to copy it, and see if the Empress +Dowager has not preserved the best there is in it, viz., "the Peking +University, and the middle schools in the provincial capitals," "full +liberty being given to the people with reference to the lower schools +in the sub-prefectures and districts to do as they please." How much +oil would be cast on how many troubled waters can only be realized by +the unfortunate priests and dismissed officials and people upon whom +"there need be no compulsion"! +</P> + +<P> +Three days after the foregoing, on September 29th, she issued another +edict purporting to come from the Emperor, ordering the punishment of +Kang Yu-wei and others of his confreres. Now, if it is true that Kang +Yu-wei advised the Emperor to behead Jung Lu and imprison the Empress +Dowager, for no cause whatsoever, how would you have been inclined to +treat him supposing you had been in her place? The decree says: +</P> + +<P> +"All know that we try to rule this empire by our filial piety towards +the Empress Dowager; but Kang Yu-wei's doctrines have always been +opposed to the ancient Confucian tenets. Owing, however, to the ability +shown by the said Kang Yu-wei in modern and practical matters, we +sought to take advantage of it by appointing him a secretary of the +Foreign Office, and subsequently ordered him to Shanghai to direct the +management of the official newspaper there. Instead of this, however, +he dared to remain in Peking pursuing his nefarious designs against the +dynasty, and had it not been for the protection given by the spirits of +our ancestors he certainly would have succeeded. Kang Yu-wei is +therefore the arch conspirator, and his chief assistant is Liang +Chi-tsao, M. A., and they are both to be immediately arrested and +punished for the crime of rebellion. The other principal conspirators, +namely, the Censor Yang Shen-hsin, Kang Kuang-jen—the brother of Kang +Yu-wei—and the four secretaries of the Tsungli Yamen, Tan Sze-tung, +Liu Hsin, Yang Jui, and Liu Kuang-ti, we immediately ordered to be +arrested and imprisoned by the Board of Punishments: but fearing that +if any delay ensued in sentencing them they would endeavour to entangle +a number of others, we accordingly commanded yesterday (September 28th) +their immediate execution, so as to close the matter entirely and +prevent further troubles." +</P> + +<P> +This with the execution of one or two other officials is the greatest +crime that can be laid at the door of the Empress Dowager—great enough +in all conscience—yet not to be compared to those of "good Queen Bess." +</P> + +<P> +We now come to what is said to have been a secret edict issued by the +Empress Dowager to her viceroys, governors, Tartar generals and the +commanders-in-chief of the provinces, dated November 21, 1899. And this +I regard as one of the greatest and most daring things that great woman +ever undertook. +</P> + +<P> +After the Empress Dowager had taken the throne, Italy, following the +example set by the other powers, demanded the cession of Sanmen Bay in +the province of Chekiang. But she found a different ruler on the +throne, and to her great surprise, as well as that of every one else, +China returned a stubborn refusal. Moreover, she began to prepare to +resist the demand, and it soon became evident that to obtain it, Italy +must go to war. This she had not the stomach for and so the demand was +withdrawn. This explanation will go far towards helping us to +understand the following secret edict of November 21st, to which I have +already referred. +</P> + +<P> +"Our empire is now labouring under great difficulties which are +becoming daily more and more serious. The various Powers cast upon us +looks of tiger-like voracity, hustling each other in their endeavours +to be the first to seize upon our innermost territories. They think +that China, having neither money nor troops, would never venture to go +to war with them. They fail to understand, however, that there are +certain things that this empire can never consent to, and that, if +hardly pressed upon, we have no alternative but to rely upon the +justice of our cause, the knowledge of which in our breasts strengthens +our resolves and steels us to present a united front against our +aggressors. No one can guarantee, under such circumstances, who will be +the victor and who the vanquished in the end. But there is an evil +habit which has become almost a custom among our viceroys and governors +which, however, must be eradicated at all costs. For instance, whenever +these high officials have had on their hands cases of international +dispute, all their actions seem to be guided by the belief in their +breasts that such cases would eventually be 'amicably arranged.' These +words seem never to be out of their thoughts: hence, when matters do +come to a crisis, they, of course, find themselves utterly unprepared +to resist any hostile aggressions on the part of the foreigner. We, +indeed, consider this the most serious failure in the duty which the +highest provincial authorities owe to the throne, and we now find it +incumbent upon ourselves to censure such conduct in the most severe +terms. +</P> + +<P> +"It is our special command, therefore, that should any high official +find himself so hard pressed by circumstances that nothing short of war +would settle matters, he is expected to set himself resolutely to work +out his duty to this end. Or, perhaps, it would be that war has already +actually been declared; under such circumstances there is no possible +chance of the imperial government consenting to an immediate conference +for the restoration of peace. It behooves, therefore, that our +viceroys, governors, and commanders-in-chief throughout the whole +empire unite forces and act together without distinction or +particularizing of jurisdictions so as to present a combined front to +the enemy, exhorting and encouraging their officers and soldiers in +person to fight for the preservation of their homes and native soil +from the encroaching footsteps of the foreign aggressor. Never should +the word 'Peace' fall from the mouths of our high officials, nor should +they even allow it to rest for a moment within their breasts. With such +a country as ours, with her vast area, stretching out several tens of +thousands of li, her immense natural resources, and her hundreds of +millions of inhabitants, if only each and all of you would prove his +loyalty to his Emperor and love of country, what, indeed, is there to +fear from any invader? Let no one think of making peace, but let each +strive to preserve from destruction and spoliation his ancestral home +and graves from the ruthless hands of the invader." +</P> + +<P> +One of her critics, referring to the last sentence of the above edict, +asks: "Do not these words throw down the gauntlet?" And we answer, yes. +Did not the thirteen colonies throw down the gauntlet to England for +less cause? Did not Japan throw down the gauntlet to Russia for less +cause than the Empress Dowager had for desiring that "each strive TO +PRESERVE FROM DESTRUCTION AND SPOLIATION HIS ANCESTRAL HOME AND +GRAVES"? It was not for conquest but for self-preservation the Empress +Dowager was ready to go to war; not for glory but for home; not against +a taunting neighbour, but against a "ruthless invader." Her unwisdom +did not consist in her being ready to go to war, but in allowing +herself to be allied to, and depend upon, the superstitious rabble of +Boxers, and to believe that her "hundreds of millions" of undisciplined +"inhabitants" could withstand the thousands or tens of thousands of +well-drilled, well-led, intelligent soldiers from the West. +</P> + +<P> +That she was ready to go to war rather than weakly yield to the demands +for territory from the European powers is further evidenced by the +following edict issued by the Tsungli Yamen to the viceroys and +governors: +</P> + +<P> +"This yamen has received the special commands of her Imperial Majesty +the Empress Dowager, and his Imperial Majesty the Emperor, to grant you +full power and liberty to resist by force of arms all aggressions upon +your several jurisdictions, proclaiming a state of war, if necessary, +without first asking instructions from Peking; for this loss of time +may be fatal to your security, and enable the enemy to make good his +footing against your forces." +</P> + +<P> +In order to strengthen her position she appointed two commissioners +whom she sent to Japan in the hope of forming a secret defensive +alliance with that nation against the White Peril from the West. For +once, however, she made a mistake in the selection of her men, for +these commissioners, unlike what we usually find the yellow man, +revealed too much of the important mission on which they were bent, and +were recalled in disgrace, and the treaty came to naught. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—As a Reformer +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her life +and her throne, the Dowager has become a convert to the policy of +progress. She has, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may she +live!" "Late may she rule us!" During her lifetime she may be counted +on to carry forward the cause she has so ardently espoused. She grasps +the reins with a firm hand; and her courage is such that she does not +hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many a new and untried +road. She knows she can rely on the support of her viceroys—men of her +own appointment. She knows too that the spirit of reform is abroad in +the land, and that the heart of the people is with her.—W. A. P. +Martin in "The Awakening of China." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS A REFORMER +</H3> + +<P> +In June, 1902, soon after the return of the court from Hsian to Peking, +a company of ladies from the various legations in Peking who had +received invitations to an audience and a banquet with the Empress +Dowager were asked to meet at one of the legations for the purpose of +consultation. The meeting was unusual. Many of those who were present +had no higher motive than the ordinary tourist who goes sightseeing. +With the exception of one or two who had been in once before, none of +these ladies had ever been present at an audience. Several of them +however had passed through the Boxer siege of 1900, had witnessed the +guns from the wall of the Imperial City pouring shot and shell into the +British legation, where they were confined during those eight memorable +weeks of June, July and August, and had come out with their hearts +filled with resentment. One of them had received a decoration from her +government for her bravery in standing beside her husband on the +fortifications when buildings were crumbling and walls falling, and her +husband was buried by an exploding mine, and then vomited out unhurt by +a second explosion. Among the number were several recent arrivals in +Peking who had had none of these bitter experiences, but had heard much +of the Empress Dowager, and above all things else they were anxious to +see her whom they called the "She Dragon." +</P> + +<P> +The presiding officer had been longest in Peking, and as doyen of these +diplomatic ladies, she acted as chairman of the meeting. The first +question to be decided was the mode of conveyance to the "Forbidden +City." Without much discussion it was decided to use the sedan chair, +as being the most dignified, and used only by Chinese ladies of rank. +The chairman then called for an expression of opinion as to the method +of procedure in presentation to the throne. One suggested that they +have no ceremony about it, but all go up to the throne together, for in +this way none would take precedence, but all would have an equal +opportunity of satisfying their curiosity and scrutinizing this female +dragon ad libitum. Another said: "It will be broiling hot on that June +day, and it will be better to keep at a safe distance from her, with +plenty of guards to protect us, or we may be broiled in more senses +than one." The chairman looked worried at these suggestions, but still +kept her dignity and her equilibrium. Then a mild voice suggested that +it was customary in all audiences for those presented to courtesy to +the one on the throne. "Courtesy!" broke in an indignant voice, "it +would be more appropriate for her to prostrate herself at our feet and +beg us to forgive her for trying to shoot us, than for us to courtesy +to her." It was finally decided, however, that the same formalities be +observed as were followed by the ministers when received at court. I +give these incidents to show the temper that prevailed among the +members of some of the legations at Peking at the time of this first +audience. +</P> + +<P> +"When a few days later we followed the long line of richly-robed +princesses into the audience-hall, all this was changed. As we looked +at the Empress Dowager seated upon her throne on a raised dais, with +the Emperor to her left and members of the Grand Council kneeling +beside her, and these dignified, stately princesses courtesying until +their knees touched the floor, we forgot the resentful feeling +expressed in the meeting a few days before, and, awed by her majestic +bearing and surroundings, we involuntarily gave the three courtesies +required from those entering the imperial presence. We could not but +feel that this stately woman who sat upon the throne was every inch an +empress. In her hands rested the weal or woe of one-third of the human +race. Her brilliant black eyes seemed to read our thoughts. Indeed she +prides herself upon the fact that at a glance she can read the +character of every one that appears before her." +</P> + +<P> +After the ladies had taken their position in order of their rank, the +doyen presented their good wishes to Her Majesty, which was replied to +by a few gracious words from the throne. Each lady's name was then +announced and as she was formally presented she ascended the dais, and +as she courtesied, the Empress Dowager extended her hand which she +took, and then passed to the left to be introduced in a similar way to +the Emperor. +</P> + +<P> +It was thus she began her reforms in the customs of the court, which up +to this time had kept her ever behind the screen, compelled to wield +the sceptre from her place of concealment, equally shut out from the +eyes of the world and blind to the needs of her people. Up to her time +the people and the nation were the slaves of age-old customs, but +before the power of her personality rites and ceremonies became the +servants of the people. In the words of the poet she seemed to feel that +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Rules<BR> + Are well; but never fear to break<BR> + The scaffolding of other souls;<BR> + It was not meant for thee to mount,<BR> + Though it may serve thee."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Without taking away from the Emperor the credit of introducing the +railroad, the telegraph, the telephone, the new system of education, +and many other reforms, we must still admit that it was the +personality, power and statesmanship of the Empress Dowager that +brought about the realization of his dreams. The movement towards +female education as described in another chapter must ever be placed to +the credit of this great woman. From the time she came from behind the +screen, and allowed her portrait to be painted, the freedom of woman +was assured. +</P> + +<P> +One day when calling at the American legation I was shown two large +photographs of Her Majesty. One some three feet square was to be sent +to President Roosevelt, the other was a gift to Major Conger. Similar +photographs had been sent to all the ministers and rulers represented +at Peking, and I said to myself: "The Empress Dowager is shrewd. She +knows that false pictures of her have gone forth. She knows that the +painted portrait is not a good likeness, and so she proposes to have +genuine pictures in the possession of all civilized governments." This +shrewdness was not necessarily native on her part, but was engendered +by the arguments that had been used by those who induced her to be the +first Chinese monarch to have her portrait painted by a foreign artist. +</P> + +<P> +A few years ago the Empress Dowager had a dream, which, like every act +of hers, was greater than any of those of her brilliant nephew. This +dream was to give a constitution to China. Of course, if this were done +it would have to be by the Manchus, as the government was theirs, and +any radical changes that were made would have to be made by the people +in power. The Empress Dowager, however, wanted the honour of this move +to reflect upon herself, and hoped to be able to bring it to a +successful issue during her lifetime. +</P> + +<P> +There was strenuous opposition, and this most vigorous in the party in +which she had placed herself when she dethroned Kuang Hsu. The +conservatives regarded this as the wildest venture that had yet been +made, and were ready to use all their influence to prevent it; +nevertheless the Empress Dowager called to her aid the greatest and +most progressive of the Manchus, the Viceroy Tuan Fang, and appointed +him head of a commission which she proposed to send on a tour of the +world to examine carefully the various forms of government, with the +purpose of advising her, on their return, as to the possibility of +giving a constitution to China. +</P> + +<P> +A special train was provided to take the commission from Peking to +Tientsin. It was drawn up at the station just outside the gate in front +of the Emperor's palace. The commission had entered the car, and the +narrow hall or aisle along the side was crowded with those who had come +to see them off, when, BANG, there was an explosion, the side of the +car was blown out, several were injured, including slight wounds to +some of the members of the commission, and the man carrying the bomb +was blown into an unrecognizable mass. For a few days the city was in +an uproar. Guards were placed at all the gates, especially those +leading to the palace, and every possible effort was made to identify +the nihilist. But as all efforts failed, and nothing further transpired +to indicate that he had accomplices, the commission separated and +departing individually without display, reunited at Tientsin and +started on their tour of inspection. +</P> + +<P> +This commission was splendidly entertained wherever it went, given +every possible opportunity to examine the constitutions of the +countries through which it passed, and on its return to Peking the +report of the trip was published in one hundred and twenty volumes, the +most important item of which was that a constitution, modelled after +that of Japan, should be given to China at as early a date as possible. +</P> + +<P> +The leader of this expedition, His Excellency the Viceroy Tuan Fang, is +one of the greatest, if not the greatest living Manchu statesman. Like +Yuan Shih-kai, during the Boxer uprising, he protected all the +foreigners within his domains. That he appreciates the work done by +Americans in the opening up of China is evidenced by a statement made +in his address at the Waldorf Astoria, in February, 1906, in which he +said: +</P> + +<P> +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part taken +by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the Chinese +people. They have borne the light of Western civilization into every +nook and corner of the empire. They have rendered inestimable service +to China by the laborious task of translating into the Chinese language +religious and scientific works of the West. They help us to bring +happiness and comfort to the poor and the suffering, by the +establishment of hospitals and schools. The awakening of China, which +now seems to be at hand, may be traced in no small measure to the +influence of the missionary. For this service you will find China not +ungrateful." +</P> + +<P> +Some may think that this was simply a sentiment expressed on this +particular occasion because he happened to be surrounded by secretaries +and others interested in this cause. That this is not the case is +further indicated by the fact that since that time he has on two +separate occasions attended the commencement exercises of the Nanking +University, on one of which he addressed the students as follows: +</P> + +<P> +"This is the second time I have attended the commencement exercises of +your school. I appreciate the good order I find here. I rejoice at the +evidences I see of your knowledge of the proprieties, the depth of your +learning, and the character of the students of this institution. I am +deeply grateful to the president and faculty for the goodness +manifested to these my people. I have seen evidences of it in every +detail. It is my hope that when these graduates go out into the world, +they will remember the love of their teachers, and will practice that +virtue in their dealing with others. The fundamental principle of all +great teachers whether of the East or the West is love, and it remains +for you, young gentlemen, to practice this virtue. Thus your knowledge +will be practical and your talents useful." +</P> + +<P> +I have given these quotations as evidences of the breadth of the man +whom the Empress Dowager selected as the head of this commission. It is +not generally known, however, that Duke Tse, another important member +of this commission, is married to a sister of the young Empress +Yehonala, and consequently a niece of the Empress Dowager. Such +relations existed between Her Majesty and the viceroy, as ruler and +subject, that it would be impossible for him to give her the intimate +account of their trip that a relative could give. It would be equally +impossible, with all her other duties, to wade through a report such as +they published after their return of one hundred and twenty volumes. +But it would be a delight to call in this nephew-in-law, and have him +sit or kneel, and may we not believe she allowed him to sit? and give +her a full and intimate account of the trip and the countries through +which they passed. She was anxious that this constitution should be +given to the people before she passed away. This, however, could not +be. Whether it will be adopted within the time allotted is a question +which the future alone can answer. +</P> + +<P> +The next great reform undertaken by the Empress Dowager was her crusade +against opium. The importance of this can only be estimated when we +consider the prevalence of the use of the drug throughout the empire. +The Chinese tell us that thirty to forty per cent. of the adult +population are addicted to the use of the drug. +</P> + +<P> +One day while walking along the street in Peking, I passed a gateway +from which there came an odour that was not only offensive but +sickening. I went on a little distance further and entered one of the +best curio shops of the city, and going into the back room, I found the +odour of the street emphasized tenfold, as one of the employees of the +firm had just finished his smoke. I left this shop and went to another +where the proprietor had entirely ruined his business by his use of the +drug, and it was about this time that the Empress Dowager issued the +following edict: +</P> + +<P> +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China has +been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted their time, +neglected their employment, ruined their constitutions, and +impoverished their households. For several decades therefore China has +presented a spectacle of increasing poverty and weakness. To merely +mention the matter, arouses our indignation. The court has now +determined to make China powerful, and to this end we urge our people +to reformation in this respect. +</P> + +<P> +"We, therefore, decree that within a limit of ten years this injurious +filth shall be completely swept away. We further order the Council of +State to consider means of prohibition both of growing the poppy and +smoking the opium." +</P> + +<P> +The Council of State at once drew up regulations designed to carry out +this decree. They were among others: +</P> + +<P> +That all opium-smokers be required to report and take out a license. +</P> + +<P> +Officials using the drug were divided into two classes. Young men must +be cured of the habit within six months, while for old men no limit was +fixed. But both classes, while under treatment, must furnish +satisfactory substitutes, at their own expense, to attend to the duties +of their office. +</P> + +<P> +All opium dens must be closed within six months, after which time no +opium-pipes nor lamps may be either made or sold. Though shops for the +sale of the drug may continue for ten years, the limit of the traffic. +</P> + +<P> +The government promises to provide medicine for the cure of the habit, +and encourages the formation of anti-opium societies, but will not +allow these societies to discuss other political matters. +</P> + +<P> +Next to China Great Britain is the party most affected by this movement +towards reform. When this edict was issued Great Britain was shipping +annually fifty thousand chests of opium to the Chinese market, but at +once agreed that if China was sincere in her desire for reform, and cut +off her own domestic productions at the rate of ten per cent. per +annum, she would decrease her trade at a similar rate. It is +unfortunate that the Empress Dowager should have died before this +reform had been carried to a successful culmination, but whatever may +be the result of the movement the fact and the credit of its initiation +will ever belong to her. +</P> + +<P> +Such are some of the special reform measures instituted by the Empress +Dowager, but in addition to these she has seen to it that the Emperor's +efforts to establish a Board of Railroads, a Board of Mines, +educational institutions on the plans of those of the West, should all +be carried out. She has not only done away with the old system of +examinations, but has introduced a new scheme by which all those who +have graduated from American or European colleges may obtain Chinese +degrees and be entitled to hold office under the government, by passing +satisfactory examinations, not a small part of which is the diploma or +diplomas which they hold. Such an examination has already been held and +a large number of Western graduates, most of them Christian, were given +the Chu-jen or Han-lin degrees. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—As an Artist +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +There is no genre that the Chinese artist has not attempted. They have +treated in turn mythological, religious and historical subjects of +every kind; they have painted scenes of daily familiar life, as well as +those inspired by poetry and romance; sketched still life, landscapes +and portraits. Their highest achievements, perhaps, have been in +landscapes, which reveal a passionate love for nature, and show with +how delicate a charm, how sincere and lively a poetic feeling, they +have interpreted its every aspect. They have excelled too at all +periods in the painting of animals and birds, especially of birds and +flying insects in conjunction with flowers.—S. W. Bushell in "Chinese +Art." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER—AS AN ARTIST +</H3> + +<P> +One day the head eunuch from the palace of the Princess Shun called at +our home to ask Mrs. Headland to go and see the Princess. While sitting +in my study and looking at the Chinese paintings hanging on the wall, +two of which were from the brush of Her Majesty, he remarked: +</P> + +<P> +"You are fond of Chinese art?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am indeed fond of it," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"I notice you have some pictures painted by the Old Buddha," he +continued, referring to the Empress Dowager by a name by which she is +popularly known in Peking. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I have seven pictures from her brush," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you happen to have any from the brush of the Lady Miao, her +painting teacher?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry to say I have not," I replied. "I have tried repeatedly to +secure one, but thus far have failed. I have inquired at all the best +stores on Liu Li Chang, the great curio street, but they have none, and +cannot tell me where I can find one." +</P> + +<P> +"No, you cannot get them in the stores; she does not paint for the +trade," he explained. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry," I continued, "for I should like very much to get one. I +am told she is a very good artist." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, she paints very well," he went on in a careless way. "She +lives over near our palace. We have a good many of her paintings. They +are very easily gotten." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be easy for you to get them," I replied, "but it is no small +task for me." +</P> + +<P> +"If you want some," he volunteered, "I'll get some for you." +</P> + +<P> +"That would be very kind of you," I answered, "but how would you +undertake to get them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I would just steal a few and bring them over to you." +</P> + +<P> +It is hardly necessary to assure my readers as I did him that I could +not approve of this method of obtaining paintings from the Lady Miao's +brush. However he must have told the Princess of my desire, for the +next time Mrs. Headland called at the palace the Princess entertained +her by showing her a number of paintings by the Lady Miao, together +with others from the brush of the Empress Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +"And these are really the work of Her Majesty?" said Mrs. Headland with +a rising inflection. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed," replied the Princess. "I watched her at work on them. +They are genuine." +</P> + +<P> +It was some weeks thereafter that Mrs. Headland was again invited to +call and see the Princess, and to her surprise she was introduced to +the Lady Miao, with whom and the Princess she spent a very pleasant +social hour or two. When she was about to leave, the Princess, who is +the youngest sister of the Empress Yehonala, brought out a picture of a +cock about to catch a beetle, which she said she had asked Lady Miao to +paint, and which she begged Mrs. Headland to receive as a present from +the artist and herself. +</P> + +<P> +During the conversation Mrs. Headland remarked that the Empress Dowager +must have begun her study of art many years ago. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Lady Miao. "We were both young when she began. Shortly +after she was taken into the palace she began the study of books, and +partly as a diversion, but largely out of her love for art, she took up +the brush. She studied the old masters as they have been reproduced by +woodcuts in books, and from the paintings that have been preserved in +the palace collection, and soon she exhibited rare talent. I was then a +young woman, my brothers were artists, my husband had passed away, and +I was ordered to appear in the palace and work with her." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a Chinese, are you not, Lady Miao?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she replied, "and as it has not been customary for Chinese +ladies to appear at court during the present dynasty, I was allowed to +unbind my feet, comb my hair in the Manchu style, and wear the gowns of +her people." +</P> + +<P> +"And did you go into the palace every day?" +</P> + +<P> +"When I was young I did. Ten Thousand Years"—another method of +speaking of the Empress Dowager—"was very enthusiastic over her art +work in those days, and often we spent a large part of the day either +with our brushes, or studying the history of art, the examples in the +books, or the works of the old masters in the gallery. One of her +favourite presents to her friends, as you probably know, is a picture +from her own brush, decorated with the impress of her great jade seal, +the date, and an appropriate poem by one of the members of the College +of Inscriptions. And no presents that she ever gives are prized more +highly by the recipients than these paintings." +</P> + +<P> +I had seen pictures painted by Her Majesty decorating the walls of the +palaces of several of the princes, as well as the homes of a number of +my official friends. Some of them I thought very attractive, and they +seemed to be well done. They were highly prized by their owners, but I +was anxious to know what the Lady Miao thought of her ability as an +artist, and so I asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Do you consider the Empress Dowager a good painter?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Empress Dowager is a great woman," she answered. "Of course, as an +artist, she is an amateur rather than a professional. Had she devoted +herself wholly to art, hers would have been one of the great names +among our artists. She wields her brush with a power and precision +which only genius added to practice can give. She has a keen +appreciation of art, and it is a pity that the cares of state might not +have been borne by others, leaving her free to develop her instinct for +art." +</P> + +<P> +The Empress Dowager kept eighteen court painters, selected from among +the best artists of the country, and appointed by herself, whose whole +duty it was to paint for her. They were divided into three groups, and +each group of six persons was required to be on duty ten days of each +month. As I was deeply interested in the study of Chinese art I became +intimately acquainted with most of the court painters and knew the +character of their work. The head of this group was Mr. Kuan. I called +on him one day, knowing that he was not well enough to be on duty in +the palace, and I found him hard at work. Like the small boy who told +his mother that he was too sick to go to school but not sick enough to +go to bed, so he assured me that his troubles were not such as to +prevent his working, but only such as make it impossible for him to +appear at court. Incidentally I learned that the drain on his purse +from the squeezes to the eunuchs aggravated his disease. +</P> + +<P> +"When Her Majesty excused me from appearing at the palace," he +explained, "she required that I paint for her a minimum of sixty +pictures a year, to be sent in about the time of the leading feasts. +These she decorates with her seals, and with appropriate sentiments +written by members of the College of Inscriptions, and she gives them, +as she gives her own, as presents during the feasts." Mr. Kuan and I +became intimate friends and he painted three pictures which he +presented to me for my collection. +</P> + +<P> +One day another of the court painters came to call on me and during the +conversation told me that he was painting a picture of the Empress +Dowager as the goddess of mercy. Up to that time I had not been +accustomed to think of her as a goddess of mercy, but he told me that +she not infrequently copied the gospel of that goddess with her own +pen, had her portrait painted in the form of the goddess which she used +as a frontispiece, bound the whole up in yellow silk or satin and gave +it as a present to her favourite officials. Of course I thought at once +of my collection of paintings, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"How much I should like to have a picture of the Empress Dowager as the +goddess of mercy!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll paint one for you," said he. +</P> + +<P> +All this conversation I soon discovered was only a diplomatic +preliminary to what he had really come to tell me, which was that he +had been eating fish in the palace a few days before, and had swallowed +a fish-bone which had unfortunately stuck in his throat. He said that +the court physicians had given him medicine to dissolve the fish-bone, +but it had not been effective; he therefore wondered whether one of the +physicians of my honourable country could remove it. I took him to my +friend Dr. Hopkins who lived near by, and told him of the dilemma. The +doctor set him down in front of the window, had him open his mouth, +looked into his throat where he saw a small red spot, and with a pair +of tweezers removed the offending fish-bone. And had it not been for +this service on the part of Dr. Hopkins, I am afraid I should never +have received the promised picture, for he hesitated as to the +propriety of him, a court painter, doing pictures of Her Majesty for +his friends. However as he often thereafter found it necessary to call +Mrs. Headland to minister to his wife and children he came to the +conclusion that it was proper for him to do so, and one day he brought +me the picture. +</P> + +<P> +The Empress Dowager not only loved to be painted as the goddess of +mercy, but she clothed herself in the garments suitable to that deity, +dressed certain ladies of the court as her attendants, with the head +eunuch Li Lien-ying as their protector, ordered the court artists to +paint appropriate foreground and background and then called young Yu, +her court photographer, to snap his camera and allow Old Sol the great +artist of the universe with a pencil of his light to paint her as she +was. +</P> + +<P> +One day while visiting a curio store on Liu Li Chang, the great book +street of Peking, my attention was called by the dealer to four small +paintings of peach blossoms in black and white, from the brush of the +Empress Dowager. These pictures had been in the panels of the partition +between two of the rooms of Her Majesty's apartments in the Summer +Palace, and so I considered myself fortunate in securing them. +</P> + +<P> +"You notice," said he, "that each section of these branches must be +drawn by a single stroke of the brush. This is no easy task. She must +be able to ink her brush in such a way as to give a clear outline of +the limb, and at the same time to produce such shading as she may +desire. Should her outline be defective, she dare not retouch it; +should her shading be too heavy or insufficient, she cannot take from +it and she may not add to it, as this would make it defective in the +matter of calligraphy. A stroke once placed upon her paper, for they +are done on paper, is there forever. This style of work is among the +most difficult in Chinese art." +</P> + +<P> +After securing these paintings, I showed them to a number of the best +artists of the present day in Peking, and they all pronounced them good +specimens of plum blossom work in monochrome, and they agreed with Lady +Miao, that if the Empress Dowager had given her whole time to painting +she would have passed into history as one of the great artists of the +present dynasty. +</P> + +<P> +One day when one of her court painters called I showed him these +pictures. He agreed with all the others as to the quality of her brush +work, but called my attention to a diamond shaped twining of the +branches in one of them. +</P> + +<P> +"That," said he, "is proof positive that it is her work." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Because a professional artist would never twine the twigs in that +fashion." +</P> + +<P> +"And why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"They would not do it," he replied. "It is not artistic." +</P> + +<P> +"And why do not her friends call her attention to this fact?" I +inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Who would do it?" was his counter question. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Empress Dowager—As a Woman +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The first audience given by Her Imperial Majesty to the seven ladies of +the Diplomatic Corps was sought and urged by the foreign ministers. +After the troubles of 1900 and the return of the court, Her Majesty +assumed a different attitude, and, of her own accord, issued many +invitations for audiences, and these invitations were accepted. Then +followed my tiffin to the court princesses and their tiffin in return. +This opened the way for other princesses and wives of high officials to +call, receive calls, to entertain and be entertained. In many cases +arrangements were made through our mutual friend Mrs. Headland, an +accepted physician and beloved friend of many of the higher Chinese +families; and through her innate tact, broad thought, and great love +for the good she may do, I have been able to come into personal touch +with many of these Chinese ladies.—Mrs. E. H. Conger in "Letters from +China". +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER-AS A WOMAN +</H3> + +<P> +Although the great Dowager has passed away, it may be interesting to +know something about her life and character as a woman as those saw her +who came in contact with her in public and private audiences. In order +to appreciate how quick she was to adopt foreign customs, let me give +in some detail the difference in her table decorations at the earlier +and later audiences as they have been related by my wife. +</P> + +<P> +"At the close of the formalities of our introduction to the Empress +Dowager and the Emperor at one of the first audiences, we, with the +ladies of the court, repaired to the banqueting hall. After we were +seated, each with a princess beside her, the great Dowager appeared. We +rose and remained standing while she took her place at the head of the +table, with the Emperor standing at her left a little distance behind +her. As she sat down she requested us to be seated, though the +princesses and the Emperor all remained standing, it being improper for +them to sit in the presence of Her Majesty. Long-robed eunuchs then +appeared with an elaborate Chinese banquet, and the one who served the +Empress Dowager always knelt when presenting her with a dish. +</P> + +<P> +"After we had eaten for some little time, the doyen asked if the +princesses might not be seated. The Empress Dowager first turned to the +Emperor, and said, 'Your Majesty, please be seated'; then turning to +the princesses and waving her hand, she told them to sit down. They sat +down in a timid, rather uncomfortable way on the edge of the chair, but +did not presume to touch any of the food. +</P> + +<P> +"The conversation ran upon various topics, and, among others, the Boxer +troubles. One of the ladies wore a badge. The Empress Dowager noticing +it, asked what it meant. +</P> + +<P> +"'Your Majesty,' was the reply, 'this was presented to me by my Emperor +because I was wounded in the Boxer insurrection.' +</P> + +<P> +"The Empress Dowager took the hands of this lady in both her own, and +as the tears stood in her eyes, she said: +</P> + +<P> +"'I deeply regret all that occurred during those troublous times. The +Boxers for a time overpowered the government, and even brought their +guns in and placed them on the walls of the palace. Such a thing shall +never occur again.' +</P> + +<P> +"The table was covered with brilliantly coloured oilcloth, and was +without tablecloth or napkins properly so called, but we used as +napkins square, coloured bits of calico about the size of a large +bandana handkerchief. There were no flowers, the table decorations +consisting of large stands of cakes and fruit. I speak of this because +it was all changed at future audiences, when the table was spread with +snow-white cloths, and smiled with its load of most gorgeous flowers. +Especially was this true after the luncheons given to the princesses +and ladies of the court by Mrs. Conger at the American legation, +showing that the eyes of these ladies were open to receive whatever +suggestions might come to them even in so small a matter as the +spreading and decoration of a table. The banquets thereafter were made +up of alternating courses of Chinese and foreign food. +</P> + +<P> +"With but one exception, the Empress Dowager thereafter never appeared +at table with her guests. But at the close of the formal audiences, +after descending from the throne, and speaking to those whom she had +formerly met, she requested her guests to enter the banquet hall and +enjoy the feast with the princesses, saying that the customs of her +country forbade their being seated or partaking of food if she were +present. After the banquet, however, the Empress Dowager always +appeared and conversed cordially with her guests. +</P> + +<P> +"Her failure to appear at table may have been influenced by the +following incident: One of the leading lady guests, anxious, no doubt, +to obtain a unique curio, requested the Empress Dowager to present her +with the bowl from which Her Majesty was eating—a bowl which was +different from those used by her guests, as the dishes from which her +food was served were never the same as those used by others at the +table! +</P> + +<P> +"After an instant's hesitation she turned to a eunuch and said: +</P> + +<P> +"'We cannot give her one bowl [the Chinese custom being always to give +things in pairs]; go and prepare her two.' +</P> + +<P> +"Then, turning to her guests, she continued apologetically: +</P> + +<P> +"'I should be glad to give bowls to each of you, but the Foreign Office +has requested me not to give presents at this audience.' It had been +her custom to give each of her guests some small gift with her own +hands and afterwards to send presents by her eunuchs to their homes. +</P> + +<P> +"On another occasion the lady referred to above took an ornament from a +cabinet and was carrying it away when the person in charge of these +things requested that it be restored, saying that she was responsible +for everything in the room and would be punished if anything were +missing. +</P> + +<P> +"The above incidents do not stand alone. It was not uncommon for some +of the Continental guests, in the presence of the court ladies, to make +uncomplimentary remarks about the food, which was Chinese, and often +not very palatable to the foreigner. These remarks, of course, were not +supposed to be understood, though the Empress Dowager always had her +own interpreter at table. One often felt that some of these ladies, in +their efforts to see all and get all, forgot what was due their own +country as well as their imperial hostess. +</P> + +<P> +"One can understand the enormity of such an offense in a court the +etiquette of which is so exacting that none of her own subjects ever +dared appear in her presence until they had been properly instructed in +court etiquette in the 'Board of Rites,' a course of instruction which +may extend over a period of from a week to six months. These breaches +of politeness on the part of these foreign ladies may have been +overlooked by Her Majesty and the princesses, but, if so, it was on the +old belief that all outside of China were barbarians. +</P> + +<P> +"All the ladies who attended these audiences, however, were not of this +character. There were those who realized the importance of those +occasions in the opening up of China, and were scrupulous in their +efforts to conform to the most exacting customs of the court. And who +can doubt that the warm friendship which the Empress Dowager conceived +for Mrs. Conger, the wife of our American minister, who did more than +any other person ever did, or ever can do, towards the opening up of +the Chinese court to the people of the West, was because of her +appreciation of the fact that Mrs. Conger was anxious to show the +Empress Dowager the honour due to her position. +</P> + +<P> +"It was in her private audiences that this great woman's tact, +womanliness, fascination and charm as a hostess appeared. Taking her +guest by the hand, she would ask in the most solicitous way whether we +were not tired with our journey to the palace; she would deplore the +heat in summer or the cold in winter; she would express her anxiety +lest the refreshments might not have been to our taste; she would tell +us in the sincerest accents that it was a propitious fate that had made +our paths meet; and she would charm each of her guests, even though +they had been formerly prejudiced against her, with little separate +attentions, which exhibited her complete power as a hostess. +</P> + +<P> +"When opportunity offered, she was always anxious to learn of foreign +ways and institutions. On one occasion while in the theatre, she called +me to her side, and, giving me a chair, inquired at length into the +system of female education in America. +</P> + +<P> +"'I have heard,' she said, 'that in your honourable country all the +girls are taught to read.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Quite so, Your Majesty.' +</P> + +<P> +"'And are they taught the same branches of study as the boys?' +</P> + +<P> +"'In the public schools they are.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I wish very much that the girls in China might also be taught, but +the people have great difficulty in educating their boys.' +</P> + +<P> +"I then explained in a few words our public-school system, to which she +replied: +</P> + +<P> +"'The taxes in China are so heavy at present that it would be +impossible to add another expense such as this would be.' +</P> + +<P> +"It was not long thereafter, however, before an edict was issued +commending female education, and at the present time hundreds of girls' +schools have been established by private persons both in Peking and +throughout the empire. +</P> + +<P> +"On another occasion, while the ladies were having refreshments, the +Empress Dowager requested me to come to her private apartments, and +while we two were alone together, with only a eunuch standing by +fanning with a large peacock-feather fan, she asked me to tell her +about the church. It was apparent from the beginning of her +conversation that she made no distinction between Roman Catholics and +Protestants, calling them all the Chiao. I explained to her that the +object of the church was the intellectual, moral, and spiritual +development of the people, making them both better sons and better +subjects. +</P> + +<P> +"Few women are more superstitious than the Empress Dowager. Her whole +life was influenced by her belief in fate, charms, good and evil +spirits, gods and demons. +</P> + +<P> +"When it was first proposed that she have her portrait painted for the +St. Louis Exposition, she was dumfounded. After a long conversation, +however, in which Mrs. Conger explained that portraits of many of the +rulers of Europe would be there, including a portrait of Queen +Victoria, and that such a painting would in a way counteract the false +pictures of her that had gone abroad, she said that she would consult +with Prince Ching about the matter. This looked very much as though it +had been tabled. Not long thereafter, however, she sent word to Mrs. +Conger, asking that Miss Carl be invited to come to Peking and paint +her portrait. +</P> + +<P> +"We all know how this portrait had to be begun on an auspicious day; +how a railroad had to be built to the Foreign Office rather than have +the portrait carried out on men's shoulders, as though she were dead; +how she celebrated her seventieth birthday when she was sixty-nine, to +defeat the gods and prevent their bringing such a calamity during the +celebration as had occurred when she was sixty, when the Japanese war +disturbed her festivities. On her clothes she wore the ideographs for +'Long Life and 'Happiness,' and most of the presents she gave were +emblematic of some good fortune. Her palace was decorated with great +plates of apples, which by a play on words mean 'Peace,' and with +plates of peaches, which mean 'Longevity.' On her person she wore +charms, one of which she took from her neck and placed on the neck of +Mrs. Conger when she was about to leave China, saying that she hoped it +might protect her during her journey across the ocean, as it had +protected herself during her wanderings in 1900, and she would not +allow any one to appear in her presence who had any semblance of +mourning about her clothing. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a well-known fact that no Manchu woman ever binds her feet, and +the Empress Dowager was as much opposed to foot-binding as any other +living woman. Nevertheless, she would not allow a subject to presume to +suggest to her ways in which she should interfere in the social customs +of the Chinese, as one of her subjects did. This lady was the wife of a +Chinese minister to a foreign country, and had adopted both for herself +and her daughters the most ultra style of European dress. She one day +said to Her Majesty, 'The bound feet of the Chinese woman make us the +laughing-stock of the world.' +</P> + +<P> +"'I have heard,' said the Empress Dowager, 'that the foreigners have a +custom which is not above reproach, and now since there are no +outsiders here, I should like to see what the foreign ladies use in +binding their waist.' +</P> + +<P> +"The lady was very stout, and had the appearance of an hour-glass, and +turning to her daughter, a tall and slender maiden, she said: +</P> + +<P> +"'Daughter, you show Her Majesty.' +</P> + +<P> +"The young lady demurred until finally the Empress Dowager said: +</P> + +<P> +"'Do you not realize that a request coming from me is the same as a +command?' +</P> + +<P> +"After having had her curiosity satisfied, she sent for the Grand +Secretary and ordered that proper Manchu outfits be secured for the +lady's daughters, saying: +</P> + +<P> +"'It is truly pathetic what foreign women have to endure. They are +bound up with steel bars until they can scarcely breathe. Pitiable! +Pitiable!' +</P> + +<P> +"The following day this young lady did not appear at court, and the +Empress Dowager asked her mother the reason of her absence. +</P> + +<P> +"'She is ill to-day,' the mother replied. +</P> + +<P> +"'I am not surprised,' replied Her Majesty, 'for it must require some +time after the bandages have been removed before she can again compress +herself into the same proportions,' indicating that the Empress Dowager +supposed that foreign women slept with their waists bound, just as the +Chinese women do with their feet." +</P> + +<P> +The first winter I spent in China, twenty years ago, was one of great +excitement in Peking. The time of the regency of the Empress Dowager +for the boy-emperor had ended. I have explained how a prince is not +allowed to marry a princess because she is his relative, or even a +commoner his cousin for the same reason. That is the rule. But rules +were made to be broken, and when the time came for Kuang Hsu's +betrothal the Empress Dowager decided to marry this son of her sister +to the daughter of her brother. It mattered not that the young man was +opposed to the match and wanted another for his wife. The Empress +Dowager had set her heart upon this union, and she would not allow her +plans to be frustrated, so an edict was issued that all people should +remain within their homes on a certain night, for the bride was to be +taken in her red chair from her father's home to the palace. So that in +this as in all other things her will was law for all those about her. +</P> + +<P> +She was a bit below the average height, but she wore shoes, in the +centre of whose soles there were—heels, shall we call them?—six +inches high. These, together with her Manchu garments, which hang from +the shoulders, gave her a tall and stately appearance and made her +seem, as she was, every inch an empress. Her figure was perfect, her +carriage quick and graceful, and she lacked nothing physically to make +her a splendid type of womanhood and ruler. Her features were more +vivacious and pleasing than they were really beautiful; her complexion +was of an olive tint, and her face illumined by orbs of jet half hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning flashes of anger. +</P> + +<P> +When seated upon the throne she was majesty itself, but the moment she +stepped down from the august seat, and took ones hand in both of hers, +saying with the most amiable of smiles: "What a kind fate it is that +has allowed you to come and see me again. I hope you are not over-weary +with the long journey," one felt that she was, above all, a woman, a +companion, a friend—yet for all that the mistress of every situation, +whether diplomatic, business, or social. +</P> + +<P> +I wish her mental characteristics could be described as completely as +Japanese and other photographers have given us pictures of her person. +But perhaps if this were possible she would seem less interesting. And +it may be that in the relation of these few incidents of her career +there may have been revealed something of the patriotism, the +statesmanship, the imperious will, and the ambitions that brought about +the reestablishment and the continuation of the dynasty of her people. +We have seen how the enemies of her country fell before her sword. +Dangerous statesmen fell before her pen, and if they were fortunate +enough to rise again with all their honour it was to be divested of all +their former power. Every obstacle in her path was overcome either by +diplomacy or by force. +</P> + +<P> +The Empress Dowager has no double in Chinese history, if indeed in the +history of the world. She not only guided the ship of state during the +last half century, but she guided it well, and put into operation all +the greatest reforms that have ever been thought of by Chinese +statesmen. Compared with her own people, she stands head and shoulders +above any other woman of the Mongol race. And what shall we say of her +compared with the great women of other races? In strength of character +and ability she will certainly not suffer in any comparison that can be +made. We cannot, therefore, help admiring that young girl, who formerly +ran errands for her mother who, being made the concubine of an emperor, +became the mother of an emperor, the wife of an emperor, the maker of +an emperor, the dethroner of an emperor, and the ruler of China for +nearly half a century—all this in a land where woman has no standing +or power. Is it too much to say that she was the greatest woman of the +last half century? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Kuang Hsu—His Self-Development +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Emperor Kuang Hsu is slight and delicate, almost childish in +appearance, of pale olive complexion, and with great, melancholy eyes. +There is a gentleness in his expression that speaks rather of dreaming +than of the power to turn dreams into acts. It is strange to find a +personality so etherial among the descendants of the Mongol hordes; yet +the Emperor Kuaug Hsu might sit as a model for some Oriental saint on +the threshold of the highest beatitude.—Charles Johnston in "The +Crisis in China." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +KUANG HSU—HIS SELF-DEVELOPMENT +</H3> + +<P> +On the night that the son of the Empress Dowager "ascended upon the +dragon to be a guest on high," two sedan chairs were borne out of the +west gate of the Forbidden City, through the Imperial City, and into +the western part of the Tartar City, in one of which sat the senior +Empress and in the other the Empress-mother. The streets were dimly +lighted, but the chairs, each carried by four bearers, were preceded +and followed by outriders bearing large silk lanterns in which were +tallow-candles, while a heavy cart with relays of bearers brought up +the rear. The errand upon which they were bent was an important +one—the making of an emperor—for by the death of Tung Chih, the +throne, for the first time in the history of the dynasty, was left +without an heir. Their destination was the home of the Seventh Prince, +the younger brother of their husband, to whom as we have already said +the Empress Dowager had succeeded in marrying her younger sister, who +was at that time the happy mother of two sons. +</P> + +<P> +She took the elder of these, a not very sturdy boy of three years and +more, from his comfortable bed to make him emperor, and one can imagine +they hear him whining with a half-sleepy yawn: "I don't want to be +emperor. I want to sleep." But she bundled little Tsai Tien up in +comfortable wraps, took him out of a happy home, from a loving father +and mother, and a jolly little baby brother,—out of a big beautiful +world, where he would have freedom to go and come at will, toys to play +with, children to contend with him in games, and everything in a home +of wealth that is dear to the heart of a child. And for what? She +folded him in her arms, adopted him as her own son, and carried him +into the Forbidden—and no doubt to him forbidding—City, where his +world was one mile square, without freedom, without another child +within its great bare walls, where he was the one lone, solitary man +among thousands of eunuchs and women. The next morning when the +imperial clan assembled to condole with her on the death of her son, +she bore little Tsai Tien into their midst declaring: "Here is your +emperor." +</P> + +<P> +At that time there were situated on Legation Street, in Peking, two +foreign stores that had been opened without the consent of the Chinese +government, for in those days the capital had not been opened to +foreign trade. As the stores were small, and in such close proximity to +the various legations, the most of whose supplies they furnished, they +seem to have been too unimportant to attract official attention, though +they were destined to have a mighty influence on the future of China. +One of them was kept by a Dane, who sold foreign toys, notions, +dry-goods and groceries such as might please the Chinese or be of use +to the scanty European population of the great capital. By chance some +of the eunuchs from the imperial palace, wandering about the city in +search of something to please little Tsai Tien, dropped into this store +on Legation Street and bought some of these foreign toys for his infant +Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +They had already ransacked the city for Chinese toys. They had gone to +every fair, visited every toy-shop, called upon every private dealer, +and paid high prices for samples of their best work made especially for +the royal child. There were crowing cocks and cackling hens; barking +dogs and crying infants; music balls and music carts; horns, drums, +diabolos and tops; there were gingham dogs and calico cats; camels, +elephants and fierce tigers; and a thousand other toys, if only he had +had other children to share them with him. But none of them pleased +him. They lacked that subtile something which was necessary to minister +to the peculiar genius of the child. +</P> + +<P> +Among the foreign toys there were some in which there was concealed a +secret spring which seemed to impart life to the otherwise dead +plaything. Wind them up and they would move of their own energy. This +was what the boy needed,—something to appeal to that machine-loving +disposition which nature had given him, and Budge and Toddy were never +more curious to know "what made the wheels go round" than was little +Tsai Tien. He played with them as toys until overcome by curiosity, +when, like many another child, he tore them apart and discovered the +secret spring. This was as much of a revelation to the eunuchs as to +the child, and they went and bought other toys of a more curious +pattern, and a more intricate design, and it was not long until, at the +instigation of the enterprising Dane, the toy-shops of Europe were +manufacturing playthings specially designed to please the almond-eyed +baby Emperor in the yellow-tiled palace in Peking. +</P> + +<P> +As the child grew the business of the Dane shopkeeper increased. His +stock became larger and more varied, and Tsai Tien continued to be a +profitable customer. There were music boxes and music carts—real music +carts, not like those from the Chinese shops,—trains of cars, wheeled +boats, striking clocks and Swiss watches which, when the stem was +pulled, would strike the hour or half or quarter, and all these were +bought in turn by the eunuchs and taken into the palace. As the Emperor +grew to boyhood the Danish shopkeeper supplied toys suitable to his +years from his inexhaustible shelves, until all the most intricate and +wonderful toys of Europe, suitable for a boy, had passed through the +hands of Kuang Hsu,—"continued brilliancy," as his name implied—and +he seemed to be making good the meaning of his name. +</P> + +<P> +We would not lead any one to believe that Kuang Hsu was an ideal child. +He was not. If we may credit the reports that came from the palace in +those days, he had a temper of his own. If he were denied anything he +wanted, he would lie down on his baby back on the dirty ground and kick +and scream and literally "raise the dust" until he got it. My wife +tells me that not infrequently when she called at the Chinese homes, +and they set before her a dish of which she was especially fond, and +she had eaten of it as much as she thought she ought, the ladies would +ask in a good-natured way in reply to some of her remarks about her +voracious appetite, "Shall we get down and knock our heads on the +floor, and beg you not to eat too much, and make yourself sick, like +the eunuchs do to the Emperor?" There is nothing to wonder at that +Kuang Hsu, without parental restraint, and fawned upon by cringing +eunuchs and serving maids, should have been a spoiled child; the wonder +is that he was not worse than he was. +</P> + +<P> +One day in 1901 while the court was absent at Hsian, and the front gate +of the Forbidden City was guarded by our "boys in blue," I obtained a +pass and visited the imperial palace. The apartments of the Emperor +consisted of a series of one-story Chinese buildings, with paper +windows around a large central pane of glass, tile roof and brick +floor. The east part of the building appeared to be the living-room, +about twenty by twenty-five feet. The window on the south side extended +the entire length of the room, and was filled with clocks from end to +end. There were clocks of every description from the finest French +cloisonne to the most intricate cuckoo clocks from which a bird hopped +forth to announce the hour, and each ticking its own time regardless of +every other. Tables were placed in various parts of the room, on each +of which were one, two or three clocks. Swiss watches of the most +curious and unique designs hung about the walls. Two sofas sat back to +back in the centre of the room, and a beautiful little gilt desk on +which was the most wonderful of all his clocks, with several large +foreign chairs upholstered in plush and velvet, completed the +furniture. I sat down in one of these chairs to rest, for it was a hot +summer day, and immediately there proceeded from beneath me sweet +strains of music from a box concealed beneath the cushion. It was not +only a surprise, it was soothing and restful; and I was prepared to see +an electric fan pop out of somewhere and fan me to sleep. It was really +an Oriental fairy tale of an apartment. +</P> + +<P> +As Kuang Hsu grew to boyhood he heard that out in this great wonderful +world, which he had never seen except with the eyes of a child, there +was a method of sending messages to distant cities and provinces with +the rapidity of a flash of lightning. For centuries he and his +ancestors had been sending their edicts, and their Peking Gazette or +court newspaper—the oldest journal in the world—by runner, or relays +of post horses, and the possibility of sending them by a lightning +flash appealed to him. He believed in doing things, and, as we shall +see later, he wanted to do them as rapidly as they could be done. He +therefore ordered that a telegraph outfit be secured for him, which he +"played with" as he had done with his most ingenious toys, and the +telegraph was soon established for court use throughout the empire. +</P> + +<P> +One day a number of officials came to us at the Peking University and +in the course of a conversation they said: +</P> + +<P> +"The Emperor has heard that the foreigners have invented a talk box. Is +that true?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite true," we replied, "and as we have one in the physical +laboratory of the college we will let you see it." +</P> + +<P> +We had one of the old Edison phonographs which worked with a pedal, and +looked very much like a sewing-machine, and we took them to the +laboratory, allowed one of them to talk into it, and then set the +machine to repeating what had been told it. The officials were +delighted and it was not long until they again appeared and insisted on +buying it as a present for the Emperor, for in this way better than any +other they might hope to obtain official recognition and position. +</P> + +<P> +The Emperor then heard that the foreigners had invented a "fire-wheel +cart," but whether he had ever been informed that they had built a +small railroad at Wu-Sung near Shanghai, and that the Chinese had +bought it, and then torn it up and thrown it into the river we cannot +say. There are many things the officials and people do which never +reach the imperial ears. However that may be, when Kuang Hsu heard of +the railroad and the carts that were run by fire, he wanted one, and he +would not be satisfied until they had built a narrow gauge railroad +along the west shore of the lotus lake in the Forbidden City, and the +factories of Europe had made two small cars and an engine on which he +could take the court ladies for a ride on this unusual merry-go-round. +The road and the cars and the engine were still there when I visited +the Forbidden City in 1901, but they were carried away to Europe by +some of the allies as precious bits of loot, before the court returned. +</P> + +<P> +Not long after he had heard of the railroads, he was told that the +foreigners also had "fire-wheel boats." Of course he wanted some, and +as I crossed the beautiful marble bridge that spans the lotus lake, I +saw anchored near by three small steam launches which had evidently +been used a good deal. I saw similar launches in the lake at the Summer +Palace, and was told that in the play days of his boyhood, Kuang Hsu +would have these launches hitched to the imperial barges and take the +ladies of the court for pleasure trips about the lake in the cool of +the summer evenings, as the Empress Dowager did her foreign visitors in +later times. +</P> + +<P> +The Emperor in those days was on the lookout for everything foreign +that was of a mechanical nature. Indeed every invention interested him. +In this respect he was diametrically opposite to the genius of the +whole Chinese people. Their faces had ever been turned backward, and +their highest hopes were that they might approximate the golden ages of +the past, and be equal in virtue to their ancestors. This feeling was +so strong that a hundred years before he mounted the throne, his +forefather, Chien Lung, when he had completed his cycle of sixty years +as a ruler, vacated in favour of his son lest he should reign longer +than his grandfather. Kuang Hsu was therefore the first occupant of the +dragon throne whose face was turned to the future, and whose chief aim +was to possess and to master every method that had enabled the peoples +of the West to humiliate his people. +</P> + +<P> +When he heard that the foreigners had a method of talking to a distance +of ten, twenty, fifty or five hundred miles, he did not say like the +old farmer is reported to have said,—"It caint be trew, because my son +John kin holler as loud as any man in all this country, an' he caint be +heerd mor'n two miles." Kuang Hsu believed it, and at once ordered that +a telephone be secured for him. +</P> + +<P> +In 1894 the Christian women of China decided to present a New Testament +to the Empress Dowager on her sixtieth birthday which occurred the +following year. New type was prepared, the finest foreign paper +secured, and the book was made after the best style of the printer's +art, with gilt borders, gilt edges, and bound in silver of an embossed +bamboo pattern and encased in a silver box. It was then enclosed in a +red plush box,—red being the colour indicating happiness,—which was +in turn encased in a beautifully carved teak-wood box, and this was +enclosed in an ordinary box and taken by the English and American +ministers to the Foreign Office to be sent in to Her Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +The next day the Emperor sent to the American Bible Society for copies +of the Old and New Testaments, such as were being sold to his people. A +few days thereafter a Chinese friend—a horticulturist and gardener who +went daily to the palace with flowers and vegetables—came to me in +confidence as though bearing an important secret, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Something of unusual importance is taking place in the palace." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" said I; "what makes you think so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Heretofore when I have gone into the palace," said he, "the eunuchs +have treated me with indifference. Yesterday they sat down and talked +in a most familiar and friendly way, asking me all about Christianity. +I told them what I could and they continued their conversation until +long after noon. I finally became so hungry that I arose to come home. +They urged me to stay, bringing in a feast, and inviting me to dine +with them, and they kept me there till evening. One of them told me +that the Emperor is studying the Gospel of Luke." +</P> + +<P> +"How does he know that?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I asked him," he answered, "and he told me that he is one +of the Emperor's private servants, and that His Majesty has a part of +the Gospel copied in large characters on a sheet of paper each day, +which he spreads out on the table before him, and this eunuch, standing +behind his chair, can read what he is studying." +</P> + +<P> +On further inquiry I discovered that there was no other way that the +eunuch could have learned about the Gospel, except in the way +indicated. This man was invited to dine with the eunuchs day after day +until he had told them all he knew about Christianity, after which they +requested him to bring in the pastor of the church of which he was a +member, and who was one of my former pupils, to dine with them and tell +them more about the Gospel. The pastor hesitated to accept the +invitation, but as it was repeated day after day, he finally +accompanied the horticulturist. +</P> + +<P> +When offered wine at dinner the pastor refused it, at which the eunuch +remarked: "Oh, yes, I have heard that you Christians do not drink +wine," and like a polite host, the wine was put aside and none was +drunk at the dinner. During the afternoon they took their guests to +visit some of the imperial buildings, advanced the sum of three hundred +dollars to the horticulturist to enlarge his plant, and gave various +presents to the pastor. +</P> + +<P> +It must not be inferred from this that the Emperor was becoming a +Christian. Very far from it, though the interest he took in the +Christian doctrine set the people to studying about it, not only in +Peking but throughout many of the provinces, as was indicated at the +time by the number of Christian books sold. As early as 1891 he issued +a strong edict ordering the protection of the missionaries in which he +made the following statement: "The religions of the West have for their +object the inculcation of virtue, and, though our people become +converted, they continue to be Chinese subjects. There is no reason why +there should not be harmony between the people and the adherents of +foreign religions." The Chinese reported that he sometimes examined the +eunuchs, lining them up in classes and catechising them from the books +read. +</P> + +<P> +One day three of the eunuchs called on me with this same +horticulturist, for the purpose no doubt of seeing a foreigner, and to +get a glimpse of the home in which he lived. One of them was younger +than the other two and above the average intelligence of his class. A +few days later the horticulturist told me a story which illustrates a +phase of the Emperor's character which we have already hinted at—his +impulsive nature and ungovernable temper. He had ordered a number of +the eunuchs to appear before him, all of whom except this young man +were unable to come, because engaged in other duties. When the eunuch +got down on his hands and knees to kotow or knock his head to His +Majesty, the latter kicked him in the mouth, cutting his lip and +otherwise injuring him, and my informant added: +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of a man is that to govern a country, a man who punishes +those who obey his orders?" Indeed there was a good deal of feeling +among the Chinese at that time that the Empress Dowager ought to punish +the Emperor as a good mother does a bad child, though in the light of +all the other things he did, he was to be pitied more than blamed for a +disposition thus inherited and developed. +</P> + +<P> +It was about this time he began the study of English. He ordered that +two teachers be appointed, and contrary to all former customs he +allowed them to sit rather than kneel while they taught him. At the +time they were selected I was exchanging lessons in English for Chinese +with the grandson of one of these teachers, and learned a good deal +about the progress the young man was making. He was in such a hurry to +begin that he could not wait to send to England or America for books, +and so the officials visited the various schools and missions in search +of proper primers for a beginner. When they visited us we made a +thorough search and finally Dr. Marcus L. Taft discovered an +attractively illustrated primer which he had taken to China with him +for his little daughter Frances, and this was sent to Kuang Hsu. +</P> + +<P> +One day a eunuch called on me saying that the Emperor had learned that +the various institutions of learning, educational associations, tract +and other societies had published a number of books in Chinese which +they had translated from the European languages. I was at that time the +custodian of two or three of these societies and had a great variety of +Chinese books in my possession. I therefore sent him copies of our +astronomy, geology, zoology, physiology and various other scientific +books which I was at that time teaching in the university. +</P> + +<P> +The next day he called again, accompanied by a coolie who brought me a +present of a ham cooked at the imperial kitchen, together with boxes of +fruit and cakes, which, not being a man of large appetite, I thanked +him for, tipped the coolie, and after he had gone, turned them over to +our servants, who assured me that imperial meat was very palatable. Day +after day for six weeks this eunuch visited me, and would never leave +until I had found some new book for His Majesty. They might be +literary, scientific or religious works, and he made no distinction +between the books of any sect or society, institution or body, but with +an equal zeal he sought them all. I was sometimes reduced to a sheet +tract, and finally I was forced to take my wife's Chinese medical books +out of her private library and send them in to the Emperor. I learned +that other eunuchs were visiting other persons in charge of other +books, and that at this time Kuang Hsu bought every book that had been +translated from any European language and published in the Chinese. +</P> + +<P> +One day the eunuch saw my wife's bicycle standing on the veranda and +said: +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of a cart is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is a self-moving cart," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you ride it?" he inquired. +</P> + +<P> +I took the bicycle off the veranda, rode about the court a time or two, +while he gazed at me with open mouth, and when I stopped he ejaculated: +</P> + +<P> +"That's queer; why doesn't it fall down?" +</P> + +<P> +"When a thing's moving," I answered, "it can't fall down," which might +apply to other things than bicycles. +</P> + +<P> +The next day when he called he said: +</P> + +<P> +"The Emperor would like that bicycle," and my wife allowed him to take +it in to Kuang Hsu, and it was not long thereafter until it was +reported that the Emperor had been trying to ride the bicycle, that his +queue had become entangled in the rear wheel, and that he had had a not +very royal tumble, and had given it up,—as many another one has done. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Kuang Hsu—As Emperor and Reformer +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +In 1891 the present Emperor Kuang Hsu issued a very strong edict +commanding good treatment of the missionaries. He therein made the +following statement: "The religions of the West have for their object +the inculcation of virtue, and, though our people become converted, +they continue to be Chinese subjects. There is no reason why there +should not be harmony between the people and the adherents of foreign +religions."—Hon. Charles Denby in "China and Her People." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +KUANG HSU—AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER +</H3> + +<P> +AS a man, there are few characters in Chinese history that are more +interesting than Kuang Hsu. He had all the caprices of genius with +their corresponding weakness and strength. He could wield a pen with +the vigour of a Caesar, threaten his greatest viceroys, dismiss his +leading conservative officials, introduce the most sweeping and +far-reaching reforms that have ever been thought of by the Chinese +people, and then run from a woman as though the very devil was after +him. +</P> + +<P> +He has been variously rated as a genius, an imbecile and a fool. Let us +grant that he was not brilliant. Let us rate him as an imbecile, and +then let us try to account for his having brought into the palace every +ingenious toy and every wonderful and useful invention and discovery of +the past twenty or thirty years with the exception of the X-rays and +liquid air. Let us try to explain why it was that an imbecile would +purchase every book that had been printed in the Chinese language, +concerning foreign subjects of learning, up to the time when he was +dethroned. Let us tell why it was that an imbecile would study all +those foreign books without help, without an assistant, without a +teacher, for three years, from the time he bought them in 1895 till +1898, before he began issuing the most remarkable series of edicts that +have ever come from the pen of an Oriental monarch in the same length +of time. And let us explain how it was that an imbecile could embody in +his edicts of two or three months all the important principles that +were necessary to launch the great reforms of the past ten years. +</P> + +<P> +I doubt if any Chinese monarch has ever had a more far-reaching +influence over the minds of the young men of the empire than Kuang Hsu +had from 1895 till 1898. The preparation for this influence had been +going on for twenty or thirty years previously in the educational +institutions established by the missions and the government. From these +schools there had gone out a great number of young men who had taken +positions in all departments of business, and many of the state, and +revealed to the officials as well as to many of the people the power of +foreign education. An imperial college had been established by the +customs service for the special education of young men for diplomatic +and other positions, from which there had gone out young men who were +the representatives of the government as consuls or ministers in the +various countries of Europe and America. +</P> + +<P> +The fever for reading the same books that Kuang Hsu had read was so +great as to tax to the utmost the presses of the port cities to supply +the demand, and the leaders of some of the publication societies feared +that a condition had arisen for which they were unprepared. Books +written by such men as Drs. Allen, Mateer, Martin, Williams and Legge +were brought out in pirated photographic reproductions by the bookshops +of Shanghai and sold for one-tenth the cost of the original work. +Authors, to protect themselves, compelled the pirates to deliver over +the stereotype plates they had made on penalty of being brought before +the officials in litigation if they refused. But during the three years +the Emperor had been studying these foreign books, hundreds of +thousands of young scholars all over the empire had been doing the +same, preparing themselves for whatever emergency the studies of the +young Emperor might bring about. +</P> + +<P> +One day during the early spring a young Chinese reformer came to me to +get a list of the best newspapers and periodicals published in both +England and America. I inquired the reason for this strange move, and +he said: +</P> + +<P> +"The young Chinese reformers in Peking have organized a Reform Club. +Some of them read and speak English, others French, others German and +still others Russian, and we are providing ourselves with all the +leading periodicals of these various countries that we may read and +study them. We have rented a building, prepared rooms, and propose to +have a club where we can assemble whenever we have leisure, for +conversation, discussion, reading, lectures or whatever will best +contribute to the ends we have in view." +</P> + +<P> +"And what are those ends?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"The bringing about of a new regime in China," he answered. "Our recent +defeat by the Japanese has shown us that unless some radical changes +are made we must take a second place among the peoples of the Orient." +</P> + +<P> +"This is a new move in Peking, is it not?" +</P> + +<P> +"New in Peking," he answered, "but not new in the empire. Reform clubs +are being organized in all the great cities and capitals. In Hsian, +books have been purchased by all classes from the governor of the +province down to the humblest scholar, and the aristocracy have +organized classes, and are inviting the foreigners to lecture to them. +Every one, except a few of the oldest conservative scholars, are +discarding their Confucian theories and reconstructing their ideas in +view of present day problems. There is an intellectual fermentation now +going on from which a new China is certain to be evolved, and we +propose to be ready for it when it comes." +</P> + +<P> +The leader of this reform party was Kang Yu-wei, a young Cantonese, who +had made a thorough study of the reforms of Peter the Great in Russia, +and the more recent reforms in Japan, the history of which he had +prepared in two volumes which he sent to the Emperor. He had made a +reputation for himself in his native place as a "Modern Sage and +Reformer," was hailed as a "young Confucius," was appointed a +third-class secretary in the Board of Works, and as the Emperor and he +had been studying on the same lines, Kang, through the influence of the +brother of the chief concubine, was introduced to His Majesty. He had a +three hours' conference with the Foreign Office, in which he urged that +China should imitate Japan, and that the old conservative ministers and +viceroys should be replaced by young men imbued with Western ideas, who +might confer with the Emperor daily in regard to all kinds of reform +measures. +</P> + +<P> +This interview was reported to Kuang Hsu by Prince Kung and Jung Lu, +who both being old, and one of them the greatest of the conservatives, +could hardly be expected to approve of his theories. Kang, however, was +asked to embody his suggestions in a memorial, was later given an +audience with the Emperor, and finally called into the palace to assist +him in the reforms he had already undertaken. And if Kang Yu-wei had +been as great a statesman as he was reformer, Kuang Hsu might never +have been deposed. +</P> + +<P> +The crisis came during the summer of 1898. I had taken my family to the +seashore to spend our summer vacation. A young Chinese scholar—a +Hanlin—who had been studying in the university for some years, and +with whom I was translating a work on psychology, had gone with me. He +took the Peking Gazette, which he read daily, and commented upon with +more or less interest, until June 23d, when an edict was issued +abolishing the literary essay of the old regime as a part of the +government examination, and substituting therefor various branches of +the new learning. "We have been compelled to issue this decree," said +the Emperor, "because our examinations have reached the lowest ebb, and +we see no remedy for these matters except to change entirely the old +methods for a new course of competition." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of that?" I asked the Hanlin. +</P> + +<P> +"The greatest step that has ever yet been taken," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +This Hanlin was not a radical reformer, but one of a long line of +officials who were deeply interested in the preservation of their +country which had weathered the storms of so many centuries,—storms +which had wrecked Assyria, Babylonia, Media, Egypt, Greece and Rome, +while China, though growing but little, had still lived. He was one of +those progressive statesmen who have always been found among a strong +minority in the Middle Kingdom. +</P> + +<P> +The Peking Gazette continued to come daily bringing with it the +following twenty-seven decrees in a little more than twice that many +days. I will give an epitome of the decrees that the reader at a glance +may see what the Emperor undertook to do. Summarized they are as +follows: +</P> + +<P> +1. The establishment of a university at Peking. +</P> + +<P> +2. The sending of imperial clansmen to foreign countries to study the +forms and conditions of European and American government. +</P> + +<P> +3. The encouragement of the arts, sciences and modern agriculture. +</P> + +<P> +4. The Emperor expressed himself as willing to hear the objections of +the conservatives to progress and reform. +</P> + +<P> +5. Abolished the literary essay as a prominent part of the governmental +examinations. +</P> + +<P> +6. Censured those who attempted to delay the establishment of the +Peking Imperial University. +</P> + +<P> +7. Urged that the Lu-Han railway should be prosecuted with more vigour +and expedition. +</P> + +<P> +8. Advised the adoption of Western arms and drill for all the Tartar +troops. +</P> + +<P> +9. Ordered the establishment of agricultural schools in all the +provinces to teach the farmers improved methods of agriculture. +</P> + +<P> +10. Ordered the introduction of patent and copyright laws. +</P> + +<P> +11. The Board of War and Foreign Office were ordered to report on the +reform of the military examinations. +</P> + +<P> +12. Special rewards were offered to inventors and authors. +</P> + +<P> +13. The officials were ordered to encourage trade and assist merchants. +</P> + +<P> +14. School boards were ordered established in every city in the empire. +</P> + +<P> +15. Bureaus of Mines and Railroads were established. +</P> + +<P> +16. Journalists were encouraged to write on all political subjects. +</P> + +<P> +17. Naval academies and training-ships were ordered. +</P> + +<P> +18. The ministers and provincial authorities were called upon to +assist—nay, were begged to make some effort to understand what he was +trying to do and help him in his efforts at reform. +</P> + +<P> +19. Schools were ordered in connection with all the Chinese legations +in foreign countries for the benefit of the children of Chinese in +those places. +</P> + +<P> +20. Commercial bureaus were ordered in Shanghai for the encouragement +of trade. +</P> + +<P> +21. Six useless Boards in Peking were abolished. +</P> + +<P> +22. The right to memorialize the throne in sealed memorials was granted +to all who desired to do so. +</P> + +<P> +23. Two presidents and four vice-presidents of the Board of Rites were +dismissed for disobeying the Emperor's orders that memorials should be +allowed to come to him unopened. +</P> + +<P> +24. The governorships of Hupeh, Kuangtung, and Yunnan were abolished as +being a useless expense to the country. +</P> + +<P> +25. Schools of instruction in the preparation of tea and silk were +ordered established. +</P> + +<P> +26. The slow courier posts were abolished in favour of the Imperial +Customs Post. +</P> + +<P> +27. A system of budgets as in Western countries was approved. +</P> + +<P> +I have given these decrees in this epitomized form so that all those +who are interested in the character of this reform movement in China +may understand something of the influence the young Emperor's study had +had upon him. Grant that they followed one another in too close +proximity, yet still it must be admitted by every careful student of +them, that there is not one that would not have been of the greatest +possible benefit to the country if they had been put into operation. If +the Emperor had been allowed to proceed, making them all as effective +as he did the Imperial University, and if the ministers and provincial +authorities had responded to his call, and had made "some effort to +understand what he was trying to do," China might have by this time +been close upon the heels of Japan in the adoption of Western ideas. +</P> + +<P> +As the edicts continued to come out in such quick succession my Hanlin +friend became alarmed. He came to me one day after the Emperor had +censured the officials for trying to delay the establishment of the +Imperial University and said: +</P> + +<P> +"I must return to Peking." +</P> + +<P> +"Why return so soon?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"There is going to be trouble if the Emperor continues his reform at +this rate of speed," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +It was when the Emperor had issued the sixth of his twenty-seven +decrees that this young Chinese statesman made this observation. If his +most intimate advisers had had the perspicuity to have foreseen the +final outcome of such precipitance might they not have advised the +Emperor to have proceeded more deliberately? When one remembers how +China had been worsted by Japan, how all her prestige was swept away, +how, from having been the parent of the Oriental family of nations, a +desirable friend or a dangerous enemy, she was stripped of all her +glory, and left a helpless giant with neither strength nor power, one +can easily understand the eagerness of this boy of twenty-seven to +restore her to the pedestal from which she had been ruthlessly torn. +</P> + +<P> +Another reason for his haste may be found in the seizure of his +territory by the European powers. A few months before he began his +reforms two German priests were murdered by an irresponsible mob in the +province of Shantung. With this as an excuse Germany landed a battalion +of marines at Kiaochou, a port of that province, which she took with +fifty miles of the surrounding territory. As though this were not +enough, she demanded the right to build all the railroads and open all +the mines in the entire province, and compelled the Chinese to pay an +indemnity to the families of the murdered priests and rebuild the +church and houses the mob had destroyed. China appealed to Russia who +had promised to protect her against all invaders. Instead of coming to +her aid, however, Russia demanded a similar cession of Port Arthur, +Talienwan and the surrounding territory which she had refused to allow +Japan to retain two years before. Not to be outdone by the others, +France demanded and received a similar strip of territory at +Kuang-chou-wan; and England found that Wei-hai-wei would be +indispensable as a kennel from which she could guard the Russian bear +on the opposite shore, but why she should have found it necessary also +to demand from China four hundred miles of land and water around +Hongkong was no doubt difficult for Kuang Hsu to understand. +</P> + +<P> +When the Empress Dowager turned over the reins of government to her +nephew she did it very much as a father would place the reins in the +hands of a child whom he was teaching to drive an important vehicle on +a dangerous road—she sat behind him still holding the reins. Among the +things reserved were that he should kotow to her once every five days +whether she were in Peking or at the Summer Place, and she reserved +such seals of office as made it necessary for all the highest officials +to come and express their obligations to her at the same time they came +to thank the Emperor. While Kuang Hsu may have been reconciled to the +performance of these duties at eighteen, they became irksome at +twenty-seven and he demanded and received full liberty in the affairs +of state. +</P> + +<P> +We have seen how he used his liberty,—not wisely, perhaps, as a +reformer, and yet the reformation of China can never be written without +giving the credit of its inception to Kuang Hsu. He was very different +from Hsien Feng, the husband of the Empress Dowager, before whose death +we are told "the whole administrative power was vested in the hands of +a council of eight, whilst he himself spent his time in ways that were +by no means consistent with those that ought to have characterized the +ruler of a great and powerful nation." Whatever else may be said of +Kuang Hsu, he cannot be accused of indolence, extravagance, or +indifference to the welfare of his country or his people. +</P> + +<P> +Appreciating the difficulty of securing an expression of opinion from +those opposed to his views, and thus getting both sides of the +question, in his fourth edict he requested the conservatives to send in +their objections to his schemes for progress and reform, and then as if +to get the broadest possible expression of opinion he adopted a +Shanghai journal called Chinese Progress as the official organ of the +government. But lest this be insufficient, in his twenty-second edict +he gave the right to all officials to address the throne in sealed +memorials. +</P> + +<P> +There was at this time a third-class secretary of the Board of Rites +named Wang Chao who sent in a memorial in which he advocated: +</P> + +<P> +1. The abolition of the queue. +</P> + +<P> +2. The changing of the Chinese style of dress to that of the West. +</P> + +<P> +3. The adoption of Christianity as a state religion. +</P> + +<P> +4. A prospective national parliament. +</P> + +<P> +5. A journey to Japan by the Emperor and Empress Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +The Board of Rites opened and read this memorial, and, astounded at its +boldness, they summoned the offender before them, and ordered him to +withdraw his paper. This he refused to do and the two presidents and +four vice-presidents of the Board accompanied it with a counter +memorial denouncing him to the Emperor as a man who was making +narrow-minded and wild suggestions to His Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +Partly because they had opened and read the memorial and partly because +of their effort to prevent freedom of speech, Kuang Hsu issued another +edict explaining why he had invited sealed memorials, and censuring +them for explaining to him what was narrow-minded and wild, as if he +lacked the intelligence to grasp that feature of the paper. He then +turned them all over to the Board of Civil Office ordering that body to +decide upon a suitable punishment for their offense, and assuring them +that if they made it too mild, his righteous wrath would fall upon +them. The latter decided that they be degraded three steps and removed +to posts befitting their lowered rank, but the Emperor revised the +sentence and dismissed them all from office, and this was the beginning +of his downfall. +</P> + +<P> +The Empress Dowager had been spending the hot season at the Summer +Palace, and during the two months and more that the Emperor had been +struggling with his reform measures, she gave no indication, either by +word or deed, that she was opposed to anything that he had done. And I +think that all her acts, from that time till the close of the Boxer +insurrection, can be explained without placing her in opposition to his +theories of progress and reform. +</P> + +<P> +So long as the Emperor devoted himself to the creation of new offices +he found little active opposition on the part of the conservatives, +while the reformers did everything in their power to encourage him. The +extent of the movement it is not easy to estimate. It opened up the +intensely anti-foreign province of Hupeh, and transformed it into a +section where railroads were to be built connecting the north with the +south. It opened up the great mining province of Shansi and the lumber +regions of Manchuria. It started railroads which are now lines of trade +for the whole empire. +</P> + +<P> +When he issued the fifth edict substituting Western science for the +literary essay in the great examinations, letters and telegrams began +to pour in upon us at the Peking University from all parts of the +empire, asking us to reserve room for the senders in the school. Their +tuition was enclosed in their letters, and among those who came were +the grandson of the Emperor's tutor, graduates of various degrees, men +of rank, and the sons of wealthy gentlemen who had not yet obtained +degrees. Numerous requests came to our graduates to teach English in +official families, one being employed to teach the grandson of Li +Hung-chang, and another the sons of a relative of the royal family. +</P> + +<P> +But when his reforms led the Emperor to dispense with useless offices, +as in his twenty-first, twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth edicts, for the +purpose of retrenchment, and to dismiss recalcitrant officials for +disobedience to his commands, a howl arose which was heard throughout +the empire. The six members of the Board of Rites dismissed in edict +twenty-three, with certain sympathizers to give them face, went to the +Empress Dowager at the Summer Palace, represented to her that the boy +whom she had placed upon the throne was steering the ship of state to +certain destruction, and begged that she would come and once more take +the helm. She listened to them with the attention and deference for +which she has always been famed, and then dismissed them without any +intimation as to what her course would be. +</P> + +<P> +When the Emperor heard what they were doing, he sent a courier +post-haste to call Yuan Shih-kai for an interview at the palace. When +Yuan came, he ordered him to return to Tien-tsin, dispose of his +superior officer, the Governor-General Jung Lu, and bring the army +corps of 12,500 troops of which he was in charge to Peking, surround +the Summer Palace, preventing any one from going in or coming out, thus +making the Empress Dowager a prisoner, and allowing him to go on with +his work of reform. +</P> + +<P> +It is just here that we see the difference in the statesmanship of the +Empress Dowager and the Emperor. When she appointed these two +officials, one a liberal in charge of the army, she placed the other, a +conservative, as his superior officer, so that one could not move +without the knowledge and consent of the other, thus forestalling just +such an order as this. To obey this order of the boy Emperor, Yuan must +commit two great crimes, murder and treason, the one on a superior +officer, and the other against her who had appointed him to office and +who had been the ruler of the country for thirty-seven years, either of +which would have been sufficient to have execrated him not only in the +eyes of his own people but of history and of the world. Nay more, had +he obeyed this order, the conservatives would have raised the cry of +rebellion, and an army ten times greater than he could have mustered, +would have crushed Yuan and his little company of 12,500 men, on the +plea that he was about to take the throne. +</P> + +<P> +Yuan then did the only wise thing he could have done. He went to Jung +Lu, without whose consent he had no right to move, showed him the +order, and asked for his commands. Jung Lu told him to leave the order +with him, and as soon as Yuan had departed he took the train for +Peking, called on Prince Ching, and they two went to the Summer Palace +and showed the order to Her Majesty, suggesting to her that it might be +well for her to come into the city and give him a few lessons in +government. +</P> + +<P> +As the Empress Dowager had been behaving herself so circumspectly +during all the summer months, allowing the Emperor to test himself as a +ruler, one can scarcely blame her for not wanting to be bottled up in +the Summer Palace when she had done nothing to deserve it. When +therefore this second delegation of officials, consisting of the two +highest in rank in the empire, came to request her to once more take +charge of the government, she called her sedan chair and started for +the capital. She went without an army, but was accompanied by those of +her palace eunuchs on whom she could implicitly depend, and enough of +them to overcome those of the Emperor in case there should be trouble. +That force was necessary is evident from the fact that she condemned to +death a number of his servants after she had taken the throne. +</P> + +<P> +When the Emperor heard that she was coming he sent a messenger with +letters urging Kang Yu-wei to flee, and to devise some means for saving +the situation, while he attempted to find refuge for himself in the +foreign legations. This however he failed to do, but was taken by the +Empress Dowager, and his career as a ruler ended, and his life as a +prisoner began. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Kuang Hsu—As a Prisoner +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Kuang Hsu deserves a place in history as the prize iconoclast. He sent +a cold shiver down the spine of the literati by declaring that a man's +fitness for office should not depend upon his ability to write a poem, +or upon the elegance of his penmanship. This was too much. The literati +argued that at the rate at which the Emperor was going, it might be +expected that he would do away with chop-sticks and dispense with the +queue.—Rounsevelle Wildman in "China's Open Door." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +KUANG HSU—AS A PRISONER +</H3> + +<P> +The year that Kuang Hsu ascended the throne a great calamity occurred +in Peking. The Temple of Heaven—the greatest of the imperial temples, +the one at which the Emperor announces his accession, confesses his +sins, prays and gives thanks for an abundant harvest, was struck by +lightning and burned to the ground. When the Emperor worships here it +is as the representative of the people, the high priest of the nation, +and his prayers are offered for his country and not for himself. There +are no idols in this temple, and his prayers go up to Shang-ti the +Supreme Being "by whom kings reign and princes decree justice." When +therefore instead of giving rain Heaven sent down a fiery bolt to +destroy the temple at which the Son of Heaven prays, the people were +struck with dismay. +</P> + +<P> +The pale faces of the women, the apprehensive noddings of the men, and +the hushed voices of our old Confucian teachers as they spoke of the +matter, indicated the concern with which they viewed it. Here was a boy +who had been placed upon the throne by a woman; he was the same +generation as the Emperor who had preceded him, and hence could not +worship him as his ancestor. It augured ill both for the Emperor and +the empire, and so the boy Emperor began his reign in the midst of evil +forebodings. +</P> + +<P> +During the nine years that Kuang Hsu had nominal control of affairs a +series of dire calamities befell the empire. Famines as the result of +drought, floods from the overflow of "China's Sorrow," war with Japan, +filching of territory by the European countries, while editorials +appeared daily in the English papers of the port cities to the effect +that China was to be divided up among the powers. Then too Kuang Hsu +was childless and there was no hope of his giving an heir to the throne. +</P> + +<P> +Times and seasons have their meanings for the Chinese. Anything +inauspicious happening on New Year's day is indicative of calamity. Mr. +Chen, a friend of mine, had become a Christian contrary to his mother's +wishes. When his first child was born it was a girl, born on New Year's +day. His mother shook her head, looked distressed, and said that +nothing but calamity would come to his home. His second child was a +boy, but the old woman shook her head again and sighed saying that it +would take more than one boy to avert the calamity of ones first baby +being a girl born on New Year's day, and it was not until he had five +boys in succession that she was finally convinced. +</P> + +<P> +There was an eclipse of the sun on New Year's day of 1898 which +foreboded calamity to the Emperor. During the summer of this year he +began his great reform, and in September the Empress Dowager took +control of the affairs of state and Kuang Hsu was put in prison, never +again to occupy the throne. His prison was his winter palace, where, +for many months, he was confined in a gilded cage of a house, on a +small island, with the Empress Dowager's eunuchs to guard him. These +were changed daily lest they might sympathize with their unhappy +monarch and devise some means for his liberation. Each day when the +guard was changed, the drawbridge connecting the island with the +mainland was removed, leaving the Emperor to wander about in the court +of his palace-prison, or sit on the southern terrace where it +overlooked the lotus lake, waiting, hoping and perhaps expecting that +his last appeal to Kang Yu-wei in which he said: "My heart is filled +with a great sorrow which pen and ink cannot describe; you must go +abroad at once and without a moment's delay devise some means to save +me," might bring forth some fruit. +</P> + +<P> +Whether this confinement interfered with the health of the Emperor or +not it is impossible to say, but from the first he was made to pose as +an invalid. As his failing health was constantly referred to in the +Peking Gazette, the foreigners began to fear that it was the intention +to dispose of the Emperor, and such pressure was brought to bear on the +government as led them to allow the physician attached to the French +legation to enter the palace and make an examination of His Majesty. He +found nothing that fresh air and exercise would not remedy and assured +the government that there was no cause for alarm, and from that time we +heard nothing more of his precarious condition. +</P> + +<P> +One day not long after the coup d'etat a eunuch came rushing into our +compound, his face scratched and bleeding, and knocking his head on the +ground before me, begged me to save his life. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! let me join the church!" he pleaded. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you want to join the church for?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"To save my life," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"But what is this all about?" I urged, raising him to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"You know the eunuch who came to you to buy books," he said. +</P> + +<P> +I assured him that I knew him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he continued, "I am a friend of his. The Empress Dowager has +banished him, burned all the books he bought for the Emperor, and I am +in danger of losing my head. Let me join the church, and thus save my +life." +</P> + +<P> +All I could do was to inform him that this was not the business of the +church, and after further conversation he left and I never saw him +again. +</P> + +<P> +Day after day as the Emperor received the Peking Gazette on his lonely +island he saw one after another of his coveted reforms vanish like mist +before the pen of his august aunt. Nor was this all, for often the +rescinding edicts appeared under his own name, and by the New Year, +when he was brought forth to receive the foreign ministers accredited +to his court, scarcely anything remained of all his reforms but the +Peking University and the provincial and other schools. It is not to be +wondered at therefore that he was reticent and despondent. What +promises of good behaviour it was necessary for him to make before he +was even allowed this much liberty, it is useless for us to conjecture. +</P> + +<P> +Following this audience the Empress Dowager, who up to this time had +been seen by no foreigner except Prince Henry of Prussia, decided to +receive the wives of the foreign ministers. Her motives for this new +move it is impossible to determine. It may have been to ascertain how +the foreign governments would treat her who had been reported to have +calmly ousted "their great and good friend the Emperor," to whom their +ministers were accredited. Or it may have been that she hoped by this +stroke of diplomacy to gain some measure of recognition as head of the +government. She would at least see how she was regarded. +</P> + +<P> +The audience was an unqualified success. The seven ladies received were +charmed by the gracious manner of their imperial hostess, who assured +them each as she touched her lips to the tea which she presented to +them that "we are all one family," and up to that period of her life +there was nothing to indicate that she did not feel that the sentiment +she expressed was true. Up to the time of the coup d'etat, as Dr. +Martin says, "she herself was noted for progressive ideas." "It will +not be denied by any one," says Colonel Denby, "that the improvement +and progress" described in his first volume, "are mainly due to the +will and power of the Empress Regent. To her own people, up to this +period in her career, she was kind and merciful, and to foreigners she +was just." From the time of her return to the capital after their +flight in 1900 till the time of her death she became one of the +greatest reformers, if not the greatest, that has ever sat upon the +dragon throne. One cannot but wish therefore in the interests of +sentiment that it were possible to overlook many things she did from +1898 to 1900, which in the interests of truth it will be impossible to +disregard. Nevertheless we should remember that she was driven to these +things by the filching of her territory by the foreigners, and by the +false pretentions of the superstitious Boxers and their leaders, and in +the hope of preserving her country. +</P> + +<P> +Her first act after imprisoning Kuang Hsu was to offer a large reward +for his adviser Kang Yu-wei either alive or dead. Failing to get him, +"she seized his younger brother Kang Kuang-jen, and with five other +noble and patriotic young men of ability and high promise, he was +beheaded September 28th, while protesting that though they might easily +be slain, multitudes of others would arise to take their places." One +of my young Chinese friends who watched this procession on its way to +the execution grounds told me that,— +</P> + +<P> +"The scene was impossible to describe. These five young reformers," +after expressing the sentiments quoted above from Dr. Smith, "reviled +the Empress Dowager and the conservatives in the most blood-curdling +manner." +</P> + +<P> +I have already spoken of Wang Chao the secretary of the Board of Rites +who presented the memorial which caused the dismissal of the six +officials of that body, and, indirectly, the fall of the Emperor. Some +time before writing this petition he called at our home requesting Mrs. +Headland to go and see his mother who was ill. When his mother +recovered he sent her to Shanghai, and at the time of the coup d'etat +he failed to get out of the city and went into hiding. Some days +afterwards a closed cart drove up to our home and to our astonishment +he stepped forth. We expressed our surprise that he was still in +Peking, and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Has the Empress Dowager ceased prosecuting her search for you +reformers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"And what is she doing?" we inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Killing some, banishing others, driving many away from the capital, +while still others are going into self-imposed exile." +</P> + +<P> +"Does the Emperor know anything about this?" we inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt," he replied. "Everybody knows it, why not he?" +</P> + +<P> +"That will make his imprisonment all the harder to bear," we suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite right," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"There is general alarm in the city that the Emperor himself will be +disposed of; what do you think about it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who can tell? He has not a friend in the palace except the first +concubine, and, I am told, that she like himself is kept in close +confinement. The Empress stands by her aunt, the Empress Dowager, while +the eunuchs now are all her tools. The officials who go into the palace +to audiences are all conservative and hence against him, though I +suppose they never see him." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you suppose he ever sees the edicts issued in his name?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all. They are made by the conservatives and the Empress Dowager +and issued without his knowledge." +</P> + +<P> +"And what do you propose to do?" we inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall leave for Shanghai as soon as I can safely do so," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +Before the year had passed the Empress Dowager had been induced or +compelled to select a new Emperor. We cannot believe that she did it of +her own free will, and for several reasons. First, the child selected +was the son and the grandson of ultra conservative princes, and we +cannot but believe that as she had placed herself in the hands of the +conservative party, it was their selection rather than hers. Second, it +must have been a humiliation to her ever since she discovered that her +nephew, whom she had selected and placed upon the throne in order to +keep the succession in her own family, being the same generation as her +son who had died, could not worship him as his ancestor, and hence +could not legally occupy the throne, though as a matter of fact such a +condition is not unknown in Chinese history. +</P> + +<P> +But if her humiliation was great, that of our boy-prisoner was still +greater, for he was compelled to witness an edict, proclaimed in his +own name, which made him say that as there was no hope of his having a +child of his own to succeed him, he had requested the Empress Dowager +to select a suitable person who should be proclaimed as the successor +of Tung Chih, his predecessor, thus turning himself out of the imperial +line. That this could not have been her choice is evidenced, further, +by the fact that just as soon as she had once more regained her power, +she surrounded herself with progressive officials, turned out all the +great conservatives except Jung Lu, and dispossessing the son of Prince +Tuan, at the time of her death selected her sister's grandchild and +proclaimed him successor to her son and heir to the Emperor Kuang Hsu, +in the following edict: +</P> + +<P> +"Inasmuch as the Emperor Tung Chih had no issue, on the fifth day of +the twelfth moon of that reign (January 12, 1875) an edict was +promulgated to the effect that if the late Emperor Kuang Hsu should +have a son, the said Prince should carry on the succession as the heir +of Tung Chih. But now the late Emperor has ascended upon the dragon to +be a guest on high, leaving no son, and there is no course open but to +appoint Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, the Prince Regent, as the successor +to Tung Chih, and also as heir to the Emperor Kuang Hsu," which is +quite in keeping with the conduct and character of the Empress Dowager +all her life except those two bad years. +</P> + +<P> +During the days and weeks following the dispossession of Kuang Hsu of +the throne, in 1899 many decrees appeared which signified that at no +distant date he would be superseded by the son of Prince Tuan. The +foreign ministers began again to look grave. They spoke openly of their +fear that Kuang Hsu's days were numbered. They pressed their desire for +the usual New Year's audience, and once more the imprisoned monarch was +brought forth and made to sit upon the throne and receive them. But +when the ladies asked for an audience they were refused, the Empress +Dowager being too busy with affairs of state. She was at that time +seriously considering whether or not the government should cast in its +lot with the Boxers and drive all the foreigners with all their +productions into the eastern sea. +</P> + +<P> +One of the princesses told Mrs. Headland that before coming to a +decision the Empress Dowager called the hereditary and imperial princes +into the palace to consult with them as to what they would better do. +She met them all face to face, the Emperor and Prince Tuan standing +near the throne. She explained to them the ravages of the foreigners, +how they were gradually taking one piece after another of Chinese +territory. +</P> + +<P> +"And now," she continued, "we have these patriotic braves who claim to +be impervious to swords and bullets; what shall we do? Shall we cast in +our lot with their millions and drive all these foreigners out of China +or not?" +</P> + +<P> +Prince Tuan, as father of the heir-apparent, uneducated, superstitious +and ignorant of all foreign affairs, then spoke. He said: +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen the Boxers drilling, I have heard their incantations, and +I believe that they will be able to effect this much desired end. They +will either kill the foreigners or drive them out of the country and no +more will dare to come, and thus we will be rid of them." +</P> + +<P> +The hereditary princes were then asked for an expression of opinion. +The majority of them knew little of foreigners and foreign countries, +and as Prince Tuan, the father of the future Emperor, had expressed +himself so strongly, they hesitated to offer an adverse opinion. But +when it came to Prince Su, a man of strong character, widely versed in +foreign affairs, and of independent thought, he opposed the measure +most vigorously. +</P> + +<P> +"Who," he asked, "are these Boxers? Who are their leaders? How can +they, a mere rabble, hope to vanquish the armies of foreign nations?" +</P> + +<P> +Prince Tuan answered that "by their incantations they were able to +produce heaven-sent soldiers." +</P> + +<P> +Prince Su denounced such superstition as childish. But when after +further argument between him and Prince Tuan the Empress Dowager +assured him that she had had them in the palace and had witnessed their +prowess, he said no more. +</P> + +<P> +The imperial princes were then consulted, but seeing how Prince Su had +fared they were either in favour of the measure or non-committal. +Finally the Empress Dowager appealed to Prince Ching who, more +diplomatic than the younger princes, answered: +</P> + +<P> +"I consider it a most dangerous undertaking, and I would advise against +it. But if Your Majesty decides to cast in your lot with the Boxers I +will do all in my power to further your wishes." +</P> + +<P> +It is not a matter of wonder therefore that the Empress Dowager should +be led into such a foolish measure as the Boxer movement, when the +Prince who had been president of the Foreign Office for twenty-five +years could so weakly acquiesce in such an undertaking. +</P> + +<P> +"The Emperor," said the Princess, "was not asked for an expression of +his opinion on this occasion, but when he saw that the Boxer leaders +had won the day he burst into tears and left the room." +</P> + +<P> +Similar meetings were held in the palace on two other occasions, when +the Emperor implored that they make no attempt to fight all the foreign +nations, for said he, "the foreigners are stronger than we, both in +money and in arms, while their soldiers are much better drilled and +equipped in every way. If we undertake this and fail as we are sure to +do, it will be impossible to make peace with the foreigners and our +country will be divided up amongst them." His pleadings, however, were +disregarded, and after the meeting was over, he had to return to his +little island, where for eight weeks he was compelled to sit listening +to the rattling guns, booming cannons and bursting firecrackers, for +the Boxers seemed to hope to exterminate the foreigners by noise. He +must have felt from the books he had studied that it could only result +in disaster to his own people. +</P> + +<P> +When the allies reached Peking and the Boxers capitulated the Emperor +was taken out of his prison and compelled to flee with the court. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think of your bullet-proof Boxers now?" one can imagine +they hear him saying to his august aunt, as he sees her cutting off her +long finger nails, dressing herself in blue cotton garments, and +climbing into a common street cart as an ordinary servant. "Wouldn't it +have been better to have taken my advice and that of Hsu Ching-cheng +and Yuan Chang instead of having put them to death for endeavouring in +their earnestness to save the country? What about your old conservative +friends? Can they be depended upon as pillars of state?" Or some other +"I-told-you-so" language of this kind. +</P> + +<P> +From their exile in Hsian decrees continued to be issued in his name, +and when affairs began to be adjusted, and the allies insisted on +setting aside forever the pretentions of the anti-foreign Prince Tuan +and his son, banishing the former to perpetual exile, our hopes ran +high that the Emperor would be restored to his throne. But to our +disappointment the framers of the Protocol contented themselves with +the clause that: "Rational intercourse shall be permitted with the +Emperor as in Western countries," and with the return of the court in +1902 he was still a prisoner. +</P> + +<P> +Every one who has written about audiences with the Empress Dowager +tells how "the Emperor was seated near, though a little below her," but +they never tell why. The reason is not far to seek. The world must not +know that he was a prisoner in the palace. They must see him near the +throne, but they may not speak to him. The addresses of the ministers +were passed to her by her kneeling statesmen, and it was they who +replied. No notice was taken of the Emperor though he seemed to be in +excellent health. The Empress Dowager however still relieved him of the +burdens of the government, and continued to "teach him how to govern." +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen the Emperor many times," Mrs. Headland tells me, "and have +spent many hours in his presence, and every time we were in the palace +the Emperor accompanied the Empress Dowager—not by her side but a few +steps behind her. When she sat, he always remained standing a few paces +in the rear, and never presumed to sit unless asked by her to do so. He +was a lonely person, with his delicate, well-bred features and his +simple dark robes, and in the midst of these fawning eunuchs, brilliant +court ladies, and bejewelled Empress Dowager he was an inconspicuous +figure. No minister of state touched forehead to floor as he spoke in +hushed and trembling voice to him, no obsequious eunuchs knelt when +coming into his presence; but on the contrary I have again and again +seen him crowded against the wall by these cringing servants of Her +Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +"One day while we were in the palace a pompous eunuch had stepped +before the Emperor quite obliterating him. I saw Kuang Hsu put his +hands on the large man's shoulders, and quietly turn him around, that +he might see before whom he stood. There were no signs of anger on his +face, but rather a gentle, pathetic smile as he looked up at the big +servant. I expected to see him fall upon his knees before the Emperor, +but instead, he only moved a few inches to the left, and remained still +in front of His Majesty. Never when in the palace have I seen a knee +bend to the Emperor, except that of the foreigner when greeting him or +bidding him farewell. This was the more noticeable as statesmen and +eunuchs alike fell upon their knees every time they spoke to the +Empress Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +"The first time I saw him his great, pathetic, wistful eyes followed me +for days. I could not forget them, and I determined that if I ever had +opportunity I would say a few words to him letting him know that the +world was resting in hope of his carrying out the great reforms he had +instituted. But he was so carefully guarded and kept under such strict +surveillance that I never found an opportunity to speak to him. Nor did +he ever speak to the visitors, court ladies, the Empress Dowager, or +attendants during all the hours we remained. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the ministers told me that one day after an audience, when the +Empress Dowager and the Emperor had stepped down from the dais, Her +Majesty was engaged in conversation with one of his colleagues, and as +the Emperor stood near by, he made some remark to him. Immediately the +Empress Dowager turned from the one to whom she had been talking and +made answer for the Emperor. +</P> + +<P> +"On one occasion when there were but four of us in the palace, and we +were all comfortably seated, the Emperor standing a few paces behind +the Empress Dowager, she began discussing the Boxer movement, lamenting +the loss of her long finger nails, and various good-luck gourds of +which she was fond. The Emperor, probably becoming weary of a +conversation in which he had no part, quietly withdrew by a side +entrance to the theatre which was playing at the time. For some moments +the Empress Dowager did not notice his absence, but the instant she +discovered he was gone, a look of anxiety overspread her features, and +she turned to the head eunuch, Li Lien-ying, and in an authoritative +tone asked: 'Where is the Emperor?' There was a scurry among the +eunuchs, and they were sent hither and thither to inquire. After a few +moments they returned, saying that he was in the theatre. The look of +anxiety passed from her face as a cloud passes from before the sun—and +several of the eunuchs remained at the theatre. +</P> + +<P> +"I am told that at times the Empress Dowager invites the Emperor to +dine with her, and on such occasions he is forced to kneel at the table +at which she is seated, eating only what she gives him. It is an honour +which he does not covet, but which he dare not decline for fear of +giving offense." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Prince Chun—The Regent +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Prince Chun the Regent of China gave a remarkable luncheon at the +Winter Palace to-day to the foreign envoys who gathered here to attend +the funeral ceremonies of the late Emperor Kuang Hsu. The repast was +served in foreign style. Among the Chinese present were Prince Ching, +former president of the Board of Foreign Affairs and now adviser to the +Naval Department; Prince Tsai Chen, a son of Prince Ching, who was at +one time president of the Board of Commerce; Prince Su, chief of the +Naval Department; and Liaing Tung-yen, president of the Board of +Foreign Affairs. After the entertainment the envoys expressed +themselves as unusually impressed with the personality of the +Regent.—Daily Press. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PRINCE CHUN—THE REGENT +</H3> + +<P> +The selection of Prince Chun as Regent for the Chinese empire during +the minority of his son, Pu I, the new Emperor, would seem to be the +wisest choice that could be made at the present time. In the first +place, he is the younger brother of Kuang Hsu, the late Emperor, and +was in sympathy with all the reforms the latter undertook to introduce +in 1898. If Kuang Hsu had chosen his successor, having no son of his +own, there is no reason why he should not have selected Pu I to occupy +the throne, with Prince Chun as Regent, for there is no other prince in +whom he could have reposed greater confidence of having all his reform +measures carried to a successful issue; and a brother with whom he had +always lived in sympathy would be more likely to continue his policy +than any one else. +</P> + +<P> +But, in the second place, as we may suppose, Prince Chun was selected +by the Empress Dowager, whatever the edicts issued, and will thus have +the confidence of the party of which she has been the leader. It is +quite wrong to suppose that this is the conservative party, or even a +conservative party. China has both reform and conservative parties, +but, in addition to these, she has many wise men and great officials +who are neither radical reformers nor ultra-conservatives. It was these +men with whom the Empress Dowager allied herself after the Boxer +troubles of 1900. +</P> + +<P> +These men were Li Hung-chang, Chang Chih-tung, Yuan Shih-kai, Prince +Ching, and others, and it is they who, in ten years, with the Empress +Dowager, put into operation, in a statesmanlike way, all the reforms +that Kuang Hsu, with his hot-headed young radical advisers, attempted +to force upon the country in as many weeks. There is every reason to +believe that Prince Chun, the present Regent, has the support of all +the wiser and better element of the Reform party, as well as those +great men who have been successful in tiding China over the ten most +difficult years of her history, while the ultra-conservatives at this +late date are too few or too weak to deserve serious consideration. We, +therefore, think that the choice of Pu I as Emperor, with Prince Chun +as Regent, whether by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, or both, was, +all things considered, the best selection that could have been made. +</P> + +<P> +Prince Chun is the son of the Seventh Prince, the nephew of the Emperor +Hsien Feng and the Empress Dowager, and grandson of the Emperor Tao +Kuang. He has a fine face, clear eye, firm mouth, with a tendency to +reticence. He carries himself very straight, and while below the +average in height, is every inch a prince. He is dignified, +intelligent, and, though not loquacious, never at a loss for a topic of +conversation. He is not inclined to small talk, but when among men of +his own rank, he does not hesitate to indulge in bits of humour. +</P> + +<P> +This was rather amusingly illustrated at a dinner given by the late +Major Conger, American minister to China. Major and Mrs. Conger +introduced many innovations into the social life of Peking, and none +more important than the dinners and luncheons given to the princes and +high officials, and also to the princesses and ladies of the court. In +1904, I was invited to dine with Major Conger and help entertain Prince +Chun, Prince Pu Lun, Prince Ching, Governor Hu, Na T'ung, and a number +of other princes and officials of high rank. I sat between Prince Chun +and Governor Hu. Having met them both on several former occasions, I +was not a stranger to either of them, and as they were well acquainted +with each other, though one was a Manchu prince and the other a Chinese +official, conversation was easy and natural. +</P> + +<P> +We talked, of course, in Chinese only, of the improvements and +advantages that railroads bring to a country, for Governor Hu, among +other things, was the superintendent of the Imperial Railways of north +China. This led us to speak of the relative comforts of travel by land +and by sea, for Prince Chun had gone half round the world and back. We +listened to the American minister toasting the young Emperor of China, +his princes, and his subjects; and then to Prince Ching toasting the +young President of the United States, his officials, and his people, in +a most dignified and eloquent manner. And then as the buzz of +conversation went round the table again, and perhaps because of their +having spoken of the YOUNG Emperor and the young President, I turned to +Governor Hu, who had an unusually long, white beard which reached +almost to his waist as he sat at table, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Your Excellency, what is your honourable age?" +</P> + +<P> +"I was seventy years old my last birthday," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"And he is still as strong as either of us young men," said I, turning +to Prince Chun. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," said the Prince; "he is good for ten years yet, and by that +time he can use his beard as an apron." +</P> + +<P> +"It is an ill wind that blows no one good," says the proverb, and this +was never more forcibly illustrated than in the case of the death of +the lamented Baron von Kettler. Had it not been for this unfortunate +occurrence, Prince Chun would not have been sent to Germany to convey +the apologies of the Chinese government to the German Emperor, and he +would thus never have had the opportunity of a trip to Europe; and the +world might once more have beheld a regent on the dragon throne who had +never seen anything a hundred miles from his own capital. +</P> + +<P> +Prince Chun started on this journey with such a retinue as only the +Chinese government can furnish. He had educated foreign physicians and +interpreters, and, like the great Viceroy Li Hung-chang, he had a round +fan with the Eastern hemisphere painted on one side and the Western on +the other, and the route he was to travel distinctly outlined on both, +with all the places he was to pass through, or to stop at on the trip, +plainly marked. He was intelligent enough to observe everything of +importance in the ports through which he passed, and it was interesting +to hear him tell of the things he had seen, and his characterization of +some of the people he had visited. +</P> + +<P> +"What did Your Highness think of the relative characteristics of the +Germans and the French, as you saw them?" I asked him at the same +dinner. +</P> + +<P> +"The people in Berlin," said he, "get up early in the morning and go to +their business, while the people in Paris get up in the evening and go +to the theatre." +</P> + +<P> +This may have been a bit exaggerated, but it indicated that the Prince +did not travel, as many do on their first trip, with his mouth open and +his eyes closed. +</P> + +<P> +After his return to Peking he purchased a brougham, as did most of the +other leading officials and princes at the close of the Boxer troubles, +and driving about in this carriage, he has been a familiar figure from +that time until the present. As straws show the direction of the wind, +these incidents ought to indicate that Prince Chun will not be a +conservative to the detriment of his government, or to the hindrance of +Chinas progress. +</P> + +<P> +It is a well-known fact that the Empress Dowager, in addition to her +other duties, took charge of the arrangement of the marriages of all +her nieces and nephews. One of her favourite Manchu officials, and +indeed one of the greatest Manchus of recent years, though very +conservative, and hence little associated with foreigners, was Jung Lu. +As the affianced bride of Prince Chun had drowned herself in a well +during the Boxer troubles, the Empress Dowager engaged him to the +daughter of the lady who had been Jung Lu's first concubine, but who, +as his consort was dead, was raised to the position of wife. +</P> + +<P> +"This Lady Jung," says Mrs. Headland, "is some forty years of age, very +pretty, talkative, and vivacious, and she told me with a good deal of +pride, on one occasion, of the engagement of her son to the sixth +daughter of Prince Ching. And then with equal enthusiasm she told me +how her daughter had been married to Prince Chun, 'which of course +relates me with the two most powerful families of the empire.' +</P> + +<P> +"I have met the Princess Chun on several occasions at the audiences in +the palace, at luncheons with Mrs. Conger, at a feast with the Imperial +Princess, at a tea with the Princess Tsai Chen, and at the palaces of +many of the princesses. She is a very quiet little woman, and looked +almost infantile as she gazed at one with her big, black eyes. She is +very circumspect in her movements, and with such a mother and father as +she had, I should think may be very brilliant. Naturally she had to be +specially dignified and sedate at these public functions, as she and +the Imperial Princess were the only ones belonging to the old imperial +household, the descendants of Tao Kuang, who were intimately associated +with the Empress Dowager's court. She is small, but pretty, and, as I +have indicated, quiet and reticent. She was fond of her father, and +naturally fond of the Empress Dowager, who selected her as a wife for +her favourite nephew, Prince Chun, to whom she promised the succession +at the time of their marriage. After her father's death, and while she +was in mourning, she was invited into the palace by the Empress +Dowager, where she appeared wearing blue shoes, the colour used in +second mourning. +</P> + +<P> +"'Why do you wear blue shoes?' asked Her Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +"'On account of the death of my father,' replied the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +"'And do you mourn over your dead father more than you rejoice over +being in the presence of your living ruler?' the Empress Dowager +inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"It is unnecessary to add that the Princess 'changed the blue shoes for +red ones while she remained in the palace, so careful has the Empress +Dowager always been of the respect due to her dignity and position." +</P> + +<P> +Having promised the regency to Prince Chun, we may infer that the +Empress Dowager would do all in her power to prepare him to occupy the +position with credit to himself, and in the hope that he would continue +the policy which she has followed during the last ten years. Whenever, +therefore, opportunity offered for a prince to represent the government +at any public function with which foreigners were connected, Prince +Chun was asked or appointed to attend. I have said that it was the +murder of the German minister, Baron von Kettler, that gave Prince Chun +his opportunity to see the world. And just here I might add that an +account of the massacre of Von Kettler, sent from Canton, was published +in a New York paper three days before it occurred. This indicates that +his death had been premeditated and ordered by some high +authorities,—perhaps Prince Tuan or Prince Chuang, Boxer +leaders,—because the Germans had taken the port of Kiaochou, and had +compelled the Chinese government to promise to allow them to open all +the mines and build all the railroads in the province of Shantung. +</P> + +<P> +After the Boxer troubles were settled, the Germans, at the expense of +the Chinese government, erected a large stone memorial arch on the spot +where Von Kettler fell. At its dedication, members of the diplomatic +corps of all the legations in Peking were present, including ladies and +children, together with a large number of Chinese officials +representing the city, the government, and the Foreign Office, and +Prince Chun was selected to pour the sacrificial wine. He did it with +all the dignity of a prince, however much he may or may not have +enjoyed it. On this occasion he used one of the ancient, three-legged, +sacrificial wine-cups, which he held in both hands, while Na Tung, +President of the Foreign Office, poured the wine into the cup from a +tankard of a very beautiful and unique design. It is the only occasion +on which I have seen the Prince when he did not seem to enjoy what he +was doing. I ought to add just here that I have heard the Chinese refer +to this arch as the monument erected by the Chinese government in +memory of the man who murdered Baron von Kettler! +</P> + +<P> +It is a well-known fact that the Boxers destroyed all buildings that +had any indication of a foreign style of architecture, whether they +belonged to Chinese or foreigner, Christian or non-Christian, legation, +merchant, or missionary. In the rebuilding of the Peking legations, +missions, and educational institutions, there were naturally a large +number of dedicatory services. Many of the Chinese officials attended +them, but I shall refer to only one or two at which I remember meeting +Prince Chun. I believe it was the design of the Empress Dowager, as +soon as she had decided upon him as the Regent, to give him as liberal +an education in foreign affairs as the facilities in Peking would allow. +</P> + +<P> +For many years the Methodist mission had tried to secure funds from +America to erect a hospital and medical school in connection with the +mission and the Peking University. This they found to be impossible, +and finally Dr. N. S. Hopkins of Massachusetts, who was in charge of +that work, consulted with his brother and brother-in-law, who +subscribed the funds and built the institution. This act of benevolence +on the part of Dr. Hopkins and his friends appealed to the Chinese +sense of generosity, and when the building was completed, a large +number of Chinese officials, together with Prince Chun and Prince Pu +Lun, were present at its dedication. A number of addresses were made by +such men as Major Conger, the American minister, Bishop Moore, Na Tung, +Governor Hu, General Chiang, and others of the older representatives, +in which they expressed their appreciation of the generosity which +prompted a man like Dr. Hopkins to give not only himself, but his +money, for the education of the Chinese youth and the healing of their +poor. And I might add that Dr. Hopkins is physician to many of the +princes and officials in Peking at the present time. +</P> + +<P> +During this reconstruction, a number of the colleges of north China +united to form a union educational institution. One part of this scheme +was a union medical college, situated on the Ha-ta-men great street not +a hundred yards north of the Von Kettler memorial arch. To the erection +of this building the wealthy officials of Peking subscribed liberally, +and the Empress Dowager sent her check for 11,000 taels, equal to +$9,000 in American gold, and appointed Prince Chun to represent the +Chinese government at its dedication. At this meeting Sir Robert Hart +made an address on behalf of the foreigners, and Na Tung on behalf of +the Chinese. Although Prince Chun took no public part in the exercises, +he privately expressed his gratification at seeing the completion of +such an up-to-date hospital and medical school in the Chinese capital. +</P> + +<P> +I have given these incidents in the life of Prince Chun to show that he +has had facilities for knowing the world better than any other Chinese +monarch or regent that has ever sat upon the dragon throne, and that he +has grasped the opportunities as they came to him. He has been +intimately associated with the diplomatic life of the various +legations, which is perhaps the most important knowledge he has +acquired in dealing with foreign affairs, as these ministers are the +channels through which he must come in contact with foreign +governments. He has been present at the dedication of a number of +missionary educational institutions, and hence from personal contact he +will have some comprehension of the animus and work of missions and the +character of the men engaged in that work. He may have as a councillor, +if he so desires, the Prince Pu Lun, who has had a trip around the +world, with the best possible facilities for seeing Japan, America, +Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy, and who has been in even +more intimate contact with the diplomats and other foreigners than has +Prince Chun himself. My wife and I have dined with him and the Princess +both at the American legation and at his own palace, and when we left +China, they came together in their brougham to bid us good-bye, a thing +which could not have happened a few years ago, and an indication of how +wide open the doors in China are now standing. +</P> + +<P> +On the whole, therefore, Prince Chun begins his regency with a brighter +outlook for his foreign relations than any other ruler China has ever +had. What shall we say of his Chinese relations? Being the brother of +Kuang Hsu, and himself a progressive young man, he ought to have the +support of the Reform party, and being the choice of the Empress +Dowager, he will have the support of the great progressive officials +who have had the conduct of affairs for the last quarter of a century +and more, and especially for the past ten years, since the Emperor +Kuang Hsu was deposed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Home of the Court—The Forbidden City +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The innermost enclosure is the Forbidden City and contains the palace +and its surrounding buildings. The wall is less solid and high than the +city wall, is covered with bright yellow tiles, and surrounded by a +deep, wide moat. Two gates on the east and west afford access to the +interior of this habitation of the Emperor, as well as the space and +rooms appertaining, which furnish lodgment to the guard defending the +approach to the dragon's throne.—S. Wells Williams in "The Middle +Kingdom." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOME OF THE COURT—THE FORBIDDEN CITY +</H3> + +<P> +During the past ten years, since the dethronement of the late Emperor +Kuang Hsu, I have often been asked by Europeans visiting Peking: +</P> + +<P> +"What would happen if the Emperor should die?" +</P> + +<P> +"They would put a new Emperor on the throne," was my invariable answer. +They usually followed this with another question: +</P> + +<P> +"What would happen if the Empress Dowager should die?" +</P> + +<P> +"In that case the Emperor, of course, would again resume the throne," I +always replied without hesitation. But during those ten years, not one +of my friends ever thought to propound the question, nor did I have the +wit to ask myself: +</P> + +<P> +"What would happen if the Emperor and the Empress Dowager should both +suddenly snap the frail cord of life at or about the same time?" +</P> + +<P> +Had such a question come to me, I confess I should not have known how +to answer it. It is a problem that probably never presented itself to +any one outside of that mysterious Forbidden City, or the equally +mysterious spectres that come and go through its half-open gates in the +darkness of the early morning. There are three parties to whom it may +have come again and again, and to whom we may perhaps be indebted both +for the problem and the solution. +</P> + +<P> +When the deaths of both of their Imperial Majesties were announced at +the same time, the news also came that the Japanese suspected that +there had been foul play. With them, however, it was only suspicion; +none of them, so far as I know, ever undertook to analyze the matter or +unravel the mystery. There is no doubt a reasonable explanation, but we +must go for it to the Forbidden City, the most mysterious royal +dwelling in the world, where white men have never gone except by +invitation from the throne, save on one occasion. +</P> + +<P> +In 1901, while the court was in hiding at Hsianfu, the city to which +they fled when the allies entered Peking, the western half of the +Forbidden City was thrown open to the public, the only condition being +that said public have a certificate which would serve as a pass to the +American boys in blue who guarded the Wu men, or front gate. I was +fortunate enough to have that pass. +</P> + +<P> +My first move was to get a Chinese photographer—the best I could find +in the city—to go with me and take pictures of everything I wanted as +well as anything else that suited his fancy. +</P> + +<P> +The city of Peking is regularly laid out. Towards the south is the +Chinese city, fifteen miles in circumference. To the north is a square, +four miles on each side, and containing sixteen square miles. In the +centre of this square, enclosed by a beautifully crenelated wall thirty +feet thick at the bottom, twenty feet thick at the top and twenty-five +feet high, surrounded by a moat one hundred feet wide, is the Forbidden +City, occupying less than one-half a square mile. In this city there +dwells but one male human being, the Emperor, who is called the +"solitary man." +</P> + +<P> +There is a gate in the centre of each of the four sides, that on the +south, the Wu men, being the front gate, through which the Emperor +alone is allowed to pass. The back gate, guarded by the Japanese during +the occupation, is for the Empress Dowager, the Empress and the women +of the court, while the side gates are for the officials, merchants or +others who may have business in the palace. +</P> + +<P> +Through the centre of this city, from south to north, is a passageway +about three hundred feet wide, across which, at intervals of two +hundred yards, they have erected large buildings, such as the imperial +examination hall, the hall in which the Emperor receives his bride, the +imperial library, the imperial kitchen, and others of a like nature, +all covered with yellow titles, and known to tourists, who see them +from the Tartar City wall, as the palace buildings. These, however, are +not the buildings in which the royal family live. They are the places +where for the past five hundred years all those great diplomatic +measures—and dark deeds—of the Chinese emperors and their great +officials have been transacted between midnight and daylight. +</P> + +<P> +If you will go with me at midnight to the great gate which leads from +the Tartar to the Chinese city—the Chien men—you will hear the +wailing creak of its hinges as it swings open, and in a few moments the +air will be filled with the rumbling of carts and the clatter of the +feet of the mules on the stone pavement, as they take the officials +into the audiences with their ruler. If you will remain with me there +till a little before daylight you will see them, like silent spectres, +sitting tailor-fashion on the bottom of their springless carts, +returning to their homes, but you will ask in vain for any information +as to the business they have transacted. "They love darkness rather +than light," not perhaps "because their deeds are evil," but because it +has been the custom of the country from time immemorial. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately to the north of this row of imperial palace buildings, and +just outside the north gate, there is an artificial mound called Coal +Hill, made of the dirt which was removed to make the Lotus Lakes. It is +said that in this hill there is buried coal enough to last the city in +time of siege. This, however, was not the primary design of the hill. +It has a more mysterious meaning. There have always been spirits in the +earth, in the air, in every tree and well and stream. And in China it +has ever been found necessary to locate a house, a city or even a +cemetery in such surroundings as to protect them from the entrance of +evil spirits. "Coal Hill," therefore, was placed to the north of these +imperial palace buildings to protect them from the evil spirits of the +cold, bleak north. +</P> + +<P> +Just inside of that north gate there is a beautiful garden, with +rockeries and arbours, flowering plants and limpid artificial streams +gurgling over equally artificial pebbles, though withal making a +beautiful sight and a cool shade in the hot summer days. In the east +side of this garden there is a small imperial shrine having four doors +at the four points of the compass. In front of each of these doors +there is a large cypress-tree, some of them five hundred years old, +which were split up from the root some seven or eight feet, and planted +with the two halves three feet apart, making a living arch through +which the worshipper must pass as he enters the temple. To the north of +the garden and east of the back gate there is a most beautiful Buddhist +temple, in which only the members of the imperial family are allowed to +worship, in front of which there is also a living arch like those +described above, as may also be found before the imperial temples in +the Summer Palace. This is one of the most unique and mysterious +features of temple worship I have found anywhere in China, and no +amount of questioning ever brought me any explanation of its meaning. +</P> + +<P> +Now if you will go with me to the top of Coal Hill I will point out to +you the buildings in which their Majesties have lived. There are six +parallel rows of buildings, facing the south, each behind the other, in +the northwest quarter of this Forbidden City, protected from the evil +spirits of the north by the dagoba on Prospect Hill. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps you would like to go with me into these homes of their +Majesties—or, as a woman's home is always more interesting than the +den of a man, let me take you through the private apartments of the +greatest woman of her race—the late Empress Dowager. She occupied +three of these rows of buildings. The first was her drawing-room and +library, the second her dining-room and sleeping apartments, and the +third her kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +One was strangely impressed by what he saw here. There was no gorgeous +display of Oriental colouring, but there was beauty of a peculiarly +penetrating quality—and yet a homelike beauty. +</P> + +<P> +No description that can be written of it will ever do it justice. Not +until one can see and appreciate the paintings of the old Chinese +masters of five hundred years ago hanging upon the walls, the beautiful +pieces of the best porcelain of the time of Kang Hsi and Chien Lung, +made especially for the palace, arranged in their natural surroundings, +on exquisitely carved Chinese tables and brackets, the gorgeously +embroided silk portieres over the doorways, and the matchless +tapestries which only the Chinese could weave for their greatest +rulers, can we appreciate the beauty, the richness, and the refined +elegance of the private apartments of the great Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +I went into her sleeping apartments. Others also entered there, sat +upon her couch, and had their friends photograph them. I could not +allow myself to do so. I stood silent, with head uncovered as I gazed +with wonder and admiration at the bed, with its magnificently +embroidered curtains hanging from the ceiling to the floor, its +yellow-satin mattress ten feet in length and its great round, hard +pillow, with the delicate silk spreads turned back as though it were +prepared for Her Majesty's return. On the opposite side of the room +there was a brick kang bed, such as we find in the homes of all the +Chinese of the north, where her maids slept, or sat like silent ghosts +while the only woman that ever ruled over one-third of the human race +took her rest. The furnishings were rich but simple. No plants, no +intricate carvings to catch the dust, nothing but the two beds and a +small table, with a few simple and soothing wall decorations, and the +monotonous tick-tock of a great clock to lull her to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +If Shakespeare could say with an English monarch in his mind, "Uneasy +lies the head that wears a crown," we might repeat it with added +emphasis of Tze Hsi. For forty years she had to rise at midnight, +winter as well as summer, and go into the dark, dreary, cold halls of +the palace, lighted much of the time with nothing but tallow dips, and +heated only with brass braziers filled with charcoal, and there sit +behind a screen where she could see no one, and no one could see her, +and listen to the reports of those who came to these dark audiences. +Then she must, in conjunction with them, compose edicts which were sent +out to the Peking Gazette, the oldest and poorest newspaper in the +world, to be carved on blocks, and printed, and then sent by courier to +every official in the empire. Ruling over a conquered race, she must +always be watching out for signs of discontent and rebellion; being +herself the daughter of a poor man, and beginning as only the concubine +of an emperor, and he but a weak character, she must be alert for +dissatisfaction on the part of the princes who might have some title to +the throne. She must watch the governors in the distant provinces and +the viceroys who are in charge of great armies, that they do not direct +them against instead of in defense of the throne. +</P> + +<P> +When her husband died while a fugitive two hundred miles from her +palace, she must see to it that her three-year-old child was placed +upon the throne with her own hand at the helm, and when he died she +must also be ready with a successor, who would give her another lease +of office. Even when he became of age and took the throne she must +watch over him like a guardian, to prevent his bringing down upon their +own heads the structure which she had builded. Nay, more, when it +became necessary for her to dethrone him and rule in his name, +banishing his friends and pacifying his enemies, keeping him a prisoner +in his palace, it required a courage that was titanic to do so. But she +never flinched, though we may suppose that many of her poorest +subjects, who could sleep from dark till daylight with nothing but a +brick for a pillow, might have rested more peacefully than she. +</P> + +<P> +She had a myriad of other duties to perform. She was the mother-in-law +of that imperial household, with the Emperor, the Empress, sixty +concubines, two thousand eunuchs, and any number of court ladies and +maid-servants. Their expenses were enormous and she must keep her eye +on every detail. The food they ate was similar to that used by all the +Chinese people. I happen to know this, because one of her eunuchs who +visited me frequently to ask my assistance in a matter which he had +undertaken for the Emperor, often brought me various kinds of meat, or +other delicacies of a like nature, from the imperial kitchens. +</P> + +<P> +I want you to visit three of the imperial temples in these beautiful +palace grounds. The first is a tall, three-story building at the head +of that magnificent Lotus Lake. In it there stands a Buddhist deity +with one thousand heads and one thousand arms and hands. Standing upon +the ground floor its head reaches almost to the roof. Its body, face +and arms are as white as snow. There is nothing else in the +building—nothing but this mild-faced Buddhist divinity for that +brilliant, black-eyed ruler of Chinas millions to worship. +</P> + +<P> +Standing near by is another building of far greater beauty. It is faced +all over with encaustic tiles, each made at the kiln a thousand miles +away, for the particular place it was to occupy. Each one fits without +a flaw, a suggestion to American architects on Chinese architecture. +</P> + +<P> +The second of these temples stands to the west of the Coal Hill, +immediately to the north of the homes of their Majesties. One day while +passing through the forbidden grounds I came upon this temple from the +rear. In the dome of one of the buildings is a circular space some ten +feet in diameter, carved and gilded in the form of two magnificent +dragons after the fabled pearl. It is to this place the Emperor goes in +time of drought to confess his sins, for he confesses to the gods that +the drought is all his doing, and to pray for forgiveness, and for rain +to enrich the thirsty land. The towers on the corners of the wall of +the Forbidden City are the same style of architecture as the small +pavilion in the front court of this temple. +</P> + +<P> +Now as the buds of spring are bursting and the eaves on the +mulberry-trees are beginning to develop, will you go with the Empress +Dowager or the Empress into a temple on Prospect Hill, between the Coal +Hill and the Lotus Lake, where she offers sacrifices to the god of the +silkworm and prays for a prosperous year on the work of that little +insect? Above it stands one of the most hideous bronze deities I have +ever seen—male and naked—in a beautiful little shrine, every tile of +which is made in the form of a Buddha's head. During the occupation +tourists were allowed to visit this place freely, and their desire for +curios overcoming their discretion, they knocked the heads off these +tiles until, when the place was closed, there was not a single tile +which had not been defaced. +</P> + +<P> +One other building in the Forbidden City is worthy of our attention. It +is the art gallery. It is not generally known that China is the parent +of all Oriental art. We know something of the art of Japan but little +about that of China. And yet the best Japanese artists have never hoped +for anything better than to equal their Chinese teacher. In this art +gallery there are stored away the finest specimens of the old masters +for ten centuries or more, together with portraits of all the noted +emperors. Among these portraits we may now find two of the Empress +Dowager, one painted by Miss Carl, and another by Mr. Vos, a well-known +American portrait painter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Ladies of the Court +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +I love to talk with my people of their Majesties, the princesses, and +the Chinese ladies, as I have seen and known them. Your friendship I +will always remember. Her Majesty, your imperial sister, found a warm +place in my heart and is treasured there. Please extend to the Imperial +Princess my cordial greetings and to the other princesses my best of +good wishes.—Mrs. E. H. Conger, in a letter to the Princess Shun. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE LADIES OF THE COURT +</H3> + +<P> +The leading figure of the court is Yehonala, wife of the late Emperor +Kuang Hsu. She has always been called the Young Empress, but is now the +Empress Dowager. After the great Dowager was made the concubine of +Hsien Feng, she succeeded in arranging a marriage, as we have seen, +between her younger sister and the younger brother of her husband, the +Seventh Prince, as he was called, father of Kuang Hsu and the present +regent. +</P> + +<P> +The world knows how, in order to keep the succession in her own family, +she took the son of this younger sister, when her own son the Emperor +Tung Chih died, and made him the Emperor Kuang Hsu when he was but +little more than three years of age. When the time came for him to wed, +she arranged that he should marry his cousin, Yehonala, the daughter of +her favourite brother, Duke Kuei. This Kuang Hsu was not inclined to +do, as his affections seem to have been centred on another. The great +Dowager, however, insisted upon it, and he finally made her Empress, +and to satisfy,—or shall we say appease him?—she allowed him to take +as his first concubine the lady he wanted as his wife; and it was +currently reported in court circles that when Yehonala came into his +presence he not infrequently kicked off his shoe at her, a bit of +conduct that is quite in keeping with the temper usually attributed to +Kuang Hsu during those early years. This may perhaps explain why she +stood by the great Dowager through all the troublous times of 1898 and +1900, in spite of the fact that her imperial aunt had taken her +husband's throne. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Headland tells me that "Yehonala is not at all beautiful, though +she has a sad, gentle face. She is rather stooped, extremely thin, her +face long and sallow, and her teeth very much decayed. Gentle in +disposition, she is without self-assertion, and if at any of the +audiences we were to greet her she would return the greeting, but would +never venture a remark. At the audiences given to the ladies she was +always present, but never in the immediate vicinity of either the +Empress Dowager or the Emperor. She would sometimes come inside the +great hall where they were, but she always stood in some inconspicuous +place in the rear, with her waiting women about her, and as soon as she +could do so without attracting attention, she would withdraw into the +court or to some other room. In the summer-time we sometimes saw her +with her servants wandering aimlessly about the court. She had the +appearance of a gentle, quiet, kindly person who was always afraid of +intruding and had no place or part in anything. And now she is the +Empress Dowager! It seems a travesty on the English language to call +this kindly, gentle soul by the same title that we have been accustomed +to use in speaking of the woman who has just passed away." +</P> + +<P> +My wife tells me that,—"A number of years ago I was called to see Mrs. +Chang Hsu who was suffering from a nervous breakdown due to worry and +sleeplessness. On inquiry I discovered that her two daughters had been +taken into the palace as concubines of the Emperor Kuang Hsu. Her +friends feared a mental breakdown, and begged me to do all I could for +her. She took me by the hand, pulled me down on the brick bed beside +her, and told me in a pathetic way how both of her daughters had been +taken from her in a single day. +</P> + +<P> +"'But they have been taken into the palace,' I urged, to try to comfort +her, 'and I have heard that the Emperor is very fond of your eldest +daughter, and wanted to make her his empress.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Quite right,' she replied, 'but what consolation is there in that? +They are only concubines, and once in the palace they are dead to me. +No matter what they suffer, I can never see them or offer them a word +of comfort. I am afraid of the court intrigues, and they are only +children and cannot understand the duplicity of court life—I fear for +them, I fear for them,' and she swayed back and forth on her brick bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Time, however, the great healer with a little medicine and sympathy to +quiet her nerves, brought about a speedy recovery, though in the end +her fears proved all too true." +</P> + +<P> +In 1897 the brother of this first concubine met Kang Yu-wei in the +south, and became one of his disciples. Upon his return to Peking, +knowing of the Emperor's desire for reform, and his affection for his +sister, he found means of communicating with her about the young +reformer. +</P> + +<P> +At the time of the coup d'etat, and the imprisonment of the Emperor, +this first concubine was degraded and imprisoned on the ground of +having been the means of introducing Kang Yu-wei to the notice of the +Emperor, and thus interfering in state affairs. She continued in +solitary confinement from that time until the flight of the court in +1900 when in their haste to get away from the allies she was overlooked +and left in the palace. When she discovered that she was alone with the +eunuchs, fearing that she might become a victim to the foreign +soldiers, she took her life by jumping into a well. On the return of +the court in 1902, the Empress Dowager bestowed upon her posthumous +honours, in recognition of her conduct in thus taking her life and +protecting her virtue. +</P> + +<P> +Some conception of the haste and disorder with which the court left the +capital on that memorable August morning may be gleaned from the fact +that her sister was also overlooked and with a eunuch fled on foot in +the wake of the departing court. She was overtaken by Prince Chuang who +was returning in his chair from the palace, where, with Prince Ching, +he had been to inform their Majesties that the allies were in +possession of the city. The eunuch, recognizing him, called his +attention to the fleeing concubine, who, when he had alighted and +greeted her, begged him to find her a cart that she might follow the +court. Presently a dilapidated vehicle came by in which sat an old man. +The Prince ordered him to give the cart to the concubine and sent her +to his palace where a proper conveyance was secured, and she overtook +the court at the Nankow pass. +</P> + +<P> +At the audiences, this concubine was always in company with the Empress +Yehonala, standing at her left. She, however, lacked both the beauty +and intelligence of her sister. +</P> + +<P> +The ladies of the court, who were constantly associated with the +Empress Dowager as her ladies in waiting, are first, the Imperial +Princess, the daughter of the late Prince Kung, the sixth brother of +the Empress Dowager's husband. Out of friendship for her father, the +Empress Dowagers adopted her as their daughter, giving her all the +rights, privileges and titles of the daughter of an empress. She is the +only one in the empire who is entitled to ride in a yellow chair such +as is used by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor or Empress. The highest +of the princes—even Prince Ching himself—has to descend from his +chair if he meet her. Yet when this lady is in the palace, no matter +how she may be suffering, she dare not sit down in the presence of Her +Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +"One day when we were in the palace," says Mrs. Headland, "the Imperial +Princess was suffering from such a severe attack of lumbago, that she +could scarcely stand. I suggested to her that she retire to the rear of +the room, behind some of the pillars and rest a while. +</P> + +<P> +"'I dare not do that,' she replied; 'we have no such a custom in +China.'" +</P> + +<P> +She is austere in manner, plain in appearance, dignified in bearing, +about sixty-five years of age, and is noted for her accomplishment in +making the most graceful courtesy of any lady in the court. +</P> + +<P> +During the Boxer troubles and the occupation, her palace was plundered +and very much injured, and she escaped in her stocking feet through a +side door. At the first luncheon given at her palace thereafter, she +apologized for its desolate appearance, saying that it had been looted +by the Boxers, though we knew it had been looted by the allies. At +later luncheons, however, she had procured such ornaments as restored +in some measure its original beauty and grandeur, though none of these +dismantled palaces will regain their former splendour for many years to +come. +</P> + +<P> +Next to the Imperial Princess are the two sisters of Yehonala, one of +whom is married to Duke Tse, who was head of the commission that made +the tour of the world to inquire as to the best form of government to +be adopted by China in her efforts at renovation and reform. It is not +too much to suppose that it was because the Duke was married to the +Empress Dowager's niece that he was made the head of this commission, +which after its return advised the adoption of a constitution. The +other sister is the wife of Prince Shun, and is the opposite of the +Empress. She is stout, but beautiful. She has always been the favourite +niece of the Empress Dowager, appeared at all the functions, and though +very sedate when foreign ladies were present at an audience, I was told +by the Chinese that when the imperial family were alone together she +was the life of the company. She would even stand behind the Empress +Dowager's chair "making such grimaces," the Chinese expressed it, as to +make it almost impossible for the others to retain their equilibrium. +As she was the youngest of the three sisters, and because of her happy +disposition, the Chinese nicknamed her hsiao kuniang, "the little +girl." These three sisters are all childless. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess Shun and Princess Tsai Chen, only daughter-in-law of +Prince Ching, herself the daughter of a viceroy, were very congenial, +and the most intimate friends of all those in court circles. The latter +is beautiful, brilliant, quick, tactful, and graceful. Of all the +ladies of the court she is the most witty and, with Princess Shun, the +most interesting. These two more than any others made the court ladies +easy to entertain at all public functions, for they were full of +enthusiasm and tried to help things along. They seemed to feel that +they were personally responsible for the success of the audience or the +luncheon as a social undertaking. +</P> + +<P> +Lady Yuan is one of two of these court ladies who dwelt with the +Empress Dowager in the palace, the other being Prince Ching's fourth +daughter. She is a niece by marriage of the Empress Dowager, though she +really was never married. The nephew of the Empress Dowager, to whom +she was engaged, though she had never seen him, died before they were +married. After his death, but before his funeral, she dressed herself +as a widow, and in a chair covered with white sackcloth went to his +home, where she performed the ceremonies proper for a widow, which +entitled her to take her position as his wife. Such an act is regarded +as very meritorious in the eyes of the Chinese, and no women are more +highly honoured than those who have given themselves in this way to a +life of chastity. +</P> + +<P> +The second of these ladies who remained in the palace with the Empress +Dowager is the fourth daughter of Prince Ching. Married to the son of a +viceroy, their wedded life lasted only a few months. She was taken into +the palace, and being a widow, she neither wears bright colours nor +uses cosmetics. She is a fine scholar, very devout, and spends much of +her time in studying the Buddhist classics. She is considered the most +beautiful of the court ladies. +</P> + +<P> +The Empress Dowager took charge of most of the domestic matters of all +her relatives, taking into the palace and associating with her as court +ladies some who were widowed in their youth, and keeping constantly +with her only those whom she has elevated to positions of rank, or +members of her own family. Nor was she too busy with state affairs to +stop and settle domestic quarrels. +</P> + +<P> +Among the court ladies there was one who was married to a prince of the +second order. Her husband is still living, but as they were not +congenial in their wedded life, the Empress Dowager made herself a kind +of foster-mother to the Princess and banished her husband to Mongolia, +an incident which reveals to us another phase of the great Dowager's +character—that of dealing with fractious husbands. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Princesses—Their Schools +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The position accorded to woman in Chinese society is strictly a +domestic one, and, as is the case in other Eastern countries, she is +denied the liberty which threatens to attain such amazing proportions +in the West. There is no reason to suppose that woman in China is +treated worse than elsewhere; but people can of course paint her +condition just as fancy seizes them. They are rarely admitted into the +domestic surroundings of Chinese homes, therefore there is nothing to +curb the imagination. The truth is that just as much may be said on one +side as on the other. Domestic happiness is in China—as everywhere +else the world over—a lottery. The parents invariably select partners +in marriage for their sons and daughters, and sometimes make as great +blunders as the young people would if left to themselves.—Harold E. +Gorst in "China." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PRINCESSES—THEIR SCHOOLS[1] +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. +</P> + +<P> +One day while making a professional call on the Princess Su our +conversation turned to female education in China. I was deeply +interested in the subject, and was aware that the Prince had +established a school for the education of his daughters and the women +of his palace, and was naturally pleased when the Princess asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Would you care to visit our school when it is in session?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing would please me more," I answered. "When may I do so?" +</P> + +<P> +"Could you come to-morrow morning?" she inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"With pleasure; at what time?" +</P> + +<P> +"I will send my cart for you." +</P> + +<P> +The following morning the Prince's cart appeared. It was lined with +fur, upholstered in satin, furnished with cushions, and encircled by a +red band which indicated the rank of its owner. A venerable eunuch, the +head of the palace servants, preceded it as an outrider, and assisted +me in mounting and dismounting, while the driver in red-tasselled hat +walked decorously by the side. +</P> + +<P> +The school occupies a large court in the palace grounds. Another +evidence of Western influence in the same court is a large two-story +house of foreign architecture where the Prince receives his guests. +Prince Su was the first to have this foreign reception hall, but he has +been followed in this respect by other officials and princes as well as +by the Empress Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +"This is not unlike our foreign compounds," I remarked to the Princess +as we entered the court. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," she replied, "the Prince does not care to have the court paved, +but prefers to have it sodded and filled with flowers and shrubs." +</P> + +<P> +The school building was evidently designed for that purpose, being +light and airy with the whole southern exposure made into windows, and +covered with a thin white paper which gives a soft, restful light and +shuts out the glare of the sun. The floor is covered with a heavy rope +matting while the walls are hung with botanical, zoological and other +charts. Besides the usual furniture for a well-equipped schoolroom, it +was heated with a foreign stove, had glass cases for their embroidery +and drawing materials, and a good American organ to direct them in +singing, dancing and calisthenics. +</P> + +<P> +I arrived at recess. The Princess took me into the teacher's den, which +was cut off from the main room by a beautifully carved screen. Here I +was introduced to the Japanese lady teacher and served with tea. She +spoke no English and but little Chinese, and the embarrassment of our +effort to converse was only relieved by the ringing of the bell for +school. The pupils, consisting of the secondary wives and daughters of +the Prince, his son's wife, and the wives and daughters of his dead +brother who make their home with him, entered in an orderly way and +took their seats. When the teacher came into the room the ladies all +arose and remained standing until she took her place before her desk +and made a low bow to which they all responded in unison. This is the +custom in all of the schools I have visited. Even where the +superintendent is Chinese, the pupils stand and make a low Japanese bow +at the beginning and close of each recitation. +</P> + +<P> +"How long has the school been in session?" I asked the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Three and a half months," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"And they have done all this embroidery and painting in that time?" +</P> + +<P> +"They have, and in addition have pursued their Western studies," she +explained. +</P> + +<P> +In arithmetic the teacher placed the examples on the board, the pupils +worked them on their slates, after which each was called upon for an +explanation, which she gave in Japanese. While this class was reciting +the Prince came in and asked if we might not have calisthenics, +evidently thinking that I would enjoy the drill more than the +mathematics. It was interesting to see those Manchu ladies stand and go +through a thorough physical drill to the tune of a lively march on a +foreign organ. The Japanese are masters in matters of physical drill, +and in the schools I have visited I have been pleased at the quiet +dignity, and the reserve force and sweetness of their Japanese +teachers. The precision and unanimity with which orders were executed +both surprised and delighted me. Everything about these schools was +good except the singing, which was excruciatingly poor. The Chinese +have naturally clear, sweet voices, with a tendency to a minor tone, +which, with proper training, admit of fair development. But the +Japanese teacher dragged and sang in a nasal tone, in which the pupils +followed her, evidently thinking it was proper Western music. I was +rather amused to see the younger pupils go through a dignified dance or +march to the familiar strains of "Shall we gather at the river," which +the eldest daughter played on the organ. +</P> + +<P> +"The young ladies do not comb their hair in the regular Manchu style," +I observed to the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +"No," she answered, "we do not think that best. It is not very +convenient, and so we have them dress it in the small coil on top of +the head as you see. Neither do we allow them to wear flowers in their +hair, nor to paint or powder, or wear shoes with centre elevations on +the soles. We try to give them the greatest possible convenience and +comfort." +</P> + +<P> +They were proud of their bits of crocheting and embroidery, each of +which was marked with the name of the person who did it and the date +when it was completed. Many of them were made of pretty silk thread in +a very intricate pattern, though I admired their drawing and painting +still more. +</P> + +<P> +"Of what does their course of study consist?" I asked the Princess. +</P> + +<P> +She went to the wall and took down a neat gilt frame which contained +their curriculum, and which she asked her eldest daughter to copy for +me. They had five studies each day, six days of the week, Sunday being +a holiday. They began with arithmetic, followed it up with Japanese +language, needlework, music and calisthenics, then took Chinese +language, drawing, and Chinese history with the writing of the +ideographs of their own language, which was one of the most difficult +tasks they had to perform. The dignified way in which the pupils +conducted themselves, the respect which they showed their teacher, and +the way in which they went about their work, delighted me. The +discipline it gave them, the self-respect it engendered, and the power +of acquisition that came with it were worth more perhaps than the +knowledge they acquired, useful as that information must have been. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess Ka-la-chin, the fifth sister of Prince Su, is married to +the Mongolian Prince Ka-la. It is a rule among the Manchus that no +prince can marry a princess of their own people, but like the Emperor +himself, must seek their wives from among the untitled. These ladies +after their marriage are raised to the rank of their husbands. It is +the same with the daughters of a prince. Their husbands must come from +among the people, but unlike the princes they cannot raise them to +their own rank, and so their children have no place in the imperial +clan. Many of the princesses therefore prefer to marry Mongolian +princes, by which they retain their rank as well as that of their +children. +</P> + +<P> +Naturally a marriage of this kind brings changes into the life of the +princess. She has been brought up in a palace in the capital, lives on +Chinese food, and is not inured to hardships. When she marries a Mongol +prince, she is taken to the Mongolian plains, is not infrequently +compelled to live in a tent, and her food consists largely of milk, +butter, cheese and meat, most of which are an abomination to the +Chinese. They especially loathe butter and cheese, and not infrequently +speak of the foreigner smelling like the Mongol—an odour which they +say is the result of these two articles of diet. +</P> + +<P> +Prince Su's fifth sister was fortunate in being married to a Mongol +prince who was not a nomad. He had established a sort of village +capital of his possessions, the chief feature of which was his own +palace. Here he lives during the summers and part of the winters; +though once in three years he is compelled to spend at least three +months in his palace in Peking when he comes to do homage to the +Emperor. +</P> + +<P> +During one of these visits to Peking the Princess sent for me to come +to her palace. I naturally supposed she was ill, and so took with me my +medical outfit, but her first greeting was: +</P> + +<P> +"I am not ill, nor is any member of my family, but I wanted to see you +to have a talk with you about foreign countries." +</P> + +<P> +She had prepared elaborate refreshments, and while we sat eating, she +directed the conversation towards mines and mining, and then said: +</P> + +<P> +"My husband, the Prince, is very much interested in this subject, and +believes that there are rich stores of ore on his principality in +Mongolia." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, that is very interesting," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"You know, of course, it is a rule," she went on to say, "that no +prince of the realm is allowed to go more than a few miles from the +capital without special permission from the throne." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I was not aware of that fact." +</P> + +<P> +She then went on to say that her husband was anxious to attend the St. +Louis Exposition, and study this subject in America, but so long as +these hindrances remained it was impossible for him to do so. She then +said: +</P> + +<P> +"I am very much interested in the educational system of your honourable +country, and especially in your method of conducting girls' schools." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you not like to come and visit our girls' high school?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be delighted," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +This she did, and before leaving the capital she sent for a Japanese +lady teacher whom she took with her to her Mongolian home, where she +established a school for Mongolian girls. +</P> + +<P> +In this school she had a regular system of rules, which did not tally +with the undisciplined methods of the Mongolians, and it was amusing to +hear her tell how it was often necessary for the Prince to go about in +the morning and wake up the girls in order to get them into school at +nine o'clock. +</P> + +<P> +The next time she came to Peking she brought with her seventeen of her +brightest girls to see the sights of the city and visit some of the +girls' schools, both Christian and non-Christian. Everything was new to +them and it was interesting to hear their remarks as I showed them +through our home and our high school. When the Princess returned to +Mongolia she took with her a cultured young Chinese lady of unusual +literary attainments to teach the Chinese classics in the school. This +is the only school I have known that was established by a Manchu +princess, for Mongolian girls, and taught by Chinese and Japanese +teachers. This young lady was the daughter of the president of the +Board of Rites, head examiner for literary degrees for all China, and +was himself a chuang yuan, or graduate of the highest standing. Before +going, this Chinese teacher had small bound feet, but she had not been +long on the plains before she unbound her feet, dressed herself in +suitable clothing, and went with the Princess and the Japanese teacher +for a horseback ride across the plains in the early morning, a thing +which a Chinese lady, under ordinary circumstances, is never known to +do. The school is still growing in size and usefulness. +</P> + +<P> +Prince Su's third sister is married to a commoner, but as is usual with +these ladies who marry beneath their own rank, she retains her maiden +title of Third Princess, by which she is always addressed. +</P> + +<P> +"How did you obtain your education?" I once asked her. +</P> + +<P> +"During my childhood," she answered, "my mother was opposed to having +her daughters learn to read, but like most wealthy families, she had +old men come into the palace to read stories or recite poetry for our +entertainment. I not infrequently followed the old men out, bought the +books from which they read, and then bribed some of the eunuchs to +teach me to read them. In this way I obtained a fair knowledge of the +Chinese character." +</P> + +<P> +She is as deeply interested in the new educational movement among girls +as is her sister. When this desire for Western education began, she +organized a school, in which she has eighty girls or more, taken from +various grades of society, whom she and some of her friends, in +addition to employing teachers and providing the school-rooms, gave a +good part of their time to teaching the Chinese classics, while a +Japanese lady taught them calisthenics and the rudiments of Western +mathematics. +</P> + +<P> +She is aggressively pro-foreign, and is ready to do anything that will +contribute to the success of the new educational movement, and the +freedom of the Chinese woman. On one occasion when the Chinese in +Peking undertook to raise a fund for famine relief, they called a large +public meeting to which men and women were alike invited, the first +meeting of the kind ever held in Peking. Such a gathering could not +have occurred before the Boxer rebellion. The Third Princess, having +promised to help provide the programme, took a number of her girls, and +on a large rostrum, had them go through their calisthenic exercises for +the entertainment of the audience. On another occasion she took all her +girls to a private box at a Chinese circus, where men and women +acrobats and horseback riders performed in a ring not unlike that of +our own circus riders. In this circus small-footed women rode horseback +as well as the women in our own circus, and one woman with bound feet +lay down on her back, balanced a cart-wheel, weighing at least a +hundred pounds, on her feet, whirling it rapidly all the time, and then +after it stopped she continued to hold it while two women and a child +climbed on top. The Princess was determined to allow her girls to have +all the advantages the city afforded. +</P> + +<P> +At the school of this Third Princess I once attended a unique memorial +service. A lady of Hang Chou, finding it impossible to secure +sufficient money by ordinary methods for the support of a school that +she had established, cut a deep gash in her arm and then sat in the +temple court during the day of the fair, with a board beside her on +which was inscribed the explanation of her unusual conduct. This +brought her in some three hundred ounces of silver with which she +provided for her school the first year. When it was exhausted and she +could get no more, she wrote letters to the officials of her province, +in which she asked for subscriptions and urged the importance of female +education, to which she said she was willing to give her life. To her +appeal the officials paid no heed, and she finally wrote other letters +renewing her request for help to establish the school, after which she +committed suicide. The letters were sent, and later published in the +local and general newspapers. Memorial services were held in various +parts of the empire at all of which funds were gathered not only for +her school but for establishing other schools throughout the provinces. +</P> + +<P> +The school of the Third Princess at which this service was held was +profusely decorated. Chinese flags floated over the gates and +door-ways. Beautifully written scrolls, telling the reason for the +service and lauding the virtues of the lady, covered the walls of the +schoolroom. At the second entrance there was a table at which sat a +scribe who took our name and address and gave us a copy of the "order +of exercises." Here we were met by the Third Princess, who conducted us +into the main hall. Opposite the doorway was hung a portrait of the +lady, wreathed in artificial flowers, and painted by a Chinese artist. +A table stood before it on which was a plate of fragrant quinces, +candles, and burning incense, giving it the appearance of a shrine. +Pots of flowers were arranged about the room, which was unusually clean +and beautiful. The Chinese guests bowed three times before the picture +on entering the room, which I thought a very pretty ceremony. +</P> + +<P> +The girls of this school, to the number of about sixty, appeared in +blue uniform, courtesying to the guests. Sixteen other girls' schools +of Peking were represented either by teachers or pupils or both. One of +the boys' schools came en masse, dressed in military uniform, led by a +band, and a drillmaster with a sword dangling at his side. Addresses +were made by both ladies and gentlemen, chief among whom were the Third +Princess and the editress of the Woman's Daily Newspaper, the only +woman's daily at that time in the world, who urged the importance of +the establishment and endowment of schools for the education of girls +throughout the empire. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Chinese Ladies of Rank +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Though your husband may be wealthy,<BR> + You should never be profuse;<BR> + There should always be a limit<BR> + To the things you eat and use.<BR> + If your husband should be needy,<BR> + You should gladly share the same,<BR> + And be diligent and thrifty,<BR> + And no other people blame.<BR> + —"The Primer for Girls," Translated by I. T. H.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK[2] +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[2] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. +</P> + +<P> +The Manchu lady's ideal of beauty is dignity, and to this both her +deportment and her costume contribute in a well-nigh equal degree. Her +hair, put up on silver or jade jewelled hairpins, decorated with many +flowers, is very heavy, and easily tilted to one side or the other if +not carried with the utmost sedateness. Her long garments, reaching +from her shoulders to the floor, give to her tall figure an added +height, and the central elevation of from four to six inches to the +soles of her daintily embroidered slippers, compel her to stand erect +and walk slowly and majestically. She laughs but little, seldom jests, +but preserves a serious air in whatever she does. +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese lady, on the contrary, aspires to be petite, winsome, +affable and helpless. She laughs much, enjoys a joke, and is always +good-natured and chatty. +</P> + +<P> +One of their poets thus describes a noted beauty: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "At one moment with tears her bright eyes would be swimming,<BR> + The next with mischief and fun they'd be brimming.<BR> + Thousands of sonnets were written in praise of them,<BR> + Li Po wrote a song for each separate phase of them.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Bashfully, swimmingly, pleadingly, scoffingly,<BR> + Temptingly, languidly, lovingly, laughingly,<BR> + Witchingly, roguishly, playfully, naughtily,<BR> + Willfully, waywardly, meltingly, haughtily,<BR> + Gleamed the eyes of Yang Kuei Fei.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Her ruby lips and peach-bloom cheeks,<BR> + Would match the rose in hue,<BR> + If one were kissed the other speaks,<BR> + With blushes, kiss me too."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +She combs her hair in a neat coil on the back of her head, uses few +flowers, but instead prefers profuse decorations of pearls. Her upper +garment extends but little below her knees, and her lower garment is an +accordion-plaited skirt, from beneath which the pointed toes of her +small bound feet appear as she walks or sways on her "golden lilies," +as if she were a flower blown by the wind, to which the Chinese love to +compare her. Her waist is a "willow waist" in poetry, and her "golden +lilies," as her tiny feet are often called, are not more than two or +three inches long—so small that it not infrequently requires the +assistance of a servant or two to help her to walk at all. And though +she may not need them she affects to be so helpless as to require their +aid. +</P> + +<P> +Until very recently education was discouraged rather than sought by the +Manchu lady. Many of the princesses could not read the simplest book +nor write a letter to a friend, but depended upon educated eunuchs to +perform these services for them. The Chinese lady on the contrary can +usually read and write with ease, and the education of some of them is +equal to that of a Hanlin. +</P> + +<P> +Socially the ladies of these two classes never meet. Their husbands may +be of equal rank and well known to each other in official life, but the +ladies have no wish to meet each other. One day while the granddaughter +of one of the Chinese Grand Secretaries was calling upon me, the +sisters of Prince Ching and Prince Su were announced. When they entered +I introduced them. The dignity of the two princesses when presented led +me to fear that we would have a cold time together. I explained who my +Chinese lady friend was, and they answered in a formal way (wai t ou +tou jen te, li to'u k'e pu jen te) "the gentlemen of our respective +households are well acquainted, not so the ladies," but the ice did not +melt. For a time I did my best to find a topic of mutual interest, but +it was like trying to mix oil and water. I was about to give up in +despair when my little Chinese friend, observing the dilemma in which I +was placed, and the effort I was making to relieve the situation, threw +herself into the conversation with such vigour and vivacity, and +suggested topics of such interest to the others as to charm these +reserved princesses, and it was not long until they were talking +together in a most animated way. +</P> + +<P> +One of the Manchu ladies expressed regret at the falling of her hair +and the fact that she was getting bald. "Why," said my little Chinese +friend, "after a severe illness not long since, I lost all my hair, but +I received a prescription from a friend which restored it all, and just +look at the result," she continued turning her pretty head with its +great coils of shiny black hair. "I will be delighted to let you have +it." The Manchu princesses finally rose to depart, and in their +leave-taking, they were as cordial to my little Chinese friend, who had +made herself so agreeable, as they were to me, for which I shall ever +be grateful. +</P> + +<P> +After they had gone I asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Why is it that the Manchu and Chinese ladies do not intermingle in a +social way?" +</P> + +<P> +"The cause dates back to the beginning of the Manchu dynasty," she +responded. "When the Chinese men adopted the Manchu style of wearing +the queue, it was stipulated that they should not interfere with the +style of the woman's dress, and that no Chinese should be taken to the +palace as concubines or slaves to the Emperor. We have therefore always +held ourselves aloof from the Manchus. Our men did this to protect us, +and as a result no Chinese lady has ever been received at court, +except, of course, the painting teacher of the Empress Dowager, who, +before she could enter the palace, was compelled to unbind her feet, +adopt the Manchu style of dress and take a Manchu name." +</P> + +<P> +"Is not the Empress Dowager very much opposed to foot-binding? Why has +she not forbidden it?" +</P> + +<P> +"She has issued edicts recommending them to give it up, but to forbid +it is beyond her power. That would be interfering with the Chinese +ladies' dress." +</P> + +<P> +"Do the Manchus consider themselves superior to the Chinese?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a poor rule that will not work both ways. Have you never noticed +that in his edicts the Emperor speaks of his Manchu slaves and his +Chinese subjects?" +</P> + +<P> +Among my lady friends is one whose father died when she was a child, +and she was brought up in the home of her grandfather who was himself a +viceroy. She had always been accustomed to every luxury that wealth +could buy. Clothed in the richest embroidered silks and satins, +decorated with the rarest pearls and precious stones, she had serving +women and slave girls to wait upon her, and humour her every whim. One +day when we were talking of the Boxer insurrection she told me the +following story: +</P> + +<P> +"Some years ago," she said, "my steward brought me a slave girl whom he +had bought from her father on the street. She was a bright intelligent +and obedient little girl, and I soon became very fond of her. She told +me one day that her grandmother was a Christian, and that she had been +baptized and attended a Christian school. Her father, however, was an +opium-smoker, and had pawned everything he had, and finally when her +grandmother was absent had taken her and sold her to get money to buy +opium. She asked me to send a messenger to her grandmother and tell her +that she had a good home. +</P> + +<P> +"I was delighted to do so for I knew the old woman would be distressed +lest the child had been sold to a life of shame, or had found a cruel +mistress. Unfortunately, however, my messenger could find no trace of +the grandmother, as the neighbours informed him that she had left +shortly after the disappearance of the child. +</P> + +<P> +"As the years passed the child grew into womanhood. She was very +capable, kind and thoughtful for others and I learned to depend upon +her in many ways. She was very devoted to me, and sought to please me +in every way she could. She always spoke of herself as a Christian and +refused to worship our gods. When the Boxer troubles began I took my +house-servants and went to my grandfather's home thinking that the +Boxers would not dare disturb the households of such great officials as +the viceroys. But I soon found that they respected no one who had +liberal tendencies. +</P> + +<P> +"One day there was a proclamation posted to the effect that all +Christians were to be turned over to them, and that any one found +concealing a Christian would themselves be put to death. My grandmother +came to my apartments and wanted me to send my slave girl to the +Boxers. We talked about it for some time but I steadfastly refused. +When the Boxers had procured all they could by that method they +announced that they were about to make a house-to-house search, and any +household harbouring Christians would be annihilated." +</P> + +<P> +"But how would they know that your slave was a Christian?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you not heard," she asked, "that the Boxers claimed that after +going through certain incantations, they could see a cross upon the +forehead of any who had been baptized?" +</P> + +<P> +"And did you believe they could?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did then but I do not now. Indeed we all did. My grandmother came to +me and positively forbade me to keep the slave in her home. After she +had gone the girl came and knelt at my feet and begged me to save her! +How could I send her out to death when she had been so kind and +faithful to me? I finally decided upon a plan to save her. I determined +to flee with her to the home of an uncle who lived in a town a hundred +miles or more from Peking, where I hoped the Boxers were less powerful +than they were at the capital. +</P> + +<P> +"This uncle was the lieutenant-governor of the province and had always +been very fond of me, and I knew if I could reach him I should win his +sympathy and his aid. But how was this to be done? All travellers were +suspected, searched and examined. For two women to be travelling alone, +when the country was in such a state of unrest, could not but bring +upon themselves suspicion, and should we be searched, the cross upon +the forehead would surely be found, and we would be condemned to the +cruel tortures in which the Boxers were said to delight. +</P> + +<P> +"After much thought and planning the only possible method seemed to be +to flee as beggars. You know women beggars are found upon the roads at +all times and they excite little suspicion. Then in the hot summer it +is not uncommon for them to wrap their head and forehead in a piece of +cloth to protect them from the fierce rays of the sun. In this way I +hoped to conceal the cross from observation in case we came into the +presence of the Boxers. We confided our plans to a couple of the women +servants whom we could trust, and asked them to procure proper outfits +for us. They did so, and oh! what dirty old rags they were. The +servants wept as they took off and folded up my silk garments and clad +me in this beggar's garb." +</P> + +<P> +"But your skin is so soft and fair, not at all like the skin of a woman +exposed to the sun; and your black, shiny hair is not at all rusty and +dirty like the hair of a beggar woman. I should think these facts would +have caused your detection," I urged. +</P> + +<P> +"That was easily remedied. We stained our faces, necks, hands and arms, +and we took down our hair and literally rolled it in dust which the +servants brought from the street. Oh! but it was nasty! such an odour! +It was only the saving of the life of that faithful slave that could +have induced me to do it. I had to take off my little slippers and wrap +my feet in dirty rags such as beggars wear. We could take but a little +copper cash with us. To be seen with silver or gold would have at once +brought suspicion upon us, while bank-notes were useless in those days. +</P> + +<P> +"In the early morning, before any one was astir we were let out of a +back gate. It was the first time I had ever walked on the street. I had +always been accustomed to going in my closed cart with outriders and +servants. I shrank from staring eyes, and thought every glance was +suspicious. My slave was more timid than I and so I must take the +initiative. I had been accustomed to seeing street beggars from behind +the screened windows of my cart ever since I was a child and so I knew +how I ought to act, but at first it was difficult indeed. Soon, +however, we learned to play our part, though it seems now like a +hideous dream. We kept on towards the great gate through which we +passed out of the city on to the highway which led to our destination. +</P> + +<P> +"The first time we met a Boxer procession my knees knocked together in +my fear of detection but they passed by without giving us a glance. We +met them often after this, and before we finished our journey I learned +to doubt their claim to detect Christians by the sign of the cross. +</P> + +<P> +"We ate at the roadside booths, slept often in a gateway or by the side +of a wall under the open sky, and after several days' wandering, we +reached the yamen of my uncle. But we dare not enter and reveal our +identity, lest we implicate them, for we found the Boxers strong +everywhere, and even the officials feared their prowess. We hung about +the yamen begging in such a way as not to arouse suspicion, until an +old servant who had been in the family for many years, and whom I knew +well, came upon the street. I followed him begging until we were out of +earshot of others, and then told him in a singsong, whining tone, such +as beggars use, who I was and why I was there, and asked him to let my +uncle know, and said that if they would open the small gate in the +evening we would be near and could enter unobserved. +</P> + +<P> +"At first he could not believe it was I, for by this time we indeed +looked like veritable beggars, but he was finally convinced and +promised to tell my uncle. After nightfall he opened the gate and led +us in by a back passage to my aunt's apartments where she and my uncle +were waiting for me. They both burst into tears as they beheld my +plight. Two old serving women, who had been many years in the family, +helped us to change our clothes and gave us a bath and food. My feet +had suffered the most. They were swollen and ulcerated and the dirty +rags and dust adhering to the sores had left them in a wretched +condition. It took many baths before we were clean, and weeks before my +feet were healed. +</P> + +<P> +"We remained with my uncle until the close of the Boxer trouble, and +until my grandfather's return from Hsian where he had gone with the +Empress Dowager and the court, and then I came back to Peking." +</P> + +<P> +"Your grandmother must have felt ashamed when she heard how hard it had +gone with you," I remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"We never mentioned the matter when talking together. That was a time +when every one was for himself. Death stared us all in the face." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is your slave girl now? I should like to see her," I remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"After the troubles were over I married her to a young man of my +uncle's household. I will send for her and bring her to see you." +</P> + +<P> +She did so. I found she had forgotten much of what she had learned of +Christianity, but she remembered that there was but one God and that +Jesus Christ was His Son to whom alone she should pray. She also +remembered that as a small child she had been baptized, and that in +school she had been taught that "we should love one another"; this was +about the extent of her Gospel, but it had touched the heart of her +charming little mistress and had saved her life. +</P> + +<P> +There were sometimes amusing things happened when these Chinese ladies +called. My husband among other things taught astronomy in the +university. He had a small telescope with which he and the students +often examined the planets, and they were especially interested in +Jupiter and his moons. One evening, contrary to her custom, this same +friend was calling after dark, and when the students had finished with +Jupiter and his moons, my husband invited us to view them, as they were +especially clear on that particular evening. +</P> + +<P> +After she had looked at them for a while, and as my husband was closing +up the telescope, she exclaimed: "That is the kind of an instrument +that some foreigners sent as a present to my grandfather while he was +viceroy, but it was larger than this one." +</P> + +<P> +"And did he use it?" asked my husband. +</P> + +<P> +"No, we did not know what it was for. Besides my grandfather was too +busy with the affairs of the government to try to understand it." +</P> + +<P> +"And where is it now?" asked Mr. Headland, thinking that the viceroy +might be willing to donate it to the college. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know," she answered. "The servants thought it was a pump and +tried to pump water with it, but it would not work. It is probably +among the junk in some of the back rooms." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if we could not find it and fix it up," my husband persisted. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid not," she answered. "The last I saw of it, the servants +had taken the glass out of the small end and were using it to look at +insects on the bed." +</P> + +<P> +One day when one of my friends came to call I said to her: "It is a +long time since I have seen you. Have you been out of the city?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I have been spending some months with my father-in-law, the +viceroy of the Canton provinces. His wife has died, and I have returned +to Peking to get him a concubine." +</P> + +<P> +"How old is he?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Seventy-two years," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"And how will you undertake to secure a concubine for such an old man?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall probably buy one." +</P> + +<P> +A few weeks afterwards she called again having with her a good-looking +young woman of about seventeen, her hair beautifully combed, her face +powdered and painted, and clothed in rich silk and satin garments, whom +she introduced as the young lady procured for her father-in-law. She +explained that she had bought her from a poor country family for three +hundred and fifty ounces of silver. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you think it is cruel for parents to sell their daughters in +this way?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," she answered. "But with the money they received for her, +they can buy land enough to furnish them a good support all their life. +She will always have rich food, fine clothing and an easy time, with +nothing to do but enjoy herself, while if she had remained at home she +must have married some poor man who might or might not have treated her +well, and for whom she would have to work like a slave. Now she is +nominally a slave with nothing to do and with every comfort, in +addition to what she has done for her family." +</P> + +<P> +While we were having tea she asked to see Mr. Headland, as many of the +older of my friends did. I invited him in, and as he entered the +dining-room the young woman stepped out into the hall. +</P> + +<P> +My friend greeted my husband, and with a mysterious nod of her head in +the direction of the young woman she said: "Chiu shih na ke,—that's +it." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Social Life of the Chinese Woman +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The manners and customs of the Chinese, and their social +characteristics, have employed many pens and many tongues, and will +continue to furnish all inexhaustible field for students of sociology, +of religion, of philosophy, of civilization, for centuries to come. +Such studies, however, scarcely touch the province of the practical, at +least as yet, for one principal reason—that the subject is so vast, +the data are so infinite, as to overwhelm the student rather than +assist him in sound generalizations.—A. R. Colquhoun in "China in +Transformation." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN +</H3> + +<P> +The home life of a people is too sacred to be touched except by the +hand of friendship. Our doors are closed to strangers, locked to +enemies, and opened only to those of our own race who are in harmony +and sympathy with us. What then shall we say when people of an alien +race come seeking admission? They must bring some social +distinction,—letters of introduction, or an ability to help us in ways +in which we cannot help ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +In the case of a people as exclusive as the Chinese this is especially +true, so that with the exception of one or two women physicians and the +wife of one of our diplomats no one has ever been admitted in a social +as well as professional way to the women's apartments of the homes of +the better class of the Chinese people. +</P> + +<P> +A Chinese home is different from our own. It is composed of many +one-story buildings, around open courts, one behind the other, and +sometimes covers several acres of ground. Then it is divided into men's +and women's apartments, the men receiving their friends in theirs and +the women likewise receiving their friends by a side gate in their own +apartments, which are at the rear of the dwelling. A wealthy man +usually, in addition to his wife, has one or more concubines, and each +of these ladies has an apartment of her own for herself and her +children,—though all the children of all the concubines reckon as +belonging to the first wife. +</P> + +<P> +I have heard Sir Robert Hart tell an amusing incident which occurred in +Peking. He said that the Chinese minister appointed to the court of +Saint James came to call on him before setting out upon his journey. +After conversing for some time he said: +</P> + +<P> +"I should be glad to see Lady Hart. I believe it is customary in +calling on a foreign gentleman to see his lady, is it not?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is," said Sir Robert, "and I should be delighted to have you see +her, but Lady Hart was in England with our children, and has not been +here for twenty years." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, indeed, then perhaps I might see your second wife." +</P> + +<P> +"That you might, if I had one. But the customs of our country do not +allow us to have a second wife. Indeed they would imprison us if we +were to have two wives." +</P> + +<P> +"How singular," said the official with a nod of his head. "You do not +appreciate the advantages of this custom of ours." +</P> + +<P> +That there are advantages in this custom from the Chinese point of +view, I have no doubt. But from certain things I have heard I fear +there are disadvantages as well. One day the head eunuch from the +palace of one of the leading princes in Peking came to ask my wife, who +was their physician, to go to see some of the women or children who +were ill. It was drawing near to the New Year festival and, of course, +they had their own absorbing topics of conversation in the servants' +courts. I said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"The Prince has a good many children, has he not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Twenty-three," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"How many concubines has he?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Three," he replied, "but he expects to take on two more after the +holidays." +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't it cause trouble in a family for a man to have so many women +about? I should think they would be jealous of each other." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," said he, with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head, "that +is a topic that is difficult to discuss. Naturally if this woman sees +him taking to that woman, this one is going to eat vinegar." +</P> + +<P> +They do "eat vinegar," but perhaps as little of it as any people who +live in the way in which they live, for the Chinese have organized +their home life as nearly on a governmental basis as any people in the +world. +</P> + +<P> +In addition to the wife and concubines, each son when he marries brings +his wife home to a parental court, and all these sisters-in-law, or +daughters-in-law add so much to the complications of living, for each +must have her own retinue of servants. +</P> + +<P> +Young people in China are all engaged by their parents without their +knowledge or consent. This was very unsatisfactory to the young people +of the old regime, and it is being modified in the new. One day one of +my students in discussing this matter said to me: +</P> + +<P> +"Our method of getting a wife is very much better than either the old +Chinese method or your foreign method." +</P> + +<P> +"How is that?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said he, "according to the old Chinese custom a man could never +see his wife until she was brought to his house. But we can see the +girls in public meetings, we have sisters in the girls' school, they +have brothers in the college, and when we go home during vacation we +can learn all about each other." +</P> + +<P> +"But how do you consider it better than our method?" I persisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you see, when you have found the girl you want, you have to go +and get her yourself, while we can send a middleman to do it for us." +</P> + +<P> +I still argued that by our method we could become better acquainted +with the young lady. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he said, "that is true; but doesn't it make you awfully mad if +you ask a lady to marry you and she refuses?" and it must be confessed +that this was a difficult question to answer without compromising one's +self. +</P> + +<P> +The rigour of the old regime was apparently modified by giving the +young lady a chance to refuse. About ten days before the marriage, two +ladies are selected by the mother of the young man to carry a peculiar +ornament made of ebony and jade, or jade alone, or red lacquer, to the +home of the prospective bride. This ornament is called the ju yi, which +means "According to my wishes." If the lady receives it into her own +hands it signifies her willingness to become his bride; if she rejects +it, the negotiations are at an end, though I have never heard of a girl +who refused the ju yi.[3] +</P> + +<P> +Very erroneous ideas of the life and occupations of the Chinese ladies +of the noble and official classes are held by those not conversant with +their home life. The Chinese woman is commonly regarded as little +better than a secluded slave, who whiles away the tedious hours at an +embroidery frame, where with her needle she works those delicate and +intricate pieces of embroidery for which she is famous throughout the +world. In reality, a Chinese lady has little time to give to such work. +Her life is full of the most exacting social duties. Few American +ladies in the whirl of society in Washington or New York have more +social functions to attend or duties to perform. I have often been +present in the evening when the head eunuch brought to the ruling lady +of the home (and the head of the home in China is the woman, not the +man) an ebony tablet on which was written in red ink the list of social +functions the ladies were to attend the following day. +</P> + +<P> +She would select from the list such as she and her unmarried daughters +could attend,—the daughters always going with their mother and not +with their sisters-in-law,—then she would apportion the other +engagements to her daughters-in-law, who would attend them in her stead. +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese lady in Peking sleeps upon a brick bed, one half of the +room being built up a foot and a half above the floor, with flues +running through it; and in the winter a fire is built under the bed, so +that, instead of having one hot brick in her bed, she has a hundred. +She rises about eight. She has a large number of women servants, a few +slave girls, and if she belongs to the family of a prince, she has +several eunuchs, these latter to do the heavy work about the household. +Each servant has her own special duties, and resents being asked to +perform those of another. When my lady awakes a servant brings her a +cup of hot tea and a cake made of wheat or rice flour. After eating +this a slave girl presents her with a tiny pipe with a long stem from +which she takes a few whiffs. Two servants then appear with a large +polished brass basin of very hot water, towels, soaps, preparations of +honey to be used on her face and hands while they are still warm and +moist from the bathing. After the bath they remove the things and +disappear, and two other women take their places, with a tray on which +are combs, brushes, hair-pomades, and the framework and accessories +needed for combing her hair. Then begins a long and tedious operation +that may continue for two hours. Finally the hair is ready for the +ornaments, jewels and flowers which are brought by another servant on a +large tray. The mistress selects the ones she wishes, placing them in +her hair with her own hands. +</P> + +<P> +Some of these flowers are exquisite. The Chinese are expert at making +artificial flowers which are true to nature in every detail. Often +above the flower a beautiful butterfly is poised on a delicate spring, +and looks so natural that it is easy to be deceived into believing it +to be alive. When the jasmine is in bloom beautiful creations are made +of these tiny flowers by means of standards from which protrude fine +wires on which the flowers are strung in the shape of butterflies or +other symbols, and the flowers massed in this way make a very effective +ornament. With the exception of the jasmine the flowers used in the +hair are all artificial, though natural flowers are worn in +season—roses in summer, orchids in late summer, and chrysanthemums in +autumn. +</P> + +<P> +The prevailing idea with the Chinese ladies is that the foreign woman +does not comb her hair. I have often heard my friends apologizing to +ladies whom they have brought to see me for the first time, and on whom +they wanted me to make a good impression, by saying: +</P> + +<P> +"You must not mind her hair; she is really so busy she has no time to +comb it. All her time is spent in acts of benevolence." +</P> + +<P> +At the first audience when the Empress Dowager received the foreign +ladies, she presented each of them with two boxes of combs, one ivory +inlaid with gold, the other ordinary hard wood, and the set was +complete even to the fine comb. One cannot but wonder if Her Majesty +had not heard of the untidy locks of the foreign woman, which she +attributed to a lack of proper combs. +</P> + +<P> +After the hair has been properly combed and ornamented, cosmetics of +white and carmine are brought for the face and neck. The Manchu lady +uses these in great profusion, her Chinese sister more sparingly. No +Chinese lady, unless a widow or a woman past sixty, is supposed to +appear in the presence of her family without a full coating of powder +and paint. A lady one day complained to me of difficulty in lifting her +eyelids, and consulted me as to the reason. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," said I, "they are partially paralyzed by the lead in your +cosmetics. Wash off the paint and see if the nerves do not recover +their tone." +</P> + +<P> +"But," said she, "I would not dare appear in the presence of my husband +or family without paint and powder; it would not be respectable." +</P> + +<P> +The final touch to the face is the deep carmine spot on the lower lip. +</P> + +<P> +The robing then begins. And what beautiful robes they are! the softest +silks, over which are worn in summer the most delicate of embroidered +grenadines, or in winter, rich satins lined with costly furs, each +season calling for a certain number and kind. She then decorates +herself with her jewels,—earrings, bracelets, beads, rings, charms, +embroidered bags holding the betel-nut, and the tiny mirror in its +embroidered case with silk tassels. When these are hung on the buttons +of her dress her outfit is complete, and she arises from her couch a +wonderful creation, from her glossy head, with every hair in place, to +the toe of her tiny embroidered slipper. But it has taken the time of a +half-dozen servants for three hours to get these results. +</P> + +<P> +To one accustomed to the Chinese or Manchu mode of dress, she appears +very beautiful. The rich array of colours, the embroidered gowns, and +the bright head-dress, make a striking picture. Often as the ladies of +a home or palace came out on the veranda to greet me, or bid me adieu, +I have been impressed with their wonderful beauty, to which our own +dull colours, and cloth goods, suffer greatly in comparison, and I +could not blame these good ladies for looking upon our toilets with +more or less disdain. +</P> + +<P> +It is now after eleven o'clock and her breakfast is ready to be served +in another room. Word that the leading lady of the household is about +to appear is sent to the other apartments. Hurried finishing touches +are given to toilets, for all daughters, daughters-in-law and +grandchildren must be ready to receive her in the outer room when she +appears leaning on the arms of two eunuchs if she is a princess, or on +two stout serving women if a Chinese. +</P> + +<P> +According to her rank, each one in turn takes a step towards her and +gives a low courtesy in which the left knee touches the floor. Even the +children go through this same formality. All are gaily dressed, with +hair bedecked and faces painted like her own. She inclines her head but +slightly. These are the members of her household over whom she has +sway—her little realm. While her mother-in-law lived she was under the +same rigorous rule. +</P> + +<P> +In China where there are so many women in the home it is necessary to +have a head—one who without dispute rules with autocratic sway. This +is the mother-in-law. When she dies the first wife takes her place as +head of the family. A concubine may be the favourite of the husband. He +may give her fine apartments to live in, many servants to wait on her, +and every luxury he can afford; but there his power ends. The first +wife is head of the household, is legally mother of all the children +born to any or all of the concubines her husband possesses. The +children all call her mother, and the inferior wives recognize her as +their mistress. She and her daughters, and daughters-in-law, attend +social functions, receive friends, extend hospitality; but the +concubines have no place in this, unless by her permission. When the +time comes for selecting wives for her sons, it is the first wife who +does it, although she may be childless herself. It is to her the brides +of these sons are brought, and to her all deference is due. In rare +cases, where the concubine has had the good fortune to supply the heir +to the throne or to a princely family, she is raised to the position of +empress or princess. But this is seldom done, and is usually remembered +against the woman. She is never received with the same feeling as if +she had been first wife. +</P> + +<P> +One day I was asked to go to a palace to see a concubine who was ill. +In such cases I always went directly to the Princess, and she took me +to see the sick one. As we entered the room there was a nurse standing +with a child in her arms, and the Princess called my attention to a +blemish on its face. +</P> + +<P> +"Can it be removed?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +I looked at it and, seeing that it would require but a minor operation, +told her it could. +</P> + +<P> +While attending to the patient, the nurse, fearing that the child would +be hurt, left the room and another entered with another child. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said the Princess when we had finished with the patient, "we +will attend to the child." And she called the woman to her. +</P> + +<P> +"But," said the woman, "this is not the child." +</P> + +<P> +"There," said the Princess, "you see I do not know my own children." +</P> + +<P> +But I left our friend receiving the morning salutations of her +household. These over, she dismisses them to their own apartments, +where each mother sits down with her own children to her morning meal, +waited on by her own servants. If there are still unmarried daughters, +they remain with their mother; if none, she eats alone. +</P> + +<P> +Since Peking is in the same latitude as Philadelphia my lady has the +same kinds of fruit—apples, peaches, pears, apricots, the most +delicious grapes, and persimmons as large as the biggest tomato you +ever saw; indeed, the Chinese call the tomato the western red +persimmon. She has mutton from the Mongolian sheep (the finest I have +ever eaten), beef, pork or lamb; chicken, goose or duck; hare, pheasant +or deer, or fish of whatever kind she may choose. Of course these are +all prepared after the Chinese style, and be it said to the credit of +their cooks that our children are always ready to leave our own table +to partake of Chinese food. +</P> + +<P> +After her meal she lingers for a few minutes over her cup of tea and +her pipe. In the meantime her cart or sedan chair is prepared. Her +outriders are ready with their horses; the eunuchs, women and slave +girls who are to attend her, don their proper clothing and prepare the +changes of raiment needed for the various functions of the day. One +takes a basin and towels, another powder and rouge-boxes, another the +pipe and embroidered tobacco pouch, not even forgetting the silver +cuspidor, all of which will be needed. When she eats, a servant gives +her a napkin to spread over her gown; after she has finished, another +brings a basin of hot water, from which a towel is wrung with which she +gently wipes her mouth and hands. Another brings her a glass of water, +or she washes out her mouth with tea, and finally with the little +mirror and rouge-box, while she still sits at table, she touches up her +face with powder and she puts the paint upon her lip if it has +disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +When ready to start, her cart or chair is drawn up as close as possible +to the gate of the women's apartments. A screen of blue silk eighteen +or twenty feet long and six feet high, fastened to two wooden +standards, is held by eunuchs to screen her while she enters the cart. +The chair can be used only by princesses or wives of viceroys or +members of the Grand Council. But whether chair or cart it is lined and +cushioned with scarlet satin in summer, and in winter with fur. It is +an accomplishment to enter a cart gracefully, but years of practice +enable her to do so, and as soon as she is seated in Buddhist fashion, +the curtain is dropped; her attendant seats herself cross-legged in +front; several male servants rush up, seize the shafts of the cart, +place the mule between them, fasten the buckles (it reminds one of the +fire department), the driver takes his place at the lines, two other +male servants take hold of the sides of the mule's bridle, and all is +in readiness to start. Female servants and slave girls crowd into other +carts, outriders mount their mules, and the cavalcade starts with my +lady's cart ahead. +</P> + +<P> +As they pass along the streets they are remarked upon by all +foot-passengers, and as they near their destination, a courier on +horseback spurs up his steed, makes a wild dash forward, leaps from his +horse, and announces to the gate-keeper that the Princess will soon +arrive. The news is at once taken to the servants of the women's +apartments, where the name is given to a eunuch, who bears it to his +mistress. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime the party has arrived. The mule is unhitched, cart +drawn to the gate, screen spread, servant descends from front, and the +Princess with the help of a couple of eunuchs is escorted through a +long covered walk into the court, where the ladies of the household are +waiting on the veranda to receive her. As she enters the gateway the +hostess begins slowly to descend the steps. The others follow, and they +meet in the centre of the court. Low courtesies are made by each and +formal inquiries as to each other's health. There is a short stop and +certain formalities before the guest will ascend the steps ahead of the +hostess. The same occurs again on entering the reception hall, and +taking the seat of honour. The luckless foreigner sometimes makes the +mistake of conceding to her guest's modesty and allows her to take a +lower seat, which is a grievous offense, and she is only pardoned on +the plea that she is an outside barbarian, and does not understand the +rules of polite society. +</P> + +<P> +After she is seated tea is served, and servants bring in trays of +sweetmeats, fruit, nuts, dried melon seeds, candied fruits and small +cakes. One of these nuts is unique. It is an "English walnut" in which, +after the outer hull is removed, the shell is self-cracked, and folds +back in places so that the kernel appears. While partaking of these +delicacies the object of the visit is announced, which is that her son +is to be married on a certain date. Of course official announcements +will be sent later, but she wishes to ask if her hostess will act as +one of her representatives to carry the ju yi to the young lady's home. +</P> + +<P> +After the ladies have chatted for a time about the latest official +appointments, some court gossip, the latest fashion in robe +ornamentation, and the newspaper news at home and abroad—for the +Chinese have ten or a dozen newspapers in Peking, among which is the +first woman's daily in the world—the hostess invites her guest to see +her garden. They pass through a gateway into a court in which are great +trees, shrubbery, fish-ponds spanned by marble bridges, covered walks, +beautiful rockeries, wisteria vines laden with long clusters of +blossoms, summer-houses, miniature mountains, and flowers of all +kinds—a dream of beauty and loveliness. After returning to the house +another cup of tea is served, and the guest rises to leave. But before +doing so her servants bring in a bundle of clothing, and there in the +presence of her hostess her outer robes are changed for others of a +more official character. +</P> + +<P> +Her next call is at the birthday celebration of the mother of one of +the highest officials in the capital. I was present when she arrived. +Instead of entering by the front gate, she went by a private entrance +directly to the apartments of her hostess. Many guests (all gentlemen) +were assembled in the front court, which was covered by a mat pavilion +and converted into a theatre. The court was several feet lower than the +adjoining house, the front windows of which were all removed and it was +used for the accommodation of the lady guests. On the walls of the +temporary structure hung red satin and silk banners on which were +pinned ideographs cut out of gold foil or black velvet, expressive of +beautiful sentiments and good wishes for many happy returns of the day. +The Emperor, wishing to do this official honour, has informed him that +on his mother's birthday an imperial present will be sent her which is +a greater compliment than if sent to the official himself. +</P> + +<P> +It was a gala scene. Fresh guests arrived every minute. The ladies in +their most graceful and dignified courtesies were constantly bending as +other guests were announced, while the gentlemen, with low bows and +each shaking his own hands, received their friends. The clothes of the +men, though of a more sombre hue, were richer in texture than those of +the women. Heavy silks and satins, embroidered with dragons in gold +thread, indicated that this one was a member of the imperial clan, +while others equally rich were worn by the other gentlemen, each +embroidered with the insignia of his rank. Hats adorned with red +tassels, peacock feathers in jade holders, and the button denoting the +rank of the wearer, were worn by all, as it would be a breach of +etiquette to remove the hat in the presence of one's host. +</P> + +<P> +It would also be bad form for the gentlemen to raise their eyes to +where the ladies were seated; just as the latter, who must look over +the heads of the men to view the theatre, would not be caught allowing +their eyes to dwell upon any one. But no doubt these gentle little +ladies have their own curiosity, and some means of finding out who's +who among that court full of dragon-draped pillars of state; for I have +never failed to receive a ready answer when I inquired as to the name +of some handsome or distinguished-looking guest whose identity I wished +to learn. +</P> + +<P> +The theatre goes on interminably. Like my lady, they change their +clothes, and the scenery, in full view of the audience. The plays are +mostly historical, the women's parts being taken by men, as women are +not allowed to go on the stage. One daring company, in imitation of the +foreign custom, had a woman take one of the parts; but a special order +from the viceroy put the company out of commission, and the leader in +prison. +</P> + +<P> +The guests were not expected to sit quietly watching the play, but +moved about greeting each other and chatting at will. Servants brought +tea and sweetmeats and finally a banquet was served. Near the close of +the feast it was announced that the imperial present was coming, and +the members of the household disappeared. The deep boom of the drums +and the honk of the great horns were heard distinctly as they entered +the street, and soon the yellow imperial chair, with its thirty-six +bearers in the royal livery, moved slowly towards us between two rows +of the male members of the household who had gone out and were kneeling +on both sides of the street, knocking their heads as the chair passed +them. The great gates were thrown open and there in the gateway the +female members of the family knelt and kotowed as the chair passed by. +</P> + +<P> +The presents were taken into a room specially prepared for their +reception. The head imperial eunuch placed them in position, and, with +a low obeisance, departed, the richer by several hundred ounces of +silver. The gentlemen guests were first invited to view these tokens of +imperial favour. In order of their rank they entered, prostrating +themselves before them. Later we ladies were invited into the room, +where the Chinese all kotowed. What now were these wonderful gifts +before which these men and women of rank and noble birth were falling +upon their faces? +</P> + +<P> +They were two squares of red paper, eighteen inches across, printed in +outline of the imperial dragon, on which the characters for long life +and happiness were written with the imperial pen; and a small yellow +satin box in which sat a little gold Buddha not more than an inch in +height! It was the thought, not the value, which elicited all this +appreciation. +</P> + +<P> +Shall we go with this busy little princess to another festal occasion? +I was with her again. It was at the home of the sister of one of the +sweetest little princesses in the whole empire. Her baby was a month +old and she was celebrating what they call the full month feast. +Instead, however, of having the usual feasting and theatricals, the +mother, who, for days after her child was born, lay at death's door, +sent out invitations to her friends to come and fast and give thanks to +the gods for sparing her life. +</P> + +<P> +Though the child was a month old the mother was too wan and weak to +leave her couch. She was dressed, however, in festal robes, and +received her guests with many gracious words and apologies. Of course +only ladies were present. The great covered court was converted into a +large shrine. One could imagine they were looking into the main hall of +a temple, only that everything was so clean and beautiful. From the +centre of the shrine a Goddess of Mercy looked down complacently upon +the array of fruit, nuts, sweetmeats and cakes spread out before her. +Many candles in their tall candlesticks were burning on every side. +Before her was a great bronze incense-burner, from which many sticks of +incense sent out their fragrant odour on the air. As each guest passed +through the court, she took a stick from the pile, lit it, and, with a +word of prayer, added it to the number. +</P> + +<P> +After the guests had all arrived a princess—sister of the +hostess—accompanied by two of the leading guests, descended into the +paved court and took her place before the altar. Deep-toned bells were +touched by small boys whose shaven heads and priestly robes denoted +that they, like little Samuel, were being brought up within the courts +of the temple. The Princess took a great bunch of incense in her two +hands, one of her attendants lit it with a torch prepared for that +purpose, the flame and smoke ascended amid the deep tones of the bells, +as she prostrated herself before the goddess. She looked like a +beautiful fairy herself as she stood with the flaming bunch of incense +held high above her head. Three times she prostrated herself and nine +times she bent forward, fulfilling all the requirements of the law. +</P> + +<P> +At the close of this ceremony the ladies were invited to partake of a +feast prepared wholly of vegetables and vegetable oils. It requires +much more skill to prepare such a feast than when meat and animal oils +are used. The food furnished interesting topics for discussion. Most of +it was prepared by various temples, each being celebrated for some +particular dish, which it was asked to provide for the occasion. +</P> + +<P> +It is not uncommon for a Chinese lady to take upon herself a vow in +which she promises the gods to observe certain days of each month as +fast days, on condition that they restore to health a mother, father, +husband or child. No matter what banquet she attends she need only +mention to her hostess that she has a vow and she is made the chief +guest, helping others but eating nothing herself. After this full month +feast the baby was seen, its presents admired, the last cup of tea +drunk, the farewells said, and we all returned home. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[3] The remainder of the chapter is from Mrs. Headland's note-book. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Chinese Ladies—Their Ills +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + My home is girdled by a limpid stream,<BR> + And there in summer days life's movements pause,<BR> + Save where some swallow flits from beam to beam,<BR> + And the wild sea-gull near and nearer draws.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The good wife rules a paper board for chess;<BR> + The children beat a fish-hook out of wire;<BR> + My ailments call for physic more or less,<BR> + What else should this poor frame of mine require?<BR> + —"Tu Fu," Translated.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHINESE LADIES—THEIR ILLS[4] +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[4] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. +</P> + +<P> +One day a eunuch dashed into the back gate of our compound in Peking, +rode up to the door of the library, dismounted from his horse, and +handed a letter in a red envelope to the house servant who met him on +the steps. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter?" asked the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"The Princess is ill," replied the servant. +</P> + +<P> +"What Princess?" further inquired the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Our Princess," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you are from the palace near the west gate?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," and the boy and the servant continued their conversation until +the former had learned all that the letter contained, whereupon he +brought me the message. +</P> + +<P> +I opened the letter, written in the Chinese ideographs, and called the +messenger in. +</P> + +<P> +"Is the Princess very ill?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Not very," he answered, "but she has been indisposed for several days." +</P> + +<P> +"When does she want me to go?" I inquired, for I had long ago learned +that a few inquiries often brought out interesting and valuable +information. +</P> + +<P> +"At once," he answered; "the cart will be here in a few minutes." +</P> + +<P> +By the time I had made ready my medical outfit the cart had arrived. It +was very much like a great Saratoga trunk on two wheels. It was without +seat and without springs, but filled with thick cushions, and as I had +learned to sit tailor fashion it was not entirely uncomfortable to ride +in. It had gauze curtains in summer, and was lined with quilted silk or +fur in winter, and was a comfortable conveyance. +</P> + +<P> +When I reached the palace I was met by the head eunuch, who conducted +me at once to the apartments of the Princess. Her reception room was +handsomely furnished with rich, carved, teak-wood furniture after the +Manchu fashion, with one or two large, comfortable, leather-covered +easy chairs of foreign make. Clocks sat upon the tables and +window-sills, and fine Swiss watches hung on the walls. Beautiful jade +and other rich Chinese ornaments were arranged in a tasteful way about +the room. On the wall hung a picture painted by the Empress Dowager, a +gift to the Prince on his birthday. +</P> + +<P> +After a moment's waiting the Princess appeared attended by her women +and slave girls. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon for not having my hair properly dressed," she said, +as she took my hands in hers, the custom of these Manchu princesses and +even the Empress Dowager herself, in greeting foreign ladies. "I +welcome you back to Peking after your summer vacation." +</P> + +<P> +When the usual salutations had been passed she told me her trouble and +I gave her the proper medicine, with minute instructions as to how to +take it, which I also repeated to her women. +</P> + +<P> +"The cause of my illness," she explained, "is over-fatigue. I had to be +present at court on the eighth of the eighth month and I became very +tired from standing all day." +</P> + +<P> +"But could you not sit down?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the presence of the Empress Dowager," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, I know you could not sit down in the presence of Her +Majesty, but could you not withdraw and rest a while?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Not that day. It was a busy and tiresome day for us all," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +While we were talking the young Princess, her son's wife, came in and +greeted her mother-in-law in a formal but kindly way, and gave her +hands to me just as the Princess had done. She remained standing all +the time she was in the room, as did four of the secondary princesses +or wives of her husband. They were all beautifully dressed, but they +are beneath the Princess in rank, and so must stand in her presence. If +the Prince's mother had come in, as she often did when I was there, the +Princess would have to stand and wait on her. All Manchu families are +very particular in this respect. +</P> + +<P> +"You will be interested," said the Princess, "in one phase of our visit +to the palace." Then turning to one of her women she said: "Bring me +those two pairs of shoes." +</P> + +<P> +"These," she explained, "are like some made by my mother-in-law and +myself as presents for the Empress Dowager. On the eighth of the eighth +month we have a feast, when the ladies of the royal household are +invited into the palace, and our custom is for each of us to present +Her Majesty with a pair of shoes." +</P> + +<P> +The shoes were daintily embroidered, though not so pretty as some I +have seen the Empress Dowager wear. Some of her shoes are decorated +with beautiful pearls and others are covered with precious stones. +</P> + +<P> +"The Empress Dowager," continued the Princess, "is very vain of her +small feet; though," she continued, as she put her own foot out, +encased in the daintiest little embroidered slipper of light-blue +satin, "it is not so small as my own." +</P> + +<P> +It seemed very human to hear this delicate little Princess make a +remark of this kind. Of course, both she and the Empress Dowager have +natural feet. +</P> + +<P> +It was late in the afternoon, some months after my visit to the +Princess, that a very different call came for my services. +</P> + +<P> +The boy came in and told me that a man wanted me to go to see his wife, +who lived in the southern city outside the Ha-ta gate. It has always +been my custom never to refuse any one whether they be rich or poor, +and so I told him to call a cart. +</P> + +<P> +It was in midwinter and a bitter cold night, the room was without fire +and yet there was a child of three or four toddling about upon the kang +or brick bed whose only garment was a long coat. +</P> + +<P> +"You should put a pair of trousers on that child," I said, "or it will +catch cold and I will soon have to come again." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," they said, "we will put trousers on it." +</P> + +<P> +"You had better do it at once," I insisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," they continued, "we will see that it is dressed." +</P> + +<P> +After attending to the woman, and again urging them to dress the child, +I wrapped my warm cloak around me and started home, though I could not +forget the child. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a cold night," I said to the driver as we started on our way. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he answered, "there will be some uncomfortable people in the +city to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"In that house we just left," I continued, for I could not banish the +child from my thoughts, "there was a little child playing on the bed +without a shred of trousers on." +</P> + +<P> +"Quite right," said he; "they pawned the trousers of that child to get +money to pay me for taking you to see the sick woman." +</P> + +<P> +"To pay you!" said I, with indignation, and yet with admiration for the +character of the people for whom I was giving my services—"to pay you! +Then drive right back and give them their money and tell them to go and +redeem those trousers and put them on the child!" +</P> + +<P> +"The city gate will be closed before we can reach it if I return," said +he, "and we will not be able to get in to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"No matter about that," I insisted, "go back and give them the money." +</P> + +<P> +He turned around with many mutterings, lashed up his mule at the top of +his speed, gave them the money, and then started on a gallop for the +city gate. It was a rough ride in that springless cart over the rutty +roads. But my house seemed warmer that night and my bed seemed softer +after I had paid the carter myself. +</P> + +<P> +Among my friends and patients none are more interesting than the Misses +Hsu. They are very intelligent, and after I had become well acquainted +with them I said to them one day: +</P> + +<P> +"How is it that you have done such wide reading?" +</P> + +<P> +"You know, of course," they said, "that our father is a chuang yuan." +</P> + +<P> +I asked them the meaning of a chuang yuan. Then I learned that under +the Chinese system a great many students enter the examinations, and +those who secure their degree are called hsiu tsai; a year or two later +these are examined again, and those who pass are given the degree of +chu jen; once more these latter are examined and the successful +candidates are called chin shih, and are then ready for official +position. They continue to study, however, and are allowed to go into +the palace, where they are examined in the presence of the Emperor, and +those who pass are called han lin, or forest of pencils. Once in three +years these han lins are examined and one is allowed to obtain a +degree—he is a chuang yuan. +</P> + +<P> +Out of four hundred million people but one is allowed this degree once +in three years. +</P> + +<P> +"Your father must be a very great scholar," I remarked. +</P> + +<P> +"He has always been a diligent student," they answered, modestly. +</P> + +<P> +"What is his given name?" I inquired, one day. +</P> + +<P> +"If you will give me a pencil I will write it for you; we never speak +the given name of our father in China," said the eldest, and she wrote +it down. +</P> + +<P> +"How many sisters are there in your family—eight, are there not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. You know, of course, that number five was engaged when a child of +six to the son of Li Hung-chang." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I was not aware of the fact; and were they married?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, they were never married. The young man died before they were old +enough to wed. When word of his death was brought to her, child that +she was, she went to our mother and told her she must never engage her +to any one else, as she meant to live and die the widow of this boy." +</P> + +<P> +"And did she go to Li Hung-chang's home?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, the old Viceroy wanted to take her to his home, build a suite of +rooms for her, and treat her as his daughter-in-law, but our parents +objected because she was so young. The Viceroy loved her very much, and +his eyes often filled with tears as he spoke of her and the son who had +passed away. When the Viceroy died she wanted to go and kotow at his +funeral, and all his family except the eldest son were anxious to have +her do so, and thus be recognized as one of the family. But this son +objected, and though Lady Li knocked her head on the coffin until it +bled he would not yield, lest she might want her portion." +</P> + +<P> +"And what has become of your sister? How is it that I have never seen +her?" +</P> + +<P> +"She withdrew to a small court, where she has lived with none but her +women servants, not even seeing our father or brothers, and not +allowing a male servant to go near her. And she will not permit the +word Li to be spoken in her presence." +</P> + +<P> +"And what does she do?" I asked. "How does she employ herself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Studying, reading, painting, and embroidery. When young Li refused to +allow her to attend his father's funeral her sense of self-respect was +outraged and she cut off her hair and threatened to commit suicide. She +often fasts for a week, and has tried on several occasions to take her +own life." +</P> + +<P> +I asked them if they did not fear that she might succeed finally in +this attempt to kill herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we have constant apprehensions. But then, what if she did? It +would only emphasize her virtue." +</P> + +<P> +It was some months after the young ladies told me what I have just +related that they called, for they had taken up the study of English +and I had agreed to help them a bit. +</P> + +<P> +"How is your sister?" I inquired, for the sad fate of this young girl +weighed like a burden on my heart. +</P> + +<P> +"She fasted more than usual during the early summer, but she bathed +daily and changed her clothes, dressing herself in her most beautiful +garments. She had not been sleeping well for some time, and one day she +ordered her women to leave her and not return until they were called. +They remained away until a married sister and a sister-in-law-a niece +of Li Hung-chang—called and wanted to see her. We went to her room but +found it locked. We knocked but received no answer. We finally punched +a hole through the paper window and saw her sitting on her brick bed, +her head bolstered up with cushions and her eyes closed. We supposed +she was sleeping, but on forcing open the door we found that she had +gone to join her boy husband, though her colour and appearance was that +of a living person." +</P> + +<P> +"And are you sure she had not swooned?" +</P> + +<P> +"She remained in this condition for twenty-two hours without pulse or +heart beat, and so we put her in her casket." +</P> + +<P> +I could not but feel sad that I had not been in the city, and had had +an opportunity to help them to ascertain whether her life had really +gone out. But the girls seemed proud of the distinction of having had a +sister of such consummate virtue. Numerous embroidered scrolls and +laudatory inscriptions were sent her from friends of the Li family as +well as of their own, and it is expected that the throne will order a +memorial arch erected to her memory. +</P> + +<P> +On another occasion I was requested to go to the palace of one of the +princes. The fourth Princess, a beautiful little child of five, was ill +with diphtheria, and the first greeting of the mother as I went in was +that she "was homesick to see me." The child had been ill for several +days before they sent for me, and I told them at once that the case was +dangerous. I wanted to do all I could for them and at the same time +protect my own children from the danger of infection. After the first +treatment with antitoxin she seemed to rally, her throat cleared up, +but I soon found that the poison had pervaded her entire system, and so +I stayed with her day and night. +</P> + +<P> +I found that the child had contracted the disease from another about +her own age, who was both her playmate and her slave. It is the custom +among the wealthy to purchase for each daughter a companion who plays +with her as a child, becomes a companion in youth and her maid when she +marries. These slaves are usually treated well, and when this one +became ill the members of the family visited her often, taking her such +dainties as might tempt her appetite. As a result I had to administer +antitoxin to eight of the younger members of the household, so careless +had they been about the spread of this disease; indeed I have found +that the isolation of patients suffering from contagious diseases is +wholly unknown in China. +</P> + +<P> +One of the most attractive of all my Chinese lady friends and patients +is the niece of the great Viceroy, Li Hung-chang, the daughter of his +brother, Li Han-chang, who is himself a viceroy. I have been her +physician for eighteen years or more and hence have become intimately +acquainted with her. She has visited me very often in my home and, of +all the women I have ever known, of any race or people, I have never +met one whom I thought more cultured or refined than she. This may seem +a strange statement, but the quiet dignity that she manifested on all +occasions and her charming manners are not often met with. I have never +felt on entering a drawing-room such an atmosphere of refinement as +seemed to surround her. +</P> + +<P> +That the Chinese take very kindly to foreign medicine there is no +doubt, though it is sometimes amusing how they go back to their own +native methods. +</P> + +<P> +One day my husband brought home a physiological chart about the size of +an ordinary man. It was covered with black spots and I asked him the +reason for them. +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I asked the dealer from whom I bought it," he replied, +"and he told me that those spots indicate where the needle can be +inserted in treatment by acupuncture without killing the patient." +</P> + +<P> +When a Chinese is ill the doctor generally concludes that the only way +to cure him is to stick a long needle into him and let out the pain or +set up counter irritation. If the patient dies it is evident he stuck +the needle into the wrong spot. And this chart has been made up from +millions of experiments during the past two or three thousand years +from patients who have died or recovered. +</P> + +<P> +This was practically illustrated by a woman who was brought to the +hospital. Having had pain in the knee she sent for a Chinese physician +who concluded that the only method of relieving her was by acupuncture. +He therefore inserted a needle which unfortunately pierced the synovial +sac causing inflammation which finally resulted in complete destruction +of the joint. Such cases are not infrequent both among adults and +children in all grades of society, due to this method of treatment. +</P> + +<P> +One day I was called to see a lady who was in immediate need of +surgical treatment. She had three sons who were in high official +positions in the palace, and if their mother died they would have to +withdraw from official life and go into mourning for three years. When +men are thus compelled to resign the new incumbent is not inclined to +restore the office when the period of mourning is over. They were +therefore doubly anxious to have their mother recover. They had tried +all kinds of Chinese physicians and finally sent for me. +</P> + +<P> +I explained the nature of the operation necessary, and gave them every +reason to hope for a speedy recovery, while without surgical treatment +she must surely die. They consented and the operation was successful. +She recovered rapidly for a few days until I regarded her as +practically out of danger. But one day when I called I found her bathed +in perspiration, shaking with fear, weeping and depressed. Her wound +was in an excellent condition and I could find no reason for her +despondency. I cheered her up, laughed and talked with her, gave her +such articles of diet as she craved, and left her happy. The next day I +again found her in the same nervous condition. +</P> + +<P> +"Something is wrong with your mother of which you have not told me," I +said to her son. +</P> + +<P> +"Before we sent for you," he said, "we had called a spirit doctor, who +went into a sort of trance, claimed to have descended into the spirit +world where he saw them making a coffin which he said my mother would +occupy before the fifteenth of the month. It is because that time is +approaching that she is filled with fear." +</P> + +<P> +I talked with the lady, showed her how her wound was healing, +encouraged her to rest easy until the fifteenth, when I would spend the +day with her, after which she immediately began gaining strength and +soon recovered. +</P> + +<P> +At another time I was called to see the wife of the president of the +Board of Punishments. I found an operation necessary. The next day I +found the patient delirious with a fever, and asked the husband if my +directions had been followed. +</P> + +<P> +"I assure you they have," he answered. "But the cause of the fever is +this: Last evening while the servants were taking their meal she was +left alone for a short time. While they were absent, her sister who +lived on this street, a short distance from here, committed suicide. +When the servant discovered it she ran directly to my wife's room, and +told her of the tragedy. My wife began to tremble, had a severe chill, +and soon became delirious. I suspect that her sister's spirit +accompanied the servant and entered my wife." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of this explanation I cleaned and dressed the wound and left +her more comfortable. The next morning she was somewhat better, without +fever and in her right mind. +</P> + +<P> +"What kind of a night did she have?" I asked her husband. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, very good," he answered. "I managed to get the spirit out of her." +</P> + +<P> +"How did you do it?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Soon after you left yesterday, I dressed myself in my official +garments, came into my wife's apartments, and asked the spirit if it +would not like to go with me to the yamen, adding that we would have +some interesting cases to settle. I felt a strange sensation come over +me and I knew the spirit had entered me. I got into my cart, drove down +to the home of my sister-in-law, went in where the corpse lay, and told +the spirit that it would be a disgrace to have a woman at the Board of +Punishments. 'This is your place,' I said, in an angry voice; 'get out +of me and stay where you belong.' I felt the spirit leaving me, my +fingers became stiff and I felt faint. I had only been at the Board a +short time when they sent a servant to tell me that my wife was quiet +and sleeping. When I returned in the evening the fever was gone and she +was rational." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Funeral Ceremonies of a Dowager Princess +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +There are five degrees of mourning, as follows:—For parents, +grandparents and great-grandparents; for brothers and sisters; for +uncles and aunts; and for distant relatives. In the first sackcloth +without hem or border; in the second with hem or border; in the third, +fourth and fifth, pieces of sackcloth on parts of the dress. When +sackcloth is worn, after the third interval of seven days is over the +mourners can cast it off, and wear plain colours, such as white, gray, +black and blue. For a parent the period is nominally three years, but +really twenty-seven months, during all which time no silk can be worn; +during this time officials have to resign their appointments, and +retire from public life.—Dyer Ball in "Things Chinese." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS[5] +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[5] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +One day I received a large sheet of white paper on which was written in +Chinese characters the announcement of the death of the Dowager +Princess Su, and inviting me to the "third-day exercises." The real +meaning of this "chieh san" I did not comprehend, but I knew that those +who were invited sent presents of cakes or fruit, or baskets of paper +flowers, incense, gold and silver ingots made of paper, or rolls of +paper silk, all of which were intended for the use of the spirit of the +departed. The paper presents were all burned on the evening of the +third day, while the spirit feasted upon the flavour of the fruit and +cakes. +</P> + +<P> +As I did not feel that it was appropriate for me to send these things, +I had a beautiful wreath of white chrysanthemum flowers made, and sent +that instead. While I appreciated the invitation, I thought it was +probably given only as a matter of form, and that I was not expected to +attend the exercises, and so I sent my Chinese maid with the wreath, +saying that as I did not understand their customs I would not go. +</P> + +<P> +It was not long until the maid returned saying that they were anxious +to have me come, that under no circumstances must I refuse, as they +wished me to see their funeral ceremonies. The Princess sent her cart +for me, and according to the Chinese custom, I took my maid seated upon +the front, and set out for Prince Su's palace. As we neared our +destination we passed numerous carts and chairs of princes who had been +at the palace to pay their respects. The street leading off the great +thoroughfare was filled with carts, chairs, servants and outriders, but +the utmost order prevailed. There were scores of soldiers and special +police, the latter dressed in long garments of gray with a short jacket +of white on the breast of which was his number in black. These gray and +white uniforms were mourning colours, and were given by the Prince. +</P> + +<P> +As we entered the gate we saw white-robed servants everywhere, each +with a sober face and a dignified bearing, waiting to be of use. My +name was announced and two servants stepped out from the crowd, clothed +from head to feet in white sackcloth, one presenting his arm to help me +through the court, as though I were a bound-footed woman, and the other +led the way. We were taken by a roundabout path, through numerous +courts and passages, the front being reserved for the male guests, and +were finally ushered into a room filled with white-robed women +servants, who with one accord bent their knee in a low courtesy. +</P> + +<P> +We were there met by the first and third Princesses, daughters of the +Dowager who had just passed away. They were dressed in white, their +hair being put up in the Manchu fashion. Instead of the jewels and +bright flowers, however, it was crossed and recrossed with bands of +white folded sackcloth. As these two ladies were married daughters, and +had left this home, their sackcloth was not so coarse as that of the +daughters-in-law and granddaughters who dwelt in the palace. It was +they who received the guests and conducted them into the room where the +mourners were kneeling. +</P> + +<P> +As the white door screen was raised I saw two rows of white-robed +figures kneeling on the floor, and as I entered they all bent forward +and touched their head to the ground, giving forth as they did it a +low, wailing chant. +</P> + +<P> +Not knowing their customs I went up and stooped over, speaking first to +the Princess and then to the ladies as best I could. I afterwards +watched the other lady visitors and saw that they put their right hand +up near their head as our soldiers salute, and courtesied to the +Princess, her daughter-in-law and her eldest daughter. They then went +over to a little table on which was a silver sacrificial set, +consisting of a wine tankard, a great bowl, and a number of tiny cups +holding but two tablespoonfuls. They took the cup in its little saucer, +and, facing the beautiful canopied catafalque where the Dowager +Princess was lying in state, they raised the cup as high as their head +three times, emptying and refilling it each time. The mourners +prostrated themselves and gave forth a mournful wail each time the cup +was poured, after which the visitor arose and came over to where we +were, and the ceremony was over. +</P> + +<P> +The third daughter of the late Dowager seemed to regard me as her +special friend and guest, and insisted on my coming over to a white +curtain that separated us from the view of the gentlemen, and from +there I watched the proceedings of princes and officials who went +through a similar ceremony. There was this difference with them, +however, as they entered through the great canopied court, they were +conducted by white-robed servants directly to the altar, and there +kneeling, they made their obeisance to the spirit of the departed, +after which they went into the room where the Prince and the other male +descendants of the dead Dowager were kneeling and prostrating +themselves. +</P> + +<P> +There was a heavy yellow curtain over the door that led into the +sacrificial hall, and when the servants from without announced a +visitor, this curtain was drawn aside, and as the guest and a flood of +light entered, the mourners began their wailing which they continued +until he had departed. These visitors remained but a moment, while the +ladies who were there were all near relatives, and were dressed either +entirely or partially in sackcloth. +</P> + +<P> +The room in which these ladies knelt was draped in white. The cushions +were all covered with white, and all porcelain and other decorations +had been removed. The floor was covered with a heavy rope matting, on +which the ladies knelt—all except the Princess, for whom was prepared +a small dark blue felt cushion. The Princess knelt at the northwest +corner of the room, directly in front of the curtain which separated +them from the sacrificial hall. Several of the very near male relatives +entered and gave the low Manchu courtesy to the Princess, the son's +wife, and the eldest daughter, though none of the other kneeling ladies +were recognized. They left immediately without, so far as I noticed, +raising their eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The Prince, his sons and the other mourners in the men's room were +clothed in white fur, and the servants too, who stood in the +sacrificial hall, and at intervals along the way towards the hall, wore +white fur coats instead of sackcloth. +</P> + +<P> +To the left of the Princess there knelt in succession all the secondary +wives of Prince Su, and if I mistake not there were five of these +concubines. Behind the Princess knelt her son's wife—the future +Princess Su, and on her left, the daughters and granddaughters of the +Prince knelt in succession. The Princess and secondary princesses had +bands of sackcloth wound around their heads, though their hair hung +down their backs in two long braids, and as I had never seen these +princesses except when clothed in beautifully embroidered satin +garments, with hair put up in elaborate coiffures, decked with jewels +and flowers, and faces painted and powdered in the proper Manchu +fashion, it was not easy to recognize them in these white-robed, +yellow-faced women, with hair hanging down their backs. +</P> + +<P> +The grandson's wife and granddaughters, on the other hand, had their +hair combed, but the long hairpin was of silver instead of jade or +gold, and instead of being decorated with jewels and flowers, and a red +cord, it was crossed and recrossed with bands of folded sackcloth an +inch and a half in width. It was neat and very effective—the black +hair and white cloth making a pretty contrast to the Western eye, +though it would probably not be so considered by the Chinese. +</P> + +<P> +After I had watched them for a few moments I said to the princess who +accompanied me: +</P> + +<P> +"I must not intrude upon your time longer; you have been very kind to +allow me to witness all these interesting customs." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but you must not go now," she insisted; "you must remain and see +the arrival of the priests, and the burning of the paper houses, goods, +chattels, and images on the great street. I want you to understand all +our customs, and this is the greatest and most interesting day of the +funeral ceremonies." +</P> + +<P> +I urged that I ought not to intrude myself upon them at this time. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," she said, "you must not say that. It is not intrusion; you +must stay and dine with us this evening." +</P> + +<P> +When I still insisted upon going she said that if I went they would +feel that I did not care for them, and she was so persistent that I +consented to remain if the maid might be sent home to the children, +which they at once arranged for. +</P> + +<P> +In the interval between the arrival of male guests, the ladies took me +out into a large canopied court to see the decorations, and into the +sacrificial hall. These ceremonies were all conducted in the house and +court which the Dowager Princess had occupied, and where I had often +gone to see her when she wanted to thank me for some medical attention +I had given her children or grandchildren. +</P> + +<P> +As we passed through the great gate, I noticed that the court was +covered with a mat pavilion making a room about one hundred and fifty +feet square, lighted by great squares of glass near the top, and +decorated with banners of rich brocade silks or satins, of sober +colours, blue, gray or white, on which were texts extolling the virtues +of the late Dowager or her family. These were the gifts of friends, who +had been coming and would continue to come for days if not weeks. +</P> + +<P> +At the north end as one came in at the gate was a gallery running the +whole length of the northern court, fitted up with special hangings +which separated it into different compartments. Many elegant banners +and decorations gave it a striking effect. This was the place where the +priests, who had not yet arrived, were to say their prayers day and +night until the funeral ceremonies were over. +</P> + +<P> +Directly in front of the catafalque, in the gallery, there was a table +on which I afterwards saw the priests place a silver vessel which the +head priest carried, and the others regarded with much solemnity. +</P> + +<P> +From the gateway leading into the sacrificial hall the floor of the +court had been raised even with the door of the house and the gate, a +height of about five feet, and forty feet wide, and was covered with +the same kind of rope matting that was on the floors. On the canopied +verandas there were stacks of cakes, incense, fruit and money. These +were the most novel sights I have ever seen in China. They were ten or +twelve feet high. They were a very pretty sight, and it required some +scrutiny to discover that they were made of cakes and fruit. How they +were able to build them thus, tier upon tier, and prevent their falling +when they were touched is beyond my comprehension. What magic there is +in it I do not know. +</P> + +<P> +As one entered the door of the sacrificial hall, towering above +everything else, was the great catafalque, draped in cloth of gold, and +in front of it were stacks of these sacrificial cakes. Near them there +was a table on which there were great white, square candles, five +inches or more in diameter, the four sides of which were stamped with +figures of fairies and immortals. On this table there were also various +savoury dishes, together with cakes and fruit, prepared to feed the +spirit of the dead. In front of this table again there was another +about a foot high on which were placed the sacrificial wine vessels, +and before which the guests knelt. As we entered I saw the gentlemen +kneeling to the left, while the ladies, separated from them by white +curtains, were kneeling to the right. +</P> + +<P> +After we had seen the various customs without, I was taken into the +dining-room, where I sat down with the young Princess and her two +aunts, daughters of the Dowager. They were very kind and polite, and +did all in their power to make me feel at home. We were attended by +white-robed eunuchs, who knelt when they spoke to the Princess. There +was such a lot of them. +</P> + +<P> +"How many servants do you use ordinarily?" I asked the eldest daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"About four hundred," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +I thought of the task of robing four hundred servants in new white +sackcloth, and attending to all the other things that I had seen, in +the forty-eight hours since the death of the Dowager Princess. Even the +bread, instead of being dotted with red as it is ordinarily, was dotted +with black! +</P> + +<P> +As we were finishing our supper we heard the horns of the priests and +went to see them arrive. Prince Su, and the other male members of the +family, went out to the door to receive them, but we remained within. +They first went to the gallery, then the head priest came down into the +sacrificial hall and made nine prostrations before the catafalque, +without, however, pouring or offering wine. After each third +prostration he stood up and raised his clasped hands to a level with +his eyes. They then began their weird music, standing on the two sides +of the raised platform between the gate and the house, thus allowing a +passageway between them for the guests. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess told me that they were about to form a procession to go to +the great street. I therefore took my leave in order that I might +precede them and see the procession arrive, and witness the burning of +the presents for the spirit. +</P> + +<P> +When I arrived on the great street I there beheld a paper cart and +horses which were intended to transport the spirit to the eastern +heaven. There was a sedan chair for her use after her arrival, numerous +servants, money, silk, and a beautiful, big house for her to dwell in, +all made of paper. I had not long to wait for the procession, which was +headed by the priests playing mournful, wailing music on large and +small horns and drums. The priests were followed by the mourners and +their friends. When they arrived at the place of the burning, the +mourners prostrated themselves upon white cushions before the paper +furnishings amid the shrieks of the instruments, the wailing of the +hired mourners, and the petitions of the priests for the spirits to +assist the departed on her way. +</P> + +<P> +While this was going on, fire was applied to various parts of the paper +pile, and in a moment a great flame sprang up into the air—a flame +that could be seen from miles around, and in less time than it takes to +tell it the whole was a heap of glowing ashes, the mourners had +departed, and the little street children were stirring it up with long +sticks. +</P> + +<P> +The first three days after death, the spirit is supposed to visit the +different temples, going, as it were, from official court to official +court receiving judgment, and cards of merit or demerit to take with +it, for the deeds done in the body. On the third day it returns to say +farewell to the home, and then leaves for its long journey, and all +this paper furniture is sent on ahead. +</P> + +<P> +They continue forty-nine days of prayers by the priests, alternating +three days by the Buddhists, three by the Lamas, and three by the +Taoists, after which the Buddhists take their turn again. Everything +else remains much as I have described it. The family, servants, +everybody in mourning, and all business put aside to make way for this +ceremony of mourning, mourning, mourning, when they ought to be +rejoicing, for the poor old Princess had been a paralytic for years and +was far better out of her misery. +</P> + +<P> +The Princess frequently sent her cart for me during these days. Once +when I was going through the court where there were vast quantities of +things to be burned for the spirit, all made of paper, I noticed some +that were so natural that I was unable to distinguish between them and +the real things. Especially was this true of the furniture and flowers +like that which had been in her apartments. There were great ebony +chairs with fantastically marked marble seats, cabinets, and all the +furniture necessary for her use. Among these things I noticed on the +table a pack of cards and a set of dice, of which she had been very +fond, and a chair like the one in which the eunuchs had carried the +crippled old Princess about the court, and I said to the young Princess +who accompanied me: +</P> + +<P> +"You do not think your grandmother will require these things in the +spirit world, do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps not," she replied, "but she enjoyed her cards and dice, and +the chair was such a necessity, that, whether she needs them or not, it +is a comfort to us to get and send her everything she liked while she +lived, and it helps us bear our sorrows." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Chinese Princes and Officials +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +In any estimate of the forces which lead and control public opinion in +China, everywhere from the knot of peasants in the hamlet to the +highest officers of state and the Emperor himself, the literati, or +educated class, must be given a prominent position. They form an +immense body, increased each year by the government examinations. They +are at the head of the social order. Every civil officer in the empire +must be chosen from their number. They constitute the basis of an +elaborate system of civil service, well equipped with checks and +balances which, if corrected and brought into touch with modern life +and thought, would easily command the admiration of the world.—Chester +Holcomb in "The Real Chinese Question." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS +</H3> + +<P> +One day while the head eunuch from the palace of one of the leading +princes in Peking was sitting in my study he said: +</P> + +<P> +"It is drawing near to the New Year. Do you celebrate the New Year in +your honourable country?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I replied, "though not quite the same as you do here." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you fire off crackers?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, in the matter of firecrackers, we celebrate very much the same as +you do." +</P> + +<P> +"And do you settle up all your debts as we do here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid we do not. That is not a part of our New Year celebration." +</P> + +<P> +"Our Prince is going to take on two more concubines this New Year," he +volunteered. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, indeed, I thought he had three concubines already." +</P> + +<P> +"So he does, but he is entitled to five." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think it would make trouble in a family for one man to have +so many women," I ventured. +</P> + +<P> +He waved his hand in that peculiar way the Chinese have of saying, +don't mention it, as he answered: +</P> + +<P> +"That is a difficult matter to discuss. Naturally if this woman sees +the Prince talking to that one, this one is going to eat vinegar," +which gives us a glimpse of some of the domestic difficulties in +Chinese high life. However it is a fact worth remembering that the +Manchu prince does not receive his full stipend from the government +until he has five concubines, each of whom is the mother of a son. +</P> + +<P> +The leading princes of the new regime are Ching, Su, and Pu-lun. Prince +Ching has been the leader of the Manchus ever since the downfall of +Prince Kung. He has held almost every office it was in the power of the +Empress Dowager to give, "though disliked by the Emperor." He was made +president of the Tsung-li Yamen in 1884, and from that time until the +present has never been degraded, or in any way lost the imperial +favour. He is small in stature, has none of the elements of the great +man that characterized Li Hung-chang and Chang Chih-tung, or Prince +Kung, but he has always been characterized by that diplomacy which has +kept him one of the most useful officials in close connection with the +Empress Dowager. It is to his credit moreover that the legations were +preserved from the Boxers in the siege of 1900. +</P> + +<P> +Prince Su is the only one of the eight hereditary princes who holds any +office that brings him into intimate contact with the foreigners. +During the Boxer siege he gave his palace for the use of the native +Christians, and at the close was made collector of the customs duties +(octoroi) at the city gates. Never had there been any one in charge of +this post who turned in as large proportion of the total collections as +he. This excited the jealousy of the other officials, and they said to +each other: "If Prince Su is allowed to hold this position for any +length of time there will never be anything in it for any one else." +They therefore sought for a ground of accusation, and they found it, in +the eyes of the conservatives, in the fact that he rode in a foreign +carriage, built himself a house after the foreign style of +architecture, furnished it with foreign furniture, employed an +Englishman to teach his boys, and as we have seen opened a school for +the women and girls of his family. He therefore lost his position, but +it is to the credit of Prince Chun, the new Regent, and his progressive +policy, that Prince Su has been made chief of the naval department, of +which Prince Ching is only an adviser. +</P> + +<P> +The most important person among either princes or officials that has +been connected with the new regime is Yuan Shih-kai. He was born in the +province of Honan, that province south of the Yellow River which is +almost annually flooded by that great muddy stream which is called +"China's Sorrow." As a boy he was a diligent student of the Chinese +classics and of such foreign books as had been translated into the +Chinese language, but he has never studied a foreign tongue nor visited +a foreign country. Here then rests the first element of his +greatness—that without any knowledge of foreign language, foreign law, +foreign literature, science of government, or the history of progress +and of civilization, he has occupied the highest and most responsible +positions in the gift of the empire, has steered the ship of state on a +straight course between the shoals of conservatism on the one hand and +radical reform on the other until he has brought her near to the +harbour of a safe progressive policy. +</P> + +<P> +He has always been what the Chinese call the tu-ti or pupil of Li +Hung-chang, and it may be that it was from him he learned his +statecraft. Certain it is that he always basked in the favour of the +great Viceroy, and it may be that he had more or less influence with +him in his earlier appointments, for he rose rapidly and in spite of +all other officials. +</P> + +<P> +On his return from Korea he was made a judge. He was then put in charge +of the army of the metropolitan province, and with the assistance of +German officers he succeeded in drilling 12,500 troops after the +European fashion. +</P> + +<P> +It was about this time that the Emperor conceived the plan of +instituting and carrying out one of the most stupendous reforms that +has ever been undertaken in human government—that of transforming four +thousand years of conservatism of four hundred millions of people in +the short space of a few months. +</P> + +<P> +Given: A people who cannot make a nail, to build a railroad. +</P> + +<P> +Given: A people who dare not plow a deep furrow for fear of disturbing +the spirits of the place, to open gold, silver, iron and coal mines. +</P> + +<P> +Given: A people who in 4,000 years did not have the genius to develop a +decent high school, to open a university in the capital of every +province. +</P> + +<P> +These are three of the score or more of equally difficult problems that +the Emperor undertook to solve in twice as many days. In order to the +solution of these problems there was organized in Peking a Reform Party +of hot-headed, radical young scholars not one of whom has ever turned +out to be a statesman. They were brilliant young men, many of them, but +they so lost their heads in their enthusiasm for reform that they +forgot that their government was in the hands of the same old +conservative leaders under whom it had been for forty centuries. +</P> + +<P> +They introduced into the palace as the private adviser of the Emperor, +Kang Yu-wei, as we have already shown, to whom was thus offered one of +the greatest opportunities that was ever given to a human being—that +of being the leader in this great reform. He was hailed as a young +Confucius, but his popularity was short-lived, for he so lacked all +statesmanship as to allow the young Emperor to issue twenty-seven +edicts, disposing of twenty-seven difficult problems such as I have +given above in about twice that many days, and it is this hot-headed +and unstatesman-like young "Confucius" who now calls Yuan Shih-kai an +opportunist and a traitor because he did not enter into the following +plot. +</P> + +<P> +After the Emperor had dismissed two conservative vice-presidents of a +Board, two governors of provinces, and a half dozen other useless +conservative leaders, they plotted to overthrow him by appealing to the +ambition of the Empress Dowager and induce her to dethrone him and +again assume the reins of government. They argued that "he was her +adopted son, it was she who had placed him on the throne, and she was +therefore responsible for his mistakes." They complimented her on "the +wisdom which she had manifested, and the statesmanship she had +exhibited" during the thirty years and more of her regency. To all +which she listened with a greedy ear, but still she made no move. +</P> + +<P> +During this time were the Emperor and his young "Confucius" idle? By no +means. They had hatched a counterplot, and had decided that what they +could not do by moral suasion and statesmanship they would do by force, +and so they sent an order to Yuan Shih-kai, who as we have said had +drilled and was in charge of 12,500 of the best troops in the empire, +urging him to "hasten to the capital at once, place the Empress Dowager +under guard in the Summer Palace so that she may not be allowed to +interfere in the affairs of the government, and protect him in his +reform measures." +</P> + +<P> +The Emperor knew that nothing could be done without the command of the +army which was largely in the hands of a great conservative friend of +the Empress Dowager (Jung Lu) the father-in-law of the present Regent. +Yuan was in charge of an army corps of 12,500 troops, but for him to +have taken them even at the command of the Emperor, without informing +his superior officer, would have meant the loss of his head at once. +The first thing then for him to do was to take this order to Jung Lu. +Yuan was in favour of reform, though he may not have approved of the +Emperor's methods. Jung Lu hastened to Prince Ching and they two sped +to the Empress Dowager in the Summer Palace where they laid the whole +matter before her. She hurried to Peking, boldly faced and denounced +the Emperor, took from him his seal of state, and confined him a +prisoner in the Winter Palace. Kang Yu-wei, the young "Confucius," +fled, but the Empress Dowager seized his brother and five other +patriotic young reformers, and ordered them beheaded on the public +execution grounds in Peking. +</P> + +<P> +Naturally the Empress Dowager approved of the "wise and statesmanlike +methods" of Yuan in thus protecting instead of imprisoning her, and +thus placing the reins of government once more in her hands, and she +appointed him Junior Vice-President of the Board of Works, and when she +was compelled to remove the Governor of Shantung who had organized the +Boxer Society, she appointed Yuan Acting Governor in his stead. "Yuan," +says Arthur H. Smith, was "a man of a wholly different stripe" from the +one removed, and "if left to himself he would speedily have +exterminated the whole Boxer brood, but being hampered by 'confidential +instructions' from the palace, he could do little but issue poetical +proclamations, and revile his subordinates for failure to do their +duty." +</P> + +<P> +When Yuan was made Governor of Shantung a number of the Boxer leaders +called upon him expecting to find in him a sympathizer worthy of his +predecessor. They told him of their great powers and possibilities, and +of how they were proof against the spears, swords and bullets of their +enemies. Yuan listened to them with patience and interest, and invited +them to dine with him and other official friends in the near future. +</P> + +<P> +During the dinner the Governor directed the conversation towards the +Boxer leaders and their prowess, and led them once more to relate to +all his friends their powers of resistance. He fed them well, and after +the dinner was over he suggested that they give an exhibition of their +wonderful powers to the friends whom he had invited. This they could +not well refuse to do after the braggadocio way in which they had +talked, and so the Governor lined them up, called forth a number of his +best marksmen, and proceeded with the exhibition, and it is unnecessary +to add that if the Empress Dowager had invited Yuan to the meeting with +the princes when they discussed the advisability of joining the Boxers +on account of a belief in their supernatural powers, she might have +been spared the humiliation of 1900. +</P> + +<P> +We shall soon see that Yuan cared no more for the "confidential +instructions" of the Empress Dowager, when his statesmanship was +involved, than for the orders of the Emperor. His business was to +govern and protect the people of his province, and thanks to his wise +statesmanship and strong character "there was not only no foreigner +killed during the troubled season of anxiety and flight" of 1900, and +"comparatively little of the suffering elsewhere so common." +</P> + +<P> +And now we come to another plot which indicates the character of Yuan +and two other great viceroys, Chang Chih-tung, now Grand Secretary, and +Liu Kun-yi, Viceroy of the Yangtse-kiang provinces. It is a well-known +fact that during the Boxer rebellion the Empress Dowager was so +influenced by the promises of the Boxers to drive out all the +foreigners that she sent out some very unwise edicts that they should +be massacred in the provinces. Yuan and his two confreres secretly +stipulated that if the foreign men of war would keep away from the +ports of their provinces they would maintain peace and protect the +foreigners no matter what orders came from the throne. So that when +these confidential instructions came from the palace to massacre the +foreigners, in order to gain time they pretended to believe that no +such orders could have come from the throne. They must be forgeries of +the Boxers. They therefore refused to believe them until they had sent +their own special messenger all the way to Peking to get the edict from +the hands of Her Majesty and bring it to them in their provinces. This +messenger was also secretly instructed to find out what the contents of +the edict were, and if it was contrary to the desires of the Governor, +he was to dilly-dally on the way home until the Boxer trouble was ended +or until the foreigners had all been removed from the territory. And it +was such conduct as this on the part of three Chinese and one Manchu +viceroys that saved China from being divided up among the Powers in +1900, a fact which the Empress Dowager was not slow to understand and +reward. +</P> + +<P> +In 1900 Yuan was made Governor of the Shantung province, and the court +was compelled to flee to Hsian. It was while the court was thus in +hiding that an incident occurred which indicates the fertility of the +Empress Dowager and the elasticity of all Chinese social customs. +Governor Yuan's mother died. In a case of this kind customs dictate, +and the rules of filial affection demand, that a man shall resign all +his official positions and go into mourning for a period of three +years. Yuan therefore sent his resignation to the Empress Dowager, +while "weeping tears of blood." +</P> + +<P> +The country was of course in desperate straits and could ill afford to +lose, for three years, for a mere sentiment, the services of one of her +greatest and most powerful statesmen. However much he may have +regretted to give up such a brilliant career which was just well begun, +Yuan no doubt expected to do so. What was his surprise therefore to +receive from Her Majesty a message of condolence in which she praised +his mother in the highest terms for having given the world such a +brilliant and able son. Under the circumstances, however, it would be +impossible to accept his resignation as his services to the country +just at this juncture were indispensable. She would, however, appoint a +substitute to go into mourning for him, and this with the knowledge +that she had borne a son whose services were so necessary to the safety +of the government and the country, would be a sufficient comfort to the +spirit of his departed mother, and Yuan was forced to continue in his +official position as Governor of the province without the intermission +of a single day of mourning. Such is the elasticity and adaptability of +the unchanging laws and customs of the Oriental when in the hands of a +master—or a mistress—like Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +One can imagine that in proportion as the Empress Dowager was pleased +with the statesmanship manifested by Yuan Shih-kai in unintentionally +reseating her upon the throne, in a like proportion the Emperor would +be dissatisfied with it as being the cause of his dethronement. This +was not, however, against Yuan alone but against the father-in-law of +the present Regent and even Prince Ching as well. During the whole ten +years, from 1898 until his death, while he was a prisoner "his heart +boiled with wrath" against those who had been the cause of his downfall. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until the Boxer troubles of 1900 were over, and Yuan, by the +masterly way in which he had disregarded the imperial edicts, had +protected and preserved the lives of all the foreigners in his +province, keeping peace the while, that honours began to be heaped upon +him. And this not without reason as we shall proceed to show. +</P> + +<P> +In 1901 he was made Governor-General of the metropolitan province, and +Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In 1902 he was decorated with the +Yellow Jacket, placed in charge of the affairs of the Northern Railway, +and consulting minister to counsel the government. Wherever he was he +gave as much attention to the city government as to that of the +province or the nation, and in spite of his having no foreign education +himself, he began building up a system of public schools in his +province like which there is nothing else in the whole of China. Let us +remember also that during ail this time there was suspended over his +head, from the palace, a sword of Damocles which was liable to fall at +any time. But we will explain that further on as it is the last act of +the drama. +</P> + +<P> +When Yuan went to Tientsin as Viceroy of the metropolitan province he +found there Dr. C. D. Tenny, the president of the Tientsin University +which had been begun by Li Hung-chang some ten or a dozen years before. +It had a good course of study and was turning out a large number of +young graduates for whom there ought to be a better future than that of +interpreters in the various business houses of that and other cities. +He therefore called Dr. Tenny to him and inquired particularly about +the system of public school education throughout the United States. +</P> + +<P> +"What is to prevent our putting into operation such a system throughout +this province?" asked the Viceroy. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," answered Dr. Tenny, "except to be willing to submit to the +conditions." +</P> + +<P> +"And what are those conditions?" asked His Excellency. +</P> + +<P> +"They are that you open schools in every important town, place in them +well-educated, competent teachers, whom you are willing to pay a salary +equal to what they may reasonably expect to get if they enter business." +</P> + +<P> +"May I ask if you would be willing to undertake the development of such +a system?" he asked further. +</P> + +<P> +"On one condition," answered Dr. Tenny. +</P> + +<P> +"And what is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"That you allow me to open a school wherever I think there should be +one, call my teachers from whatsoever source I please to call them, pay +them whatever salary I think they deserve, sending all the bills to +Your Excellency, and you pay them without question." +</P> + +<P> +The Viceroy had known Dr. Tenny for years, had always had the most +implicit confidence both in his ability and his honesty, and so, +lightening up his duties in the Tientsin and Paotingfu Universities, he +commissioned him to establish what may be termed the first public +school system of education on modern lines in the whole empire. This +one act, if he had done no other, was reason enough for a wise regent +to have continued him in office even though he "had rheumatism of the +leg." But it may be that there are extenuating circumstances in this +act of the Regent as we shall point out later. +</P> + +<P> +There is one phase of the Boxer uprising that I have never yet seen +properly represented in any book or magazine. We all know how the +ministers of the various European governments with their wives and +children, the customs officials, missionaries, business men, and +tourists who happened to be in Peking at the time, with all the Chinese +Christians, were confined in the British legation and Prince Su's +palace. We know how they barricaded their defense. We know how they +were fired upon day and night for six weeks by the Boxer leaders and +the army of the conservatives under the leadership of their general, +Tung Fu-hsiang. But the thing which we do not know, or at least which +has not been adequately told, is the most interesting secret plot of +the liberal progressives, under the leadership of "Prince Ching and +others," to thwart the Empress Dowager and the Boxer leaders, the +conservatives and their army, and protect the most noted company of +prisoners that have ever been confined in a legation quarter. The plot +was this: +</P> + +<P> +When Prince Ching and his progressive associates in Peking discovered +that they could not vote down the Boxer princes, they dared not openly +oppose them, but they secretly decided that the representatives of the +Powers must not be massacred else the doom of China was sealed. When +they discovered that Yuan Shih-kai and the other great viceroys had +decided by stratagem to foil the Boxers even though they must set all +the imperial edicts at naught, they decided, for the sake of the +protection of the legations and the preservation of the empire, that +they would do the same. They secretly sent supplies of food to the +besieged, which the latter feared to use lest they be poisoned. But +more than that they kept their own armies in Peking as a guard and as a +final resort in case there was danger of the legation being overcome, +and as a matter of fact there were regular pitched battles between the +troops of Prince Ching and his associates and those of the Boxer +leader, Tung Fu-hsiang. Had the Boxers finally succeeded, Yuan Shih-kai +and Prince Ching and their associates would have lost their heads, but +as the Boxers failed it was they who went to their graves by the short +process of the executioner's knife. +</P> + +<P> +So Yuan was between two fires. He had disobeyed the commands of the +Emperor in not coming to Peking and had therefore incurred his +displeasure and caused his downfall. He had disobeyed the Empress +Dowager in not putting to death the foreigners in his province, and if +the Boxers were successful he would surely lose his head on that +account. The Boxers, however, were not successful and as his +disobedience had helped to save the empire, Yuan, so long as the +Dowager remained in power, was safe. +</P> + +<P> +But a day of reckoning must inevitably come. The Empress Dowager was an +old woman, the Emperor was a young man. In all human probabilities she +would be the first to die, while his only hope was in her outliving the +Emperor, who had sworn vengeance on all those who had been instrumental +in his imprisonment. +</P> + +<P> +I have a friend in Peking who is also a friend of one of the greatest +Chinese officials. This official has gone into the palace daily for a +dozen years past and knows every plot and counterplot that has been +hatched in that nest of seclusion during all that time, though he has +been implicated in none of them. He has held the highest positions in +the gift of the empire without ever once having been degraded. One day +when he was in the palace the Emperor unburdened his heart to him, +thinking that what he said would never reach the ears of his enemies. +</P> + +<P> +"You have no idea," said the Emperor, "what I suffer here." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" was the only reply of the official. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," continued the Emperor, "I am not allowed to speak to any one +from outside. I am without power, without companions, and even the +eunuchs act as though they are under no obligations to respect me. The +position of the lowest servant in the palace is more desirable than +mine." Then lowering his voice he continued, "But there is a day of +reckoning to come. The Empress Dowager cannot live forever, and if ever +I get my throne again I will see to it that those who put me here will +suffer as I have done." +</P> + +<P> +It is not unlikely that this conversation of the Emperor reached the +ears of Yuan Shih-kai. Walls have ears in China. Everything has ears, +and every part of nature has a tongue. If so, here was the occasion for +the last plot in the drama of the Emperor's life, and next to the last +in the official life of Yuan Shih-kai. +</P> + +<P> +The problem is to so manipulate the laws of nature as to prevent the +Emperor outliving the Empress Dowager, and not allow the world to know +that you have been trifling with occult forces. He must die a natural +death, a death which is above suspicion. He must not die one day after +the Empress Dowager as that would create talk. And he ought to die some +time before her. The death fuse is one which often burns very much +longer than we expect—was it not one of the English kings who said "I +fear I am a very long time a-dying, gentlemen"—and sometimes it burns +out sooner than is intended. There were two imperial death fuses +burning at the same time in that Forbidden City of Peking. The Empress +Dowager had "had a stroke." Hers was undoubtedly nature's own work. But +the enemies of Yuan Shih-kai tell us that the Emperor had "had a +Chinese doctor," to whom the great Viceroy paid $33,000 for his +services. We are told that the Empress Dowager in reality died first +and then the Emperor, though the Emperor's death was first announced, +and the next day that of the Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +What then are we to infer? That the Emperor was poisoned? Let it be so. +That is what the Japanese believed at the time. But who did it? Most +assuredly no one man. One might have employed a Chinese physician for +him, but the last man whose physician the Emperor would have accepted +would have been Yuan Shih-kai's. Had you or I been ill would we have +allowed the man who was the cause of our fall to select our physician? +But granted that Yuan Shih-kai did employ his physician, and that his +death was the result of slow poisoning, could Yuan Shih-kai have so +manipulated Prince Ching, the Regent (who is the late Emperor's +brother), the ladies of the court, and all those thousands of eunuchs, +to remain silent as to the death of the Empress Dowager until he had +completed the slow process on His Majesty? No! If the Emperor was +poisoned—and the world believes he was—there are a number of others +whose skirts are as badly stained as those of the great Viceroy, or +long ere this his body would have been sent home a headless corpse +instead of with "rheumatism of the leg." +</P> + +<P> +What then is the explanation? It may be this, that the court, and the +officials as a whole, felt that the Emperor was an unsafe person to +resume the throne, and that it were better that one man should perish +than that the whole regime should be upset. They even refused to allow +a foreign physician to go in to see him, saying that of his own free +will he had turned again to the Chinese, all of which indicates that it +was not the plot of any one man. +</P> + +<P> +Why then should Yuan Shih-kai have been made the scapegoat of the court +and the officials, and branded as a murderer in the face of the whole +world? That may be another plot. The radical reformers, followers of +Kang Yu-wei, have been making such a hubbub about the matter ever since +the death of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager that somebody had to +be punished. They said that Yuan had been a traitor to the cause of +reform, that he had not only betrayed his sovereign in 1898, but that +now he had encompassed his death. +</P> + +<P> +Now to satisfy these enemies, the Prince Regent may have decided that +the best thing to do was to dismiss Yuan for a time. I think that the +trivial excuse he gives for doing so favours my theory—with +"rheumatism of the leg," to which is added, "Thus our clemency is +manifest"—a sentence which may be severe or may mean nothing, and when +the storm has blown over and the sky is clear again, Yuan may be once +more brought to the front as Li Hung-chang and others have been in the +past. Which is a consummation, I think, devoutly to be wished. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Peking—The City of the Court +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The position of Peking at the present time is one of peculiar interest, +for all the different forces that are now at work to make or mar China +issue from, or converge towards, the capital. There, on the dragon +throne, beside, or rather above, the powerless and unhappy Emperor, the +father of his people and their god, sits the astute and ever-watchful +lady whose word is law to Emperor, minister and clown alike. There +dwell the heads of the government boards, the leaders of the Manchu +aristocracy, and the great political parties, the drafters of new +constitutions and imperial decrees, and the keen-witted diplomatists +who know so well how to play against European antagonists the great +game of international chess.—R. F. Johnston in "From Peking to +Mandelay." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PEKING—THE CITY OF THE COURT +</H3> + +<P> +In the place where Peking now stands there has been a city for three +thousand years. Five centuries before Christ it was the capital of a +small state, but was destroyed three centuries later by the builder of +the great wall. It was soon rebuilt, however, and has continued from +that time until the present, with varied fortunes, as the capital of a +state, the chief city of a department, or the dwelling-place of the +court. +</P> + +<P> +It is the greatest and best preserved walled city in the empire, if not +in the world. The Tartar City is sixteen miles in circumference, +surrounded by a wall sixty feet thick at the bottom, fifty feet thick +at the top and forty feet high, with six feet of balustrade on the +outside, beautifully crenelated and loopholed, and in a good state of +preservation. The streets are sixty feet wide,—or even more in +places,—well macadamized, and lit with electric light. The chief mode +of conveyance is the 'ricksha, though carriages may be hired by the +week, day or hour at various livery stables in proximity to the hotels, +which, by the way, furnish as good accommodation to their guests as the +hotels of other Oriental cities. +</P> + +<P> +In the centre of the Tartar City is the Imperial City, eight miles in +circumference, encircled by a wall six feet thick and fifteen feet +high, pierced by four gates at the points of the compass; and in the +centre of this again is the Forbidden City, occupying less than half a +square mile, the home of the court. +</P> + +<P> +Fairs are held, at various temples, fourteen days of every month, +distributed in such a way as to bring them almost on alternate days, +while at certain times there are two fairs on the same day. It is a +mistake to suppose that the Chinese women in the capital are very much +secluded. They may be seen on the streets at almost any time, while the +temple courts and adjacent streets, on fair days, are crowded with +women and girls, dressed in the most gorgeous colours, their hair +decorated with all kinds of artificial flowers, followed by little boys +and girls as gaily dressed as themselves. Here they find all kinds of +toys, curios, and articles of general use, from a top to a broom, from +bits of jade or other precious stones, to a snuff bottle hollowed out +of a solid quartz crystal, or a market basket or a dust-pan made of +reeds. +</P> + +<P> +Peking being the city of the court, and the headquarters of many of the +greatest officials, is the receptacle of the finest products of the +oldest and greatest non-Christian people the world has ever known. +China easily leads the world in the making of porcelain, the best of +which has always gone to Peking for use in the palace, and so we can +find here the best products of every reign from the time of Kang Hsi, +as well as those of the former dynasties, to that of Kuang Hsu and the +Empress Dowager. The same is true of her brass and bronze +incense-burners and images, her wood and ivory carvings, her beautiful +embroideries, her magnificent tapestries, and her paintings by old +masters of six or eight hundred years ago. Here we can find the finest +Oriental rugs, in a good state of preservation, with the "tone" that +only age can give, made long before the time of Washington. +</P> + +<P> +There is no better market for fine bits of embroidery, mandarin coats, +and all the better products of needle, silk and floss, of which the +Chinese have been masters for centuries, than the city of the court. +The population consists largely of great officials and their families, +whose cast-off clothing, toned down by the use of years, often without +a blemish or a spot, finds its way into the hands of dealers. The +finest furs,—seal, otter, squirrel, sable and ermine,—are brought +from Siberia, Manchuria and elsewhere, for the officials and the court, +and can be secured for less than half what they would cost in America. +Pearls, of which the Chinese ladies and the court are more fond than of +diamonds, may be found in abundance in all the bazars, which are many, +and judging from the way they are purchased by tourists, are both +cheaper and better than elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese have little appreciation of diamonds as jewelry. On one +occasion there was offered to me a beautiful ring containing a large +sapphire encircled by twenty diamonds. When I offered the dealer less +than he asked for it, he said: "No, rather than sell it for that price, +I will tear it apart, and sell the diamonds separately for drill-points +to the tinkers who mend dishes. I can make more from it in that way, +only I dislike to spoil the ring." The Empress Dowager during her late +years, and many of the ladies and gentlemen of the more progressive +type, affected, whether genuinely or not, an appreciation of the +diamond as a piece of jewelry, especially in the form of rings, though +coloured stones, polished, but not cut, have always been more popular +with the Chinese. The turquoise, the emerald, the sapphire, the ruby +and the other precious stones with colour have, therefore, always +graced the tables of the bazars in the capital, while the diamond until +very recently was relegated to the point of the tinker's drill. +</P> + +<P> +There is another method of bringing bits of their ancient handiwork to +the capital which most of those living in Peking, even, know nothing +about. A company, whose headquarters is at an inn, called the Hsing +Lung Tien, sends agents all over the empire, to purchase and bring to +them everything in the nature of a curio, whether porcelain, painting, +embroidery, pottery or even an ancient tile or inkstone, which they +then, at public auction, sell to the dealers. The sale is at noon each +day. The first time I visited it was with a friend from Iowa who was +anxious to get some unique bits of porcelain. The auctioneer does not +"cry" the wares. Neither buyer nor seller says a word. Nobody knows +what anybody else has offered. The goods are passed out of a closed +room from a high window where the crowd can see them, and then each one +wanting them tries to be first in securing the hand of the auctioneer, +which is ensconced in his long sleeve, where, by squeezing his fingers, +they tell him how much they will give for the particular piece. It is +the only real case of "talking in the sleeve" I have ever seen, and +each piece is sold to the first person offering a fair profit on the +money invested, though he might get much more by allowing them to bid +against each other. +</P> + +<P> +Among the attractive sights in Peking, none are quite so interesting as +the places where His Majesty worships, and of these the most beautiful +in architecture, the grandest in conception, and the one laid out on +the most magnificent scale, is the Temple of Heaven. +</P> + +<P> +Think of six hundred and forty acres of valuable city property being +set aside for the grounds of a single temple, as compared with the way +our own great churches are crowded into small city lots of scarcely as +many square feet, and over-shadowed by great business blocks costing a +hundred times as much, and we can get some conception of the +magnificence of the scale on which this temple is laid out. A large +part of the grounds is covered with cedars, many of which are not less +than five hundred years old, while other parts are used to pasture a +flock of black cattle from which they select the sacrifice for a burnt +offering. The grounds are not well kept like those of our own parks and +churches, but the original conception of a temple on such a large scale +is worthy of a great people. +</P> + +<P> +The worship at this temple is the most important of all the religious +observances of the empire, and constitutes a most interesting remnant +of the ancient monotheistic cultus which prevailed in China before the +rationalism of Confucius and the polytheistic superstition of Buddhism +predominated among the people. While the ceremonies of the sacrifices +are very complicated, they are kept with the strictest severity. The +chief of these is at the winter solstice. On December 21st the Emperor +goes in a sedan chair, covered with yellow silk, and carried by +thirty-two men, preceded by a band of musicians, and followed by an +immense retinue of princes and officials on horseback. He first goes to +the tablet-chapel, where he offers incense to Shang Ti, the God above, +and to his ancestors, with three kneelings and nine prostrations. Then +going to the great altar he inspects the offerings, after which he +repairs to the Palace of Abstinence, where he spends the night in +fasting and prayer. The next morning at 5:45 A. M. he dons his +sacrificial robes, proceeds to the open altar, where he kneels and +burns incense, offers a prayer to Shang Ti, and incense to his +ancestors whose shrines and tablets are arranged on the northeast and +northwest portions of the altar. +</P> + +<P> +There are two altars in the temple, a quarter of a mile apart, the +covered and the open altar, and this latter is one of the grandest +religious conceptions of the human mind. It is a triple circular marble +terrace, 210 feet wide at the base, 150 feet in the middle, and ninety +feet at the top, ascended at the points of the compass by three flights +of nine steps each. A circular stone is in the centre of the top, +around which are nine stones in the first circle, eighteen in the +second, twenty-seven in the third, etc., and eighty-one in the ninth, +or last circle. The Emperor kneels on the circular stone, surrounded by +the circles of stones, then by the circles of the terraces, and finally +by the horizon, and thus seems to himself and his retinue to be in the +centre of the universe, his only walls being the skies, and his only +covering, the shining dome. +</P> + +<P> +There are no images of any kind connected with the temple or the +worship, the only offerings being a bullock, the various productions of +the soil, and a cylindrical piece of jade about a foot long, formerly +used as a symbol of sovereignty. Twelve bundles of cloth are offered to +Heaven, and only one to each of the emperors, and to the sun and moon. +The bullocks must be two years old, the best of their kind, without +blemish, and while they were formerly killed by the Emperor they are +now slaughtered by an official appointed for that purpose. +</P> + +<P> +The covered altar is, I think, the most beautiful piece of architecture +in China. It is smaller than the one already described but has erected +upon it a lofty, circular triple-roofed temple ninety-nine feet in +height, roofed with blue tiles, the eaves painted in brilliant colours +and protected from the birds by a wire netting. In the centre, +immediately in front of the altar, is a circular stone, as in the open +altar. The ceiling is covered with gilded dragons in high relief, and +the whole is supported by immense pillars. It was this building that +was struck by lightning in 1890, but it was restored during the ten +years that followed. Being made the camp of the British during the +occupation of 1900, it received some small injuries from curio seekers, +but none of any consequence. The Sikh soldiers who died during this +period were cremated in the furnace connected with the open altar. +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese have been an agricultural people for thirty centuries or +more, and this characteristic is embodied in the Temple of Agriculture, +which occupies a park of not less than three hundred and twenty acres +of city property opposite the Temple of Heaven. It has four great +altars, with their adjacent halls, to the spirits of Heaven, Earth, the +Year, and the Ancestral Husbandman, Shen Nung, to whom the temple is +dedicated. It was used as the camp of the American soldiers in 1900, +and was well cared for. At one time some of the soldiers upset one of +the urns, and when it was reported to the officer in command, the whole +company was called out and the urn properly replaced, after which the +men were lectured on the matter of injuring any property belonging to +the temple. +</P> + +<P> +There are several large plots of ground in this enclosure, one of which +the Emperor ploughs, while another is marked "City Magistrate," another +"Prefect," and on these bits of land the "five kinds of grain" are +sown. One cannot view these imperial temples without being impressed +with the potential greatness of a people who do things on such a +magnificent scale. But one, at the same time, also feels that these +temples, and the great Oriental religions which inspire and support +them have failed in a measure to accomplish their design, which ought +to be to educate and develop the people. This they can hardly be said +to have done, especially if we consider their condition in their lack +of all phases of scientific development, for as the sciences stand +to-day they are all the product of the Christian peoples. +</P> + +<P> +There are three other imperial temples on the same large scale as those +just described. The Temple of the Sun east of the city, that of the +Moon on the west, and that of the Earth on the north, though it must be +confessed that the worship at these has been allowed to lapse. In the +Tartar City there are two others, the Lama Temple and the Confucian +Temple, in the former of which there is a statue of Buddha seventy-five +feet high, and from thirteen to fifteen hundred priests who worship +daily at his shrine. This statue is made of stucco, over a framework, +and not of wood as some have told us, and as the guide will assure us +at the present day. One can ascend to a level with its head by several +flights of stairs, where a lamp is lit when the Emperor visits the +temple. In the east wing of this same building is a prayer-wheel, which +reaches up through several successive stories, and is kept in motion +while the Emperor is present. +</P> + +<P> +In the east side buildings there are a few interesting, though in some +cases very disgusting idols, such for instance as those illustrating +the creation, but over these draperies have been thrown during recent +years, which make them a trifle more respectable. +</P> + +<P> +The temple is very imposing. At the entrance there are two large arches +covered with yellow tiles, from which a broad paved court leads to the +front gate, on the two sides of which are the residences of the Lamas +or Mongol priests. At the hour of prayer, which is about nine o'clock, +they may be seen going in crowds, clothed in yellow robes, to the +various halls of worship where they chant their prayers. +</P> + +<P> +Very different from this is the Confucian Temple only a quarter of a +mile away. Here we find neither priest nor idol—nothing but a small +board tablet to "Confucius, the teacher of ten thousand ages" with +those of his most faithful and worthy disciples. In the court on each +side are rows of buildings—that on the east containing the tablets of +seventy-eight virtuous men; that on the west the tablets of fifty-four +learned men; eighty-six of these were pupils of the Sage, while the +remainder were men who accepted his teachings. No Taoists, however +learned; no Buddhists, however pure; no original thinkers, however +great may have been their following, are allowed a place here. It is a +Temple of Fame for Confucianists alone. +</P> + +<P> +I have been in this temple when a whole bullock, the skin and entrails +having been removed, was kneeling upon a table facing the tablet of the +Sage, while sheep and pigs were similarly arranged facing the tablets +of his disciples. +</P> + +<P> +For twenty-four centuries China has had Taoism preached within her +dominions; for twenty-three centuries she has worshipped at the shrine +of Confucius; for eighteen centuries she has had Buddhism, and for +twelve centuries Mohammedanism: and during all this time if we believe +the statements of her own people, she has slept. Does it not therefore +seem significant, that less than a century after the Gospel of Jesus +Christ had been preached to her people, and the Bible circulated freely +throughout her dominions, she opened her court to the world, began to +build railroads, open mines, erect educational institutions, adopt the +telegraph and the telephone, and step into line with the industrial +methods of the most progressive nations of the Western world? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Death of Kuang Hsu and the Empress Dowager +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Who knows whether the Dowager Empress will ever repose in the +magnificent tomb she has built for herself at such a cost, or whether a +new dynasty may not rifle its riches to embellish its own? Tze-Hsi is +growing old! According to nature's immutable law her faculties must +soon fail her; her iron will must bend and her far-seeing eye grow dim, +and after her who will resist the tide of foreign aggression and stem +the torrent of inward revolt?—Lady Susan Townley in "My Chinese Note +Book." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER +</H3> + +<P> +During mid-November of 1908 the Forbidden City of Peking was a blind +stage before which an expectant world sat as an audience. It had not +long to wait, for on the fifteenth and sixteenth it learned that Kuang +Hsu and the Empress Dowager, less than twenty-four hours apart, had +taken "the fairy ride and ascended upon the dragon to be guests on +high." The world looked on in awe. It expected a demonstration if not a +revolution but nothing of the kind happened. But on the other hand one +of the most difficult diplomatic problems of her history was solved in +a quiet and peaceable, if not a statesman-like way, by the aged Dowager +and her officials, and China once more had upon her throne an emperor, +though only a child, about whose succession there was no question. And +all this was done with less commotion than is caused by the election of +a mayor in New York or Chicago, which may or may not be to the credit +of an absolute monarchy over a republican form of government. +</P> + +<P> +The world has speculated a good deal as to what happened in the +Forbidden City of Peking during the early half of November. Will the +curious world ever know? Whether it will or not remains for the future +to determine. We have, however, the edicts issued to the foreign +legations at Peking and with these at the present we must be content. +From them we learn that it was the Empress Dowager and not Kuang Hsu +who appointed Prince Chun as Regent, and that this appointment was +made—or at least announced—twenty-four hours before the death of the +Emperor. +</P> + +<P> +On the thirteenth of November the foreign diplomatic representatives +received the following edict from the great Dowager through the regular +channel of the Foreign Office of which Prince Ching was the president: +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"It is the excellent will of Tze-hsi-kuan-yu-k'ang- +i-chao-yu-chuang-ch'eng-shou-kung-ch'in-hsien-chung-hsi, the great +Empress Dowager that Tsai Feng, Prince of Chun, be appointed Prince +Regent (She Chang-wang)." +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +The above edict was soon followed by another which stated that "Pu I, +the son of Tsai Feng, should be reared in the palace and taught in the +imperial schoolroom," an indication that he was to be the next emperor, +and that Tsai Feng and not Kuang Hsu was to occupy the throne, and all +this by the "excellent will" of the Empress Dowager. +</P> + +<P> +On the morning of the fourteenth the following edict came from the +Emperor himself: +</P> + +<P> +"From the beginning of August of last year, our health has been poor. +We formerly ordered the Tartar generals, viceroys, and governors of +every province to recommend physicians of ability. Thereupon the +viceroys of Chihli, the Liang Kiang, Hu Kiang, Kiangsu and Chekiang +recommended and sent forward Chen Ping-chun, Tsao Yuen-wang, Lu +Yung-ping, Chow Ching-tao, Tu Chung-chun, Shih Huan, and Chang +Pang-nien, who came to Peking and treated us. But their prescriptions +have given no relief. Now the negative and positive elements (Yin-Yang) +are both failing. There are ailments both external and internal, and +the breath is stopped up, the stomach rebellious, the back and legs +painful, appetite failing. On moving, the breath fails and there is +coughing and panting. Besides, we have chills and fever, cannot sleep, +and experience a general failure of bodily strength which is hard to +bear. +</P> + +<P> +"Our heart is very impatient and now the Tartar generals, viceroys, and +governors of every province are ordered to select capable physicians, +regardless of the official rank, and to send them quickly to Peking to +await summons to give medical aid. If any can show beneficial results +he will receive extraordinary rewards, and the Tartar generals, +viceroys, and governors who recommend them will receive special grace. +Let this be published." +</P> + +<P> +This was followed on the same day by the following edict: +</P> + +<P> +"Inasmuch as the Emperor Tung Chih had no issue, on the fifth day of +the twelfth moon of that reign (January 12, 1875) an edict was +promulgated to the effect that if the late Emperor Kuang Hsu should +have a son, the said prince should carry on the succession as the heir +of Tung Chih. But now the late Emperor has ascended upon the dragon to +be a guest on high, leaving no son, and there is no course open but to +appoint Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, the Prince Regent, as the successor +to Tung Chih and also as heir to the Emperor Kuang Hsu." +</P> + +<P> +The next day—the fifteenth—another edict, purporting to come from +little Pu I, but transcribed by Prince Ching, was sent out to the +diplomatic body and to the world. It is as follows: +</P> + +<P> +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that on the 21st day of +the 10th moon [Nov. 14, 1908] at the yu-ke [5-7 P. M.] the late Emperor +ascended on the dragon to be a guest on high. We have received the +command of Tze-hsi, etc., the Great Empress Dowager to enter on the +succession as Emperor. We lamented to Earth and Heaven. We stretched +out our hands, wailing our insufficiency. Prostrate we reflect on how +the late Emperor occupied the Imperial Throne for thirty-four years, +reverently following the customs of his ancestors, receiving the +gracious instruction of the Empress Dowager, exerting himself to the +utmost, not failing one day to revere Heaven and observe the laws of +his ancestors, devoting himself with diligence to the affairs of +government and loving the people, appointing the virtuous to office, +changing the laws of the land to make the country powerful, considering +new methods of government which arouse the admiration of both Chinese +and foreigners. All who have blood and breath cannot but mourn and be +moved to the extreme point. We weep tears of blood and beat upon our +heart. How can we bear to express our feelings! +</P> + +<P> +"But we think upon our heavy responsibility and our weakness, and we +must depend upon the great and small civil and military officials of +Peking and the provinces to show public spirit and patriotism, and aid +in the government. The viceroys and governors should harmonize the +people and arrange carefully methods of government to comfort the +spirit of the late Emperor in heaven. This is our earnest expectation." +</P> + +<P> +On the sixteenth day of November, three days after she had appointed +the regent, and two days after she had appointed Pu I, the diplomatic +representatives received the following from Prince Ching: +</P> + +<P> +"Your Excellency: +</P> + +<P> +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that we have reverently +received the following testamentary statement of Her Imperial Majesty +Tze-hsi, etc., the Great Empress Dowager: +</P> + +<P> +"'Although of scanty merit, I received the command of His Majesty the +Emperor Wen Tsung-hsien (the posthumous title of Hsien Feng) to occupy +a throne prepared for me in the palace. When the Emperor Mu Tsung I +(Tung Chih) as a child succeeded to the throne, violence and confusion +prevailed. It was a critical period of suppression by force. +"Long-hairs" (Tai-ping rebels) and the "twisted turbans" (Nien Fei) +were in rebellion. The Mohammedans and the aborigines had commenced to +make trouble. There were many disturbances along the seacoast. The +people were destitute. Ulcers and sores met the eye on every side. +Cooperating with the Empress Dowager Hsiao Chen-hsien, I supported and +taught the Emperor and toiled day and night. According to the +instructions contained in the testamentary counsels of the Emperor Wen +Tsung-hsien (Hsien Feng) I urged on the officials of Peking and the +provinces and all the military commanders, determining the policy to be +followed, diligently searching the right way of governing, choosing the +upright for official positions, rescuing from calamity and pitying the +people, and so obtained the protection of Heaven, gaining peace and +tranquillity instead of distress and danger. Then the Emperor Mu Tsung +I (Tung Chih) departed this life and the late Emperor succeeded to the +throne. The times became still harder and the people in still greater +straits, sorrow within and calamity without, confusion and noise; I had +no recourse but to give instruction in government once more. +</P> + +<P> +"'The year before last the preparatory measures for the institution of +constitutional government were published. This year the time limits for +the measures preparatory to constitutional government have been +promulgated. Attending to these myriad affairs the strength of my heart +has been exhausted. Fortunately my constitution was originally strong +and up to the present I have stood the strain. Unexpectedly from the +summer and autumn of this year I have been ill and have not been able +to assist in the multitudinous affairs of government with tranquillity. +Appetite and the power to sleep have gone. This has continued for a +long time until my strength is exhausted and I have not dared to rest +for even a day. On the 21st of this moon [November 14th] came the +sorrow of the death of the late Emperor, and I was unable to control +myself, so that my illness increased till I was unable to rise from my +bed. I look back upon our fifty years of sorrow and trouble. I have +been continually in a state of high tension without a moment's respite. +Now a reform in the method of government has been commenced and there +begins to be a clue to follow. The Emperor now succeeding to the throne +is in his infancy. All depends upon his instruction and guidance. The +Prince Regent and all the officials of Peking and the provinces should +exert themselves to strengthen the foundations of our empire. Let the +Emperor now succeedings to the throne make his country's affairs of +first importance and moderate his sorrow, diligently attending to his +studies so that he may in future illustrate the instruction which he +has received. This is my devout hope. Let the mourning period be for +twenty-seven days only. Let this be proclaimed to the empire that all +may know.'" +</P> + +<P> +Still one more edict was necessary to complete this remarkable list, +and this was sent to the legations on the 17th of November. It is as +follows: +</P> + +<P> +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that on the 22d of the +moon [November 15, 1908] I reverently received the following edict: +</P> + +<P> +"We received in our early childhood the love and care of Tze-hsi, etc., +the Great Empress Dowager. Our gratitude is boundless. We have received +the command to succeed to the throne and we fully expected that the +gentle Empress Dowager would be vigorous and reach a hundred years so +that we might be cherished and made glad and reverently receive her +instructions so that our government might be established and the state +made firm. But her toil by day and night gradually weakened her. +Medicine was constantly administered in the hope that she might +recover. Contrary to our hopes, on the 21st day of the moon [November +14th] at the wei-k'o [1-3 P.M.] she took the fairy ride and ascended to +the far country. We cried out and mourned how frantically! We learn +from her testamentary statement that the period of full mourning is to +be limited to twenty-seven days. We certainly cannot be satisfied with +this. Full mourning must be worn for one hundred days and half mourning +for twenty-seven months, by which our grief may be partly expressed. +The order to restrain grief so that the affairs of the empire may be of +first importance we dare not disregard, as it is her parting command. +We will strive to be temperate so as to comfort the spirit of the late +Empress in Heaven." +</P> + +<P> +We call attention to the fact that according to the fourth of these +edicts the death of the Emperor is put at from 5 to 7 P. M on the +evening of the 14th of November, while that of the Empress Dowager is +from 1 to 3 P. M. of the same day at least two hours earlier, and that +in her last edict she is made to speak of the death of Kuang Hsu. +Whether these dates have become mixed in crossing to America we have +not been able to ascertain, though we think it more than likely that +her death occurred on November 15th instead of the 14th. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +The Court and the New Education +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Abolish the eight-legged essay. Let the new learning be the test of +scholarship, but include the classics, history, geography and +government of China in the examinations. The true essay will then come +out. If so desired, the eight-legged essay can be studied at home; but +why trouble the school with them, and at the same time waste time and +strength that can be expended in something more profitable?—Chang +Chih-tung in "China's Only Hope." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION +</H3> + +<P> +The changes in the attitude of the court towards a new educational +system began, as do many great undertakings, in a very simple way. We +have already shown how the eunuchs secured all kinds of foreign +mechanical toys to entertain the baby Emperor Kuang Hsu; how these were +supplemented in his boyhood by ingenious clocks and watches; how he +became interested in the telegraph, the telephone, steam cars, +steamboats, electric light and steam heat, and how he had them first +brought into the palace and then established throughout the empire: and +how he had the phonograph, graphophone, cinematograph, bicycle, and +indeed all the useful and unique inventions of modern times brought in +for his entertainment. +</P> + +<P> +He then began the study of English. When in 1894 a New Testament was +sent to the Empress Dowager on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday, +he at once secured from the American Bible Society a copy of the +complete Bible for himself. He began studying the Gospel of Luke. This +gave him a taste for foreign literature and he sent his eunuchs to the +various book depositories and bought every book that had been +translated from the European languages into the Chinese. To these he +bent all his energies and it soon became noised abroad that the Emperor +was studying foreign books and was about to embrace the Christian +faith. This continued from 1894 till 1898, during which time his +example was followed by tens of thousands of young Chinese scholars +throughout the empire, and Chang Chih-tung wrote his epoch-making book +"China's Only Hope" which, being sent to the young Emperor, led him to +enter upon a universal reform, the chief feature of which may be +considered the adoption of a new educational system. +</P> + +<P> +But now let us notice the animus of Kuang Hsu. He has been praised +without stint for his leaning towards foreign affairs, when in reality +was it not simply an effort on the part of the young man to make China +strong enough to resist the incursions of the European powers? Germany +had taken Kiaochou, Russia had taken Port Arthur, Japan had taken +Formosa, Great Britain had taken Weihaiwei, France had taken +Kuangchouwan, and even Italy was anxious to have a slice of his +territory, while all the English papers in the port cities were talking +of China being divided up amongst the Powers, and it was these things +which led the Emperor to enter upon his work of reform. +</P> + +<P> +In the summer of 1898 therefore he sent out an edict to the effect +that: "Our scholars are now without solid and practical education; our +artisans are without scientific instructors; when compared with other +countries WE SOON SEE HOW WEAK WE ARE. DOES ANY ONE THINK THAT OUR +TROOPS ARE AS WELL DRILLED OR AS WELL LED AS THOSE OF THE FOREIGN +ARMIES? OR THAT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY STAND AGAINST THEM? Changes must be +made to accord with the necessities of the times.... Keeping in mind +the morals of the sages and wise men, we must make them the basis on +which to build newer and better structures. WE MUST SUBSTITUTE MODERN +ARMS AND WESTERN ORGANIZATION FOR OUR OLD REGIME; WE MUST SELECT OUR +MILITARY OFFICERS ACCORDING TO WESTERN METHODS OF MILITARY EDUCATION; +we must establish elementary and high schools, colleges and +universities, in accordance with those of foreign countries; we must +abolish the Wen-chang (literary essay) and obtain a knowledge of +ancient and modern world-history, a right conception of the present-day +state of affairs, with special reference to the governments and +institutions of the countries of the five great continents; and we must +understand their arts and sciences." +</P> + +<P> +The effect of this edict was to cause hundreds of thousands of young +aspirants for office to put aside the classics and unite in +establishing reform clubs in many of the provincial capitals, open +ports, and prefectural cities. Book depots were opened for the sale of +the same kind of literature the Emperor had been studying, magazines +and newspapers were issued and circulated in great numbers, lectures +were delivered and libraries established, and students flocked to the +mission schools ready to study anything the course contained, literary, +scientific or religious. Christians and pastors were even invited into +the palace by the eunuchs to dine with and instruct them. But the +matter that gave the deepest concern to the boy in the palace was: "How +can we so strengthen ourselves that we will be able to resist the White +Peril from Europe?" +</P> + +<P> +Among the important edicts issued in the establishment of the new +education was the one of June 11, 1898, in which he ordered that "a +great central university be established at Peking," the funds for which +were provided by the government. Among other things he said: "Let all +take advantage of the opportunities for the new education thus open to +them, so that in time we may have many who will be competent to help us +in the stupendous task of putting our country on a level with the +strongest of the western powers." It was not wisdom the young man was +after for the sake of wisdom, but he wanted knowledge because knowledge +was power, and at that time it was the particular kind of power that +was necessary to save China from utter destruction. +</P> + +<P> +On the 26th of the same month he censured the princes and ministers who +were lax in reporting upon this edict, and ordered them to do so at +once, and it was not long until a favourable report was given and, for +the first time in the history of the empire, a great university was +launched by the government, destined, may we not hope, to accomplish +the end the ambitious boy Emperor had in view. +</P> + +<P> +Kuang Hsu was aware that a single institution was not sufficient to +accomplish that end. On July 10th therefore he ordered that "schools +and colleges be established in all the provincial capitals, +prefectoral, departmental and district cities, and allowed the viceroys +and governors but two months to report upon the number of colleges and +free schools within their provinces," saying that "all must be changed +into practical schools for the teaching of Chinese literature, and +Western learning and become feeders to the Peking Imperial University." +He ordered further that all memorial and other temples that had been +erected by the people but which were not recorded in the list of the +Board of Rites or of Sacrificial Worship, were to be turned into +schools and colleges for the propagation of Western learning, a thought +which was quite in harmony with that advocated by Chang Chih-tung. The +funds for carrying on this work, and the establishment of these +schools, were to be provided for by the China Merchants' Steamship +Company, the Telegraph Company and the Lottery at Canton. +</P> + +<P> +On August 4th he ordered that numerous preparatory schools be +established in Peking as special feeders to the university; and on the +9th appointed Dr. W. A. P. Martin as Head of the Faculty and approved +the site suggested for the university by Sun Chia-nai, the president. +On the 16th he authorized the establishment of a Bureau for +"translating into Chinese Western works on science, arts and +literature, and textbooks for use in schools and colleges"; and on the +19th he abolished the "Palace examinations for Hanlins as useless, +superficial and obsolete," thus severing the last cord that bound them +to the old regime. +</P> + +<P> +What, now, was the Empress Dowager doing while Kuang Hsu was issuing +all these reform edicts, which, we are told, were so contrary to all +her reactionary principles? Why did she not stretch forth her hand and +prevent them? She was spending the hot months at the Summer Palace, +fifteen miles away, without offering either advice, objection or +hindrance, and it was not until two delegations of officials and +princes had appeared before her and plead with her to come and take +control of affairs and thus save them from being ousted or beheaded, +and herself from imprisonment, did she consent to come. By thus taking +the throne she virtually placed herself in the hands of the +conservative party, and all his reform measures, except that of the +Peking University and provincial schools, were, for the time, +countermanded, and the Boxers were allowed to test their strength with +the allied Powers. +</P> + +<P> +Passing over the two bad years of the Empress Dowager, which we have +treated in another chapter, we find her again, after the failure of the +Boxer uprising, and the return of the court to Peking, reissuing the +same style of edicts that had gone out from the pen of Kuang Hsu. On +August 29, 1901, she ordered "the abolition of essays on the Chinese +classics in examinations for literary degrees, and substituted therefor +essays and articles on some phase of modern affairs, Western laws or +political economy. This same procedure is to be followed in examination +of candidates for office." +</P> + +<P> +And now notice another phase of this same edict. "The old methods of +gaining military degrees by trial of strength with stone weights, +agility with the sword, or marksmanship with the bow on foot or on +horseback, ARE OF NO USE TO MEN IN THE ARMY, WHERE STRATEGY AND +MILITARY SCIENCE ARE THE SINE QUA NON TO OFFICE, and hence they should +be done away with forever." It is, as it was with Kuang Hsu, the +strengthening of the army she has in mind in her first efforts at +reform, that she may be able to back up with war-ships and cannon, if +necessary, her refusal to allow Italy or any other European power to +filch, without reason or excuse, the territory of her ancestors. +</P> + +<P> +September 12, 1901, she issued another edict commanding that "all the +colleges in the empire should be turned into schools of Western +learning; each provincial capital should have a university like that in +Peking, whilst all the schools in the prefectures and districts are to +be schools or colleges of the second or third class," neither more nor +less than a restatement of the edict of July 10, 1898, as issued by the +deposed Emperor, except that she confined it to the schools without +taking the temples. +</P> + +<P> +September 17, 1901, she ordered "the viceroys and governors of other +provinces to follow the example of Liu Kun-yi of Liang Kiang, Chang +Chih-tung of Hukuang, and Kuei Chun (Manchu) of Szechuan, in sending +young men of scholastic promise abroad to study any branch of Western +science or art best suited to their tastes, that in time they may +return to China and place the fruits of their knowledge at the service +of the empire." Such were some of the edicts issued by the Emperor and +the Empress Dowager in their efforts to launch this new system of +education which was to transform the old China into a strong and sturdy +youth. What now were the results? +</P> + +<P> +The Imperial College in Shansi was opened with 300 students all of whom +had already taken the Chinese degree of Bachelor of Arts. It had both +Chinese and foreign departments, and after the students had completed +the first, they were allowed to pass on to the second, which had six +foreign professors who held diplomas from Western colleges or +universities, and a staff of six translators of university textbooks +into Chinese, superintended by a foreigner. In 1901-2 ten provinces, +under the wise leadership of the Empress Dowager, opened colleges for +the support of which they raised not less than $400,000. +</P> + +<P> +The following are some of the questions given at the triennial +examinations of these two years in six southern provinces: +</P> + +<P> +1. "As Chinese and Western laws differ, and Western people will not +submit to Chinese punishments, what ought to be done that China, like +other nations, may be mistress in her own country?" +</P> + +<P> +2. "What are the Western sources of economic prosperity, and as China +is now so poor, what should she do?" +</P> + +<P> +3. "According to international law has any one a right to interfere +with the internal affairs of any foreign country?" +</P> + +<P> +4. "State the advantages of constructing railways in Shantung." +</P> + +<P> +5. "Of what importance is the study of chemistry to the agriculturist?" +</P> + +<P> +While Yuan Shih-kai was Governor of Shantung he induced Dr. W. M. Hayes +to resign the presidency of the Presbyterian College at Teng Choufu and +accept the presidency of the new government college at Chinanfu the +capital of the province. Dr. Hayes drew up a working plan of grammar +and high schools for Shantung which were to be feeders to this +provincial college. This was approved by the Governor, and embodied in +a memorial to the throne, copies of which the Empress Dowager sent to +the governors and viceroys of all the provinces declaring it to be a +law, and ordering the "viceroys, governors and literary chancellors to +see that it was obeyed." +</P> + +<P> +Dr. Hayes and Yuan Shih-kai soon split upon a regulation which the +Governor thought it best to introduce, viz., "That the Chinese +professors shall, on the first and fifteenth of each month, conduct +their classes in reverential sacrifice to the Most Holy Confucius, and +to all the former worthies and scholars of the provinces." Dr. Hayes +and his Christian teachers withdrew, and it was not long until those +who professed Christianity were excused from this rite, while the +Christian physicians who taught in the Peking Imperial University were +allowed to dispense with the queue and wear foreign clothes, as being +both more convenient and more sanitary. +</P> + +<P> +When Governor Yuan was made viceroy of Chihli, he requested Dr. C. D. +Tenny to draw up and put into operation a similar schedule for the +metropolitan province. This was done on a very much enlarged scale, and +at present (1909) "the Chihli province alone has nine thousand schools, +all of which are aiming at Western education; while in the empire as a +whole there are not less than forty thousand schools, colleges and +universities," representing one phase of the educational changes that +have been brought about in China during the last dozen years. +</P> + +<P> +The changes in the new education among women promise to be even more +sweeping than those among men. Dr. Martin, expressing the sentiments +then in vogue, said, as far back as 1877, "that not one in ten thousand +women could read." In 1893 I began studying the subject, and was led at +once to doubt the statement. The Chinese in an offhand way will agree +with Dr. Martin. But I found that it was a Chinese woman who wrote the +first book that was ever written in any language for the instruction of +girls, and that the Chinese for many years have had "Four Books for +Girls" corresponding to the "Four Books" of the old regime, and that +they were printed in large editions, and have been read by the better +class of people in almost every family. In every company of women that +came to call on my wife from 1894 to 1900, there was at least one if +not more who had read these books, while the Empress Dowager herself +was a brilliant example of what a woman of the old regime could do. +Where the desire for education was so great among women, that as soon +as it became possible to do so, she launched the first woman's daily +newspaper that was published anywhere in the world, with a woman as an +editor, we may be sure that there was more than one in ten thousand +during the old regime that could read. What therefore may we expect in +this new regime where women are ready to sacrifice their lives rather +than that the school which they are undertaking to establish shall be a +failure? +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Court Life in China, by Isaac Taylor Headland + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COURT LIFE IN CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 523-h.htm or 523-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/523/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Court Life in China + +Author: Isaac Taylor Headland + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #523] +Release Date: May, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COURT LIFE IN CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +COURT LIFE IN CHINA + +THE CAPITAL + +ITS OFFICIALS AND PEOPLE + + +By + +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND + +Professor in the Peking University + + + + +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND'S THREE BOOKS THAT "LINK EAST AND WEST" + + Court Life in China: The Capital Its Officials and People. + The Chinese Boy and Girl + Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes + + + + + +PREFACE + +Until within the past ten years a study of Chinese court life would +have been an impossibility. The Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the +court ladies were shut up within the Forbidden City, away from a world +they were anxious to see, and which was equally anxious to see them. +Then the Emperor instituted reform, the Empress Dowager came out from +behind the screen, and the court entered into social relations with +Europeans. + +For twenty years and more Mrs. Headland has been physician to the +family of the Empress Dowager's mother, the Empress' sister, and many +of the princesses and high official ladies in Peking. She has visited +them in a social as well as a professional way, has taken with her her +friends, to whom the princesses have shown many favours, and they have +themselves been constant callers at our home. It is to my wife, +therefore, that I am indebted for much of the information contained in +this book. + +There are many who have thought that the Empress Dowager has been +misrepresented. The world has based its judgment of her character upon +her greatest mistake, her participation in the Boxer movement, which +seems unjust, and has closed its eyes to the tremendous reforms which +only her mind could conceive and her hand carry out. The great Chinese +officials to a man recognized in her a mistress of every situation; the +foreigners who have come into most intimate contact with her, voice her +praise; while her hostile critics are confined for the most part to +those who have never known her. It was for this reason that a more +thorough study of her life was undertaken. + +It has also been thought that the Emperor has been misunderstood, being +overestimated by some, and underestimated by others, and this because +of his peculiar type of mind and character. That he was unusual, no one +will deny; that he was the originator of many of China's greatest +reform measures, is equally true; but that he lacked the power to +execute what he conceived, and the ability to select great statesmen to +assist him, seems to have been his chief shortcoming. + +To my wife for her help in the preparation of this volume, and to my +father-in-law, Mr. William Sinclair, M. A., for his suggestions, I am +under many obligations. + + I. T. H. + + + +CONTENTS + + I. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER EARLY LIFE + II. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER YEARS OF TRAINING + III. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A RULER + IV. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REACTIONIST + V. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REFORMER + VI. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS AN ARTIST + VII. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A WOMAN + VIII. KUANG HSU--HIS SELF DEVELOPMENT + IX. KUANG HSU--AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER + X. KUANG HSU--AS A PRISONER + XI. PRINCE CHUN--THE REGENT + XII. THE HOME OF THE COURT--THE FORBIDDEN CITY + XIII. THE LADIES OF THE COURT + XIV. THE PRINCESSES--THEIR SCHOOLS + XV. THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK + XVI. THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN + XVII. THE CHINESE LADIES--THEIR ILLS + XVIII. THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS + XIX. CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS + XX. PEKING--THE CITY OF THE COURT + XXI. THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + XXII. THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION + + + +I + +The Empress Dowager--Her Early Life + +All the period since 1861 should be rightly recorded as the reign of +Tze Hsi An, a more eventful period than all the two hundred and +forty-four reigns that had preceded her three usurpations. It began +after a conquering army had made terms of peace in her capital, and +with the Tai-ping rebellion in full swing of success.... + +Those few who have looked upon the countenance of the Dowager describe +her as a tall, erect, fine-looking woman of distinguished and imperious +bearing, with pronounced Tartar features, the eye of an eagle, and the +voice of determined authority and absolute command.--Eliza Ruhamah +Scidmore in "China, The Long-Lived Empire." + + + +I + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER EARLY LIFE + +One day when one of the princesses was calling at our home in Peking, I +inquired of her where the Empress Dowager was born. She gazed at me for +a moment with a queer expression wreathing her features, as she finally +said with just the faintest shadow of a smile: "We never talk about the +early history of Her Majesty." I smiled in return and continued: "I +have been told that she was born in a small house, in a narrow street +inside of the east gate of the Tartar city--the gate blown up by the +Japanese when they entered Peking in 1900." The princess nodded. "I +have also heard that her father's name was Chao, and that he was a +small military official (she nodded again) who was afterwards beheaded +for some neglect of duty." To this the visitor also nodded assent. + +A few days later several well-educated young Chinese ladies, daughters +of one of the most distinguished scholars in Peking, were calling on my +wife, and again I pursued my inquiries. "Do you know anything about the +early life of the Empress Dowager?" I asked of the eldest. She +hesitated a moment, with that same blank expression I had seen on the +face of the princess, and then answered very deliberately,--"Yes, +everybody knows, but nobody talks about it." And this is, no doubt, the +reason why the early life of the greatest woman of the Mongol race, +and, as some who knew her best think, the most remarkable woman of the +nineteenth century, has ever been shrouded in mystery. Whether the +Empress desired thus to efface all knowledge of her childhood by +refusing to allow it to be talked about, I do not know, but I said to +myself: "What everybody knows, I can know," and I proceeded to find out. + +I discovered that she was one of a family of several brothers and +sisters and born about 1834; that the financial condition of her +parents was such that when a child she had to help in caring for the +younger children, carrying them on her back, as girls do in China, and +amusing them with such simple toys as are hawked about the streets or +sold in the shops for a cash or two apiece; that she and her brothers +and little sisters amused themselves with such games as blind man's +buff, prisoner's base, kicking marbles and flying kites in company with +the other children of their neighbourhood. During these early years she +was as fond of the puppet plays, trained mice shows, bear shows, and +"Punch and Judy" as she was in later years of the theatrical +performances with which she entertained her visitors at the palace. She +was compelled to run errands for her mother, going to the shops, as +occasion required, for the daily supply of oils, onions, garlic, and +other vegetables that constituted the larger portion of their food. I +found out also that there is not the slightest foundation for the story +that in her childhood she was sold as a slave and taken to the south of +China. + +The outdoor life she led, the games she played, and the work she was +forced to do in the absence of household servants, gave to the little +girl a well-developed body, a strong constitution and a fund of +experience and information which can be obtained in no other way. She +was one of the great middle class. She knew the troubles and trials of +the poor. She had felt the pangs of hunger. She could sympathize with +the millions of ambitious girls struggling to be freed from the +trammels of ignorance and the age-old customs of the past--a combat +which was the more real because it must be carried on in silence. And +who can say that it was not the struggles and privations of her own +childhood which led to the wish in her last years that "the girls of my +empire may be educated"? + +When little Miss Chao had reached the age of fourteen or fifteen she +was taken by her parents to an office in the northern part of the +imperial city of Peking where her name, age, personal appearance, and +estimated degree of intelligence and potential ability were registered, +as is done in the case of all the daughters of the Manchu people. The +reason for this singular proceeding is that when the time comes for the +selection of a wife or a concubine for the Emperor, or the choosing of +serving girls for the palace, those in charge of these matters will +know where they can be obtained. + +This custom is not considered an unalloyed blessing by the Manchu +people, and many of them would gladly avoid registering their daughters +if only they dared. But the rule is compulsory, and every one belonging +to the eight Banners or companies into which the Manchus are divided +must have their daughters registered. Their aversion to this custom is +well illustrated in the following incident: + +In one of the girls' schools in Peking there was a beautiful child, the +daughter of a Manchu woman whose husband was dead. One day this widow +came to the principal of the school and said: "A summons has come from +the court for the girls of our clan to appear before the officials that +a certain number may be chosen and sent into the palace as serving +girls." "When is she to appear?" inquired the teacher. "On the +sixteenth," answered the mother. "I suppose you are anxious that she +should be one of the fortunate ones," said the teacher, "though I +should be sorry to lose her from the school." "On the contrary," said +the mother, "I should be distressed if she were chosen, and have come +to consult with you as to whether we might not hire a substitute." The +teacher expressed surprise and asked her why. "When our daughters are +taken into the palace," answered the mother, "they are dead to us until +they are twenty-five, when they are allowed to return home. If they are +incompetent or dull they are often severely punished. They may contract +disease and die, and their death is not even announced to us; while if +they prove themselves efficient and win the approval of the authorities +they are retained in the palace and we may never see them or hear from +them again." + +At first the teacher was inclined to favour the hiring of a substitute, +but on further consideration concluded that it would be contrary to the +law, and advised that the girl be allowed to go. The mother, however, +was so anxious to prevent her being chosen that she sent her with +uncombed hair, soiled clothes and a dirty face, that she might appear +as unattractive as possible. + +The prospects for a concubine are even less promising than for a +serving maid, as when she once enters the palace she has little if any +hope of ever leaving it. She is neither mistress nor servant, wife nor +slave, she is but one of a hundred buds in a garden of roses which have +little if any prospect of ever blooming or being plucked for the court +bouquet. When, therefore, the gates of the Forbidden City close behind +the young girls who are taken in as concubines of an emperor they shut +out an attractive, busy, beautiful world, filled with men and women, +boys and girls, homes and children, green fields and rich harvests, and +confine them within the narrow limits of one square mile of brick-paved +earth, surrounded by a wall twenty-five feet high and thirty feet +thick, in which there is but one solitary man who is neither father, +brother, husband nor friend to them, and whom they may never even see. + +When therefore the time came for the selection of concubines for the +Emperor Hsien Feng, and our little Miss Chao was taken into the palace, +her parents, like many others, had every reason to consider it a piece +of ill-fortune which had visited their home. The future was veiled from +them. The Forbidden City, surrounded by its great crenelated wall, may +have seemed more like a prison than like a palace. True, they had other +children, and she was "only a girl, but even girls are a small +blessing," as they tell us in their proverbs. She had grown old enough +to be useful in the home, and they no doubt had cherished plans of +betrothing her to the son of some merchant or official who would add +wealth or honour to their family. Neither father nor mother, brother +nor sister, could have conceived of the potential power, honour and +even glory, that were wrapped up in that girl, and that were finally to +come to them as a family, as well as to many of them as individuals. +Their wildest dreams at that time could not have pictured themselves +dukes and princesses, with their daughters as empresses, duchesses, or +ladies-in-waiting in the palace. But such it proved to be. + + + +II + +The Empress Dowager--Her Years of Training + + The kindness of the Empress is as boundless as the sea. + Her person too is holy, she is like a deity. + With boldness, from seclusion, she ascends the Dragon Throne, + And saves her suffering country from a fate we dare not own. + --"Yuan Fan," Translated by I. T. C. + + + +II + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER YEARS OF TRAINING + +The year our little Miss Chao entered the palace was a memorable one in +the history of China. The Tai-ping rebellion, which had begun in the +south some three years earlier (1850), had established its capital at +Nanking, on the Yangtse River, and had sent its "long-haired" rebels +north on an expedition of conquest, the ultimate aim of which was +Peking. By the end of the year 1853 they had arrived within one hundred +miles of the capital, conquering everything before them, and leaving +devastation and destruction in their wake. + +Their success had been extraordinary. Starting in the southwest with an +army of ten thousand men they had eighty thousand when they arrived +before the walls of Nanking. They were an undisciplined horde, without +commissariat, without drilled military leaders, but with such reckless +daring and bravery that the imperial troops were paralyzed with fear +and never dared to meet them in the open field. Thousands of common +thieves and robbers flocked to their standards with every new conquest, +impelled by no higher motive than that of pillage and gain. Rumours +became rife in every village and hamlet, and as they neared the capital +the wildest tales were told in every nook and corner of the city, from +the palace of the young Emperor in the Forbidden City to the mat shed +of the meanest beggar beneath the city wall. + +My wife says: "I remember just after going to China, sitting one +evening on a kang, or brick bed, with Yin-ma, an old nurse, our only +light being a wick floating in a dish of oil. Yin-ma was about the age +of the Empress Dowager, but, unlike Her Majesty, her locks were +snow-white. When I entered the dimly lighted room she was sitting in +the midst of a group of women and girls--patients in the hospital--who +listened with bated breath as she told them of the horrors of the +Tai-ping rebellion. + +"'Why!' said the old nurse, 'all that the rebels had to do on their way +to Peking, was to cut out as many paper soldiers as they wanted, put +them in boxes, and breathe upon them when they met the imperial troops, +and they were transformed into such fierce warriors that no one was +able to withstand them. Then when the battle was over and they had come +off victors they only needed to breathe upon them again, when they were +changed into paper images and packed in their boxes, requiring neither +food nor clothing. Indeed the spirits of the rebels were everywhere, +and no matter who cut out paper troops they could change them into real +soldiers.' + +"'But, Yin-ma, you do not believe those superstitions, do you?' + +"'These are not superstitions, doctor, these are facts, which everybody +believed in those days, and it was not safe for a woman to be seen with +scissors and paper, lest her neighbours report that she was cutting out +troops for the rebels. The country was filled with all kinds of +rumours, and every one had to be very careful of all their conduct, and +of everything they said, lest they be arrested for sympathizing with +the enemy.' + +"'But, Yin-ma, did you ever see any of these paper images transformed +into soldiers?' + +"'No, I never did myself, but there was an old woman lived near our +place, who was said to be in sympathy with the rebels. One night my +father saw soldiers going into her house and when he had followed them +he could find nothing but paper images. You may not have anything of +this kind happen in America, but very many people saw them in those +terrible days of pillage and bloodshed here.'" + +Such stories are common in all parts of China during every period of +rebellion, war, riot or disturbance of any kind. The people go about +with fear on their faces, and horror in their voices, telling each +other in undertones of what some one, somewhere, is said to have seen +or heard. Nor are these superstitions confined to the common people. +Many of the better classes believe them and are filled with fear. + +As the Tai-ping rebellion broke out when Miss Chao was about fifteen or +sixteen years of age, she would hear these stories for two or three +years before she entered the palace. After she had been taken into the +Forbidden City she would continue to hear them, brought in by the +eunuchs and circulated not only among all the women of the palace, but +among their own associates as well, and here they would take on a more +mysterious and alarming aspect to these people shut away from the +world, as ghost stories become more terrifying when told in the dim +twilight. May this not account in some measure for the attitude assumed +by the Empress Dowager towards the Boxer superstitions of 1900, and +their pretentions to be able at will to call to their aid legions of +spirit-soldiers, while at the same time they were themselves +invulnerable to the bullets of their enemies? + +It was when Miss Chao was ten years old that the conflict known as the +Opium War was brought to an end. It has been said that when the Emperor +was asked to sanction the importation of opium, he answered, "I will +never legalize a traffic that will be an injury to my people," but +whether this be true or not, it is admitted by all that the central +government was strongly opposed to the sale and use of the drug within +its domains. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the first time +the Chinese came into collision with European governments was over a +matter of this kind, and it is to the credit of the Chinese +commissioner when the twenty thousand chests of opium, over which the +dispute arose, were handed over to him, he mixed it with quicklime in +huge vats that it might be utterly destroyed rather than be an injury +to his people. They may have exhibited an ignorance of international +law, they may have manifested an unwise contempt for the foreigner, but +it remains a fact of history that they were ready to suffer great +financial loss rather than get revenue from the ruin of their subjects, +and that England went to war for the purpose of securing indemnity for +the opium destroyed. + +The common name for opium among the Chinese is yang yen--foreign +tobacco, and my wife says: "When calling at the Chinese homes, I have +frequently been offered the opium-pipe, and when I refused it the +ladies expressed surprise, saying that they were under the impression +that all foreigners used it." + +What now were the results of the Opium War as viewed from the +standpoint of the Chinese people, and what impression would it make +upon them as a whole? Great Britain demanded an indemnity of +$21,000,000, the cession to them of Hongkong, an island on the southern +coast, and the opening of five ports to British trade. China lost her +standing as suzerain among the peoples of the Orient and got her first +glimpse of the White Peril from the West. + +Although the Empress Dowager was but a child of ten at this time she +would receive her first impression of the foreigner, which was that he +was a pirate who had come to carry away their wealth, to filch from +them their land, and to overrun their country. He became a veritable +bugaboo to men, women and children alike, and this impression was +crystallized in the expression yang huei, "foreign devil," which is the +only term among a large proportion of the Chinese by which the +foreigner is known. One day when walking on the street in Peking I met +a woman with a child of two years in her arms, and as I passed them, +the child patted its mother on the cheek and said in an +undertone,--"The foreign devil's coming," which led the frightened +mother to cover its eyes with her hand that it might not be injured by +the sight. + +On one occasion a friend was travelling through the country when a +Chinese gentleman, dressed in silk and wearing an official hat, called +on him at the inn where he was stopping and with a profound bow +addressed him as "Old Mr. Foreign Devil." + +My wife says that: "Not infrequently when I have been called for the +first time to the homes of the better classes I have seen the children +run into the house from the outer court exclaiming,--'The devil +doctor's coming.' Indeed, I have heard the women use this term in +speaking of me to my assistant until I objected, when they asked with +surprise,--'Doesn't she like to be called foreign devil?'" And so the +Empress Dowager's first impression of the foreigner would be that of a +devil. + +Colonel Denby tells us that "A Frenchman and his wife were carried off +from Tonquin by bandits who took refuge in China. The Chinese +government was asked to rescue these prisoners and restore them to +liberty. China sent a brigade of troops, who pursued the bandits to +their den and recovered the prisoners. The French government thanked +the Chinese government for its assistance, and bestowed the decoration +of the Legion of Honour on the brigade commander, and then shortly +afterwards demanded the payment of an enormous indemnity for the +outrage on the ground that China had delayed to effect the rescue. The +Chinese were aghast, but they paid the money." + +This incident does not stand alone, but is one of a number of similar +experiences which the Chinese government had in her relation with the +powers of Europe, and which have been reported by such writers as +Holcomb, Beresford, Gorst Colquhoun and others in trying to account for +the feelings the Chinese have towards us, all of which was embodied in +the years of training of our little concubine. + +It should be remembered that many concubines are selected whom the +Emperor never takes the trouble to see. After being taken in, their +temper and disposition are carefully noted, their faithfulness in the +duties assigned them, their diligence in the performance of their +tasks, their kindness to their inferiors, their treatment of their +equals, and their politeness and obedience to their superiors, and upon +all these things, with many others, as we shall see, their promotion +will finally depend. + +When Miss Chao entered the palace, like most girls of her class or +station in life, she was uneducated. She may have studied the small +"Classic for Girls" in which she learned: + +"You should rise from bed as early in the morning as the sun, Nor +retire at evening's closing till your work is wholly done." + +Or, further, she may have been told, + + When the wheel of life's at fifteen, + Or when twenty years have passed, + As a girl with home and kindred these will surely be your last; + While expert in all employments that compose a woman's life, + You should study as a daughter all the duties of a wife." + +Or she may have read the "Filial Piety Classic for Girls" in which she +learned the importance of the attitude she assumed towards those who +were in authority over her, but certain it is she was not educated. + +She had, however, what was better than education--a disposition to +learn. And so when she had the good fortune,--or shall we say +misfortune,--for as we have seen it is variously regarded by Chinese +parents to be taken into the palace, she found there educated eunuchs +who were set aside as teachers of the imperial harem. She was bright, +attractive, and I think I may add without fear of contradiction, very +ambitious, and this in no bad sense. She devoted herself to her studies +with such energy and diligence as not only to attract the attention of +the teacher, but to make herself a fair scholar, a good penman, and an +exceptional painter, and it was not long until, from among all the +concubines, she had gained the attention and won the admiration--and +shall we say affection--not only of the Empress, but of the Emperor +himself, and she was selected as the first concubine or kuei fei, and +from that time until the death of the Empress the two women were the +staunchest of friends. + +The new favourite had been a healthy and vigorous girl, with plenty of +outdoor life in childhood, and it was not long before she became the +happy mother of Hsien Feng's only son. She was thenceforward known as +the Empress-mother. In a short time she was raised to the position of +wife, and given the title of Western Empress, as the other was known as +the Eastern, from which time the two women were equal in rank, and, in +the eyes of the world, equal in power. + +The first Empress was a pampered daughter of wealth, neither vigorous +of body nor strong of mind, caring nothing for political power if only +she might have ease and comfort, and there is nothing that exhibits the +Empress Dowager's real greatness more convincingly than the fact that +she was able to live for thirty years the more fortunate mother of her +country's ruler, and, in power, the mistress of her superior, without +arousing the latter's envy, jealousy, anger, or enmity. Let any woman +who reads this imagine, if she can, herself placed in the position of +either of these ladies without being inclined to despise the less +fortunate, ease-loving Empress if she be the dowager, or hating the +more powerful dowager if she be the Empress. Such a state of affairs as +these two women lived in for more than a quarter of a century is almost +if not entirely unique in history. + +Perhaps the incident which made most impression upon her was one which +happened in 1860 and is recorded in history as the Arrow War. A few +years before a number of Chinese, who owned a boat called the Arrow, +had it registered in Hongkong and hence were allowed to sail under the +British flag. There is no question I think but that these Chinese were +committing acts of piracy, and as this was one of the causes of +disturbance on that southern coast for centuries past, the viceroy +decided to rid the country of this pest. Nine days after the time for +which the boat had been registered, but while it continued unlawfully +to float the British colours, the viceroy seized the boat, imprisoned +all her crew, and dragged down the British flag. This was an insult +which Great Britain could not or would not brook and so the viceroy was +ordered to release the prisoners, all of whom were Chinese subjects, on +penalty of being blown up in his own yamen if he refused. + +Frightened at the threat, and remembering the result of the former war, +the viceroy sent the prisoners to the consulate in chains without +proper apologies for his insult to the flag. This angered the consul +and he returned them to the viceroy, who promptly cut off their heads +without so much as the semblance of a trial, and Britain, anxious, as +she was, to have every door of the Chinese empire opened to foreign +trade, found in this another pretext for war. We do not pretend to +argue that this was not the best thing for China and for the world, but +it can only be considered so from the bitter medicine, and corporal +punishment point of view, neither of which are agreeable to either the +patient or the pupil. + +Britain went to war. The viceroy was taken a prisoner to India, whence +he never returned. As though ashamed to enter upon a second unprovoked +and unjust war alone, she invited France, Russia, and America to join +her. France was quite ready to do so in the hope of strengthening her +position in Indo-China, and with nothing more than the murder of a +missionary in Kuangsi as a pretext she put a body of troops in the +field large enough to enable her to checkmate England, or humiliate +China as the exigencies of the occasion, and her own interests, might +demand. America and Russia having no cause for war, no wrongs to +redress, and no desire for territory, refused to join her in sending +troops, but gave her such sympathy and support as would enable her to +bring about a more satisfactory arrangement of China's foreign +relations--that is more satisfactory to themselves regardless of the +wishes, though not perhaps the interests, of China. + +We know how the British and French marched upon Peking in 1860; how the +summer palace was left a heap of ruins as a punishment for the murder +of a company of men under a flag of truce; and how the Emperor Hsien +Feng, with his wife, and the mother of his only son, our Empress +Dowager, were compelled to flee for the first time before a foreign +invader. Their refuge was Jehol, a fortified town, in a wild and rugged +mountain pass, on the borders of China and Tartary, a hundred miles +northeast of Peking. At this place the Emperor died, whether of +disease, chagrin, or of a broken heart--or of all combined, it is +impossible to say, and the Empress-mother was left AN EXILE AND A +WIDOW, with the capital and the throne for the first time at the mercy +of the Western barbarian. + +This was the beginning of two important phases of the Empress Dowager's +life--her affliction and her power, and her greatness is exhibited as +well by the way in which she bore the one as by the way in which she +wielded the other. In most cases a woman would have been so overcome by +sorrow at the loss of her husband, as to have forgotten the affairs of +state, or to have placed them for the time in the hands of others. Not +so with this great woman. Prince Kung the brother of Hsien Feng, had +been left in Peking to arrange a treaty with the Europeans, which he +succeeded in doing to the satisfaction of both the Chinese and the +foreigners. + +On the death of the Emperor, a regency was organized by two of the +princes, which did not include Prince Kung, and disregarded both of the +dowagers, and it seemed as though Prince Kung was doomed. His +father-in-law, however, the old statesman who had signed the treaties, +urged him to be the first to get the ear of the two women on their +return to the capital. This he did, and as it seemed evident that the +regency and the council had been organized for the express purpose of +tyrannizing over the Empresses and the child, they were at once +arrested, the leader beheaded, and the others condemned to exile or to +suicide. The child had been placed upon the throne as "good-luck," but +now a new regency was formed, consisting of the two dowagers, with +Prince Kung as joint regent, and the title of the reign was changed to +Tung Chih or "joint government." Thus ended the Empress Dowager's years +of training. + + + +III + +The Empress Dowager--As a Ruler + +That a Manchu woman who had had such narrow opportunities of obtaining +a knowledge of things as they really are, in distinction from the +tissue of shams which constitute the warp and the woof of an Oriental +Palace, should have been able to hold her own in every situation, and +never be crushed by the opposing forces about her, is a phenomenon in +itself only to be explained by due recognition of the influence of +individual qualities in a ruler even in the semi-absolutism of +China.--Arthur H. Smith in "China in Convulsion." + + + +III + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A RULER + +In considering the policy pursued by the Empress-mother after her +accession to the regency, one cannot but feel that she was fully aware +of the fact that she had been the wife of an emperor, and was the +mother of the heir, of a decaying house. Of the 218 years that her +dynasty had been in power, 120 had been occupied by the reigns of two +emperors, and only seven monarchs had sat upon the throne, a smaller +number than ever ruled during the same period in all Chinese history. +These two Emperors, Kang Hsi and Chien Lung, the second and fourth, had +each reigned for sixty years, the most brilliant period of the "Great +Pure Dynasty," unless we except the last six years of the Empress +Dowager's regency. The other ninety-eight years saw five rulers rise +and pass away, each one becoming weaker than his predecessor both in +character and in physique, until with the death of her son, Tung Chih, +the dynasty was left without a direct heir. + +The decay of the imperial house, the encroachments of the foreigner, +and the opposition of the native Chinese to the rule of the Manchus, +awoke the Empress Dowager to a realization of the fact that a stronger +hand than that of her husband must be at the helm if the dynasty of her +people were to be preserved. "It may be said with emphasis," says +Colonel Denby, who was for thirteen years minister to China, "that the +Empress Dowager has been the first of her race to apprehend the problem +of the relation of China to the outer world, and to make use of this +relation to strengthen her dynasty and to promote material progress." +She was fortunate in having Prince Kung associated with her in the +regency, a man tall, handsome and dignified, and the greatest statesman +that has come from the royal house since the time of Chien Lung. + +Here appears one of the chief characteristics of the Empress Dowager as +a ruler--her ability to choose the greatest statesmen, the wisest +advisers, the safest leaders, and the best guides, from the great mass +of Chinese officials, whether progressive or conservative. Prince Kung +was for forty years the leading figure of the Chinese capital outside +of the Forbidden City. He appeared first, at the age of twenty-six, as +a member of the commission that tried the minister who failed to make +good his promise to induce Lord Elgin and his men-of-war to withdraw +from Tientsin in 1858. The following year he was made a member of the +Colonial Board that controlled the affairs of the "outer Barbarians," +and a year later was left in Peking, when the court fled, to arrange a +treaty of peace with the victorious British and French after they had +taken the capital. "In these trying circumstances," says Professor +Giles, "the tact and resource of Prince Kung won the admiration of his +opponents," and when the Foreign Office was formed in 1861, it began +with the Prince as its first president, a position which he continued +to hold for many years. + +It was he, as we have seen, who succeeded in outwitting and +overthrowing the self-constituted regency on the death of his brother +Hsien Feng, and, with the Empress Dowager, seated her infant son upon +the throne, with the two Empresses and himself as joint regents. This +condition continued for some years, with the senior Empress exercising +no authority, and Prince Kung continually growing in power. The +arrangement seemed satisfactory to all but one--the Empress-mother. To +her it appeared as though he were fast becoming the government, and she +and the Empress were as rapidly receding into the background, while in +reality the design had been to make him "joint regent" with them. In +all the receptions of the officials by the court, Prince Kung alone +could see them face to face, while the ladies were compelled to remain +behind a screen, listening to the deliberations but without taking any +part therein, other than by such suggestions as they might make. + +Being the visible head of the government, and the only avenue to +positions of preferment, he would naturally be flattered by the Chinese +officials. This led him to assume an air of importance which +consciously or unconsciously he carried into the presence of their +Majesties, and one morning he awoke to find himself stripped of all his +rank and power, and confined and guarded a prisoner in his palace, by a +joint decree from the two Empresses accusing him of "lack of respect +for their Majesties." The deposed Prince at once begged their +forgiveness, whereupon all his honours were restored with their +accompanying dignities, but none of his former power as joint regent, +and thus the first obstacle to her reestablishment of the dynasty was +eliminated by the Empress-mother. To show Prince Kung, however, that +they bore him no ill will, the Empresses adopted his daughter as their +own, raising her to the rank of an imperial princess, and though the +Prince has long since passed away his daughter still lives, and next to +the Empress Dowager has been the leading figure in court circles during +the past ten years' association with the foreigners. + +During her son's minority, after the dismissal of Prince Kung as joint +regent, the Empress-mother year by year took a more active part in the +affairs of state, while the Empress as gradually sank into the +background. She was far-sighted. Having but one son, and knowing the +uncertainty of life, she originated a plan to secure the succession to +her family. To this end she arranged for the marriage of her younger +sister to her husband's younger brother commonly known as the Seventh +Prince, in the hope that from this union there might come a son who +would be a worthy occupant of the dragon throne in case her own son +died without issue. She felt that the country needed a great central +figure capable of inspiring confidence and banishing uncertainty, a +strong, well-balanced, broad-minded, self-abnegating chief executive, +and she proposed to furnish one. Whether she would succeed or not must +be left to the future to reveal, but the one great task set by destiny +for her to accomplish was to prepare the mind of a worthy successor to +meet openly and intelligently the problems which had been too vast, too +new and too complicated for her predecessors, if not for herself, to +solve. + +When her son was seventeen years old he was married to Alute, a young +Manchu lady of one of the best families in Peking and was nominally +given the reins of power, though as a matter of fact the supreme +control of affairs was still in the hands of his more powerful mother. +The ministers of the European countries, England, France, Germany, +Russia and the United States, now resident at Peking, thought this a +good time for bringing up the matter of an audience with the new ruler, +and after a long discussion with Prince Kung and the Empress-mother, +the matter was arranged without the ceremony of prostration which all +previous rulers had demanded. + +The married life of this young couple was a short one. Three years +after their wedding ceremonies the young monarch contracted smallpox +and died without issue, and was followed shortly afterwards by his +young wife who heeded literally the instruction of one of their female +teachers in her duty to her husband to + + Share his joy as well as sorrow, riches, poverty or guilt, + And in death be buried with him, as in life you shared his guilt. + +That her nearest relatives did not believe, as has often been +suggested, that there was any "foul play" in regard to her death, is +evident from the fact that her father continued to hold office until +the time of the Boxer uprising, at which time he followed the fleeing +court as far as Paotingfu, where having heard that the capital was in +the hands of the hated foreigners, he sent word back to his family that +he would neither eat the foreigners' bread nor drink their water, but +would prefer to die by his own hand. When his family received this +message they commanded their servants to dig a great pit in their own +court in which they all lay and ordered the coolies to bury them. This +they at first refused to do, but they were finally prevailed upon, and +thus perished all the male members of her father's household except one +child that was rescued and carried away by a faithful nurse. + +When Tung Chih died there was a formidable party in the palace opposed +to the two dowagers, anxious to oust them and their party and place +upon the throne a dissolute son of Prince Kung. But it would require a +master mind from the outside to learn of the death of her son and +select and proclaim a successor quicker than the Empress Dowager +herself could do so from the inside. She first sent a secret messenger +to Li Hung-chang whom she had appointed viceroy of the metropolitan +province at Tientsin eighty miles away, informing him of the illness of +her son and urging him to come to Peking with his troops post-haste and +be ready to prevent any disturbance in case of his death and the +announcement of a successor. + +When Li Hung-chang received her orders, he began at once to put them +into execution. Taking with him four thousand of his most reliable +Anhui men, all well-armed horse, foot and artillery, he made a secret +forced march to Peking. The distance of eighty miles was covered in +thirty-six hours and he planned to arrive at midnight. Exactly on the +hour Li and his picked guard were admitted, and in dead silence they +marched into the Forbidden City. Every man had in his mouth a wooden +bit to prevent talking, while the metal trappings of the horses were +muffled to deaden all sound. When they arrived at the forbidden +precincts, the Manchu Bannermen on guard at the various city gates were +replaced by Li's Anhui braves, and as the Empress Dowager had sent +eunuchs to point out the palace troops which were doubtful or that had +openly declared for the conspirators, these were at once disarmed, +bound and sent to prison. The artillery were ordered to guard the gates +of the Forbidden City, the cavalry to patrol the grounds, and the +foot-soldiers to pick up any stray conspirators that could be found. A +strong detachment was stationed so as to surround the Empress Dowager +and the child whom she had selected as a successor to her son, and when +the morning sun rose bright and clear over the Forbidden City the +surprise of the conspirators who had slept the night away was complete. +Of the disaffected that remained, some were put in prison and others +sent into perpetual exile to the Amoor beyond their native borders, and +when the Empress Dowager announced the death of her son, she proclaimed +the son of her sister, Kuang Hsu, as his successor, with herself and +the Empress as regents during his minority. When everything was +settled, Li folded his tent like the Arab, and stole away as silently +as he had come. + +The wisdom and greatness of the Empress Dowager were thus manifested in +binding to the throne the greatest men not only in the capital but in +the provinces. Li Hung-chang had won his title to greatness during the +Tai-ping rebellion, for his part in the final extinction of which he +was ennobled as an Earl. From this time onward she placed him in the +highest positions of honour and power within sufficient proximity to +the capital to have his services within easy reach. For twenty-four +years he was kept as viceroy of the metropolitan province of Chihli, +with the largest and best drilled army at his command that China had +ever had, and yet during all this time he realized that he was watched +with the eyes of an eagle lest he manifest any signs of rebellion, +while his nephew was kept in the capital as a hostage for his good +conduct. Once and again when he had reached the zenith of his power, or +had been feted by foreign potentates enough to turn the head of a +bronze Buddha, his yellow jacket and peacock feather were kindly but +firmly removed to remind him that there was a power in Peking on whom +he was dependent. + +Li Hung-chang's greatness made him many enemies. Those whom he +defeated, those whom he would not or could not help, those whom he +punished or put out of office, and those whose enmity was the result of +jealousy. When the war with Japan closed and the Chinese government +sent Chang Yin-huan to negotiate a treaty of peace, the Japanese +refused to accept him, nor were they willing to take up the matter +until "Li Hung-chang was appointed envoy, chiefly because of his great +influence over the government, and the respect in which he was held by +the people." We all know how he went, how he was shot in the face by a +Japanese fanatic, the ball lodging under the left eye, where it +remained a memento which he carried to the grave. We all know how he +recovered from the wound, and how because of his sufferings he was able +to negotiate a better treaty than he could otherwise have done. Then he +returned home, and only "the friendship of the Empress and his own +personal sufferings saved his life," says Colonel Denby, for "the new +treaty was urgently denounced in China" by carping critics who would +not have been recognized as envoys by their Japanese enemies. + +In 1896 he was appointed to attend the coronation of the Czar at +Moscow, and thence continued his trip around the world. Never before +nor since has a Chinese statesman or even a prince been feted as he was +in every country through which he passed. When he was about to start, +at his request I had a round fan painted for him, with a map of the +Eastern hemisphere on one side and the Western on the other, on which +all the steamship lines and railroads over which he was to travel were +clearly marked, with all the ports and cities at which he expected to +stop. He was photographed with Gladstone, and hailed as the "Bismarck +of the East," but when he returned to Peking, for no reason but +jealousy, "he was treated as an extinct volcano." The Empress Dowager +invited him to the Summer Palace where he was shown about the place by +the eunuchs, treated to tea and pipes, and led into pavilions where +only Her Majesty was allowed to enter, and then denounced to the Board +of Punishments who were against him to a man. And now this Grand +Secretary whom kings and courts had honoured, whom emperors and +presidents had feted, and our own government had spent thirty thousand +dollars in entertaining, was once more stripped of his yellow jacket +and peacock feather, and fined the half of a year's salary as a member +of the Foreign Office, which was the amusing sum of forty-five taels or +about thirty-five dollars gold, and it was said in Peking at the time +that only the intercession of the Empress Dowager saved him from +imprisonment or further disgrace. + +During the whole regency of the Empress Dowager only two men have +occupied the position of President of the Grand Council--Prince Kung +and Prince Ching. While the former was degraded many times and had his +honours all taken from him, the latter "has kept himself on top of a +rolling log for thirty years" without losing any of the honours which +were originally conferred upon him. The same is true of Chang +Chih-tung, Liu Kun-yi and Wang Wen-shao, three great viceroys and Grand +Secretaries whom the Empress Dowager has never allowed to be without an +important office, but whom she has never degraded. Need we ask the +reason why? The answer is not far to seek. They were the most eminent +progressive officials she had in her empire, but none of them were +great enough to be a menace to her dynasty, and hence need not be +reminded that there was a power above them which by a stroke of her pen +could transfer them from stars in the official firmament to dandelions +in the grass. Not so with Yuan Shih-kai--but we will speak of him in +another chapter. + +All the great officials thus far mentioned have belonged to the +progressive rather than the conservative party, all of them the +favourites of the Empress Dowager, placed in positions of influence and +kept in office by her, all of them working for progress and reform, and +yet she has been constantly spoken of by European writers as a +reactionary. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as we shall see. +Nevertheless she kept some of the great conservative officials in +office either as viceroys or Grand Secretaries that she might be able +to hear both sides of all important questions. + +One of these conservatives was Jung Lu, the father-in-law of the +present Regent. When she placed Yuan Shih-kai in charge of the army of +north China, she also appointed Jung Lu as Governor-General of the +metropolitan province of Chihli. One was a progressive, the other a +conservative. Neither could make any important move without the +knowledge and consent of the other. Whether the Empress Dowager foresaw +the danger that was likely to arise, we do not know, but she provided +against it. We refer to the occasion when in 1898 the Emperor ordered +Yuan Shih-kai to bring his troops to Peking, guard the Empress Dowager +a prisoner in the Summer Palace, and protect him in his efforts at +reform. The story belongs in another chapter, but we refer to it here +to show how the Empress Dowager played one official against another, +and one party against another, to prevent any such calamity or +surprise. It would have been impossible for Yuan Shih-kai to have taken +his troops to Peking for any purpose without first informing his +superior officer Jung Lu unless he put him to death, much less to have +gone on such a mission as that of imprisoning as important a personage +as the Empress Dowager, to whom they were both indebted for their +office. + +Another instance of the way in which the Empress Dowager played one +party against another was the appointment of Prince Tuan as a member of +the Foreign Office. After his son had been selected as the +heir-apparent it seemed to the Empress Dowager that for his own +education and development he should be made to come in contact with the +foreigners. Most of the foreigners considered the appointment +objectionable on account of the "Prince's anti-foreign tendencies. But +to my mind," says Sir Robert Hart, "it was a good one; the Empress +Dowager had probably said to the Prince, 'You and your party pull one +way, Prince Ching and his another--what am I to do between you? You, +however, are the father of the future Emperor, and have your son's +interests to take care of; you are also head of the Boxers and chief of +the Peking Field Force, and ought therefore to know what can and what +cannot be done. I therefore appoint you to the yamen; do what you +consider most expedient, and take care that the throne of your +ancestors descends untarnished to your son, and their empire +undiminished! yours is the power,--yours the responsibility--and yours +the chief interests!' I can imagine the Empress Dowager taking this +line with the Prince, and, inasmuch as various ministers who had been +very anti-foreign before entering the yamen had turned round and +behaved very sensibly afterwards, I felt sure that responsibility and +actual personal dealings with foreigners would be a good experience and +a useful education for this Prince, and that he would eventually be one +of the sturdiest supporters of progress and good relations." + + + +IV + +The Empress Dowager--As a Reactionist + +The most interesting personage in China during the past thirty years +has been and still is without doubt the lady whom we style the Empress +Dowager. The character of the Empress's rule can only be judged by what +it was during the regency, when she was at the head of every movement +that partook of the character of reform. Foreign diplomacy has failed, +for want of a definite centre of volition and sensation to act upon. It +had no fulcrum for its lever. Hence only force has ever succeeded in +China. With a woman like the Empress might it not be possible really to +transact business?--Blackwood's Magazine. + + + +IV + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REACTIONIST + +It was between November 1, 1897, and April 16, 1898, that Germany, +Russia, France and England wrested from the weak hands of the Emperor +Kuang Hsu the four best ports in the Chinese empire, leaving China +without a place to rendezvous a fleet. The whole empire was aroused to +indignation, and even in our Christian schools, every essay, oration, +dialogue or debate was a discussion of some phase of the subject, "How +to reform and strengthen China." The students all thought, the young +reformers all thought, and the foreigners all thought that Kuang Hsu +had struck the right track. The great Chinese officials, however, were +in doubt, and it was because of their doubt--progressives as well as +conservatives--that the Empress Dowager was again called to the throne. + +Now may I request the enemies of the Empress Dowager to ask themselves +what they would have done if they had been placed at the head of their +own government when it was thus being filched from them? You say she +was anti-foreign--would you have been very much in love with Germany, +Russia, France and England under those circumstances? That she acted +unwisely in placing herself in the hands of the conservatives and +allying herself with the superstitious Boxers, we must all frankly +admit. But what would you have done? Might you not--I do not say you +would with your intelligence--but might you not have been induced to +have clutched at as great a log as the patriotic Boxers seemed to +present, if you had been as near drowning as she was? + +"It is generally supposed," says one of her critics, "that Kang Yu-wei +suggested to the Emperor, that if he would render his own position +secure, he must retire the Empress Dowager, and decapitate Jung Lu." If +that be true, and I think it very reasonable, the condition must have +been desperate, when the reformers had to begin killing the greatest of +their opponents, and imprisoning those who had given them their power, +though neither of these at that time had raised a hand against them. +Have you noticed how ready we are to forgive those on our side for +doing that for which we would bitterly condemn our opponents? The same +people who condemn the Empress Dowager for beheading the six young +reformers stand ready to forgive Kuang Hsu for ordering the +decapitation of Jung Lu, and the imprisonment of his foster-mother. + +There were two powerful factions in Peking, the progressives, headed by +Prince Ching; and the conservatives, headed by Jung Lu. Now the Empress +Dowager may have reasoned thus: "The progressives and reformers have +had their day. They have tried their plans and they have failed. The +only result they have secured is peace--but peace always at the expense +of territory. Now I propose to try another plan. I will part with no +more ports, and I will resist to the death every encroachment." She +therefore took up Li Ping-heng, who had been deposed from the +governorship of Shantung at the time of the murder of the German +missionaries, and appointed him Generalissimo of the forces of the +Yangtse, where he no doubt promised to resist to the last all +encroachments of the foreigners in that part of the empire while Jung +Lu was retained in Peking as head of all the forces of the province of +Chihli and the Northern Squadron. She then appointed Kang Yi, another +conservative, equally as anti-foreign as Li Ping-heng, to inspect the +fortifications and garrisons of the empire, and to raise an immense sum +of money for the depleted treasury. In his visits to the southern +provinces, Kang Yi at this time raised not less than two million taels, +which was no doubt spent in the purchase of guns and ammunition and +other preparations for war. Yu Hsien, another equally conservative +Manchu, she appointed Governor of Shantung to succeed Li Ping-heng, and +it is to him the whole Boxer uprising is due. Moreover when he, at the +repeated requests of the foreigners, was removed from Shantung, she +received him in audience at Peking, conferred upon him additional +honours and appointed him Governor of the adjoining province of Shansi, +where, and under whose jurisdiction, almost all the massacres were +committed. Indeed Yu Hsien may be considered the whole Boxer movement, +for this seems to have been his plan for getting rid of the foreigners. + +But while thus allying herself with the conservatives, the Empress +Dowager did not cut herself off from the progressives. Li Hung-chang +was appointed Viceroy of Kuangtung, Yuan Shih-kai Governor of Shantung +and Tuan Fang of Shensi while Liu Kun-yi, Chang Chih-tung, and Kuei +Chun were kept at their posts, so that she had all the greatest men of +both parties once more in her service. Then she began sending out +edicts, retracting those issued by Kuang Hsu, and what could be more +considerate of the feelings of the Emperor, or more diplomatic as a +state paper than the following, issued in the name of Kuang Hsu, +September 26, 1898. + +"Our real desire was to make away with superfluous posts for the sake +of economy: whereas, on the contrary, we find rumours flying abroad +that we intended to change wholesale the customs of the empire, and, in +consequence, innumerable impossible suggestions of reform have been +presented to us. If we allowed this to go on, none of us would know to +what pass matters would come. Hence, unless we hasten to put our +present wishes clearly before all, we greatly fear that the petty yamen +officials and their underlings will put their own construction on what +commands have gone before, and create a ferment in the midst of the +usual calm of the people. This will indeed be contrary to our desire, +and put our reforms for strengthening and enriching our empire to +naught. + +"We therefore hereby command that the Supervisorate of Instruction and +other five minor Courts and Boards, which were recently abolished by us +and their duties amalgamated with other Boards for the sake of economy, +etc., be forthwith restored to their original state and duties, because +we have learned that the process of amalgamation contains many +difficulties and will require too much labour. We think, therefore, it +is best that these offices be not abolished at all, there being no +actual necessity for doing this. As for the provincial bureaus and +official posts ordered to be abolished, the work in this connection can +go on as usual, and the viceroys and governors are exhorted to work +earnestly and diligently in the above duty. Again as to the edict +ordering the establishment of an official newspaper, the Chinese +Progress, and the privilege granted to all scholars and commoners to +memorialize us on reforms, etc., this was issued in order that a way +might be opened by which we could come into touch with our subjects, +high and low. But as we have also given extra liberty to our censors +and high officers to report to us on all matters pertaining to the +people and their government, any reforms necessary, suggested by these +officers, will be attended to at once by us. Hence we consider that our +former edict allowing all persons to report to us is, for obvious +reasons, superfluous, with the present legitimate machinery at hand. +And we now command that the privilege be withdrawn, and only the proper +officers be permitted to report to us as to what is going on in our +empire. As for the newspaper Chinese Progress, it is really of no use +to the government, while, on the other hand, it will excite the masses +to evil; hence we command the said paper to be suppressed. + +"With regard to the proposed Peking University and the middle schools +in the provincial capitals, they may go on as usual, as they are a +nursery for the perfection of true ability and talents. But with +reference to the lower schools in the sub-prefectures and districts +there need be no compulsion, full liberty being given to the people +thereof to do what they please in this connection. As for the +unofficial Buddhist, Taoist, and memorial temples which were ordered to +be turned into district schools, etc., so long as these institutions +have not broken the laws by any improper conduct of the inmates, or the +deities worshipped in them are not of the seditious kind, they are +hereby excused from the edict above noted. At the present moment, when +the country is undergoing a crisis of danger and difficulty, we must be +careful of what may be done, or what may not, and select only such +measures as may be really of benefit to the empire." + +I submit the above edict to the reader requesting him to study it, and, +if necessary to its understanding, to copy it, and see if the Empress +Dowager has not preserved the best there is in it, viz., "the Peking +University, and the middle schools in the provincial capitals," "full +liberty being given to the people with reference to the lower schools +in the sub-prefectures and districts to do as they please." How much +oil would be cast on how many troubled waters can only be realized by +the unfortunate priests and dismissed officials and people upon whom +"there need be no compulsion"! + +Three days after the foregoing, on September 29th, she issued another +edict purporting to come from the Emperor, ordering the punishment of +Kang Yu-wei and others of his confreres. Now, if it is true that Kang +Yu-wei advised the Emperor to behead Jung Lu and imprison the Empress +Dowager, for no cause whatsoever, how would you have been inclined to +treat him supposing you had been in her place? The decree says: + +"All know that we try to rule this empire by our filial piety towards +the Empress Dowager; but Kang Yu-wei's doctrines have always been +opposed to the ancient Confucian tenets. Owing, however, to the ability +shown by the said Kang Yu-wei in modern and practical matters, we +sought to take advantage of it by appointing him a secretary of the +Foreign Office, and subsequently ordered him to Shanghai to direct the +management of the official newspaper there. Instead of this, however, +he dared to remain in Peking pursuing his nefarious designs against the +dynasty, and had it not been for the protection given by the spirits of +our ancestors he certainly would have succeeded. Kang Yu-wei is +therefore the arch conspirator, and his chief assistant is Liang +Chi-tsao, M. A., and they are both to be immediately arrested and +punished for the crime of rebellion. The other principal conspirators, +namely, the Censor Yang Shen-hsin, Kang Kuang-jen--the brother of Kang +Yu-wei--and the four secretaries of the Tsungli Yamen, Tan Sze-tung, +Liu Hsin, Yang Jui, and Liu Kuang-ti, we immediately ordered to be +arrested and imprisoned by the Board of Punishments: but fearing that +if any delay ensued in sentencing them they would endeavour to entangle +a number of others, we accordingly commanded yesterday (September 28th) +their immediate execution, so as to close the matter entirely and +prevent further troubles." + +This with the execution of one or two other officials is the greatest +crime that can be laid at the door of the Empress Dowager--great enough +in all conscience--yet not to be compared to those of "good Queen Bess." + +We now come to what is said to have been a secret edict issued by the +Empress Dowager to her viceroys, governors, Tartar generals and the +commanders-in-chief of the provinces, dated November 21, 1899. And this +I regard as one of the greatest and most daring things that great woman +ever undertook. + +After the Empress Dowager had taken the throne, Italy, following the +example set by the other powers, demanded the cession of Sanmen Bay in +the province of Chekiang. But she found a different ruler on the +throne, and to her great surprise, as well as that of every one else, +China returned a stubborn refusal. Moreover, she began to prepare to +resist the demand, and it soon became evident that to obtain it, Italy +must go to war. This she had not the stomach for and so the demand was +withdrawn. This explanation will go far towards helping us to +understand the following secret edict of November 21st, to which I have +already referred. + +"Our empire is now labouring under great difficulties which are +becoming daily more and more serious. The various Powers cast upon us +looks of tiger-like voracity, hustling each other in their endeavours +to be the first to seize upon our innermost territories. They think +that China, having neither money nor troops, would never venture to go +to war with them. They fail to understand, however, that there are +certain things that this empire can never consent to, and that, if +hardly pressed upon, we have no alternative but to rely upon the +justice of our cause, the knowledge of which in our breasts strengthens +our resolves and steels us to present a united front against our +aggressors. No one can guarantee, under such circumstances, who will be +the victor and who the vanquished in the end. But there is an evil +habit which has become almost a custom among our viceroys and governors +which, however, must be eradicated at all costs. For instance, whenever +these high officials have had on their hands cases of international +dispute, all their actions seem to be guided by the belief in their +breasts that such cases would eventually be 'amicably arranged.' These +words seem never to be out of their thoughts: hence, when matters do +come to a crisis, they, of course, find themselves utterly unprepared +to resist any hostile aggressions on the part of the foreigner. We, +indeed, consider this the most serious failure in the duty which the +highest provincial authorities owe to the throne, and we now find it +incumbent upon ourselves to censure such conduct in the most severe +terms. + +"It is our special command, therefore, that should any high official +find himself so hard pressed by circumstances that nothing short of war +would settle matters, he is expected to set himself resolutely to work +out his duty to this end. Or, perhaps, it would be that war has already +actually been declared; under such circumstances there is no possible +chance of the imperial government consenting to an immediate conference +for the restoration of peace. It behooves, therefore, that our +viceroys, governors, and commanders-in-chief throughout the whole +empire unite forces and act together without distinction or +particularizing of jurisdictions so as to present a combined front to +the enemy, exhorting and encouraging their officers and soldiers in +person to fight for the preservation of their homes and native soil +from the encroaching footsteps of the foreign aggressor. Never should +the word 'Peace' fall from the mouths of our high officials, nor should +they even allow it to rest for a moment within their breasts. With such +a country as ours, with her vast area, stretching out several tens of +thousands of li, her immense natural resources, and her hundreds of +millions of inhabitants, if only each and all of you would prove his +loyalty to his Emperor and love of country, what, indeed, is there to +fear from any invader? Let no one think of making peace, but let each +strive to preserve from destruction and spoliation his ancestral home +and graves from the ruthless hands of the invader." + +One of her critics, referring to the last sentence of the above edict, +asks: "Do not these words throw down the gauntlet?" And we answer, yes. +Did not the thirteen colonies throw down the gauntlet to England for +less cause? Did not Japan throw down the gauntlet to Russia for less +cause than the Empress Dowager had for desiring that "each strive TO +PRESERVE FROM DESTRUCTION AND SPOLIATION HIS ANCESTRAL HOME AND +GRAVES"? It was not for conquest but for self-preservation the Empress +Dowager was ready to go to war; not for glory but for home; not against +a taunting neighbour, but against a "ruthless invader." Her unwisdom +did not consist in her being ready to go to war, but in allowing +herself to be allied to, and depend upon, the superstitious rabble of +Boxers, and to believe that her "hundreds of millions" of undisciplined +"inhabitants" could withstand the thousands or tens of thousands of +well-drilled, well-led, intelligent soldiers from the West. + +That she was ready to go to war rather than weakly yield to the demands +for territory from the European powers is further evidenced by the +following edict issued by the Tsungli Yamen to the viceroys and +governors: + +"This yamen has received the special commands of her Imperial Majesty +the Empress Dowager, and his Imperial Majesty the Emperor, to grant you +full power and liberty to resist by force of arms all aggressions upon +your several jurisdictions, proclaiming a state of war, if necessary, +without first asking instructions from Peking; for this loss of time +may be fatal to your security, and enable the enemy to make good his +footing against your forces." + +In order to strengthen her position she appointed two commissioners +whom she sent to Japan in the hope of forming a secret defensive +alliance with that nation against the White Peril from the West. For +once, however, she made a mistake in the selection of her men, for +these commissioners, unlike what we usually find the yellow man, +revealed too much of the important mission on which they were bent, and +were recalled in disgrace, and the treaty came to naught. + + + +V + +The Empress Dowager--As a Reformer + +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her life +and her throne, the Dowager has become a convert to the policy of +progress. She has, in fact, outstripped her nephew. "Long may she +live!" "Late may she rule us!" During her lifetime she may be counted +on to carry forward the cause she has so ardently espoused. She grasps +the reins with a firm hand; and her courage is such that she does not +hesitate to drive the chariot of state over many a new and untried +road. She knows she can rely on the support of her viceroys--men of her +own appointment. She knows too that the spirit of reform is abroad in +the land, and that the heart of the people is with her.--W. A. P. +Martin in "The Awakening of China." + + + +V + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REFORMER + +In June, 1902, soon after the return of the court from Hsian to Peking, +a company of ladies from the various legations in Peking who had +received invitations to an audience and a banquet with the Empress +Dowager were asked to meet at one of the legations for the purpose of +consultation. The meeting was unusual. Many of those who were present +had no higher motive than the ordinary tourist who goes sightseeing. +With the exception of one or two who had been in once before, none of +these ladies had ever been present at an audience. Several of them +however had passed through the Boxer siege of 1900, had witnessed the +guns from the wall of the Imperial City pouring shot and shell into the +British legation, where they were confined during those eight memorable +weeks of June, July and August, and had come out with their hearts +filled with resentment. One of them had received a decoration from her +government for her bravery in standing beside her husband on the +fortifications when buildings were crumbling and walls falling, and her +husband was buried by an exploding mine, and then vomited out unhurt by +a second explosion. Among the number were several recent arrivals in +Peking who had had none of these bitter experiences, but had heard much +of the Empress Dowager, and above all things else they were anxious to +see her whom they called the "She Dragon." + +The presiding officer had been longest in Peking, and as doyen of these +diplomatic ladies, she acted as chairman of the meeting. The first +question to be decided was the mode of conveyance to the "Forbidden +City." Without much discussion it was decided to use the sedan chair, +as being the most dignified, and used only by Chinese ladies of rank. +The chairman then called for an expression of opinion as to the method +of procedure in presentation to the throne. One suggested that they +have no ceremony about it, but all go up to the throne together, for in +this way none would take precedence, but all would have an equal +opportunity of satisfying their curiosity and scrutinizing this female +dragon ad libitum. Another said: "It will be broiling hot on that June +day, and it will be better to keep at a safe distance from her, with +plenty of guards to protect us, or we may be broiled in more senses +than one." The chairman looked worried at these suggestions, but still +kept her dignity and her equilibrium. Then a mild voice suggested that +it was customary in all audiences for those presented to courtesy to +the one on the throne. "Courtesy!" broke in an indignant voice, "it +would be more appropriate for her to prostrate herself at our feet and +beg us to forgive her for trying to shoot us, than for us to courtesy +to her." It was finally decided, however, that the same formalities be +observed as were followed by the ministers when received at court. I +give these incidents to show the temper that prevailed among the +members of some of the legations at Peking at the time of this first +audience. + +"When a few days later we followed the long line of richly-robed +princesses into the audience-hall, all this was changed. As we looked +at the Empress Dowager seated upon her throne on a raised dais, with +the Emperor to her left and members of the Grand Council kneeling +beside her, and these dignified, stately princesses courtesying until +their knees touched the floor, we forgot the resentful feeling +expressed in the meeting a few days before, and, awed by her majestic +bearing and surroundings, we involuntarily gave the three courtesies +required from those entering the imperial presence. We could not but +feel that this stately woman who sat upon the throne was every inch an +empress. In her hands rested the weal or woe of one-third of the human +race. Her brilliant black eyes seemed to read our thoughts. Indeed she +prides herself upon the fact that at a glance she can read the +character of every one that appears before her." + +After the ladies had taken their position in order of their rank, the +doyen presented their good wishes to Her Majesty, which was replied to +by a few gracious words from the throne. Each lady's name was then +announced and as she was formally presented she ascended the dais, and +as she courtesied, the Empress Dowager extended her hand which she +took, and then passed to the left to be introduced in a similar way to +the Emperor. + +It was thus she began her reforms in the customs of the court, which up +to this time had kept her ever behind the screen, compelled to wield +the sceptre from her place of concealment, equally shut out from the +eyes of the world and blind to the needs of her people. Up to her time +the people and the nation were the slaves of age-old customs, but +before the power of her personality rites and ceremonies became the +servants of the people. In the words of the poet she seemed to feel that + + "Rules + Are well; but never fear to break + The scaffolding of other souls; + It was not meant for thee to mount, + Though it may serve thee." + + +Without taking away from the Emperor the credit of introducing the +railroad, the telegraph, the telephone, the new system of education, +and many other reforms, we must still admit that it was the +personality, power and statesmanship of the Empress Dowager that +brought about the realization of his dreams. The movement towards +female education as described in another chapter must ever be placed to +the credit of this great woman. From the time she came from behind the +screen, and allowed her portrait to be painted, the freedom of woman +was assured. + +One day when calling at the American legation I was shown two large +photographs of Her Majesty. One some three feet square was to be sent +to President Roosevelt, the other was a gift to Major Conger. Similar +photographs had been sent to all the ministers and rulers represented +at Peking, and I said to myself: "The Empress Dowager is shrewd. She +knows that false pictures of her have gone forth. She knows that the +painted portrait is not a good likeness, and so she proposes to have +genuine pictures in the possession of all civilized governments." This +shrewdness was not necessarily native on her part, but was engendered +by the arguments that had been used by those who induced her to be the +first Chinese monarch to have her portrait painted by a foreign artist. + +A few years ago the Empress Dowager had a dream, which, like every act +of hers, was greater than any of those of her brilliant nephew. This +dream was to give a constitution to China. Of course, if this were done +it would have to be by the Manchus, as the government was theirs, and +any radical changes that were made would have to be made by the people +in power. The Empress Dowager, however, wanted the honour of this move +to reflect upon herself, and hoped to be able to bring it to a +successful issue during her lifetime. + +There was strenuous opposition, and this most vigorous in the party in +which she had placed herself when she dethroned Kuang Hsu. The +conservatives regarded this as the wildest venture that had yet been +made, and were ready to use all their influence to prevent it; +nevertheless the Empress Dowager called to her aid the greatest and +most progressive of the Manchus, the Viceroy Tuan Fang, and appointed +him head of a commission which she proposed to send on a tour of the +world to examine carefully the various forms of government, with the +purpose of advising her, on their return, as to the possibility of +giving a constitution to China. + +A special train was provided to take the commission from Peking to +Tientsin. It was drawn up at the station just outside the gate in front +of the Emperor's palace. The commission had entered the car, and the +narrow hall or aisle along the side was crowded with those who had come +to see them off, when, BANG, there was an explosion, the side of the +car was blown out, several were injured, including slight wounds to +some of the members of the commission, and the man carrying the bomb +was blown into an unrecognizable mass. For a few days the city was in +an uproar. Guards were placed at all the gates, especially those +leading to the palace, and every possible effort was made to identify +the nihilist. But as all efforts failed, and nothing further transpired +to indicate that he had accomplices, the commission separated and +departing individually without display, reunited at Tientsin and +started on their tour of inspection. + +This commission was splendidly entertained wherever it went, given +every possible opportunity to examine the constitutions of the +countries through which it passed, and on its return to Peking the +report of the trip was published in one hundred and twenty volumes, the +most important item of which was that a constitution, modelled after +that of Japan, should be given to China at as early a date as possible. + +The leader of this expedition, His Excellency the Viceroy Tuan Fang, is +one of the greatest, if not the greatest living Manchu statesman. Like +Yuan Shih-kai, during the Boxer uprising, he protected all the +foreigners within his domains. That he appreciates the work done by +Americans in the opening up of China is evidenced by a statement made +in his address at the Waldorf Astoria, in February, 1906, in which he +said: + +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part taken +by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the Chinese +people. They have borne the light of Western civilization into every +nook and corner of the empire. They have rendered inestimable service +to China by the laborious task of translating into the Chinese language +religious and scientific works of the West. They help us to bring +happiness and comfort to the poor and the suffering, by the +establishment of hospitals and schools. The awakening of China, which +now seems to be at hand, may be traced in no small measure to the +influence of the missionary. For this service you will find China not +ungrateful." + +Some may think that this was simply a sentiment expressed on this +particular occasion because he happened to be surrounded by secretaries +and others interested in this cause. That this is not the case is +further indicated by the fact that since that time he has on two +separate occasions attended the commencement exercises of the Nanking +University, on one of which he addressed the students as follows: + +"This is the second time I have attended the commencement exercises of +your school. I appreciate the good order I find here. I rejoice at the +evidences I see of your knowledge of the proprieties, the depth of your +learning, and the character of the students of this institution. I am +deeply grateful to the president and faculty for the goodness +manifested to these my people. I have seen evidences of it in every +detail. It is my hope that when these graduates go out into the world, +they will remember the love of their teachers, and will practice that +virtue in their dealing with others. The fundamental principle of all +great teachers whether of the East or the West is love, and it remains +for you, young gentlemen, to practice this virtue. Thus your knowledge +will be practical and your talents useful." + +I have given these quotations as evidences of the breadth of the man +whom the Empress Dowager selected as the head of this commission. It is +not generally known, however, that Duke Tse, another important member +of this commission, is married to a sister of the young Empress +Yehonala, and consequently a niece of the Empress Dowager. Such +relations existed between Her Majesty and the viceroy, as ruler and +subject, that it would be impossible for him to give her the intimate +account of their trip that a relative could give. It would be equally +impossible, with all her other duties, to wade through a report such as +they published after their return of one hundred and twenty volumes. +But it would be a delight to call in this nephew-in-law, and have him +sit or kneel, and may we not believe she allowed him to sit? and give +her a full and intimate account of the trip and the countries through +which they passed. She was anxious that this constitution should be +given to the people before she passed away. This, however, could not +be. Whether it will be adopted within the time allotted is a question +which the future alone can answer. + +The next great reform undertaken by the Empress Dowager was her crusade +against opium. The importance of this can only be estimated when we +consider the prevalence of the use of the drug throughout the empire. +The Chinese tell us that thirty to forty per cent. of the adult +population are addicted to the use of the drug. + +One day while walking along the street in Peking, I passed a gateway +from which there came an odour that was not only offensive but +sickening. I went on a little distance further and entered one of the +best curio shops of the city, and going into the back room, I found the +odour of the street emphasized tenfold, as one of the employees of the +firm had just finished his smoke. I left this shop and went to another +where the proprietor had entirely ruined his business by his use of the +drug, and it was about this time that the Empress Dowager issued the +following edict: + +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China has +been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted their time, +neglected their employment, ruined their constitutions, and +impoverished their households. For several decades therefore China has +presented a spectacle of increasing poverty and weakness. To merely +mention the matter, arouses our indignation. The court has now +determined to make China powerful, and to this end we urge our people +to reformation in this respect. + +"We, therefore, decree that within a limit of ten years this injurious +filth shall be completely swept away. We further order the Council of +State to consider means of prohibition both of growing the poppy and +smoking the opium." + +The Council of State at once drew up regulations designed to carry out +this decree. They were among others: + +That all opium-smokers be required to report and take out a license. + +Officials using the drug were divided into two classes. Young men must +be cured of the habit within six months, while for old men no limit was +fixed. But both classes, while under treatment, must furnish +satisfactory substitutes, at their own expense, to attend to the duties +of their office. + +All opium dens must be closed within six months, after which time no +opium-pipes nor lamps may be either made or sold. Though shops for the +sale of the drug may continue for ten years, the limit of the traffic. + +The government promises to provide medicine for the cure of the habit, +and encourages the formation of anti-opium societies, but will not +allow these societies to discuss other political matters. + +Next to China Great Britain is the party most affected by this movement +towards reform. When this edict was issued Great Britain was shipping +annually fifty thousand chests of opium to the Chinese market, but at +once agreed that if China was sincere in her desire for reform, and cut +off her own domestic productions at the rate of ten per cent. per +annum, she would decrease her trade at a similar rate. It is +unfortunate that the Empress Dowager should have died before this +reform had been carried to a successful culmination, but whatever may +be the result of the movement the fact and the credit of its initiation +will ever belong to her. + +Such are some of the special reform measures instituted by the Empress +Dowager, but in addition to these she has seen to it that the Emperor's +efforts to establish a Board of Railroads, a Board of Mines, +educational institutions on the plans of those of the West, should all +be carried out. She has not only done away with the old system of +examinations, but has introduced a new scheme by which all those who +have graduated from American or European colleges may obtain Chinese +degrees and be entitled to hold office under the government, by passing +satisfactory examinations, not a small part of which is the diploma or +diplomas which they hold. Such an examination has already been held and +a large number of Western graduates, most of them Christian, were given +the Chu-jen or Han-lin degrees. + + + +VI + +The Empress Dowager--As an Artist + +There is no genre that the Chinese artist has not attempted. They have +treated in turn mythological, religious and historical subjects of +every kind; they have painted scenes of daily familiar life, as well as +those inspired by poetry and romance; sketched still life, landscapes +and portraits. Their highest achievements, perhaps, have been in +landscapes, which reveal a passionate love for nature, and show with +how delicate a charm, how sincere and lively a poetic feeling, they +have interpreted its every aspect. They have excelled too at all +periods in the painting of animals and birds, especially of birds and +flying insects in conjunction with flowers.--S. W. Bushell in "Chinese +Art." + + + +VI + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS AN ARTIST + +One day the head eunuch from the palace of the Princess Shun called at +our home to ask Mrs. Headland to go and see the Princess. While sitting +in my study and looking at the Chinese paintings hanging on the wall, +two of which were from the brush of Her Majesty, he remarked: + +"You are fond of Chinese art?" + +"I am indeed fond of it," I answered. + +"I notice you have some pictures painted by the Old Buddha," he +continued, referring to the Empress Dowager by a name by which she is +popularly known in Peking. + +"Yes, I have seven pictures from her brush," I answered. + +"Do you happen to have any from the brush of the Lady Miao, her +painting teacher?" he inquired. + +"I am sorry to say I have not," I replied. "I have tried repeatedly to +secure one, but thus far have failed. I have inquired at all the best +stores on Liu Li Chang, the great curio street, but they have none, and +cannot tell me where I can find one." + +"No, you cannot get them in the stores; she does not paint for the +trade," he explained. + +"I am sorry," I continued, "for I should like very much to get one. I +am told she is a very good artist." + +"Oh, yes, she paints very well," he went on in a careless way. "She +lives over near our palace. We have a good many of her paintings. They +are very easily gotten." + +"It may be easy for you to get them," I replied, "but it is no small +task for me." + +"If you want some," he volunteered, "I'll get some for you." + +"That would be very kind of you," I answered, "but how would you +undertake to get them?" + +"Oh, I would just steal a few and bring them over to you." + +It is hardly necessary to assure my readers as I did him that I could +not approve of this method of obtaining paintings from the Lady Miao's +brush. However he must have told the Princess of my desire, for the +next time Mrs. Headland called at the palace the Princess entertained +her by showing her a number of paintings by the Lady Miao, together +with others from the brush of the Empress Dowager. + +"And these are really the work of Her Majesty?" said Mrs. Headland with +a rising inflection. + +"Yes, indeed," replied the Princess. "I watched her at work on them. +They are genuine." + +It was some weeks thereafter that Mrs. Headland was again invited to +call and see the Princess, and to her surprise she was introduced to +the Lady Miao, with whom and the Princess she spent a very pleasant +social hour or two. When she was about to leave, the Princess, who is +the youngest sister of the Empress Yehonala, brought out a picture of a +cock about to catch a beetle, which she said she had asked Lady Miao to +paint, and which she begged Mrs. Headland to receive as a present from +the artist and herself. + +During the conversation Mrs. Headland remarked that the Empress Dowager +must have begun her study of art many years ago. + +"Yes," said Lady Miao. "We were both young when she began. Shortly +after she was taken into the palace she began the study of books, and +partly as a diversion, but largely out of her love for art, she took up +the brush. She studied the old masters as they have been reproduced by +woodcuts in books, and from the paintings that have been preserved in +the palace collection, and soon she exhibited rare talent. I was then a +young woman, my brothers were artists, my husband had passed away, and +I was ordered to appear in the palace and work with her." + +"You are a Chinese, are you not, Lady Miao?" + +"Yes," she replied, "and as it has not been customary for Chinese +ladies to appear at court during the present dynasty, I was allowed to +unbind my feet, comb my hair in the Manchu style, and wear the gowns of +her people." + +"And did you go into the palace every day?" + +"When I was young I did. Ten Thousand Years"--another method of +speaking of the Empress Dowager--"was very enthusiastic over her art +work in those days, and often we spent a large part of the day either +with our brushes, or studying the history of art, the examples in the +books, or the works of the old masters in the gallery. One of her +favourite presents to her friends, as you probably know, is a picture +from her own brush, decorated with the impress of her great jade seal, +the date, and an appropriate poem by one of the members of the College +of Inscriptions. And no presents that she ever gives are prized more +highly by the recipients than these paintings." + +I had seen pictures painted by Her Majesty decorating the walls of the +palaces of several of the princes, as well as the homes of a number of +my official friends. Some of them I thought very attractive, and they +seemed to be well done. They were highly prized by their owners, but I +was anxious to know what the Lady Miao thought of her ability as an +artist, and so I asked: + +"Do you consider the Empress Dowager a good painter?" + +"The Empress Dowager is a great woman," she answered. "Of course, as an +artist, she is an amateur rather than a professional. Had she devoted +herself wholly to art, hers would have been one of the great names +among our artists. She wields her brush with a power and precision +which only genius added to practice can give. She has a keen +appreciation of art, and it is a pity that the cares of state might not +have been borne by others, leaving her free to develop her instinct for +art." + +The Empress Dowager kept eighteen court painters, selected from among +the best artists of the country, and appointed by herself, whose whole +duty it was to paint for her. They were divided into three groups, and +each group of six persons was required to be on duty ten days of each +month. As I was deeply interested in the study of Chinese art I became +intimately acquainted with most of the court painters and knew the +character of their work. The head of this group was Mr. Kuan. I called +on him one day, knowing that he was not well enough to be on duty in +the palace, and I found him hard at work. Like the small boy who told +his mother that he was too sick to go to school but not sick enough to +go to bed, so he assured me that his troubles were not such as to +prevent his working, but only such as make it impossible for him to +appear at court. Incidentally I learned that the drain on his purse +from the squeezes to the eunuchs aggravated his disease. + +"When Her Majesty excused me from appearing at the palace," he +explained, "she required that I paint for her a minimum of sixty +pictures a year, to be sent in about the time of the leading feasts. +These she decorates with her seals, and with appropriate sentiments +written by members of the College of Inscriptions, and she gives them, +as she gives her own, as presents during the feasts." Mr. Kuan and I +became intimate friends and he painted three pictures which he +presented to me for my collection. + +One day another of the court painters came to call on me and during the +conversation told me that he was painting a picture of the Empress +Dowager as the goddess of mercy. Up to that time I had not been +accustomed to think of her as a goddess of mercy, but he told me that +she not infrequently copied the gospel of that goddess with her own +pen, had her portrait painted in the form of the goddess which she used +as a frontispiece, bound the whole up in yellow silk or satin and gave +it as a present to her favourite officials. Of course I thought at once +of my collection of paintings, and said: + +"How much I should like to have a picture of the Empress Dowager as the +goddess of mercy!" + +"I'll paint one for you," said he. + +All this conversation I soon discovered was only a diplomatic +preliminary to what he had really come to tell me, which was that he +had been eating fish in the palace a few days before, and had swallowed +a fish-bone which had unfortunately stuck in his throat. He said that +the court physicians had given him medicine to dissolve the fish-bone, +but it had not been effective; he therefore wondered whether one of the +physicians of my honourable country could remove it. I took him to my +friend Dr. Hopkins who lived near by, and told him of the dilemma. The +doctor set him down in front of the window, had him open his mouth, +looked into his throat where he saw a small red spot, and with a pair +of tweezers removed the offending fish-bone. And had it not been for +this service on the part of Dr. Hopkins, I am afraid I should never +have received the promised picture, for he hesitated as to the +propriety of him, a court painter, doing pictures of Her Majesty for +his friends. However as he often thereafter found it necessary to call +Mrs. Headland to minister to his wife and children he came to the +conclusion that it was proper for him to do so, and one day he brought +me the picture. + +The Empress Dowager not only loved to be painted as the goddess of +mercy, but she clothed herself in the garments suitable to that deity, +dressed certain ladies of the court as her attendants, with the head +eunuch Li Lien-ying as their protector, ordered the court artists to +paint appropriate foreground and background and then called young Yu, +her court photographer, to snap his camera and allow Old Sol the great +artist of the universe with a pencil of his light to paint her as she +was. + +One day while visiting a curio store on Liu Li Chang, the great book +street of Peking, my attention was called by the dealer to four small +paintings of peach blossoms in black and white, from the brush of the +Empress Dowager. These pictures had been in the panels of the partition +between two of the rooms of Her Majesty's apartments in the Summer +Palace, and so I considered myself fortunate in securing them. + +"You notice," said he, "that each section of these branches must be +drawn by a single stroke of the brush. This is no easy task. She must +be able to ink her brush in such a way as to give a clear outline of +the limb, and at the same time to produce such shading as she may +desire. Should her outline be defective, she dare not retouch it; +should her shading be too heavy or insufficient, she cannot take from +it and she may not add to it, as this would make it defective in the +matter of calligraphy. A stroke once placed upon her paper, for they +are done on paper, is there forever. This style of work is among the +most difficult in Chinese art." + +After securing these paintings, I showed them to a number of the best +artists of the present day in Peking, and they all pronounced them good +specimens of plum blossom work in monochrome, and they agreed with Lady +Miao, that if the Empress Dowager had given her whole time to painting +she would have passed into history as one of the great artists of the +present dynasty. + +One day when one of her court painters called I showed him these +pictures. He agreed with all the others as to the quality of her brush +work, but called my attention to a diamond shaped twining of the +branches in one of them. + +"That," said he, "is proof positive that it is her work." + +"Why?" I inquired. + +"Because a professional artist would never twine the twigs in that +fashion." + +"And why not?" + +"They would not do it," he replied. "It is not artistic." + +"And why do not her friends call her attention to this fact?" I +inquired. + +"Who would do it?" was his counter question. + + + +VII + +The Empress Dowager--As a Woman + +The first audience given by Her Imperial Majesty to the seven ladies of +the Diplomatic Corps was sought and urged by the foreign ministers. +After the troubles of 1900 and the return of the court, Her Majesty +assumed a different attitude, and, of her own accord, issued many +invitations for audiences, and these invitations were accepted. Then +followed my tiffin to the court princesses and their tiffin in return. +This opened the way for other princesses and wives of high officials to +call, receive calls, to entertain and be entertained. In many cases +arrangements were made through our mutual friend Mrs. Headland, an +accepted physician and beloved friend of many of the higher Chinese +families; and through her innate tact, broad thought, and great love +for the good she may do, I have been able to come into personal touch +with many of these Chinese ladies.--Mrs. E. H. Conger in "Letters from +China". + + +VII + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER-AS A WOMAN + +Although the great Dowager has passed away, it may be interesting to +know something about her life and character as a woman as those saw her +who came in contact with her in public and private audiences. In order +to appreciate how quick she was to adopt foreign customs, let me give +in some detail the difference in her table decorations at the earlier +and later audiences as they have been related by my wife. + +"At the close of the formalities of our introduction to the Empress +Dowager and the Emperor at one of the first audiences, we, with the +ladies of the court, repaired to the banqueting hall. After we were +seated, each with a princess beside her, the great Dowager appeared. We +rose and remained standing while she took her place at the head of the +table, with the Emperor standing at her left a little distance behind +her. As she sat down she requested us to be seated, though the +princesses and the Emperor all remained standing, it being improper for +them to sit in the presence of Her Majesty. Long-robed eunuchs then +appeared with an elaborate Chinese banquet, and the one who served the +Empress Dowager always knelt when presenting her with a dish. + +"After we had eaten for some little time, the doyen asked if the +princesses might not be seated. The Empress Dowager first turned to the +Emperor, and said, 'Your Majesty, please be seated'; then turning to +the princesses and waving her hand, she told them to sit down. They sat +down in a timid, rather uncomfortable way on the edge of the chair, but +did not presume to touch any of the food. + +"The conversation ran upon various topics, and, among others, the Boxer +troubles. One of the ladies wore a badge. The Empress Dowager noticing +it, asked what it meant. + +"'Your Majesty,' was the reply, 'this was presented to me by my Emperor +because I was wounded in the Boxer insurrection.' + +"The Empress Dowager took the hands of this lady in both her own, and +as the tears stood in her eyes, she said: + +"'I deeply regret all that occurred during those troublous times. The +Boxers for a time overpowered the government, and even brought their +guns in and placed them on the walls of the palace. Such a thing shall +never occur again.' + +"The table was covered with brilliantly coloured oilcloth, and was +without tablecloth or napkins properly so called, but we used as +napkins square, coloured bits of calico about the size of a large +bandana handkerchief. There were no flowers, the table decorations +consisting of large stands of cakes and fruit. I speak of this because +it was all changed at future audiences, when the table was spread with +snow-white cloths, and smiled with its load of most gorgeous flowers. +Especially was this true after the luncheons given to the princesses +and ladies of the court by Mrs. Conger at the American legation, +showing that the eyes of these ladies were open to receive whatever +suggestions might come to them even in so small a matter as the +spreading and decoration of a table. The banquets thereafter were made +up of alternating courses of Chinese and foreign food. + +"With but one exception, the Empress Dowager thereafter never appeared +at table with her guests. But at the close of the formal audiences, +after descending from the throne, and speaking to those whom she had +formerly met, she requested her guests to enter the banquet hall and +enjoy the feast with the princesses, saying that the customs of her +country forbade their being seated or partaking of food if she were +present. After the banquet, however, the Empress Dowager always +appeared and conversed cordially with her guests. + +"Her failure to appear at table may have been influenced by the +following incident: One of the leading lady guests, anxious, no doubt, +to obtain a unique curio, requested the Empress Dowager to present her +with the bowl from which Her Majesty was eating--a bowl which was +different from those used by her guests, as the dishes from which her +food was served were never the same as those used by others at the +table! + +"After an instant's hesitation she turned to a eunuch and said: + +"'We cannot give her one bowl [the Chinese custom being always to give +things in pairs]; go and prepare her two.' + +"Then, turning to her guests, she continued apologetically: + +"'I should be glad to give bowls to each of you, but the Foreign Office +has requested me not to give presents at this audience.' It had been +her custom to give each of her guests some small gift with her own +hands and afterwards to send presents by her eunuchs to their homes. + +"On another occasion the lady referred to above took an ornament from a +cabinet and was carrying it away when the person in charge of these +things requested that it be restored, saying that she was responsible +for everything in the room and would be punished if anything were +missing. + +"The above incidents do not stand alone. It was not uncommon for some +of the Continental guests, in the presence of the court ladies, to make +uncomplimentary remarks about the food, which was Chinese, and often +not very palatable to the foreigner. These remarks, of course, were not +supposed to be understood, though the Empress Dowager always had her +own interpreter at table. One often felt that some of these ladies, in +their efforts to see all and get all, forgot what was due their own +country as well as their imperial hostess. + +"One can understand the enormity of such an offense in a court the +etiquette of which is so exacting that none of her own subjects ever +dared appear in her presence until they had been properly instructed in +court etiquette in the 'Board of Rites,' a course of instruction which +may extend over a period of from a week to six months. These breaches +of politeness on the part of these foreign ladies may have been +overlooked by Her Majesty and the princesses, but, if so, it was on the +old belief that all outside of China were barbarians. + +"All the ladies who attended these audiences, however, were not of this +character. There were those who realized the importance of those +occasions in the opening up of China, and were scrupulous in their +efforts to conform to the most exacting customs of the court. And who +can doubt that the warm friendship which the Empress Dowager conceived +for Mrs. Conger, the wife of our American minister, who did more than +any other person ever did, or ever can do, towards the opening up of +the Chinese court to the people of the West, was because of her +appreciation of the fact that Mrs. Conger was anxious to show the +Empress Dowager the honour due to her position. + +"It was in her private audiences that this great woman's tact, +womanliness, fascination and charm as a hostess appeared. Taking her +guest by the hand, she would ask in the most solicitous way whether we +were not tired with our journey to the palace; she would deplore the +heat in summer or the cold in winter; she would express her anxiety +lest the refreshments might not have been to our taste; she would tell +us in the sincerest accents that it was a propitious fate that had made +our paths meet; and she would charm each of her guests, even though +they had been formerly prejudiced against her, with little separate +attentions, which exhibited her complete power as a hostess. + +"When opportunity offered, she was always anxious to learn of foreign +ways and institutions. On one occasion while in the theatre, she called +me to her side, and, giving me a chair, inquired at length into the +system of female education in America. + +"'I have heard,' she said, 'that in your honourable country all the +girls are taught to read.' + +"'Quite so, Your Majesty.' + +"'And are they taught the same branches of study as the boys?' + +"'In the public schools they are.' + +"'I wish very much that the girls in China might also be taught, but +the people have great difficulty in educating their boys.' + +"I then explained in a few words our public-school system, to which she +replied: + +"'The taxes in China are so heavy at present that it would be +impossible to add another expense such as this would be.' + +"It was not long thereafter, however, before an edict was issued +commending female education, and at the present time hundreds of girls' +schools have been established by private persons both in Peking and +throughout the empire. + +"On another occasion, while the ladies were having refreshments, the +Empress Dowager requested me to come to her private apartments, and +while we two were alone together, with only a eunuch standing by +fanning with a large peacock-feather fan, she asked me to tell her +about the church. It was apparent from the beginning of her +conversation that she made no distinction between Roman Catholics and +Protestants, calling them all the Chiao. I explained to her that the +object of the church was the intellectual, moral, and spiritual +development of the people, making them both better sons and better +subjects. + +"Few women are more superstitious than the Empress Dowager. Her whole +life was influenced by her belief in fate, charms, good and evil +spirits, gods and demons. + +"When it was first proposed that she have her portrait painted for the +St. Louis Exposition, she was dumfounded. After a long conversation, +however, in which Mrs. Conger explained that portraits of many of the +rulers of Europe would be there, including a portrait of Queen +Victoria, and that such a painting would in a way counteract the false +pictures of her that had gone abroad, she said that she would consult +with Prince Ching about the matter. This looked very much as though it +had been tabled. Not long thereafter, however, she sent word to Mrs. +Conger, asking that Miss Carl be invited to come to Peking and paint +her portrait. + +"We all know how this portrait had to be begun on an auspicious day; +how a railroad had to be built to the Foreign Office rather than have +the portrait carried out on men's shoulders, as though she were dead; +how she celebrated her seventieth birthday when she was sixty-nine, to +defeat the gods and prevent their bringing such a calamity during the +celebration as had occurred when she was sixty, when the Japanese war +disturbed her festivities. On her clothes she wore the ideographs for +'Long Life and 'Happiness,' and most of the presents she gave were +emblematic of some good fortune. Her palace was decorated with great +plates of apples, which by a play on words mean 'Peace,' and with +plates of peaches, which mean 'Longevity.' On her person she wore +charms, one of which she took from her neck and placed on the neck of +Mrs. Conger when she was about to leave China, saying that she hoped it +might protect her during her journey across the ocean, as it had +protected herself during her wanderings in 1900, and she would not +allow any one to appear in her presence who had any semblance of +mourning about her clothing. + +"It is a well-known fact that no Manchu woman ever binds her feet, and +the Empress Dowager was as much opposed to foot-binding as any other +living woman. Nevertheless, she would not allow a subject to presume to +suggest to her ways in which she should interfere in the social customs +of the Chinese, as one of her subjects did. This lady was the wife of a +Chinese minister to a foreign country, and had adopted both for herself +and her daughters the most ultra style of European dress. She one day +said to Her Majesty, 'The bound feet of the Chinese woman make us the +laughing-stock of the world.' + +"'I have heard,' said the Empress Dowager, 'that the foreigners have a +custom which is not above reproach, and now since there are no +outsiders here, I should like to see what the foreign ladies use in +binding their waist.' + +"The lady was very stout, and had the appearance of an hour-glass, and +turning to her daughter, a tall and slender maiden, she said: + +"'Daughter, you show Her Majesty.' + +"The young lady demurred until finally the Empress Dowager said: + +"'Do you not realize that a request coming from me is the same as a +command?' + +"After having had her curiosity satisfied, she sent for the Grand +Secretary and ordered that proper Manchu outfits be secured for the +lady's daughters, saying: + +"'It is truly pathetic what foreign women have to endure. They are +bound up with steel bars until they can scarcely breathe. Pitiable! +Pitiable!' + +"The following day this young lady did not appear at court, and the +Empress Dowager asked her mother the reason of her absence. + +"'She is ill to-day,' the mother replied. + +"'I am not surprised,' replied Her Majesty, 'for it must require some +time after the bandages have been removed before she can again compress +herself into the same proportions,' indicating that the Empress Dowager +supposed that foreign women slept with their waists bound, just as the +Chinese women do with their feet." + +The first winter I spent in China, twenty years ago, was one of great +excitement in Peking. The time of the regency of the Empress Dowager +for the boy-emperor had ended. I have explained how a prince is not +allowed to marry a princess because she is his relative, or even a +commoner his cousin for the same reason. That is the rule. But rules +were made to be broken, and when the time came for Kuang Hsu's +betrothal the Empress Dowager decided to marry this son of her sister +to the daughter of her brother. It mattered not that the young man was +opposed to the match and wanted another for his wife. The Empress +Dowager had set her heart upon this union, and she would not allow her +plans to be frustrated, so an edict was issued that all people should +remain within their homes on a certain night, for the bride was to be +taken in her red chair from her father's home to the palace. So that in +this as in all other things her will was law for all those about her. + +She was a bit below the average height, but she wore shoes, in the +centre of whose soles there were--heels, shall we call them?--six +inches high. These, together with her Manchu garments, which hang from +the shoulders, gave her a tall and stately appearance and made her +seem, as she was, every inch an empress. Her figure was perfect, her +carriage quick and graceful, and she lacked nothing physically to make +her a splendid type of womanhood and ruler. Her features were more +vivacious and pleasing than they were really beautiful; her complexion +was of an olive tint, and her face illumined by orbs of jet half hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning flashes of anger. + +When seated upon the throne she was majesty itself, but the moment she +stepped down from the august seat, and took ones hand in both of hers, +saying with the most amiable of smiles: "What a kind fate it is that +has allowed you to come and see me again. I hope you are not over-weary +with the long journey," one felt that she was, above all, a woman, a +companion, a friend--yet for all that the mistress of every situation, +whether diplomatic, business, or social. + +I wish her mental characteristics could be described as completely as +Japanese and other photographers have given us pictures of her person. +But perhaps if this were possible she would seem less interesting. And +it may be that in the relation of these few incidents of her career +there may have been revealed something of the patriotism, the +statesmanship, the imperious will, and the ambitions that brought about +the reestablishment and the continuation of the dynasty of her people. +We have seen how the enemies of her country fell before her sword. +Dangerous statesmen fell before her pen, and if they were fortunate +enough to rise again with all their honour it was to be divested of all +their former power. Every obstacle in her path was overcome either by +diplomacy or by force. + +The Empress Dowager has no double in Chinese history, if indeed in the +history of the world. She not only guided the ship of state during the +last half century, but she guided it well, and put into operation all +the greatest reforms that have ever been thought of by Chinese +statesmen. Compared with her own people, she stands head and shoulders +above any other woman of the Mongol race. And what shall we say of her +compared with the great women of other races? In strength of character +and ability she will certainly not suffer in any comparison that can be +made. We cannot, therefore, help admiring that young girl, who formerly +ran errands for her mother who, being made the concubine of an emperor, +became the mother of an emperor, the wife of an emperor, the maker of +an emperor, the dethroner of an emperor, and the ruler of China for +nearly half a century--all this in a land where woman has no standing +or power. Is it too much to say that she was the greatest woman of the +last half century? + + + +VII + +Kuang Hsu--His Self-Development + +The Emperor Kuang Hsu is slight and delicate, almost childish in +appearance, of pale olive complexion, and with great, melancholy eyes. +There is a gentleness in his expression that speaks rather of dreaming +than of the power to turn dreams into acts. It is strange to find a +personality so etherial among the descendants of the Mongol hordes; yet +the Emperor Kuaug Hsu might sit as a model for some Oriental saint on +the threshold of the highest beatitude.--Charles Johnston in "The +Crisis in China." + + + +VIII + +KUANG HSU--HIS SELF-DEVELOPMENT + +On the night that the son of the Empress Dowager "ascended upon the +dragon to be a guest on high," two sedan chairs were borne out of the +west gate of the Forbidden City, through the Imperial City, and into +the western part of the Tartar City, in one of which sat the senior +Empress and in the other the Empress-mother. The streets were dimly +lighted, but the chairs, each carried by four bearers, were preceded +and followed by outriders bearing large silk lanterns in which were +tallow-candles, while a heavy cart with relays of bearers brought up +the rear. The errand upon which they were bent was an important +one--the making of an emperor--for by the death of Tung Chih, the +throne, for the first time in the history of the dynasty, was left +without an heir. Their destination was the home of the Seventh Prince, +the younger brother of their husband, to whom as we have already said +the Empress Dowager had succeeded in marrying her younger sister, who +was at that time the happy mother of two sons. + +She took the elder of these, a not very sturdy boy of three years and +more, from his comfortable bed to make him emperor, and one can imagine +they hear him whining with a half-sleepy yawn: "I don't want to be +emperor. I want to sleep." But she bundled little Tsai Tien up in +comfortable wraps, took him out of a happy home, from a loving father +and mother, and a jolly little baby brother,--out of a big beautiful +world, where he would have freedom to go and come at will, toys to play +with, children to contend with him in games, and everything in a home +of wealth that is dear to the heart of a child. And for what? She +folded him in her arms, adopted him as her own son, and carried him +into the Forbidden--and no doubt to him forbidding--City, where his +world was one mile square, without freedom, without another child +within its great bare walls, where he was the one lone, solitary man +among thousands of eunuchs and women. The next morning when the +imperial clan assembled to condole with her on the death of her son, +she bore little Tsai Tien into their midst declaring: "Here is your +emperor." + +At that time there were situated on Legation Street, in Peking, two +foreign stores that had been opened without the consent of the Chinese +government, for in those days the capital had not been opened to +foreign trade. As the stores were small, and in such close proximity to +the various legations, the most of whose supplies they furnished, they +seem to have been too unimportant to attract official attention, though +they were destined to have a mighty influence on the future of China. +One of them was kept by a Dane, who sold foreign toys, notions, +dry-goods and groceries such as might please the Chinese or be of use +to the scanty European population of the great capital. By chance some +of the eunuchs from the imperial palace, wandering about the city in +search of something to please little Tsai Tien, dropped into this store +on Legation Street and bought some of these foreign toys for his infant +Majesty. + +They had already ransacked the city for Chinese toys. They had gone to +every fair, visited every toy-shop, called upon every private dealer, +and paid high prices for samples of their best work made especially for +the royal child. There were crowing cocks and cackling hens; barking +dogs and crying infants; music balls and music carts; horns, drums, +diabolos and tops; there were gingham dogs and calico cats; camels, +elephants and fierce tigers; and a thousand other toys, if only he had +had other children to share them with him. But none of them pleased +him. They lacked that subtile something which was necessary to minister +to the peculiar genius of the child. + +Among the foreign toys there were some in which there was concealed a +secret spring which seemed to impart life to the otherwise dead +plaything. Wind them up and they would move of their own energy. This +was what the boy needed,--something to appeal to that machine-loving +disposition which nature had given him, and Budge and Toddy were never +more curious to know "what made the wheels go round" than was little +Tsai Tien. He played with them as toys until overcome by curiosity, +when, like many another child, he tore them apart and discovered the +secret spring. This was as much of a revelation to the eunuchs as to +the child, and they went and bought other toys of a more curious +pattern, and a more intricate design, and it was not long until, at the +instigation of the enterprising Dane, the toy-shops of Europe were +manufacturing playthings specially designed to please the almond-eyed +baby Emperor in the yellow-tiled palace in Peking. + +As the child grew the business of the Dane shopkeeper increased. His +stock became larger and more varied, and Tsai Tien continued to be a +profitable customer. There were music boxes and music carts--real music +carts, not like those from the Chinese shops,--trains of cars, wheeled +boats, striking clocks and Swiss watches which, when the stem was +pulled, would strike the hour or half or quarter, and all these were +bought in turn by the eunuchs and taken into the palace. As the Emperor +grew to boyhood the Danish shopkeeper supplied toys suitable to his +years from his inexhaustible shelves, until all the most intricate and +wonderful toys of Europe, suitable for a boy, had passed through the +hands of Kuang Hsu,--"continued brilliancy," as his name implied--and +he seemed to be making good the meaning of his name. + +We would not lead any one to believe that Kuang Hsu was an ideal child. +He was not. If we may credit the reports that came from the palace in +those days, he had a temper of his own. If he were denied anything he +wanted, he would lie down on his baby back on the dirty ground and kick +and scream and literally "raise the dust" until he got it. My wife +tells me that not infrequently when she called at the Chinese homes, +and they set before her a dish of which she was especially fond, and +she had eaten of it as much as she thought she ought, the ladies would +ask in a good-natured way in reply to some of her remarks about her +voracious appetite, "Shall we get down and knock our heads on the +floor, and beg you not to eat too much, and make yourself sick, like +the eunuchs do to the Emperor?" There is nothing to wonder at that +Kuang Hsu, without parental restraint, and fawned upon by cringing +eunuchs and serving maids, should have been a spoiled child; the wonder +is that he was not worse than he was. + +One day in 1901 while the court was absent at Hsian, and the front gate +of the Forbidden City was guarded by our "boys in blue," I obtained a +pass and visited the imperial palace. The apartments of the Emperor +consisted of a series of one-story Chinese buildings, with paper +windows around a large central pane of glass, tile roof and brick +floor. The east part of the building appeared to be the living-room, +about twenty by twenty-five feet. The window on the south side extended +the entire length of the room, and was filled with clocks from end to +end. There were clocks of every description from the finest French +cloisonne to the most intricate cuckoo clocks from which a bird hopped +forth to announce the hour, and each ticking its own time regardless of +every other. Tables were placed in various parts of the room, on each +of which were one, two or three clocks. Swiss watches of the most +curious and unique designs hung about the walls. Two sofas sat back to +back in the centre of the room, and a beautiful little gilt desk on +which was the most wonderful of all his clocks, with several large +foreign chairs upholstered in plush and velvet, completed the +furniture. I sat down in one of these chairs to rest, for it was a hot +summer day, and immediately there proceeded from beneath me sweet +strains of music from a box concealed beneath the cushion. It was not +only a surprise, it was soothing and restful; and I was prepared to see +an electric fan pop out of somewhere and fan me to sleep. It was really +an Oriental fairy tale of an apartment. + +As Kuang Hsu grew to boyhood he heard that out in this great wonderful +world, which he had never seen except with the eyes of a child, there +was a method of sending messages to distant cities and provinces with +the rapidity of a flash of lightning. For centuries he and his +ancestors had been sending their edicts, and their Peking Gazette or +court newspaper--the oldest journal in the world--by runner, or relays +of post horses, and the possibility of sending them by a lightning +flash appealed to him. He believed in doing things, and, as we shall +see later, he wanted to do them as rapidly as they could be done. He +therefore ordered that a telegraph outfit be secured for him, which he +"played with" as he had done with his most ingenious toys, and the +telegraph was soon established for court use throughout the empire. + +One day a number of officials came to us at the Peking University and +in the course of a conversation they said: + +"The Emperor has heard that the foreigners have invented a talk box. Is +that true?" + +"Quite true," we replied, "and as we have one in the physical +laboratory of the college we will let you see it." + +We had one of the old Edison phonographs which worked with a pedal, and +looked very much like a sewing-machine, and we took them to the +laboratory, allowed one of them to talk into it, and then set the +machine to repeating what had been told it. The officials were +delighted and it was not long until they again appeared and insisted on +buying it as a present for the Emperor, for in this way better than any +other they might hope to obtain official recognition and position. + +The Emperor then heard that the foreigners had invented a "fire-wheel +cart," but whether he had ever been informed that they had built a +small railroad at Wu-Sung near Shanghai, and that the Chinese had +bought it, and then torn it up and thrown it into the river we cannot +say. There are many things the officials and people do which never +reach the imperial ears. However that may be, when Kuang Hsu heard of +the railroad and the carts that were run by fire, he wanted one, and he +would not be satisfied until they had built a narrow gauge railroad +along the west shore of the lotus lake in the Forbidden City, and the +factories of Europe had made two small cars and an engine on which he +could take the court ladies for a ride on this unusual merry-go-round. +The road and the cars and the engine were still there when I visited +the Forbidden City in 1901, but they were carried away to Europe by +some of the allies as precious bits of loot, before the court returned. + +Not long after he had heard of the railroads, he was told that the +foreigners also had "fire-wheel boats." Of course he wanted some, and +as I crossed the beautiful marble bridge that spans the lotus lake, I +saw anchored near by three small steam launches which had evidently +been used a good deal. I saw similar launches in the lake at the Summer +Palace, and was told that in the play days of his boyhood, Kuang Hsu +would have these launches hitched to the imperial barges and take the +ladies of the court for pleasure trips about the lake in the cool of +the summer evenings, as the Empress Dowager did her foreign visitors in +later times. + +The Emperor in those days was on the lookout for everything foreign +that was of a mechanical nature. Indeed every invention interested him. +In this respect he was diametrically opposite to the genius of the +whole Chinese people. Their faces had ever been turned backward, and +their highest hopes were that they might approximate the golden ages of +the past, and be equal in virtue to their ancestors. This feeling was +so strong that a hundred years before he mounted the throne, his +forefather, Chien Lung, when he had completed his cycle of sixty years +as a ruler, vacated in favour of his son lest he should reign longer +than his grandfather. Kuang Hsu was therefore the first occupant of the +dragon throne whose face was turned to the future, and whose chief aim +was to possess and to master every method that had enabled the peoples +of the West to humiliate his people. + +When he heard that the foreigners had a method of talking to a distance +of ten, twenty, fifty or five hundred miles, he did not say like the +old farmer is reported to have said,--"It caint be trew, because my son +John kin holler as loud as any man in all this country, an' he caint be +heerd mor'n two miles." Kuang Hsu believed it, and at once ordered that +a telephone be secured for him. + +In 1894 the Christian women of China decided to present a New Testament +to the Empress Dowager on her sixtieth birthday which occurred the +following year. New type was prepared, the finest foreign paper +secured, and the book was made after the best style of the printer's +art, with gilt borders, gilt edges, and bound in silver of an embossed +bamboo pattern and encased in a silver box. It was then enclosed in a +red plush box,--red being the colour indicating happiness,--which was +in turn encased in a beautifully carved teak-wood box, and this was +enclosed in an ordinary box and taken by the English and American +ministers to the Foreign Office to be sent in to Her Majesty. + +The next day the Emperor sent to the American Bible Society for copies +of the Old and New Testaments, such as were being sold to his people. A +few days thereafter a Chinese friend--a horticulturist and gardener who +went daily to the palace with flowers and vegetables--came to me in +confidence as though bearing an important secret, and said: + +"Something of unusual importance is taking place in the palace." + +"Indeed?" said I; "what makes you think so?" + +"Heretofore when I have gone into the palace," said he, "the eunuchs +have treated me with indifference. Yesterday they sat down and talked +in a most familiar and friendly way, asking me all about Christianity. +I told them what I could and they continued their conversation until +long after noon. I finally became so hungry that I arose to come home. +They urged me to stay, bringing in a feast, and inviting me to dine +with them, and they kept me there till evening. One of them told me +that the Emperor is studying the Gospel of Luke." + +"How does he know that?" I inquired. + +"That is what I asked him," he answered, "and he told me that he is one +of the Emperor's private servants, and that His Majesty has a part of +the Gospel copied in large characters on a sheet of paper each day, +which he spreads out on the table before him, and this eunuch, standing +behind his chair, can read what he is studying." + +On further inquiry I discovered that there was no other way that the +eunuch could have learned about the Gospel, except in the way +indicated. This man was invited to dine with the eunuchs day after day +until he had told them all he knew about Christianity, after which they +requested him to bring in the pastor of the church of which he was a +member, and who was one of my former pupils, to dine with them and tell +them more about the Gospel. The pastor hesitated to accept the +invitation, but as it was repeated day after day, he finally +accompanied the horticulturist. + +When offered wine at dinner the pastor refused it, at which the eunuch +remarked: "Oh, yes, I have heard that you Christians do not drink +wine," and like a polite host, the wine was put aside and none was +drunk at the dinner. During the afternoon they took their guests to +visit some of the imperial buildings, advanced the sum of three hundred +dollars to the horticulturist to enlarge his plant, and gave various +presents to the pastor. + +It must not be inferred from this that the Emperor was becoming a +Christian. Very far from it, though the interest he took in the +Christian doctrine set the people to studying about it, not only in +Peking but throughout many of the provinces, as was indicated at the +time by the number of Christian books sold. As early as 1891 he issued +a strong edict ordering the protection of the missionaries in which he +made the following statement: "The religions of the West have for their +object the inculcation of virtue, and, though our people become +converted, they continue to be Chinese subjects. There is no reason why +there should not be harmony between the people and the adherents of +foreign religions." The Chinese reported that he sometimes examined the +eunuchs, lining them up in classes and catechising them from the books +read. + +One day three of the eunuchs called on me with this same +horticulturist, for the purpose no doubt of seeing a foreigner, and to +get a glimpse of the home in which he lived. One of them was younger +than the other two and above the average intelligence of his class. A +few days later the horticulturist told me a story which illustrates a +phase of the Emperor's character which we have already hinted at--his +impulsive nature and ungovernable temper. He had ordered a number of +the eunuchs to appear before him, all of whom except this young man +were unable to come, because engaged in other duties. When the eunuch +got down on his hands and knees to kotow or knock his head to His +Majesty, the latter kicked him in the mouth, cutting his lip and +otherwise injuring him, and my informant added: + +"What kind of a man is that to govern a country, a man who punishes +those who obey his orders?" Indeed there was a good deal of feeling +among the Chinese at that time that the Empress Dowager ought to punish +the Emperor as a good mother does a bad child, though in the light of +all the other things he did, he was to be pitied more than blamed for a +disposition thus inherited and developed. + +It was about this time he began the study of English. He ordered that +two teachers be appointed, and contrary to all former customs he +allowed them to sit rather than kneel while they taught him. At the +time they were selected I was exchanging lessons in English for Chinese +with the grandson of one of these teachers, and learned a good deal +about the progress the young man was making. He was in such a hurry to +begin that he could not wait to send to England or America for books, +and so the officials visited the various schools and missions in search +of proper primers for a beginner. When they visited us we made a +thorough search and finally Dr. Marcus L. Taft discovered an +attractively illustrated primer which he had taken to China with him +for his little daughter Frances, and this was sent to Kuang Hsu. + +One day a eunuch called on me saying that the Emperor had learned that +the various institutions of learning, educational associations, tract +and other societies had published a number of books in Chinese which +they had translated from the European languages. I was at that time the +custodian of two or three of these societies and had a great variety of +Chinese books in my possession. I therefore sent him copies of our +astronomy, geology, zoology, physiology and various other scientific +books which I was at that time teaching in the university. + +The next day he called again, accompanied by a coolie who brought me a +present of a ham cooked at the imperial kitchen, together with boxes of +fruit and cakes, which, not being a man of large appetite, I thanked +him for, tipped the coolie, and after he had gone, turned them over to +our servants, who assured me that imperial meat was very palatable. Day +after day for six weeks this eunuch visited me, and would never leave +until I had found some new book for His Majesty. They might be +literary, scientific or religious works, and he made no distinction +between the books of any sect or society, institution or body, but with +an equal zeal he sought them all. I was sometimes reduced to a sheet +tract, and finally I was forced to take my wife's Chinese medical books +out of her private library and send them in to the Emperor. I learned +that other eunuchs were visiting other persons in charge of other +books, and that at this time Kuang Hsu bought every book that had been +translated from any European language and published in the Chinese. + +One day the eunuch saw my wife's bicycle standing on the veranda and +said: + +"What kind of a cart is that?" + +"That is a self-moving cart," I answered. + +"How do you ride it?" he inquired. + +I took the bicycle off the veranda, rode about the court a time or two, +while he gazed at me with open mouth, and when I stopped he ejaculated: + +"That's queer; why doesn't it fall down?" + +"When a thing's moving," I answered, "it can't fall down," which might +apply to other things than bicycles. + +The next day when he called he said: + +"The Emperor would like that bicycle," and my wife allowed him to take +it in to Kuang Hsu, and it was not long thereafter until it was +reported that the Emperor had been trying to ride the bicycle, that his +queue had become entangled in the rear wheel, and that he had had a not +very royal tumble, and had given it up,--as many another one has done. + + + +IX + +Kuang Hsu--As Emperor and Reformer + +In 1891 the present Emperor Kuang Hsu issued a very strong edict +commanding good treatment of the missionaries. He therein made the +following statement: "The religions of the West have for their object +the inculcation of virtue, and, though our people become converted, +they continue to be Chinese subjects. There is no reason why there +should not be harmony between the people and the adherents of foreign +religions."--Hon. Charles Denby in "China and Her People." + + + +IX + +KUANG HSU--AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER + +AS a man, there are few characters in Chinese history that are more +interesting than Kuang Hsu. He had all the caprices of genius with +their corresponding weakness and strength. He could wield a pen with +the vigour of a Caesar, threaten his greatest viceroys, dismiss his +leading conservative officials, introduce the most sweeping and +far-reaching reforms that have ever been thought of by the Chinese +people, and then run from a woman as though the very devil was after +him. + +He has been variously rated as a genius, an imbecile and a fool. Let us +grant that he was not brilliant. Let us rate him as an imbecile, and +then let us try to account for his having brought into the palace every +ingenious toy and every wonderful and useful invention and discovery of +the past twenty or thirty years with the exception of the X-rays and +liquid air. Let us try to explain why it was that an imbecile would +purchase every book that had been printed in the Chinese language, +concerning foreign subjects of learning, up to the time when he was +dethroned. Let us tell why it was that an imbecile would study all +those foreign books without help, without an assistant, without a +teacher, for three years, from the time he bought them in 1895 till +1898, before he began issuing the most remarkable series of edicts that +have ever come from the pen of an Oriental monarch in the same length +of time. And let us explain how it was that an imbecile could embody in +his edicts of two or three months all the important principles that +were necessary to launch the great reforms of the past ten years. + +I doubt if any Chinese monarch has ever had a more far-reaching +influence over the minds of the young men of the empire than Kuang Hsu +had from 1895 till 1898. The preparation for this influence had been +going on for twenty or thirty years previously in the educational +institutions established by the missions and the government. From these +schools there had gone out a great number of young men who had taken +positions in all departments of business, and many of the state, and +revealed to the officials as well as to many of the people the power of +foreign education. An imperial college had been established by the +customs service for the special education of young men for diplomatic +and other positions, from which there had gone out young men who were +the representatives of the government as consuls or ministers in the +various countries of Europe and America. + +The fever for reading the same books that Kuang Hsu had read was so +great as to tax to the utmost the presses of the port cities to supply +the demand, and the leaders of some of the publication societies feared +that a condition had arisen for which they were unprepared. Books +written by such men as Drs. Allen, Mateer, Martin, Williams and Legge +were brought out in pirated photographic reproductions by the bookshops +of Shanghai and sold for one-tenth the cost of the original work. +Authors, to protect themselves, compelled the pirates to deliver over +the stereotype plates they had made on penalty of being brought before +the officials in litigation if they refused. But during the three years +the Emperor had been studying these foreign books, hundreds of +thousands of young scholars all over the empire had been doing the +same, preparing themselves for whatever emergency the studies of the +young Emperor might bring about. + +One day during the early spring a young Chinese reformer came to me to +get a list of the best newspapers and periodicals published in both +England and America. I inquired the reason for this strange move, and +he said: + +"The young Chinese reformers in Peking have organized a Reform Club. +Some of them read and speak English, others French, others German and +still others Russian, and we are providing ourselves with all the +leading periodicals of these various countries that we may read and +study them. We have rented a building, prepared rooms, and propose to +have a club where we can assemble whenever we have leisure, for +conversation, discussion, reading, lectures or whatever will best +contribute to the ends we have in view." + +"And what are those ends?" I inquired. + +"The bringing about of a new regime in China," he answered. "Our recent +defeat by the Japanese has shown us that unless some radical changes +are made we must take a second place among the peoples of the Orient." + +"This is a new move in Peking, is it not?" + +"New in Peking," he answered, "but not new in the empire. Reform clubs +are being organized in all the great cities and capitals. In Hsian, +books have been purchased by all classes from the governor of the +province down to the humblest scholar, and the aristocracy have +organized classes, and are inviting the foreigners to lecture to them. +Every one, except a few of the oldest conservative scholars, are +discarding their Confucian theories and reconstructing their ideas in +view of present day problems. There is an intellectual fermentation now +going on from which a new China is certain to be evolved, and we +propose to be ready for it when it comes." + +The leader of this reform party was Kang Yu-wei, a young Cantonese, who +had made a thorough study of the reforms of Peter the Great in Russia, +and the more recent reforms in Japan, the history of which he had +prepared in two volumes which he sent to the Emperor. He had made a +reputation for himself in his native place as a "Modern Sage and +Reformer," was hailed as a "young Confucius," was appointed a +third-class secretary in the Board of Works, and as the Emperor and he +had been studying on the same lines, Kang, through the influence of the +brother of the chief concubine, was introduced to His Majesty. He had a +three hours' conference with the Foreign Office, in which he urged that +China should imitate Japan, and that the old conservative ministers and +viceroys should be replaced by young men imbued with Western ideas, who +might confer with the Emperor daily in regard to all kinds of reform +measures. + +This interview was reported to Kuang Hsu by Prince Kung and Jung Lu, +who both being old, and one of them the greatest of the conservatives, +could hardly be expected to approve of his theories. Kang, however, was +asked to embody his suggestions in a memorial, was later given an +audience with the Emperor, and finally called into the palace to assist +him in the reforms he had already undertaken. And if Kang Yu-wei had +been as great a statesman as he was reformer, Kuang Hsu might never +have been deposed. + +The crisis came during the summer of 1898. I had taken my family to the +seashore to spend our summer vacation. A young Chinese scholar--a +Hanlin--who had been studying in the university for some years, and +with whom I was translating a work on psychology, had gone with me. He +took the Peking Gazette, which he read daily, and commented upon with +more or less interest, until June 23d, when an edict was issued +abolishing the literary essay of the old regime as a part of the +government examination, and substituting therefor various branches of +the new learning. "We have been compelled to issue this decree," said +the Emperor, "because our examinations have reached the lowest ebb, and +we see no remedy for these matters except to change entirely the old +methods for a new course of competition." + +"What do you think of that?" I asked the Hanlin. + +"The greatest step that has ever yet been taken," he replied. + +This Hanlin was not a radical reformer, but one of a long line of +officials who were deeply interested in the preservation of their +country which had weathered the storms of so many centuries,--storms +which had wrecked Assyria, Babylonia, Media, Egypt, Greece and Rome, +while China, though growing but little, had still lived. He was one of +those progressive statesmen who have always been found among a strong +minority in the Middle Kingdom. + +The Peking Gazette continued to come daily bringing with it the +following twenty-seven decrees in a little more than twice that many +days. I will give an epitome of the decrees that the reader at a glance +may see what the Emperor undertook to do. Summarized they are as +follows: + +1. The establishment of a university at Peking. + +2. The sending of imperial clansmen to foreign countries to study the +forms and conditions of European and American government. + +3. The encouragement of the arts, sciences and modern agriculture. + +4. The Emperor expressed himself as willing to hear the objections of +the conservatives to progress and reform. + +5. Abolished the literary essay as a prominent part of the governmental +examinations. + +6. Censured those who attempted to delay the establishment of the +Peking Imperial University. + +7. Urged that the Lu-Han railway should be prosecuted with more vigour +and expedition. + +8. Advised the adoption of Western arms and drill for all the Tartar +troops. + +9. Ordered the establishment of agricultural schools in all the +provinces to teach the farmers improved methods of agriculture. + +10. Ordered the introduction of patent and copyright laws. + +11. The Board of War and Foreign Office were ordered to report on the +reform of the military examinations. + +12. Special rewards were offered to inventors and authors. + +13. The officials were ordered to encourage trade and assist merchants. + +14. School boards were ordered established in every city in the empire. + +15. Bureaus of Mines and Railroads were established. + +16. Journalists were encouraged to write on all political subjects. + +17. Naval academies and training-ships were ordered. + +18. The ministers and provincial authorities were called upon to +assist--nay, were begged to make some effort to understand what he was +trying to do and help him in his efforts at reform. + +19. Schools were ordered in connection with all the Chinese legations +in foreign countries for the benefit of the children of Chinese in +those places. + +20. Commercial bureaus were ordered in Shanghai for the encouragement +of trade. + +21. Six useless Boards in Peking were abolished. + +22. The right to memorialize the throne in sealed memorials was granted +to all who desired to do so. + +23. Two presidents and four vice-presidents of the Board of Rites were +dismissed for disobeying the Emperor's orders that memorials should be +allowed to come to him unopened. + +24. The governorships of Hupeh, Kuangtung, and Yunnan were abolished as +being a useless expense to the country. + +25. Schools of instruction in the preparation of tea and silk were +ordered established. + +26. The slow courier posts were abolished in favour of the Imperial +Customs Post. + +27. A system of budgets as in Western countries was approved. + +I have given these decrees in this epitomized form so that all those +who are interested in the character of this reform movement in China +may understand something of the influence the young Emperor's study had +had upon him. Grant that they followed one another in too close +proximity, yet still it must be admitted by every careful student of +them, that there is not one that would not have been of the greatest +possible benefit to the country if they had been put into operation. If +the Emperor had been allowed to proceed, making them all as effective +as he did the Imperial University, and if the ministers and provincial +authorities had responded to his call, and had made "some effort to +understand what he was trying to do," China might have by this time +been close upon the heels of Japan in the adoption of Western ideas. + +As the edicts continued to come out in such quick succession my Hanlin +friend became alarmed. He came to me one day after the Emperor had +censured the officials for trying to delay the establishment of the +Imperial University and said: + +"I must return to Peking." + +"Why return so soon?" I inquired. + +"There is going to be trouble if the Emperor continues his reform at +this rate of speed," he answered. + +It was when the Emperor had issued the sixth of his twenty-seven +decrees that this young Chinese statesman made this observation. If his +most intimate advisers had had the perspicuity to have foreseen the +final outcome of such precipitance might they not have advised the +Emperor to have proceeded more deliberately? When one remembers how +China had been worsted by Japan, how all her prestige was swept away, +how, from having been the parent of the Oriental family of nations, a +desirable friend or a dangerous enemy, she was stripped of all her +glory, and left a helpless giant with neither strength nor power, one +can easily understand the eagerness of this boy of twenty-seven to +restore her to the pedestal from which she had been ruthlessly torn. + +Another reason for his haste may be found in the seizure of his +territory by the European powers. A few months before he began his +reforms two German priests were murdered by an irresponsible mob in the +province of Shantung. With this as an excuse Germany landed a battalion +of marines at Kiaochou, a port of that province, which she took with +fifty miles of the surrounding territory. As though this were not +enough, she demanded the right to build all the railroads and open all +the mines in the entire province, and compelled the Chinese to pay an +indemnity to the families of the murdered priests and rebuild the +church and houses the mob had destroyed. China appealed to Russia who +had promised to protect her against all invaders. Instead of coming to +her aid, however, Russia demanded a similar cession of Port Arthur, +Talienwan and the surrounding territory which she had refused to allow +Japan to retain two years before. Not to be outdone by the others, +France demanded and received a similar strip of territory at +Kuang-chou-wan; and England found that Wei-hai-wei would be +indispensable as a kennel from which she could guard the Russian bear +on the opposite shore, but why she should have found it necessary also +to demand from China four hundred miles of land and water around +Hongkong was no doubt difficult for Kuang Hsu to understand. + +When the Empress Dowager turned over the reins of government to her +nephew she did it very much as a father would place the reins in the +hands of a child whom he was teaching to drive an important vehicle on +a dangerous road--she sat behind him still holding the reins. Among the +things reserved were that he should kotow to her once every five days +whether she were in Peking or at the Summer Place, and she reserved +such seals of office as made it necessary for all the highest officials +to come and express their obligations to her at the same time they came +to thank the Emperor. While Kuang Hsu may have been reconciled to the +performance of these duties at eighteen, they became irksome at +twenty-seven and he demanded and received full liberty in the affairs +of state. + +We have seen how he used his liberty,--not wisely, perhaps, as a +reformer, and yet the reformation of China can never be written without +giving the credit of its inception to Kuang Hsu. He was very different +from Hsien Feng, the husband of the Empress Dowager, before whose death +we are told "the whole administrative power was vested in the hands of +a council of eight, whilst he himself spent his time in ways that were +by no means consistent with those that ought to have characterized the +ruler of a great and powerful nation." Whatever else may be said of +Kuang Hsu, he cannot be accused of indolence, extravagance, or +indifference to the welfare of his country or his people. + +Appreciating the difficulty of securing an expression of opinion from +those opposed to his views, and thus getting both sides of the +question, in his fourth edict he requested the conservatives to send in +their objections to his schemes for progress and reform, and then as if +to get the broadest possible expression of opinion he adopted a +Shanghai journal called Chinese Progress as the official organ of the +government. But lest this be insufficient, in his twenty-second edict +he gave the right to all officials to address the throne in sealed +memorials. + +There was at this time a third-class secretary of the Board of Rites +named Wang Chao who sent in a memorial in which he advocated: + +1. The abolition of the queue. + +2. The changing of the Chinese style of dress to that of the West. + +3. The adoption of Christianity as a state religion. + +4. A prospective national parliament. + +5. A journey to Japan by the Emperor and Empress Dowager. + +The Board of Rites opened and read this memorial, and, astounded at its +boldness, they summoned the offender before them, and ordered him to +withdraw his paper. This he refused to do and the two presidents and +four vice-presidents of the Board accompanied it with a counter +memorial denouncing him to the Emperor as a man who was making +narrow-minded and wild suggestions to His Majesty. + +Partly because they had opened and read the memorial and partly because +of their effort to prevent freedom of speech, Kuang Hsu issued another +edict explaining why he had invited sealed memorials, and censuring +them for explaining to him what was narrow-minded and wild, as if he +lacked the intelligence to grasp that feature of the paper. He then +turned them all over to the Board of Civil Office ordering that body to +decide upon a suitable punishment for their offense, and assuring them +that if they made it too mild, his righteous wrath would fall upon +them. The latter decided that they be degraded three steps and removed +to posts befitting their lowered rank, but the Emperor revised the +sentence and dismissed them all from office, and this was the beginning +of his downfall. + +The Empress Dowager had been spending the hot season at the Summer +Palace, and during the two months and more that the Emperor had been +struggling with his reform measures, she gave no indication, either by +word or deed, that she was opposed to anything that he had done. And I +think that all her acts, from that time till the close of the Boxer +insurrection, can be explained without placing her in opposition to his +theories of progress and reform. + +So long as the Emperor devoted himself to the creation of new offices +he found little active opposition on the part of the conservatives, +while the reformers did everything in their power to encourage him. The +extent of the movement it is not easy to estimate. It opened up the +intensely anti-foreign province of Hupeh, and transformed it into a +section where railroads were to be built connecting the north with the +south. It opened up the great mining province of Shansi and the lumber +regions of Manchuria. It started railroads which are now lines of trade +for the whole empire. + +When he issued the fifth edict substituting Western science for the +literary essay in the great examinations, letters and telegrams began +to pour in upon us at the Peking University from all parts of the +empire, asking us to reserve room for the senders in the school. Their +tuition was enclosed in their letters, and among those who came were +the grandson of the Emperor's tutor, graduates of various degrees, men +of rank, and the sons of wealthy gentlemen who had not yet obtained +degrees. Numerous requests came to our graduates to teach English in +official families, one being employed to teach the grandson of Li +Hung-chang, and another the sons of a relative of the royal family. + +But when his reforms led the Emperor to dispense with useless offices, +as in his twenty-first, twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth edicts, for the +purpose of retrenchment, and to dismiss recalcitrant officials for +disobedience to his commands, a howl arose which was heard throughout +the empire. The six members of the Board of Rites dismissed in edict +twenty-three, with certain sympathizers to give them face, went to the +Empress Dowager at the Summer Palace, represented to her that the boy +whom she had placed upon the throne was steering the ship of state to +certain destruction, and begged that she would come and once more take +the helm. She listened to them with the attention and deference for +which she has always been famed, and then dismissed them without any +intimation as to what her course would be. + +When the Emperor heard what they were doing, he sent a courier +post-haste to call Yuan Shih-kai for an interview at the palace. When +Yuan came, he ordered him to return to Tien-tsin, dispose of his +superior officer, the Governor-General Jung Lu, and bring the army +corps of 12,500 troops of which he was in charge to Peking, surround +the Summer Palace, preventing any one from going in or coming out, thus +making the Empress Dowager a prisoner, and allowing him to go on with +his work of reform. + +It is just here that we see the difference in the statesmanship of the +Empress Dowager and the Emperor. When she appointed these two +officials, one a liberal in charge of the army, she placed the other, a +conservative, as his superior officer, so that one could not move +without the knowledge and consent of the other, thus forestalling just +such an order as this. To obey this order of the boy Emperor, Yuan must +commit two great crimes, murder and treason, the one on a superior +officer, and the other against her who had appointed him to office and +who had been the ruler of the country for thirty-seven years, either of +which would have been sufficient to have execrated him not only in the +eyes of his own people but of history and of the world. Nay more, had +he obeyed this order, the conservatives would have raised the cry of +rebellion, and an army ten times greater than he could have mustered, +would have crushed Yuan and his little company of 12,500 men, on the +plea that he was about to take the throne. + +Yuan then did the only wise thing he could have done. He went to Jung +Lu, without whose consent he had no right to move, showed him the +order, and asked for his commands. Jung Lu told him to leave the order +with him, and as soon as Yuan had departed he took the train for +Peking, called on Prince Ching, and they two went to the Summer Palace +and showed the order to Her Majesty, suggesting to her that it might be +well for her to come into the city and give him a few lessons in +government. + +As the Empress Dowager had been behaving herself so circumspectly +during all the summer months, allowing the Emperor to test himself as a +ruler, one can scarcely blame her for not wanting to be bottled up in +the Summer Palace when she had done nothing to deserve it. When +therefore this second delegation of officials, consisting of the two +highest in rank in the empire, came to request her to once more take +charge of the government, she called her sedan chair and started for +the capital. She went without an army, but was accompanied by those of +her palace eunuchs on whom she could implicitly depend, and enough of +them to overcome those of the Emperor in case there should be trouble. +That force was necessary is evident from the fact that she condemned to +death a number of his servants after she had taken the throne. + +When the Emperor heard that she was coming he sent a messenger with +letters urging Kang Yu-wei to flee, and to devise some means for saving +the situation, while he attempted to find refuge for himself in the +foreign legations. This however he failed to do, but was taken by the +Empress Dowager, and his career as a ruler ended, and his life as a +prisoner began. + + + +X + +Kuang Hsu--As a Prisoner + +Kuang Hsu deserves a place in history as the prize iconoclast. He sent +a cold shiver down the spine of the literati by declaring that a man's +fitness for office should not depend upon his ability to write a poem, +or upon the elegance of his penmanship. This was too much. The literati +argued that at the rate at which the Emperor was going, it might be +expected that he would do away with chop-sticks and dispense with the +queue.--Rounsevelle Wildman in "China's Open Door." + + +X + +KUANG HSU--AS A PRISONER + +The year that Kuang Hsu ascended the throne a great calamity occurred +in Peking. The Temple of Heaven--the greatest of the imperial temples, +the one at which the Emperor announces his accession, confesses his +sins, prays and gives thanks for an abundant harvest, was struck by +lightning and burned to the ground. When the Emperor worships here it +is as the representative of the people, the high priest of the nation, +and his prayers are offered for his country and not for himself. There +are no idols in this temple, and his prayers go up to Shang-ti the +Supreme Being "by whom kings reign and princes decree justice." When +therefore instead of giving rain Heaven sent down a fiery bolt to +destroy the temple at which the Son of Heaven prays, the people were +struck with dismay. + +The pale faces of the women, the apprehensive noddings of the men, and +the hushed voices of our old Confucian teachers as they spoke of the +matter, indicated the concern with which they viewed it. Here was a boy +who had been placed upon the throne by a woman; he was the same +generation as the Emperor who had preceded him, and hence could not +worship him as his ancestor. It augured ill both for the Emperor and +the empire, and so the boy Emperor began his reign in the midst of evil +forebodings. + +During the nine years that Kuang Hsu had nominal control of affairs a +series of dire calamities befell the empire. Famines as the result of +drought, floods from the overflow of "China's Sorrow," war with Japan, +filching of territory by the European countries, while editorials +appeared daily in the English papers of the port cities to the effect +that China was to be divided up among the powers. Then too Kuang Hsu +was childless and there was no hope of his giving an heir to the throne. + +Times and seasons have their meanings for the Chinese. Anything +inauspicious happening on New Year's day is indicative of calamity. Mr. +Chen, a friend of mine, had become a Christian contrary to his mother's +wishes. When his first child was born it was a girl, born on New Year's +day. His mother shook her head, looked distressed, and said that +nothing but calamity would come to his home. His second child was a +boy, but the old woman shook her head again and sighed saying that it +would take more than one boy to avert the calamity of ones first baby +being a girl born on New Year's day, and it was not until he had five +boys in succession that she was finally convinced. + +There was an eclipse of the sun on New Year's day of 1898 which +foreboded calamity to the Emperor. During the summer of this year he +began his great reform, and in September the Empress Dowager took +control of the affairs of state and Kuang Hsu was put in prison, never +again to occupy the throne. His prison was his winter palace, where, +for many months, he was confined in a gilded cage of a house, on a +small island, with the Empress Dowager's eunuchs to guard him. These +were changed daily lest they might sympathize with their unhappy +monarch and devise some means for his liberation. Each day when the +guard was changed, the drawbridge connecting the island with the +mainland was removed, leaving the Emperor to wander about in the court +of his palace-prison, or sit on the southern terrace where it +overlooked the lotus lake, waiting, hoping and perhaps expecting that +his last appeal to Kang Yu-wei in which he said: "My heart is filled +with a great sorrow which pen and ink cannot describe; you must go +abroad at once and without a moment's delay devise some means to save +me," might bring forth some fruit. + +Whether this confinement interfered with the health of the Emperor or +not it is impossible to say, but from the first he was made to pose as +an invalid. As his failing health was constantly referred to in the +Peking Gazette, the foreigners began to fear that it was the intention +to dispose of the Emperor, and such pressure was brought to bear on the +government as led them to allow the physician attached to the French +legation to enter the palace and make an examination of His Majesty. He +found nothing that fresh air and exercise would not remedy and assured +the government that there was no cause for alarm, and from that time we +heard nothing more of his precarious condition. + +One day not long after the coup d'etat a eunuch came rushing into our +compound, his face scratched and bleeding, and knocking his head on the +ground before me, begged me to save his life. + +"What is the matter?" I inquired. + +"Oh! let me join the church!" he pleaded. + +"What do you want to join the church for?" I asked. + +"To save my life," he answered. + +"But what is this all about?" I urged, raising him to his feet. + +"You know the eunuch who came to you to buy books," he said. + +I assured him that I knew him. + +"Well," he continued, "I am a friend of his. The Empress Dowager has +banished him, burned all the books he bought for the Emperor, and I am +in danger of losing my head. Let me join the church, and thus save my +life." + +All I could do was to inform him that this was not the business of the +church, and after further conversation he left and I never saw him +again. + +Day after day as the Emperor received the Peking Gazette on his lonely +island he saw one after another of his coveted reforms vanish like mist +before the pen of his august aunt. Nor was this all, for often the +rescinding edicts appeared under his own name, and by the New Year, +when he was brought forth to receive the foreign ministers accredited +to his court, scarcely anything remained of all his reforms but the +Peking University and the provincial and other schools. It is not to be +wondered at therefore that he was reticent and despondent. What +promises of good behaviour it was necessary for him to make before he +was even allowed this much liberty, it is useless for us to conjecture. + +Following this audience the Empress Dowager, who up to this time had +been seen by no foreigner except Prince Henry of Prussia, decided to +receive the wives of the foreign ministers. Her motives for this new +move it is impossible to determine. It may have been to ascertain how +the foreign governments would treat her who had been reported to have +calmly ousted "their great and good friend the Emperor," to whom their +ministers were accredited. Or it may have been that she hoped by this +stroke of diplomacy to gain some measure of recognition as head of the +government. She would at least see how she was regarded. + +The audience was an unqualified success. The seven ladies received were +charmed by the gracious manner of their imperial hostess, who assured +them each as she touched her lips to the tea which she presented to +them that "we are all one family," and up to that period of her life +there was nothing to indicate that she did not feel that the sentiment +she expressed was true. Up to the time of the coup d'etat, as Dr. +Martin says, "she herself was noted for progressive ideas." "It will +not be denied by any one," says Colonel Denby, "that the improvement +and progress" described in his first volume, "are mainly due to the +will and power of the Empress Regent. To her own people, up to this +period in her career, she was kind and merciful, and to foreigners she +was just." From the time of her return to the capital after their +flight in 1900 till the time of her death she became one of the +greatest reformers, if not the greatest, that has ever sat upon the +dragon throne. One cannot but wish therefore in the interests of +sentiment that it were possible to overlook many things she did from +1898 to 1900, which in the interests of truth it will be impossible to +disregard. Nevertheless we should remember that she was driven to these +things by the filching of her territory by the foreigners, and by the +false pretentions of the superstitious Boxers and their leaders, and in +the hope of preserving her country. + +Her first act after imprisoning Kuang Hsu was to offer a large reward +for his adviser Kang Yu-wei either alive or dead. Failing to get him, +"she seized his younger brother Kang Kuang-jen, and with five other +noble and patriotic young men of ability and high promise, he was +beheaded September 28th, while protesting that though they might easily +be slain, multitudes of others would arise to take their places." One +of my young Chinese friends who watched this procession on its way to +the execution grounds told me that,-- + +"The scene was impossible to describe. These five young reformers," +after expressing the sentiments quoted above from Dr. Smith, "reviled +the Empress Dowager and the conservatives in the most blood-curdling +manner." + +I have already spoken of Wang Chao the secretary of the Board of Rites +who presented the memorial which caused the dismissal of the six +officials of that body, and, indirectly, the fall of the Emperor. Some +time before writing this petition he called at our home requesting Mrs. +Headland to go and see his mother who was ill. When his mother +recovered he sent her to Shanghai, and at the time of the coup d'etat +he failed to get out of the city and went into hiding. Some days +afterwards a closed cart drove up to our home and to our astonishment +he stepped forth. We expressed our surprise that he was still in +Peking, and asked: + +"Has the Empress Dowager ceased prosecuting her search for you +reformers?" + +"Not yet," he answered. + +"And what is she doing?" we inquired. + +"Killing some, banishing others, driving many away from the capital, +while still others are going into self-imposed exile." + +"Does the Emperor know anything about this?" we inquired. + +"No doubt," he replied. "Everybody knows it, why not he?" + +"That will make his imprisonment all the harder to bear," we suggested. + +"Quite right," he answered. + +"There is general alarm in the city that the Emperor himself will be +disposed of; what do you think about it?" + +"Who can tell? He has not a friend in the palace except the first +concubine, and, I am told, that she like himself is kept in close +confinement. The Empress stands by her aunt, the Empress Dowager, while +the eunuchs now are all her tools. The officials who go into the palace +to audiences are all conservative and hence against him, though I +suppose they never see him." + +"Do you suppose he ever sees the edicts issued in his name?" + +"Not at all. They are made by the conservatives and the Empress Dowager +and issued without his knowledge." + +"And what do you propose to do?" we inquired. + +"I shall leave for Shanghai as soon as I can safely do so," he replied. + +Before the year had passed the Empress Dowager had been induced or +compelled to select a new Emperor. We cannot believe that she did it of +her own free will, and for several reasons. First, the child selected +was the son and the grandson of ultra conservative princes, and we +cannot but believe that as she had placed herself in the hands of the +conservative party, it was their selection rather than hers. Second, it +must have been a humiliation to her ever since she discovered that her +nephew, whom she had selected and placed upon the throne in order to +keep the succession in her own family, being the same generation as her +son who had died, could not worship him as his ancestor, and hence +could not legally occupy the throne, though as a matter of fact such a +condition is not unknown in Chinese history. + +But if her humiliation was great, that of our boy-prisoner was still +greater, for he was compelled to witness an edict, proclaimed in his +own name, which made him say that as there was no hope of his having a +child of his own to succeed him, he had requested the Empress Dowager +to select a suitable person who should be proclaimed as the successor +of Tung Chih, his predecessor, thus turning himself out of the imperial +line. That this could not have been her choice is evidenced, further, +by the fact that just as soon as she had once more regained her power, +she surrounded herself with progressive officials, turned out all the +great conservatives except Jung Lu, and dispossessing the son of Prince +Tuan, at the time of her death selected her sister's grandchild and +proclaimed him successor to her son and heir to the Emperor Kuang Hsu, +in the following edict: + +"Inasmuch as the Emperor Tung Chih had no issue, on the fifth day of +the twelfth moon of that reign (January 12, 1875) an edict was +promulgated to the effect that if the late Emperor Kuang Hsu should +have a son, the said Prince should carry on the succession as the heir +of Tung Chih. But now the late Emperor has ascended upon the dragon to +be a guest on high, leaving no son, and there is no course open but to +appoint Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, the Prince Regent, as the successor +to Tung Chih, and also as heir to the Emperor Kuang Hsu," which is +quite in keeping with the conduct and character of the Empress Dowager +all her life except those two bad years. + +During the days and weeks following the dispossession of Kuang Hsu of +the throne, in 1899 many decrees appeared which signified that at no +distant date he would be superseded by the son of Prince Tuan. The +foreign ministers began again to look grave. They spoke openly of their +fear that Kuang Hsu's days were numbered. They pressed their desire for +the usual New Year's audience, and once more the imprisoned monarch was +brought forth and made to sit upon the throne and receive them. But +when the ladies asked for an audience they were refused, the Empress +Dowager being too busy with affairs of state. She was at that time +seriously considering whether or not the government should cast in its +lot with the Boxers and drive all the foreigners with all their +productions into the eastern sea. + +One of the princesses told Mrs. Headland that before coming to a +decision the Empress Dowager called the hereditary and imperial princes +into the palace to consult with them as to what they would better do. +She met them all face to face, the Emperor and Prince Tuan standing +near the throne. She explained to them the ravages of the foreigners, +how they were gradually taking one piece after another of Chinese +territory. + +"And now," she continued, "we have these patriotic braves who claim to +be impervious to swords and bullets; what shall we do? Shall we cast in +our lot with their millions and drive all these foreigners out of China +or not?" + +Prince Tuan, as father of the heir-apparent, uneducated, superstitious +and ignorant of all foreign affairs, then spoke. He said: + +"I have seen the Boxers drilling, I have heard their incantations, and +I believe that they will be able to effect this much desired end. They +will either kill the foreigners or drive them out of the country and no +more will dare to come, and thus we will be rid of them." + +The hereditary princes were then asked for an expression of opinion. +The majority of them knew little of foreigners and foreign countries, +and as Prince Tuan, the father of the future Emperor, had expressed +himself so strongly, they hesitated to offer an adverse opinion. But +when it came to Prince Su, a man of strong character, widely versed in +foreign affairs, and of independent thought, he opposed the measure +most vigorously. + +"Who," he asked, "are these Boxers? Who are their leaders? How can +they, a mere rabble, hope to vanquish the armies of foreign nations?" + +Prince Tuan answered that "by their incantations they were able to +produce heaven-sent soldiers." + +Prince Su denounced such superstition as childish. But when after +further argument between him and Prince Tuan the Empress Dowager +assured him that she had had them in the palace and had witnessed their +prowess, he said no more. + +The imperial princes were then consulted, but seeing how Prince Su had +fared they were either in favour of the measure or non-committal. +Finally the Empress Dowager appealed to Prince Ching who, more +diplomatic than the younger princes, answered: + +"I consider it a most dangerous undertaking, and I would advise against +it. But if Your Majesty decides to cast in your lot with the Boxers I +will do all in my power to further your wishes." + +It is not a matter of wonder therefore that the Empress Dowager should +be led into such a foolish measure as the Boxer movement, when the +Prince who had been president of the Foreign Office for twenty-five +years could so weakly acquiesce in such an undertaking. + +"The Emperor," said the Princess, "was not asked for an expression of +his opinion on this occasion, but when he saw that the Boxer leaders +had won the day he burst into tears and left the room." + +Similar meetings were held in the palace on two other occasions, when +the Emperor implored that they make no attempt to fight all the foreign +nations, for said he, "the foreigners are stronger than we, both in +money and in arms, while their soldiers are much better drilled and +equipped in every way. If we undertake this and fail as we are sure to +do, it will be impossible to make peace with the foreigners and our +country will be divided up amongst them." His pleadings, however, were +disregarded, and after the meeting was over, he had to return to his +little island, where for eight weeks he was compelled to sit listening +to the rattling guns, booming cannons and bursting firecrackers, for +the Boxers seemed to hope to exterminate the foreigners by noise. He +must have felt from the books he had studied that it could only result +in disaster to his own people. + +When the allies reached Peking and the Boxers capitulated the Emperor +was taken out of his prison and compelled to flee with the court. + +"What do you think of your bullet-proof Boxers now?" one can imagine +they hear him saying to his august aunt, as he sees her cutting off her +long finger nails, dressing herself in blue cotton garments, and +climbing into a common street cart as an ordinary servant. "Wouldn't it +have been better to have taken my advice and that of Hsu Ching-cheng +and Yuan Chang instead of having put them to death for endeavouring in +their earnestness to save the country? What about your old conservative +friends? Can they be depended upon as pillars of state?" Or some other +"I-told-you-so" language of this kind. + +From their exile in Hsian decrees continued to be issued in his name, +and when affairs began to be adjusted, and the allies insisted on +setting aside forever the pretentions of the anti-foreign Prince Tuan +and his son, banishing the former to perpetual exile, our hopes ran +high that the Emperor would be restored to his throne. But to our +disappointment the framers of the Protocol contented themselves with +the clause that: "Rational intercourse shall be permitted with the +Emperor as in Western countries," and with the return of the court in +1902 he was still a prisoner. + +Every one who has written about audiences with the Empress Dowager +tells how "the Emperor was seated near, though a little below her," but +they never tell why. The reason is not far to seek. The world must not +know that he was a prisoner in the palace. They must see him near the +throne, but they may not speak to him. The addresses of the ministers +were passed to her by her kneeling statesmen, and it was they who +replied. No notice was taken of the Emperor though he seemed to be in +excellent health. The Empress Dowager however still relieved him of the +burdens of the government, and continued to "teach him how to govern." + +"I have seen the Emperor many times," Mrs. Headland tells me, "and have +spent many hours in his presence, and every time we were in the palace +the Emperor accompanied the Empress Dowager--not by her side but a few +steps behind her. When she sat, he always remained standing a few paces +in the rear, and never presumed to sit unless asked by her to do so. He +was a lonely person, with his delicate, well-bred features and his +simple dark robes, and in the midst of these fawning eunuchs, brilliant +court ladies, and bejewelled Empress Dowager he was an inconspicuous +figure. No minister of state touched forehead to floor as he spoke in +hushed and trembling voice to him, no obsequious eunuchs knelt when +coming into his presence; but on the contrary I have again and again +seen him crowded against the wall by these cringing servants of Her +Majesty. + +"One day while we were in the palace a pompous eunuch had stepped +before the Emperor quite obliterating him. I saw Kuang Hsu put his +hands on the large man's shoulders, and quietly turn him around, that +he might see before whom he stood. There were no signs of anger on his +face, but rather a gentle, pathetic smile as he looked up at the big +servant. I expected to see him fall upon his knees before the Emperor, +but instead, he only moved a few inches to the left, and remained still +in front of His Majesty. Never when in the palace have I seen a knee +bend to the Emperor, except that of the foreigner when greeting him or +bidding him farewell. This was the more noticeable as statesmen and +eunuchs alike fell upon their knees every time they spoke to the +Empress Dowager. + +"The first time I saw him his great, pathetic, wistful eyes followed me +for days. I could not forget them, and I determined that if I ever had +opportunity I would say a few words to him letting him know that the +world was resting in hope of his carrying out the great reforms he had +instituted. But he was so carefully guarded and kept under such strict +surveillance that I never found an opportunity to speak to him. Nor did +he ever speak to the visitors, court ladies, the Empress Dowager, or +attendants during all the hours we remained. + +"One of the ministers told me that one day after an audience, when the +Empress Dowager and the Emperor had stepped down from the dais, Her +Majesty was engaged in conversation with one of his colleagues, and as +the Emperor stood near by, he made some remark to him. Immediately the +Empress Dowager turned from the one to whom she had been talking and +made answer for the Emperor. + +"On one occasion when there were but four of us in the palace, and we +were all comfortably seated, the Emperor standing a few paces behind +the Empress Dowager, she began discussing the Boxer movement, lamenting +the loss of her long finger nails, and various good-luck gourds of +which she was fond. The Emperor, probably becoming weary of a +conversation in which he had no part, quietly withdrew by a side +entrance to the theatre which was playing at the time. For some moments +the Empress Dowager did not notice his absence, but the instant she +discovered he was gone, a look of anxiety overspread her features, and +she turned to the head eunuch, Li Lien-ying, and in an authoritative +tone asked: 'Where is the Emperor?' There was a scurry among the +eunuchs, and they were sent hither and thither to inquire. After a few +moments they returned, saying that he was in the theatre. The look of +anxiety passed from her face as a cloud passes from before the sun--and +several of the eunuchs remained at the theatre. + +"I am told that at times the Empress Dowager invites the Emperor to +dine with her, and on such occasions he is forced to kneel at the table +at which she is seated, eating only what she gives him. It is an honour +which he does not covet, but which he dare not decline for fear of +giving offense." + + + +XI + +Prince Chun--The Regent + +Prince Chun the Regent of China gave a remarkable luncheon at the +Winter Palace to-day to the foreign envoys who gathered here to attend +the funeral ceremonies of the late Emperor Kuang Hsu. The repast was +served in foreign style. Among the Chinese present were Prince Ching, +former president of the Board of Foreign Affairs and now adviser to the +Naval Department; Prince Tsai Chen, a son of Prince Ching, who was at +one time president of the Board of Commerce; Prince Su, chief of the +Naval Department; and Liaing Tung-yen, president of the Board of +Foreign Affairs. After the entertainment the envoys expressed +themselves as unusually impressed with the personality of the +Regent.--Daily Press. + + + +XI + +PRINCE CHUN--THE REGENT + +The selection of Prince Chun as Regent for the Chinese empire during +the minority of his son, Pu I, the new Emperor, would seem to be the +wisest choice that could be made at the present time. In the first +place, he is the younger brother of Kuang Hsu, the late Emperor, and +was in sympathy with all the reforms the latter undertook to introduce +in 1898. If Kuang Hsu had chosen his successor, having no son of his +own, there is no reason why he should not have selected Pu I to occupy +the throne, with Prince Chun as Regent, for there is no other prince in +whom he could have reposed greater confidence of having all his reform +measures carried to a successful issue; and a brother with whom he had +always lived in sympathy would be more likely to continue his policy +than any one else. + +But, in the second place, as we may suppose, Prince Chun was selected +by the Empress Dowager, whatever the edicts issued, and will thus have +the confidence of the party of which she has been the leader. It is +quite wrong to suppose that this is the conservative party, or even a +conservative party. China has both reform and conservative parties, +but, in addition to these, she has many wise men and great officials +who are neither radical reformers nor ultra-conservatives. It was these +men with whom the Empress Dowager allied herself after the Boxer +troubles of 1900. + +These men were Li Hung-chang, Chang Chih-tung, Yuan Shih-kai, Prince +Ching, and others, and it is they who, in ten years, with the Empress +Dowager, put into operation, in a statesmanlike way, all the reforms +that Kuang Hsu, with his hot-headed young radical advisers, attempted +to force upon the country in as many weeks. There is every reason to +believe that Prince Chun, the present Regent, has the support of all +the wiser and better element of the Reform party, as well as those +great men who have been successful in tiding China over the ten most +difficult years of her history, while the ultra-conservatives at this +late date are too few or too weak to deserve serious consideration. We, +therefore, think that the choice of Pu I as Emperor, with Prince Chun +as Regent, whether by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, or both, was, +all things considered, the best selection that could have been made. + +Prince Chun is the son of the Seventh Prince, the nephew of the Emperor +Hsien Feng and the Empress Dowager, and grandson of the Emperor Tao +Kuang. He has a fine face, clear eye, firm mouth, with a tendency to +reticence. He carries himself very straight, and while below the +average in height, is every inch a prince. He is dignified, +intelligent, and, though not loquacious, never at a loss for a topic of +conversation. He is not inclined to small talk, but when among men of +his own rank, he does not hesitate to indulge in bits of humour. + +This was rather amusingly illustrated at a dinner given by the late +Major Conger, American minister to China. Major and Mrs. Conger +introduced many innovations into the social life of Peking, and none +more important than the dinners and luncheons given to the princes and +high officials, and also to the princesses and ladies of the court. In +1904, I was invited to dine with Major Conger and help entertain Prince +Chun, Prince Pu Lun, Prince Ching, Governor Hu, Na T'ung, and a number +of other princes and officials of high rank. I sat between Prince Chun +and Governor Hu. Having met them both on several former occasions, I +was not a stranger to either of them, and as they were well acquainted +with each other, though one was a Manchu prince and the other a Chinese +official, conversation was easy and natural. + +We talked, of course, in Chinese only, of the improvements and +advantages that railroads bring to a country, for Governor Hu, among +other things, was the superintendent of the Imperial Railways of north +China. This led us to speak of the relative comforts of travel by land +and by sea, for Prince Chun had gone half round the world and back. We +listened to the American minister toasting the young Emperor of China, +his princes, and his subjects; and then to Prince Ching toasting the +young President of the United States, his officials, and his people, in +a most dignified and eloquent manner. And then as the buzz of +conversation went round the table again, and perhaps because of their +having spoken of the YOUNG Emperor and the young President, I turned to +Governor Hu, who had an unusually long, white beard which reached +almost to his waist as he sat at table, and said: + +"Your Excellency, what is your honourable age?" + +"I was seventy years old my last birthday," he replied. + +"And he is still as strong as either of us young men," said I, turning +to Prince Chun. + +"Oh, yes," said the Prince; "he is good for ten years yet, and by that +time he can use his beard as an apron." + +"It is an ill wind that blows no one good," says the proverb, and this +was never more forcibly illustrated than in the case of the death of +the lamented Baron von Kettler. Had it not been for this unfortunate +occurrence, Prince Chun would not have been sent to Germany to convey +the apologies of the Chinese government to the German Emperor, and he +would thus never have had the opportunity of a trip to Europe; and the +world might once more have beheld a regent on the dragon throne who had +never seen anything a hundred miles from his own capital. + +Prince Chun started on this journey with such a retinue as only the +Chinese government can furnish. He had educated foreign physicians and +interpreters, and, like the great Viceroy Li Hung-chang, he had a round +fan with the Eastern hemisphere painted on one side and the Western on +the other, and the route he was to travel distinctly outlined on both, +with all the places he was to pass through, or to stop at on the trip, +plainly marked. He was intelligent enough to observe everything of +importance in the ports through which he passed, and it was interesting +to hear him tell of the things he had seen, and his characterization of +some of the people he had visited. + +"What did Your Highness think of the relative characteristics of the +Germans and the French, as you saw them?" I asked him at the same +dinner. + +"The people in Berlin," said he, "get up early in the morning and go to +their business, while the people in Paris get up in the evening and go +to the theatre." + +This may have been a bit exaggerated, but it indicated that the Prince +did not travel, as many do on their first trip, with his mouth open and +his eyes closed. + +After his return to Peking he purchased a brougham, as did most of the +other leading officials and princes at the close of the Boxer troubles, +and driving about in this carriage, he has been a familiar figure from +that time until the present. As straws show the direction of the wind, +these incidents ought to indicate that Prince Chun will not be a +conservative to the detriment of his government, or to the hindrance of +Chinas progress. + +It is a well-known fact that the Empress Dowager, in addition to her +other duties, took charge of the arrangement of the marriages of all +her nieces and nephews. One of her favourite Manchu officials, and +indeed one of the greatest Manchus of recent years, though very +conservative, and hence little associated with foreigners, was Jung Lu. +As the affianced bride of Prince Chun had drowned herself in a well +during the Boxer troubles, the Empress Dowager engaged him to the +daughter of the lady who had been Jung Lu's first concubine, but who, +as his consort was dead, was raised to the position of wife. + +"This Lady Jung," says Mrs. Headland, "is some forty years of age, very +pretty, talkative, and vivacious, and she told me with a good deal of +pride, on one occasion, of the engagement of her son to the sixth +daughter of Prince Ching. And then with equal enthusiasm she told me +how her daughter had been married to Prince Chun, 'which of course +relates me with the two most powerful families of the empire.' + +"I have met the Princess Chun on several occasions at the audiences in +the palace, at luncheons with Mrs. Conger, at a feast with the Imperial +Princess, at a tea with the Princess Tsai Chen, and at the palaces of +many of the princesses. She is a very quiet little woman, and looked +almost infantile as she gazed at one with her big, black eyes. She is +very circumspect in her movements, and with such a mother and father as +she had, I should think may be very brilliant. Naturally she had to be +specially dignified and sedate at these public functions, as she and +the Imperial Princess were the only ones belonging to the old imperial +household, the descendants of Tao Kuang, who were intimately associated +with the Empress Dowager's court. She is small, but pretty, and, as I +have indicated, quiet and reticent. She was fond of her father, and +naturally fond of the Empress Dowager, who selected her as a wife for +her favourite nephew, Prince Chun, to whom she promised the succession +at the time of their marriage. After her father's death, and while she +was in mourning, she was invited into the palace by the Empress +Dowager, where she appeared wearing blue shoes, the colour used in +second mourning. + +"'Why do you wear blue shoes?' asked Her Majesty. + +"'On account of the death of my father,' replied the Princess. + +"'And do you mourn over your dead father more than you rejoice over +being in the presence of your living ruler?' the Empress Dowager +inquired. + +"It is unnecessary to add that the Princess 'changed the blue shoes for +red ones while she remained in the palace, so careful has the Empress +Dowager always been of the respect due to her dignity and position." + +Having promised the regency to Prince Chun, we may infer that the +Empress Dowager would do all in her power to prepare him to occupy the +position with credit to himself, and in the hope that he would continue +the policy which she has followed during the last ten years. Whenever, +therefore, opportunity offered for a prince to represent the government +at any public function with which foreigners were connected, Prince +Chun was asked or appointed to attend. I have said that it was the +murder of the German minister, Baron von Kettler, that gave Prince Chun +his opportunity to see the world. And just here I might add that an +account of the massacre of Von Kettler, sent from Canton, was published +in a New York paper three days before it occurred. This indicates that +his death had been premeditated and ordered by some high +authorities,--perhaps Prince Tuan or Prince Chuang, Boxer +leaders,--because the Germans had taken the port of Kiaochou, and had +compelled the Chinese government to promise to allow them to open all +the mines and build all the railroads in the province of Shantung. + +After the Boxer troubles were settled, the Germans, at the expense of +the Chinese government, erected a large stone memorial arch on the spot +where Von Kettler fell. At its dedication, members of the diplomatic +corps of all the legations in Peking were present, including ladies and +children, together with a large number of Chinese officials +representing the city, the government, and the Foreign Office, and +Prince Chun was selected to pour the sacrificial wine. He did it with +all the dignity of a prince, however much he may or may not have +enjoyed it. On this occasion he used one of the ancient, three-legged, +sacrificial wine-cups, which he held in both hands, while Na Tung, +President of the Foreign Office, poured the wine into the cup from a +tankard of a very beautiful and unique design. It is the only occasion +on which I have seen the Prince when he did not seem to enjoy what he +was doing. I ought to add just here that I have heard the Chinese refer +to this arch as the monument erected by the Chinese government in +memory of the man who murdered Baron von Kettler! + +It is a well-known fact that the Boxers destroyed all buildings that +had any indication of a foreign style of architecture, whether they +belonged to Chinese or foreigner, Christian or non-Christian, legation, +merchant, or missionary. In the rebuilding of the Peking legations, +missions, and educational institutions, there were naturally a large +number of dedicatory services. Many of the Chinese officials attended +them, but I shall refer to only one or two at which I remember meeting +Prince Chun. I believe it was the design of the Empress Dowager, as +soon as she had decided upon him as the Regent, to give him as liberal +an education in foreign affairs as the facilities in Peking would allow. + +For many years the Methodist mission had tried to secure funds from +America to erect a hospital and medical school in connection with the +mission and the Peking University. This they found to be impossible, +and finally Dr. N. S. Hopkins of Massachusetts, who was in charge of +that work, consulted with his brother and brother-in-law, who +subscribed the funds and built the institution. This act of benevolence +on the part of Dr. Hopkins and his friends appealed to the Chinese +sense of generosity, and when the building was completed, a large +number of Chinese officials, together with Prince Chun and Prince Pu +Lun, were present at its dedication. A number of addresses were made by +such men as Major Conger, the American minister, Bishop Moore, Na Tung, +Governor Hu, General Chiang, and others of the older representatives, +in which they expressed their appreciation of the generosity which +prompted a man like Dr. Hopkins to give not only himself, but his +money, for the education of the Chinese youth and the healing of their +poor. And I might add that Dr. Hopkins is physician to many of the +princes and officials in Peking at the present time. + +During this reconstruction, a number of the colleges of north China +united to form a union educational institution. One part of this scheme +was a union medical college, situated on the Ha-ta-men great street not +a hundred yards north of the Von Kettler memorial arch. To the erection +of this building the wealthy officials of Peking subscribed liberally, +and the Empress Dowager sent her check for 11,000 taels, equal to +$9,000 in American gold, and appointed Prince Chun to represent the +Chinese government at its dedication. At this meeting Sir Robert Hart +made an address on behalf of the foreigners, and Na Tung on behalf of +the Chinese. Although Prince Chun took no public part in the exercises, +he privately expressed his gratification at seeing the completion of +such an up-to-date hospital and medical school in the Chinese capital. + +I have given these incidents in the life of Prince Chun to show that he +has had facilities for knowing the world better than any other Chinese +monarch or regent that has ever sat upon the dragon throne, and that he +has grasped the opportunities as they came to him. He has been +intimately associated with the diplomatic life of the various +legations, which is perhaps the most important knowledge he has +acquired in dealing with foreign affairs, as these ministers are the +channels through which he must come in contact with foreign +governments. He has been present at the dedication of a number of +missionary educational institutions, and hence from personal contact he +will have some comprehension of the animus and work of missions and the +character of the men engaged in that work. He may have as a councillor, +if he so desires, the Prince Pu Lun, who has had a trip around the +world, with the best possible facilities for seeing Japan, America, +Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy, and who has been in even +more intimate contact with the diplomats and other foreigners than has +Prince Chun himself. My wife and I have dined with him and the Princess +both at the American legation and at his own palace, and when we left +China, they came together in their brougham to bid us good-bye, a thing +which could not have happened a few years ago, and an indication of how +wide open the doors in China are now standing. + +On the whole, therefore, Prince Chun begins his regency with a brighter +outlook for his foreign relations than any other ruler China has ever +had. What shall we say of his Chinese relations? Being the brother of +Kuang Hsu, and himself a progressive young man, he ought to have the +support of the Reform party, and being the choice of the Empress +Dowager, he will have the support of the great progressive officials +who have had the conduct of affairs for the last quarter of a century +and more, and especially for the past ten years, since the Emperor +Kuang Hsu was deposed. + + + +XII + +The Home of the Court--The Forbidden City + +The innermost enclosure is the Forbidden City and contains the palace +and its surrounding buildings. The wall is less solid and high than the +city wall, is covered with bright yellow tiles, and surrounded by a +deep, wide moat. Two gates on the east and west afford access to the +interior of this habitation of the Emperor, as well as the space and +rooms appertaining, which furnish lodgment to the guard defending the +approach to the dragon's throne.--S. Wells Williams in "The Middle +Kingdom." + + + +XII + +THE HOME OF THE COURT--THE FORBIDDEN CITY + +During the past ten years, since the dethronement of the late Emperor +Kuang Hsu, I have often been asked by Europeans visiting Peking: + +"What would happen if the Emperor should die?" + +"They would put a new Emperor on the throne," was my invariable answer. +They usually followed this with another question: + +"What would happen if the Empress Dowager should die?" + +"In that case the Emperor, of course, would again resume the throne," I +always replied without hesitation. But during those ten years, not one +of my friends ever thought to propound the question, nor did I have the +wit to ask myself: + +"What would happen if the Emperor and the Empress Dowager should both +suddenly snap the frail cord of life at or about the same time?" + +Had such a question come to me, I confess I should not have known how +to answer it. It is a problem that probably never presented itself to +any one outside of that mysterious Forbidden City, or the equally +mysterious spectres that come and go through its half-open gates in the +darkness of the early morning. There are three parties to whom it may +have come again and again, and to whom we may perhaps be indebted both +for the problem and the solution. + +When the deaths of both of their Imperial Majesties were announced at +the same time, the news also came that the Japanese suspected that +there had been foul play. With them, however, it was only suspicion; +none of them, so far as I know, ever undertook to analyze the matter or +unravel the mystery. There is no doubt a reasonable explanation, but we +must go for it to the Forbidden City, the most mysterious royal +dwelling in the world, where white men have never gone except by +invitation from the throne, save on one occasion. + +In 1901, while the court was in hiding at Hsianfu, the city to which +they fled when the allies entered Peking, the western half of the +Forbidden City was thrown open to the public, the only condition being +that said public have a certificate which would serve as a pass to the +American boys in blue who guarded the Wu men, or front gate. I was +fortunate enough to have that pass. + +My first move was to get a Chinese photographer--the best I could find +in the city--to go with me and take pictures of everything I wanted as +well as anything else that suited his fancy. + +The city of Peking is regularly laid out. Towards the south is the +Chinese city, fifteen miles in circumference. To the north is a square, +four miles on each side, and containing sixteen square miles. In the +centre of this square, enclosed by a beautifully crenelated wall thirty +feet thick at the bottom, twenty feet thick at the top and twenty-five +feet high, surrounded by a moat one hundred feet wide, is the Forbidden +City, occupying less than one-half a square mile. In this city there +dwells but one male human being, the Emperor, who is called the +"solitary man." + +There is a gate in the centre of each of the four sides, that on the +south, the Wu men, being the front gate, through which the Emperor +alone is allowed to pass. The back gate, guarded by the Japanese during +the occupation, is for the Empress Dowager, the Empress and the women +of the court, while the side gates are for the officials, merchants or +others who may have business in the palace. + +Through the centre of this city, from south to north, is a passageway +about three hundred feet wide, across which, at intervals of two +hundred yards, they have erected large buildings, such as the imperial +examination hall, the hall in which the Emperor receives his bride, the +imperial library, the imperial kitchen, and others of a like nature, +all covered with yellow titles, and known to tourists, who see them +from the Tartar City wall, as the palace buildings. These, however, are +not the buildings in which the royal family live. They are the places +where for the past five hundred years all those great diplomatic +measures--and dark deeds--of the Chinese emperors and their great +officials have been transacted between midnight and daylight. + +If you will go with me at midnight to the great gate which leads from +the Tartar to the Chinese city--the Chien men--you will hear the +wailing creak of its hinges as it swings open, and in a few moments the +air will be filled with the rumbling of carts and the clatter of the +feet of the mules on the stone pavement, as they take the officials +into the audiences with their ruler. If you will remain with me there +till a little before daylight you will see them, like silent spectres, +sitting tailor-fashion on the bottom of their springless carts, +returning to their homes, but you will ask in vain for any information +as to the business they have transacted. "They love darkness rather +than light," not perhaps "because their deeds are evil," but because it +has been the custom of the country from time immemorial. + +Immediately to the north of this row of imperial palace buildings, and +just outside the north gate, there is an artificial mound called Coal +Hill, made of the dirt which was removed to make the Lotus Lakes. It is +said that in this hill there is buried coal enough to last the city in +time of siege. This, however, was not the primary design of the hill. +It has a more mysterious meaning. There have always been spirits in the +earth, in the air, in every tree and well and stream. And in China it +has ever been found necessary to locate a house, a city or even a +cemetery in such surroundings as to protect them from the entrance of +evil spirits. "Coal Hill," therefore, was placed to the north of these +imperial palace buildings to protect them from the evil spirits of the +cold, bleak north. + +Just inside of that north gate there is a beautiful garden, with +rockeries and arbours, flowering plants and limpid artificial streams +gurgling over equally artificial pebbles, though withal making a +beautiful sight and a cool shade in the hot summer days. In the east +side of this garden there is a small imperial shrine having four doors +at the four points of the compass. In front of each of these doors +there is a large cypress-tree, some of them five hundred years old, +which were split up from the root some seven or eight feet, and planted +with the two halves three feet apart, making a living arch through +which the worshipper must pass as he enters the temple. To the north of +the garden and east of the back gate there is a most beautiful Buddhist +temple, in which only the members of the imperial family are allowed to +worship, in front of which there is also a living arch like those +described above, as may also be found before the imperial temples in +the Summer Palace. This is one of the most unique and mysterious +features of temple worship I have found anywhere in China, and no +amount of questioning ever brought me any explanation of its meaning. + +Now if you will go with me to the top of Coal Hill I will point out to +you the buildings in which their Majesties have lived. There are six +parallel rows of buildings, facing the south, each behind the other, in +the northwest quarter of this Forbidden City, protected from the evil +spirits of the north by the dagoba on Prospect Hill. + +Perhaps you would like to go with me into these homes of their +Majesties--or, as a woman's home is always more interesting than the +den of a man, let me take you through the private apartments of the +greatest woman of her race--the late Empress Dowager. She occupied +three of these rows of buildings. The first was her drawing-room and +library, the second her dining-room and sleeping apartments, and the +third her kitchen. + +One was strangely impressed by what he saw here. There was no gorgeous +display of Oriental colouring, but there was beauty of a peculiarly +penetrating quality--and yet a homelike beauty. + +No description that can be written of it will ever do it justice. Not +until one can see and appreciate the paintings of the old Chinese +masters of five hundred years ago hanging upon the walls, the beautiful +pieces of the best porcelain of the time of Kang Hsi and Chien Lung, +made especially for the palace, arranged in their natural surroundings, +on exquisitely carved Chinese tables and brackets, the gorgeously +embroided silk portieres over the doorways, and the matchless +tapestries which only the Chinese could weave for their greatest +rulers, can we appreciate the beauty, the richness, and the refined +elegance of the private apartments of the great Dowager. + +I went into her sleeping apartments. Others also entered there, sat +upon her couch, and had their friends photograph them. I could not +allow myself to do so. I stood silent, with head uncovered as I gazed +with wonder and admiration at the bed, with its magnificently +embroidered curtains hanging from the ceiling to the floor, its +yellow-satin mattress ten feet in length and its great round, hard +pillow, with the delicate silk spreads turned back as though it were +prepared for Her Majesty's return. On the opposite side of the room +there was a brick kang bed, such as we find in the homes of all the +Chinese of the north, where her maids slept, or sat like silent ghosts +while the only woman that ever ruled over one-third of the human race +took her rest. The furnishings were rich but simple. No plants, no +intricate carvings to catch the dust, nothing but the two beds and a +small table, with a few simple and soothing wall decorations, and the +monotonous tick-tock of a great clock to lull her to sleep. + +If Shakespeare could say with an English monarch in his mind, "Uneasy +lies the head that wears a crown," we might repeat it with added +emphasis of Tze Hsi. For forty years she had to rise at midnight, +winter as well as summer, and go into the dark, dreary, cold halls of +the palace, lighted much of the time with nothing but tallow dips, and +heated only with brass braziers filled with charcoal, and there sit +behind a screen where she could see no one, and no one could see her, +and listen to the reports of those who came to these dark audiences. +Then she must, in conjunction with them, compose edicts which were sent +out to the Peking Gazette, the oldest and poorest newspaper in the +world, to be carved on blocks, and printed, and then sent by courier to +every official in the empire. Ruling over a conquered race, she must +always be watching out for signs of discontent and rebellion; being +herself the daughter of a poor man, and beginning as only the concubine +of an emperor, and he but a weak character, she must be alert for +dissatisfaction on the part of the princes who might have some title to +the throne. She must watch the governors in the distant provinces and +the viceroys who are in charge of great armies, that they do not direct +them against instead of in defense of the throne. + +When her husband died while a fugitive two hundred miles from her +palace, she must see to it that her three-year-old child was placed +upon the throne with her own hand at the helm, and when he died she +must also be ready with a successor, who would give her another lease +of office. Even when he became of age and took the throne she must +watch over him like a guardian, to prevent his bringing down upon their +own heads the structure which she had builded. Nay, more, when it +became necessary for her to dethrone him and rule in his name, +banishing his friends and pacifying his enemies, keeping him a prisoner +in his palace, it required a courage that was titanic to do so. But she +never flinched, though we may suppose that many of her poorest +subjects, who could sleep from dark till daylight with nothing but a +brick for a pillow, might have rested more peacefully than she. + +She had a myriad of other duties to perform. She was the mother-in-law +of that imperial household, with the Emperor, the Empress, sixty +concubines, two thousand eunuchs, and any number of court ladies and +maid-servants. Their expenses were enormous and she must keep her eye +on every detail. The food they ate was similar to that used by all the +Chinese people. I happen to know this, because one of her eunuchs who +visited me frequently to ask my assistance in a matter which he had +undertaken for the Emperor, often brought me various kinds of meat, or +other delicacies of a like nature, from the imperial kitchens. + +I want you to visit three of the imperial temples in these beautiful +palace grounds. The first is a tall, three-story building at the head +of that magnificent Lotus Lake. In it there stands a Buddhist deity +with one thousand heads and one thousand arms and hands. Standing upon +the ground floor its head reaches almost to the roof. Its body, face +and arms are as white as snow. There is nothing else in the +building--nothing but this mild-faced Buddhist divinity for that +brilliant, black-eyed ruler of Chinas millions to worship. + +Standing near by is another building of far greater beauty. It is faced +all over with encaustic tiles, each made at the kiln a thousand miles +away, for the particular place it was to occupy. Each one fits without +a flaw, a suggestion to American architects on Chinese architecture. + +The second of these temples stands to the west of the Coal Hill, +immediately to the north of the homes of their Majesties. One day while +passing through the forbidden grounds I came upon this temple from the +rear. In the dome of one of the buildings is a circular space some ten +feet in diameter, carved and gilded in the form of two magnificent +dragons after the fabled pearl. It is to this place the Emperor goes in +time of drought to confess his sins, for he confesses to the gods that +the drought is all his doing, and to pray for forgiveness, and for rain +to enrich the thirsty land. The towers on the corners of the wall of +the Forbidden City are the same style of architecture as the small +pavilion in the front court of this temple. + +Now as the buds of spring are bursting and the eaves on the +mulberry-trees are beginning to develop, will you go with the Empress +Dowager or the Empress into a temple on Prospect Hill, between the Coal +Hill and the Lotus Lake, where she offers sacrifices to the god of the +silkworm and prays for a prosperous year on the work of that little +insect? Above it stands one of the most hideous bronze deities I have +ever seen--male and naked--in a beautiful little shrine, every tile of +which is made in the form of a Buddha's head. During the occupation +tourists were allowed to visit this place freely, and their desire for +curios overcoming their discretion, they knocked the heads off these +tiles until, when the place was closed, there was not a single tile +which had not been defaced. + +One other building in the Forbidden City is worthy of our attention. It +is the art gallery. It is not generally known that China is the parent +of all Oriental art. We know something of the art of Japan but little +about that of China. And yet the best Japanese artists have never hoped +for anything better than to equal their Chinese teacher. In this art +gallery there are stored away the finest specimens of the old masters +for ten centuries or more, together with portraits of all the noted +emperors. Among these portraits we may now find two of the Empress +Dowager, one painted by Miss Carl, and another by Mr. Vos, a well-known +American portrait painter. + + + +XIII + +The Ladies of the Court + +I love to talk with my people of their Majesties, the princesses, and +the Chinese ladies, as I have seen and known them. Your friendship I +will always remember. Her Majesty, your imperial sister, found a warm +place in my heart and is treasured there. Please extend to the Imperial +Princess my cordial greetings and to the other princesses my best of +good wishes.--Mrs. E. H. Conger, in a letter to the Princess Shun. + + + +XIII + +THE LADIES OF THE COURT + +The leading figure of the court is Yehonala, wife of the late Emperor +Kuang Hsu. She has always been called the Young Empress, but is now the +Empress Dowager. After the great Dowager was made the concubine of +Hsien Feng, she succeeded in arranging a marriage, as we have seen, +between her younger sister and the younger brother of her husband, the +Seventh Prince, as he was called, father of Kuang Hsu and the present +regent. + +The world knows how, in order to keep the succession in her own family, +she took the son of this younger sister, when her own son the Emperor +Tung Chih died, and made him the Emperor Kuang Hsu when he was but +little more than three years of age. When the time came for him to wed, +she arranged that he should marry his cousin, Yehonala, the daughter of +her favourite brother, Duke Kuei. This Kuang Hsu was not inclined to +do, as his affections seem to have been centred on another. The great +Dowager, however, insisted upon it, and he finally made her Empress, +and to satisfy,--or shall we say appease him?--she allowed him to take +as his first concubine the lady he wanted as his wife; and it was +currently reported in court circles that when Yehonala came into his +presence he not infrequently kicked off his shoe at her, a bit of +conduct that is quite in keeping with the temper usually attributed to +Kuang Hsu during those early years. This may perhaps explain why she +stood by the great Dowager through all the troublous times of 1898 and +1900, in spite of the fact that her imperial aunt had taken her +husband's throne. + +Mrs. Headland tells me that "Yehonala is not at all beautiful, though +she has a sad, gentle face. She is rather stooped, extremely thin, her +face long and sallow, and her teeth very much decayed. Gentle in +disposition, she is without self-assertion, and if at any of the +audiences we were to greet her she would return the greeting, but would +never venture a remark. At the audiences given to the ladies she was +always present, but never in the immediate vicinity of either the +Empress Dowager or the Emperor. She would sometimes come inside the +great hall where they were, but she always stood in some inconspicuous +place in the rear, with her waiting women about her, and as soon as she +could do so without attracting attention, she would withdraw into the +court or to some other room. In the summer-time we sometimes saw her +with her servants wandering aimlessly about the court. She had the +appearance of a gentle, quiet, kindly person who was always afraid of +intruding and had no place or part in anything. And now she is the +Empress Dowager! It seems a travesty on the English language to call +this kindly, gentle soul by the same title that we have been accustomed +to use in speaking of the woman who has just passed away." + +My wife tells me that,--"A number of years ago I was called to see Mrs. +Chang Hsu who was suffering from a nervous breakdown due to worry and +sleeplessness. On inquiry I discovered that her two daughters had been +taken into the palace as concubines of the Emperor Kuang Hsu. Her +friends feared a mental breakdown, and begged me to do all I could for +her. She took me by the hand, pulled me down on the brick bed beside +her, and told me in a pathetic way how both of her daughters had been +taken from her in a single day. + +"'But they have been taken into the palace,' I urged, to try to comfort +her, 'and I have heard that the Emperor is very fond of your eldest +daughter, and wanted to make her his empress.' + +"'Quite right,' she replied, 'but what consolation is there in that? +They are only concubines, and once in the palace they are dead to me. +No matter what they suffer, I can never see them or offer them a word +of comfort. I am afraid of the court intrigues, and they are only +children and cannot understand the duplicity of court life--I fear for +them, I fear for them,' and she swayed back and forth on her brick bed. + +"Time, however, the great healer with a little medicine and sympathy to +quiet her nerves, brought about a speedy recovery, though in the end +her fears proved all too true." + +In 1897 the brother of this first concubine met Kang Yu-wei in the +south, and became one of his disciples. Upon his return to Peking, +knowing of the Emperor's desire for reform, and his affection for his +sister, he found means of communicating with her about the young +reformer. + +At the time of the coup d'etat, and the imprisonment of the Emperor, +this first concubine was degraded and imprisoned on the ground of +having been the means of introducing Kang Yu-wei to the notice of the +Emperor, and thus interfering in state affairs. She continued in +solitary confinement from that time until the flight of the court in +1900 when in their haste to get away from the allies she was overlooked +and left in the palace. When she discovered that she was alone with the +eunuchs, fearing that she might become a victim to the foreign +soldiers, she took her life by jumping into a well. On the return of +the court in 1902, the Empress Dowager bestowed upon her posthumous +honours, in recognition of her conduct in thus taking her life and +protecting her virtue. + +Some conception of the haste and disorder with which the court left the +capital on that memorable August morning may be gleaned from the fact +that her sister was also overlooked and with a eunuch fled on foot in +the wake of the departing court. She was overtaken by Prince Chuang who +was returning in his chair from the palace, where, with Prince Ching, +he had been to inform their Majesties that the allies were in +possession of the city. The eunuch, recognizing him, called his +attention to the fleeing concubine, who, when he had alighted and +greeted her, begged him to find her a cart that she might follow the +court. Presently a dilapidated vehicle came by in which sat an old man. +The Prince ordered him to give the cart to the concubine and sent her +to his palace where a proper conveyance was secured, and she overtook +the court at the Nankow pass. + +At the audiences, this concubine was always in company with the Empress +Yehonala, standing at her left. She, however, lacked both the beauty +and intelligence of her sister. + +The ladies of the court, who were constantly associated with the +Empress Dowager as her ladies in waiting, are first, the Imperial +Princess, the daughter of the late Prince Kung, the sixth brother of +the Empress Dowager's husband. Out of friendship for her father, the +Empress Dowagers adopted her as their daughter, giving her all the +rights, privileges and titles of the daughter of an empress. She is the +only one in the empire who is entitled to ride in a yellow chair such +as is used by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor or Empress. The highest +of the princes--even Prince Ching himself--has to descend from his +chair if he meet her. Yet when this lady is in the palace, no matter +how she may be suffering, she dare not sit down in the presence of Her +Majesty. + +"One day when we were in the palace," says Mrs. Headland, "the Imperial +Princess was suffering from such a severe attack of lumbago, that she +could scarcely stand. I suggested to her that she retire to the rear of +the room, behind some of the pillars and rest a while. + +"'I dare not do that,' she replied; 'we have no such a custom in +China.'" + +She is austere in manner, plain in appearance, dignified in bearing, +about sixty-five years of age, and is noted for her accomplishment in +making the most graceful courtesy of any lady in the court. + +During the Boxer troubles and the occupation, her palace was plundered +and very much injured, and she escaped in her stocking feet through a +side door. At the first luncheon given at her palace thereafter, she +apologized for its desolate appearance, saying that it had been looted +by the Boxers, though we knew it had been looted by the allies. At +later luncheons, however, she had procured such ornaments as restored +in some measure its original beauty and grandeur, though none of these +dismantled palaces will regain their former splendour for many years to +come. + +Next to the Imperial Princess are the two sisters of Yehonala, one of +whom is married to Duke Tse, who was head of the commission that made +the tour of the world to inquire as to the best form of government to +be adopted by China in her efforts at renovation and reform. It is not +too much to suppose that it was because the Duke was married to the +Empress Dowager's niece that he was made the head of this commission, +which after its return advised the adoption of a constitution. The +other sister is the wife of Prince Shun, and is the opposite of the +Empress. She is stout, but beautiful. She has always been the favourite +niece of the Empress Dowager, appeared at all the functions, and though +very sedate when foreign ladies were present at an audience, I was told +by the Chinese that when the imperial family were alone together she +was the life of the company. She would even stand behind the Empress +Dowager's chair "making such grimaces," the Chinese expressed it, as to +make it almost impossible for the others to retain their equilibrium. +As she was the youngest of the three sisters, and because of her happy +disposition, the Chinese nicknamed her hsiao kuniang, "the little +girl." These three sisters are all childless. + +The Princess Shun and Princess Tsai Chen, only daughter-in-law of +Prince Ching, herself the daughter of a viceroy, were very congenial, +and the most intimate friends of all those in court circles. The latter +is beautiful, brilliant, quick, tactful, and graceful. Of all the +ladies of the court she is the most witty and, with Princess Shun, the +most interesting. These two more than any others made the court ladies +easy to entertain at all public functions, for they were full of +enthusiasm and tried to help things along. They seemed to feel that +they were personally responsible for the success of the audience or the +luncheon as a social undertaking. + +Lady Yuan is one of two of these court ladies who dwelt with the +Empress Dowager in the palace, the other being Prince Ching's fourth +daughter. She is a niece by marriage of the Empress Dowager, though she +really was never married. The nephew of the Empress Dowager, to whom +she was engaged, though she had never seen him, died before they were +married. After his death, but before his funeral, she dressed herself +as a widow, and in a chair covered with white sackcloth went to his +home, where she performed the ceremonies proper for a widow, which +entitled her to take her position as his wife. Such an act is regarded +as very meritorious in the eyes of the Chinese, and no women are more +highly honoured than those who have given themselves in this way to a +life of chastity. + +The second of these ladies who remained in the palace with the Empress +Dowager is the fourth daughter of Prince Ching. Married to the son of a +viceroy, their wedded life lasted only a few months. She was taken into +the palace, and being a widow, she neither wears bright colours nor +uses cosmetics. She is a fine scholar, very devout, and spends much of +her time in studying the Buddhist classics. She is considered the most +beautiful of the court ladies. + +The Empress Dowager took charge of most of the domestic matters of all +her relatives, taking into the palace and associating with her as court +ladies some who were widowed in their youth, and keeping constantly +with her only those whom she has elevated to positions of rank, or +members of her own family. Nor was she too busy with state affairs to +stop and settle domestic quarrels. + +Among the court ladies there was one who was married to a prince of the +second order. Her husband is still living, but as they were not +congenial in their wedded life, the Empress Dowager made herself a kind +of foster-mother to the Princess and banished her husband to Mongolia, +an incident which reveals to us another phase of the great Dowager's +character--that of dealing with fractious husbands. + + + +XIV + +The Princesses--Their Schools + +The position accorded to woman in Chinese society is strictly a +domestic one, and, as is the case in other Eastern countries, she is +denied the liberty which threatens to attain such amazing proportions +in the West. There is no reason to suppose that woman in China is +treated worse than elsewhere; but people can of course paint her +condition just as fancy seizes them. They are rarely admitted into the +domestic surroundings of Chinese homes, therefore there is nothing to +curb the imagination. The truth is that just as much may be said on one +side as on the other. Domestic happiness is in China--as everywhere +else the world over--a lottery. The parents invariably select partners +in marriage for their sons and daughters, and sometimes make as great +blunders as the young people would if left to themselves.--Harold E. +Gorst in "China." + + + +XIV + +THE PRINCESSES--THEIR SCHOOLS[1] + +[1] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + +One day while making a professional call on the Princess Su our +conversation turned to female education in China. I was deeply +interested in the subject, and was aware that the Prince had +established a school for the education of his daughters and the women +of his palace, and was naturally pleased when the Princess asked: + +"Would you care to visit our school when it is in session?" + +"Nothing would please me more," I answered. "When may I do so?" + +"Could you come to-morrow morning?" she inquired. + +"With pleasure; at what time?" + +"I will send my cart for you." + +The following morning the Prince's cart appeared. It was lined with +fur, upholstered in satin, furnished with cushions, and encircled by a +red band which indicated the rank of its owner. A venerable eunuch, the +head of the palace servants, preceded it as an outrider, and assisted +me in mounting and dismounting, while the driver in red-tasselled hat +walked decorously by the side. + +The school occupies a large court in the palace grounds. Another +evidence of Western influence in the same court is a large two-story +house of foreign architecture where the Prince receives his guests. +Prince Su was the first to have this foreign reception hall, but he has +been followed in this respect by other officials and princes as well as +by the Empress Dowager. + +"This is not unlike our foreign compounds," I remarked to the Princess +as we entered the court. + +"Yes," she replied, "the Prince does not care to have the court paved, +but prefers to have it sodded and filled with flowers and shrubs." + +The school building was evidently designed for that purpose, being +light and airy with the whole southern exposure made into windows, and +covered with a thin white paper which gives a soft, restful light and +shuts out the glare of the sun. The floor is covered with a heavy rope +matting while the walls are hung with botanical, zoological and other +charts. Besides the usual furniture for a well-equipped schoolroom, it +was heated with a foreign stove, had glass cases for their embroidery +and drawing materials, and a good American organ to direct them in +singing, dancing and calisthenics. + +I arrived at recess. The Princess took me into the teacher's den, which +was cut off from the main room by a beautifully carved screen. Here I +was introduced to the Japanese lady teacher and served with tea. She +spoke no English and but little Chinese, and the embarrassment of our +effort to converse was only relieved by the ringing of the bell for +school. The pupils, consisting of the secondary wives and daughters of +the Prince, his son's wife, and the wives and daughters of his dead +brother who make their home with him, entered in an orderly way and +took their seats. When the teacher came into the room the ladies all +arose and remained standing until she took her place before her desk +and made a low bow to which they all responded in unison. This is the +custom in all of the schools I have visited. Even where the +superintendent is Chinese, the pupils stand and make a low Japanese bow +at the beginning and close of each recitation. + +"How long has the school been in session?" I asked the Princess. + +"Three and a half months," she replied. + +"And they have done all this embroidery and painting in that time?" + +"They have, and in addition have pursued their Western studies," she +explained. + +In arithmetic the teacher placed the examples on the board, the pupils +worked them on their slates, after which each was called upon for an +explanation, which she gave in Japanese. While this class was reciting +the Prince came in and asked if we might not have calisthenics, +evidently thinking that I would enjoy the drill more than the +mathematics. It was interesting to see those Manchu ladies stand and go +through a thorough physical drill to the tune of a lively march on a +foreign organ. The Japanese are masters in matters of physical drill, +and in the schools I have visited I have been pleased at the quiet +dignity, and the reserve force and sweetness of their Japanese +teachers. The precision and unanimity with which orders were executed +both surprised and delighted me. Everything about these schools was +good except the singing, which was excruciatingly poor. The Chinese +have naturally clear, sweet voices, with a tendency to a minor tone, +which, with proper training, admit of fair development. But the +Japanese teacher dragged and sang in a nasal tone, in which the pupils +followed her, evidently thinking it was proper Western music. I was +rather amused to see the younger pupils go through a dignified dance or +march to the familiar strains of "Shall we gather at the river," which +the eldest daughter played on the organ. + +"The young ladies do not comb their hair in the regular Manchu style," +I observed to the Princess. + +"No," she answered, "we do not think that best. It is not very +convenient, and so we have them dress it in the small coil on top of +the head as you see. Neither do we allow them to wear flowers in their +hair, nor to paint or powder, or wear shoes with centre elevations on +the soles. We try to give them the greatest possible convenience and +comfort." + +They were proud of their bits of crocheting and embroidery, each of +which was marked with the name of the person who did it and the date +when it was completed. Many of them were made of pretty silk thread in +a very intricate pattern, though I admired their drawing and painting +still more. + +"Of what does their course of study consist?" I asked the Princess. + +She went to the wall and took down a neat gilt frame which contained +their curriculum, and which she asked her eldest daughter to copy for +me. They had five studies each day, six days of the week, Sunday being +a holiday. They began with arithmetic, followed it up with Japanese +language, needlework, music and calisthenics, then took Chinese +language, drawing, and Chinese history with the writing of the +ideographs of their own language, which was one of the most difficult +tasks they had to perform. The dignified way in which the pupils +conducted themselves, the respect which they showed their teacher, and +the way in which they went about their work, delighted me. The +discipline it gave them, the self-respect it engendered, and the power +of acquisition that came with it were worth more perhaps than the +knowledge they acquired, useful as that information must have been. + +The Princess Ka-la-chin, the fifth sister of Prince Su, is married to +the Mongolian Prince Ka-la. It is a rule among the Manchus that no +prince can marry a princess of their own people, but like the Emperor +himself, must seek their wives from among the untitled. These ladies +after their marriage are raised to the rank of their husbands. It is +the same with the daughters of a prince. Their husbands must come from +among the people, but unlike the princes they cannot raise them to +their own rank, and so their children have no place in the imperial +clan. Many of the princesses therefore prefer to marry Mongolian +princes, by which they retain their rank as well as that of their +children. + +Naturally a marriage of this kind brings changes into the life of the +princess. She has been brought up in a palace in the capital, lives on +Chinese food, and is not inured to hardships. When she marries a Mongol +prince, she is taken to the Mongolian plains, is not infrequently +compelled to live in a tent, and her food consists largely of milk, +butter, cheese and meat, most of which are an abomination to the +Chinese. They especially loathe butter and cheese, and not infrequently +speak of the foreigner smelling like the Mongol--an odour which they +say is the result of these two articles of diet. + +Prince Su's fifth sister was fortunate in being married to a Mongol +prince who was not a nomad. He had established a sort of village +capital of his possessions, the chief feature of which was his own +palace. Here he lives during the summers and part of the winters; +though once in three years he is compelled to spend at least three +months in his palace in Peking when he comes to do homage to the +Emperor. + +During one of these visits to Peking the Princess sent for me to come +to her palace. I naturally supposed she was ill, and so took with me my +medical outfit, but her first greeting was: + +"I am not ill, nor is any member of my family, but I wanted to see you +to have a talk with you about foreign countries." + +She had prepared elaborate refreshments, and while we sat eating, she +directed the conversation towards mines and mining, and then said: + +"My husband, the Prince, is very much interested in this subject, and +believes that there are rich stores of ore on his principality in +Mongolia." + +"Indeed, that is very interesting," I answered. + +"You know, of course, it is a rule," she went on to say, "that no +prince of the realm is allowed to go more than a few miles from the +capital without special permission from the throne." + +"No, I was not aware of that fact." + +She then went on to say that her husband was anxious to attend the St. +Louis Exposition, and study this subject in America, but so long as +these hindrances remained it was impossible for him to do so. She then +said: + +"I am very much interested in the educational system of your honourable +country, and especially in your method of conducting girls' schools." + +"Would you not like to come and visit our girls' high school?" I asked. + +"I should be delighted," she replied. + +This she did, and before leaving the capital she sent for a Japanese +lady teacher whom she took with her to her Mongolian home, where she +established a school for Mongolian girls. + +In this school she had a regular system of rules, which did not tally +with the undisciplined methods of the Mongolians, and it was amusing to +hear her tell how it was often necessary for the Prince to go about in +the morning and wake up the girls in order to get them into school at +nine o'clock. + +The next time she came to Peking she brought with her seventeen of her +brightest girls to see the sights of the city and visit some of the +girls' schools, both Christian and non-Christian. Everything was new to +them and it was interesting to hear their remarks as I showed them +through our home and our high school. When the Princess returned to +Mongolia she took with her a cultured young Chinese lady of unusual +literary attainments to teach the Chinese classics in the school. This +is the only school I have known that was established by a Manchu +princess, for Mongolian girls, and taught by Chinese and Japanese +teachers. This young lady was the daughter of the president of the +Board of Rites, head examiner for literary degrees for all China, and +was himself a chuang yuan, or graduate of the highest standing. Before +going, this Chinese teacher had small bound feet, but she had not been +long on the plains before she unbound her feet, dressed herself in +suitable clothing, and went with the Princess and the Japanese teacher +for a horseback ride across the plains in the early morning, a thing +which a Chinese lady, under ordinary circumstances, is never known to +do. The school is still growing in size and usefulness. + +Prince Su's third sister is married to a commoner, but as is usual with +these ladies who marry beneath their own rank, she retains her maiden +title of Third Princess, by which she is always addressed. + +"How did you obtain your education?" I once asked her. + +"During my childhood," she answered, "my mother was opposed to having +her daughters learn to read, but like most wealthy families, she had +old men come into the palace to read stories or recite poetry for our +entertainment. I not infrequently followed the old men out, bought the +books from which they read, and then bribed some of the eunuchs to +teach me to read them. In this way I obtained a fair knowledge of the +Chinese character." + +She is as deeply interested in the new educational movement among girls +as is her sister. When this desire for Western education began, she +organized a school, in which she has eighty girls or more, taken from +various grades of society, whom she and some of her friends, in +addition to employing teachers and providing the school-rooms, gave a +good part of their time to teaching the Chinese classics, while a +Japanese lady taught them calisthenics and the rudiments of Western +mathematics. + +She is aggressively pro-foreign, and is ready to do anything that will +contribute to the success of the new educational movement, and the +freedom of the Chinese woman. On one occasion when the Chinese in +Peking undertook to raise a fund for famine relief, they called a large +public meeting to which men and women were alike invited, the first +meeting of the kind ever held in Peking. Such a gathering could not +have occurred before the Boxer rebellion. The Third Princess, having +promised to help provide the programme, took a number of her girls, and +on a large rostrum, had them go through their calisthenic exercises for +the entertainment of the audience. On another occasion she took all her +girls to a private box at a Chinese circus, where men and women +acrobats and horseback riders performed in a ring not unlike that of +our own circus riders. In this circus small-footed women rode horseback +as well as the women in our own circus, and one woman with bound feet +lay down on her back, balanced a cart-wheel, weighing at least a +hundred pounds, on her feet, whirling it rapidly all the time, and then +after it stopped she continued to hold it while two women and a child +climbed on top. The Princess was determined to allow her girls to have +all the advantages the city afforded. + +At the school of this Third Princess I once attended a unique memorial +service. A lady of Hang Chou, finding it impossible to secure +sufficient money by ordinary methods for the support of a school that +she had established, cut a deep gash in her arm and then sat in the +temple court during the day of the fair, with a board beside her on +which was inscribed the explanation of her unusual conduct. This +brought her in some three hundred ounces of silver with which she +provided for her school the first year. When it was exhausted and she +could get no more, she wrote letters to the officials of her province, +in which she asked for subscriptions and urged the importance of female +education, to which she said she was willing to give her life. To her +appeal the officials paid no heed, and she finally wrote other letters +renewing her request for help to establish the school, after which she +committed suicide. The letters were sent, and later published in the +local and general newspapers. Memorial services were held in various +parts of the empire at all of which funds were gathered not only for +her school but for establishing other schools throughout the provinces. + +The school of the Third Princess at which this service was held was +profusely decorated. Chinese flags floated over the gates and +door-ways. Beautifully written scrolls, telling the reason for the +service and lauding the virtues of the lady, covered the walls of the +schoolroom. At the second entrance there was a table at which sat a +scribe who took our name and address and gave us a copy of the "order +of exercises." Here we were met by the Third Princess, who conducted us +into the main hall. Opposite the doorway was hung a portrait of the +lady, wreathed in artificial flowers, and painted by a Chinese artist. +A table stood before it on which was a plate of fragrant quinces, +candles, and burning incense, giving it the appearance of a shrine. +Pots of flowers were arranged about the room, which was unusually clean +and beautiful. The Chinese guests bowed three times before the picture +on entering the room, which I thought a very pretty ceremony. + +The girls of this school, to the number of about sixty, appeared in +blue uniform, courtesying to the guests. Sixteen other girls' schools +of Peking were represented either by teachers or pupils or both. One of +the boys' schools came en masse, dressed in military uniform, led by a +band, and a drillmaster with a sword dangling at his side. Addresses +were made by both ladies and gentlemen, chief among whom were the Third +Princess and the editress of the Woman's Daily Newspaper, the only +woman's daily at that time in the world, who urged the importance of +the establishment and endowment of schools for the education of girls +throughout the empire. + + + +XV + +The Chinese Ladies of Rank + + Though your husband may be wealthy, + You should never be profuse; + There should always be a limit + To the things you eat and use. + If your husband should be needy, + You should gladly share the same, + And be diligent and thrifty, + And no other people blame. + --"The Primer for Girls," Translated by I. T. H. + + + +XV + +THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK[2] + +[2] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + +The Manchu lady's ideal of beauty is dignity, and to this both her +deportment and her costume contribute in a well-nigh equal degree. Her +hair, put up on silver or jade jewelled hairpins, decorated with many +flowers, is very heavy, and easily tilted to one side or the other if +not carried with the utmost sedateness. Her long garments, reaching +from her shoulders to the floor, give to her tall figure an added +height, and the central elevation of from four to six inches to the +soles of her daintily embroidered slippers, compel her to stand erect +and walk slowly and majestically. She laughs but little, seldom jests, +but preserves a serious air in whatever she does. + +The Chinese lady, on the contrary, aspires to be petite, winsome, +affable and helpless. She laughs much, enjoys a joke, and is always +good-natured and chatty. + +One of their poets thus describes a noted beauty: + + "At one moment with tears her bright eyes would be swimming, + The next with mischief and fun they'd be brimming. + Thousands of sonnets were written in praise of them, + Li Po wrote a song for each separate phase of them. + + "Bashfully, swimmingly, pleadingly, scoffingly, + Temptingly, languidly, lovingly, laughingly, + Witchingly, roguishly, playfully, naughtily, + Willfully, waywardly, meltingly, haughtily, + Gleamed the eyes of Yang Kuei Fei. + + "Her ruby lips and peach-bloom cheeks, + Would match the rose in hue, + If one were kissed the other speaks, + With blushes, kiss me too." + + +She combs her hair in a neat coil on the back of her head, uses few +flowers, but instead prefers profuse decorations of pearls. Her upper +garment extends but little below her knees, and her lower garment is an +accordion-plaited skirt, from beneath which the pointed toes of her +small bound feet appear as she walks or sways on her "golden lilies," +as if she were a flower blown by the wind, to which the Chinese love to +compare her. Her waist is a "willow waist" in poetry, and her "golden +lilies," as her tiny feet are often called, are not more than two or +three inches long--so small that it not infrequently requires the +assistance of a servant or two to help her to walk at all. And though +she may not need them she affects to be so helpless as to require their +aid. + +Until very recently education was discouraged rather than sought by the +Manchu lady. Many of the princesses could not read the simplest book +nor write a letter to a friend, but depended upon educated eunuchs to +perform these services for them. The Chinese lady on the contrary can +usually read and write with ease, and the education of some of them is +equal to that of a Hanlin. + +Socially the ladies of these two classes never meet. Their husbands may +be of equal rank and well known to each other in official life, but the +ladies have no wish to meet each other. One day while the granddaughter +of one of the Chinese Grand Secretaries was calling upon me, the +sisters of Prince Ching and Prince Su were announced. When they entered +I introduced them. The dignity of the two princesses when presented led +me to fear that we would have a cold time together. I explained who my +Chinese lady friend was, and they answered in a formal way (wai t ou +tou jen te, li to'u k'e pu jen te) "the gentlemen of our respective +households are well acquainted, not so the ladies," but the ice did not +melt. For a time I did my best to find a topic of mutual interest, but +it was like trying to mix oil and water. I was about to give up in +despair when my little Chinese friend, observing the dilemma in which I +was placed, and the effort I was making to relieve the situation, threw +herself into the conversation with such vigour and vivacity, and +suggested topics of such interest to the others as to charm these +reserved princesses, and it was not long until they were talking +together in a most animated way. + +One of the Manchu ladies expressed regret at the falling of her hair +and the fact that she was getting bald. "Why," said my little Chinese +friend, "after a severe illness not long since, I lost all my hair, but +I received a prescription from a friend which restored it all, and just +look at the result," she continued turning her pretty head with its +great coils of shiny black hair. "I will be delighted to let you have +it." The Manchu princesses finally rose to depart, and in their +leave-taking, they were as cordial to my little Chinese friend, who had +made herself so agreeable, as they were to me, for which I shall ever +be grateful. + +After they had gone I asked: + +"Why is it that the Manchu and Chinese ladies do not intermingle in a +social way?" + +"The cause dates back to the beginning of the Manchu dynasty," she +responded. "When the Chinese men adopted the Manchu style of wearing +the queue, it was stipulated that they should not interfere with the +style of the woman's dress, and that no Chinese should be taken to the +palace as concubines or slaves to the Emperor. We have therefore always +held ourselves aloof from the Manchus. Our men did this to protect us, +and as a result no Chinese lady has ever been received at court, +except, of course, the painting teacher of the Empress Dowager, who, +before she could enter the palace, was compelled to unbind her feet, +adopt the Manchu style of dress and take a Manchu name." + +"Is not the Empress Dowager very much opposed to foot-binding? Why has +she not forbidden it?" + +"She has issued edicts recommending them to give it up, but to forbid +it is beyond her power. That would be interfering with the Chinese +ladies' dress." + +"Do the Manchus consider themselves superior to the Chinese?" + +"It is a poor rule that will not work both ways. Have you never noticed +that in his edicts the Emperor speaks of his Manchu slaves and his +Chinese subjects?" + +Among my lady friends is one whose father died when she was a child, +and she was brought up in the home of her grandfather who was himself a +viceroy. She had always been accustomed to every luxury that wealth +could buy. Clothed in the richest embroidered silks and satins, +decorated with the rarest pearls and precious stones, she had serving +women and slave girls to wait upon her, and humour her every whim. One +day when we were talking of the Boxer insurrection she told me the +following story: + +"Some years ago," she said, "my steward brought me a slave girl whom he +had bought from her father on the street. She was a bright intelligent +and obedient little girl, and I soon became very fond of her. She told +me one day that her grandmother was a Christian, and that she had been +baptized and attended a Christian school. Her father, however, was an +opium-smoker, and had pawned everything he had, and finally when her +grandmother was absent had taken her and sold her to get money to buy +opium. She asked me to send a messenger to her grandmother and tell her +that she had a good home. + +"I was delighted to do so for I knew the old woman would be distressed +lest the child had been sold to a life of shame, or had found a cruel +mistress. Unfortunately, however, my messenger could find no trace of +the grandmother, as the neighbours informed him that she had left +shortly after the disappearance of the child. + +"As the years passed the child grew into womanhood. She was very +capable, kind and thoughtful for others and I learned to depend upon +her in many ways. She was very devoted to me, and sought to please me +in every way she could. She always spoke of herself as a Christian and +refused to worship our gods. When the Boxer troubles began I took my +house-servants and went to my grandfather's home thinking that the +Boxers would not dare disturb the households of such great officials as +the viceroys. But I soon found that they respected no one who had +liberal tendencies. + +"One day there was a proclamation posted to the effect that all +Christians were to be turned over to them, and that any one found +concealing a Christian would themselves be put to death. My grandmother +came to my apartments and wanted me to send my slave girl to the +Boxers. We talked about it for some time but I steadfastly refused. +When the Boxers had procured all they could by that method they +announced that they were about to make a house-to-house search, and any +household harbouring Christians would be annihilated." + +"But how would they know that your slave was a Christian?" I inquired. + +"Have you not heard," she asked, "that the Boxers claimed that after +going through certain incantations, they could see a cross upon the +forehead of any who had been baptized?" + +"And did you believe they could?" + +"I did then but I do not now. Indeed we all did. My grandmother came to +me and positively forbade me to keep the slave in her home. After she +had gone the girl came and knelt at my feet and begged me to save her! +How could I send her out to death when she had been so kind and +faithful to me? I finally decided upon a plan to save her. I determined +to flee with her to the home of an uncle who lived in a town a hundred +miles or more from Peking, where I hoped the Boxers were less powerful +than they were at the capital. + +"This uncle was the lieutenant-governor of the province and had always +been very fond of me, and I knew if I could reach him I should win his +sympathy and his aid. But how was this to be done? All travellers were +suspected, searched and examined. For two women to be travelling alone, +when the country was in such a state of unrest, could not but bring +upon themselves suspicion, and should we be searched, the cross upon +the forehead would surely be found, and we would be condemned to the +cruel tortures in which the Boxers were said to delight. + +"After much thought and planning the only possible method seemed to be +to flee as beggars. You know women beggars are found upon the roads at +all times and they excite little suspicion. Then in the hot summer it +is not uncommon for them to wrap their head and forehead in a piece of +cloth to protect them from the fierce rays of the sun. In this way I +hoped to conceal the cross from observation in case we came into the +presence of the Boxers. We confided our plans to a couple of the women +servants whom we could trust, and asked them to procure proper outfits +for us. They did so, and oh! what dirty old rags they were. The +servants wept as they took off and folded up my silk garments and clad +me in this beggar's garb." + +"But your skin is so soft and fair, not at all like the skin of a woman +exposed to the sun; and your black, shiny hair is not at all rusty and +dirty like the hair of a beggar woman. I should think these facts would +have caused your detection," I urged. + +"That was easily remedied. We stained our faces, necks, hands and arms, +and we took down our hair and literally rolled it in dust which the +servants brought from the street. Oh! but it was nasty! such an odour! +It was only the saving of the life of that faithful slave that could +have induced me to do it. I had to take off my little slippers and wrap +my feet in dirty rags such as beggars wear. We could take but a little +copper cash with us. To be seen with silver or gold would have at once +brought suspicion upon us, while bank-notes were useless in those days. + +"In the early morning, before any one was astir we were let out of a +back gate. It was the first time I had ever walked on the street. I had +always been accustomed to going in my closed cart with outriders and +servants. I shrank from staring eyes, and thought every glance was +suspicious. My slave was more timid than I and so I must take the +initiative. I had been accustomed to seeing street beggars from behind +the screened windows of my cart ever since I was a child and so I knew +how I ought to act, but at first it was difficult indeed. Soon, +however, we learned to play our part, though it seems now like a +hideous dream. We kept on towards the great gate through which we +passed out of the city on to the highway which led to our destination. + +"The first time we met a Boxer procession my knees knocked together in +my fear of detection but they passed by without giving us a glance. We +met them often after this, and before we finished our journey I learned +to doubt their claim to detect Christians by the sign of the cross. + +"We ate at the roadside booths, slept often in a gateway or by the side +of a wall under the open sky, and after several days' wandering, we +reached the yamen of my uncle. But we dare not enter and reveal our +identity, lest we implicate them, for we found the Boxers strong +everywhere, and even the officials feared their prowess. We hung about +the yamen begging in such a way as not to arouse suspicion, until an +old servant who had been in the family for many years, and whom I knew +well, came upon the street. I followed him begging until we were out of +earshot of others, and then told him in a singsong, whining tone, such +as beggars use, who I was and why I was there, and asked him to let my +uncle know, and said that if they would open the small gate in the +evening we would be near and could enter unobserved. + +"At first he could not believe it was I, for by this time we indeed +looked like veritable beggars, but he was finally convinced and +promised to tell my uncle. After nightfall he opened the gate and led +us in by a back passage to my aunt's apartments where she and my uncle +were waiting for me. They both burst into tears as they beheld my +plight. Two old serving women, who had been many years in the family, +helped us to change our clothes and gave us a bath and food. My feet +had suffered the most. They were swollen and ulcerated and the dirty +rags and dust adhering to the sores had left them in a wretched +condition. It took many baths before we were clean, and weeks before my +feet were healed. + +"We remained with my uncle until the close of the Boxer trouble, and +until my grandfather's return from Hsian where he had gone with the +Empress Dowager and the court, and then I came back to Peking." + +"Your grandmother must have felt ashamed when she heard how hard it had +gone with you," I remarked. + +"We never mentioned the matter when talking together. That was a time +when every one was for himself. Death stared us all in the face." + +"Where is your slave girl now? I should like to see her," I remarked. + +"After the troubles were over I married her to a young man of my +uncle's household. I will send for her and bring her to see you." + +She did so. I found she had forgotten much of what she had learned of +Christianity, but she remembered that there was but one God and that +Jesus Christ was His Son to whom alone she should pray. She also +remembered that as a small child she had been baptized, and that in +school she had been taught that "we should love one another"; this was +about the extent of her Gospel, but it had touched the heart of her +charming little mistress and had saved her life. + +There were sometimes amusing things happened when these Chinese ladies +called. My husband among other things taught astronomy in the +university. He had a small telescope with which he and the students +often examined the planets, and they were especially interested in +Jupiter and his moons. One evening, contrary to her custom, this same +friend was calling after dark, and when the students had finished with +Jupiter and his moons, my husband invited us to view them, as they were +especially clear on that particular evening. + +After she had looked at them for a while, and as my husband was closing +up the telescope, she exclaimed: "That is the kind of an instrument +that some foreigners sent as a present to my grandfather while he was +viceroy, but it was larger than this one." + +"And did he use it?" asked my husband. + +"No, we did not know what it was for. Besides my grandfather was too +busy with the affairs of the government to try to understand it." + +"And where is it now?" asked Mr. Headland, thinking that the viceroy +might be willing to donate it to the college. + +"I do not know," she answered. "The servants thought it was a pump and +tried to pump water with it, but it would not work. It is probably +among the junk in some of the back rooms." + +"I wonder if we could not find it and fix it up," my husband persisted. + +"I am afraid not," she answered. "The last I saw of it, the servants +had taken the glass out of the small end and were using it to look at +insects on the bed." + +One day when one of my friends came to call I said to her: "It is a +long time since I have seen you. Have you been out of the city?" + +"Yes, I have been spending some months with my father-in-law, the +viceroy of the Canton provinces. His wife has died, and I have returned +to Peking to get him a concubine." + +"How old is he?" I inquired. + +"Seventy-two years," she replied. + +"And how will you undertake to secure a concubine for such an old man?" + +"I shall probably buy one." + +A few weeks afterwards she called again having with her a good-looking +young woman of about seventeen, her hair beautifully combed, her face +powdered and painted, and clothed in rich silk and satin garments, whom +she introduced as the young lady procured for her father-in-law. She +explained that she had bought her from a poor country family for three +hundred and fifty ounces of silver. + +"Don't you think it is cruel for parents to sell their daughters in +this way?" I asked. + +"Perhaps," she answered. "But with the money they received for her, +they can buy land enough to furnish them a good support all their life. +She will always have rich food, fine clothing and an easy time, with +nothing to do but enjoy herself, while if she had remained at home she +must have married some poor man who might or might not have treated her +well, and for whom she would have to work like a slave. Now she is +nominally a slave with nothing to do and with every comfort, in +addition to what she has done for her family." + +While we were having tea she asked to see Mr. Headland, as many of the +older of my friends did. I invited him in, and as he entered the +dining-room the young woman stepped out into the hall. + +My friend greeted my husband, and with a mysterious nod of her head in +the direction of the young woman she said: "Chiu shih na ke,--that's +it." + + + +XVI + +The Social Life of the Chinese Woman + +The manners and customs of the Chinese, and their social +characteristics, have employed many pens and many tongues, and will +continue to furnish all inexhaustible field for students of sociology, +of religion, of philosophy, of civilization, for centuries to come. +Such studies, however, scarcely touch the province of the practical, at +least as yet, for one principal reason--that the subject is so vast, +the data are so infinite, as to overwhelm the student rather than +assist him in sound generalizations.--A. R. Colquhoun in "China in +Transformation." + + + +XVI + +THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN + +The home life of a people is too sacred to be touched except by the +hand of friendship. Our doors are closed to strangers, locked to +enemies, and opened only to those of our own race who are in harmony +and sympathy with us. What then shall we say when people of an alien +race come seeking admission? They must bring some social +distinction,--letters of introduction, or an ability to help us in ways +in which we cannot help ourselves. + +In the case of a people as exclusive as the Chinese this is especially +true, so that with the exception of one or two women physicians and the +wife of one of our diplomats no one has ever been admitted in a social +as well as professional way to the women's apartments of the homes of +the better class of the Chinese people. + +A Chinese home is different from our own. It is composed of many +one-story buildings, around open courts, one behind the other, and +sometimes covers several acres of ground. Then it is divided into men's +and women's apartments, the men receiving their friends in theirs and +the women likewise receiving their friends by a side gate in their own +apartments, which are at the rear of the dwelling. A wealthy man +usually, in addition to his wife, has one or more concubines, and each +of these ladies has an apartment of her own for herself and her +children,--though all the children of all the concubines reckon as +belonging to the first wife. + +I have heard Sir Robert Hart tell an amusing incident which occurred in +Peking. He said that the Chinese minister appointed to the court of +Saint James came to call on him before setting out upon his journey. +After conversing for some time he said: + +"I should be glad to see Lady Hart. I believe it is customary in +calling on a foreign gentleman to see his lady, is it not?" + +"It is," said Sir Robert, "and I should be delighted to have you see +her, but Lady Hart was in England with our children, and has not been +here for twenty years." + +"Ah, indeed, then perhaps I might see your second wife." + +"That you might, if I had one. But the customs of our country do not +allow us to have a second wife. Indeed they would imprison us if we +were to have two wives." + +"How singular," said the official with a nod of his head. "You do not +appreciate the advantages of this custom of ours." + +That there are advantages in this custom from the Chinese point of +view, I have no doubt. But from certain things I have heard I fear +there are disadvantages as well. One day the head eunuch from the +palace of one of the leading princes in Peking came to ask my wife, who +was their physician, to go to see some of the women or children who +were ill. It was drawing near to the New Year festival and, of course, +they had their own absorbing topics of conversation in the servants' +courts. I said to him: + +"The Prince has a good many children, has he not?" + +"Twenty-three," he answered. + +"How many concubines has he?" I inquired. + +"Three," he replied, "but he expects to take on two more after the +holidays." + +"Doesn't it cause trouble in a family for a man to have so many women +about? I should think they would be jealous of each other." + +"Ah," said he, with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head, "that +is a topic that is difficult to discuss. Naturally if this woman sees +him taking to that woman, this one is going to eat vinegar." + +They do "eat vinegar," but perhaps as little of it as any people who +live in the way in which they live, for the Chinese have organized +their home life as nearly on a governmental basis as any people in the +world. + +In addition to the wife and concubines, each son when he marries brings +his wife home to a parental court, and all these sisters-in-law, or +daughters-in-law add so much to the complications of living, for each +must have her own retinue of servants. + +Young people in China are all engaged by their parents without their +knowledge or consent. This was very unsatisfactory to the young people +of the old regime, and it is being modified in the new. One day one of +my students in discussing this matter said to me: + +"Our method of getting a wife is very much better than either the old +Chinese method or your foreign method." + +"How is that?" I asked. + +"Well," said he, "according to the old Chinese custom a man could never +see his wife until she was brought to his house. But we can see the +girls in public meetings, we have sisters in the girls' school, they +have brothers in the college, and when we go home during vacation we +can learn all about each other." + +"But how do you consider it better than our method?" I persisted. + +"Why, you see, when you have found the girl you want, you have to go +and get her yourself, while we can send a middleman to do it for us." + +I still argued that by our method we could become better acquainted +with the young lady. + +"Yes," he said, "that is true; but doesn't it make you awfully mad if +you ask a lady to marry you and she refuses?" and it must be confessed +that this was a difficult question to answer without compromising one's +self. + +The rigour of the old regime was apparently modified by giving the +young lady a chance to refuse. About ten days before the marriage, two +ladies are selected by the mother of the young man to carry a peculiar +ornament made of ebony and jade, or jade alone, or red lacquer, to the +home of the prospective bride. This ornament is called the ju yi, which +means "According to my wishes." If the lady receives it into her own +hands it signifies her willingness to become his bride; if she rejects +it, the negotiations are at an end, though I have never heard of a girl +who refused the ju yi.[3] + +Very erroneous ideas of the life and occupations of the Chinese ladies +of the noble and official classes are held by those not conversant with +their home life. The Chinese woman is commonly regarded as little +better than a secluded slave, who whiles away the tedious hours at an +embroidery frame, where with her needle she works those delicate and +intricate pieces of embroidery for which she is famous throughout the +world. In reality, a Chinese lady has little time to give to such work. +Her life is full of the most exacting social duties. Few American +ladies in the whirl of society in Washington or New York have more +social functions to attend or duties to perform. I have often been +present in the evening when the head eunuch brought to the ruling lady +of the home (and the head of the home in China is the woman, not the +man) an ebony tablet on which was written in red ink the list of social +functions the ladies were to attend the following day. + +She would select from the list such as she and her unmarried daughters +could attend,--the daughters always going with their mother and not +with their sisters-in-law,--then she would apportion the other +engagements to her daughters-in-law, who would attend them in her stead. + +The Chinese lady in Peking sleeps upon a brick bed, one half of the +room being built up a foot and a half above the floor, with flues +running through it; and in the winter a fire is built under the bed, so +that, instead of having one hot brick in her bed, she has a hundred. +She rises about eight. She has a large number of women servants, a few +slave girls, and if she belongs to the family of a prince, she has +several eunuchs, these latter to do the heavy work about the household. +Each servant has her own special duties, and resents being asked to +perform those of another. When my lady awakes a servant brings her a +cup of hot tea and a cake made of wheat or rice flour. After eating +this a slave girl presents her with a tiny pipe with a long stem from +which she takes a few whiffs. Two servants then appear with a large +polished brass basin of very hot water, towels, soaps, preparations of +honey to be used on her face and hands while they are still warm and +moist from the bathing. After the bath they remove the things and +disappear, and two other women take their places, with a tray on which +are combs, brushes, hair-pomades, and the framework and accessories +needed for combing her hair. Then begins a long and tedious operation +that may continue for two hours. Finally the hair is ready for the +ornaments, jewels and flowers which are brought by another servant on a +large tray. The mistress selects the ones she wishes, placing them in +her hair with her own hands. + +Some of these flowers are exquisite. The Chinese are expert at making +artificial flowers which are true to nature in every detail. Often +above the flower a beautiful butterfly is poised on a delicate spring, +and looks so natural that it is easy to be deceived into believing it +to be alive. When the jasmine is in bloom beautiful creations are made +of these tiny flowers by means of standards from which protrude fine +wires on which the flowers are strung in the shape of butterflies or +other symbols, and the flowers massed in this way make a very effective +ornament. With the exception of the jasmine the flowers used in the +hair are all artificial, though natural flowers are worn in +season--roses in summer, orchids in late summer, and chrysanthemums in +autumn. + +The prevailing idea with the Chinese ladies is that the foreign woman +does not comb her hair. I have often heard my friends apologizing to +ladies whom they have brought to see me for the first time, and on whom +they wanted me to make a good impression, by saying: + +"You must not mind her hair; she is really so busy she has no time to +comb it. All her time is spent in acts of benevolence." + +At the first audience when the Empress Dowager received the foreign +ladies, she presented each of them with two boxes of combs, one ivory +inlaid with gold, the other ordinary hard wood, and the set was +complete even to the fine comb. One cannot but wonder if Her Majesty +had not heard of the untidy locks of the foreign woman, which she +attributed to a lack of proper combs. + +After the hair has been properly combed and ornamented, cosmetics of +white and carmine are brought for the face and neck. The Manchu lady +uses these in great profusion, her Chinese sister more sparingly. No +Chinese lady, unless a widow or a woman past sixty, is supposed to +appear in the presence of her family without a full coating of powder +and paint. A lady one day complained to me of difficulty in lifting her +eyelids, and consulted me as to the reason. + +"Perhaps," said I, "they are partially paralyzed by the lead in your +cosmetics. Wash off the paint and see if the nerves do not recover +their tone." + +"But," said she, "I would not dare appear in the presence of my husband +or family without paint and powder; it would not be respectable." + +The final touch to the face is the deep carmine spot on the lower lip. + +The robing then begins. And what beautiful robes they are! the softest +silks, over which are worn in summer the most delicate of embroidered +grenadines, or in winter, rich satins lined with costly furs, each +season calling for a certain number and kind. She then decorates +herself with her jewels,--earrings, bracelets, beads, rings, charms, +embroidered bags holding the betel-nut, and the tiny mirror in its +embroidered case with silk tassels. When these are hung on the buttons +of her dress her outfit is complete, and she arises from her couch a +wonderful creation, from her glossy head, with every hair in place, to +the toe of her tiny embroidered slipper. But it has taken the time of a +half-dozen servants for three hours to get these results. + +To one accustomed to the Chinese or Manchu mode of dress, she appears +very beautiful. The rich array of colours, the embroidered gowns, and +the bright head-dress, make a striking picture. Often as the ladies of +a home or palace came out on the veranda to greet me, or bid me adieu, +I have been impressed with their wonderful beauty, to which our own +dull colours, and cloth goods, suffer greatly in comparison, and I +could not blame these good ladies for looking upon our toilets with +more or less disdain. + +It is now after eleven o'clock and her breakfast is ready to be served +in another room. Word that the leading lady of the household is about +to appear is sent to the other apartments. Hurried finishing touches +are given to toilets, for all daughters, daughters-in-law and +grandchildren must be ready to receive her in the outer room when she +appears leaning on the arms of two eunuchs if she is a princess, or on +two stout serving women if a Chinese. + +According to her rank, each one in turn takes a step towards her and +gives a low courtesy in which the left knee touches the floor. Even the +children go through this same formality. All are gaily dressed, with +hair bedecked and faces painted like her own. She inclines her head but +slightly. These are the members of her household over whom she has +sway--her little realm. While her mother-in-law lived she was under the +same rigorous rule. + +In China where there are so many women in the home it is necessary to +have a head--one who without dispute rules with autocratic sway. This +is the mother-in-law. When she dies the first wife takes her place as +head of the family. A concubine may be the favourite of the husband. He +may give her fine apartments to live in, many servants to wait on her, +and every luxury he can afford; but there his power ends. The first +wife is head of the household, is legally mother of all the children +born to any or all of the concubines her husband possesses. The +children all call her mother, and the inferior wives recognize her as +their mistress. She and her daughters, and daughters-in-law, attend +social functions, receive friends, extend hospitality; but the +concubines have no place in this, unless by her permission. When the +time comes for selecting wives for her sons, it is the first wife who +does it, although she may be childless herself. It is to her the brides +of these sons are brought, and to her all deference is due. In rare +cases, where the concubine has had the good fortune to supply the heir +to the throne or to a princely family, she is raised to the position of +empress or princess. But this is seldom done, and is usually remembered +against the woman. She is never received with the same feeling as if +she had been first wife. + +One day I was asked to go to a palace to see a concubine who was ill. +In such cases I always went directly to the Princess, and she took me +to see the sick one. As we entered the room there was a nurse standing +with a child in her arms, and the Princess called my attention to a +blemish on its face. + +"Can it be removed?" she asked. + +I looked at it and, seeing that it would require but a minor operation, +told her it could. + +While attending to the patient, the nurse, fearing that the child would +be hurt, left the room and another entered with another child. + +"Now," said the Princess when we had finished with the patient, "we +will attend to the child." And she called the woman to her. + +"But," said the woman, "this is not the child." + +"There," said the Princess, "you see I do not know my own children." + +But I left our friend receiving the morning salutations of her +household. These over, she dismisses them to their own apartments, +where each mother sits down with her own children to her morning meal, +waited on by her own servants. If there are still unmarried daughters, +they remain with their mother; if none, she eats alone. + +Since Peking is in the same latitude as Philadelphia my lady has the +same kinds of fruit--apples, peaches, pears, apricots, the most +delicious grapes, and persimmons as large as the biggest tomato you +ever saw; indeed, the Chinese call the tomato the western red +persimmon. She has mutton from the Mongolian sheep (the finest I have +ever eaten), beef, pork or lamb; chicken, goose or duck; hare, pheasant +or deer, or fish of whatever kind she may choose. Of course these are +all prepared after the Chinese style, and be it said to the credit of +their cooks that our children are always ready to leave our own table +to partake of Chinese food. + +After her meal she lingers for a few minutes over her cup of tea and +her pipe. In the meantime her cart or sedan chair is prepared. Her +outriders are ready with their horses; the eunuchs, women and slave +girls who are to attend her, don their proper clothing and prepare the +changes of raiment needed for the various functions of the day. One +takes a basin and towels, another powder and rouge-boxes, another the +pipe and embroidered tobacco pouch, not even forgetting the silver +cuspidor, all of which will be needed. When she eats, a servant gives +her a napkin to spread over her gown; after she has finished, another +brings a basin of hot water, from which a towel is wrung with which she +gently wipes her mouth and hands. Another brings her a glass of water, +or she washes out her mouth with tea, and finally with the little +mirror and rouge-box, while she still sits at table, she touches up her +face with powder and she puts the paint upon her lip if it has +disappeared. + +When ready to start, her cart or chair is drawn up as close as possible +to the gate of the women's apartments. A screen of blue silk eighteen +or twenty feet long and six feet high, fastened to two wooden +standards, is held by eunuchs to screen her while she enters the cart. +The chair can be used only by princesses or wives of viceroys or +members of the Grand Council. But whether chair or cart it is lined and +cushioned with scarlet satin in summer, and in winter with fur. It is +an accomplishment to enter a cart gracefully, but years of practice +enable her to do so, and as soon as she is seated in Buddhist fashion, +the curtain is dropped; her attendant seats herself cross-legged in +front; several male servants rush up, seize the shafts of the cart, +place the mule between them, fasten the buckles (it reminds one of the +fire department), the driver takes his place at the lines, two other +male servants take hold of the sides of the mule's bridle, and all is +in readiness to start. Female servants and slave girls crowd into other +carts, outriders mount their mules, and the cavalcade starts with my +lady's cart ahead. + +As they pass along the streets they are remarked upon by all +foot-passengers, and as they near their destination, a courier on +horseback spurs up his steed, makes a wild dash forward, leaps from his +horse, and announces to the gate-keeper that the Princess will soon +arrive. The news is at once taken to the servants of the women's +apartments, where the name is given to a eunuch, who bears it to his +mistress. + +In the meantime the party has arrived. The mule is unhitched, cart +drawn to the gate, screen spread, servant descends from front, and the +Princess with the help of a couple of eunuchs is escorted through a +long covered walk into the court, where the ladies of the household are +waiting on the veranda to receive her. As she enters the gateway the +hostess begins slowly to descend the steps. The others follow, and they +meet in the centre of the court. Low courtesies are made by each and +formal inquiries as to each other's health. There is a short stop and +certain formalities before the guest will ascend the steps ahead of the +hostess. The same occurs again on entering the reception hall, and +taking the seat of honour. The luckless foreigner sometimes makes the +mistake of conceding to her guest's modesty and allows her to take a +lower seat, which is a grievous offense, and she is only pardoned on +the plea that she is an outside barbarian, and does not understand the +rules of polite society. + +After she is seated tea is served, and servants bring in trays of +sweetmeats, fruit, nuts, dried melon seeds, candied fruits and small +cakes. One of these nuts is unique. It is an "English walnut" in which, +after the outer hull is removed, the shell is self-cracked, and folds +back in places so that the kernel appears. While partaking of these +delicacies the object of the visit is announced, which is that her son +is to be married on a certain date. Of course official announcements +will be sent later, but she wishes to ask if her hostess will act as +one of her representatives to carry the ju yi to the young lady's home. + +After the ladies have chatted for a time about the latest official +appointments, some court gossip, the latest fashion in robe +ornamentation, and the newspaper news at home and abroad--for the +Chinese have ten or a dozen newspapers in Peking, among which is the +first woman's daily in the world--the hostess invites her guest to see +her garden. They pass through a gateway into a court in which are great +trees, shrubbery, fish-ponds spanned by marble bridges, covered walks, +beautiful rockeries, wisteria vines laden with long clusters of +blossoms, summer-houses, miniature mountains, and flowers of all +kinds--a dream of beauty and loveliness. After returning to the house +another cup of tea is served, and the guest rises to leave. But before +doing so her servants bring in a bundle of clothing, and there in the +presence of her hostess her outer robes are changed for others of a +more official character. + +Her next call is at the birthday celebration of the mother of one of +the highest officials in the capital. I was present when she arrived. +Instead of entering by the front gate, she went by a private entrance +directly to the apartments of her hostess. Many guests (all gentlemen) +were assembled in the front court, which was covered by a mat pavilion +and converted into a theatre. The court was several feet lower than the +adjoining house, the front windows of which were all removed and it was +used for the accommodation of the lady guests. On the walls of the +temporary structure hung red satin and silk banners on which were +pinned ideographs cut out of gold foil or black velvet, expressive of +beautiful sentiments and good wishes for many happy returns of the day. +The Emperor, wishing to do this official honour, has informed him that +on his mother's birthday an imperial present will be sent her which is +a greater compliment than if sent to the official himself. + +It was a gala scene. Fresh guests arrived every minute. The ladies in +their most graceful and dignified courtesies were constantly bending as +other guests were announced, while the gentlemen, with low bows and +each shaking his own hands, received their friends. The clothes of the +men, though of a more sombre hue, were richer in texture than those of +the women. Heavy silks and satins, embroidered with dragons in gold +thread, indicated that this one was a member of the imperial clan, +while others equally rich were worn by the other gentlemen, each +embroidered with the insignia of his rank. Hats adorned with red +tassels, peacock feathers in jade holders, and the button denoting the +rank of the wearer, were worn by all, as it would be a breach of +etiquette to remove the hat in the presence of one's host. + +It would also be bad form for the gentlemen to raise their eyes to +where the ladies were seated; just as the latter, who must look over +the heads of the men to view the theatre, would not be caught allowing +their eyes to dwell upon any one. But no doubt these gentle little +ladies have their own curiosity, and some means of finding out who's +who among that court full of dragon-draped pillars of state; for I have +never failed to receive a ready answer when I inquired as to the name +of some handsome or distinguished-looking guest whose identity I wished +to learn. + +The theatre goes on interminably. Like my lady, they change their +clothes, and the scenery, in full view of the audience. The plays are +mostly historical, the women's parts being taken by men, as women are +not allowed to go on the stage. One daring company, in imitation of the +foreign custom, had a woman take one of the parts; but a special order +from the viceroy put the company out of commission, and the leader in +prison. + +The guests were not expected to sit quietly watching the play, but +moved about greeting each other and chatting at will. Servants brought +tea and sweetmeats and finally a banquet was served. Near the close of +the feast it was announced that the imperial present was coming, and +the members of the household disappeared. The deep boom of the drums +and the honk of the great horns were heard distinctly as they entered +the street, and soon the yellow imperial chair, with its thirty-six +bearers in the royal livery, moved slowly towards us between two rows +of the male members of the household who had gone out and were kneeling +on both sides of the street, knocking their heads as the chair passed +them. The great gates were thrown open and there in the gateway the +female members of the family knelt and kotowed as the chair passed by. + +The presents were taken into a room specially prepared for their +reception. The head imperial eunuch placed them in position, and, with +a low obeisance, departed, the richer by several hundred ounces of +silver. The gentlemen guests were first invited to view these tokens of +imperial favour. In order of their rank they entered, prostrating +themselves before them. Later we ladies were invited into the room, +where the Chinese all kotowed. What now were these wonderful gifts +before which these men and women of rank and noble birth were falling +upon their faces? + +They were two squares of red paper, eighteen inches across, printed in +outline of the imperial dragon, on which the characters for long life +and happiness were written with the imperial pen; and a small yellow +satin box in which sat a little gold Buddha not more than an inch in +height! It was the thought, not the value, which elicited all this +appreciation. + +Shall we go with this busy little princess to another festal occasion? +I was with her again. It was at the home of the sister of one of the +sweetest little princesses in the whole empire. Her baby was a month +old and she was celebrating what they call the full month feast. +Instead, however, of having the usual feasting and theatricals, the +mother, who, for days after her child was born, lay at death's door, +sent out invitations to her friends to come and fast and give thanks to +the gods for sparing her life. + +Though the child was a month old the mother was too wan and weak to +leave her couch. She was dressed, however, in festal robes, and +received her guests with many gracious words and apologies. Of course +only ladies were present. The great covered court was converted into a +large shrine. One could imagine they were looking into the main hall of +a temple, only that everything was so clean and beautiful. From the +centre of the shrine a Goddess of Mercy looked down complacently upon +the array of fruit, nuts, sweetmeats and cakes spread out before her. +Many candles in their tall candlesticks were burning on every side. +Before her was a great bronze incense-burner, from which many sticks of +incense sent out their fragrant odour on the air. As each guest passed +through the court, she took a stick from the pile, lit it, and, with a +word of prayer, added it to the number. + +After the guests had all arrived a princess--sister of the +hostess--accompanied by two of the leading guests, descended into the +paved court and took her place before the altar. Deep-toned bells were +touched by small boys whose shaven heads and priestly robes denoted +that they, like little Samuel, were being brought up within the courts +of the temple. The Princess took a great bunch of incense in her two +hands, one of her attendants lit it with a torch prepared for that +purpose, the flame and smoke ascended amid the deep tones of the bells, +as she prostrated herself before the goddess. She looked like a +beautiful fairy herself as she stood with the flaming bunch of incense +held high above her head. Three times she prostrated herself and nine +times she bent forward, fulfilling all the requirements of the law. + +At the close of this ceremony the ladies were invited to partake of a +feast prepared wholly of vegetables and vegetable oils. It requires +much more skill to prepare such a feast than when meat and animal oils +are used. The food furnished interesting topics for discussion. Most of +it was prepared by various temples, each being celebrated for some +particular dish, which it was asked to provide for the occasion. + +It is not uncommon for a Chinese lady to take upon herself a vow in +which she promises the gods to observe certain days of each month as +fast days, on condition that they restore to health a mother, father, +husband or child. No matter what banquet she attends she need only +mention to her hostess that she has a vow and she is made the chief +guest, helping others but eating nothing herself. After this full month +feast the baby was seen, its presents admired, the last cup of tea +drunk, the farewells said, and we all returned home. + + +[3] The remainder of the chapter is from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + + + +XVII + +The Chinese Ladies--Their Ills + + My home is girdled by a limpid stream, + And there in summer days life's movements pause, + Save where some swallow flits from beam to beam, + And the wild sea-gull near and nearer draws. + + The good wife rules a paper board for chess; + The children beat a fish-hook out of wire; + My ailments call for physic more or less, + What else should this poor frame of mine require? + --"Tu Fu," Translated. + + + +XVII + +THE CHINESE LADIES--THEIR ILLS[4] + +[4] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + +One day a eunuch dashed into the back gate of our compound in Peking, +rode up to the door of the library, dismounted from his horse, and +handed a letter in a red envelope to the house servant who met him on +the steps. + +"What is the matter?" asked the boy. + +"The Princess is ill," replied the servant. + +"What Princess?" further inquired the boy. + +"Our Princess," was the reply. + +"Oh, you are from the palace near the west gate?" + +"Yes," and the boy and the servant continued their conversation until +the former had learned all that the letter contained, whereupon he +brought me the message. + +I opened the letter, written in the Chinese ideographs, and called the +messenger in. + +"Is the Princess very ill?" I inquired. + +"Not very," he answered, "but she has been indisposed for several days." + +"When does she want me to go?" I inquired, for I had long ago learned +that a few inquiries often brought out interesting and valuable +information. + +"At once," he answered; "the cart will be here in a few minutes." + +By the time I had made ready my medical outfit the cart had arrived. It +was very much like a great Saratoga trunk on two wheels. It was without +seat and without springs, but filled with thick cushions, and as I had +learned to sit tailor fashion it was not entirely uncomfortable to ride +in. It had gauze curtains in summer, and was lined with quilted silk or +fur in winter, and was a comfortable conveyance. + +When I reached the palace I was met by the head eunuch, who conducted +me at once to the apartments of the Princess. Her reception room was +handsomely furnished with rich, carved, teak-wood furniture after the +Manchu fashion, with one or two large, comfortable, leather-covered +easy chairs of foreign make. Clocks sat upon the tables and +window-sills, and fine Swiss watches hung on the walls. Beautiful jade +and other rich Chinese ornaments were arranged in a tasteful way about +the room. On the wall hung a picture painted by the Empress Dowager, a +gift to the Prince on his birthday. + +After a moment's waiting the Princess appeared attended by her women +and slave girls. + +"I beg your pardon for not having my hair properly dressed," she said, +as she took my hands in hers, the custom of these Manchu princesses and +even the Empress Dowager herself, in greeting foreign ladies. "I +welcome you back to Peking after your summer vacation." + +When the usual salutations had been passed she told me her trouble and +I gave her the proper medicine, with minute instructions as to how to +take it, which I also repeated to her women. + +"The cause of my illness," she explained, "is over-fatigue. I had to be +present at court on the eighth of the eighth month and I became very +tired from standing all day." + +"But could you not sit down?" I asked. + +"Not in the presence of the Empress Dowager," she replied. + +"Of course, I know you could not sit down in the presence of Her +Majesty, but could you not withdraw and rest a while?" I inquired. + +"Not that day. It was a busy and tiresome day for us all," she replied. + +While we were talking the young Princess, her son's wife, came in and +greeted her mother-in-law in a formal but kindly way, and gave her +hands to me just as the Princess had done. She remained standing all +the time she was in the room, as did four of the secondary princesses +or wives of her husband. They were all beautifully dressed, but they +are beneath the Princess in rank, and so must stand in her presence. If +the Prince's mother had come in, as she often did when I was there, the +Princess would have to stand and wait on her. All Manchu families are +very particular in this respect. + +"You will be interested," said the Princess, "in one phase of our visit +to the palace." Then turning to one of her women she said: "Bring me +those two pairs of shoes." + +"These," she explained, "are like some made by my mother-in-law and +myself as presents for the Empress Dowager. On the eighth of the eighth +month we have a feast, when the ladies of the royal household are +invited into the palace, and our custom is for each of us to present +Her Majesty with a pair of shoes." + +The shoes were daintily embroidered, though not so pretty as some I +have seen the Empress Dowager wear. Some of her shoes are decorated +with beautiful pearls and others are covered with precious stones. + +"The Empress Dowager," continued the Princess, "is very vain of her +small feet; though," she continued, as she put her own foot out, +encased in the daintiest little embroidered slipper of light-blue +satin, "it is not so small as my own." + +It seemed very human to hear this delicate little Princess make a +remark of this kind. Of course, both she and the Empress Dowager have +natural feet. + +It was late in the afternoon, some months after my visit to the +Princess, that a very different call came for my services. + +The boy came in and told me that a man wanted me to go to see his wife, +who lived in the southern city outside the Ha-ta gate. It has always +been my custom never to refuse any one whether they be rich or poor, +and so I told him to call a cart. + +It was in midwinter and a bitter cold night, the room was without fire +and yet there was a child of three or four toddling about upon the kang +or brick bed whose only garment was a long coat. + +"You should put a pair of trousers on that child," I said, "or it will +catch cold and I will soon have to come again." + +"Yes," they said, "we will put trousers on it." + +"You had better do it at once," I insisted. + +"Yes," they continued, "we will see that it is dressed." + +After attending to the woman, and again urging them to dress the child, +I wrapped my warm cloak around me and started home, though I could not +forget the child. + +"It is a cold night," I said to the driver as we started on our way. + +"Yes," he answered, "there will be some uncomfortable people in the +city to-night." + +"In that house we just left," I continued, for I could not banish the +child from my thoughts, "there was a little child playing on the bed +without a shred of trousers on." + +"Quite right," said he; "they pawned the trousers of that child to get +money to pay me for taking you to see the sick woman." + +"To pay you!" said I, with indignation, and yet with admiration for the +character of the people for whom I was giving my services--"to pay you! +Then drive right back and give them their money and tell them to go and +redeem those trousers and put them on the child!" + +"The city gate will be closed before we can reach it if I return," said +he, "and we will not be able to get in to-night." + +"No matter about that," I insisted, "go back and give them the money." + +He turned around with many mutterings, lashed up his mule at the top of +his speed, gave them the money, and then started on a gallop for the +city gate. It was a rough ride in that springless cart over the rutty +roads. But my house seemed warmer that night and my bed seemed softer +after I had paid the carter myself. + +Among my friends and patients none are more interesting than the Misses +Hsu. They are very intelligent, and after I had become well acquainted +with them I said to them one day: + +"How is it that you have done such wide reading?" + +"You know, of course," they said, "that our father is a chuang yuan." + +I asked them the meaning of a chuang yuan. Then I learned that under +the Chinese system a great many students enter the examinations, and +those who secure their degree are called hsiu tsai; a year or two later +these are examined again, and those who pass are given the degree of +chu jen; once more these latter are examined and the successful +candidates are called chin shih, and are then ready for official +position. They continue to study, however, and are allowed to go into +the palace, where they are examined in the presence of the Emperor, and +those who pass are called han lin, or forest of pencils. Once in three +years these han lins are examined and one is allowed to obtain a +degree--he is a chuang yuan. + +Out of four hundred million people but one is allowed this degree once +in three years. + +"Your father must be a very great scholar," I remarked. + +"He has always been a diligent student," they answered, modestly. + +"What is his given name?" I inquired, one day. + +"If you will give me a pencil I will write it for you; we never speak +the given name of our father in China," said the eldest, and she wrote +it down. + +"How many sisters are there in your family--eight, are there not?" + +"Yes. You know, of course, that number five was engaged when a child of +six to the son of Li Hung-chang." + +"No, I was not aware of the fact; and were they married?" + +"No, they were never married. The young man died before they were old +enough to wed. When word of his death was brought to her, child that +she was, she went to our mother and told her she must never engage her +to any one else, as she meant to live and die the widow of this boy." + +"And did she go to Li Hung-chang's home?" + +"No, the old Viceroy wanted to take her to his home, build a suite of +rooms for her, and treat her as his daughter-in-law, but our parents +objected because she was so young. The Viceroy loved her very much, and +his eyes often filled with tears as he spoke of her and the son who had +passed away. When the Viceroy died she wanted to go and kotow at his +funeral, and all his family except the eldest son were anxious to have +her do so, and thus be recognized as one of the family. But this son +objected, and though Lady Li knocked her head on the coffin until it +bled he would not yield, lest she might want her portion." + +"And what has become of your sister? How is it that I have never seen +her?" + +"She withdrew to a small court, where she has lived with none but her +women servants, not even seeing our father or brothers, and not +allowing a male servant to go near her. And she will not permit the +word Li to be spoken in her presence." + +"And what does she do?" I asked. "How does she employ herself?" + +"Studying, reading, painting, and embroidery. When young Li refused to +allow her to attend his father's funeral her sense of self-respect was +outraged and she cut off her hair and threatened to commit suicide. She +often fasts for a week, and has tried on several occasions to take her +own life." + +I asked them if they did not fear that she might succeed finally in +this attempt to kill herself. + +"Yes, we have constant apprehensions. But then, what if she did? It +would only emphasize her virtue." + +It was some months after the young ladies told me what I have just +related that they called, for they had taken up the study of English +and I had agreed to help them a bit. + +"How is your sister?" I inquired, for the sad fate of this young girl +weighed like a burden on my heart. + +"She fasted more than usual during the early summer, but she bathed +daily and changed her clothes, dressing herself in her most beautiful +garments. She had not been sleeping well for some time, and one day she +ordered her women to leave her and not return until they were called. +They remained away until a married sister and a sister-in-law-a niece +of Li Hung-chang--called and wanted to see her. We went to her room but +found it locked. We knocked but received no answer. We finally punched +a hole through the paper window and saw her sitting on her brick bed, +her head bolstered up with cushions and her eyes closed. We supposed +she was sleeping, but on forcing open the door we found that she had +gone to join her boy husband, though her colour and appearance was that +of a living person." + +"And are you sure she had not swooned?" + +"She remained in this condition for twenty-two hours without pulse or +heart beat, and so we put her in her casket." + +I could not but feel sad that I had not been in the city, and had had +an opportunity to help them to ascertain whether her life had really +gone out. But the girls seemed proud of the distinction of having had a +sister of such consummate virtue. Numerous embroidered scrolls and +laudatory inscriptions were sent her from friends of the Li family as +well as of their own, and it is expected that the throne will order a +memorial arch erected to her memory. + +On another occasion I was requested to go to the palace of one of the +princes. The fourth Princess, a beautiful little child of five, was ill +with diphtheria, and the first greeting of the mother as I went in was +that she "was homesick to see me." The child had been ill for several +days before they sent for me, and I told them at once that the case was +dangerous. I wanted to do all I could for them and at the same time +protect my own children from the danger of infection. After the first +treatment with antitoxin she seemed to rally, her throat cleared up, +but I soon found that the poison had pervaded her entire system, and so +I stayed with her day and night. + +I found that the child had contracted the disease from another about +her own age, who was both her playmate and her slave. It is the custom +among the wealthy to purchase for each daughter a companion who plays +with her as a child, becomes a companion in youth and her maid when she +marries. These slaves are usually treated well, and when this one +became ill the members of the family visited her often, taking her such +dainties as might tempt her appetite. As a result I had to administer +antitoxin to eight of the younger members of the household, so careless +had they been about the spread of this disease; indeed I have found +that the isolation of patients suffering from contagious diseases is +wholly unknown in China. + +One of the most attractive of all my Chinese lady friends and patients +is the niece of the great Viceroy, Li Hung-chang, the daughter of his +brother, Li Han-chang, who is himself a viceroy. I have been her +physician for eighteen years or more and hence have become intimately +acquainted with her. She has visited me very often in my home and, of +all the women I have ever known, of any race or people, I have never +met one whom I thought more cultured or refined than she. This may seem +a strange statement, but the quiet dignity that she manifested on all +occasions and her charming manners are not often met with. I have never +felt on entering a drawing-room such an atmosphere of refinement as +seemed to surround her. + +That the Chinese take very kindly to foreign medicine there is no +doubt, though it is sometimes amusing how they go back to their own +native methods. + +One day my husband brought home a physiological chart about the size of +an ordinary man. It was covered with black spots and I asked him the +reason for them. + +"That is what I asked the dealer from whom I bought it," he replied, +"and he told me that those spots indicate where the needle can be +inserted in treatment by acupuncture without killing the patient." + +When a Chinese is ill the doctor generally concludes that the only way +to cure him is to stick a long needle into him and let out the pain or +set up counter irritation. If the patient dies it is evident he stuck +the needle into the wrong spot. And this chart has been made up from +millions of experiments during the past two or three thousand years +from patients who have died or recovered. + +This was practically illustrated by a woman who was brought to the +hospital. Having had pain in the knee she sent for a Chinese physician +who concluded that the only method of relieving her was by acupuncture. +He therefore inserted a needle which unfortunately pierced the synovial +sac causing inflammation which finally resulted in complete destruction +of the joint. Such cases are not infrequent both among adults and +children in all grades of society, due to this method of treatment. + +One day I was called to see a lady who was in immediate need of +surgical treatment. She had three sons who were in high official +positions in the palace, and if their mother died they would have to +withdraw from official life and go into mourning for three years. When +men are thus compelled to resign the new incumbent is not inclined to +restore the office when the period of mourning is over. They were +therefore doubly anxious to have their mother recover. They had tried +all kinds of Chinese physicians and finally sent for me. + +I explained the nature of the operation necessary, and gave them every +reason to hope for a speedy recovery, while without surgical treatment +she must surely die. They consented and the operation was successful. +She recovered rapidly for a few days until I regarded her as +practically out of danger. But one day when I called I found her bathed +in perspiration, shaking with fear, weeping and depressed. Her wound +was in an excellent condition and I could find no reason for her +despondency. I cheered her up, laughed and talked with her, gave her +such articles of diet as she craved, and left her happy. The next day I +again found her in the same nervous condition. + +"Something is wrong with your mother of which you have not told me," I +said to her son. + +"Before we sent for you," he said, "we had called a spirit doctor, who +went into a sort of trance, claimed to have descended into the spirit +world where he saw them making a coffin which he said my mother would +occupy before the fifteenth of the month. It is because that time is +approaching that she is filled with fear." + +I talked with the lady, showed her how her wound was healing, +encouraged her to rest easy until the fifteenth, when I would spend the +day with her, after which she immediately began gaining strength and +soon recovered. + +At another time I was called to see the wife of the president of the +Board of Punishments. I found an operation necessary. The next day I +found the patient delirious with a fever, and asked the husband if my +directions had been followed. + +"I assure you they have," he answered. "But the cause of the fever is +this: Last evening while the servants were taking their meal she was +left alone for a short time. While they were absent, her sister who +lived on this street, a short distance from here, committed suicide. +When the servant discovered it she ran directly to my wife's room, and +told her of the tragedy. My wife began to tremble, had a severe chill, +and soon became delirious. I suspect that her sister's spirit +accompanied the servant and entered my wife." + +In spite of this explanation I cleaned and dressed the wound and left +her more comfortable. The next morning she was somewhat better, without +fever and in her right mind. + +"What kind of a night did she have?" I asked her husband. + +"Oh, very good," he answered. "I managed to get the spirit out of her." + +"How did you do it?" I inquired. + +"Soon after you left yesterday, I dressed myself in my official +garments, came into my wife's apartments, and asked the spirit if it +would not like to go with me to the yamen, adding that we would have +some interesting cases to settle. I felt a strange sensation come over +me and I knew the spirit had entered me. I got into my cart, drove down +to the home of my sister-in-law, went in where the corpse lay, and told +the spirit that it would be a disgrace to have a woman at the Board of +Punishments. 'This is your place,' I said, in an angry voice; 'get out +of me and stay where you belong.' I felt the spirit leaving me, my +fingers became stiff and I felt faint. I had only been at the Board a +short time when they sent a servant to tell me that my wife was quiet +and sleeping. When I returned in the evening the fever was gone and she +was rational." + + + +XVIII + +The Funeral Ceremonies of a Dowager Princess + +There are five degrees of mourning, as follows:--For parents, +grandparents and great-grandparents; for brothers and sisters; for +uncles and aunts; and for distant relatives. In the first sackcloth +without hem or border; in the second with hem or border; in the third, +fourth and fifth, pieces of sackcloth on parts of the dress. When +sackcloth is worn, after the third interval of seven days is over the +mourners can cast it off, and wear plain colours, such as white, gray, +black and blue. For a parent the period is nominally three years, but +really twenty-seven months, during all which time no silk can be worn; +during this time officials have to resign their appointments, and +retire from public life.--Dyer Ball in "Things Chinese." + + + +XVIII + +THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS[5] + +[5] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + + +One day I received a large sheet of white paper on which was written in +Chinese characters the announcement of the death of the Dowager +Princess Su, and inviting me to the "third-day exercises." The real +meaning of this "chieh san" I did not comprehend, but I knew that those +who were invited sent presents of cakes or fruit, or baskets of paper +flowers, incense, gold and silver ingots made of paper, or rolls of +paper silk, all of which were intended for the use of the spirit of the +departed. The paper presents were all burned on the evening of the +third day, while the spirit feasted upon the flavour of the fruit and +cakes. + +As I did not feel that it was appropriate for me to send these things, +I had a beautiful wreath of white chrysanthemum flowers made, and sent +that instead. While I appreciated the invitation, I thought it was +probably given only as a matter of form, and that I was not expected to +attend the exercises, and so I sent my Chinese maid with the wreath, +saying that as I did not understand their customs I would not go. + +It was not long until the maid returned saying that they were anxious +to have me come, that under no circumstances must I refuse, as they +wished me to see their funeral ceremonies. The Princess sent her cart +for me, and according to the Chinese custom, I took my maid seated upon +the front, and set out for Prince Su's palace. As we neared our +destination we passed numerous carts and chairs of princes who had been +at the palace to pay their respects. The street leading off the great +thoroughfare was filled with carts, chairs, servants and outriders, but +the utmost order prevailed. There were scores of soldiers and special +police, the latter dressed in long garments of gray with a short jacket +of white on the breast of which was his number in black. These gray and +white uniforms were mourning colours, and were given by the Prince. + +As we entered the gate we saw white-robed servants everywhere, each +with a sober face and a dignified bearing, waiting to be of use. My +name was announced and two servants stepped out from the crowd, clothed +from head to feet in white sackcloth, one presenting his arm to help me +through the court, as though I were a bound-footed woman, and the other +led the way. We were taken by a roundabout path, through numerous +courts and passages, the front being reserved for the male guests, and +were finally ushered into a room filled with white-robed women +servants, who with one accord bent their knee in a low courtesy. + +We were there met by the first and third Princesses, daughters of the +Dowager who had just passed away. They were dressed in white, their +hair being put up in the Manchu fashion. Instead of the jewels and +bright flowers, however, it was crossed and recrossed with bands of +white folded sackcloth. As these two ladies were married daughters, and +had left this home, their sackcloth was not so coarse as that of the +daughters-in-law and granddaughters who dwelt in the palace. It was +they who received the guests and conducted them into the room where the +mourners were kneeling. + +As the white door screen was raised I saw two rows of white-robed +figures kneeling on the floor, and as I entered they all bent forward +and touched their head to the ground, giving forth as they did it a +low, wailing chant. + +Not knowing their customs I went up and stooped over, speaking first to +the Princess and then to the ladies as best I could. I afterwards +watched the other lady visitors and saw that they put their right hand +up near their head as our soldiers salute, and courtesied to the +Princess, her daughter-in-law and her eldest daughter. They then went +over to a little table on which was a silver sacrificial set, +consisting of a wine tankard, a great bowl, and a number of tiny cups +holding but two tablespoonfuls. They took the cup in its little saucer, +and, facing the beautiful canopied catafalque where the Dowager +Princess was lying in state, they raised the cup as high as their head +three times, emptying and refilling it each time. The mourners +prostrated themselves and gave forth a mournful wail each time the cup +was poured, after which the visitor arose and came over to where we +were, and the ceremony was over. + +The third daughter of the late Dowager seemed to regard me as her +special friend and guest, and insisted on my coming over to a white +curtain that separated us from the view of the gentlemen, and from +there I watched the proceedings of princes and officials who went +through a similar ceremony. There was this difference with them, +however, as they entered through the great canopied court, they were +conducted by white-robed servants directly to the altar, and there +kneeling, they made their obeisance to the spirit of the departed, +after which they went into the room where the Prince and the other male +descendants of the dead Dowager were kneeling and prostrating +themselves. + +There was a heavy yellow curtain over the door that led into the +sacrificial hall, and when the servants from without announced a +visitor, this curtain was drawn aside, and as the guest and a flood of +light entered, the mourners began their wailing which they continued +until he had departed. These visitors remained but a moment, while the +ladies who were there were all near relatives, and were dressed either +entirely or partially in sackcloth. + +The room in which these ladies knelt was draped in white. The cushions +were all covered with white, and all porcelain and other decorations +had been removed. The floor was covered with a heavy rope matting, on +which the ladies knelt--all except the Princess, for whom was prepared +a small dark blue felt cushion. The Princess knelt at the northwest +corner of the room, directly in front of the curtain which separated +them from the sacrificial hall. Several of the very near male relatives +entered and gave the low Manchu courtesy to the Princess, the son's +wife, and the eldest daughter, though none of the other kneeling ladies +were recognized. They left immediately without, so far as I noticed, +raising their eyes. + +The Prince, his sons and the other mourners in the men's room were +clothed in white fur, and the servants too, who stood in the +sacrificial hall, and at intervals along the way towards the hall, wore +white fur coats instead of sackcloth. + +To the left of the Princess there knelt in succession all the secondary +wives of Prince Su, and if I mistake not there were five of these +concubines. Behind the Princess knelt her son's wife--the future +Princess Su, and on her left, the daughters and granddaughters of the +Prince knelt in succession. The Princess and secondary princesses had +bands of sackcloth wound around their heads, though their hair hung +down their backs in two long braids, and as I had never seen these +princesses except when clothed in beautifully embroidered satin +garments, with hair put up in elaborate coiffures, decked with jewels +and flowers, and faces painted and powdered in the proper Manchu +fashion, it was not easy to recognize them in these white-robed, +yellow-faced women, with hair hanging down their backs. + +The grandson's wife and granddaughters, on the other hand, had their +hair combed, but the long hairpin was of silver instead of jade or +gold, and instead of being decorated with jewels and flowers, and a red +cord, it was crossed and recrossed with bands of folded sackcloth an +inch and a half in width. It was neat and very effective--the black +hair and white cloth making a pretty contrast to the Western eye, +though it would probably not be so considered by the Chinese. + +After I had watched them for a few moments I said to the princess who +accompanied me: + +"I must not intrude upon your time longer; you have been very kind to +allow me to witness all these interesting customs." + +"Oh, but you must not go now," she insisted; "you must remain and see +the arrival of the priests, and the burning of the paper houses, goods, +chattels, and images on the great street. I want you to understand all +our customs, and this is the greatest and most interesting day of the +funeral ceremonies." + +I urged that I ought not to intrude myself upon them at this time. + +"No, no," she said, "you must not say that. It is not intrusion; you +must stay and dine with us this evening." + +When I still insisted upon going she said that if I went they would +feel that I did not care for them, and she was so persistent that I +consented to remain if the maid might be sent home to the children, +which they at once arranged for. + +In the interval between the arrival of male guests, the ladies took me +out into a large canopied court to see the decorations, and into the +sacrificial hall. These ceremonies were all conducted in the house and +court which the Dowager Princess had occupied, and where I had often +gone to see her when she wanted to thank me for some medical attention +I had given her children or grandchildren. + +As we passed through the great gate, I noticed that the court was +covered with a mat pavilion making a room about one hundred and fifty +feet square, lighted by great squares of glass near the top, and +decorated with banners of rich brocade silks or satins, of sober +colours, blue, gray or white, on which were texts extolling the virtues +of the late Dowager or her family. These were the gifts of friends, who +had been coming and would continue to come for days if not weeks. + +At the north end as one came in at the gate was a gallery running the +whole length of the northern court, fitted up with special hangings +which separated it into different compartments. Many elegant banners +and decorations gave it a striking effect. This was the place where the +priests, who had not yet arrived, were to say their prayers day and +night until the funeral ceremonies were over. + +Directly in front of the catafalque, in the gallery, there was a table +on which I afterwards saw the priests place a silver vessel which the +head priest carried, and the others regarded with much solemnity. + +From the gateway leading into the sacrificial hall the floor of the +court had been raised even with the door of the house and the gate, a +height of about five feet, and forty feet wide, and was covered with +the same kind of rope matting that was on the floors. On the canopied +verandas there were stacks of cakes, incense, fruit and money. These +were the most novel sights I have ever seen in China. They were ten or +twelve feet high. They were a very pretty sight, and it required some +scrutiny to discover that they were made of cakes and fruit. How they +were able to build them thus, tier upon tier, and prevent their falling +when they were touched is beyond my comprehension. What magic there is +in it I do not know. + +As one entered the door of the sacrificial hall, towering above +everything else, was the great catafalque, draped in cloth of gold, and +in front of it were stacks of these sacrificial cakes. Near them there +was a table on which there were great white, square candles, five +inches or more in diameter, the four sides of which were stamped with +figures of fairies and immortals. On this table there were also various +savoury dishes, together with cakes and fruit, prepared to feed the +spirit of the dead. In front of this table again there was another +about a foot high on which were placed the sacrificial wine vessels, +and before which the guests knelt. As we entered I saw the gentlemen +kneeling to the left, while the ladies, separated from them by white +curtains, were kneeling to the right. + +After we had seen the various customs without, I was taken into the +dining-room, where I sat down with the young Princess and her two +aunts, daughters of the Dowager. They were very kind and polite, and +did all in their power to make me feel at home. We were attended by +white-robed eunuchs, who knelt when they spoke to the Princess. There +was such a lot of them. + +"How many servants do you use ordinarily?" I asked the eldest daughter. + +"About four hundred," she replied. + +I thought of the task of robing four hundred servants in new white +sackcloth, and attending to all the other things that I had seen, in +the forty-eight hours since the death of the Dowager Princess. Even the +bread, instead of being dotted with red as it is ordinarily, was dotted +with black! + +As we were finishing our supper we heard the horns of the priests and +went to see them arrive. Prince Su, and the other male members of the +family, went out to the door to receive them, but we remained within. +They first went to the gallery, then the head priest came down into the +sacrificial hall and made nine prostrations before the catafalque, +without, however, pouring or offering wine. After each third +prostration he stood up and raised his clasped hands to a level with +his eyes. They then began their weird music, standing on the two sides +of the raised platform between the gate and the house, thus allowing a +passageway between them for the guests. + +The Princess told me that they were about to form a procession to go to +the great street. I therefore took my leave in order that I might +precede them and see the procession arrive, and witness the burning of +the presents for the spirit. + +When I arrived on the great street I there beheld a paper cart and +horses which were intended to transport the spirit to the eastern +heaven. There was a sedan chair for her use after her arrival, numerous +servants, money, silk, and a beautiful, big house for her to dwell in, +all made of paper. I had not long to wait for the procession, which was +headed by the priests playing mournful, wailing music on large and +small horns and drums. The priests were followed by the mourners and +their friends. When they arrived at the place of the burning, the +mourners prostrated themselves upon white cushions before the paper +furnishings amid the shrieks of the instruments, the wailing of the +hired mourners, and the petitions of the priests for the spirits to +assist the departed on her way. + +While this was going on, fire was applied to various parts of the paper +pile, and in a moment a great flame sprang up into the air--a flame +that could be seen from miles around, and in less time than it takes to +tell it the whole was a heap of glowing ashes, the mourners had +departed, and the little street children were stirring it up with long +sticks. + +The first three days after death, the spirit is supposed to visit the +different temples, going, as it were, from official court to official +court receiving judgment, and cards of merit or demerit to take with +it, for the deeds done in the body. On the third day it returns to say +farewell to the home, and then leaves for its long journey, and all +this paper furniture is sent on ahead. + +They continue forty-nine days of prayers by the priests, alternating +three days by the Buddhists, three by the Lamas, and three by the +Taoists, after which the Buddhists take their turn again. Everything +else remains much as I have described it. The family, servants, +everybody in mourning, and all business put aside to make way for this +ceremony of mourning, mourning, mourning, when they ought to be +rejoicing, for the poor old Princess had been a paralytic for years and +was far better out of her misery. + +The Princess frequently sent her cart for me during these days. Once +when I was going through the court where there were vast quantities of +things to be burned for the spirit, all made of paper, I noticed some +that were so natural that I was unable to distinguish between them and +the real things. Especially was this true of the furniture and flowers +like that which had been in her apartments. There were great ebony +chairs with fantastically marked marble seats, cabinets, and all the +furniture necessary for her use. Among these things I noticed on the +table a pack of cards and a set of dice, of which she had been very +fond, and a chair like the one in which the eunuchs had carried the +crippled old Princess about the court, and I said to the young Princess +who accompanied me: + +"You do not think your grandmother will require these things in the +spirit world, do you?" + +"Perhaps not," she replied, "but she enjoyed her cards and dice, and +the chair was such a necessity, that, whether she needs them or not, it +is a comfort to us to get and send her everything she liked while she +lived, and it helps us bear our sorrows." + + + +XIX + +Chinese Princes and Officials + +In any estimate of the forces which lead and control public opinion in +China, everywhere from the knot of peasants in the hamlet to the +highest officers of state and the Emperor himself, the literati, or +educated class, must be given a prominent position. They form an +immense body, increased each year by the government examinations. They +are at the head of the social order. Every civil officer in the empire +must be chosen from their number. They constitute the basis of an +elaborate system of civil service, well equipped with checks and +balances which, if corrected and brought into touch with modern life +and thought, would easily command the admiration of the world.--Chester +Holcomb in "The Real Chinese Question." + + +XIX + +CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS + +One day while the head eunuch from the palace of one of the leading +princes in Peking was sitting in my study he said: + +"It is drawing near to the New Year. Do you celebrate the New Year in +your honourable country?" + +"Yes," I replied, "though not quite the same as you do here." + +"Do you fire off crackers?" + +"Yes, in the matter of firecrackers, we celebrate very much the same as +you do." + +"And do you settle up all your debts as we do here?" + +"I am afraid we do not. That is not a part of our New Year celebration." + +"Our Prince is going to take on two more concubines this New Year," he +volunteered. + +"Ah, indeed, I thought he had three concubines already." + +"So he does, but he is entitled to five." + +"I should think it would make trouble in a family for one man to have +so many women," I ventured. + +He waved his hand in that peculiar way the Chinese have of saying, +don't mention it, as he answered: + +"That is a difficult matter to discuss. Naturally if this woman sees +the Prince talking to that one, this one is going to eat vinegar," +which gives us a glimpse of some of the domestic difficulties in +Chinese high life. However it is a fact worth remembering that the +Manchu prince does not receive his full stipend from the government +until he has five concubines, each of whom is the mother of a son. + +The leading princes of the new regime are Ching, Su, and Pu-lun. Prince +Ching has been the leader of the Manchus ever since the downfall of +Prince Kung. He has held almost every office it was in the power of the +Empress Dowager to give, "though disliked by the Emperor." He was made +president of the Tsung-li Yamen in 1884, and from that time until the +present has never been degraded, or in any way lost the imperial +favour. He is small in stature, has none of the elements of the great +man that characterized Li Hung-chang and Chang Chih-tung, or Prince +Kung, but he has always been characterized by that diplomacy which has +kept him one of the most useful officials in close connection with the +Empress Dowager. It is to his credit moreover that the legations were +preserved from the Boxers in the siege of 1900. + +Prince Su is the only one of the eight hereditary princes who holds any +office that brings him into intimate contact with the foreigners. +During the Boxer siege he gave his palace for the use of the native +Christians, and at the close was made collector of the customs duties +(octoroi) at the city gates. Never had there been any one in charge of +this post who turned in as large proportion of the total collections as +he. This excited the jealousy of the other officials, and they said to +each other: "If Prince Su is allowed to hold this position for any +length of time there will never be anything in it for any one else." +They therefore sought for a ground of accusation, and they found it, in +the eyes of the conservatives, in the fact that he rode in a foreign +carriage, built himself a house after the foreign style of +architecture, furnished it with foreign furniture, employed an +Englishman to teach his boys, and as we have seen opened a school for +the women and girls of his family. He therefore lost his position, but +it is to the credit of Prince Chun, the new Regent, and his progressive +policy, that Prince Su has been made chief of the naval department, of +which Prince Ching is only an adviser. + +The most important person among either princes or officials that has +been connected with the new regime is Yuan Shih-kai. He was born in the +province of Honan, that province south of the Yellow River which is +almost annually flooded by that great muddy stream which is called +"China's Sorrow." As a boy he was a diligent student of the Chinese +classics and of such foreign books as had been translated into the +Chinese language, but he has never studied a foreign tongue nor visited +a foreign country. Here then rests the first element of his +greatness--that without any knowledge of foreign language, foreign law, +foreign literature, science of government, or the history of progress +and of civilization, he has occupied the highest and most responsible +positions in the gift of the empire, has steered the ship of state on a +straight course between the shoals of conservatism on the one hand and +radical reform on the other until he has brought her near to the +harbour of a safe progressive policy. + +He has always been what the Chinese call the tu-ti or pupil of Li +Hung-chang, and it may be that it was from him he learned his +statecraft. Certain it is that he always basked in the favour of the +great Viceroy, and it may be that he had more or less influence with +him in his earlier appointments, for he rose rapidly and in spite of +all other officials. + +On his return from Korea he was made a judge. He was then put in charge +of the army of the metropolitan province, and with the assistance of +German officers he succeeded in drilling 12,500 troops after the +European fashion. + +It was about this time that the Emperor conceived the plan of +instituting and carrying out one of the most stupendous reforms that +has ever been undertaken in human government--that of transforming four +thousand years of conservatism of four hundred millions of people in +the short space of a few months. + +Given: A people who cannot make a nail, to build a railroad. + +Given: A people who dare not plow a deep furrow for fear of disturbing +the spirits of the place, to open gold, silver, iron and coal mines. + +Given: A people who in 4,000 years did not have the genius to develop a +decent high school, to open a university in the capital of every +province. + +These are three of the score or more of equally difficult problems that +the Emperor undertook to solve in twice as many days. In order to the +solution of these problems there was organized in Peking a Reform Party +of hot-headed, radical young scholars not one of whom has ever turned +out to be a statesman. They were brilliant young men, many of them, but +they so lost their heads in their enthusiasm for reform that they +forgot that their government was in the hands of the same old +conservative leaders under whom it had been for forty centuries. + +They introduced into the palace as the private adviser of the Emperor, +Kang Yu-wei, as we have already shown, to whom was thus offered one of +the greatest opportunities that was ever given to a human being--that +of being the leader in this great reform. He was hailed as a young +Confucius, but his popularity was short-lived, for he so lacked all +statesmanship as to allow the young Emperor to issue twenty-seven +edicts, disposing of twenty-seven difficult problems such as I have +given above in about twice that many days, and it is this hot-headed +and unstatesman-like young "Confucius" who now calls Yuan Shih-kai an +opportunist and a traitor because he did not enter into the following +plot. + +After the Emperor had dismissed two conservative vice-presidents of a +Board, two governors of provinces, and a half dozen other useless +conservative leaders, they plotted to overthrow him by appealing to the +ambition of the Empress Dowager and induce her to dethrone him and +again assume the reins of government. They argued that "he was her +adopted son, it was she who had placed him on the throne, and she was +therefore responsible for his mistakes." They complimented her on "the +wisdom which she had manifested, and the statesmanship she had +exhibited" during the thirty years and more of her regency. To all +which she listened with a greedy ear, but still she made no move. + +During this time were the Emperor and his young "Confucius" idle? By no +means. They had hatched a counterplot, and had decided that what they +could not do by moral suasion and statesmanship they would do by force, +and so they sent an order to Yuan Shih-kai, who as we have said had +drilled and was in charge of 12,500 of the best troops in the empire, +urging him to "hasten to the capital at once, place the Empress Dowager +under guard in the Summer Palace so that she may not be allowed to +interfere in the affairs of the government, and protect him in his +reform measures." + +The Emperor knew that nothing could be done without the command of the +army which was largely in the hands of a great conservative friend of +the Empress Dowager (Jung Lu) the father-in-law of the present Regent. +Yuan was in charge of an army corps of 12,500 troops, but for him to +have taken them even at the command of the Emperor, without informing +his superior officer, would have meant the loss of his head at once. +The first thing then for him to do was to take this order to Jung Lu. +Yuan was in favour of reform, though he may not have approved of the +Emperor's methods. Jung Lu hastened to Prince Ching and they two sped +to the Empress Dowager in the Summer Palace where they laid the whole +matter before her. She hurried to Peking, boldly faced and denounced +the Emperor, took from him his seal of state, and confined him a +prisoner in the Winter Palace. Kang Yu-wei, the young "Confucius," +fled, but the Empress Dowager seized his brother and five other +patriotic young reformers, and ordered them beheaded on the public +execution grounds in Peking. + +Naturally the Empress Dowager approved of the "wise and statesmanlike +methods" of Yuan in thus protecting instead of imprisoning her, and +thus placing the reins of government once more in her hands, and she +appointed him Junior Vice-President of the Board of Works, and when she +was compelled to remove the Governor of Shantung who had organized the +Boxer Society, she appointed Yuan Acting Governor in his stead. "Yuan," +says Arthur H. Smith, was "a man of a wholly different stripe" from the +one removed, and "if left to himself he would speedily have +exterminated the whole Boxer brood, but being hampered by 'confidential +instructions' from the palace, he could do little but issue poetical +proclamations, and revile his subordinates for failure to do their +duty." + +When Yuan was made Governor of Shantung a number of the Boxer leaders +called upon him expecting to find in him a sympathizer worthy of his +predecessor. They told him of their great powers and possibilities, and +of how they were proof against the spears, swords and bullets of their +enemies. Yuan listened to them with patience and interest, and invited +them to dine with him and other official friends in the near future. + +During the dinner the Governor directed the conversation towards the +Boxer leaders and their prowess, and led them once more to relate to +all his friends their powers of resistance. He fed them well, and after +the dinner was over he suggested that they give an exhibition of their +wonderful powers to the friends whom he had invited. This they could +not well refuse to do after the braggadocio way in which they had +talked, and so the Governor lined them up, called forth a number of his +best marksmen, and proceeded with the exhibition, and it is unnecessary +to add that if the Empress Dowager had invited Yuan to the meeting with +the princes when they discussed the advisability of joining the Boxers +on account of a belief in their supernatural powers, she might have +been spared the humiliation of 1900. + +We shall soon see that Yuan cared no more for the "confidential +instructions" of the Empress Dowager, when his statesmanship was +involved, than for the orders of the Emperor. His business was to +govern and protect the people of his province, and thanks to his wise +statesmanship and strong character "there was not only no foreigner +killed during the troubled season of anxiety and flight" of 1900, and +"comparatively little of the suffering elsewhere so common." + +And now we come to another plot which indicates the character of Yuan +and two other great viceroys, Chang Chih-tung, now Grand Secretary, and +Liu Kun-yi, Viceroy of the Yangtse-kiang provinces. It is a well-known +fact that during the Boxer rebellion the Empress Dowager was so +influenced by the promises of the Boxers to drive out all the +foreigners that she sent out some very unwise edicts that they should +be massacred in the provinces. Yuan and his two confreres secretly +stipulated that if the foreign men of war would keep away from the +ports of their provinces they would maintain peace and protect the +foreigners no matter what orders came from the throne. So that when +these confidential instructions came from the palace to massacre the +foreigners, in order to gain time they pretended to believe that no +such orders could have come from the throne. They must be forgeries of +the Boxers. They therefore refused to believe them until they had sent +their own special messenger all the way to Peking to get the edict from +the hands of Her Majesty and bring it to them in their provinces. This +messenger was also secretly instructed to find out what the contents of +the edict were, and if it was contrary to the desires of the Governor, +he was to dilly-dally on the way home until the Boxer trouble was ended +or until the foreigners had all been removed from the territory. And it +was such conduct as this on the part of three Chinese and one Manchu +viceroys that saved China from being divided up among the Powers in +1900, a fact which the Empress Dowager was not slow to understand and +reward. + +In 1900 Yuan was made Governor of the Shantung province, and the court +was compelled to flee to Hsian. It was while the court was thus in +hiding that an incident occurred which indicates the fertility of the +Empress Dowager and the elasticity of all Chinese social customs. +Governor Yuan's mother died. In a case of this kind customs dictate, +and the rules of filial affection demand, that a man shall resign all +his official positions and go into mourning for a period of three +years. Yuan therefore sent his resignation to the Empress Dowager, +while "weeping tears of blood." + +The country was of course in desperate straits and could ill afford to +lose, for three years, for a mere sentiment, the services of one of her +greatest and most powerful statesmen. However much he may have +regretted to give up such a brilliant career which was just well begun, +Yuan no doubt expected to do so. What was his surprise therefore to +receive from Her Majesty a message of condolence in which she praised +his mother in the highest terms for having given the world such a +brilliant and able son. Under the circumstances, however, it would be +impossible to accept his resignation as his services to the country +just at this juncture were indispensable. She would, however, appoint a +substitute to go into mourning for him, and this with the knowledge +that she had borne a son whose services were so necessary to the safety +of the government and the country, would be a sufficient comfort to the +spirit of his departed mother, and Yuan was forced to continue in his +official position as Governor of the province without the intermission +of a single day of mourning. Such is the elasticity and adaptability of +the unchanging laws and customs of the Oriental when in the hands of a +master--or a mistress--like Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. + +One can imagine that in proportion as the Empress Dowager was pleased +with the statesmanship manifested by Yuan Shih-kai in unintentionally +reseating her upon the throne, in a like proportion the Emperor would +be dissatisfied with it as being the cause of his dethronement. This +was not, however, against Yuan alone but against the father-in-law of +the present Regent and even Prince Ching as well. During the whole ten +years, from 1898 until his death, while he was a prisoner "his heart +boiled with wrath" against those who had been the cause of his downfall. + +It was not until the Boxer troubles of 1900 were over, and Yuan, by the +masterly way in which he had disregarded the imperial edicts, had +protected and preserved the lives of all the foreigners in his +province, keeping peace the while, that honours began to be heaped upon +him. And this not without reason as we shall proceed to show. + +In 1901 he was made Governor-General of the metropolitan province, and +Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In 1902 he was decorated with the +Yellow Jacket, placed in charge of the affairs of the Northern Railway, +and consulting minister to counsel the government. Wherever he was he +gave as much attention to the city government as to that of the +province or the nation, and in spite of his having no foreign education +himself, he began building up a system of public schools in his +province like which there is nothing else in the whole of China. Let us +remember also that during ail this time there was suspended over his +head, from the palace, a sword of Damocles which was liable to fall at +any time. But we will explain that further on as it is the last act of +the drama. + +When Yuan went to Tientsin as Viceroy of the metropolitan province he +found there Dr. C. D. Tenny, the president of the Tientsin University +which had been begun by Li Hung-chang some ten or a dozen years before. +It had a good course of study and was turning out a large number of +young graduates for whom there ought to be a better future than that of +interpreters in the various business houses of that and other cities. +He therefore called Dr. Tenny to him and inquired particularly about +the system of public school education throughout the United States. + +"What is to prevent our putting into operation such a system throughout +this province?" asked the Viceroy. + +"Nothing," answered Dr. Tenny, "except to be willing to submit to the +conditions." + +"And what are those conditions?" asked His Excellency. + +"They are that you open schools in every important town, place in them +well-educated, competent teachers, whom you are willing to pay a salary +equal to what they may reasonably expect to get if they enter business." + +"May I ask if you would be willing to undertake the development of such +a system?" he asked further. + +"On one condition," answered Dr. Tenny. + +"And what is that?" + +"That you allow me to open a school wherever I think there should be +one, call my teachers from whatsoever source I please to call them, pay +them whatever salary I think they deserve, sending all the bills to +Your Excellency, and you pay them without question." + +The Viceroy had known Dr. Tenny for years, had always had the most +implicit confidence both in his ability and his honesty, and so, +lightening up his duties in the Tientsin and Paotingfu Universities, he +commissioned him to establish what may be termed the first public +school system of education on modern lines in the whole empire. This +one act, if he had done no other, was reason enough for a wise regent +to have continued him in office even though he "had rheumatism of the +leg." But it may be that there are extenuating circumstances in this +act of the Regent as we shall point out later. + +There is one phase of the Boxer uprising that I have never yet seen +properly represented in any book or magazine. We all know how the +ministers of the various European governments with their wives and +children, the customs officials, missionaries, business men, and +tourists who happened to be in Peking at the time, with all the Chinese +Christians, were confined in the British legation and Prince Su's +palace. We know how they barricaded their defense. We know how they +were fired upon day and night for six weeks by the Boxer leaders and +the army of the conservatives under the leadership of their general, +Tung Fu-hsiang. But the thing which we do not know, or at least which +has not been adequately told, is the most interesting secret plot of +the liberal progressives, under the leadership of "Prince Ching and +others," to thwart the Empress Dowager and the Boxer leaders, the +conservatives and their army, and protect the most noted company of +prisoners that have ever been confined in a legation quarter. The plot +was this: + +When Prince Ching and his progressive associates in Peking discovered +that they could not vote down the Boxer princes, they dared not openly +oppose them, but they secretly decided that the representatives of the +Powers must not be massacred else the doom of China was sealed. When +they discovered that Yuan Shih-kai and the other great viceroys had +decided by stratagem to foil the Boxers even though they must set all +the imperial edicts at naught, they decided, for the sake of the +protection of the legations and the preservation of the empire, that +they would do the same. They secretly sent supplies of food to the +besieged, which the latter feared to use lest they be poisoned. But +more than that they kept their own armies in Peking as a guard and as a +final resort in case there was danger of the legation being overcome, +and as a matter of fact there were regular pitched battles between the +troops of Prince Ching and his associates and those of the Boxer +leader, Tung Fu-hsiang. Had the Boxers finally succeeded, Yuan Shih-kai +and Prince Ching and their associates would have lost their heads, but +as the Boxers failed it was they who went to their graves by the short +process of the executioner's knife. + +So Yuan was between two fires. He had disobeyed the commands of the +Emperor in not coming to Peking and had therefore incurred his +displeasure and caused his downfall. He had disobeyed the Empress +Dowager in not putting to death the foreigners in his province, and if +the Boxers were successful he would surely lose his head on that +account. The Boxers, however, were not successful and as his +disobedience had helped to save the empire, Yuan, so long as the +Dowager remained in power, was safe. + +But a day of reckoning must inevitably come. The Empress Dowager was an +old woman, the Emperor was a young man. In all human probabilities she +would be the first to die, while his only hope was in her outliving the +Emperor, who had sworn vengeance on all those who had been instrumental +in his imprisonment. + +I have a friend in Peking who is also a friend of one of the greatest +Chinese officials. This official has gone into the palace daily for a +dozen years past and knows every plot and counterplot that has been +hatched in that nest of seclusion during all that time, though he has +been implicated in none of them. He has held the highest positions in +the gift of the empire without ever once having been degraded. One day +when he was in the palace the Emperor unburdened his heart to him, +thinking that what he said would never reach the ears of his enemies. + +"You have no idea," said the Emperor, "what I suffer here." + +"Indeed?" was the only reply of the official. + +"Yes," continued the Emperor, "I am not allowed to speak to any one +from outside. I am without power, without companions, and even the +eunuchs act as though they are under no obligations to respect me. The +position of the lowest servant in the palace is more desirable than +mine." Then lowering his voice he continued, "But there is a day of +reckoning to come. The Empress Dowager cannot live forever, and if ever +I get my throne again I will see to it that those who put me here will +suffer as I have done." + +It is not unlikely that this conversation of the Emperor reached the +ears of Yuan Shih-kai. Walls have ears in China. Everything has ears, +and every part of nature has a tongue. If so, here was the occasion for +the last plot in the drama of the Emperor's life, and next to the last +in the official life of Yuan Shih-kai. + +The problem is to so manipulate the laws of nature as to prevent the +Emperor outliving the Empress Dowager, and not allow the world to know +that you have been trifling with occult forces. He must die a natural +death, a death which is above suspicion. He must not die one day after +the Empress Dowager as that would create talk. And he ought to die some +time before her. The death fuse is one which often burns very much +longer than we expect--was it not one of the English kings who said "I +fear I am a very long time a-dying, gentlemen"--and sometimes it burns +out sooner than is intended. There were two imperial death fuses +burning at the same time in that Forbidden City of Peking. The Empress +Dowager had "had a stroke." Hers was undoubtedly nature's own work. But +the enemies of Yuan Shih-kai tell us that the Emperor had "had a +Chinese doctor," to whom the great Viceroy paid $33,000 for his +services. We are told that the Empress Dowager in reality died first +and then the Emperor, though the Emperor's death was first announced, +and the next day that of the Dowager. + +What then are we to infer? That the Emperor was poisoned? Let it be so. +That is what the Japanese believed at the time. But who did it? Most +assuredly no one man. One might have employed a Chinese physician for +him, but the last man whose physician the Emperor would have accepted +would have been Yuan Shih-kai's. Had you or I been ill would we have +allowed the man who was the cause of our fall to select our physician? +But granted that Yuan Shih-kai did employ his physician, and that his +death was the result of slow poisoning, could Yuan Shih-kai have so +manipulated Prince Ching, the Regent (who is the late Emperor's +brother), the ladies of the court, and all those thousands of eunuchs, +to remain silent as to the death of the Empress Dowager until he had +completed the slow process on His Majesty? No! If the Emperor was +poisoned--and the world believes he was--there are a number of others +whose skirts are as badly stained as those of the great Viceroy, or +long ere this his body would have been sent home a headless corpse +instead of with "rheumatism of the leg." + +What then is the explanation? It may be this, that the court, and the +officials as a whole, felt that the Emperor was an unsafe person to +resume the throne, and that it were better that one man should perish +than that the whole regime should be upset. They even refused to allow +a foreign physician to go in to see him, saying that of his own free +will he had turned again to the Chinese, all of which indicates that it +was not the plot of any one man. + +Why then should Yuan Shih-kai have been made the scapegoat of the court +and the officials, and branded as a murderer in the face of the whole +world? That may be another plot. The radical reformers, followers of +Kang Yu-wei, have been making such a hubbub about the matter ever since +the death of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager that somebody had to +be punished. They said that Yuan had been a traitor to the cause of +reform, that he had not only betrayed his sovereign in 1898, but that +now he had encompassed his death. + +Now to satisfy these enemies, the Prince Regent may have decided that +the best thing to do was to dismiss Yuan for a time. I think that the +trivial excuse he gives for doing so favours my theory--with +"rheumatism of the leg," to which is added, "Thus our clemency is +manifest"--a sentence which may be severe or may mean nothing, and when +the storm has blown over and the sky is clear again, Yuan may be once +more brought to the front as Li Hung-chang and others have been in the +past. Which is a consummation, I think, devoutly to be wished. + + + +XX + +Peking--The City of the Court + +The position of Peking at the present time is one of peculiar interest, +for all the different forces that are now at work to make or mar China +issue from, or converge towards, the capital. There, on the dragon +throne, beside, or rather above, the powerless and unhappy Emperor, the +father of his people and their god, sits the astute and ever-watchful +lady whose word is law to Emperor, minister and clown alike. There +dwell the heads of the government boards, the leaders of the Manchu +aristocracy, and the great political parties, the drafters of new +constitutions and imperial decrees, and the keen-witted diplomatists +who know so well how to play against European antagonists the great +game of international chess.--R. F. Johnston in "From Peking to +Mandelay." + + + +XX + +PEKING--THE CITY OF THE COURT + +In the place where Peking now stands there has been a city for three +thousand years. Five centuries before Christ it was the capital of a +small state, but was destroyed three centuries later by the builder of +the great wall. It was soon rebuilt, however, and has continued from +that time until the present, with varied fortunes, as the capital of a +state, the chief city of a department, or the dwelling-place of the +court. + +It is the greatest and best preserved walled city in the empire, if not +in the world. The Tartar City is sixteen miles in circumference, +surrounded by a wall sixty feet thick at the bottom, fifty feet thick +at the top and forty feet high, with six feet of balustrade on the +outside, beautifully crenelated and loopholed, and in a good state of +preservation. The streets are sixty feet wide,--or even more in +places,--well macadamized, and lit with electric light. The chief mode +of conveyance is the 'ricksha, though carriages may be hired by the +week, day or hour at various livery stables in proximity to the hotels, +which, by the way, furnish as good accommodation to their guests as the +hotels of other Oriental cities. + +In the centre of the Tartar City is the Imperial City, eight miles in +circumference, encircled by a wall six feet thick and fifteen feet +high, pierced by four gates at the points of the compass; and in the +centre of this again is the Forbidden City, occupying less than half a +square mile, the home of the court. + +Fairs are held, at various temples, fourteen days of every month, +distributed in such a way as to bring them almost on alternate days, +while at certain times there are two fairs on the same day. It is a +mistake to suppose that the Chinese women in the capital are very much +secluded. They may be seen on the streets at almost any time, while the +temple courts and adjacent streets, on fair days, are crowded with +women and girls, dressed in the most gorgeous colours, their hair +decorated with all kinds of artificial flowers, followed by little boys +and girls as gaily dressed as themselves. Here they find all kinds of +toys, curios, and articles of general use, from a top to a broom, from +bits of jade or other precious stones, to a snuff bottle hollowed out +of a solid quartz crystal, or a market basket or a dust-pan made of +reeds. + +Peking being the city of the court, and the headquarters of many of the +greatest officials, is the receptacle of the finest products of the +oldest and greatest non-Christian people the world has ever known. +China easily leads the world in the making of porcelain, the best of +which has always gone to Peking for use in the palace, and so we can +find here the best products of every reign from the time of Kang Hsi, +as well as those of the former dynasties, to that of Kuang Hsu and the +Empress Dowager. The same is true of her brass and bronze +incense-burners and images, her wood and ivory carvings, her beautiful +embroideries, her magnificent tapestries, and her paintings by old +masters of six or eight hundred years ago. Here we can find the finest +Oriental rugs, in a good state of preservation, with the "tone" that +only age can give, made long before the time of Washington. + +There is no better market for fine bits of embroidery, mandarin coats, +and all the better products of needle, silk and floss, of which the +Chinese have been masters for centuries, than the city of the court. +The population consists largely of great officials and their families, +whose cast-off clothing, toned down by the use of years, often without +a blemish or a spot, finds its way into the hands of dealers. The +finest furs,--seal, otter, squirrel, sable and ermine,--are brought +from Siberia, Manchuria and elsewhere, for the officials and the court, +and can be secured for less than half what they would cost in America. +Pearls, of which the Chinese ladies and the court are more fond than of +diamonds, may be found in abundance in all the bazars, which are many, +and judging from the way they are purchased by tourists, are both +cheaper and better than elsewhere. + +The Chinese have little appreciation of diamonds as jewelry. On one +occasion there was offered to me a beautiful ring containing a large +sapphire encircled by twenty diamonds. When I offered the dealer less +than he asked for it, he said: "No, rather than sell it for that price, +I will tear it apart, and sell the diamonds separately for drill-points +to the tinkers who mend dishes. I can make more from it in that way, +only I dislike to spoil the ring." The Empress Dowager during her late +years, and many of the ladies and gentlemen of the more progressive +type, affected, whether genuinely or not, an appreciation of the +diamond as a piece of jewelry, especially in the form of rings, though +coloured stones, polished, but not cut, have always been more popular +with the Chinese. The turquoise, the emerald, the sapphire, the ruby +and the other precious stones with colour have, therefore, always +graced the tables of the bazars in the capital, while the diamond until +very recently was relegated to the point of the tinker's drill. + +There is another method of bringing bits of their ancient handiwork to +the capital which most of those living in Peking, even, know nothing +about. A company, whose headquarters is at an inn, called the Hsing +Lung Tien, sends agents all over the empire, to purchase and bring to +them everything in the nature of a curio, whether porcelain, painting, +embroidery, pottery or even an ancient tile or inkstone, which they +then, at public auction, sell to the dealers. The sale is at noon each +day. The first time I visited it was with a friend from Iowa who was +anxious to get some unique bits of porcelain. The auctioneer does not +"cry" the wares. Neither buyer nor seller says a word. Nobody knows +what anybody else has offered. The goods are passed out of a closed +room from a high window where the crowd can see them, and then each one +wanting them tries to be first in securing the hand of the auctioneer, +which is ensconced in his long sleeve, where, by squeezing his fingers, +they tell him how much they will give for the particular piece. It is +the only real case of "talking in the sleeve" I have ever seen, and +each piece is sold to the first person offering a fair profit on the +money invested, though he might get much more by allowing them to bid +against each other. + +Among the attractive sights in Peking, none are quite so interesting as +the places where His Majesty worships, and of these the most beautiful +in architecture, the grandest in conception, and the one laid out on +the most magnificent scale, is the Temple of Heaven. + +Think of six hundred and forty acres of valuable city property being +set aside for the grounds of a single temple, as compared with the way +our own great churches are crowded into small city lots of scarcely as +many square feet, and over-shadowed by great business blocks costing a +hundred times as much, and we can get some conception of the +magnificence of the scale on which this temple is laid out. A large +part of the grounds is covered with cedars, many of which are not less +than five hundred years old, while other parts are used to pasture a +flock of black cattle from which they select the sacrifice for a burnt +offering. The grounds are not well kept like those of our own parks and +churches, but the original conception of a temple on such a large scale +is worthy of a great people. + +The worship at this temple is the most important of all the religious +observances of the empire, and constitutes a most interesting remnant +of the ancient monotheistic cultus which prevailed in China before the +rationalism of Confucius and the polytheistic superstition of Buddhism +predominated among the people. While the ceremonies of the sacrifices +are very complicated, they are kept with the strictest severity. The +chief of these is at the winter solstice. On December 21st the Emperor +goes in a sedan chair, covered with yellow silk, and carried by +thirty-two men, preceded by a band of musicians, and followed by an +immense retinue of princes and officials on horseback. He first goes to +the tablet-chapel, where he offers incense to Shang Ti, the God above, +and to his ancestors, with three kneelings and nine prostrations. Then +going to the great altar he inspects the offerings, after which he +repairs to the Palace of Abstinence, where he spends the night in +fasting and prayer. The next morning at 5:45 A. M. he dons his +sacrificial robes, proceeds to the open altar, where he kneels and +burns incense, offers a prayer to Shang Ti, and incense to his +ancestors whose shrines and tablets are arranged on the northeast and +northwest portions of the altar. + +There are two altars in the temple, a quarter of a mile apart, the +covered and the open altar, and this latter is one of the grandest +religious conceptions of the human mind. It is a triple circular marble +terrace, 210 feet wide at the base, 150 feet in the middle, and ninety +feet at the top, ascended at the points of the compass by three flights +of nine steps each. A circular stone is in the centre of the top, +around which are nine stones in the first circle, eighteen in the +second, twenty-seven in the third, etc., and eighty-one in the ninth, +or last circle. The Emperor kneels on the circular stone, surrounded by +the circles of stones, then by the circles of the terraces, and finally +by the horizon, and thus seems to himself and his retinue to be in the +centre of the universe, his only walls being the skies, and his only +covering, the shining dome. + +There are no images of any kind connected with the temple or the +worship, the only offerings being a bullock, the various productions of +the soil, and a cylindrical piece of jade about a foot long, formerly +used as a symbol of sovereignty. Twelve bundles of cloth are offered to +Heaven, and only one to each of the emperors, and to the sun and moon. +The bullocks must be two years old, the best of their kind, without +blemish, and while they were formerly killed by the Emperor they are +now slaughtered by an official appointed for that purpose. + +The covered altar is, I think, the most beautiful piece of architecture +in China. It is smaller than the one already described but has erected +upon it a lofty, circular triple-roofed temple ninety-nine feet in +height, roofed with blue tiles, the eaves painted in brilliant colours +and protected from the birds by a wire netting. In the centre, +immediately in front of the altar, is a circular stone, as in the open +altar. The ceiling is covered with gilded dragons in high relief, and +the whole is supported by immense pillars. It was this building that +was struck by lightning in 1890, but it was restored during the ten +years that followed. Being made the camp of the British during the +occupation of 1900, it received some small injuries from curio seekers, +but none of any consequence. The Sikh soldiers who died during this +period were cremated in the furnace connected with the open altar. + +The Chinese have been an agricultural people for thirty centuries or +more, and this characteristic is embodied in the Temple of Agriculture, +which occupies a park of not less than three hundred and twenty acres +of city property opposite the Temple of Heaven. It has four great +altars, with their adjacent halls, to the spirits of Heaven, Earth, the +Year, and the Ancestral Husbandman, Shen Nung, to whom the temple is +dedicated. It was used as the camp of the American soldiers in 1900, +and was well cared for. At one time some of the soldiers upset one of +the urns, and when it was reported to the officer in command, the whole +company was called out and the urn properly replaced, after which the +men were lectured on the matter of injuring any property belonging to +the temple. + +There are several large plots of ground in this enclosure, one of which +the Emperor ploughs, while another is marked "City Magistrate," another +"Prefect," and on these bits of land the "five kinds of grain" are +sown. One cannot view these imperial temples without being impressed +with the potential greatness of a people who do things on such a +magnificent scale. But one, at the same time, also feels that these +temples, and the great Oriental religions which inspire and support +them have failed in a measure to accomplish their design, which ought +to be to educate and develop the people. This they can hardly be said +to have done, especially if we consider their condition in their lack +of all phases of scientific development, for as the sciences stand +to-day they are all the product of the Christian peoples. + +There are three other imperial temples on the same large scale as those +just described. The Temple of the Sun east of the city, that of the +Moon on the west, and that of the Earth on the north, though it must be +confessed that the worship at these has been allowed to lapse. In the +Tartar City there are two others, the Lama Temple and the Confucian +Temple, in the former of which there is a statue of Buddha seventy-five +feet high, and from thirteen to fifteen hundred priests who worship +daily at his shrine. This statue is made of stucco, over a framework, +and not of wood as some have told us, and as the guide will assure us +at the present day. One can ascend to a level with its head by several +flights of stairs, where a lamp is lit when the Emperor visits the +temple. In the east wing of this same building is a prayer-wheel, which +reaches up through several successive stories, and is kept in motion +while the Emperor is present. + +In the east side buildings there are a few interesting, though in some +cases very disgusting idols, such for instance as those illustrating +the creation, but over these draperies have been thrown during recent +years, which make them a trifle more respectable. + +The temple is very imposing. At the entrance there are two large arches +covered with yellow tiles, from which a broad paved court leads to the +front gate, on the two sides of which are the residences of the Lamas +or Mongol priests. At the hour of prayer, which is about nine o'clock, +they may be seen going in crowds, clothed in yellow robes, to the +various halls of worship where they chant their prayers. + +Very different from this is the Confucian Temple only a quarter of a +mile away. Here we find neither priest nor idol--nothing but a small +board tablet to "Confucius, the teacher of ten thousand ages" with +those of his most faithful and worthy disciples. In the court on each +side are rows of buildings--that on the east containing the tablets of +seventy-eight virtuous men; that on the west the tablets of fifty-four +learned men; eighty-six of these were pupils of the Sage, while the +remainder were men who accepted his teachings. No Taoists, however +learned; no Buddhists, however pure; no original thinkers, however +great may have been their following, are allowed a place here. It is a +Temple of Fame for Confucianists alone. + +I have been in this temple when a whole bullock, the skin and entrails +having been removed, was kneeling upon a table facing the tablet of the +Sage, while sheep and pigs were similarly arranged facing the tablets +of his disciples. + +For twenty-four centuries China has had Taoism preached within her +dominions; for twenty-three centuries she has worshipped at the shrine +of Confucius; for eighteen centuries she has had Buddhism, and for +twelve centuries Mohammedanism: and during all this time if we believe +the statements of her own people, she has slept. Does it not therefore +seem significant, that less than a century after the Gospel of Jesus +Christ had been preached to her people, and the Bible circulated freely +throughout her dominions, she opened her court to the world, began to +build railroads, open mines, erect educational institutions, adopt the +telegraph and the telephone, and step into line with the industrial +methods of the most progressive nations of the Western world? + + + +XXI + +The Death of Kuang Hsu and the Empress Dowager + +Who knows whether the Dowager Empress will ever repose in the +magnificent tomb she has built for herself at such a cost, or whether a +new dynasty may not rifle its riches to embellish its own? Tze-Hsi is +growing old! According to nature's immutable law her faculties must +soon fail her; her iron will must bend and her far-seeing eye grow dim, +and after her who will resist the tide of foreign aggression and stem +the torrent of inward revolt?--Lady Susan Townley in "My Chinese Note +Book." + + + +XXI + +THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + +During mid-November of 1908 the Forbidden City of Peking was a blind +stage before which an expectant world sat as an audience. It had not +long to wait, for on the fifteenth and sixteenth it learned that Kuang +Hsu and the Empress Dowager, less than twenty-four hours apart, had +taken "the fairy ride and ascended upon the dragon to be guests on +high." The world looked on in awe. It expected a demonstration if not a +revolution but nothing of the kind happened. But on the other hand one +of the most difficult diplomatic problems of her history was solved in +a quiet and peaceable, if not a statesman-like way, by the aged Dowager +and her officials, and China once more had upon her throne an emperor, +though only a child, about whose succession there was no question. And +all this was done with less commotion than is caused by the election of +a mayor in New York or Chicago, which may or may not be to the credit +of an absolute monarchy over a republican form of government. + +The world has speculated a good deal as to what happened in the +Forbidden City of Peking during the early half of November. Will the +curious world ever know? Whether it will or not remains for the future +to determine. We have, however, the edicts issued to the foreign +legations at Peking and with these at the present we must be content. +From them we learn that it was the Empress Dowager and not Kuang Hsu +who appointed Prince Chun as Regent, and that this appointment was +made--or at least announced--twenty-four hours before the death of the +Emperor. + +On the thirteenth of November the foreign diplomatic representatives +received the following edict from the great Dowager through the regular +channel of the Foreign Office of which Prince Ching was the president: + + +"It is the excellent will of Tze-hsi-kuan-yu-k'ang- +i-chao-yu-chuang-ch'eng-shou-kung-ch'in-hsien-chung-hsi, the great +Empress Dowager that Tsai Feng, Prince of Chun, be appointed Prince +Regent (She Chang-wang)." + + +The above edict was soon followed by another which stated that "Pu I, +the son of Tsai Feng, should be reared in the palace and taught in the +imperial schoolroom," an indication that he was to be the next emperor, +and that Tsai Feng and not Kuang Hsu was to occupy the throne, and all +this by the "excellent will" of the Empress Dowager. + +On the morning of the fourteenth the following edict came from the +Emperor himself: + +"From the beginning of August of last year, our health has been poor. +We formerly ordered the Tartar generals, viceroys, and governors of +every province to recommend physicians of ability. Thereupon the +viceroys of Chihli, the Liang Kiang, Hu Kiang, Kiangsu and Chekiang +recommended and sent forward Chen Ping-chun, Tsao Yuen-wang, Lu +Yung-ping, Chow Ching-tao, Tu Chung-chun, Shih Huan, and Chang +Pang-nien, who came to Peking and treated us. But their prescriptions +have given no relief. Now the negative and positive elements (Yin-Yang) +are both failing. There are ailments both external and internal, and +the breath is stopped up, the stomach rebellious, the back and legs +painful, appetite failing. On moving, the breath fails and there is +coughing and panting. Besides, we have chills and fever, cannot sleep, +and experience a general failure of bodily strength which is hard to +bear. + +"Our heart is very impatient and now the Tartar generals, viceroys, and +governors of every province are ordered to select capable physicians, +regardless of the official rank, and to send them quickly to Peking to +await summons to give medical aid. If any can show beneficial results +he will receive extraordinary rewards, and the Tartar generals, +viceroys, and governors who recommend them will receive special grace. +Let this be published." + +This was followed on the same day by the following edict: + +"Inasmuch as the Emperor Tung Chih had no issue, on the fifth day of +the twelfth moon of that reign (January 12, 1875) an edict was +promulgated to the effect that if the late Emperor Kuang Hsu should +have a son, the said prince should carry on the succession as the heir +of Tung Chih. But now the late Emperor has ascended upon the dragon to +be a guest on high, leaving no son, and there is no course open but to +appoint Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, the Prince Regent, as the successor +to Tung Chih and also as heir to the Emperor Kuang Hsu." + +The next day--the fifteenth--another edict, purporting to come from +little Pu I, but transcribed by Prince Ching, was sent out to the +diplomatic body and to the world. It is as follows: + +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that on the 21st day of +the 10th moon [Nov. 14, 1908] at the yu-ke [5-7 P. M.] the late Emperor +ascended on the dragon to be a guest on high. We have received the +command of Tze-hsi, etc., the Great Empress Dowager to enter on the +succession as Emperor. We lamented to Earth and Heaven. We stretched +out our hands, wailing our insufficiency. Prostrate we reflect on how +the late Emperor occupied the Imperial Throne for thirty-four years, +reverently following the customs of his ancestors, receiving the +gracious instruction of the Empress Dowager, exerting himself to the +utmost, not failing one day to revere Heaven and observe the laws of +his ancestors, devoting himself with diligence to the affairs of +government and loving the people, appointing the virtuous to office, +changing the laws of the land to make the country powerful, considering +new methods of government which arouse the admiration of both Chinese +and foreigners. All who have blood and breath cannot but mourn and be +moved to the extreme point. We weep tears of blood and beat upon our +heart. How can we bear to express our feelings! + +"But we think upon our heavy responsibility and our weakness, and we +must depend upon the great and small civil and military officials of +Peking and the provinces to show public spirit and patriotism, and aid +in the government. The viceroys and governors should harmonize the +people and arrange carefully methods of government to comfort the +spirit of the late Emperor in heaven. This is our earnest expectation." + +On the sixteenth day of November, three days after she had appointed +the regent, and two days after she had appointed Pu I, the diplomatic +representatives received the following from Prince Ching: + +"Your Excellency: + +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that we have reverently +received the following testamentary statement of Her Imperial Majesty +Tze-hsi, etc., the Great Empress Dowager: + +"'Although of scanty merit, I received the command of His Majesty the +Emperor Wen Tsung-hsien (the posthumous title of Hsien Feng) to occupy +a throne prepared for me in the palace. When the Emperor Mu Tsung I +(Tung Chih) as a child succeeded to the throne, violence and confusion +prevailed. It was a critical period of suppression by force. +"Long-hairs" (Tai-ping rebels) and the "twisted turbans" (Nien Fei) +were in rebellion. The Mohammedans and the aborigines had commenced to +make trouble. There were many disturbances along the seacoast. The +people were destitute. Ulcers and sores met the eye on every side. +Cooperating with the Empress Dowager Hsiao Chen-hsien, I supported and +taught the Emperor and toiled day and night. According to the +instructions contained in the testamentary counsels of the Emperor Wen +Tsung-hsien (Hsien Feng) I urged on the officials of Peking and the +provinces and all the military commanders, determining the policy to be +followed, diligently searching the right way of governing, choosing the +upright for official positions, rescuing from calamity and pitying the +people, and so obtained the protection of Heaven, gaining peace and +tranquillity instead of distress and danger. Then the Emperor Mu Tsung +I (Tung Chih) departed this life and the late Emperor succeeded to the +throne. The times became still harder and the people in still greater +straits, sorrow within and calamity without, confusion and noise; I had +no recourse but to give instruction in government once more. + +"'The year before last the preparatory measures for the institution of +constitutional government were published. This year the time limits for +the measures preparatory to constitutional government have been +promulgated. Attending to these myriad affairs the strength of my heart +has been exhausted. Fortunately my constitution was originally strong +and up to the present I have stood the strain. Unexpectedly from the +summer and autumn of this year I have been ill and have not been able +to assist in the multitudinous affairs of government with tranquillity. +Appetite and the power to sleep have gone. This has continued for a +long time until my strength is exhausted and I have not dared to rest +for even a day. On the 21st of this moon [November 14th] came the +sorrow of the death of the late Emperor, and I was unable to control +myself, so that my illness increased till I was unable to rise from my +bed. I look back upon our fifty years of sorrow and trouble. I have +been continually in a state of high tension without a moment's respite. +Now a reform in the method of government has been commenced and there +begins to be a clue to follow. The Emperor now succeeding to the throne +is in his infancy. All depends upon his instruction and guidance. The +Prince Regent and all the officials of Peking and the provinces should +exert themselves to strengthen the foundations of our empire. Let the +Emperor now succeedings to the throne make his country's affairs of +first importance and moderate his sorrow, diligently attending to his +studies so that he may in future illustrate the instruction which he +has received. This is my devout hope. Let the mourning period be for +twenty-seven days only. Let this be proclaimed to the empire that all +may know.'" + +Still one more edict was necessary to complete this remarkable list, +and this was sent to the legations on the 17th of November. It is as +follows: + +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that on the 22d of the +moon [November 15, 1908] I reverently received the following edict: + +"We received in our early childhood the love and care of Tze-hsi, etc., +the Great Empress Dowager. Our gratitude is boundless. We have received +the command to succeed to the throne and we fully expected that the +gentle Empress Dowager would be vigorous and reach a hundred years so +that we might be cherished and made glad and reverently receive her +instructions so that our government might be established and the state +made firm. But her toil by day and night gradually weakened her. +Medicine was constantly administered in the hope that she might +recover. Contrary to our hopes, on the 21st day of the moon [November +14th] at the wei-k'o [1-3 P.M.] she took the fairy ride and ascended to +the far country. We cried out and mourned how frantically! We learn +from her testamentary statement that the period of full mourning is to +be limited to twenty-seven days. We certainly cannot be satisfied with +this. Full mourning must be worn for one hundred days and half mourning +for twenty-seven months, by which our grief may be partly expressed. +The order to restrain grief so that the affairs of the empire may be of +first importance we dare not disregard, as it is her parting command. +We will strive to be temperate so as to comfort the spirit of the late +Empress in Heaven." + +We call attention to the fact that according to the fourth of these +edicts the death of the Emperor is put at from 5 to 7 P. M on the +evening of the 14th of November, while that of the Empress Dowager is +from 1 to 3 P. M. of the same day at least two hours earlier, and that +in her last edict she is made to speak of the death of Kuang Hsu. +Whether these dates have become mixed in crossing to America we have +not been able to ascertain, though we think it more than likely that +her death occurred on November 15th instead of the 14th. + + + +XXII + +The Court and the New Education + +Abolish the eight-legged essay. Let the new learning be the test of +scholarship, but include the classics, history, geography and +government of China in the examinations. The true essay will then come +out. If so desired, the eight-legged essay can be studied at home; but +why trouble the school with them, and at the same time waste time and +strength that can be expended in something more profitable?--Chang +Chih-tung in "China's Only Hope." + + + +XXII + +THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION + +The changes in the attitude of the court towards a new educational +system began, as do many great undertakings, in a very simple way. We +have already shown how the eunuchs secured all kinds of foreign +mechanical toys to entertain the baby Emperor Kuang Hsu; how these were +supplemented in his boyhood by ingenious clocks and watches; how he +became interested in the telegraph, the telephone, steam cars, +steamboats, electric light and steam heat, and how he had them first +brought into the palace and then established throughout the empire: and +how he had the phonograph, graphophone, cinematograph, bicycle, and +indeed all the useful and unique inventions of modern times brought in +for his entertainment. + +He then began the study of English. When in 1894 a New Testament was +sent to the Empress Dowager on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday, +he at once secured from the American Bible Society a copy of the +complete Bible for himself. He began studying the Gospel of Luke. This +gave him a taste for foreign literature and he sent his eunuchs to the +various book depositories and bought every book that had been +translated from the European languages into the Chinese. To these he +bent all his energies and it soon became noised abroad that the Emperor +was studying foreign books and was about to embrace the Christian +faith. This continued from 1894 till 1898, during which time his +example was followed by tens of thousands of young Chinese scholars +throughout the empire, and Chang Chih-tung wrote his epoch-making book +"China's Only Hope" which, being sent to the young Emperor, led him to +enter upon a universal reform, the chief feature of which may be +considered the adoption of a new educational system. + +But now let us notice the animus of Kuang Hsu. He has been praised +without stint for his leaning towards foreign affairs, when in reality +was it not simply an effort on the part of the young man to make China +strong enough to resist the incursions of the European powers? Germany +had taken Kiaochou, Russia had taken Port Arthur, Japan had taken +Formosa, Great Britain had taken Weihaiwei, France had taken +Kuangchouwan, and even Italy was anxious to have a slice of his +territory, while all the English papers in the port cities were talking +of China being divided up amongst the Powers, and it was these things +which led the Emperor to enter upon his work of reform. + +In the summer of 1898 therefore he sent out an edict to the effect +that: "Our scholars are now without solid and practical education; our +artisans are without scientific instructors; when compared with other +countries WE SOON SEE HOW WEAK WE ARE. DOES ANY ONE THINK THAT OUR +TROOPS ARE AS WELL DRILLED OR AS WELL LED AS THOSE OF THE FOREIGN +ARMIES? OR THAT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY STAND AGAINST THEM? Changes must be +made to accord with the necessities of the times.... Keeping in mind +the morals of the sages and wise men, we must make them the basis on +which to build newer and better structures. WE MUST SUBSTITUTE MODERN +ARMS AND WESTERN ORGANIZATION FOR OUR OLD REGIME; WE MUST SELECT OUR +MILITARY OFFICERS ACCORDING TO WESTERN METHODS OF MILITARY EDUCATION; +we must establish elementary and high schools, colleges and +universities, in accordance with those of foreign countries; we must +abolish the Wen-chang (literary essay) and obtain a knowledge of +ancient and modern world-history, a right conception of the present-day +state of affairs, with special reference to the governments and +institutions of the countries of the five great continents; and we must +understand their arts and sciences." + +The effect of this edict was to cause hundreds of thousands of young +aspirants for office to put aside the classics and unite in +establishing reform clubs in many of the provincial capitals, open +ports, and prefectural cities. Book depots were opened for the sale of +the same kind of literature the Emperor had been studying, magazines +and newspapers were issued and circulated in great numbers, lectures +were delivered and libraries established, and students flocked to the +mission schools ready to study anything the course contained, literary, +scientific or religious. Christians and pastors were even invited into +the palace by the eunuchs to dine with and instruct them. But the +matter that gave the deepest concern to the boy in the palace was: "How +can we so strengthen ourselves that we will be able to resist the White +Peril from Europe?" + +Among the important edicts issued in the establishment of the new +education was the one of June 11, 1898, in which he ordered that "a +great central university be established at Peking," the funds for which +were provided by the government. Among other things he said: "Let all +take advantage of the opportunities for the new education thus open to +them, so that in time we may have many who will be competent to help us +in the stupendous task of putting our country on a level with the +strongest of the western powers." It was not wisdom the young man was +after for the sake of wisdom, but he wanted knowledge because knowledge +was power, and at that time it was the particular kind of power that +was necessary to save China from utter destruction. + +On the 26th of the same month he censured the princes and ministers who +were lax in reporting upon this edict, and ordered them to do so at +once, and it was not long until a favourable report was given and, for +the first time in the history of the empire, a great university was +launched by the government, destined, may we not hope, to accomplish +the end the ambitious boy Emperor had in view. + +Kuang Hsu was aware that a single institution was not sufficient to +accomplish that end. On July 10th therefore he ordered that "schools +and colleges be established in all the provincial capitals, +prefectoral, departmental and district cities, and allowed the viceroys +and governors but two months to report upon the number of colleges and +free schools within their provinces," saying that "all must be changed +into practical schools for the teaching of Chinese literature, and +Western learning and become feeders to the Peking Imperial University." +He ordered further that all memorial and other temples that had been +erected by the people but which were not recorded in the list of the +Board of Rites or of Sacrificial Worship, were to be turned into +schools and colleges for the propagation of Western learning, a thought +which was quite in harmony with that advocated by Chang Chih-tung. The +funds for carrying on this work, and the establishment of these +schools, were to be provided for by the China Merchants' Steamship +Company, the Telegraph Company and the Lottery at Canton. + +On August 4th he ordered that numerous preparatory schools be +established in Peking as special feeders to the university; and on the +9th appointed Dr. W. A. P. Martin as Head of the Faculty and approved +the site suggested for the university by Sun Chia-nai, the president. +On the 16th he authorized the establishment of a Bureau for +"translating into Chinese Western works on science, arts and +literature, and textbooks for use in schools and colleges"; and on the +19th he abolished the "Palace examinations for Hanlins as useless, +superficial and obsolete," thus severing the last cord that bound them +to the old regime. + +What, now, was the Empress Dowager doing while Kuang Hsu was issuing +all these reform edicts, which, we are told, were so contrary to all +her reactionary principles? Why did she not stretch forth her hand and +prevent them? She was spending the hot months at the Summer Palace, +fifteen miles away, without offering either advice, objection or +hindrance, and it was not until two delegations of officials and +princes had appeared before her and plead with her to come and take +control of affairs and thus save them from being ousted or beheaded, +and herself from imprisonment, did she consent to come. By thus taking +the throne she virtually placed herself in the hands of the +conservative party, and all his reform measures, except that of the +Peking University and provincial schools, were, for the time, +countermanded, and the Boxers were allowed to test their strength with +the allied Powers. + +Passing over the two bad years of the Empress Dowager, which we have +treated in another chapter, we find her again, after the failure of the +Boxer uprising, and the return of the court to Peking, reissuing the +same style of edicts that had gone out from the pen of Kuang Hsu. On +August 29, 1901, she ordered "the abolition of essays on the Chinese +classics in examinations for literary degrees, and substituted therefor +essays and articles on some phase of modern affairs, Western laws or +political economy. This same procedure is to be followed in examination +of candidates for office." + +And now notice another phase of this same edict. "The old methods of +gaining military degrees by trial of strength with stone weights, +agility with the sword, or marksmanship with the bow on foot or on +horseback, ARE OF NO USE TO MEN IN THE ARMY, WHERE STRATEGY AND +MILITARY SCIENCE ARE THE SINE QUA NON TO OFFICE, and hence they should +be done away with forever." It is, as it was with Kuang Hsu, the +strengthening of the army she has in mind in her first efforts at +reform, that she may be able to back up with war-ships and cannon, if +necessary, her refusal to allow Italy or any other European power to +filch, without reason or excuse, the territory of her ancestors. + +September 12, 1901, she issued another edict commanding that "all the +colleges in the empire should be turned into schools of Western +learning; each provincial capital should have a university like that in +Peking, whilst all the schools in the prefectures and districts are to +be schools or colleges of the second or third class," neither more nor +less than a restatement of the edict of July 10, 1898, as issued by the +deposed Emperor, except that she confined it to the schools without +taking the temples. + +September 17, 1901, she ordered "the viceroys and governors of other +provinces to follow the example of Liu Kun-yi of Liang Kiang, Chang +Chih-tung of Hukuang, and Kuei Chun (Manchu) of Szechuan, in sending +young men of scholastic promise abroad to study any branch of Western +science or art best suited to their tastes, that in time they may +return to China and place the fruits of their knowledge at the service +of the empire." Such were some of the edicts issued by the Emperor and +the Empress Dowager in their efforts to launch this new system of +education which was to transform the old China into a strong and sturdy +youth. What now were the results? + +The Imperial College in Shansi was opened with 300 students all of whom +had already taken the Chinese degree of Bachelor of Arts. It had both +Chinese and foreign departments, and after the students had completed +the first, they were allowed to pass on to the second, which had six +foreign professors who held diplomas from Western colleges or +universities, and a staff of six translators of university textbooks +into Chinese, superintended by a foreigner. In 1901-2 ten provinces, +under the wise leadership of the Empress Dowager, opened colleges for +the support of which they raised not less than $400,000. + +The following are some of the questions given at the triennial +examinations of these two years in six southern provinces: + +1. "As Chinese and Western laws differ, and Western people will not +submit to Chinese punishments, what ought to be done that China, like +other nations, may be mistress in her own country?" + +2. "What are the Western sources of economic prosperity, and as China +is now so poor, what should she do?" + +3. "According to international law has any one a right to interfere +with the internal affairs of any foreign country?" + +4. "State the advantages of constructing railways in Shantung." + +5. "Of what importance is the study of chemistry to the agriculturist?" + +While Yuan Shih-kai was Governor of Shantung he induced Dr. W. M. Hayes +to resign the presidency of the Presbyterian College at Teng Choufu and +accept the presidency of the new government college at Chinanfu the +capital of the province. Dr. Hayes drew up a working plan of grammar +and high schools for Shantung which were to be feeders to this +provincial college. This was approved by the Governor, and embodied in +a memorial to the throne, copies of which the Empress Dowager sent to +the governors and viceroys of all the provinces declaring it to be a +law, and ordering the "viceroys, governors and literary chancellors to +see that it was obeyed." + +Dr. Hayes and Yuan Shih-kai soon split upon a regulation which the +Governor thought it best to introduce, viz., "That the Chinese +professors shall, on the first and fifteenth of each month, conduct +their classes in reverential sacrifice to the Most Holy Confucius, and +to all the former worthies and scholars of the provinces." Dr. Hayes +and his Christian teachers withdrew, and it was not long until those +who professed Christianity were excused from this rite, while the +Christian physicians who taught in the Peking Imperial University were +allowed to dispense with the queue and wear foreign clothes, as being +both more convenient and more sanitary. + +When Governor Yuan was made viceroy of Chihli, he requested Dr. C. D. +Tenny to draw up and put into operation a similar schedule for the +metropolitan province. This was done on a very much enlarged scale, and +at present (1909) "the Chihli province alone has nine thousand schools, +all of which are aiming at Western education; while in the empire as a +whole there are not less than forty thousand schools, colleges and +universities," representing one phase of the educational changes that +have been brought about in China during the last dozen years. + +The changes in the new education among women promise to be even more +sweeping than those among men. Dr. Martin, expressing the sentiments +then in vogue, said, as far back as 1877, "that not one in ten thousand +women could read." In 1893 I began studying the subject, and was led at +once to doubt the statement. The Chinese in an offhand way will agree +with Dr. Martin. But I found that it was a Chinese woman who wrote the +first book that was ever written in any language for the instruction of +girls, and that the Chinese for many years have had "Four Books for +Girls" corresponding to the "Four Books" of the old regime, and that +they were printed in large editions, and have been read by the better +class of people in almost every family. In every company of women that +came to call on my wife from 1894 to 1900, there was at least one if +not more who had read these books, while the Empress Dowager herself +was a brilliant example of what a woman of the old regime could do. +Where the desire for education was so great among women, that as soon +as it became possible to do so, she launched the first woman's daily +newspaper that was published anywhere in the world, with a woman as an +editor, we may be sure that there was more than one in ten thousand +during the old regime that could read. What therefore may we expect in +this new regime where women are ready to sacrifice their lives rather +than that the school which they are undertaking to establish shall be a +failure? + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Court Life in China, by Isaac Taylor Headland + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COURT LIFE IN CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 523.txt or 523.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/523/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller for Sarah with OmniPage Professional +OCR software donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. +Contact Mike Lough <Mikel@caere.com> + +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND'S THREE BOOKS THAT "LINK EAST AND WEST" + +Court Life in China: The Capital Its Officials and People. + +The Chinese Boy and Girl + +Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes + + + +COURT LIFE IN CHINA +THE CAPITAL +ITS OFFICIALS AND PEOPLE + +By ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND Professor in the Peking University + + + + +PREFACE + +Until within the past ten years a study of Chinese court life +would have been an impossibility. The Emperor, the Empress +Dowager, and the court ladies were shut up within the Forbidden +City, away from a world they were anxious to see, and which was +equally anxious to see them. Then the Emperor instituted reform, +the Empress Dowager came out from behind the screen, and the +court entered into social relations with Europeans. + +For twenty years and more Mrs. Headland has been physician to the +family of the Empress Dowager's mother, the Empress' sister, and +many of the princesses and high official ladies in Peking. She +has visited them in a social as well as a professional way, has +taken with her her friends, to whom the princesses have shown +many favours, and they have themselves been constant callers at +our home. It is to my wife, therefore, that I am indebted for +much of the information contained in this book. + +There are many who have thought that the Empress Dowager has been +misrepresented. The world has based its judgment of her character +upon her greatest mistake, her participation in the Boxer +movement, which seems unjust, and has closed its eyes to the +tremendous reforms which only her mind could conceive and her +hand carry out. The great Chinese officials to a man recognized +in her a mistress of every situation; the foreigners who have +come into most intimate contact with her, voice her praise; while +her hostile critics are confined for the most part to those who +have never known her. It was for this reason that a more thorough +study of her life was undertaken. + +It has also been thought that the Emperor has been misunderstood, +being overestimated by some, and underestimated by others, and +this because of his peculiar type of mind and character. That he +was unusual, no one will deny; that he was the originator of many +of China's greatest reform measures, is equally true; but that he +lacked the power to execute what he conceived, and the ability to +select great statesmen to assist him, seems to have been his +chief shortcoming. + +To my wife for her help in the preparation of this volume, and to +my father-in-law, Mr. William Sinclair, M. A., for his +suggestions, I am under many obligations. + + I. T. H. + + + +CONTENTS + +I. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER EARLY LIFE +II. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER YEARS OF TRAINING +III. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A RULER +IV. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REACTIONIST +V. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REFORMER +VI. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS AN ARTIST +VII. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A WOMAN +VIII. KUANG HSU--HIS SELF DEVELOPMENT +IX. KUANG HSU--AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER +X. KUANG HSU--AS A PRISONER +XI. PRINCE CHUN--THE REGENT +XII. THE HOME OF THE COURT--THE FORBIDDEN CITY +XIII. THE LADIES OF THE COURT +XIV. THE PRINCESSES--THEIR SCHOOLS +XV. THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK +XVI. THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN +XVII. THE CHINESE LADIES--THEIR ILLS +XVIII. THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS +XIX. CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS +XX. PEKING--THE CITY OF THE COURT +XXI. THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER +XXII. THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION + + + +I + +The Empress Dowager-Her Early Life + +All the period since 1861 should be rightly recorded as the reign +of Tze Hsi An, a more eventful period than all the two hundred +and forty-four reigns that had preceded her three usurpations. It +began after a conquering army had made terms of peace in her +capital, and with the Tai-ping rebellion in full swing of +success. . . . + +Those few who have looked upon the countenance of the Dowager +describe her as a tall, erect, fine-looking woman of +distinguished and imperious bearing, with pronounced Tartar +features, the eye of an eagle, and the voice of determined +authority and absolute command. --Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore in +"China, The Long-Lived Empire." + + +I + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER EARLY LIFE + +One day when one of the princesses was calling at our home in +Peking, I inquired of her where the Empress Dowager was born. She +gazed at me for a moment with a queer expression wreathing her +features, as she finally said with just the faintest shadow of a +smile: "We never talk about the early history of Her Majesty." I +smiled in return and continued: "I have been told that she was +born in a small house, in a narrow street inside of the east gate +of the Tartar city--the gate blown up by the Japanese when they +entered Peking in 1900." The princess nodded. "I have also heard +that her father's name was Chao, and that he was a small military +official (she nodded again) who was afterwards beheaded for some +neglect of duty." To this the visitor also nodded assent. + +A few days later several well-educated young Chinese ladies, +daughters of one of the most distinguished scholars in Peking, +were calling on my wife, and again I pursued my inquiries. "Do +you know anything about the early life of the Empress Dowager?" I +asked of the eldest. She hesitated a moment, with that same blank +expression I had seen on the face of the princess, and then +answered very deliberately,--"Yes, everybody knows, but nobody +talks about it." And this is, no doubt, the reason why the early +life of the greatest woman of the Mongol race, and, as some who +knew her best think, the most remarkable woman of the nineteenth +century, has ever been shrouded in mystery. Whether the Empress +desired thus to efface all knowledge of her childhood by refusing +to allow it to be talked about, I do not know, but I said to +myself: "What everybody knows, I can know," and I proceeded to +find out. + +I discovered that she was one of a family of several brothers and +sisters and born about 1834; that the financial condition of her +parents was such that when a child she had to help in caring for +the younger children, carrying them on her back, as girls do in +China, and amusing them with such simple toys as are hawked about +the streets or sold in the shops for a cash or two apiece; that +she and her brothers and little sisters amused themselves with +such games as blind man's buff, prisoner's base, kicking marbles +and flying kites in company with the other children of their +neighbourhood. During these early years she was as fond of the +puppet plays, trained mice shows, bear shows, and "Punch and +Judy" as she was in later years of the theatrical performances +with which she entertained her visitors at the palace. She was +compelled to run errands for her mother, going to the shops, as +occasion required, for the daily supply of oils, onions, garlic, +and other vegetables that constituted the larger portion of their +food. I found out also that there is not the slightest foundation +for the story that in her childhood she was sold as a slave and +taken to the south of China. + +The outdoor life she led, the games she played, and the work she +was forced to do in the absence of household servants, gave to +the little girl a well-developed body, a strong constitution and +a fund of experience and information which can be obtained in no +other way. She was one of the great middle class. She knew the +troubles and trials of the poor. She had felt the pangs of +hunger. She could sympathize with the millions of ambitious girls +struggling to be freed from the trammels of ignorance and the +age-old customs of the past--a combat which was the more real +because it must be carried on in silence. And who can say that it +was not the struggles and privations of her own childhood which +led to the wish in her last years that "the girls of my empire +may be educated"? + +When little Miss Chao had reached the age of fourteen or fifteen +she was taken by her parents to an office in the northern part of +the imperial city of Peking where her name, age, personal +appearance, and estimated degree of intelligence and potential +ability were registered, as is done in the case of all the +daughters of the Manchu people. The reason for this singular +proceeding is that when the time comes for the selection of a +wife or a concubine for the Emperor, or the choosing of serving +girls for the palace, those in charge of these matters will know +where they can be obtained. + +This custom is not considered an unalloyed blessing by the Manchu +people, and many of them would gladly avoid registering their +daughters if only they dared. But the rule is compulsory, and +every one belonging to the eight Banners or companies into which +the Manchus are divided must have their daughters registered. +Their aversion to this custom is well illustrated in the +following incident: + +In one of the girls' schools in Peking there was a beautiful +child, the daughter of a Manchu woman whose husband was dead. One +day this widow came to the principal of the school and said: "A +summons has come from the court for the girls of our clan to +appear before the officials that a certain number may be chosen +and sent into the palace as serving girls." "When is she to +appear?" inquired the teacher. "On the sixteenth," answered the +mother. "I suppose you are anxious that she should be one of the +fortunate ones," said the teacher, "though I should be sorry to +lose her from the school." "On the contrary," said the mother, "I +should be distressed if she were chosen, and have come to consult +with you as to whether we might not hire a substitute." The +teacher expressed surprise and asked her why. "When our daughters +are taken into the palace," answered the mother, "they are dead +to us until they are twenty-five, when they are allowed to return +home. If they are incompetent or dull they are often severely +punished. They may contract disease and die, and their death is +not even announced to us; while if they prove themselves +efficient and win the approval of the authorities they are +retained in the palace and we may never see them or hear from +them again." + +At first the teacher was inclined to favour the hiring of a +substitute, but on further consideration concluded that it would +be contrary to the law, and advised that the girl be allowed to +go. The mother, however, was so anxious to prevent her being +chosen that she sent her with uncombed hair, soiled clothes and a +dirty face, that she might appear as unattractive as possible. + +The prospects for a concubine are even less promising than for a +serving maid, as when she once enters the palace she has little +if any hope of ever leaving it. She is neither mistress nor +servant, wife nor slave, she is but one of a hundred buds in a +garden of roses which have little if any prospect of ever +blooming or being plucked for the court bouquet. When, therefore, +the gates of the Forbidden City close behind the young girls who +are taken in as concubines of an emperor they shut out an +attractive, busy, beautiful world, filled with men and women, +boys and girls, homes and children, green fields and rich +harvests, and confine them within the narrow limits of one square +mile of brick-paved earth, surrounded by a wall twenty-five feet +high and thirty feet thick, in which there is but one solitary +man who is neither father, brother, husband nor friend to them, +and whom they may never even see. + +When therefore the time came for the selection of concubines for +the Emperor Hsien Feng, and our little Miss Chao was taken into +the palace, her parents, like many others, had every reason to +consider it a piece of ill-fortune which had visited their home. +The future was veiled from them. The Forbidden City, surrounded +by its great crenelated wall, may have seemed more like a prison +than like a palace. True, they had other children, and she was +"only a girl, but even girls are a small blessing," as they tell +us in their proverbs. She had grown old enough to be useful in +the home, and they no doubt had cherished plans of betrothing her +to the son of some merchant or official who would add wealth or +honour to their family. Neither father nor mother, brother nor +sister, could have conceived of the potential power, honour and +even glory, that were wrapped up in that girl, and that were +finally to come to them as a family, as well as to many of them +as individuals. Their wildest dreams at that time could not have +pictured themselves dukes and princesses, with their daughters as +empresses, duchesses, or ladies-in-waiting in the palace. But +such it proved to be. + + + +II + +The Empress Dowager--Her Years of Training + +The kindness of the Empress is as boundless as the sea. +Her person too is holy, she is like a deity. +With boldness, from seclusion, she ascends the Dragon Throne, +And saves her suffering country from a fate we dare not own. + + --"Yuan Fan," Translated by I. T. C. + + + +II + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER YEARS OF TRAINING + +The year our little Miss Chao entered the palace was a memorable +one in the history of China. The Tai-ping rebellion, which had +begun in the south some three years earlier (1850), had +established its capital at Nanking, on the Yangtse River, and had +sent its "long-haired" rebels north on an expedition of conquest, +the ultimate aim of which was Peking. By the end of the year 1853 +they had arrived within one hundred miles of the capital, +conquering everything before them, and leaving devastation and +destruction in their wake. + +Their success had been extraordinary. Starting in the southwest +with an army of ten thousand men they had eighty thousand when +they arrived before the walls of Nanking. They were an +undisciplined horde, without commissariat, without drilled +military leaders, but with such reckless daring and bravery that +the imperial troops were paralyzed with fear and never dared to +meet them in the open field. Thousands of common thieves and +robbers flocked to their standards with every new conquest, +impelled by no higher motive than that of pillage and gain. +Rumours became rife in every village and hamlet, and as they +neared the capital the wildest tales were told in every nook and +corner of the city, from the palace of the young Emperor in the +Forbidden City to the mat shed of the meanest beggar beneath the +city wall. + +My wife says: "I remember just after going to China, sitting one +evening on a kang, or brick bed, with Yin-ma, an old nurse, our +only light being a wick floating in a dish of oil. Yin-ma was +about the age of the Empress Dowager, but, unlike Her Majesty, +her locks were snow-white. When I entered the dimly lighted room +she was sitting in the midst of a group of women and +girls--patients in the hospital--who listened with bated breath +as she told them of the horrors of the Tai-ping rebellion. + +" 'Why!' said the old nurse, 'all that the rebels had to do on +their way to Peking, was to cut out as many paper soldiers as +they wanted, put them in boxes, and breathe upon them when they +met the imperial troops, and they were transformed into such +fierce warriors that no one was able to withstand them. Then when +the battle was over and they had come off victors they only +needed to breathe upon them again, when they were changed into +paper images and packed in their boxes, requiring neither food +nor clothing. Indeed the spirits of the rebels were everywhere, +and no matter who cut out paper troops they could change them +into real soldiers.' + +" 'But, Yin-ma, you do not believe those superstitions, do you?' + +" 'These are not superstitions, doctor, these are facts, which +everybody believed in those days, and it was not safe for a woman +to be seen with scissors and paper, lest her neighbours report +that she was cutting out troops for the rebels. The country was +filled with all kinds of rumours, and every one had to be very +careful of all their conduct, and of everything they said, lest +they be arrested for sympathizing with the enemy.' + +" 'But, Yin-ma, did you ever see any of these paper images +transformed into soldiers?' + +" 'No, I never did myself, but there was an old woman lived near +our place, who was said to be in sympathy with the rebels. One +night my father saw soldiers going into her house and when he had +followed them he could find nothing but paper images. You may not +have anything of this kind happen in America, but very many +people saw them in those terrible days of pillage and bloodshed +here.' " + +Such stories are common in all parts of China during every period +of rebellion, war, riot or disturbance of any kind. The people go +about with fear on their faces, and horror in their voices, +telling each other in undertones of what some one, somewhere, is +said to have seen or heard. Nor are these superstitions confined +to the common people. Many of the better classes believe them and +are filled with fear. + +As the Tai-ping rebellion broke out when Miss Chao was about +fifteen or sixteen years of age, she would hear these stories for +two or three years before she entered the palace. After she had +been taken into the Forbidden City she would continue to hear +them, brought in by the eunuchs and circulated not only among all +the women of the palace, but among their own associates as well, +and here they would take on a more mysterious and alarming aspect +to these people shut away from the world, as ghost stories become +more terrifying when told in the dim twilight. May this not +account in some measure for the attitude assumed by the Empress +Dowager towards the Boxer superstitions of 1900, and their +pretentions to be able at will to call to their aid legions of +spirit-soldiers, while at the same time they were themselves +invulnerable to the bullets of their enemies? + +It was when Miss Chao was ten years old that the conflict known +as the Opium War was brought to an end. It has been said that +when the Emperor was asked to sanction the importation of opium, +he answered, "I will never legalize a traffic that will be an +injury to my people," but whether this be true or not, it is +admitted by all that the central government was strongly opposed +to the sale and use of the drug within its domains. It is +unfortunate, to say the least, that the first time the Chinese +came into collision with European governments was over a matter +of this kind, and it is to the credit of the Chinese commissioner +when the twenty thousand chests of opium, over which the dispute +arose, were handed over to him, he mixed it with quicklime in +huge vats that it might be utterly destroyed rather than be an +injury to his people. They may have exhibited an ignorance of +international law, they may have manifested an unwise contempt +for the foreigner, but it remains a fact of history that they +were ready to suffer great financial loss rather than get revenue +from the ruin of their subjects, and that England went to war for +the purpose of securing indemnity for the opium destroyed. + +The common name for opium among the Chinese is yang yen--foreign +tobacco, and my wife says: "When calling at the Chinese homes, I +have frequently been offered the opium-pipe, and when I refused +it the ladies expressed surprise, saying that they were under the +impression that all foreigners used it." + +What now were the results of the Opium War as viewed from the +standpoint of the Chinese people, and what impression would it +make upon them as a whole? Great Britain demanded an indemnity of +$21,000,000, the cession to them of Hongkong, an island on the +southern coast, and the opening of five ports to British trade. +China lost her standing as suzerain among the peoples of the +Orient and got her first glimpse of the White Peril from the +West. + +Although the Empress Dowager was but a child of ten at this time +she would receive her first impression of the foreigner, which +was that he was a pirate who had come to carry away their wealth, +to filch from them their land, and to overrun their country. He +became a veritable bugaboo to men, women and children alike, and +this impression was crystallized in the expression yang huei, +"foreign devil," which is the only term among a large proportion +of the Chinese by which the foreigner is known. One day when +walking on the street in Peking I met a woman with a child of two +years in her arms, and as I passed them, the child patted its +mother on the cheek and said in an undertone,--"The foreign +devil's coming," which led the frightened mother to cover its +eyes with her hand that it might not be injured by the sight. + +On one occasion a friend was travelling through the country when +a Chinese gentleman, dressed in silk and wearing an official hat, +called on him at the inn where he was stopping and with a +profound bow addressed him as "Old Mr. Foreign Devil." + +My wife says that: "Not infrequently when I have been called for +the first time to the homes of the better classes I have seen the +children run into the house from the outer court exclaiming, +--'The devil doctor's coming.' Indeed, I have heard the women use +this term in speaking of me to my assistant until I objected, +when they asked with surprise,--'Doesn't she like to be called +foreign devil?' " And so the Empress Dowager's first impression +of the foreigner would be that of a devil. + +Colonel Denby tells us that "A Frenchman and his wife were +carried off from Tonquin by bandits who took refuge in China. The +Chinese government was asked to rescue these prisoners and +restore them to liberty. China sent a brigade of troops, who +pursued the bandits to their den and recovered the prisoners. The +French government thanked the Chinese government for its +assistance, and bestowed the decoration of the Legion of Honour +on the brigade commander, and then shortly afterwards demanded +the payment of an enormous indemnity for the outrage on the +ground that China had delayed to effect the rescue. The Chinese +were aghast, but they paid the money." + +This incident does not stand alone, but is one of a number of +similar experiences which the Chinese government had in her +relation with the powers of Europe, and which have been reported +by such writers as Holcomb, Beresford, Gorst Colquhoun and others +in trying to account for the feelings the Chinese have towards +us, all of which was embodied in the years of training of our +little concubine. + +It should be remembered that many concubines are selected whom +the Emperor never takes the trouble to see. After being taken in, +their temper and disposition are carefully noted, their +faithfulness in the duties assigned them, their diligence in the +performance of their tasks, their kindness to their inferiors, +their treatment of their equals, and their politeness and +obedience to their superiors, and upon all these things, with +many others, as we shall see, their promotion will finally +depend. + +When Miss Chao entered the palace, like most girls of her class +or station in life, she was uneducated. She may have studied the +small "Classic for Girls" in which she learned: + +"You should rise from bed as early in the morning as the sun, +Nor retire at evening's closing till your work is wholly done." + +Or, further, she may have been told, + +When the wheel of life's at fifteen, +Or when twenty years have passed, +As a girl with home and kindred these will surely be your last; +While expert in all employments that compose a woman's life, +You should study as a daughter all the duties of a wife." + +Or she may have read the "Filial Piety Classic for Girls" in +which she learned the importance of the attitude she assumed +towards those who were in authority over her, but certain it is +she was not educated. + +She had, however, what was better than education--a disposition +to learn. And so when she had the good fortune,--or shall we say +misfortune,-- for as we have seen it is variously regarded by +Chinese parents to be taken into the palace, she found there +educated eunuchs who were set aside as teachers of the imperial +harem. She was bright, attractive, and I think I may add without +fear of contradiction, very ambitious, and this in no bad sense. +She devoted herself to her studies with such energy and diligence +as not only to attract the attention of the teacher, but to make +herself a fair scholar, a good penman, and an exceptional +painter, and it was not long until, from among all the +concubines, she had gained the attention and won the +admiration--and shall we say affection--not only of the Empress, +but of the Emperor himself, and she was selected as the first +concubine or kuei fei, and from that time until the death of the +Empress the two women were the staunchest of friends. + +The new favourite had been a healthy and vigorous girl, with +plenty of outdoor life in childhood, and it was not long before +she became the happy mother of Hsien Feng's only son. She was +thenceforward known as the Empress-mother. In a short time she +was raised to the position of wife, and given the title of +Western Empress, as the other was known as the Eastern, from +which time the two women were equal in rank, and, in the eyes of +the world, equal in power. + +The first Empress was a pampered daughter of wealth, neither +vigorous of body nor strong of mind, caring nothing for political +power if only she might have ease and comfort, and there is +nothing that exhibits the Empress Dowager's real greatness more +convincingly than the fact that she was able to live for thirty +years the more fortunate mother of her country's ruler, and, in +power, the mistress of her superior, without arousing the +latter's envy, jealousy, anger, or enmity. Let any woman who +reads this imagine, if she can, herself placed in the position of +either of these ladies without being inclined to despise the less +fortunate, ease-loving Empress if she be the dowager, or hating +the more powerful dowager if she be the Empress. Such a state of +affairs as these two women lived in for more than a quarter of a +century is almost if not entirely unique in history. + +Perhaps the incident which made most impression upon her was one +which happened in 1860 and is recorded in history as the Arrow +War. A few years before a number of Chinese, who owned a boat +called the Arrow, had it registered in Hongkong and hence were +allowed to sail under the British flag. There is no question I +think but that these Chinese were committing acts of piracy, and +as this was one of the causes of disturbance on that southern +coast for centuries past, the viceroy decided to rid the country +of this pest. Nine days after the time for which the boat had +been registered, but while it continued unlawfully to float the +British colours, the viceroy seized the boat, imprisoned all her +crew, and dragged down the British flag. This was an insult which +Great Britain could not or would not brook and so the viceroy was +ordered to release the prisoners, all of whom were Chinese +subjects, on penalty of being blown up in his own yamen if he +refused. + +Frightened at the threat, and remembering the result of the +former war, the viceroy sent the prisoners to the consulate in +chains without proper apologies for his insult to the flag. This +angered the consul and he returned them to the viceroy, who +promptly cut off their heads without so much as the semblance of +a trial, and Britain, anxious, as she was, to have every door of +the Chinese empire opened to foreign trade, found in this another +pretext for war. We do not pretend to argue that this was not the +best thing for China and for the world, but it can only be +considered so from the bitter medicine, and corporal punishment +point of view, neither of which are agreeable to either the +patient or the pupil. + +Britain went to war. The viceroy was taken a prisoner to India, +whence he never returned. As though ashamed to enter upon a +second unprovoked and unjust war alone, she invited France, +Russia, and America to join her. France was quite ready to do so +in the hope of strengthening her position in Indo-China, and with +nothing more than the murder of a missionary in Kuangsi as a +pretext she put a body of troops in the field large enough to +enable her to checkmate England, or humiliate China as the +exigencies of the occasion, and her own interests, might demand. +America and Russia having no cause for war, no wrongs to redress, +and no desire for territory, refused to join her in sending +troops, but gave her such sympathy and support as would enable +her to bring about a more satisfactory arrangement of China's +foreign relations--that is more satisfactory to themselves +regardless of the wishes, though not perhaps the interests, of +China. + +We know how the British and French marched upon Peking in 1860; +how the summer palace was left a heap of ruins as a punishment +for the murder of a company of men under a flag of truce; and how +the Emperor Hsien Feng, with his wife, and the mother of his only +son, our Empress Dowager, were compelled to flee for the first +time before a foreign invader. Their refuge was Jehol, a +fortified town, in a wild and rugged mountain pass, on the +borders of China and Tartary, a hundred miles northeast of +Peking. At this place the Emperor died, whether of disease, +chagrin, or of a broken heart--or of all combined, it is +impossible to say, and the Empress-mother was left AN EXILE AND A +WIDOW, with the capital and the throne for the first time at the +mercy of the Western barbarian. + +This was the beginning of two important phases of the Empress +Dowager's life--her affliction and her power, and her greatness +is exhibited as well by the way in which she bore the one as by +the way in which she wielded the other. In most cases a woman +would have been so overcome by sorrow at the loss of her husband, +as to have forgotten the affairs of state, or to have placed them +for the time in the hands of others. Not so with this great +woman. Prince Kung the brother of Hsien Feng, had been left in +Peking to arrange a treaty with the Europeans, which he succeeded +in doing to the satisfaction of both the Chinese and the +foreigners. + +On the death of the Emperor, a regency was organized by two of +the princes, which did not include Prince Kung, and disregarded +both of the dowagers, and it seemed as though Prince Kung was +doomed. His father-in-law, however, the old statesman who had +signed the treaties, urged him to be the first to get the ear of +the two women on their return to the capital. This he did, and as +it seemed evident that the regency and the council had been +organized for the express purpose of tyrannizing over the +Empresses and the child, they were at once arrested, the leader +beheaded, and the others condemned to exile or to suicide. The +child had been placed upon the throne as "good-luck," but now a +new regency was formed, consisting of the two dowagers, with +Prince Kung as joint regent, and the title of the reign was +changed to Tung Chih or "joint government." Thus ended the +Empress Dowager's years of training. + + + +III + +The Empress Dowager--As a Ruler + +That a Manchu woman who had had such narrow opportunities of +obtaining a knowledge of things as they really are, in +distinction from the tissue of shams which constitute the warp +and the woof of an Oriental Palace, should have been able to hold +her own in every situation, and never be crushed by the opposing +forces about her, is a phenomenon in itself only to be explained +by due recognition of the influence of individual qualities in a +ruler even in the semi-absolutism of China. +--Arthur H. Smith in "China in Convulsion." + + + +III + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A RULER + +In considering the policy pursued by the Empress-mother after her +accession to the regency, one cannot but feel that she was fully +aware of the fact that she had been the wife of an emperor, and +was the mother of the heir, of a decaying house. Of the 218 years +that her dynasty had been in power, 120 had been occupied by the +reigns of two emperors, and only seven monarchs had sat upon the +throne, a smaller number than ever ruled during the same period +in all Chinese history. These two Emperors, Kang Hsi and Chien +Lung, the second and fourth, had each reigned for sixty years, +the most brilliant period of the "Great Pure Dynasty," unless we +except the last six years of the Empress Dowager's regency. The +other ninety-eight years saw five rulers rise and pass away, +each one becoming weaker than his predecessor both in character +and in physique, until with the death of her son, Tung Chih, the +dynasty was left without a direct heir. + +The decay of the imperial house, the encroachments of the +foreigner, and the opposition of the native Chinese to the rule +of the Manchus, awoke the Empress Dowager to a realization of the +fact that a stronger hand than that of her husband must be at the +helm if the dynasty of her people were to be preserved. "It may +be said with emphasis," says Colonel Denby, who was for thirteen +years minister to China, "that the Empress Dowager has been the +first of her race to apprehend the problem of the relation of +China to the outer world, and to make use of this relation to +strengthen her dynasty and to promote material progress." She was +fortunate in having Prince Kung associated with her in the +regency, a man tall, handsome and dignified, and the greatest +statesman that has come from the royal house since the time of +Chien Lung. + +Here appears one of the chief characteristics of the Empress +Dowager as a ruler--her ability to choose the greatest statesmen, +the wisest advisers, the safest leaders, and the best guides, +from the great mass of Chinese officials, whether progressive or +conservative. Prince Kung was for forty years the leading figure +of the Chinese capital outside of the Forbidden City. He appeared +first, at the age of twenty-six, as a member of the commission +that tried the minister who failed to make good his promise to +induce Lord Elgin and his men-of-war to withdraw from Tientsin in +1858. The following year he was made a member of the Colonial +Board that controlled the affairs of the "outer Barbarians," and +a year later was left in Peking, when the court fled, to arrange +a treaty of peace with the victorious British and French after +they had taken the capital. "In these trying circumstances," says +Professor Giles, "the tact and resource of Prince Kung won the +admiration of his opponents," and when the Foreign Office was +formed in 1861, it began with the Prince as its first president, +a position which he continued to hold for many years. + +It was he, as we have seen, who succeeded in outwitting and +overthrowing the self-constituted regency on the death of his +brother Hsien Feng, and, with the Empress Dowager, seated her +infant son upon the throne, with the two Empresses and himself as +joint regents. This condition continued for some years, with the +senior Empress exercising no authority, and Prince Kung +continually growing in power. The arrangement seemed satisfactory +to all but one--the Empress-mother. To her it appeared as though +he were fast becoming the government, and she and the Empress +were as rapidly receding into the background, while in reality +the design had been to make him "joint regent" with them. In all +the receptions of the officials by the court, Prince Kung alone +could see them face to face, while the ladies were compelled to +remain behind a screen, listening to the deliberations but +without taking any part therein, other than by such suggestions +as they might make. + +Being the visible head of the government, and the only avenue to +positions of preferment, he would naturally be flattered by the +Chinese officials. This led him to assume an air of importance +which consciously or unconsciously he carried into the presence +of their Majesties, and one morning he awoke to find himself +stripped of all his rank and power, and confined and guarded a +prisoner in his palace, by a joint decree from the two Empresses +accusing him of "lack of respect for their Majesties." The +deposed Prince at once begged their forgiveness, whereupon all +his honours were restored with their accompanying dignities, but +none of his former power as joint regent, and thus the first +obstacle to her reestablishment of the dynasty was eliminated by +the Empress-mother. To show Prince Kung, however, that they bore +him no ill will, the Empresses adopted his daughter as their own, +raising her to the rank of an imperial princess, and though the +Prince has long since passed away his daughter still lives, and +next to the Empress Dowager has been the leading figure in court +circles during the past ten years' association with the +foreigners. + +During her son's minority, after the dismissal of Prince Kung as +joint regent, the Empress-mother year by year took a more active +part in the affairs of state, while the Empress as gradually sank +into the background. She was far-sighted. Having but one son, and +knowing the uncertainty of life, she originated a plan to secure +the succession to her family. To this end she arranged for the +marriage of her younger sister to her husband's younger brother +commonly known as the Seventh Prince, in the hope that from this +union there might come a son who would be a worthy occupant of +the dragon throne in case her own son died without issue. She +felt that the country needed a great central figure capable of +inspiring confidence and banishing uncertainty, a strong, +well-balanced, broad-minded, self-abnegating chief executive, +and she proposed to furnish one. Whether she would succeed or not +must be left to the future to reveal, but the one great task set +by destiny for her to accomplish was to prepare the mind of a +worthy successor to meet openly and intelligently the problems +which had been too vast, too new and too complicated for her +predecessors, if not for herself, to solve. + +When her son was seventeen years old he was married to Alute, a +young Manchu lady of one of the best families in Peking and was +nominally given the reins of power, though as a matter of fact +the supreme control of affairs was still in the hands of his more +powerful mother. The ministers of the European countries, +England, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, now +resident at Peking, thought this a good time for bringing up the +matter of an audience with the new ruler, and after a long +discussion with Prince Kung and the Empress-mother, the matter +was arranged without the ceremony of prostration which all +previous rulers had demanded. + +The married life of this young couple was a short one. Three +years after their wedding ceremonies the young monarch contracted +smallpox and died without issue, and was followed shortly +afterwards by his young wife who heeded literally the instruction +of one of their female teachers in her duty to her husband to + +Share his joy as well as sorrow, riches, poverty or guilt, +And in death be buried with him, as in life you shared his guilt. + +That her nearest relatives did not believe, as has often been +suggested, that there was any "foul play" in regard to her death, +is evident from the fact that her father continued to hold office +until the time of the Boxer uprising, at which time he followed +the fleeing court as far as Paotingfu, where having heard that +the capital was in the hands of the hated foreigners, he sent +word back to his family that he would neither eat the foreigners' +bread nor drink their water, but would prefer to die by his own +hand. When his family received this message they commanded their +servants to dig a great pit in their own court in which they all +lay and ordered the coolies to bury them. This they at first +refused to do, but they were finally prevailed upon, and thus +perished all the male members of her father's household except +one child that was rescued and carried away by a faithful nurse. + +When Tung Chih died there was a formidable party in the palace +opposed to the two dowagers, anxious to oust them and their party +and place upon the throne a dissolute son of Prince Kung. But it +would require a master mind from the outside to learn of the +death of her son and select and proclaim a successor quicker than +the Empress Dowager herself could do so from the inside. She +first sent a secret messenger to Li Hung-chang whom she had +appointed viceroy of the metropolitan province at Tientsin eighty +miles away, informing him of the illness of her son and urging +him to come to Peking with his troops post-haste and be ready to +prevent any disturbance in case of his death and the announcement +of a successor. + +When Li Hung-chang received her orders, he began at once to put +them into execution. Taking with him four thousand of his most +reliable Anhui men, all well-armed horse, foot and artillery, he +made a secret forced march to Peking. The distance of eighty +miles was covered in thirty-six hours and he planned to arrive at +midnight. Exactly on the hour Li and his picked guard were +admitted, and in dead silence they marched into the Forbidden +City. Every man had in his mouth a wooden bit to prevent talking, +while the metal trappings of the horses were muffled to deaden +all sound. When they arrived at the forbidden precincts, the +Manchu Bannermen on guard at the various city gates were replaced +by Li's Anhui braves, and as the Empress Dowager had sent eunuchs +to point out the palace troops which were doubtful or that had +openly declared for the conspirators, these were at once +disarmed, bound and sent to prison. The artillery were ordered to +guard the gates of the Forbidden City, the cavalry to patrol the +grounds, and the foot-soldiers to pick up any stray conspirators +that could be found. A strong detachment was stationed so as to +surround the Empress Dowager and the child whom she had selected +as a successor to her son, and when the morning sun rose bright +and clear over the Forbidden City the surprise of the +conspirators who had slept the night away was complete. Of the +disaffected that remained, some were put in prison and others +sent into perpetual exile to the Amoor beyond their native +borders, and when the Empress Dowager announced the death of her +son, she proclaimed the son of her sister, Kuang Hsu, as his +successor, with herself and the Empress as regents during his +minority. When everything was settled, Li folded his tent like +the Arab, and stole away as silently as he had come. + +The wisdom and greatness of the Empress Dowager were thus +manifested in binding to the throne the greatest men not only in +the capital but in the provinces. Li Hung-chang had won his title +to greatness during the Tai-ping rebellion, for his part in the +final extinction of which he was ennobled as an Earl. From this +time onward she placed him in the highest positions of honour and +power within sufficient proximity to the capital to have his +services within easy reach. For twenty-four years he was kept as +viceroy of the metropolitan province of Chihli, with the largest +and best drilled army at his command that China had ever had, and +yet during all this time he realized that he was watched with the +eyes of an eagle lest he manifest any signs of rebellion, while +his nephew was kept in the capital as a hostage for his good +conduct. Once and again when he had reached the zenith of his +power, or had been feted by foreign potentates enough to turn the +head of a bronze Buddha, his yellow jacket and peacock feather +were kindly but firmly removed to remind him that there was a +power in Peking on whom he was dependent. + +Li Hung-chang's greatness made him many enemies. Those whom he +defeated, those whom he would not or could not help, those whom +he punished or put out of office, and those whose enmity was the +result of jealousy. When the war with Japan closed and the +Chinese government sent Chang Yin-huan to negotiate a treaty of +peace, the Japanese refused to accept him, nor were they willing +to take up the matter until "Li Hung-chang was appointed envoy, +chiefly because of his great influence over the government, and +the respect in which he was held by the people." We all know how +he went, how he was shot in the face by a Japanese fanatic, the +ball lodging under the left eye, where it remained a memento +which he carried to the grave. We all know how he recovered from +the wound, and how because of his sufferings he was able to +negotiate a better treaty than he could otherwise have done. Then +he returned home, and only "the friendship of the Empress and his +own personal sufferings saved his life," says Colonel Denby, for +"the new treaty was urgently denounced in China" by carping +critics who would not have been recognized as envoys by their +Japanese enemies. + +In 1896 he was appointed to attend the coronation of the Czar at +Moscow, and thence continued his trip around the world. Never +before nor since has a Chinese statesman or even a prince been +feted as he was in every country through which he passed. When he +was about to start, at his request I had a round fan painted for +him, with a map of the Eastern hemisphere on one side and the +Western on the other, on which all the steamship lines and +railroads over which he was to travel were clearly marked, with +all the ports and cities at which he expected to stop. He was +photographed with Gladstone, and hailed as the "Bismarck of the +East," but when he returned to Peking, for no reason but +jealousy, "he was treated as an extinct volcano." The Empress +Dowager invited him to the Summer Palace where he was shown about +the place by the eunuchs, treated to tea and pipes, and led into +pavilions where only Her Majesty was allowed to enter, and then +denounced to the Board of Punishments who were against him to a +man. And now this Grand Secretary whom kings and courts had +honoured, whom emperors and presidents had feted, and our own +government had spent thirty thousand dollars in entertaining, was +once more stripped of his yellow jacket and peacock feather, and +fined the half of a year's salary as a member of the Foreign +Office, which was the amusing sum of forty-five taels or about +thirty-five dollars gold, and it was said in Peking at the time +that only the intercession of the Empress Dowager saved him from +imprisonment or further disgrace. + +During the whole regency of the Empress Dowager only two men have +occupied the position of President of the Grand Council--Prince +Kung and Prince Ching. While the former was degraded many times +and had his honours all taken from him, the latter "has kept +himself on top of a rolling log for thirty years" without losing +any of the honours which were originally conferred upon him. The +same is true of Chang Chih-tung, Liu Kun-yi and Wang Wen-shao, +three great viceroys and Grand Secretaries whom the Empress +Dowager has never allowed to be without an important office, but +whom she has never degraded. Need we ask the reason why? The +answer is not far to seek. They were the most eminent progressive +officials she had in her empire, but none of them were great +enough to be a menace to her dynasty, and hence need not be +reminded that there was a power above them which by a stroke of +her pen could transfer them from stars in the official firmament +to dandelions in the grass. Not so with Yuan Shih-kai--but we +will speak of him in another chapter. + +All the great officials thus far mentioned have belonged to the +progressive rather than the conservative party, all of them the +favourites of the Empress Dowager, placed in positions of +influence and kept in office by her, all of them working for +progress and reform, and yet she has been constantly spoken of by +European writers as a reactionary. Nothing could be farther from +the truth, as we shall see. Nevertheless she kept some of the +great conservative officials in office either as viceroys or +Grand Secretaries that she might be able to hear both sides of +all important questions. + +One of these conservatives was Jung Lu, the father-in-law of the +present Regent. When she placed Yuan Shih-kai in charge of the +army of north China, she also appointed Jung Lu as +Governor-General of the metropolitan province of Chihli. One was +a progressive, the other a conservative. Neither could make any +important move without the knowledge and consent of the other. +Whether the Empress Dowager foresaw the danger that was likely to +arise, we do not know, but she provided against it. We refer to +the occasion when in 1898 the Emperor ordered Yuan Shih-kai to +bring his troops to Peking, guard the Empress Dowager a prisoner +in the Summer Palace, and protect him in his efforts at reform. +The story belongs in another chapter, but we refer to it here to +show how the Empress Dowager played one official against another, +and one party against another, to prevent any such calamity or +surprise. It would have been impossible for Yuan Shih-kai to have +taken his troops to Peking for any purpose without first +informing his superior officer Jung Lu unless he put him to +death, much less to have gone on such a mission as that of +imprisoning as important a personage as the Empress Dowager, to +whom they were both indebted for their office. + +Another instance of the way in which the Empress Dowager played +one party against another was the appointment of Prince Tuan as a +member of the Foreign Office. After his son had been selected as +the heir-apparent it seemed to the Empress Dowager that for his +own education and development he should be made to come in +contact with the foreigners. Most of the foreigners considered +the appointment objectionable on account of the "Prince's anti- +foreign tendencies. But to my mind," says Sir Robert Hart, "it +was a good one; the Empress Dowager had probably said to the +Prince, 'You and your party pull one way, Prince Ching and his +another--what am I to do between you? You, however, are the +father of the future Emperor, and have your son's interests to +take care of; you are also head of the Boxers and chief of the +Peking Field Force, and ought therefore to know what can and what +cannot be done. I therefore appoint you to the yamen; do what you +consider most expedient, and take care that the throne of your +ancestors descends untarnished to your son, and their empire +undiminished! yours is the power,--yours the responsibility--and +yours the chief interests!' I can imagine the Empress Dowager +taking this line with the Prince, and, inasmuch as various +ministers who had been very anti-foreign before entering the +yamen had turned round and behaved very sensibly afterwards, I +felt sure that responsibility and actual personal dealings with +foreigners would be a good experience and a useful education for +this Prince, and that he would eventually be one of the sturdiest +supporters of progress and good relations." + + + +IV + +The Empress Dowager--As a Reactionist + +The most interesting personage in China during the past thirty +years has been and still is without doubt the lady whom we style +the Empress Dowager. The character of the Empress's rule can only +be judged by what it was during the regency, when she was at the +head of every movement that partook of the character of reform. +Foreign diplomacy has failed, for want of a definite centre of +volition and sensation to act upon. It had no fulcrum for its +lever. Hence only force has ever succeeded in China. With a woman +like the Empress might it not be possible really to transact +business? --Blackwood's Magazine. + + + +IV + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REACTIONIST + +It was between November 1, 1897, and April 16, 1898, that +Germany, Russia, France and England wrested from the weak hands +of the Emperor Kuang Hsu the four best ports in the Chinese +empire, leaving China without a place to rendezvous a fleet. The +whole empire was aroused to indignation, and even in our +Christian schools, every essay, oration, dialogue or debate was a +discussion of some phase of the subject, "How to reform and +strengthen China." The students all thought, the young reformers +all thought, and the foreigners all thought that Kuang Hsu had +struck the right track. The great Chinese officials, however, +were in doubt, and it was because of their doubt--progressives as +well as conservatives--that the Empress Dowager was again called +to the throne. + +Now may I request the enemies of the Empress Dowager to ask +themselves what they would have done if they had been placed at +the head of their own government when it was thus being filched +from them? You say she was anti-foreign--would you have been +very much in love with Germany, Russia, France and England under +those circumstances? That she acted unwisely in placing herself +in the hands of the conservatives and allying herself with the +superstitious Boxers, we must all frankly admit. But what would +you have done? Might you not--I do not say you would with your +intelligence--but might you not have been induced to have +clutched at as great a log as the patriotic Boxers seemed to +present, if you had been as near drowning as she was? + +"It is generally supposed," says one of her critics, "that Kang +Yu-wei suggested to the Emperor, that if he would render his own +position secure, he must retire the Empress Dowager, and +decapitate Jung Lu." If that be true, and I think it very +reasonable, the condition must have been desperate, when the +reformers had to begin killing the greatest of their opponents, +and imprisoning those who had given them their power, though +neither of these at that time had raised a hand against them. +Have you noticed how ready we are to forgive those on our side +for doing that for which we would bitterly condemn our opponents? +The same people who condemn the Empress Dowager for beheading the +six young reformers stand ready to forgive Kuang Hsu for ordering +the decapitation of Jung Lu, and the imprisonment of his +foster-mother. + +There were two powerful factions in Peking, the progressives, +headed by Prince Ching; and the conservatives, headed by Jung Lu. +Now the Empress Dowager may have reasoned thus: "The progressives +and reformers have had their day. They have tried their plans and +they have failed. The only result they have secured is peace--but +peace always at the expense of territory. Now I propose to try +another plan. I will part with no more ports, and I will resist +to the death every encroachment." She therefore took up Li +Ping-heng, who had been deposed from the governorship of Shantung +at the time of the murder of the German missionaries, and +appointed him Generalissimo of the forces of the Yangtse, where +he no doubt promised to resist to the last all encroachments of +the foreigners in that part of the empire while Jung Lu was +retained in Peking as head of all the forces of the province of +Chihli and the Northern Squadron. She then appointed Kang Yi, +another conservative, equally as anti-foreign as Li Ping-heng, to +inspect the fortifications and garrisons of the empire, and to +raise an immense sum of money for the depleted treasury. In his +visits to the southern provinces, Kang Yi at this time raised not +less than two million taels, which was no doubt spent in the +purchase of guns and ammunition and other preparations for war. +Yu Hsien, another equally conservative Manchu, she appointed +Governor of Shantung to succeed Li Ping-heng, and it is to him +the whole Boxer uprising is due. Moreover when he, at the +repeated requests of the foreigners, was removed from Shantung, +she received him in audience at Peking, conferred upon him +additional honours and appointed him Governor of the adjoining +province of Shansi, where, and under whose jurisdiction, almost +all the massacres were committed. Indeed Yu Hsien may be +considered the whole Boxer movement, for this seems to have been +his plan for getting rid of the foreigners. + +But while thus allying herself with the conservatives, the +Empress Dowager did not cut herself off from the progressives. Li +Hung-chang was appointed Viceroy of Kuangtung, Yuan Shih-kai +Governor of Shantung and Tuan Fang of Shensi while Liu Kun-yi, +Chang Chih-tung, and Kuei Chun were kept at their posts, so that +she had all the greatest men of both parties once more in her +service. Then she began sending out edicts, retracting those +issued by Kuang Hsu, and what could be more considerate of the +feelings of the Emperor, or more diplomatic as a state paper than +the following, issued in the name of Kuang Hsu, September 26, +1898. + +"Our real desire was to make away with superfluous posts for the +sake of economy: whereas, on the contrary, we find rumours flying +abroad that we intended to change wholesale the customs of the +empire, and, in consequence, innumerable impossible suggestions +of reform have been presented to us. If we allowed this to go on, +none of us would know to what pass matters would come. Hence, +unless we hasten to put our present wishes clearly before all, we +greatly fear that the petty yamen officials and their underlings +will put their own construction on what commands have gone +before, and create a ferment in the midst of the usual calm of +the people. This will indeed be contrary to our desire, and put +our reforms for strengthening and enriching our empire to naught. + +"We therefore hereby command that the Supervisorate of +Instruction and other five minor Courts and Boards, which were +recently abolished by us and their duties amalgamated with other +Boards for the sake of economy, etc., be forthwith restored to +their original state and duties, because we have learned that the +process of amalgamation contains many difficulties and will +require too much labour. We think, therefore, it is best that +these offices be not abolished at all, there being no actual +necessity for doing this. As for the provincial bureaus and +official posts ordered to be abolished, the work in this +connection can go on as usual, and the viceroys and governors are +exhorted to work earnestly and diligently in the above duty. +Again as to the edict ordering the establishment of an official +newspaper, the Chinese Progress, and the privilege granted to all +scholars and commoners to memorialize us on reforms, etc., this +was issued in order that a way might be opened by which we could +come into touch with our subjects, high and low. But as we have +also given extra liberty to our censors and high officers to +report to us on all matters pertaining to the people and their +government, any reforms necessary, suggested by these officers, +will be attended to at once by us. Hence we consider that our +former edict allowing all persons to report to us is, for obvious +reasons, superfluous, with the present legitimate machinery at +hand. And we now command that the privilege be withdrawn, and +only the proper officers be permitted to report to us as to what +is going on in our empire. As for the newspaper Chinese Progress, +it is really of no use to the government, while, on the other +hand, it will excite the masses to evil; hence we command the +said paper to be suppressed. + +"With regard to the proposed Peking University and the middle +schools in the provincial capitals, they may go on as usual, as +they are a nursery for the perfection of true ability and +talents. But with reference to the lower schools in the +sub-prefectures and districts there need be no compulsion, full +liberty being given to the people thereof to do what they please +in this connection. As for the unofficial Buddhist, Taoist, and +memorial temples which were ordered to be turned into district +schools, etc., so long as these institutions have not broken the +laws by any improper conduct of the inmates, or the deities +worshipped in them are not of the seditious kind, they are hereby +excused from the edict above noted. At the present moment, when +the country is undergoing a crisis of danger and difficulty, we +must be careful of what may be done, or what may not, and select +only such measures as may be really of benefit to the empire." + +I submit the above edict to the reader requesting him to study +it, and, if necessary to its understanding, to copy it, and see +if the Empress Dowager has not preserved the best there is in it, +viz., "the Peking University, and the middle schools in the +provincial capitals," "full liberty being given to the people +with reference to the lower schools in the sub-prefectures and +districts to do as they please." How much oil would be cast on +how many troubled waters can only be realized by the unfortunate +priests and dismissed officials and people upon whom "there need +be no compulsion"! + +Three days after the foregoing, on September 29th, she issued +another edict purporting to come from the Emperor, ordering the +punishment of Kang Yu-wei and others of his confreres. Now, if it +is true that Kang Yu-wei advised the Emperor to behead Jung Lu +and imprison the Empress Dowager, for no cause whatsoever, how +would you have been inclined to treat him supposing you had been +in her place? The decree says: + +"All know that we try to rule this empire by our filial piety +towards the Empress Dowager; but Kang Yu-wei's doctrines have +always been opposed to the ancient Confucian tenets. Owing, +however, to the ability shown by the said Kang Yu-wei in modern +and practical matters, we sought to take advantage of it by +appointing him a secretary of the Foreign Office, and +subsequently ordered him to Shanghai to direct the management of +the official newspaper there. Instead of this, however, he dared +to remain in Peking pursuing his nefarious designs against the +dynasty, and had it not been for the protection given by the +spirits of our ancestors he certainly would have succeeded. Kang +Yu-wei is therefore the arch conspirator, and his chief +assistant is Liang Chi-tsao, M. A., and they are both to be +immediately arrested and punished for the crime of rebellion. The +other principal conspirators, namely, the Censor Yang Shen-hsin, +Kang Kuang-jen--the brother of Kang Yu-wei--and the four +secretaries of the Tsungli Yamen, Tan Sze-tung, Liu Hsin, Yang +Jui, and Liu Kuang-ti, we immediately ordered to be arrested and +imprisoned by the Board of Punishments: but fearing that if any +delay ensued in sentencing them they would endeavour to entangle +a number of others, we accordingly commanded yesterday (September +28th) their immediate execution, so as to close the matter +entirely and prevent further troubles." + +This with the execution of one or two other officials is the +greatest crime that can be laid at the door of the Empress +Dowager--great enough in all conscience--yet not to be compared +to those of "good Queen Bess." + +We now come to what is said to have been a secret edict issued by +the Empress Dowager to her viceroys, governors, Tartar generals +and the commanders-in-chief of the provinces, dated November 21, +1899. And this I regard as one of the greatest and most daring +things that great woman ever undertook. + +After the Empress Dowager had taken the throne, Italy, following +the example set by the other powers, demanded the cession of +Sanmen Bay in the province of Chekiang. But she found a different +ruler on the throne, and to her great surprise, as well as that +of every one else, China returned a stubborn refusal. Moreover, +she began to prepare to resist the demand, and it soon became +evident that to obtain it, Italy must go to war. This she had not +the stomach for and so the demand was withdrawn. This explanation +will go far towards helping us to understand the following secret +edict of November 21st, to which I have already referred. + +"Our empire is now labouring under great difficulties which are +becoming daily more and more serious. The various Powers cast +upon us looks of tiger-like voracity, hustling each other in +their endeavours to be the first to seize upon our innermost +territories. They think that China, having neither money nor +troops, would never venture to go to war with them. They fail to +understand, however, that there are certain things that this +empire can never consent to, and that, if hardly pressed upon, we +have no alternative but to rely upon the justice of our cause, +the knowledge of which in our breasts strengthens our resolves +and steels us to present a united front against our aggressors. +No one can guarantee, under such circumstances, who will be the +victor and who the vanquished in the end. But there is an evil +habit which has become almost a custom among our viceroys and +governors which, however, must be eradicated at all costs. For +instance, whenever these high officials have had on their hands +cases of international dispute, all their actions seem to be +guided by the belief in their breasts that such cases would +eventually be 'amicably arranged.' These words seem never to be +out of their thoughts: hence, when matters do come to a crisis, +they, of course, find themselves utterly unprepared to resist any +hostile aggressions on the part of the foreigner. We, indeed, +consider this the most serious failure in the duty which the +highest provincial authorities owe to the throne, and we now find +it incumbent upon ourselves to censure such conduct in the most +severe terms. + +"It is our special command, therefore, that should any high +official find himself so hard pressed by circumstances that +nothing short of war would settle matters, he is expected to set +himself resolutely to work out his duty to this end. Or, perhaps, +it would be that war has already actually been declared; under +such circumstances there is no possible chance of the imperial +government consenting to an immediate conference for the +restoration of peace. It behooves, therefore, that our viceroys, +governors, and commanders-in-chief throughout the whole empire +unite forces and act together without distinction or +particularizing of jurisdictions so as to present a combined +front to the enemy, exhorting and encouraging their officers and +soldiers in person to fight for the preservation of their homes +and native soil from the encroaching footsteps of the foreign +aggressor. Never should the word 'Peace' fall from the mouths of +our high officials, nor should they even allow it to rest for a +moment within their breasts. With such a country as ours, with +her vast area, stretching out several tens of thousands of li, +her immense natural resources, and her hundreds of millions of +inhabitants, if only each and all of you would prove his loyalty +to his Emperor and love of country, what, indeed, is there to +fear from any invader? Let no one think of making peace, but let +each strive to preserve from destruction and spoliation his +ancestral home and graves from the ruthless hands of the +invader." + +One of her critics, referring to the last sentence of the above +edict, asks: "Do not these words throw down the gauntlet?" And we +answer, yes. Did not the thirteen colonies throw down the +gauntlet to England for less cause? Did not Japan throw down the +gauntlet to Russia for less cause than the Empress Dowager had +for desiring that "each strive TO PRESERVE FROM DESTRUCTION AND +SPOLIATION HIS ANCESTRAL HOME AND GRAVES"? It was not for +conquest but for self-preservation the Empress Dowager was ready +to go to war; not for glory but for home; not against a taunting +neighbour, but against a "ruthless invader." Her unwisdom did not +consist in her being ready to go to war, but in allowing herself +to be allied to, and depend upon, the superstitious rabble of +Boxers, and to believe that her "hundreds of millions" of +undisciplined "inhabitants" could withstand the thousands or tens +of thousands of well-drilled, well-led, intelligent soldiers from +the West. + +That she was ready to go to war rather than weakly yield to the +demands for territory from the European powers is further +evidenced by the following edict issued by the Tsungli Yamen to +the viceroys and governors: + +"This yamen has received the special commands of her Imperial +Majesty the Empress Dowager, and his Imperial Majesty the +Emperor, to grant you full power and liberty to resist by force +of arms all aggressions upon your several jurisdictions, +proclaiming a state of war, if necessary, without first asking +instructions from Peking; for this loss of time may be fatal to +your security, and enable the enemy to make good his footing +against your forces." + +In order to strengthen her position she appointed two +commissioners whom she sent to Japan in the hope of forming a +secret defensive alliance with that nation against the White +Peril from the West. For once, however, she made a mistake in the +selection of her men, for these commissioners, unlike what we +usually find the yellow man, revealed too much of the important +mission on which they were bent, and were recalled in disgrace, +and the treaty came to naught. + + + +V + +The Empress Dowager--As a Reformer + +Taught by the failure of a reaction on which she had staked her +life and her throne, the Dowager has become a convert to the +policy of progress. She has, in fact, outstripped her nephew. +"Long may she live!" "Late may she rule us!" During her lifetime +she may be counted on to carry forward the cause she has so +ardently espoused. She grasps the reins with a firm hand; and her +courage is such that she does not hesitate to drive the chariot +of state over many a new and untried road. She knows she can rely +on the support of her viceroys--men of her own appointment. She +knows too that the spirit of reform is abroad in the land, and +that the heart of the people is with her. +--W. A. P. Martin in "The Awakening of China." + + + +V + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REFORMER + +In June, 1902, soon after the return of the court from Hsian to +Peking, a company of ladies from the various legations in Peking +who had received invitations to an audience and a banquet with +the Empress Dowager were asked to meet at one of the legations +for the purpose of consultation. The meeting was unusual. Many of +those who were present had no higher motive than the ordinary +tourist who goes sightseeing. With the exception of one or two +who had been in once before, none of these ladies had ever been +present at an audience. Several of them however had passed +through the Boxer siege of 1900, had witnessed the guns from the +wall of the Imperial City pouring shot and shell into the British +legation, where they were confined during those eight memorable +weeks of June, July and August, and had come out with their +hearts filled with resentment. One of them had received a +decoration from her government for her bravery in standing beside +her husband on the fortifications when buildings were crumbling +and walls falling, and her husband was buried by an exploding +mine, and then vomited out unhurt by a second explosion. Among +the number were several recent arrivals in Peking who had had +none of these bitter experiences, but had heard much of the +Empress Dowager, and above all things else they were anxious to +see her whom they called the "She Dragon." + +The presiding officer had been longest in Peking, and as doyen of +these diplomatic ladies, she acted as chairman of the meeting. +The first question to be decided was the mode of conveyance to +the "Forbidden City." Without much discussion it was decided to +use the sedan chair, as being the most dignified, and used only +by Chinese ladies of rank. The chairman then called for an +expression of opinion as to the method of procedure in +presentation to the throne. One suggested that they have no +ceremony about it, but all go up to the throne together, for in +this way none would take precedence, but all would have an equal +opportunity of satisfying their curiosity and scrutinizing this +female dragon ad libitum. Another said: "It will be broiling hot +on that June day, and it will be better to keep at a safe +distance from her, with plenty of guards to protect us, or we may +be broiled in more senses than one." The chairman looked worried +at these suggestions, but still kept her dignity and her +equilibrium. Then a mild voice suggested that it was customary in +all audiences for those presented to courtesy to the one on the +throne. "Courtesy!" broke in an indignant voice, "it would be +more appropriate for her to prostrate herself at our feet and beg +us to forgive her for trying to shoot us, than for us to courtesy +to her." It was finally decided, however, that the same +formalities be observed as were followed by the ministers when +received at court. I give these incidents to show the temper that +prevailed among the members of some of the legations at Peking at +the time of this first audience. + +"When a few days later we followed the long line of richly-robed +princesses into the audience-hall, all this was changed. As we +looked at the Empress Dowager seated upon her throne on a raised +dais, with the Emperor to her left and members of the Grand +Council kneeling beside her, and these dignified, stately +princesses courtesying until their knees touched the floor, we +forgot the resentful feeling expressed in the meeting a few days +before, and, awed by her majestic bearing and surroundings, we +involuntarily gave the three courtesies required from those +entering the imperial presence. We could not but feel that this +stately woman who sat upon the throne was every inch an empress. +In her hands rested the weal or woe of one-third of the human +race. Her brilliant black eyes seemed to read our thoughts. +Indeed she prides herself upon the fact that at a glance she can +read the character of every one that appears before her." + +After the ladies had taken their position in order of their rank, +the doyen presented their good wishes to Her Majesty, which was +replied to by a few gracious words from the throne. Each lady's +name was then announced and as she was formally presented she +ascended the dais, and as she courtesied, the Empress Dowager +extended her hand which she took, and then passed to the left to +be introduced in a similar way to the Emperor. + +It was thus she began her reforms in the customs of the court, +which up to this time had kept her ever behind the screen, +compelled to wield the sceptre from her place of concealment, +equally shut out from the eyes of the world and blind to the +needs of her people. Up to her time the people and the nation +were the slaves of age-old customs, but before the power of her +personality rites and ceremonies became the servants of the +people. In the words of the poet she seemed to feel that + + "Rules + Are well; but never fear to break + The scaffolding of other souls; + It was not meant for thee to mount, + Though it may serve thee." + + +Without taking away from the Emperor the credit of introducing +the railroad, the telegraph, the telephone, the new system of +education, and many other reforms, we must still admit that it +was the personality, power and statesmanship of the Empress +Dowager that brought about the realization of his dreams. The +movement towards female education as described in another chapter +must ever be placed to the credit of this great woman. From the +time she came from behind the screen, and allowed her portrait to +be painted, the freedom of woman was assured. + +One day when calling at the American legation I was shown two +large photographs of Her Majesty. One some three feet square was +to be sent to President Roosevelt, the other was a gift to Major +Conger. Similar photographs had been sent to all the ministers +and rulers represented at Peking, and I said to myself: "The +Empress Dowager is shrewd. She knows that false pictures of her +have gone forth. She knows that the painted portrait is not a +good likeness, and so she proposes to have genuine pictures in +the possession of all civilized governments." This shrewdness was +not necessarily native on her part, but was engendered by the +arguments that had been used by those who induced her to be the +first Chinese monarch to have her portrait painted by a foreign +artist. + +A few years ago the Empress Dowager had a dream, which, like +every act of hers, was greater than any of those of her brilliant +nephew. This dream was to give a constitution to China. Of +course, if this were done it would have to be by the Manchus, as +the government was theirs, and any radical changes that were made +would have to be made by the people in power. The Empress +Dowager, however, wanted the honour of this move to reflect upon +herself, and hoped to be able to bring it to a successful issue +during her lifetime. + +There was strenuous opposition, and this most vigorous in the +party in which she had placed herself when she dethroned Kuang +Hsu. The conservatives regarded this as the wildest venture that +had yet been made, and were ready to use all their influence to +prevent it; nevertheless the Empress Dowager called to her aid +the greatest and most progressive of the Manchus, the Viceroy +Tuan Fang, and appointed him head of a commission which she +proposed to send on a tour of the world to examine carefully the +various forms of government, with the purpose of advising her, on +their return, as to the possibility of giving a constitution to +China. + +A special train was provided to take the commission from Peking +to Tientsin. It was drawn up at the station just outside the gate +in front of the Emperor's palace. The commission had entered the +car, and the narrow hall or aisle along the side was crowded with +those who had come to see them off, when, BANG, there was an +explosion, the side of the car was blown out, several were +injured, including slight wounds to some of the members of the +commission, and the man carrying the bomb was blown into an +unrecognizable mass. For a few days the city was in an uproar. +Guards were placed at all the gates, especially those leading to +the palace, and every possible effort was made to identify the +nihilist. But as all efforts failed, and nothing further +transpired to indicate that he had accomplices, the commission +separated and departing individually without display, reunited at +Tientsin and started on their tour of inspection. + +This commission was splendidly entertained wherever it went, +given every possible opportunity to examine the constitutions of +the countries through which it passed, and on its return to +Peking the report of the trip was published in one hundred and +twenty volumes, the most important item of which was that a +constitution, modelled after that of Japan, should be given to +China at as early a date as possible. + +The leader of this expedition, His Excellency the Viceroy Tuan +Fang, is one of the greatest, if not the greatest living Manchu +statesman. Like Yuan Shih-kai, during the Boxer uprising, he +protected all the foreigners within his domains. That he +appreciates the work done by Americans in the opening up of China +is evidenced by a statement made in his address at the Waldorf +Astoria, in February, 1906, in which he said: + +"We take pleasure this evening in bearing testimony to the part +taken by American missionaries in promoting the progress of the +Chinese people. They have borne the light of Western civilization +into every nook and corner of the empire. They have rendered +inestimable service to China by the laborious task of translating +into the Chinese language religious and scientific works of the +West. They help us to bring happiness and comfort to the poor and +the suffering, by the establishment of hospitals and schools. The +awakening of China, which now seems to be at hand, may be traced +in no small measure to the influence of the missionary. For this +service you will find China not ungrateful." + +Some may think that this was simply a sentiment expressed on this +particular occasion because he happened to be surrounded by +secretaries and others interested in this cause. That this is not +the case is further indicated by the fact that since that time he +has on two separate occasions attended the commencement exercises +of the Nanking University, on one of which he addressed the +students as follows: + +"This is the second time I have attended the commencement +exercises of your school. I appreciate the good order I find +here. I rejoice at the evidences I see of your knowledge of the +proprieties, the depth of your learning, and the character of the +students of this institution. I am deeply grateful to the +president and faculty for the goodness manifested to these my +people. I have seen evidences of it in every detail. It is my +hope that when these graduates go out into the world, they will +remember the love of their teachers, and will practice that +virtue in their dealing with others. The fundamental principle of +all great teachers whether of the East or the West is love, and +it remains for you, young gentlemen, to practice this virtue. +Thus your knowledge will be practical and your talents useful." + +I have given these quotations as evidences of the breadth of the +man whom the Empress Dowager selected as the head of this +commission. It is not generally known, however, that Duke Tse, +another important member of this commission, is married to a +sister of the young Empress Yehonala, and consequently a niece of +the Empress Dowager. Such relations existed between Her Majesty +and the viceroy, as ruler and subject, that it would be +impossible for him to give her the intimate account of their trip +that a relative could give. It would be equally impossible, with +all her other duties, to wade through a report such as they +published after their return of one hundred and twenty volumes. +But it would be a delight to call in this nephew-in-law, and +have him sit or kneel, and may we not believe she allowed him to +sit? and give her a full and intimate account of the trip and the +countries through which they passed. She was anxious that this +constitution should be given to the people before she passed +away. This, however, could not be. Whether it will be adopted +within the time allotted is a question which the future alone can +answer. + +The next great reform undertaken by the Empress Dowager was her +crusade against opium. The importance of this can only be +estimated when we consider the prevalence of the use of the drug +throughout the empire. The Chinese tell us that thirty to forty +per cent. of the adult population are addicted to the use of the +drug. + +One day while walking along the street in Peking, I passed a +gateway from which there came an odour that was not only +offensive but sickening. I went on a little distance further and +entered one of the best curio shops of the city, and going into +the back room, I found the odour of the street emphasized +tenfold, as one of the employees of the firm had just finished +his smoke. I left this shop and went to another where the +proprietor had entirely ruined his business by his use of the +drug, and it was about this time that the Empress Dowager issued +the following edict: + +"Since the first prohibition of opium, almost the whole of China +has been flooded with the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted +their time, neglected their employment, ruined their +constitutions, and impoverished their households. For several +decades therefore China has presented a spectacle of increasing +poverty and weakness. To merely mention the matter, arouses our +indignation. The court has now determined to make China powerful, +and to this end we urge our people to reformation in this +respect. + +"We, therefore, decree that within a limit of ten years this +injurious filth shall be completely swept away. We further order +the Council of State to consider means of prohibition both of +growing the poppy and smoking the opium." + +The Council of State at once drew up regulations designed to +carry out this decree. They were among others: + +That all opium-smokers be required to report and take out a +license. + +Officials using the drug were divided into two classes. Young men +must be cured of the habit within six months, while for old men +no limit was fixed. But both classes, while under treatment, must +furnish satisfactory substitutes, at their own expense, to attend +to the duties of their office. + +All opium dens must be closed within six months, after which time +no opium-pipes nor lamps may be either made or sold. Though shops +for the sale of the drug may continue for ten years, the limit of +the traffic. + +The government promises to provide medicine for the cure of the +habit, and encourages the formation of anti-opium societies, but +will not allow these societies to discuss other political +matters. + +Next to China Great Britain is the party most affected by this +movement towards reform. When this edict was issued Great Britain +was shipping annually fifty thousand chests of opium to the +Chinese market, but at once agreed that if China was sincere in +her desire for reform, and cut off her own domestic productions +at the rate of ten per cent. per annum, she would decrease her +trade at a similar rate. It is unfortunate that the Empress +Dowager should have died before this reform had been carried to a +successful culmination, but whatever may be the result of the +movement the fact and the credit of its initiation will ever +belong to her. + +Such are some of the special reform measures instituted by the +Empress Dowager, but in addition to these she has seen to it that +the Emperor's efforts to establish a Board of Railroads, a Board +of Mines, educational institutions on the plans of those of the +West, should all be carried out. She has not only done away with +the old system of examinations, but has introduced a new scheme +by which all those who have graduated from American or European +colleges may obtain Chinese degrees and be entitled to hold +office under the government, by passing satisfactory +examinations, not a small part of which is the diploma or +diplomas which they hold. Such an examination has already been +held and a large number of Western graduates, most of them +Christian, were given the Chu-jen or Han-lin degrees. + + + +VI + +The Empress Dowager--As an Artist + +There is no genre that the Chinese artist has not attempted. They +have treated in turn mythological, religious and historical +subjects of every kind; they have painted scenes of daily +familiar life, as well as those inspired by poetry and romance; +sketched still life, landscapes and portraits. Their highest +achievements, perhaps, have been in landscapes, which reveal a +passionate love for nature, and show with how delicate a charm, +how sincere and lively a poetic feeling, they have interpreted +its every aspect. They have excelled too at all periods in the +painting of animals and birds, especially of birds and flying +insects in conjunction with flowers. +--S. W. Bushell in "Chinese Art." + + + +VI + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS AN ARTIST + +One day the head eunuch from the palace of the Princess Shun +called at our home to ask Mrs. Headland to go and see the +Princess. While sitting in my study and looking at the Chinese +paintings hanging on the wall, two of which were from the brush +of Her Majesty, he remarked: + +"You are fond of Chinese art?" + +"I am indeed fond of it," I answered. + +"I notice you have some pictures painted by the Old Buddha," he +continued, referring to the Empress Dowager by a name by which +she is popularly known in Peking. + +"Yes, I have seven pictures from her brush," I answered. + +"Do you happen to have any from the brush of the Lady Miao, her +painting teacher?" he inquired. + +"I am sorry to say I have not," I replied. "I have tried +repeatedly to secure one, but thus far have failed. I have +inquired at all the best stores on Liu Li Chang, the great curio +street, but they have none, and cannot tell me where I can find +one." + +"No, you cannot get them in the stores; she does not paint for +the trade," he explained. + +"I am sorry," I continued, "for I should like very much to get +one. I am told she is a very good artist." + +"Oh, yes, she paints very well," he went on in a careless way. +"She lives over near our palace. We have a good many of her +paintings. They are very easily gotten." + +"It may be easy for you to get them," I replied, "but it is no +small task for me." + +"If you want some," he volunteered, "I'll get some for you." + +"That would be very kind of you," I answered, "but how would you +undertake to get them?" + +"Oh, I would just steal a few and bring them over to you." + +It is hardly necessary to assure my readers as I did him that I +could not approve of this method of obtaining paintings from the +Lady Miao's brush. However he must have told the Princess of my +desire, for the next time Mrs. Headland called at the palace the +Princess entertained her by showing her a number of paintings by +the Lady Miao, together with others from the brush of the Empress +Dowager. + +"And these are really the work of Her Majesty?" said Mrs. +Headland with a rising inflection. + +"Yes, indeed," replied the Princess. "I watched her at work on +them. They are genuine." + +It was some weeks thereafter that Mrs. Headland was again invited +to call and see the Princess, and to her surprise she was +introduced to the Lady Miao, with whom and the Princess she spent +a very pleasant social hour or two. When she was about to leave, +the Princess, who is the youngest sister of the Empress Yehonala, +brought out a picture of a cock about to catch a beetle, which +she said she had asked Lady Miao to paint, and which she begged +Mrs. Headland to receive as a present from the artist and +herself. + +During the conversation Mrs. Headland remarked that the Empress +Dowager must have begun her study of art many years ago. + +"Yes," said Lady Miao. "We were both young when she began. +Shortly after she was taken into the palace she began the study +of books, and partly as a diversion, but largely out of her love +for art, she took up the brush. She studied the old masters as +they have been reproduced by woodcuts in books, and from the +paintings that have been preserved in the palace collection, and +soon she exhibited rare talent. I was then a young woman, my +brothers were artists, my husband had passed away, and I was +ordered to appear in the palace and work with her." + +"You are a Chinese, are you not, Lady Miao?" + +"Yes," she replied, "and as it has not been customary for Chinese +ladies to appear at court during the present dynasty, I was +allowed to unbind my feet, comb my hair in the Manchu style, and +wear the gowns of her people." + +"And did you go into the palace every day?" + +"When I was young I did. Ten Thousand Years"--another method of +speaking of the Empress Dowager--"was very enthusiastic over her +art work in those days, and often we spent a large part of the +day either with our brushes, or studying the history of art, the +examples in the books, or the works of the old masters in the +gallery. One of her favourite presents to her friends, as you +probably know, is a picture from her own brush, decorated with +the impress of her great jade seal, the date, and an appropriate +poem by one of the members of the College of Inscriptions. And no +presents that she ever gives are prized more highly by the +recipients than these paintings." + +I had seen pictures painted by Her Majesty decorating the walls +of the palaces of several of the princes, as well as the homes of +a number of my official friends. Some of them I thought very +attractive, and they seemed to be well done. They were highly +prized by their owners, but I was anxious to know what the Lady +Miao thought of her ability as an artist, and so I asked: + +"Do you consider the Empress Dowager a good painter?" + +"The Empress Dowager is a great woman," she answered. "Of course, +as an artist, she is an amateur rather than a professional. Had +she devoted herself wholly to art, hers would have been one of +the great names among our artists. She wields her brush with a +power and precision which only genius added to practice can give. +She has a keen appreciation of art, and it is a pity that the +cares of state might not have been borne by others, leaving her +free to develop her instinct for art." + +The Empress Dowager kept eighteen court painters, selected from +among the best artists of the country, and appointed by herself, +whose whole duty it was to paint for her. They were divided into +three groups, and each group of six persons was required to be on +duty ten days of each month. As I was deeply interested in the +study of Chinese art I became intimately acquainted with most of +the court painters and knew the character of their work. The head +of this group was Mr. Kuan. I called on him one day, knowing that +he was not well enough to be on duty in the palace, and I found +him hard at work. Like the small boy who told his mother that he +was too sick to go to school but not sick enough to go to bed, so +he assured me that his troubles were not such as to prevent his +working, but only such as make it impossible for him to appear at +court. Incidentally I learned that the drain on his purse from +the squeezes to the eunuchs aggravated his disease. + +"When Her Majesty excused me from appearing at the palace," he +explained, "she required that I paint for her a minimum of sixty +pictures a year, to be sent in about the time of the leading +feasts. These she decorates with her seals, and with appropriate +sentiments written by members of the College of Inscriptions, and +she gives them, as she gives her own, as presents during the +feasts." Mr. Kuan and I became intimate friends and he painted +three pictures which he presented to me for my collection. + +One day another of the court painters came to call on me and +during the conversation told me that he was painting a picture of +the Empress Dowager as the goddess of mercy. Up to that time I +had not been accustomed to think of her as a goddess of mercy, +but he told me that she not infrequently copied the gospel of +that goddess with her own pen, had her portrait painted in the +form of the goddess which she used as a frontispiece, bound the +whole up in yellow silk or satin and gave it as a present to her +favourite officials. Of course I thought at once of my collection +of paintings, and said: + +"How much I should like to have a picture of the Empress Dowager +as the goddess of mercy!" + +"I'll paint one for you," said he. + +All this conversation I soon discovered was only a diplomatic +preliminary to what he had really come to tell me, which was that +he had been eating fish in the palace a few days before, and had +swallowed a fish-bone which had unfortunately stuck in his +throat. He said that the court physicians had given him medicine +to dissolve the fish-bone, but it had not been effective; he +therefore wondered whether one of the physicians of my honourable +country could remove it. I took him to my friend Dr. Hopkins who +lived near by, and told him of the dilemma. The doctor set him +down in front of the window, had him open his mouth, looked into +his throat where he saw a small red spot, and with a pair of +tweezers removed the offending fish-bone. And had it not been for +this service on the part of Dr. Hopkins, I am afraid I should +never have received the promised picture, for he hesitated as to +the propriety of him, a court painter, doing pictures of Her +Majesty for his friends. However as he often thereafter found it +necessary to call Mrs. Headland to minister to his wife and +children he came to the conclusion that it was proper for him to +do so, and one day he brought me the picture. + +The Empress Dowager not only loved to be painted as the goddess +of mercy, but she clothed herself in the garments suitable to +that deity, dressed certain ladies of the court as her +attendants, with the head eunuch Li Lien-ying as their protector, +ordered the court artists to paint appropriate foreground and +background and then called young Yu, her court photographer, to +snap his camera and allow Old Sol the great artist of the +universe with a pencil of his light to paint her as she was. + +One day while visiting a curio store on Liu Li Chang, the great +book street of Peking, my attention was called by the dealer to +four small paintings of peach blossoms in black and white, from +the brush of the Empress Dowager. These pictures had been in the +panels of the partition between two of the rooms of Her Majesty's +apartments in the Summer Palace, and so I considered myself +fortunate in securing them. + +"You notice," said he, "that each section of these branches must +be drawn by a single stroke of the brush. This is no easy task. +She must be able to ink her brush in such a way as to give a +clear outline of the limb, and at the same time to produce such +shading as she may desire. Should her outline be defective, she +dare not retouch it; should her shading be too heavy or +insufficient, she cannot take from it and she may not add to it, +as this would make it defective in the matter of calligraphy. A +stroke once placed upon her paper, for they are done on paper, is +there forever. This style of work is among the most difficult in +Chinese art." + +After securing these paintings, I showed them to a number of the +best artists of the present day in Peking, and they all +pronounced them good specimens of plum blossom work in +monochrome, and they agreed with Lady Miao, that if the Empress +Dowager had given her whole time to painting she would have +passed into history as one of the great artists of the present +dynasty. + +One day when one of her court painters called I showed him these +pictures. He agreed with all the others as to the quality of her +brush work, but called my attention to a diamond shaped twining +of the branches in one of them. + +"That," said he, "is proof positive that it is her work." + +"Why?" I inquired. + +"Because a professional artist would never twine the twigs in +that fashion." + +"And why not?" + +"They would not do it," he replied. "It is not artistic." + +"And why do not her friends call her attention to this fact?" I +inquired. + +"Who would do it?" was his counter question. + + + +VII + +The Empress Dowager--As a Woman + +The first audience given by Her Imperial Majesty to the seven +ladies of the Diplomatic Corps was sought and urged by the +foreign ministers. After the troubles of 1900 and the return of +the court, Her Majesty assumed a different attitude, and, of her +own accord, issued many invitations for audiences, and these +invitations were accepted. Then followed my tiffin to the court +princesses and their tiffin in return. This opened the way for +other princesses and wives of high officials to call, receive +calls, to entertain and be entertained. In many cases +arrangements were made through our mutual friend Mrs. Headland, +an accepted physician and beloved friend of many of the higher +Chinese families; and through her innate tact, broad thought, and +great love for the good she may do, I have been able to come into +personal touch with many of these Chinese ladies. +--Mrs. E. H. Conger in "Letters from China. + + +VII + +THE EMPRESS DOWAGER-AS A WOMAN + +Although the great Dowager has passed away, it may be interesting +to know something about her life and character as a woman as +those saw her who came in contact with her in public and private +audiences. In order to appreciate how quick she was to adopt +foreign customs, let me give in some detail the difference in her +table decorations at the earlier and later audiences as they have +been related by my wife. + +"At the close of the formalities of our introduction to the +Empress Dowager and the Emperor at one of the first audiences, +we, with the ladies of the court, repaired to the banqueting +hall. After we were seated, each with a princess beside her, the +great Dowager appeared. We rose and remained standing while she +took her place at the head of the table, with the Emperor +standing at her left a little distance behind her. As she sat +down she requested us to be seated, though the princesses and the +Emperor all remained standing, it being improper for them to sit +in the presence of Her Majesty. Long-robed eunuchs then appeared +with an elaborate Chinese banquet, and the one who served the +Empress Dowager always knelt when presenting her with a dish. + +"After we had eaten for some little time, the doyen asked if the +princesses might not be seated. The Empress Dowager first turned +to the Emperor, and said, 'Your Majesty, please be seated'; then +turning to the princesses and waving her hand, she told them to +sit down. They sat down in a timid, rather uncomfortable way on +the edge of the chair, but did not presume to touch any of the +food. + +"The conversation ran upon various topics, and, among others, the +Boxer troubles. One of the ladies wore a badge. The Empress +Dowager noticing it, asked what it meant. + +" 'Your Majesty,' was the reply, 'this was presented to me by my +Emperor because I was wounded in the Boxer insurrection.' + +"The Empress Dowager took the hands of this lady in both her own, +and as the tears stood in her eyes, she said: + +" 'I deeply regret all that occurred during those troublous +times. The Boxers for a time overpowered the government, and even +brought their guns in and placed them on the walls of the palace. +Such a thing shall never occur again.' + +"The table was covered with brilliantly coloured oilcloth, and +was without tablecloth or napkins properly so called, but we used +as napkins square, coloured bits of calico about the size of a +large bandana handkerchief. There were no flowers, the table +decorations consisting of large stands of cakes and fruit. I +speak of this because it was all changed at future audiences, +when the table was spread with snow-white cloths, and smiled with +its load of most gorgeous flowers. Especially was this true after +the luncheons given to the princesses and ladies of the court by +Mrs. Conger at the American legation, showing that the eyes of +these ladies were open to receive whatever suggestions might come +to them even in so small a matter as the spreading and decoration +of a table. The banquets thereafter were made up of alternating +courses of Chinese and foreign food. + +"With but one exception, the Empress Dowager thereafter never +appeared at table with her guests. But at the close of the formal +audiences, after descending from the throne, and speaking to +those whom she had formerly met, she requested her guests to +enter the banquet hall and enjoy the feast with the princesses, +saying that the customs of her country forbade their being seated +or partaking of food if she were present. After the banquet, +however, the Empress Dowager always appeared and conversed +cordially with her guests. + +"Her failure to appear at table may have been influenced by the +following incident: One of the leading lady guests, anxious, no +doubt, to obtain a unique curio, requested the Empress Dowager to +present her with the bowl from which Her Majesty was eating--a +bowl which was different from those used by her guests, as the +dishes from which her food was served were never the same as +those used by others at the table! + +"After an instant's hesitation she turned to a eunuch and said: + +" 'We cannot give her one bowl [the Chinese custom being always +to give things in pairs]; go and prepare her two.' + +"Then, turning to her guests, she continued apologetically: + +" 'I should be glad to give bowls to each of you, but the Foreign +Office has requested me not to give presents at this audience.' +It had been her custom to give each of her guests some small gift +with her own hands and afterwards to send presents by her eunuchs +to their homes. + +"On another occasion the lady referred to above took an ornament +from a cabinet and was carrying it away when the person in charge +of these things requested that it be restored, saying that she +was responsible for everything in the room and would be punished +if anything were missing. + +"The above incidents do not stand alone. It was not uncommon for +some of the Continental guests, in the presence of the court +ladies, to make uncomplimentary remarks about the food, which was +Chinese, and often not very palatable to the foreigner. These +remarks, of course, were not supposed to be understood, though +the Empress Dowager always had her own interpreter at table. One +often felt that some of these ladies, in their efforts to see all +and get all, forgot what was due their own country as well as +their imperial hostess. + +"One can understand the enormity of such an offense in a court +the etiquette of which is so exacting that none of her own +subjects ever dared appear in her presence until they had been +properly instructed in court etiquette in the 'Board of Rites,' a +course of instruction which may extend over a period of from a +week to six months. These breaches of politeness on the part of +these foreign ladies may have been overlooked by Her Majesty and +the princesses, but, if so, it was on the old belief that all +outside of China were barbarians. + +"All the ladies who attended these audiences, however, were not +of this character. There were those who realized the importance +of those occasions in the opening up of China, and were +scrupulous in their efforts to conform to the most exacting +customs of the court. And who can doubt that the warm friendship +which the Empress Dowager conceived for Mrs. Conger, the wife of +our American minister, who did more than any other person ever +did, or ever can do, towards the opening up of the Chinese court +to the people of the West, was because of her appreciation of the +fact that Mrs. Conger was anxious to show the Empress Dowager the +honour due to her position. + +"It was in her private audiences that this great woman's tact, +womanliness, fascination and charm as a hostess appeared. Taking +her guest by the hand, she would ask in the most solicitous way +whether we were not tired with our journey to the palace; she +would deplore the heat in summer or the cold in winter; she would +express her anxiety lest the refreshments might not have been to +our taste; she would tell us in the sincerest accents that it was +a propitious fate that had made our paths meet; and she would +charm each of her guests, even though they had been formerly +prejudiced against her, with little separate attentions, which +exhibited her complete power as a hostess. + +"When opportunity offered, she was always anxious to learn of +foreign ways and institutions. On one occasion while in the +theatre, she called me to her side, and, giving me a chair, +inquired at length into the system of female education in +America. + +" 'I have heard,' she said, 'that in your honourable country all +the girls are taught to read.' + +" 'Quite so, Your Majesty.' + +" 'And are they taught the same branches of study as the boys?' + +" 'In the public schools they are.' + +" 'I wish very much that the girls in China might also be taught, +but the people have great difficulty in educating their boys.' + +"I then explained in a few words our public-school system, to +which she replied: + +" 'The taxes in China are so heavy at present that it would be +impossible to add another expense such as this would be.' + +"It was not long thereafter, however, before an edict was issued +commending female education, and at the present time hundreds of +girls' schools have been established by private persons both in +Peking and throughout the empire. + +"On another occasion, while the ladies were having refreshments, +the Empress Dowager requested me to come to her private +apartments, and while we two were alone together, with only a +eunuch standing by fanning with a large peacock-feather fan, she +asked me to tell her about the church. It was apparent from the +beginning of her conversation that she made no distinction +between Roman Catholics and Protestants, calling them all the +Chiao. I explained to her that the object of the church was the +intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of the people, +making them both better sons and better subjects. + +"Few women are more superstitious than the Empress Dowager. Her +whole life was influenced by her belief in fate, charms, good and +evil spirits, gods and demons. + +"When it was first proposed that she have her portrait painted +for the St. Louis Exposition, she was dumfounded. After a long +conversation, however, in which Mrs. Conger explained that +portraits of many of the rulers of Europe would be there, +including a portrait of Queen Victoria, and that such a painting +would in a way counteract the false pictures of her that had gone +abroad, she said that she would consult with Prince Ching about +the matter. This looked very much as though it had been tabled. +Not long thereafter, however, she sent word to Mrs. Conger, +asking that Miss Carl be invited to come to Peking and paint her +portrait. + +"We all know how this portrait had to be begun on an auspicious +day; how a railroad had to be built to the Foreign Office rather +than have the portrait carried out on men's shoulders, as though +she were dead; how she celebrated her seventieth birthday when +she was sixty-nine, to defeat the gods and prevent their bringing +such a calamity during the celebration as had occurred when she +was sixty, when the Japanese war disturbed her festivities. On +her clothes she wore the ideographs for 'Long Life and +'Happiness,' and most of the presents she gave were emblematic of +some good fortune. Her palace was decorated with great plates of +apples, which by a play on words mean 'Peace,' and with plates of +peaches, which mean 'Longevity.' On her person she wore charms, +one of which she took from her neck and placed on the neck of +Mrs. Conger when she was about to leave China, saying that she +hoped it might protect her during her journey across the ocean, +as it had protected herself during her wanderings in 1900, and +she would not allow any one to appear in her presence who had any +semblance of mourning about her clothing. + +"It is a well-known fact that no Manchu woman ever binds her +feet, and the Empress Dowager was as much opposed to foot-binding +as any other living woman. Nevertheless, she would not allow a +subject to presume to suggest to her ways in which she should +interfere in the social customs of the Chinese, as one of her +subjects did. This lady was the wife of a Chinese minister to a +foreign country, and had adopted both for herself and her +daughters the most ultra style of European dress. She one day +said to Her Majesty, 'The bound feet of the Chinese woman make us +the laughing-stock of the world.' + +" 'I have heard,' said the Empress Dowager, 'that the foreigners +have a custom which is not above reproach, and now since there +are no outsiders here, I should like to see what the foreign +ladies use in binding their waist.' + +"The lady was very stout, and had the appearance of an +hour-glass, and turning to her daughter, a tall and slender +maiden, she said: + +" 'Daughter, you show Her Majesty.' + +"The young lady demurred until finally the Empress Dowager said: + +" 'Do you not realize that a request coming from me is the same +as a command?' + +"After having had her curiosity satisfied, she sent for the Grand +Secretary and ordered that proper Manchu outfits be secured for +the lady's daughters, saying: + +" 'It is truly pathetic what foreign women have to endure. They +are bound up with steel bars until they can scarcely breathe. +Pitiable! Pitiable!' + +"The following day this young lady did not appear at court, and +the Empress Dowager asked her mother the reason of her absence. + +" 'She is ill to-day,' the mother replied. + +" 'I am not surprised,' replied Her Majesty, 'for it must require +some time after the bandages have been removed before she can +again compress herself into the same proportions,' indicating +that the Empress Dowager supposed that foreign women slept with +their waists bound, just as the Chinese women do with their +feet." + +The first winter I spent in China, twenty years ago, was one of +great excitement in Peking. The time of the regency of the +Empress Dowager for the boy-emperor had ended. I have explained +how a prince is not allowed to marry a princess because she is +his relative, or even a commoner his cousin for the same reason. +That is the rule. But rules were made to be broken, and when the +time came for Kuang Hsu's betrothal the Empress Dowager decided +to marry this son of her sister to the daughter of her brother. +It mattered not that the young man was opposed to the match and +wanted another for his wife. The Empress Dowager had set her +heart upon this union, and she would not allow her plans to be +frustrated, so an edict was issued that all people should remain +within their homes on a certain night, for the bride was to be +taken in her red chair from her father's home to the palace. So +that in this as in all other things her will was law for all +those about her. + +She was a bit below the average height, but she wore shoes, in +the centre of whose soles there were--heels, shall we call +them?--six inches high. These, together with her Manchu garments, +which hang from the shoulders, gave her a tall and stately +appearance and made her seem, as she was, every inch an empress. +Her figure was perfect, her carriage quick and graceful, and she +lacked nothing physically to make her a splendid type of +womanhood and ruler. Her features were more vivacious and +pleasing than they were really beautiful; her complexion was of +an olive tint, and her face illumined by orbs of jet half hidden +by dark lashes, behind which lurked the smiles of favour or the +lightning flashes of anger. + +When seated upon the throne she was majesty itself, but the +moment she stepped down from the august seat, and took ones hand +in both of hers, saying with the most amiable of smiles: "What a +kind fate it is that has allowed you to come and see me again. I +hope you are not over-weary with the long journey," one felt that +she was, above all, a woman, a companion, a friend--yet for all +that the mistress of every situation, whether diplomatic, +business, or social. + +I wish her mental characteristics could be described as +completely as Japanese and other photographers have given us +pictures of her person. But perhaps if this were possible she +would seem less interesting. And it may be that in the relation +of these few incidents of her career there may have been revealed +something of the patriotism, the statesmanship, the imperious +will, and the ambitions that brought about the reeestablishment +and the continuation of the dynasty of her people. We have seen +how the enemies of her country fell before her sword. Dangerous +statesmen fell before her pen, and if they were fortunate enough +to rise again with all their honour it was to be divested of all +their former power. Every obstacle in her path was overcome +either by diplomacy or by force. + +The Empress Dowager has no double in Chinese history, if indeed +in the history of the world. She not only guided the ship of +state during the last half century, but she guided it well, and +put into operation all the greatest reforms that have ever been +thought of by Chinese statesmen. Compared with her own people, +she stands head and shoulders above any other woman of the Mongol +race. And what shall we say of her compared with the great women +of other races? In strength of character and ability she will +certainly not suffer in any comparison that can be made. We +cannot, therefore, help admiring that young girl, who formerly +ran errands for her mother who, being made the concubine of an +emperor, became the mother of an emperor, the wife of an emperor, +the maker of an emperor, the dethroner of an emperor, and the +ruler of China for nearly half a century--all this in a land +where woman has no standing or power. Is it too much to say that +she was the greatest woman of the last half century? + + +VII + +Kuang Hsu--His Self-Development + + +The Emperor Kuang Hsu is slight and delicate, almost childish in +appearance, of pale olive complexion, and with great, melancholy +eyes. There is a gentleness in his expression that speaks rather +of dreaming than of the power to turn dreams into acts. It is +strange to find a personality so etherial among the descendants +of the Mongol hordes; yet the Emperor Kuaug Hsu might sit as a +model for some Oriental saint on the threshold of the highest +beatitude. --Charles Johnston in "The Crisis in China." + + + +VIII + +KUANG HSU--HIS SELF-DEVELOPMENT + +On the night that the son of the Empress Dowager "ascended upon +the dragon to be a guest on high," two sedan chairs were borne +out of the west gate of the Forbidden City, through the Imperial +City, and into the western part of the Tartar City, in one of +which sat the senior Empress and in the other the Empress-mother. +The streets were dimly lighted, but the chairs, each carried by +four bearers, were preceded and followed by outriders bearing +large silk lanterns in which were tallow-candles, while a heavy +cart with relays of bearers brought up the rear. The errand upon +which they were bent was an important one--the making of an +emperor--for by the death of Tung Chih, the throne, for the first +time in the history of the dynasty, was left without an heir. +Their destination was the home of the Seventh Prince, the younger +brother of their husband, to whom as we have already said the +Empress Dowager had succeeded in marrying her younger sister, who +was at that time the happy mother of two sons. + +She took the elder of these, a not very sturdy boy of three years +and more, from his comfortable bed to make him emperor, and one +can imagine they hear him whining with a half-sleepy yawn: "I +don't want to be emperor. I want to sleep." But she bundled +little Tsai Tien up in comfortable wraps, took him out of a happy +home, from a loving father and mother, and a jolly little baby +brother,--out of a big beautiful world, where he would have +freedom to go and come at will, toys to play with, children to +contend with him in games, and everything in a home of wealth +that is dear to the heart of a child. And for what? She folded +him in her arms, adopted him as her own son, and carried him into +the Forbidden--and no doubt to him forbidding--City, where his +world was one mile square, without freedom, without another child +within its great bare walls, where he was the one lone, solitary +man among thousands of eunuchs and women. The next morning when +the imperial clan assembled to condole with her on the death of +her son, she bore little Tsai Tien into their midst declaring: +"Here is your emperor." + +At that time there were situated on Legation Street, in Peking, +two foreign stores that had been opened without the consent of +the Chinese government, for in those days the capital had not +been opened to foreign trade. As the stores were small, and in +such close proximity to the various legations, the most of whose +supplies they furnished, they seem to have been too unimportant +to attract official attention, though they were destined to have +a mighty influence on the future of China. One of them was kept +by a Dane, who sold foreign toys, notions, dry-goods and +groceries such as might please the Chinese or be of use to the +scanty European population of the great capital. By chance some +of the eunuchs from the imperial palace, wandering about the city +in search of something to please little Tsai Tien, dropped into +this store on Legation Street and bought some of these foreign +toys for his infant Majesty. + +They had already ransacked the city for Chinese toys. They had +gone to every fair, visited every toy-shop, called upon every +private dealer, and paid high prices for samples of their best +work made especially for the royal child. There were crowing +cocks and cackling hens; barking dogs and crying infants; music +balls and music carts; horns, drums, diabolos and tops; there +were gingham dogs and calico cats; camels, elephants and fierce +tigers; and a thousand other toys, if only he had had other +children to share them with him. But none of them pleased him. +They lacked that subtile something which was necessary to +minister to the peculiar genius of the child. + +Among the foreign toys there were some in which there was +concealed a secret spring which seemed to impart life to the +otherwise dead plaything. Wind them up and they would move of +their own energy. This was what the boy needed,--something to +appeal to that machine-loving disposition which nature had given +him, and Budge and Toddy were never more curious to know "what +made the wheels go round" than was little Tsai Tien. He played +with them as toys until overcome by curiosity, when, like many +another child, he tore them apart and discovered the secret +spring. This was as much of a revelation to the eunuchs as to the +child, and they went and bought other toys of a more curious +pattern, and a more intricate design, and it was not long until, +at the instigation of the enterprising Dane, the toy-shops of +Europe were manufacturing playthings specially designed to please +the almond-eyed baby Emperor in the yellow-tiled palace in +Peking. + +As the child grew the business of the Dane shopkeeper increased. +His stock became larger and more varied, and Tsai Tien continued +to be a profitable customer. There were music boxes and music +carts--real music carts, not like those from the Chinese +shops,--trains of cars, wheeled boats, striking clocks and Swiss +watches which, when the stem was pulled, would strike the hour or +half or quarter, and all these were bought in turn by the eunuchs +and taken into the palace. As the Emperor grew to boyhood the +Danish shopkeeper supplied toys suitable to his years from his +inexhaustible shelves, until all the most intricate and wonderful +toys of Europe, suitable for a boy, had passed through the hands +of Kuang Hsu,--"continued brilliancy," as his name implied--and +he seemed to be making good the meaning of his name. + +We would not lead any one to believe that Kuang Hsu was an ideal +child. He was not. If we may credit the reports that came from +the palace in those days, he had a temper of his own. If he were +denied anything he wanted, he would lie down on his baby back on +the dirty ground and kick and scream and literally "raise the +dust" until he got it. My wife tells me that not infrequently +when she called at the Chinese homes, and they set before her a +dish of which she was especially fond, and she had eaten of it as +much as she thought she ought, the ladies would ask in a +good-natured way in reply to some of her remarks about her +voracious appetite, "Shall we get down and knock our heads on the +floor, and beg you not to eat too much, and make yourself sick, +like the eunuchs do to the Emperor?" There is nothing to wonder +at that Kuang Hsu, without parental restraint, and fawned upon by +cringing eunuchs and serving maids, should have been a spoiled +child; the wonder is that he was not worse than he was. + +One day in 1901 while the court was absent at Hsian, and the +front gate of the Forbidden City was guarded by our "boys in +blue," I obtained a pass and visited the imperial palace. The +apartments of the Emperor consisted of a series of one-story +Chinese buildings, with paper windows around a large central pane +of glass, tile roof and brick floor. The east part of the +building appeared to be the living-room, about twenty by +twenty-five feet. The window on the south side extended the +entire length of the room, and was filled with clocks from end to +end. There were clocks of every description from the finest +French cloisonne to the most intricate cuckoo clocks from which a +bird hopped forth to announce the hour, and each ticking its own +time regardless of every other. Tables were placed in various +parts of the room, on each of which were one, two or three +clocks. Swiss watches of the most curious and unique designs hung +about the walls. Two sofas sat back to back in the centre of the +room, and a beautiful little gilt desk on which was the most +wonderful of all his clocks, with several large foreign chairs +upholstered in plush and velvet, completed the furniture. I sat +down in one of these chairs to rest, for it was a hot summer day, +and immediately there proceeded from beneath me sweet strains of +music from a box concealed beneath the cushion. It was not only a +surprise, it was soothing and restful; and I was prepared to see +an electric fan pop out of somewhere and fan me to sleep. It was +really an Oriental fairy tale of an apartment. + +As Kuang Hsu grew to boyhood he heard that out in this great +wonderful world, which he had never seen except with the eyes of +a child, there was a method of sending messages to distant cities +and provinces with the rapidity of a flash of lightning. For +centuries he and his ancestors had been sending their edicts, and +their Peking Gazette or court newspaper--the oldest journal in +the world--by runner, or relays of post horses, and the +possibility of sending them by a lightning flash appealed to him. +He believed in doing things, and, as we shall see later, he +wanted to do them as rapidly as they could be done. He therefore +ordered that a telegraph outfit be secured for him, which he +"played with" as he had done with his most ingenious toys, and +the telegraph was soon established for court use throughout the +empire. + +One day a number of officials came to us at the Peking University +and in the course of a conversation they said: + +"The Emperor has heard that the foreigners have invented a talk +box. Is that true?" + +"Quite true," we replied, "and as we have one in the physical +laboratory of the college we will let you see it." + +We had one of the old Edison phonographs which worked with a +pedal, and looked very much like a sewing-machine, and we took +them to the laboratory, allowed one of them to talk into it, and +then set the machine to repeating what had been told it. The +officials were delighted and it was not long until they again +appeared and insisted on buying it as a present for the Emperor, +for in this way better than any other they might hope to obtain +official recognition and position. + +The Emperor then heard that the foreigners had invented a +"fire-wheel cart," but whether he had ever been informed that +they had built a small railroad at Wu-Sung near Shanghai, and +that the Chinese had bought it, and then torn it up and thrown it +into the river we cannot say. There are many things the officials +and people do which never reach the imperial ears. However that +may be, when Kuang Hsu heard of the railroad and the carts that +were run by fire, he wanted one, and he would not be satisfied +until they had built a narrow gauge railroad along the west shore +of the lotus lake in the Forbidden City, and the factories of +Europe had made two small cars and an engine on which he could +take the court ladies for a ride on this unusual merry-go-round. +The road and the cars and the engine were still there when I +visited the Forbidden City in 1901, but they were carried away to +Europe by some of the allies as precious bits of loot, before the +court returned. + +Not long after he had heard of the railroads, he was told that +the foreigners also had "fire-wheel boats." Of course he wanted +some, and as I crossed the beautiful marble bridge that spans the +lotus lake, I saw anchored near by three small steam launches +which had evidently been used a good deal. I saw similar launches +in the lake at the Summer Palace, and was told that in the play +days of his boyhood, Kuang Hsu would have these launches hitched +to the imperial barges and take the ladies of the court for +pleasure trips about the lake in the cool of the summer evenings, +as the Empress Dowager did her foreign visitors in later times. + +The Emperor in those days was on the lookout for everything +foreign that was of a mechanical nature. Indeed every invention +interested him. In this respect he was diametrically opposite to +the genius of the whole Chinese people. Their faces had ever been +turned backward, and their highest hopes were that they might +approximate the golden ages of the past, and be equal in virtue +to their ancestors. This feeling was so strong that a hundred +years before he mounted the throne, his forefather, Chien Lung, +when he had completed his cycle of sixty years as a ruler, +vacated in favour of his son lest he should reign longer than his +grandfather. Kuang Hsu was therefore the first occupant of the +dragon throne whose face was turned to the future, and whose +chief aim was to possess and to master every method that had +enabled the peoples of the West to humiliate his people. + +When he heard that the foreigners had a method of talking to a +distance of ten, twenty, fifty or five hundred miles, he did not +say like the old farmer is reported to have said,--"It caint be +trew, because my son John kin holler as loud as any man in all +this country, an' he caint be heerd mor'n two miles." Kuang Hsu +believed it, and at once ordered that a telephone be secured for +him. + +In 1894 the Christian women of China decided to present a New +Testament to the Empress Dowager on her sixtieth birthday which +occurred the following year. New type was prepared, the finest +foreign paper secured, and the book was made after the best style +of the printer's art, with gilt borders, gilt edges, and bound in +silver of an embossed bamboo pattern and encased in a silver box. +It was then enclosed in a red plush box,--red being the colour +indicating happiness, --which was in turn encased in a +beautifully carved teak-wood box, and this was enclosed in an +ordinary box and taken by the English and American ministers to +the Foreign Office to be sent in to Her Majesty + +The next day the Emperor sent to the American Bible Society for +copies of the Old and New Testaments, such as were being sold to +his people. A few days thereafter a Chinese friend--a +horticulturist and gardener who went daily to the palace with +flowers and vegetables--came to me in confidence as though +bearing an important secret, and said: + +"Something of unusual importance is taking place in the palace." + +"Indeed?" said I; "what makes you think so?" + +"Heretofore when I have gone into the palace," said he, "the +eunuchs have treated me with indifference. Yesterday they sat +down and talked in a most familiar and friendly way, asking me +all about Christianity. I told them what I could and they +continued their conversation until long after noon. I finally +became so hungry that I arose to come home. They urged me to +stay, bringing in a feast, and inviting me to dine with them, and +they kept me there till evening. One of them told me that the +Emperor is studying the Gospel of Luke." + +"How does he know that?" I inquired. + +"That is what I asked him," he answered, "and he told me that he +is one of the Emperor's private servants, and that His Majesty +has a part of the Gospel copied in large characters on a sheet of +paper each day, which he spreads out on the table before him, and +this eunuch, standing behind his chair, can read what he is +studying." + +On further inquiry I discovered that there was no other way that +the eunuch could have learned about the Gospel, except in the way +indicated. This man was invited to dine with the eunuchs day +after day until he had told them all he knew about Christianity, +after which they requested him to bring in the pastor of the +church of which he was a member, and who was one of my former +pupils, to dine with them and tell them more about the Gospel. +The pastor hesitated to accept the invitation, but as it was +repeated day after day, he finally accompanied the +horticulturist. + +When offered wine at dinner the pastor refused it, at which the +eunuch remarked: "Oh, yes, I have heard that you Christians do +not drink wine," and like a polite host, the wine was put aside +and none was drunk at the dinner. During the afternoon they took +their guests to visit some of the imperial buildings, advanced +the sum of three hundred dollars to the horticulturist to enlarge +his plant, and gave various presents to the pastor. + +It must not be inferred from this that the Emperor was becoming a +Christian. Very far from it, though the interest he took in the +Christian doctrine set the people to studying about it, not only +in Peking but throughout many of the provinces, as was indicated +at the time by the number of Christian books sold. As early as +1891 he issued a strong edict ordering the protection of the +missionaries in which he made the following statement: "The +religions of the West have for their object the inculcation of +virtue, and, though our people become converted, they continue to +be Chinese subjects. There is no reason why there should not be +harmony between the people and the adherents of foreign +religions." The Chinese reported that he sometimes examined the +eunuchs, lining them up in classes and catechising them from the +books read. + +One day three of the eunuchs called on me with this same +horticulturist, for the purpose no doubt of seeing a foreigner, +and to get a glimpse of the home in which he lived. One of them +was younger than the other two and above the average intelligence +of his class. A few days later the horticulturist told me a story +which illustrates a phase of the Emperor's character which we +have already hinted at--his impulsive nature and ungovernable +temper. He had ordered a number of the eunuchs to appear before +him, all of whom except this young man were unable to come, +because engaged in other duties. When the eunuch got down on his +hands and knees to kotow or knock his head to His Majesty, the +latter kicked him in the mouth, cutting his lip and otherwise +injuring him, and my informant added: + +"What kind of a man is that to govern a country, a man who +punishes those who obey his orders?" Indeed there was a good deal +of feeling among the Chinese at that time that the Empress +Dowager ought to punish the Emperor as a good mother does a bad +child, though in the light of all the other things he did, he was +to be pitied more than blamed for a disposition thus inherited +and developed. + +It was about this time he began the study of English. He ordered +that two teachers be appointed, and contrary to all former +customs he allowed them to sit rather than kneel while they +taught him. At the time they were selected I was exchanging +lessons in English for Chinese with the grandson of one of these +teachers, and learned a good deal about the progress the young +man was making. He was in such a hurry to begin that he could not +wait to send to England or America for books, and so the +officials visited the various schools and missions in search of +proper primers for a beginner. When they visited us we made a +thorough search and finally Dr. Marcus L. Taft discovered an +attractively illustrated primer which he had taken to China with +him for his little daughter Frances, and this was sent to Kuang +Hsu. + +One day a eunuch called on me saying that the Emperor had learned +that the various institutions of learning, educational +associations, tract and other societies had published a number of +books in Chinese which they had translated from the European +languages. I was at that time the custodian of two or three of +these societies and had a great variety of Chinese books in my +possession. I therefore sent him copies of our astronomy, +geology, zoology, physiology and various other scientific books +which I was at that time teaching in the university. + +The next day he called again, accompanied by a coolie who brought +me a present of a ham cooked at the imperial kitchen, together +with boxes of fruit and cakes, which, not being a man of large +appetite, I thanked him for, tipped the coolie, and after he had +gone, turned them over to our servants, who assured me that +imperial meat was very palatable. Day after day for six weeks +this eunuch visited me, and would never leave until I had found +some new book for His Majesty. They might be literary, scientific +or religious works, and he made no distinction between the books +of any sect or society, institution or body, but with an equal +zeal he sought them all. I was sometimes reduced to a sheet +tract, and finally I was forced to take my wife's Chinese medical +books out of her private library and send them in to the Emperor. +I learned that other eunuchs were visiting other persons in +charge of other books, and that at this time Kuang Hsu bought +every book that had been translated from any European language +and published in the Chinese. + +One day the eunuch saw my wife's bicycle standing on the veranda +and said: + +"What kind of a cart is that?" + +"That is a self-moving cart," I answered. + +"How do you ride it?" he inquired. + +I took the bicycle off the veranda, rode about the court a time +or two, while he gazed at me with open mouth, and when I stopped +he ejaculated: + +"That's queer; why doesn't it fall down?" + +"When a thing's moving," I answered, "it can't fall down," which +might apply to other things than bicycles. + +The next day when he called he said: + +"The Emperor would like that bicycle," and my wife allowed him to +take it in to Kuang Hsu, and it was not long thereafter until it +was reported that the Emperor had been trying to ride the +bicycle, that his queue had become entangled in the rear wheel, +and that he had had a not very royal tumble, and had given it +up,--as many another one has done. + + + +IX + +Kuang Hsu--As Emperor and Reformer + +In 1891 the present Emperor Kuang Hsu issued a very strong edict +commanding good treatment of the missionaries. He therein made +the following statement: "The religions of the West have for +their object the inculcation of virtue, and, though our people +become converted, they continue to be Chinese subjects. There is +no reason why there should not be harmony between the people and +the adherents of foreign religions." +--Hon. Charles Denby in "China and Her People." + + + +IX + +KUANG HSU--AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER + +AS a man, there are few characters in Chinese history that are +more interesting than Kuang Hsu. He had all the caprices of +genius with their corresponding weakness and strength. He could +wield a pen with the vigour of a Caesar, threaten his greatest +viceroys, dismiss his leading conservative officials, introduce +the most sweeping and far-reaching reforms that have ever been +thought of by the Chinese people, and then run from a woman as +though the very devil was after him. + +He has been variously rated as a genius, an imbecile and a fool. +Let us grant that he was not brilliant. Let us rate him as an +imbecile, and then let us try to account for his having brought +into the palace every ingenious toy and every wonderful and +useful invention and discovery of the past twenty or thirty years +with the exception of the X-rays and liquid air. Let us try to +explain why it was that an imbecile would purchase every book +that had been printed in the Chinese language, concerning foreign +subjects of learning, up to the time when he was dethroned. Let +us tell why it was that an imbecile would study all those foreign +books without help, without an assistant, without a teacher, for +three years, from the time he bought them in 1895 till 1898, +before he began issuing the most remarkable series of edicts that +have ever come from the pen of an Oriental monarch in the same +length of time. And let us explain how it was that an imbecile +could embody in his edicts of two or three months all the +important principles that were necessary to launch the great +reforms of the past ten years. + +I doubt if any Chinese monarch has ever had a more far-reaching +influence over the minds of the young men of the empire than +Kuang Hsu had from 1895 till 1898. The preparation for this +influence had been going on for twenty or thirty years previously +in the educational institutions established by the missions and +the government. From these schools there had gone out a great +number of young men who had taken positions in all departments of +business, and many of the state, and revealed to the officials as +well as to many of the people the power of foreign education. An +imperial college had been established by the customs service for +the special education of young men for diplomatic and other +positions, from which there had gone out young men who were the +representatives of the government as consuls or ministers in the +various countries of Europe and America. + +The fever for reading the same books that Kuang Hsu had read was +so great as to tax to the utmost the presses of the port cities +to supply the demand, and the leaders of some of the publication +societies feared that a condition had arisen for which they were +unprepared. Books written by such men as Drs. Allen, Mateer, +Martin, Williams and Legge were brought out in pirated +photographic reproductions by the bookshops of Shanghai and sold +for one-tenth the cost of the original work. Authors, to protect +themselves, compelled the pirates to deliver over the stereotype +plates they had made on penalty of being brought before the +officials in litigation if they refused. But during the three +years the Emperor had been studying these foreign books, hundreds +of thousands of young scholars all over the empire had been doing +the same, preparing themselves for whatever emergency the studies +of the young Emperor might bring about. + +One day during the early spring a young Chinese reformer came to +me to get a list of the best newspapers and periodicals published +in both England and America. I inquired the reason for this +strange move, and he said: + +"The young Chinese reformers in Peking have organized a Reform +Club. Some of them read and speak English, others French, others +German and still others Russian, and we are providing ourselves +with all the leading periodicals of these various countries that +we may read and study them. We have rented a building, prepared +rooms, and propose to have a club where we can assemble whenever +we have leisure, for conversation, discussion, reading, lectures +or whatever will best contribute to the ends we have in view." + +"And what are those ends?" I inquired. + +"The bringing about of a new regime in China," he answered. "Our +recent defeat by the Japanese has shown us that unless some +radical changes are made we must take a second place among the +peoples of the Orient." + +"This is a new move in Peking, is it not?" + +"New in Peking," he answered, "but not new in the empire. Reform +clubs are being organized in all the great cities and capitals. +In Hsian, books have been purchased by all classes from the +governor of the province down to the humblest scholar, and the +aristocracy have organized classes, and are inviting the +foreigners to lecture to them. Every one, except a few of the +oldest conservative scholars, are discarding their Confucian +theories and reconstructing their ideas in view of present day +problems. There is an intellectual fermentation now going on from +which a new China is certain to be evolved, and we propose to be +ready for it when it comes." + +The leader of this reform party was Kang Yu-wei, a young +Cantonese, who had made a thorough study of the reforms of Peter +the Great in Russia, and the more recent reforms in Japan, the +history of which he had prepared in two volumes which he sent to +the Emperor. He had made a reputation for himself in his native +place as a "Modern Sage and Reformer," was hailed as a "young +Confucius," was appointed a third-class secretary in the Board +of Works, and as the Emperor and he had been studying on the same +lines, Kang, through the influence of the brother of the chief +concubine, was introduced to His Majesty. He had a three hours' +conference with the Foreign Office, in which he urged that China +should imitate Japan, and that the old conservative ministers and +viceroys should be replaced by young men imbued with Western +ideas, who might confer with the Emperor daily in regard to all +kinds of reform measures. + +This interview was reported to Kuang Hsu by Prince Kung and Jung +Lu, who both being old, and one of them the greatest of the +conservatives, could hardly be expected to approve of his +theories. Kang, however, was asked to embody his suggestions in a +memorial, was later given an audience with the Emperor, and +finally called into the palace to assist him in the reforms he +had already undertaken. And if Kang Yu-wei had been as great a +statesman as he was reformer, Kuang Hsu might never have been +deposed. + +The crisis came during the summer of 1898. I had taken my family +to the seashore to spend our summer vacation. A young Chinese +scholar--a Hanlin--who had been studying in the university for +some years, and with whom I was translating a work on psychology, +had gone with me. He took the Peking Gazette, which he read +daily, and commented upon with more or less interest, until June +23d, when an edict was issued abolishing the literary essay of +the old regime as a part of the government examination, and +substituting therefor various branches of the new learning. "We +have been compelled to issue this decree," said the Emperor, +"because our examinations have reached the lowest ebb, and we see +no remedy for these matters except to change entirely the old +methods for a new course of competition." + +"What do you think of that?" I asked the Hanlin. + +"The greatest step that has ever yet been taken," he replied. + +This Hanlin was not a radical reformer, but one of a long line of +officials who were deeply interested in the preservation of their +country which had weathered the storms of so many +centuries,--storms which had wrecked Assyria, Babylonia, Media, +Egypt, Greece and Rome, while China, though growing but little, +had still lived. He was one of those progressive statesmen who +have always been found among a strong minority in the Middle +Kingdom. + +The Peking Gazette continued to come daily bringing with it the +following twenty-seven decrees in a little more than twice that +many days. I will give an epitome of the decrees that the reader +at a glance may see what the Emperor undertook to do. Summarized +they are as follows: + +1. The establishment of a university at Peking. + +2. The sending of imperial clansmen to foreign countries to study +the forms and conditions of European and American government. + +3. The encouragement of the arts, sciences and modern +agriculture. + +4. The Emperor expressed himself as willing to hear the +objections of the conservatives to progress and reform. + +5. Abolished the literary essay as a prominent part of the +governmental examinations. + +6. Censured those who attempted to delay the establishment of the +Peking Imperial University. + +7. Urged that the Lu-Han railway should be prosecuted with more +vigour and expedition. + +8. Advised the adoption of Western arms and drill for all the +Tartar troops. + +9. Ordered the establishment of agricultural schools in all the +provinces to teach the farmers improved methods of agriculture. + +10. Ordered the introduction of patent and copyright laws. + +11. The Board of War and Foreign Office were ordered to report on +the reform of the military examinations. + +12. Special rewards were offered to inventors and authors. + +13. The officials were ordered to encourage trade and assist +merchants. + +14. School boards were ordered established in every city in the +empire. + +15. Bureaus of Mines and Railroads were established. + +16. Journalists were encouraged to write on all political +subjects. + +17. Naval academies and training-ships were ordered. + +18. The ministers and provincial authorities were called upon to +assist--nay, were begged to make some effort to understand what +he was trying to do and help him in his efforts at reform. + +19. Schools were ordered in connection with all the Chinese +legations in foreign countries for the benefit of the children of +Chinese in those places. + +20. Commercial bureaus were ordered in Shanghai for the +encouragement of trade. + +21. Six useless Boards in Peking were abolished. + +22. The right to memorialize the throne in sealed memorials was +granted to all who desired to do so. + +23. Two presidents and four vice-presidents of the Board of Rites +were dismissed for disobeying the Emperor's orders that memorials +should be allowed to come to him unopened. + +24. The governorships of Hupeh, Kuangtung, and Yunnan were +abolished as being a useless expense to the country. + +25. Schools of instruction in the preparation of tea and silk +were ordered established. + +26. The slow courier posts were abolished in favour of the +Imperial Customs Post. + +27. A system of budgets as in Western countries was approved. + +I have given these decrees in this epitomized form so that all +those who are interested in the character of this reform movement +in China may understand something of the influence the young +Emperor's study had had upon him. Grant that they followed one +another in too close proximity, yet still it must be admitted by +every careful student of them, that there is not one that would +not have been of the greatest possible benefit to the country if +they had been put into operation. If the Emperor had been allowed +to proceed, making them all as effective as he did the Imperial +University, and if the ministers and provincial authorities had +responded to his call, and had made "some effort to understand +what he was trying to do," China might have by this time been +close upon the heels of Japan in the adoption of Western ideas. + +As the edicts continued to come out in such quick succession my +Hanlin friend became alarmed. He came to me one day after the +Emperor had censured the officials for trying to delay the +establishment of the Imperial University and said: + +"I must return to Peking." + +"Why return so soon?" I inquired. + +"There is going to be trouble if the Emperor continues his reform +at this rate of speed," he answered. + +It was when the Emperor had issued the sixth of his twenty-seven +decrees that this young Chinese statesman made this observation. +If his most intimate advisers had had the perspicuity to have +foreseen the final outcome of such precipitance might they not +have advised the Emperor to have proceeded more deliberately? +When one remembers how China had been worsted by Japan, how all +her prestige was swept away, how, from having been the parent of +the Oriental family of nations, a desirable friend or a dangerous +enemy, she was stripped of all her glory, and left a helpless +giant with neither strength nor power, one can easily understand +the eagerness of this boy of twenty-seven to restore her to the +pedestal from which she had been ruthlessly torn. + +Another reason for his haste may be found in the seizure of his +territory by the European powers. A few months before he began +his reforms two German priests were murdered by an irresponsible +mob in the province of Shantung. With this as an excuse Germany +landed a battalion of marines at Kiaochou, a port of that +province, which she took with fifty miles of the surrounding +territory. As though this were not enough, she demanded the right +to build all the railroads and open all the mines in the entire +province, and compelled the Chinese to pay an indemnity to the +families of the murdered priests and rebuild the church and +houses the mob had destroyed. China appealed to Russia who had +promised to protect her against all invaders. Instead of coming +to her aid, however, Russia demanded a similar cession of Port +Arthur, Talienwan and the surrounding territory which she had +refused to allow Japan to retain two years before. Not to be +outdone by the others, France demanded and received a similar +strip of territory at Kuang-chou-wan; and England found that +Wei-hai-wei would be indispensable as a kennel from which she +could guard the Russian bear on the opposite shore, but why she +should have found it necessary also to demand from China four +hundred miles of land and water around Hongkong was no doubt +difficult for Kuang Hsu to understand. + +When the Empress Dowager turned over the reins of government to +her nephew she did it very much as a father would place the reins +in the hands of a child whom he was teaching to drive an +important vehicle on a dangerous road --she sat behind him still +holding the reins. Among the things reserved were that he should +kotow to her once every five days whether she were in Peking or +at the Summer Place, and she reserved such seals of office as +made it necessary for all the highest officials to come and +express their obligations to her at the same time they came to +thank the Emperor. While Kuang Hsu may have been reconciled to +the performance of these duties at eighteen, they became irksome +at twenty-seven and he demanded and received full liberty in the +affairs of state. + +We have seen how he used his liberty,--not wisely, perhaps, as a +reformer, and yet the reformation of China can never be written +without giving the credit of its inception to Kuang Hsu. He was +very different from Hsien Feng, the husband of the Empress +Dowager, before whose death we are told "the whole administrative +power was vested in the hands of a council of eight, whilst he +himself spent his time in ways that were by no means consistent +with those that ought to have characterized the ruler of a great +and powerful nation." Whatever else may be said of Kuang Hsu, he +cannot be accused of indolence, extravagance, or indifference to +the welfare of his country or his people. + +Appreciating the difficulty of securing an expression of opinion +from those opposed to his views, and thus getting both sides of +the question, in his fourth edict he requested the conservatives +to send in their objections to his schemes for progress and +reform, and then as if to get the broadest possible expression of +opinion he adopted a Shanghai journal called Chinese Progress as +the official organ of the government. But lest this be +insufficient, in his twenty-second edict he gave the right to all +officials to address the throne in sealed memorials. + +There was at this time a third-class secretary of the Board of +Rites named Wang Chao who sent in a memorial in which he +advocated: + +1. The abolition of the queue. + +2. The changing of the Chinese style of dress to that of the +West. + +3. The adoption of Christianity as a state religion. + +4. A prospective national parliament. + +5. A journey to Japan by the Emperor and Empress Dowager. + +The Board of Rites opened and read this memorial, and, astounded +at its boldness, they summoned the offender before them, and +ordered him to withdraw his paper. This he refused to do and the +two presidents and four vice-presidents of the Board accompanied +it with a counter memorial denouncing him to the Emperor as a man +who was making narrow-minded and wild suggestions to His Majesty. + +Partly because they had opened and read the memorial and partly +because of their effort to prevent freedom of speech, Kuang Hsu +issued another edict explaining why he had invited sealed +memorials, and censuring them for explaining to him what was +narrow-minded and wild, as if he lacked the intelligence to grasp +that feature of the paper. He then turned them all over to the +Board of Civil Office ordering that body to decide upon a +suitable punishment for their offense, and assuring them that if +they made it too mild, his righteous wrath would fall upon them. +The latter decided that they be degraded three steps and removed +to posts befitting their lowered rank, but the Emperor revised +the sentence and dismissed them all from office, and this was the +beginning of his downfall. + +The Empress Dowager had been spending the hot season at the +Summer Palace, and during the two months and more that the +Emperor had been struggling with his reform measures, she gave no +indication, either by word or deed, that she was opposed to +anything that he had done. And I think that all her acts, from +that time till the close of the Boxer insurrection, can be +explained without placing her in opposition to his theories of +progress and reform. + +So long as the Emperor devoted himself to the creation of new +offices he found little active opposition on the part of the +conservatives, while the reformers did everything in their power +to encourage him. The extent of the movement it is not easy to +estimate. It opened up the intensely anti-foreign province of +Hupeh, and transformed it into a section where railroads were to +be built connecting the north with the south. It opened up the +great mining province of Shansi and the lumber regions of +Manchuria. It started railroads which are now lines of trade for +the whole empire. + +When he issued the fifth edict substituting Western science for +the literary essay in the great examinations, letters and +telegrams began to pour in upon us at the Peking University from +all parts of the empire, asking us to reserve room for the +senders in the school. Their tuition was enclosed in their +letters, and among those who came were the grandson of the +Emperor's tutor, graduates of various degrees, men of rank, and +the sons of wealthy gentlemen who had not yet obtained degrees. +Numerous requests came to our graduates to teach English in +official families, one being employed to teach the grandson of Li +Hung-chang, and another the sons of a relative of the royal +family. + +But when his reforms led the Emperor to dispense with useless +offices, as in his twenty-first, twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth +edicts, for the purpose of retrenchment, and to dismiss +recalcitrant officials for disobedience to his commands, a howl +arose which was heard throughout the empire. The six members of +the Board of Rites dismissed in edict twenty-three, with certain +sympathizers to give them face, went to the Empress Dowager at +the Summer Palace, represented to her that the boy whom she had +placed upon the throne was steering the ship of state to certain +destruction, and begged that she would come and once more take +the helm. She listened to them with the attention and deference +for which she has always been famed, and then dismissed them +without any intimation as to what her course would be. + +When the Emperor heard what they were doing, he sent a courier +post-haste to call Yuan Shih-kai for an interview at the palace. +When Yuan came, he ordered him to return to Tien-tsin, dispose +of his superior officer, the Governor-General Jung Lu, and bring +the army corps of 12,500 troops of which he was in charge to +Peking, surround the Summer Palace, preventing any one from going +in or coming out, thus making the Empress Dowager a prisoner, and +allowing him to go on with his work of reform. + +It is just here that we see the difference in the statesmanship +of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. When she appointed these +two officials, one a liberal in charge of the army, she placed +the other, a conservative, as his superior officer, so that one +could not move without the knowledge and consent of the other, +thus forestalling just such an order as this. To obey this order +of the boy Emperor, Yuan must commit two great crimes, murder and +treason, the one on a superior officer, and the other against her +who had appointed him to office and who had been the ruler of the +country for thirty-seven years, either of which would have been +sufficient to have execrated him not only in the eyes of his own +people but of history and of the world. Nay more, had he obeyed +this order, the conservatives would have raised the cry of +rebellion, and an army ten times greater than he could have +mustered, would have crushed Yuan and his little company of +12,500 men, on the plea that he was about to take the throne. + +Yuan then did the only wise thing he could have done. He went to +Jung Lu, without whose consent he had no right to move, showed +him the order, and asked for his commands. Jung Lu told him to +leave the order with him, and as soon as Yuan had departed he +took the train for Peking, called on Prince Ching, and they two +went to the Summer Palace and showed the order to Her Majesty, +suggesting to her that it might be well for her to come into the +city and give him a few lessons in government. + +As the Empress Dowager had been behaving herself so circumspectly +during all the summer months, allowing the Emperor to test +himself as a ruler, one can scarcely blame her for not wanting to +be bottled up in the Summer Palace when she had done nothing to +deserve it. When therefore this second delegation of officials, +consisting of the two highest in rank in the empire, came to +request her to once more take charge of the government, she +called her sedan chair and started for the capital. She went +without an army, but was accompanied by those of her palace +eunuchs on whom she could implicitly depend, and enough of them +to overcome those of the Emperor in case there should be trouble. +That force was necessary is evident from the fact that she +condemned to death a number of his servants after she had taken +the throne. + +When the Emperor heard that she was coming he sent a messenger +with letters urging Kang Yu-wei to flee, and to devise some means +for saving the situation, while he attempted to find refuge for +himself in the foreign legations. This however he failed to do, +but was taken by the Empress Dowager, and his career as a ruler +ended, and his life as a prisoner began. + + + +X + +Kuang Hsu--As a Prisoner + +Kuang Hsu deserves a place in history as the prize iconoclast. He +sent a cold shiver down the spine of the literati by declaring +that a man's fitness for office should not depend upon his +ability to write a poem, or upon the elegance of his penmanship. +This was too much. The literati argued that at the rate at which +the Emperor was going, it might be expected that he would do away +with chop-sticks and dispense with the queue. +--Rounsevelle Wildman in "China's Open Door." + + +X + +KUANG HSU--AS A PRISONER + +The year that Kuang Hsu ascended the throne a great calamity +occurred in Peking. The Temple of Heaven--the greatest of the +imperial temples, the one at which the Emperor announces his +accession, confesses his sins, prays and gives thanks for an +abundant harvest, was struck by lightning and burned to the +ground. When the Emperor worships here it is as the +representative of the people, the high priest of the nation, and +his prayers are offered for his country and not for himself. +There are no idols in this temple, and his prayers go up to +Shang-ti the Supreme Being "by whom kings reign and princes +decree justice." When therefore instead of giving rain Heaven +sent down a fiery bolt to destroy the temple at which the Son of +Heaven prays, the people were struck with dismay. + +The pale faces of the women, the apprehensive noddings of the +men, and the hushed voices of our old Confucian teachers as they +spoke of the matter, indicated the concern with which they viewed +it. Here was a boy who had been placed upon the throne by a +woman; he was the same generation as the Emperor who had preceded +him, and hence could not worship him as his ancestor. It augured +ill both for the Emperor and the empire, and so the boy Emperor +began his reign in the midst of evil forebodings. + +During the nine years that Kuang Hsu had nominal control of +affairs a series of dire calamities befell the empire. Famines as +the result of drought, floods from the overflow of "China's +Sorrow," war with Japan, filching of territory by the European +countries, while editorials appeared daily in the English papers +of the port cities to the effect that China was to be divided up +among the powers. Then too Kuang Hsu was childless and there was +no hope of his giving an heir to the throne. + +Times and seasons have their meanings for the Chinese. Anything +inauspicious happening on New Year's day is indicative of +calamity. Mr. Chen, a friend of mine, had become a Christian +contrary to his mother's wishes. When his first child was born it +was a girl, born on New Year's day. His mother shook her head, +looked distressed, and said that nothing but calamity would come +to his home. His second child was a boy, but the old woman shook +her head again and sighed saying that it would take more than one +boy to avert the calamity of ones first baby being a girl born on +New Year's day, and it was not until he had five boys in +succession that she was finally convinced. + +There was an eclipse of the sun on New Year's day of 1898 which +foreboded calamity to the Emperor. During the summer of this year +he began his great reform, and in September the Empress Dowager +took control of the affairs of state and Kuang Hsu was put in +prison, never again to occupy the throne. His prison was his +winter palace, where, for many months, he was confined in a +gilded cage of a house, on a small island, with the Empress +Dowager's eunuchs to guard him. These were changed daily lest +they might sympathize with their unhappy monarch and devise some +means for his liberation. Each day when the guard was changed, +the drawbridge connecting the island with the mainland was +removed, leaving the Emperor to wander about in the court of his +palace-prison, or sit on the southern terrace where it overlooked +the lotus lake, waiting, hoping and perhaps expecting that his +last appeal to Kang Yu-wei in which he said: "My heart is filled +with a great sorrow which pen and ink cannot describe; you must +go abroad at once and without a moment's delay devise some means +to save me," might bring forth some fruit. + +Whether this confinement interfered with the health of the +Emperor or not it is impossible to say, but from the first he was +made to pose as an invalid. As his failing health was constantly +referred to in the Peking Gazette, the foreigners began to fear +that it was the intention to dispose of the Emperor, and such +pressure was brought to bear on the government as led them to +allow the physician attached to the French legation to enter the +palace and make an examination of His Majesty. He found nothing +that fresh air and exercise would not remedy and assured the +government that there was no cause for alarm, and from that time +we heard nothing more of his precarious condition. + +One day not long after the coup d'etat a eunuch came rushing into +our compound, his face scratched and bleeding, and knocking his +head on the ground before me, begged me to save his life. + +"What is the matter?" I inquired. + +"Oh! let me join the church!" he pleaded. + +"What do you want to join the church for?" I asked. + +"To save my life," he answered. + +"But what is this all about?" I urged, raising him to his feet. + +"You know the eunuch who came to you to buy books," he said. + +I assured him that I knew him. + +"Well," he continued, "I am a friend of his. The Empress Dowager +has banished him, burned all the books he bought for the Emperor, +and I am in danger of losing my head. Let me join the church, and +thus save my life." + +All I could do was to inform him that this was not the business +of the church, and after further conversation he left and I never +saw him again. + +Day after day as the Emperor received the Peking Gazette on his +lonely island he saw one after another of his coveted reforms +vanish like mist before the pen of his august aunt. Nor was this +all, for often the rescinding edicts appeared under his own name, +and by the New Year, when he was brought forth to receive the +foreign ministers accredited to his court, scarcely anything +remained of all his reforms but the Peking University and the +provincial and other schools. It is not to be wondered at +therefore that he was reticent and despondent. What promises of +good behaviour it was necessary for him to make before he was +even allowed this much liberty, it is useless for us to +conjecture. + +Following this audience the Empress Dowager, who up to this time +had been seen by no foreigner except Prince Henry of Prussia, +decided to receive the wives of the foreign ministers. Her +motives for this new move it is impossible to determine. It may +have been to ascertain how the foreign governments would treat +her who had been reported to have calmly ousted "their great and +good friend the Emperor," to whom their ministers were +accredited. Or it may have been that she hoped by this stroke of +diplomacy to gain some measure of recognition as head of the +government. She would at least see how she was regarded. + +The audience was an unqualified success. The seven ladies +received were charmed by the gracious manner of their imperial +hostess, who assured them each as she touched her lips to the tea +which she presented to them that "we are all one family," and up +to that period of her life there was nothing to indicate that she +did not feel that the sentiment she expressed was true. Up to the +time of the coup d'etat, as Dr. Martin says, "she herself was +noted for progressive ideas." "It will not be denied by any one," +says Colonel Denby, "that the improvement and progress" described +in his first volume, "are mainly due to the will and power of the +Empress Regent. To her own people, up to this period in her +career, she was kind and merciful, and to foreigners she was +just." From the time of her return to the capital after their +flight in 1900 till the time of her death she became one of the +greatest reformers, if not the greatest, that has ever sat upon +the dragon throne. One cannot but wish therefore in the interests +of sentiment that it were possible to overlook many things she +did from 1898 to 1900, which in the interests of truth it will be +impossible to disregard. Nevertheless we should remember that she +was driven to these things by the filching of her territory by +the foreigners, and by the false pretentions of the superstitious +Boxers and their leaders, and in the hope of preserving her +country. + +Her first act after imprisoning Kuang Hsu was to offer a large +reward for his adviser Kang Yu-wei either alive or dead. Failing +to get him, "she seized his younger brother Kang Kuang-jen, and +with five other noble and patriotic young men of ability and high +promise, he was beheaded September 28th, while protesting that +though they might easily be slain, multitudes of others would +arise to take their places." One of my young Chinese friends who +watched this procession on its way to the execution grounds told +me that,-- + +"The scene was impossible to describe. These five young +reformers," after expressing the sentiments quoted above from Dr. +Smith, "reviled the Empress Dowager and the conservatives in the +most blood-curdling manner." + +I have already spoken of Wang Chao the secretary of the Board of +Rites who presented the memorial which caused the dismissal of +the six officials of that body, and, indirectly, the fall of the +Emperor. Some time before writing this petition he called at our +home requesting Mrs. Headland to go and see his mother who was +ill. When his mother recovered he sent her to Shanghai, and at +the time of the coup d'etat he failed to get out of the city and +went into hiding. Some days afterwards a closed cart drove up to +our home and to our astonishment he stepped forth. We expressed +our surprise that he was still in Peking, and asked: + +"Has the Empress Dowager ceased prosecuting her search for you +reformers?" + +"Not yet," he answered. + +"And what is she doing?" we inquired. + +"Killing some, banishing others, driving many away from the +capital, while still others are going into self-imposed exile." + +"Does the Emperor know anything about this?" we inquired. + +"No doubt," he replied. "Everybody knows it, why not he?" + +"That will make his imprisonment all the harder to bear," we +suggested. + +"Quite right," he answered. + +"There is general alarm in the city that the Emperor himself will +be disposed of; what do you think about it?" + +"Who can tell? He has not a friend in the palace except the first +concubine, and, I am told, that she like himself is kept in close +confinement. The Empress stands by her aunt, the Empress Dowager, +while the eunuchs now are all her tools. The officials who go +into the palace to audiences are all conservative and hence +against him, though I suppose they never see him." + +"Do you suppose he ever sees the edicts issued in his name?" + +"Not at all. They are made by the conservatives and the Empress +Dowager and issued without his knowledge." + +"And what do you propose to do?" we inquired. + +"I shall leave for Shanghai as soon as I can safely do so," he +replied. + +Before the year had passed the Empress Dowager had been induced +or compelled to select a new Emperor. We cannot believe that she +did it of her own free will, and for several reasons. First, the +child selected was the son and the grandson of ultra conservative +princes, and we cannot but believe that as she had placed herself +in the hands of the conservative party, it was their selection +rather than hers. Second, it must have been a humiliation to her +ever since she discovered that her nephew, whom she had selected +and placed upon the throne in order to keep the succession in her +own family, being the same generation as her son who had died, +could not worship him as his ancestor, and hence could not +legally occupy the throne, though as a matter of fact such a +condition is not unknown in Chinese history. + +But if her humiliation was great, that of our boy-prisoner was +still greater, for he was compelled to witness an edict, +proclaimed in his own name, which made him say that as there was +no hope of his having a child of his own to succeed him, he had +requested the Empress Dowager to select a suitable person who +should be proclaimed as the successor of Tung Chih, his +predecessor, thus turning himself out of the imperial line. That +this could not have been her choice is evidenced, further, by the +fact that just as soon as she had once more regained her power, +she surrounded herself with progressive officials, turned out all +the great conservatives except Jung Lu, and dispossessing the son +of Prince Tuan, at the time of her death selected her sister's +grandchild and proclaimed him successor to her son and heir to +the Emperor Kuang Hsu, in the following edict: + +"Inasmuch as the Emperor Tung Chih had no issue, on the fifth day +of the twelfth moon of that reign (January 12, 1875) an edict was +promulgated to the effect that if the late Emperor Kuang Hsu +should have a son, the said Prince should carry on the succession +as the heir of Tung Chih. But now the late Emperor has ascended +upon the dragon to be a guest on high, leaving no son, and there +is no course open but to appoint Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, the +Prince Regent, as the successor to Tung Chih, and also as heir to +the Emperor Kuang Hsu," which is quite in keeping with the +conduct and character of the Empress Dowager all her life except +those two bad years. + +During the days and weeks following the dispossession of Kuang +Hsu of the throne, in 1899 many decrees appeared which signified +that at no distant date he would be superseded by the son of +Prince Tuan. The foreign ministers began again to look grave. +They spoke openly of their fear that Kuang Hsu's days were +numbered. They pressed their desire for the usual New Year's +audience, and once more the imprisoned monarch was brought forth +and made to sit upon the throne and receive them. But when the +ladies asked for an audience they were refused, the Empress +Dowager being too busy with affairs of state. She was at that +time seriously considering whether or not the government should +cast in its lot with the Boxers and drive all the foreigners with +all their productions into the eastern sea. + +One of the princesses told Mrs. Headland that before coming to a +decision the Empress Dowager called the hereditary and imperial +princes into the palace to consult with them as to what they +would better do. She met them all face to face, the Emperor and +Prince Tuan standing near the throne. She explained to them the +ravages of the foreigners, how they were gradually taking one +piece after another of Chinese territory. + +"And now," she continued, "we have these patriotic braves who +claim to be impervious to swords and bullets; what shall we do? +Shall we cast in our lot with their millions and drive all these +foreigners out of China or not?" + +Prince Tuan, as father of the heir-apparent, uneducated, +superstitious and ignorant of all foreign affairs, then spoke. He +said: + +"I have seen the Boxers drilling, I have heard their +incantations, and I believe that they will be able to effect this +much desired end. They will either kill the foreigners or drive +them out of the country and no more will dare to come, and thus +we will be rid of them." + +The hereditary princes were then asked for an expression of +opinion. The majority of them knew little of foreigners and +foreign countries, and as Prince Tuan, the father of the future +Emperor, had expressed himself so strongly, they hesitated to +offer an adverse opinion. But when it came to Prince Su, a man of +strong character, widely versed in foreign affairs, and of +independent thought, he opposed the measure most vigorously. + +"Who," he asked, "are these Boxers? Who are their leaders? How +can they, a mere rabble, hope to vanquish the armies of foreign +nations?' + +Prince Tuan answered that "by their incantations they were able +to produce heaven-sent soldiers." + +Prince Su denounced such superstition as childish. But when after +further argument between him and Prince Tuan the Empress Dowager +assured him that she had had them in the palace and had witnessed +their prowess, he said no more. + +The imperial princes were then consulted, but seeing how Prince +Su had fared they were either in favour of the measure or +non-committal. Finally the Empress Dowager appealed to Prince +Ching who, more diplomatic than the younger princes, answered: + +"I consider it a most dangerous undertaking, and I would advise +against it. But if Your Majesty decides to cast in your lot with +the Boxers I will do all in my power to further your wishes." + +It is not a matter of wonder therefore that the Empress Dowager +should be led into such a foolish measure as the Boxer movement, +when the Prince who had been president of the Foreign Office for +twenty-five years could so weakly acquiesce in such an +undertaking. + +"The Emperor," said the Princess, "was not asked for an +expression of his opinion on this occasion, but when he saw that +the Boxer leaders had won the day he burst into tears and left +the room." + +Similar meetings were held in the palace on two other occasions, +when the Emperor implored that they make no attempt to fight all +the foreign nations, for said he, "the foreigners are stronger +than we, both in money and in arms, while their soldiers are much +better drilled and equipped in every way. If we undertake this +and fail as we are sure to do, it will be impossible to make +peace with the foreigners and our country will be divided up +amongst them." His pleadings, however, were disregarded, and +after the meeting was over, he had to return to his little +island, where for eight weeks he was compelled to sit listening +to the rattling guns, booming cannons and bursting firecrackers, +for the Boxers seemed to hope to exterminate the foreigners by +noise. He must have felt from the books he had studied that it +could only result in disaster to his own people. + +When the allies reached Peking and the Boxers capitulated the +Emperor was taken out of his prison and compelled to flee with +the court. + +"What do you think of your bullet-proof Boxers now?" one can +imagine they hear him saying to his august aunt, as he sees her +cutting off her long finger nails, dressing herself in blue +cotton garments, and climbing into a common street cart as an +ordinary servant. "Wouldn't it have been better to have taken my +advice and that of Hsu Ching-cheng and Yuan Chang instead of +having put them to death for endeavouring in their earnestness to +save the country? What about your old conservative friends? Can +they be depended upon as pillars of state?" Or some other +"I-told-you-so" language of this kind. + +From their exile in Hsian decrees continued to be issued in his +name, and when affairs began to be adjusted, and the allies +insisted on setting aside forever the pretentions of the +anti-foreign Prince Tuan and his son, banishing the former to +perpetual exile, our hopes ran high that the Emperor would be +restored to his throne. But to our disappointment the framers of +the Protocol contented themselves with the clause that: "Rational +intercourse shall be permitted with the Emperor as in Western +countries," and with the return of the court in 1902 he was still +a prisoner. + +Every one who has written about audiences with the Empress +Dowager tells how "the Emperor was seated near, though a little +below her," but they never tell why. The reason is not far to +seek. The world must not know that he was a prisoner in the +palace. They must see him near the throne, but they may not speak +to him. The addresses of the ministers were passed to her by her +kneeling statesmen, and it was they who replied. No notice was +taken of the Emperor though he seemed to be in excellent health. +The Empress Dowager however still relieved him of the burdens of +the government, and continued to "teach him how to govern." + +"I have seen the Emperor many times," Mrs. Headland tells me, +"and have spent many hours in his presence, and every time we +were in the palace the Emperor accompanied the Empress +Dowager--not by her side but a few steps behind her. When she +sat, he always remained standing a few paces in the rear, and +never presumed to sit unless asked by her to do so. He was a +lonely person, with his delicate, well-bred features and his +simple dark robes, and in the midst of these fawning eunuchs, +brilliant court ladies, and bejewelled Empress Dowager he was an +inconspicuous figure. No minister of state touched forehead to +floor as he spoke in hushed and trembling voice to him, no +obsequious eunuchs knelt when coming into his presence; but on +the contrary I have again and again seen him crowded against the +wall by these cringing servants of Her Majesty. + +"One day while we were in the palace a pompous eunuch had stepped +before the Emperor quite obliterating him. I saw Kuang Hsu put +his hands on the large man's shoulders, and quietly turn him +around, that he might see before whom he stood. There were no +signs of anger on his face, but rather a gentle, pathetic smile +as he looked up at the big servant. I expected to see him fall +upon his knees before the Emperor, but instead, he only moved a +few inches to the left, and remained still in front of His +Majesty. Never when in the palace have I seen a knee bend to the +Emperor, except that of the foreigner when greeting him or +bidding him farewell. This was the more noticeable as statesmen +and eunuchs alike fell upon their knees every time they spoke to +the Empress Dowager. + +"The first time I saw him his great, pathetic, wistful eyes +followed me for days. I could not forget them, and I determined +that if I ever had opportunity I would say a few words to him +letting him know that the world was resting in hope of his +carrying out the great reforms he had instituted. But he was so +carefully guarded and kept under such strict surveillance that I +never found an opportunity to speak to him. Nor did he ever speak +to the visitors, court ladies, the Empress Dowager, or attendants +during all the hours we remained. + +"One of the ministers told me that one day after an audience, +when the Empress Dowager and the Emperor had stepped down from +the dais, Her Majesty was engaged in conversation with one of his +colleagues, and as the Emperor stood near by, he made some remark +to him. Immediately the Empress Dowager turned from the one to +whom she had been talking and made answer for the Emperor. + +"On one occasion when there were but four of us in the palace, +and we were all comfortably seated, the Emperor standing a few +paces behind the Empress Dowager, she began discussing the Boxer +movement, lamenting the loss of her long finger nails, and +various good-luck gourds of which she was fond. The Emperor, +probably becoming weary of a conversation in which he had no +part, quietly withdrew by a side entrance to the theatre which +was playing at the time. For some moments the Empress Dowager did +not notice his absence, but the instant she discovered he was +gone, a look of anxiety overspread her features, and she turned +to the head eunuch, Li Lien-ying, and in an authoritative tone +asked: 'Where is the Emperor?' There was a scurry among the +eunuchs, and they were sent hither and thither to inquire. After +a few moments they returned, saying that he was in the theatre. +The look of anxiety passed from her face as a cloud passes from +before the sun--and several of the eunuchs remained at the +theatre. + +"I am told that at times the Empress Dowager invites the Emperor +to dine with her, and on such occasions he is forced to kneel at +the table at which she is seated, eating only what she gives him. +It is an honour which he does not covet, but which he dare not +decline for fear of giving offense." + + + +XI + +Prince Chun--The Regent + +Prince Chun the Regent of China gave a remarkable luncheon at the +Winter Palace to-day to the foreign envoys who gathered here to +attend the funeral ceremonies of the late Emperor Kuang Hsu. The +repast was served in foreign style. Among the Chinese present +were Prince Ching, former president of the Board of Foreign +Affairs and now adviser to the Naval Department; Prince Tsai +Chen, a son of Prince Ching, who was at one time president of the +Board of Commerce; Prince Su, chief of the Naval Department; and +Liaing Tung-yen, president of the Board of Foreign Affairs. After +the entertainment the envoys expressed themselves as unusually +impressed with the personality of the Regent. --Daily Press. + + + +XI + +PRINCE CHUN--THE REGENT + +The selection of Prince Chun as Regent for the Chinese empire +during the minority of his son, Pu I, the new Emperor, would seem +to be the wisest choice that could be made at the present time. +In the first place, he is the younger brother of Kuang Hsu, the +late Emperor, and was in sympathy with all the reforms the latter +undertook to introduce in 1898. If Kuang Hsu had chosen his +successor, having no son of his own, there is no reason why he +should not have selected Pu I to occupy the throne, with Prince +Chun as Regent, for there is no other prince in whom he could +have reposed greater confidence of having all his reform measures +carried to a successful issue; and a brother with whom he had +always lived in sympathy would be more likely to continue his +policy than any one else. + +But, in the second place, as we may suppose, Prince Chun was +selected by the Empress Dowager, whatever the edicts issued, and +will thus have the confidence of the party of which she has been +the leader. It is quite wrong to suppose that this is the +conservative party, or even a conservative party. China has both +reform and conservative parties, but, in addition to these, she +has many wise men and great officials who are neither radical +reformers nor ultra-conservatives. It was these men with whom the +Empress Dowager allied herself after the Boxer troubles of 1900. + +These men were Li Hung-chang, Chang Chih-tung, Yuan Shih-kai, +Prince Ching, and others, and it is they who, in ten years, with +the Empress Dowager, put into operation, in a statesmanlike way, +all the reforms that Kuang Hsu, with his hot-headed young radical +advisers, attempted to force upon the country in as many weeks. +There is every reason to believe that Prince Chun, the present +Regent, has the support of all the wiser and better element of +the Reform party, as well as those great men who have been +successful in tiding China over the ten most difficult years of +her history, while the ultra-conservatives at this late date are +too few or too weak to deserve serious consideration. We, +therefore, think that the choice of Pu I as Emperor, with Prince +Chun as Regent, whether by the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, or +both, was, all things considered, the best selection that could +have been made. + +Prince Chun is the son of the Seventh Prince, the nephew of the +Emperor Hsien Feng and the Empress Dowager, and grandson of the +Emperor Tao Kuang. He has a fine face, clear eye, firm mouth, +with a tendency to reticence. He carries himself very straight, +and while below the average in height, is every inch a prince. He +is dignified, intelligent, and, though not loquacious, never at a +loss for a topic of conversation. He is not inclined to small +talk, but when among men of his own rank, he does not hesitate to +indulge in bits of humour. + +This was rather amusingly illustrated at a dinner given by the +late Major Conger, American minister to China. Major and Mrs. +Conger introduced many innovations into the social life of +Peking, and none more important than the dinners and luncheons +given to the princes and high officials, and also to the +princesses and ladies of the court. In 1904, I was invited to +dine with Major Conger and help entertain Prince Chun, Prince Pu +Lun, Prince Ching, Governor Hu, Na T'ung, and a number of other +princes and officials of high rank. I sat between Prince Chun and +Governor Hu. Having met them both on several former occasions, I +was not a stranger to either of them, and as they were well +acquainted with each other, though one was a Manchu prince and +the other a Chinese official, conversation was easy and natural. + +We talked, of course, in Chinese only, of the improvements and +advantages that railroads bring to a country, for Governor Hu, +among other things, was the superintendent of the Imperial +Railways of north China. This led us to speak of the relative +comforts of travel by land and by sea, for Prince Chun had gone +half round the world and back. We listened to the American +minister toasting the young Emperor of China, his princes, and +his subjects; and then to Prince Ching toasting the young +President of the United States, his officials, and his people, in +a most dignified and eloquent manner. And then as the buzz of +conversation went round the table again, and perhaps because of +their having spoken of the YOUNG Emperor and the young President, +I turned to Governor Hu, who had an unusually long, white beard +which reached almost to his waist as he sat at table, and said: + +"Your Excellency, what is your honourable age?" + +"I was seventy years old my last birthday," he replied. + +"And he is still as strong as either of us young men," said I, +turning to Prince Chun. + +"Oh, yes," said the Prince; "he is good for ten years yet, and by +that time he can use his beard as an apron." + +"It is an ill wind that blows no one good," says the proverb, and +this was never more forcibly illustrated than in the case of the +death of the lamented Baron von Kettler. Had it not been for this +unfortunate occurrence, Prince Chun would not have been sent to +Germany to convey the apologies of the Chinese government to the +German Emperor, and he would thus never have had the opportunity +of a trip to Europe; and the world might once more have beheld a +regent on the dragon throne who had never seen anything a hundred +miles from his own capital. + +Prince Chun started on this journey with such a retinue as only +the Chinese government can furnish. He had educated foreign +physicians and interpreters, and, like the great Viceroy Li Hung- +chang, he had a round fan with the Eastern hemisphere painted on +one side and the Western on the other, and the route he was to +travel distinctly outlined on both, with all the places he was to +pass through, or to stop at on the trip, plainly marked. He was +intelligent enough to observe everything of importance in the +ports through which he passed, and it was interesting to hear him +tell of the things he had seen, and his characterization of some +of the people he had visited. + +"What did Your Highness think of the relative characteristics of +the Germans and the French, as you saw them?" I asked him at the +same dinner. + +"The people in Berlin," said he, "get up early in the morning and +go to their business, while the people in Paris get up in the +evening and go to the theatre." + +This may have been a bit exaggerated, but it indicated that the +Prince did not travel, as many do on their first trip, with his +mouth open and his eyes closed. + +After his return to Peking he purchased a brougham, as did most +of the other leading officials and princes at the close of the +Boxer troubles, and driving about in this carriage, he has been a +familiar figure from that time until the present. As straws show +the direction of the wind, these incidents ought to indicate that +Prince Chun will not be a conservative to the detriment of his +government, or to the hindrance of Chinas progress. + +It is a well-known fact that the Empress Dowager, in addition to +her other duties, took charge of the arrangement of the marriages +of all her nieces and nephews. One of her favourite Manchu +officials, and indeed one of the greatest Manchus of recent +years, though very conservative, and hence little associated with +foreigners, was Jung Lu. As the affianced bride of Prince Chun +had drowned herself in a well during the Boxer troubles, the +Empress Dowager engaged him to the daughter of the lady who had +been Jung Lu's first concubine, but who, as his consort was dead, +was raised to the position of wife. + +"This Lady Jung," says Mrs. Headland, "is some forty years of +age, very pretty, talkative, and vivacious, and she told me with +a good deal of pride, on one occasion, of the engagement of her +son to the sixth daughter of Prince Ching. And then with equal +enthusiasm she told me how her daughter had been married to +Prince Chun, 'which of course relates me with the two most +powerful families of the empire.' + +"I have met the Princess Chun on several occasions at the +audiences in the palace, at luncheons with Mrs. Conger, at a +feast with the Imperial Princess, at a tea with the Princess Tsai +Chen, and at the palaces of many of the princesses. She is a very +quiet little woman, and looked almost infantile as she gazed at +one with her big, black eyes. She is very circumspect in her +movements, and with such a mother and father as she had, I should +think may be very brilliant. Naturally she had to be specially +dignified and sedate at these public functions, as she and the +Imperial Princess were the only ones belonging to the old +imperial household, the descendants of Tao Kuang, who were +intimately associated with the Empress Dowager's court. She is +small, but pretty, and, as I have indicated, quiet and reticent. +She was fond of her father, and naturally fond of the Empress +Dowager, who selected her as a wife for her favourite nephew, +Prince Chun, to whom she promised the succession at the time of +their marriage. After her father's death, and while she was in +mourning, she was invited into the palace by the Empress Dowager, +where she appeared wearing blue shoes, the colour used in second +mourning. + +" 'Why do you wear blue shoes?' asked Her Majesty. + +" 'On account of the death of my father,' replied the Princess. + +" 'And do you mourn over your dead father more than you rejoice +over being in the presence of your living ruler?' the Empress +Dowager inquired. + +"It is unnecessary to add that the Princess 'changed the blue +shoes for red ones while she remained in the palace, so careful +has the Empress Dowager always been of the respect due to her +dignity and position." + +Having promised the regency to Prince Chun, we may infer that the +Empress Dowager would do all in her power to prepare him to +occupy the position with credit to himself, and in the hope that +he would continue the policy which she has followed during the +last ten years. Whenever, therefore, opportunity offered for a +prince to represent the government at any public function with +which foreigners were connected, Prince Chun was asked or +appointed to attend. I have said that it was the murder of the +German minister, Baron von Kettler, that gave Prince Chun his +opportunity to see the world. And just here I might add that an +account of the massacre of Von Kettler, sent from Canton, was +published in a New York paper three days before it occurred. This +indicates that his death had been premeditated and ordered by +some high authorities,--perhaps Prince Tuan or Prince Chuang, +Boxer leaders,--because the Germans had taken the port of +Kiaochou, and had compelled the Chinese government to promise to +allow them to open all the mines and build all the railroads in +the province of Shantung. + +After the Boxer troubles were settled, the Germans, at the +expense of the Chinese government, erected a large stone memorial +arch on the spot where Von Kettler fell. At its dedication, +members of the diplomatic corps of all the legations in Peking +were present, including ladies and children, together with a +large number of Chinese officials representing the city, the +government, and the Foreign Office, and Prince Chun was selected +to pour the sacrificial wine. He did it with all the dignity of a +prince, however much he may or may not have enjoyed it. On this +occasion he used one of the ancient, three-legged, sacrificial +wine-cups, which he held in both hands, while Na Tung, President +of the Foreign Office, poured the wine into the cup from a +tankard of a very beautiful and unique design. It is the only +occasion on which I have seen the Prince when he did not seem to +enjoy what he was doing. I ought to add just here that I have +heard the Chinese refer to this arch as the monument erected by +the Chinese government in memory of the man who murdered Baron +von Kettler! + +It is a well-known fact that the Boxers destroyed all buildings +that had any indication of a foreign style of architecture, +whether they belonged to Chinese or foreigner, Christian or +non-Christian, legation, merchant, or missionary. In the +rebuilding of the Peking legations, missions, and educational +institutions, there were naturally a large number of dedicatory +services. Many of the Chinese officials attended them, but I +shall refer to only one or two at which I remember meeting Prince +Chun. I believe it was the design of the Empress Dowager, as soon +as she had decided upon him as the Regent, to give him as liberal +an education in foreign affairs as the facilities in Peking would +allow. + +For many years the Methodist mission had tried to secure funds +from America to erect a hospital and medical school in connection +with the mission and the Peking University. This they found to be +impossible, and finally Dr. N. S. Hopkins of Massachusetts, who +was in charge of that work, consulted with his brother and +brother-in-law, who subscribed the funds and built the +institution. This act of benevolence on the part of Dr. Hopkins +and his friends appealed to the Chinese sense of generosity, and +when the building was completed, a large number of Chinese +officials, together with Prince Chun and Prince Pu Lun, were +present at its dedication. A number of addresses were made by +such men as Major Conger, the American minister, Bishop Moore, Na +Tung, Governor Hu, General Chiang, and others of the older +representatives, in which they expressed their appreciation of +the generosity which prompted a man like Dr. Hopkins to give not +only himself, but his money, for the education of the Chinese +youth and the healing of their poor. And I might add that Dr. +Hopkins is physician to many of the princes and officials in +Peking at the present time. + +During this reconstruction, a number of the colleges of north +China united to form a union educational institution. One part of +this scheme was a union medical college, situated on the Ha- +ta-men great street not a hundred yards north of the Von Kettler +memorial arch. To the erection of this building the wealthy +officials of Peking subscribed liberally, and the Empress Dowager +sent her check for 11,000 taels, equal to $9,000 in American +gold, and appointed Prince Chun to represent the Chinese +government at its dedication. At this meeting Sir Robert Hart +made an address on behalf of the foreigners, and Na Tung on +behalf of the Chinese. Although Prince Chun took no public part +in the exercises, he privately expressed his gratification at +seeing the completion of such an up-to-date hospital and medical +school in the Chinese capital. + +I have given these incidents in the life of Prince Chun to show +that he has had facilities for knowing the world better than any +other Chinese monarch or regent that has ever sat upon the dragon +throne, and that he has grasped the opportunities as they came to +him. He has been intimately associated with the diplomatic life +of the various legations, which is perhaps the most important +knowledge he has acquired in dealing with foreign affairs, as +these ministers are the channels through which he must come in +contact with foreign governments. He has been present at the +dedication of a number of missionary educational institutions, +and hence from personal contact he will have some comprehension +of the animus and work of missions and the character of the men +engaged in that work. He may have as a councillor, if he so +desires, the Prince Pu Lun, who has had a trip around the world, +with the best possible facilities for seeing Japan, America, +Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy, and who has been in +even more intimate contact with the diplomats and other +foreigners than has Prince Chun himself. My wife and I have dined +with him and the Princess both at the American legation and at +his own palace, and when we left China, they came together in +their brougham to bid us good-bye, a thing which could not have +happened a few years ago, and an indication of how wide open the +doors in China are now standing. + +On the whole, therefore, Prince Chun begins his regency with a +brighter outlook for his foreign relations than any other ruler +China has ever had. What shall we say of his Chinese relations? +Being the brother of Kuang Hsu, and himself a progressive young +man, he ought to have the support of the Reform party, and being +the choice of the Empress Dowager, he will have the support of +the great progressive officials who have had the conduct of +affairs for the last quarter of a century and more, and +especially for the past ten years, since the Emperor Kuang Hsu +was deposed. + + + +XII + +The Home of the Court--The Forbidden City + +The innermost enclosure is the Forbidden City and contains the +palace and its surrounding buildings. The wall is less solid and +high than the city wall, is covered with bright yellow tiles, and +surrounded by a deep, wide moat. Two gates on the east and west +afford access to the interior of this habitation of the Emperor, +as well as the space and rooms appertaining, which furnish +lodgment to the guard defending the approach to the dragon's +throne. --S. Wells Williams in "The Middle Kingdom." + + + +XII + +THE HOME OF THE COURT--THE FORBIDDEN CITY + +During the past ten years, since the dethronement of the late +Emperor Kuang Hsu, I have often been asked by Europeans visiting +Peking: + +"What would happen if the Emperor should die?" + +"They would put a new Emperor on the throne," was my invariable +answer. They usually followed this with another question: + +"What would happen if the Empress Dowager should die?" + +"In that case the Emperor, of course, would again resume the +throne," I always replied without hesitation. But during those +ten years, not one of my friends ever thought to propound the +question, nor did I have the wit to ask myself: + +"What would happen if the Emperor and the Empress Dowager should +both suddenly snap the frail cord of life at or about the same +time?" + +Had such a question come to me, I confess I should not have known +how to answer it. It is a problem that probably never presented +itself to any one outside of that mysterious Forbidden City, or +the equally mysterious spectres that come and go through its +half-open gates in the darkness of the early morning. There are +three parties to whom it may have come again and again, and to +whom we may perhaps be indebted both for the problem and the +solution. + +When the deaths of both of their Imperial Majesties were +announced at the same time, the news also came that the Japanese +suspected that there had been foul play. With them, however, it +was only suspicion; none of them, so far as I know, ever +undertook to analyze the matter or unravel the mystery. There is +no doubt a reasonable explanation, but we must go for it to the +Forbidden City, the most mysterious royal dwelling in the world, +where white men have never gone except by invitation from the +throne, save on one occasion. + +In 1901, while the court was in hiding at Hsianfu, the city to +which they fled when the allies entered Peking, the western half +of the Forbidden City was thrown open to the public, the only +condition being that said public have a certificate which would +serve as a pass to the American boys in blue who guarded the Wu +men, or front gate. I was fortunate enough to have that pass. + +My first move was to get a Chinese photographer--the best I +could find in the city--to go with me and take pictures of +everything I wanted as well as anything else that suited his +fancy. + +The city of Peking is regularly laid out. Towards the south is +the Chinese city, fifteen miles in circumference. To the north is +a square, four miles on each side, and containing sixteen square +miles. In the centre of this square, enclosed by a beautifully +crenelated wall thirty feet thick at the bottom, twenty feet +thick at the top and twenty-five feet high, surrounded by a moat +one hundred feet wide, is the Forbidden City, occupying less than +one-half a square mile. In this city there dwells but one male +human being, the Emperor, who is called the "solitary man." + +There is a gate in the centre of each of the four sides, that on +the south, the Wu men, being the front gate, through which the +Emperor alone is allowed to pass. The back gate, guarded by the +Japanese during the occupation, is for the Empress Dowager, the +Empress and the women of the court, while the side gates are for +the officials, merchants or others who may have business in the +palace. + +Through the centre of this city, from south to north, is a +passageway about three hundred feet wide, across which, at +intervals of two hundred yards, they have erected large +buildings, such as the imperial examination hall, the hall in +which the Emperor receives his bride, the imperial library, the +imperial kitchen, and others of a like nature, all covered with +yellow titles, and known to tourists, who see them from the +Tartar City wall, as the palace buildings. These, however, are +not the buildings in which the royal family live. They are the +places where for the past five hundred years all those great +diplomatic measures--and dark deeds--of the Chinese emperors and +their great officials have been transacted between midnight and +daylight. + +If you will go with me at midnight to the great gate which leads +from the Tartar to the Chinese city--the Chien men--you will hear +the wailing creak of its hinges as it swings open, and in a few +moments the air will be filled with the rumbling of carts and the +clatter of the feet of the mules on the stone pavement, as they +take the officials into the audiences with their ruler. If you +will remain with me there till a little before daylight you will +see them, like silent spectres, sitting tailor-fashion on the +bottom of their springless carts, returning to their homes, but +you will ask in vain for any information as to the business they +have transacted. "They love darkness rather than light," not +perhaps "because their deeds are evil," but because it has been +the custom of the country from time immemorial. + +Immediately to the north of this row of imperial palace +buildings, and just outside the north gate, there is an +artificial mound called Coal Hill, made of the dirt which was +removed to make the Lotus Lakes. It is said that in this hill +there is buried coal enough to last the city in time of siege. +This, however, was not the primary design of the hill. It has a +more mysterious meaning. There have always been spirits in the +earth, in the air, in every tree and well and stream. And in +China it has ever been found necessary to locate a house, a city +or even a cemetery in such surroundings as to protect them from +the entrance of evil spirits. "Coal Hill," therefore, was placed +to the north of these imperial palace buildings to protect them +from the evil spirits of the cold, bleak north. + +Just inside of that north gate there is a beautiful garden, with +rockeries and arbours, flowering plants and limpid artificial +streams gurgling over equally artificial pebbles, though withal +making a beautiful sight and a cool shade in the hot summer days. +In the east side of this garden there is a small imperial shrine +having four doors at the four points of the compass. In front of +each of these doors there is a large cypress-tree, some of them +five hundred years old, which were split up from the root some +seven or eight feet, and planted with the two halves three feet +apart, making a living arch through which the worshipper must +pass as he enters the temple. To the north of the garden and east +of the back gate there is a most beautiful Buddhist temple, in +which only the members of the imperial family are allowed to +worship, in front of which there is also a living arch like those +described above, as may also be found before the imperial temples +in the Summer Palace. This is one of the most unique and +mysterious features of temple worship I have found anywhere in +China, and no amount of questioning ever brought me any +explanation of its meaning. + +Now if you will go with me to the top of Coal Hill I will point +out to you the buildings in which their Majesties have lived. +There are six parallel rows of buildings, facing the south, each +behind the other, in the northwest quarter of this Forbidden +City, protected from the evil spirits of the north by the dagoba +on Prospect Hill. + +Perhaps you would like to go with me into these homes of their +Majesties--or, as a woman's home is always more interesting than +the den of a man, let me take you through the private apartments +of the greatest woman of her race--the late Empress Dowager. She +occupied three of these rows of buildings. The first was her +drawing-room and library, the second her dining-room and +sleeping apartments, and the third her kitchen. + +One was strangely impressed by what he saw here. There was no +gorgeous display of Oriental colouring, but there was beauty of a +peculiarly penetrating quality--and yet a homelike beauty. + +No description that can be written of it will ever do it justice. +Not until one can see and appreciate the paintings of the old +Chinese masters of five hundred years ago hanging upon the walls, +the beautiful pieces of the best porcelain of the time of Kang +Hsi and Chien Lung, made especially for the palace, arranged in +their natural surroundings, on exquisitely carved Chinese tables +and brackets, the gorgeously embroided silk portieres over the +doorways, and the matchless tapestries which only the Chinese +could weave for their greatest rulers, can we appreciate the +beauty, the richness, and the refined elegance of the private +apartments of the great Dowager. + +I went into her sleeping apartments. Others also entered there, +sat upon her couch, and had their friends photograph them. I +could not allow myself to do so. I stood silent, with head +uncovered as I gazed with wonder and admiration at the bed, with +its magnificently embroidered curtains hanging from the ceiling +to the floor, its yellow-satin mattress ten feet in length and +its great round, hard pillow, with the delicate silk spreads +turned back as though it were prepared for Her Majesty's return. +On the opposite side of the room there was a brick kang bed, such +as we find in the homes of all the Chinese of the north, where +her maids slept, or sat like silent ghosts while the only woman +that ever ruled over one-third of the human race took her rest. +The furnishings were rich but simple. No plants, no intricate +carvings to catch the dust, nothing but the two beds and a small +table, with a few simple and soothing wall decorations, and the +monotonous tick-tock of a great clock to lull her to sleep. + +If Shakespeare could say with an English monarch in his mind, +"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," we might repeat it +with added emphasis of Tze Hsi. For forty years she had to rise +at midnight, winter as well as summer, and go into the dark, +dreary, cold halls of the palace, lighted much of the time with +nothing but tallow dips, and heated only with brass braziers +filled with charcoal, and there sit behind a screen where she +could see no one, and no one could see her, and listen to the +reports of those who came to these dark audiences. Then she must, +in conjunction with them, compose edicts which were sent out to +the Peking Gazette, the oldest and poorest newspaper in the +world, to be carved on blocks, and printed, and then sent by +courier to every official in the empire. Ruling over a conquered +race, she must always be watching out for signs of discontent and +rebellion; being herself the daughter of a poor man, and +beginning as only the concubine of an emperor, and he but a weak +character, she must be alert for dissatisfaction on the part of +the princes who might have some title to the throne. She must +watch the governors in the distant provinces and the viceroys who +are in charge of great armies, that they do not direct them +against instead of in defense of the throne. + +When her husband died while a fugitive two hundred miles from her +palace, she must see to it that her three-year-old child was +placed upon the throne with her own hand at the helm, and when he +died she must also be ready with a successor, who would give her +another lease of office. Even when he became of age and took the +throne she must watch over him like a guardian, to prevent his +bringing down upon their own heads the structure which she had +builded. Nay, more, when it became necessary for her to dethrone +him and rule in his name, banishing his friends and pacifying his +enemies, keeping him a prisoner in his palace, it required a +courage that was titanic to do so. But she never flinched, though +we may suppose that many of her poorest subjects, who could sleep +from dark till daylight with nothing but a brick for a pillow, +might have rested more peacefully than she. + +She had a myriad of other duties to perform. She was the +mother-in-law of that imperial household, with the Emperor, the +Empress, sixty concubines, two thousand eunuchs, and any number +of court ladies and maid-servants. Their expenses were enormous +and she must keep her eye on every detail. The food they ate was +similar to that used by all the Chinese people. I happen to know +this, because one of her eunuchs who visited me frequently to ask +my assistance in a matter which he had undertaken for the +Emperor, often brought me various kinds of meat, or other +delicacies of a like nature, from the imperial kitchens. + +I want you to visit three of the imperial temples in these +beautiful palace grounds. The first is a tall, three-story +building at the head of that magnificent Lotus Lake. In it there +stands a Buddhist deity with one thousand heads and one thousand +arms and hands. Standing upon the ground floor its head reaches +almost to the roof. Its body, face and arms are as white as snow. +There is nothing else in the building--nothing but this +mild-faced Buddhist divinity for that brilliant, black-eyed ruler +of Chinas millions to worship. + +Standing near by is another building of far greater beauty. It is +faced all over with encaustic tiles, each made at the kiln a +thousand miles away, for the particular place it was to occupy. +Each one fits without a flaw, a suggestion to American architects +on Chinese architecture. + +The second of these temples stands to the west of the Coal Hill, +immediately to the north of the homes of their Majesties. One day +while passing through the forbidden grounds I came upon this +temple from the rear. In the dome of one of the buildings is a +circular space some ten feet in diameter, carved and gilded in +the form of two magnificent dragons after the fabled pearl. It is +to this place the Emperor goes in time of drought to confess his +sins, for he confesses to the gods that the drought is all his +doing, and to pray for forgiveness, and for rain to enrich the +thirsty land. The towers on the corners of the wall of the +Forbidden City are the same style of architecture as the small +pavilion in the front court of this temple. + +Now as the buds of spring are bursting and the eaves on the +mulberry-trees are beginning to develop, will you go with the +Empress Dowager or the Empress into a temple on Prospect Hill, +between the Coal Hill and the Lotus Lake, where she offers +sacrifices to the god of the silkworm and prays for a prosperous +year on the work of that little insect? Above it stands one of +the most hideous bronze deities I have ever seen--male and +naked--in a beautiful little shrine, every tile of which is made +in the form of a Buddha's head. During the occupation tourists +were allowed to visit this place freely, and their desire for +curios overcoming their discretion, they knocked the heads off +these tiles until, when the place was closed, there was not a +single tile which had not been defaced. + +One other building in the Forbidden City is worthy of our +attention. It is the art gallery. It is not generally known that +China is the parent of all Oriental art. We know something of the +art of Japan but little about that of China. And yet the best +Japanese artists have never hoped for anything better than to +equal their Chinese teacher. In this art gallery there are stored +away the finest specimens of the old masters for ten centuries or +more, together with portraits of all the noted emperors. Among +these portraits we may now find two of the Empress Dowager, one +painted by Miss Carl, and another by Mr. Vos, a well-known +American portrait painter. + + + +XIII + +The Ladies of the Court + +I love to talk with my people of their Majesties, the princesses, +and the Chinese ladies, as I have seen and known them. Your +friendship I will always remember. Her Majesty, your imperial +sister, found a warm place in my heart and is treasured there. +Please extend to the Imperial Princess my cordial greetings and +to the other princesses my best of good wishes. +--Mrs. E. H. Conger, in a letter to the Princess Shun. + + + +XIII + +THE LADIES OF THE COURT + +The leading figure of the court is Yehonala, wife of the late +Emperor Kuang Hsu. She has always been called the Young Empress, +but is now the Empress Dowager. After the great Dowager was made +the concubine of Hsien Feng, she succeeded in arranging a +marriage, as we have seen, between her younger sister and the +younger brother of her husband, the Seventh Prince, as he was +called, father of Kuang Hsu and the present regent. + +The world knows how, in order to keep the succession in her own +family, she took the son of this younger sister, when her own son +the Emperor Tung Chih died, and made him the Emperor Kuang Hsu +when he was but little more than three years of age. When the +time came for him to wed, she arranged that he should marry his +cousin, Yehonala, the daughter of her favourite brother, Duke +Kuei. This Kuang Hsu was not inclined to do, as his affections +seem to have been centred on another. The great Dowager, however, +insisted upon it, and he finally made her Empress, and to +satisfy,--or shall we say appease him?--she allowed him to take +as his first concubine the lady he wanted as his wife; and it was +currently reported in court circles that when Yehonala came into +his presence he not infrequently kicked off his shoe at her, a +bit of conduct that is quite in keeping with the temper usually +attributed to Kuang Hsu during those early years. This may +perhaps explain why she stood by the great Dowager through all +the troublous times of 1898 and 1900, in spite of the fact that +her imperial aunt had taken her husband's throne. + +Mrs. Headland tells me that "Yehonala is not at all beautiful, +though she has a sad, gentle face. She is rather stooped, +extremely thin, her face long and sallow, and her teeth very much +decayed. Gentle in disposition, she is without self-assertion, +and if at any of the audiences we were to greet her she would +return the greeting, but would never venture a remark. At the +audiences given to the ladies she was always present, but never +in the immediate vicinity of either the Empress Dowager or the +Emperor. She would sometimes come inside the great hall where +they were, but she always stood in some inconspicuous place in +the rear, with her waiting women about her, and as soon as she +could do so without attracting attention, she would withdraw into +the court or to some other room. In the summer-time we sometimes +saw her with her servants wandering aimlessly about the court. +She had the appearance of a gentle, quiet, kindly person who was +always afraid of intruding and had no place or part in anything. +And now she is the Empress Dowager! It seems a travesty on the +English language to call this kindly, gentle soul by the same +title that we have been accustomed to use in speaking of the +woman who has just passed away." + +My wife tells me that,--"A number of years ago I was called to +see Mrs. Chang Hsu who was suffering from a nervous breakdown due +to worry and sleeplessness. On inquiry I discovered that her two +daughters had been taken into the palace as concubines of the +Emperor Kuang Hsu. Her friends feared a mental breakdown, and +begged me to do all I could for her. She took me by the hand, +pulled me down on the brick bed beside her, and told me in a +pathetic way how both of her daughters had been taken from her in +a single day. + +" 'But they have been taken into the palace,' I urged, to try to +comfort her, 'and I have heard that the Emperor is very fond of +your eldest daughter, and wanted to make her his empress.' + +" 'Quite right,' she replied, 'but what consolation is there in +that? They are only concubines, and once in the palace they are +dead to me. No matter what they suffer, I can never see them or +offer them a word of comfort. I am afraid of the court intrigues, +and they are only children and cannot understand the duplicity of +court life--I fear for them, I fear for them,' and she swayed +back and forth on her brick bed. + +"Time, however, the great healer with a little medicine and +sympathy to quiet her nerves, brought about a speedy recovery, +though in the end her fears proved all too true." + +In 1897 the brother of this first concubine met Kang Yu-wei in +the south, and became one of his disciples. Upon his return to +Peking, knowing of the Emperor's desire for reform, and his +affection for his sister, he found means of communicating with +her about the young reformer. + +At the time of the coup d'etat, and the imprisonment of the +Emperor, this first concubine was degraded and imprisoned on the +ground of having been the means of introducing Kang Yu-wei to the +notice of the Emperor, and thus interfering in state affairs. She +continued in solitary confinement from that time until the flight +of the court in 1900 when in their haste to get away from the +allies she was overlooked and left in the palace. When she +discovered that she was alone with the eunuchs, fearing that she +might become a victim to the foreign soldiers, she took her life +by jumping into a well. On the return of the court in 1902, the +Empress Dowager bestowed upon her posthumous honours, in +recognition of her conduct in thus taking her life and protecting +her virtue. + +Some conception of the haste and disorder with which the court +left the capital on that memorable August morning may be gleaned +from the fact that her sister was also overlooked and with a +eunuch fled on foot in the wake of the departing court. She was +overtaken by Prince Chuang who was returning in his chair from +the palace, where, with Prince Ching, he had been to inform their +Majesties that the allies were in possession of the city. The +eunuch, recognizing him, called his attention to the fleeing +concubine, who, when he had alighted and greeted her, begged him +to find her a cart that she might follow the court. Presently a +dilapidated vehicle came by in which sat an old man. The Prince +ordered him to give the cart to the concubine and sent her to his +palace where a proper conveyance was secured, and she overtook +the court at the Nankow pass. + +At the audiences, this concubine was always in company with the +Empress Yehonala, standing at her left. She, however, lacked both +the beauty and intelligence of her sister. + +The ladies of the court, who were constantly associated with the +Empress Dowager as her ladies in waiting, are first, the Imperial +Princess, the daughter of the late Prince Kung, the sixth brother +of the Empress Dowager's husband. Out of friendship for her +father, the Empress Dowagers adopted her as their daughter, +giving her all the rights, privileges and titles of the daughter +of an empress. She is the only one in the empire who is entitled +to ride in a yellow chair such as is used by the Empress Dowager, +the Emperor or Empress. The highest of the princes--even Prince +Ching himself--has to descend from his chair if he meet her. Yet +when this lady is in the palace, no matter how she may be +suffering, she dare not sit down in the presence of Her Majesty. + +"One day when we were in the palace," says Mrs. Headland, "the +Imperial Princess was suffering from such a severe attack of +lumbago, that she could scarcely stand. I suggested to her that +she retire to the rear of the room, behind some of the pillars +and rest a while. + +" 'I dare not do that,' she replied; 'we have no such a custom in +China.' " + +She is austere in manner, plain in appearance, dignified in +bearing, about sixty-five years of age, and is noted for her +accomplishment in making the most graceful courtesy of any lady +in the court. + +During the Boxer troubles and the occupation, her palace was +plundered and very much injured, and she escaped in her stocking +feet through a side door. At the first luncheon given at her +palace thereafter, she apologized for its desolate appearance, +saying that it had been looted by the Boxers, though we knew it +had been looted by the allies. At later luncheons, however, she +had procured such ornaments as restored in some measure its +original beauty and grandeur, though none of these dismantled +palaces will regain their former splendour for many years to +come. + +Next to the Imperial Princess are the two sisters of Yehonala, +one of whom is married to Duke Tse, who was head of the +commission that made the tour of the world to inquire as to the +best form of government to be adopted by China in her efforts at +renovation and reform. It is not too much to suppose that it was +because the Duke was married to the Empress Dowager's niece that +he was made the head of this commission, which after its return +advised the adoption of a constitution. The other sister is the +wife of Prince Shun, and is the opposite of the Empress. She is +stout, but beautiful. She has always been the favourite niece of +the Empress Dowager, appeared at all the functions, and though +very sedate when foreign ladies were present at an audience, I +was told by the Chinese that when the imperial family were alone +together she was the life of the company. She would even stand +behind the Empress Dowager's chair "making such grimaces," the +Chinese expressed it, as to make it almost impossible for the +others to retain their equilibrium. As she was the youngest of +the three sisters, and because of her happy disposition, the +Chinese nicknamed her hsiao kuniang, "the little girl." These +three sisters are all childless. + +The Princess Shun and Princess Tsai Chen, only daughter-in-law of +Prince Ching, herself the daughter of a viceroy, were very +congenial, and the most intimate friends of all those in court +circles. The latter is beautiful, brilliant, quick, tactful, and +graceful. Of all the ladies of the court she is the most witty +and, with Princess Shun, the most interesting. These two more +than any others made the court ladies easy to entertain at all +public functions, for they were full of enthusiasm and tried to +help things along. They seemed to feel that they were personally +responsible for the success of the audience or the luncheon as a +social undertaking. + +Lady Yuan is one of two of these court ladies who dwelt with the +Empress Dowager in the palace, the other being Prince Ching's +fourth daughter. She is a niece by marriage of the Empress +Dowager, though she really was never married. The nephew of the +Empress Dowager, to whom she was engaged, though she had never +seen him, died before they were married. After his death, but +before his funeral, she dressed herself as a widow, and in a +chair covered with white sackcloth went to his home, where she +performed the ceremonies proper for a widow, which entitled her +to take her position as his wife. Such an act is regarded as very +meritorious in the eyes of the Chinese, and no women are more +highly honoured than those who have given themselves in this way +to a life of chastity. + +The second of these ladies who remained in the palace with the +Empress Dowager is the fourth daughter of Prince Ching. Married +to the son of a viceroy, their wedded life lasted only a few +months. She was taken into the palace, and being a widow, she +neither wears bright colours nor uses cosmetics. She is a fine +scholar, very devout, and spends much of her time in studying the +Buddhist classics. She is considered the most beautiful of the +court ladies. + +The Empress Dowager took charge of most of the domestic matters +of all her relatives, taking into the palace and associating with +her as court ladies some who were widowed in their youth, and +keeping constantly with her only those whom she has elevated to +positions of rank, or members of her own family. Nor was she too +busy with state affairs to stop and settle domestic quarrels. + +Among the court ladies there was one who was married to a prince +of the second order. Her husband is still living, but as they +were not congenial in their wedded life, the Empress Dowager made +herself a kind of foster-mother to the Princess and banished her +husband to Mongolia, an incident which reveals to us another +phase of the great Dowager's character--that of dealing with +fractious husbands. + + + +XIV + +The Princesses--Their Schools + +The position accorded to woman in Chinese society is strictly a +domestic one, and, as is the case in other Eastern countries, she +is denied the liberty which threatens to attain such amazing +proportions in the West. There is no reason to suppose that woman +in China is treated worse than elsewhere; but people can of +course paint her condition just as fancy seizes them. They are +rarely admitted into the domestic surroundings of Chinese homes, +therefore there is nothing to curb the imagination. The truth is +that just as much may be said on one side as on the other. +Domestic happiness is in China--as everywhere else the world +over--a lottery. The parents invariably select partners in +marriage for their sons and daughters, and sometimes make as +great blunders as the young people would if left to themselves. + --Harold E. Gorst in "China." + + + +XIV + +THE PRINCESSES--THEIR SCHOOLS[1] + +[1] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + +One day while making a professional call on the Princess Su our +conversation turned to female education in China. I was deeply +interested in the subject, and was aware that the Prince had +established a school for the education of his daughters and the +women of his palace, and was naturally pleased when the Princess +asked: + +"Would you care to visit our school when it is in session?" + +"Nothing would please me more," I answered. "When may I do so?" + +"Could you come to-morrow morning?" she inquired. + +"With pleasure; at what time?" + +"I will send my cart for you." + +The following morning the Prince's cart appeared. It was lined +with fur, upholstered in satin, furnished with cushions, and +encircled by a red band which indicated the rank of its owner. A +venerable eunuch, the head of the palace servants, preceded it as +an outrider, and assisted me in mounting and dismounting, while +the driver in red-tasselled hat walked decorously by the side. + +The school occupies a large court in the palace grounds. Another +evidence of Western influence in the same court is a large +two-story house of foreign architecture where the Prince receives +his guests. Prince Su was the first to have this foreign +reception hall, but he has been followed in this respect by other +officials and princes as well as by the Empress Dowager. + +"This is not unlike our foreign compounds," I remarked to the +Princess as we entered the court. + +"Yes," she replied, "the Prince does not care to have the court +paved, but prefers to have it sodded and filled with flowers and +shrubs." + +The school building was evidently designed for that purpose, +being light and airy with the whole southern exposure made into +windows, and covered with a thin white paper which gives a soft, +restful light and shuts out the glare of the sun. The floor is +covered with a heavy rope matting while the walls are hung with +botanical, zoological and other charts. Besides the usual +furniture for a well-equipped schoolroom, it was heated with a +foreign stove, had glass cases for their embroidery and drawing +materials, and a good American organ to direct them in singing, +dancing and calisthenics. + +I arrived at recess. The Princess took me into the teacher's den, +which was cut off from the main room by a beautifully carved +screen. Here I was introduced to the Japanese lady teacher and +served with tea. She spoke no English and but little Chinese, and +the embarrassment of our effort to converse was only relieved by +the ringing of the bell for school. The pupils, consisting of the +secondary wives and daughters of the Prince, his son's wife, and +the wives and daughters of his dead brother who make their home +with him, entered in an orderly way and took their seats. When +the teacher came into the room the ladies all arose and remained +standing until she took her place before her desk and made a low +bow to which they all responded in unison. This is the custom in +all of the schools I have visited. Even where the superintendent +is Chinese, the pupils stand and make a low Japanese bow at the +beginning and close of each recitation. + +"How long has the school been in session?" I asked the Princess. + +"Three and a half months," she replied. + +"And they have done all this embroidery and painting in that +time?" + +"They have, and in addition have pursued their Western studies," +she explained. + +In arithmetic the teacher placed the examples on the board, the +pupils worked them on their slates, after which each was called +upon for an explanation, which she gave in Japanese. While this +class was reciting the Prince came in and asked if we might not +have calisthenics, evidently thinking that I would enjoy the +drill more than the mathematics. It was interesting to see those +Manchu ladies stand and go through a thorough physical drill to +the tune of a lively march on a foreign organ. The Japanese are +masters in matters of physical drill, and in the schools I have +visited I have been pleased at the quiet dignity, and the reserve +force and sweetness of their Japanese teachers. The precision and +unanimity with which orders were executed both surprised and +delighted me. Everything about these schools was good except the +singing, which was excruciatingly poor. The Chinese have +naturally clear, sweet voices, with a tendency to a minor tone, +which, with proper training, admit of fair development. But the +Japanese teacher dragged and sang in a nasal tone, in which the +pupils followed her, evidently thinking it was proper Western +music. I was rather amused to see the younger pupils go through a +dignified dance or march to the familiar strains of "Shall we +gather at the river," which the eldest daughter played on the +organ. + +"The young ladies do not comb their hair in the regular Manchu +style," I observed to the Princess. + +"No," she answered, "we do not think that best. It is not very +convenient, and so we have them dress it in the small coil on top +of the head as you see. Neither do we allow them to wear flowers +in their hair, nor to paint or powder, or wear shoes with centre +elevations on the soles. We try to give them the greatest +possible convenience and comfort." + +They were proud of their bits of crocheting and embroidery, each +of which was marked with the name of the person who did it and +the date when it was completed. Many of them were made of pretty +silk thread in a very intricate pattern, though I admired their +drawing and painting still more. + +"Of what does their course of study consist?" I asked the +Princess. + +She went to the wall and took down a neat gilt frame which +contained their curriculum, and which she asked her eldest +daughter to copy for me. They had five studies each day, six days +of the week, Sunday being a holiday. They began with arithmetic, +followed it up with Japanese language, needlework, music and +calisthenics, then took Chinese language, drawing, and Chinese +history with the writing of the ideographs of their own language, +which was one of the most difficult tasks they had to perform. +The dignified way in which the pupils conducted themselves, the +respect which they showed their teacher, and the way in which +they went about their work, delighted me. The discipline it gave +them, the self-respect it engendered, and the power of +acquisition that came with it were worth more perhaps than the +knowledge they acquired, useful as that information must have +been. + +The Princess Ka-la-chin, the fifth sister of Prince Su, is +married to the Mongolian Prince Ka-la. It is a rule among the +Manchus that no prince can marry a princess of their own people, +but like the Emperor himself, must seek their wives from among +the untitled. These ladies after their marriage are raised to the +rank of their husbands. It is the same with the daughters of a +prince. Their husbands must come from among the people, but +unlike the princes they cannot raise them to their own rank, and +so their children have no place in the imperial clan. Many of the +princesses therefore prefer to marry Mongolian princes, by which +they retain their rank as well as that of their children. + +Naturally a marriage of this kind brings changes into the life of +the princess. She has been brought up in a palace in the capital, +lives on Chinese food, and is not inured to hardships. When she +marries a Mongol prince, she is taken to the Mongolian plains, is +not infrequently compelled to live in a tent, and her food +consists largely of milk, butter, cheese and meat, most of which +are an abomination to the Chinese. They especially loathe butter +and cheese, and not infrequently speak of the foreigner smelling +like the Mongol--an odour which they say is the result of these +two articles of diet. + +Prince Su's fifth sister was fortunate in being married to a +Mongol prince who was not a nomad. He had established a sort of +village capital of his possessions, the chief feature of which +was his own palace. Here he lives during the summers and part of +the winters; though once in three years he is compelled to spend +at least three months in his palace in Peking when he comes to do +homage to the Emperor. + +During one of these visits to Peking the Princess sent for me to +come to her palace. I naturally supposed she was ill, and so took +with me my medical outfit, but her first greeting was: + +"I am not ill, nor is any member of my family, but I wanted to +see you to have a talk with you about foreign countries." + +She had prepared elaborate refreshments, and while we sat eating, +she directed the conversation towards mines and mining, and then +said: + +"My husband, the Prince, is very much interested in this subject, +and believes that there are rich stores of ore on his +principality in Mongolia." + +"Indeed, that is very interesting," I answered. + +"You know, of course, it is a rule," she went on to say, "that no +prince of the realm is allowed to go more than a few miles from +the capital without special permission from the throne." + +"No, I was not aware of that fact." + +She then went on to say that her husband was anxious to attend +the St. Louis Exposition, and study this subject in America, but +so long as these hindrances remained it was impossible for him to +do so. She then said: + +"I am very much interested in the educational system of your +honourable country, and especially in your method of conducting +girls' schools." + +"Would you not like to come and visit our girls' high school?" I +asked. + +"I should be delighted," she replied. + +This she did, and before leaving the capital she sent for a +Japanese lady teacher whom she took with her to her Mongolian +home, where she established a school for Mongolian girls. + +In this school she had a regular system of rules, which did not +tally with the undisciplined methods of the Mongolians, and it +was amusing to hear her tell how it was often necessary for the +Prince to go about in the morning and wake up the girls in order +to get them into school at nine o'clock. + +The next time she came to Peking she brought with her seventeen +of her brightest girls to see the sights of the city and visit +some of the girls' schools, both Christian and non-Christian. +Everything was new to them and it was interesting to hear their +remarks as I showed them through our home and our high school. +When the Princess returned to Mongolia she took with her a +cultured young Chinese lady of unusual literary attainments to +teach the Chinese classics in the school. This is the only school +I have known that was established by a Manchu princess, for +Mongolian girls, and taught by Chinese and Japanese teachers. +This young lady was the daughter of the president of the Board of +Rites, head examiner for literary degrees for all China, and was +himself a chuang yuan, or graduate of the highest standing. +Before going, this Chinese teacher had small bound feet, but she +had not been long on the plains before she unbound her feet, +dressed herself in suitable clothing, and went with the Princess +and the Japanese teacher for a horseback ride across the plains +in the early morning, a thing which a Chinese lady, under +ordinary circumstances, is never known to do. The school is still +growing in size and usefulness. + +Prince Su's third sister is married to a commoner, but as is +usual with these ladies who marry beneath their own rank, she +retains her maiden title of Third Princess, by which she is +always addressed. + +"How did you obtain your education?" I once asked her. + +"During my childhood," she answered, "my mother was opposed to +having her daughters learn to read, but like most wealthy +families, she had old men come into the palace to read stories or +recite poetry for our entertainment. I not infrequently followed +the old men out, bought the books from which they read, and then +bribed some of the eunuchs to teach me to read them. In this way +I obtained a fair knowledge of the Chinese character." + +She is as deeply interested in the new educational movement among +girls as is her sister. When this desire for Western education +began, she organized a school, in which she has eighty girls or +more, taken from various grades of society, whom she and some of +her friends, in addition to employing teachers and providing the +school-rooms, gave a good part of their time to teaching the +Chinese classics, while a Japanese lady taught them calisthenics +and the rudiments of Western mathematics. + +She is aggressively pro-foreign, and is ready to do anything that +will contribute to the success of the new educational movement, +and the freedom of the Chinese woman. On one occasion when the +Chinese in Peking undertook to raise a fund for famine relief, +they called a large public meeting to which men and women were +alike invited, the first meeting of the kind ever held in Peking. +Such a gathering could not have occurred before the Boxer +rebellion. The Third Princess, having promised to help provide +the programme, took a number of her girls, and on a large +rostrum, had them go through their calisthenic exercises for the +entertainment of the audience. On another occasion she took all +her girls to a private box at a Chinese circus, where men and +women acrobats and horseback riders performed in a ring not +unlike that of our own circus riders. In this circus small-footed +women rode horseback as well as the women in our own circus, and +one woman with bound feet lay down on her back, balanced a +cart-wheel, weighing at least a hundred pounds, on her feet, +whirling it rapidly all the time, and then after it stopped she +continued to hold it while two women and a child climbed on top. +The Princess was determined to allow her girls to have all the +advantages the city afforded. + +At the school of this Third Princess I once attended a unique +memorial service. A lady of Hang Chou, finding it impossible to +secure sufficient money by ordinary methods for the support of a +school that she had established, cut a deep gash in her arm and +then sat in the temple court during the day of the fair, with a +board beside her on which was inscribed the explanation of her +unusual conduct. This brought her in some three hundred ounces of +silver with which she provided for her school the first year. +When it was exhausted and she could get no more, she wrote +letters to the officials of her province, in which she asked for +subscriptions and urged the importance of female education, to +which she said she was willing to give her life. To her appeal +the officials paid no heed, and she finally wrote other letters +renewing her request for help to establish the school, after +which she committed suicide. The letters were sent, and later +published in the local and general newspapers. Memorial services +were held in various parts of the empire at all of which funds +were gathered not only for her school but for establishing other +schools throughout the provinces. + +The school of the Third Princess at which this service was held +was profusely decorated. Chinese flags floated over the gates and +door-ways. Beautifully written scrolls, telling the reason for +the service and lauding the virtues of the lady, covered the +walls of the schoolroom. At the second entrance there was a table +at which sat a scribe who took our name and address and gave us a +copy of the "order of exercises." Here we were met by the Third +Princess, who conducted us into the main hall. Opposite the +doorway was hung a portrait of the lady, wreathed in artificial +flowers, and painted by a Chinese artist. A table stood before it +on which was a plate of fragrant quinces, candles, and burning +incense, giving it the appearance of a shrine. Pots of flowers +were arranged about the room, which was unusually clean and +beautiful. The Chinese guests bowed three times before the +picture on entering the room, which I thought a very pretty +ceremony. + +The girls of this school, to the number of about sixty, appeared +in blue uniform, courtesying to the guests. Sixteen other girls' +schools of Peking were represented either by teachers or pupils +or both. One of the boys' schools came en masse, dressed in +military uniform, led by a band, and a drillmaster with a sword +dangling at his side. Addresses were made by both ladies and +gentlemen, chief among whom were the Third Princess and the +editress of the Woman's Daily Newspaper, the only woman's daily +at that time in the world, who urged the importance of the +establishment and endowment of schools for the education of girls +throughout the empire. + + +XV + +The Chinese Ladies of Rank + +Though your husband may be wealthy, +You should never be profuse; +There should always be a limit +To the things you eat and use. +If your husband should be needy, +You should gladly share the same, +And be diligent and thrifty, +And no other people blame. +--"The Primer for Girls," Translated by I. T. H. + + +XV + +THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK[2] + +[2] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + +The Manchu lady's ideal of beauty is dignity, and to this both +her deportment and her costume contribute in a well-nigh equal +degree. Her hair, put up on silver or jade jewelled hairpins, +decorated with many flowers, is very heavy, and easily tilted to +one side or the other if not carried with the utmost sedateness. +Her long garments, reaching from her shoulders to the floor, give +to her tall figure an added height, and the central elevation of +from four to six inches to the soles of her daintily embroidered +slippers, compel her to stand erect and walk slowly and +majestically. She laughs but little, seldom jests, but preserves +a serious air in whatever she does. + +The Chinese lady, on the contrary, aspires to be petite, winsome, +affable and helpless. She laughs much, enjoys a joke, and is +always good-natured and chatty. + +One of their poets thus describes a noted beauty: + +"At one moment with tears her bright eyes would be swimming, +The next with mischief and fun they'd be brimming. +Thousands of sonnets were written in praise of them, +Li Po wrote a song for each separate phase of them. + + "Bashfully, swimmingly, pleadingly, scoffingly, + Temptingly, languidly, lovingly, laughingly, + Witchingly, roguishly, playfully, naughtily, + Willfully, waywardly, meltingly, haughtily, + Gleamed the eyes of Yang Kuei Fei. + + "Her ruby lips and peach-bloom cheeks, + + Would match the rose in hue, + If one were kissed the other speaks, + With blushes, kiss me too." + + +She combs her hair in a neat coil on the back of her head, uses +few flowers, but instead prefers profuse decorations of pearls. +Her upper garment extends but little below her knees, and her +lower garment is an accordion-plaited skirt, from beneath which +the pointed toes of her small bound feet appear as she walks or +sways on her "golden lilies," as if she were a flower blown by +the wind, to which the Chinese love to compare her. Her waist is +a "willow waist" in poetry, and her "golden lilies," as her tiny +feet are often called, are not more than two or three inches +long--so small that it not infrequently requires the assistance +of a servant or two to help her to walk at all. And though she +may not need them she affects to be so helpless as to require +their aid. + +Until very recently education was discouraged rather than sought +by the Manchu lady. Many of the princesses could not read the +simplest book nor write a letter to a friend, but depended upon +educated eunuchs to perform these services for them. The Chinese +lady on the contrary can usually read and write with ease, and +the education of some of them is equal to that of a Hanlin. + +Socially the ladies of these two classes never meet. Their +husbands may be of equal rank and well known to each other in +official life, but the ladies have no wish to meet each other. +One day while the granddaughter of one of the Chinese Grand +Secretaries was calling upon me, the sisters of Prince Ching and +Prince Su were announced. When they entered I introduced them. +The dignity of the two princesses when presented led me to fear +that we would have a cold time together. I explained who my +Chinese lady friend was, and they answered in a formal way (wai t +ou tou jen te, li to'u k'e pu jen te) "the gentlemen of our +respective households are well acquainted, not so the ladies," +but the ice did not melt. For a time I did my best to find a +topic of mutual interest, but it was like trying to mix oil and +water. I was about to give up in despair when my little Chinese +friend, observing the dilemma in which I was placed, and the +effort I was making to relieve the situation, threw herself into +the conversation with such vigour and vivacity, and suggested +topics of such interest to the others as to charm these reserved +princesses, and it was not long until they were talking together +in a most animated way. + +One of the Manchu ladies expressed regret at the falling of her +hair and the fact that she was getting bald. "Why," said my +little Chinese friend, "after a severe illness not long since, I +lost all my hair, but I received a prescription from a friend +which restored it all, and just look at the result," she +continued turning her pretty head with its great coils of shiny +black hair. "I will be delighted to let you have it." The Manchu +princesses finally rose to depart, and in their leave-taking, +they were as cordial to my little Chinese friend, who had made +herself so agreeable, as they were to me, for which I shall ever +be grateful. + +After they had gone I asked: + +"Why is it that the Manchu and Chinese ladies do not intermingle +in a social way?" + +"The cause dates back to the beginning of the Manchu dynasty," +she responded. "When the Chinese men adopted the Manchu style of +wearing the queue, it was stipulated that they should not +interfere with the style of the woman's dress, and that no +Chinese should be taken to the palace as concubines or slaves to +the Emperor. We have therefore always held ourselves aloof from +the Manchus. Our men did this to protect us, and as a result no +Chinese lady has ever been received at court, except, of course, +the painting teacher of the Empress Dowager, who, before she +could enter the palace, was compelled to unbind her feet, adopt +the Manchu style of dress and take a Manchu name." + +"Is not the Empress Dowager very much opposed to foot-binding? +Why has she not forbidden it?" + +"She has issued edicts recommending them to give it up, but to +forbid it is beyond her power. That would be interfering with the +Chinese ladies' dress." + +"Do the Manchus consider themselves superior to the Chinese?" + +"It is a poor rule that will not work both ways. Have you never +noticed that in his edicts the Emperor speaks of his Manchu +slaves and his Chinese subjects?" + +Among my lady friends is one whose father died when she was a +child, and she was brought up in the home of her grandfather who +was himself a viceroy. She had always been accustomed to every +luxury that wealth could buy. Clothed in the richest embroidered +silks and satins, decorated with the rarest pearls and precious +stones, she had serving women and slave girls to wait upon her, +and humour her every whim. One day when we were talking of the +Boxer insurrection she told me the following story: + +"Some years ago," she said, "my steward brought me a slave girl +whom he had bought from her father on the street. She was a +bright intelligent and obedient little girl, and I soon became +very fond of her. She told me one day that her grandmother was a +Christian, and that she had been baptized and attended a +Christian school. Her father, however, was an opium-smoker, and +had pawned everything he had, and finally when her grandmother +was absent had taken her and sold her to get money to buy opium. +She asked me to send a messenger to her grandmother and tell her +that she had a good home. + +"I was delighted to do so for I knew the old woman would be +distressed lest the child had been sold to a life of shame, or +had found a cruel mistress. Unfortunately, however, my messenger +could find no trace of the grandmother, as the neighbours +informed him that she had left shortly after the disappearance of +the child. + +"As the years passed the child grew into womanhood. She was very +capable, kind and thoughtful for others and I learned to depend +upon her in many ways. She was very devoted to me, and sought to +please me in every way she could. She always spoke of herself as +a Christian and refused to worship our gods. When the Boxer +troubles began I took my house-servants and went to my +grandfather's home thinking that the Boxers would not dare +disturb the households of such great officials as the viceroys. +But I soon found that they respected no one who had liberal +tendencies. + +"One day there was a proclamation posted to the effect that all +Christians were to be turned over to them, and that any one found +concealing a Christian would themselves be put to death. My +grandmother came to my apartments and wanted me to send my slave +girl to the Boxers. We talked about it for some time but I +steadfastly refused. When the Boxers had procured all they could +by that method they announced that they were about to make a +house-to-house search, and any household harbouring Christians +would be annihilated." + +"But how would they know that your slave was a Christian?" I +inquired. + +"Have you not heard," she asked, "that the Boxers claimed that +after going through certain incantations, they could see a cross +upon the forehead of any who had been baptized?" + +"And did you believe they could?" + +"I did then but I do not now. Indeed we all did. My grandmother +came to me and positively forbade me to keep the slave in her +home. After she had gone the girl came and knelt at my feet and +begged me to save her! How could I send her out to death when she +had been so kind and faithful to me? I finally decided upon a +plan to save her. I determined to flee with her to the home of an +uncle who lived in a town a hundred miles or more from Peking, +where I hoped the Boxers were less powerful than they were at the +capital. + +"This uncle was the lieutenant-governor of the province and had +always been very fond of me, and I knew if I could reach him I +should win his sympathy and his aid. But how was this to be done? +All travellers were suspected, searched and examined. For two +women to be travelling alone, when the country was in such a +state of unrest, could not but bring upon themselves suspicion, +and should we be searched, the cross upon the forehead would +surely be found, and we would be condemned to the cruel tortures +in which the Boxers were said to delight. + +"After much thought and planning the only possible method seemed +to be to flee as beggars. You know women beggars are found upon +the roads at all times and they excite little suspicion. Then in +the hot summer it is not uncommon for them to wrap their head and +forehead in a piece of cloth to protect them from the fierce rays +of the sun. In this way I hoped to conceal the cross from +observation in case we came into the presence of the Boxers. We +confided our plans to a couple of the women servants whom we +could trust, and asked them to procure proper outfits for us. +They did so, and oh! what dirty old rags they were. The servants +wept as they took off and folded up my silk garments and clad me +in this beggar's garb." + +"But your skin is so soft and fair, not at all like the skin of a +woman exposed to the sun; and your black, shiny hair is not at +all rusty and dirty like the hair of a beggar woman. I should +think these facts would have caused your detection," I urged. + +"That was easily remedied. We stained our faces, necks, hands and +arms, and we took down our hair and literally rolled it in dust +which the servants brought from the street. Oh! but it was nasty! +such an odour! It was only the saving of the life of that +faithful slave that could have induced me to do it. I had to take +off my little slippers and wrap my feet in dirty rags such as +beggars wear. We could take but a little copper cash with us. To +be seen with silver or gold would have at once brought suspicion +upon us, while bank-notes were useless in those days. + +"In the early morning, before any one was astir we were let out +of a back gate. It was the first time I had ever walked on the +street. I had always been accustomed to going in my closed cart +with outriders and servants. I shrank from staring eyes, and +thought every glance was suspicious. My slave was more timid than +I and so I must take the initiative. I had been accustomed to +seeing street beggars from behind the screened windows of my cart +ever since I was a child and so I knew how I ought to act, but at +first it was difficult indeed. Soon, however, we learned to play +our part, though it seems now like a hideous dream. We kept on +towards the great gate through which we passed out of the city on +to the highway which led to our destination. + +"The first time we met a Boxer procession my knees knocked +together in my fear of detection but they passed by without +giving us a glance. We met them often after this, and before we +finished our journey I learned to doubt their claim to detect +Christians by the sign of the cross. + +"We ate at the roadside booths, slept often in a gateway or by +the side of a wall under the open sky, and after several days' +wandering, we reached the yamen of my uncle. But we dare not +enter and reveal our identity, lest we implicate them, for we +found the Boxers strong everywhere, and even the officials feared +their prowess. We hung about the yamen begging in such a way as +not to arouse suspicion, until an old servant who had been in the +family for many years, and whom I knew well, came upon the +street. I followed him begging until we were out of earshot of +others, and then told him in a singsong, whining tone, such as +beggars use, who I was and why I was there, and asked him to let +my uncle know, and said that if they would open the small gate in +the evening we would be near and could enter unobserved. + +"At first he could not believe it was I, for by this time we +indeed looked like veritable beggars, but he was finally +convinced and promised to tell my uncle. After nightfall he +opened the gate and led us in by a back passage to my aunt's +apartments where she and my uncle were waiting for me. They both +burst into tears as they beheld my plight. Two old serving women, +who had been many years in the family, helped us to change our +clothes and gave us a bath and food. My feet had suffered the +most. They were swollen and ulcerated and the dirty rags and dust +adhering to the sores had left them in a wretched condition. It +took many baths before we were clean, and weeks before my feet +were healed. + +"We remained with my uncle until the close of the Boxer trouble, +and until my grandfather's return from Hsian where he had gone +with the Empress Dowager and the court, and then I came back to +Peking." + +"Your grandmother must have felt ashamed when she heard how hard +it had gone with you," I remarked. + +"We never mentioned the matter when talking together. That was a +time when every one was for himself. Death stared us all in the +face." + +"Where is your slave girl now? I should like to see her," I +remarked. + +"After the troubles were over I married her to a young man of my +uncle's household. I will send for her and bring her to see you." + +She did so. I found she had forgotten much of what she had +learned of Christianity, but she remembered that there was but +one God and that Jesus Christ was His Son to whom alone she +should pray. She also remembered that as a small child she had +been baptized, and that in school she had been taught that "we +should love one another"; this was about the extent of her +Gospel, but it had touched the heart of her charming little +mistress and had saved her life. + +There were sometimes amusing things happened when these Chinese +ladies called. My husband among other things taught astronomy in +the university. He had a small telescope with which he and the +students often examined the planets, and they were especially +interested in Jupiter and his moons. One evening, contrary to her +custom, this same friend was calling after dark, and when the +students had finished with Jupiter and his moons, my husband +invited us to view them, as they were especially clear on that +particular evening. + +After she had looked at them for a while, and as my husband was +closing up the telescope, she exclaimed: "That is the kind of an +instrument that some foreigners sent as a present to my +grandfather while he was viceroy, but it was larger than this +one." + +"And did he use it?" asked my husband. + +"No, we did not know what it was for. Besides my grandfather was +too busy with the affairs of the government to try to understand +it." + +"And where is it now?" asked Mr. Headland, thinking that the +viceroy might be willing to donate it to the college. + +"I do not know," she answered. "The servants thought it was a +pump and tried to pump water with it, but it would not work. It +is probably among the junk in some of the back rooms." + +"I wonder if we could not find it and fix it up," my husband +persisted. + +"I am afraid not," she answered. "The last I saw of it, the +servants had taken the glass out of the small end and were using +it to look at insects on the bed." + +One day when one of my friends came to call I said to her: "It is +a long time since I have seen you. Have you been out of the +city?" + +"Yes, I have been spending some months with my father-in-law, the +viceroy of the Canton provinces. His wife has died, and I have +returned to Peking to get him a concubine." + +"How old is he?" I inquired. + +"Seventy-two years," she replied. + +"And how will you undertake to secure a concubine for such an old +man?" + +"I shall probably buy one." + +A few weeks afterwards she called again having with her a +good-looking young woman of about seventeen, her hair beautifully +combed, her face powdered and painted, and clothed in rich silk +and satin garments, whom she introduced as the young lady +procured for her father-in-law. She explained that she had +bought her from a poor country family for three hundred and fifty +ounces of silver. + +"Don't you think it is cruel for parents to sell their daughters +in this way?" I asked. + +"Perhaps," she answered. "But with the money they received for +her, they can buy land enough to furnish them a good support all +their life. She will always have rich food, fine clothing and an +easy time, with nothing to do but enjoy herself, while if she had +remained at home she must have married some poor man who might or +might not have treated her well, and for whom she would have to +work like a slave. Now she is nominally a slave with nothing to +do and with every comfort, in addition to what she has done for +her family." + +While we were having tea she asked to see Mr. Headland, as many +of the older of my friends did. I invited him in, and as he +entered the dining-room the young woman stepped out into the +hall. + +My friend greeted my husband, and with a mysterious nod of her +head in the direction of the young woman she said: "Chiu shih na +ke,--that's it." + + + +XVI + +The Social Life of the Chinese Woman + +The manners and customs of the Chinese, and their social +characteristics, have employed many pens and many tongues, and +will continue to furnish all inexhaustible field for students of +sociology, of religion, of philosophy, of civilization, for +centuries to come. Such studies, however, scarcely touch the +province of the practical, at least as yet, for one principal +reason--that the subject is so vast, the data are so infinite, as +to overwhelm the student rather than assist him in sound +generalizations. +--A. R. Colquhoun in "China in Transformation." + + +XVI + +THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN + +The home life of a people is too sacred to be touched except by +the hand of friendship. Our doors are closed to strangers, locked +to enemies, and opened only to those of our own race who are in +harmony and sympathy with us. What then shall we say when people +of an alien race come seeking admission? They must bring some +social distinction,--letters of introduction, or an ability to +help us in ways in which we cannot help ourselves. + +In the case of a people as exclusive as the Chinese this is +especially true, so that with the exception of one or two women +physicians and the wife of one of our diplomats no one has ever +been admitted in a social as well as professional way to the +women's apartments of the homes of the better class of the +Chinese people. + +A Chinese home is different from our own. It is composed of many +one-story buildings, around open courts, one behind the other, +and sometimes covers several acres of ground. Then it is divided +into men's and women's apartments, the men receiving their +friends in theirs and the women likewise receiving their friends +by a side gate in their own apartments, which are at the rear of +the dwelling. A wealthy man usually, in addition to his wife, has +one or more concubines, and each of these ladies has an apartment +of her own for herself and her children,--though all the children +of all the concubines reckon as belonging to the first wife. + +I have heard Sir Robert Hart tell an amusing incident which +occurred in Peking. He said that the Chinese minister appointed +to the court of Saint James came to call on him before setting +out upon his journey. After conversing for some time he said: + +"I should be glad to see Lady Hart. I believe it is customary in +calling on a foreign gentleman to see his lady, is it not?" + +"It is," said Sir Robert, "and I should be delighted to have you +see her, but Lady Hart is in England with our children, and has +not been here for twenty years." + +"Ah, indeed, then perhaps I might see your second wife." + +"That you might, if I had one. But the customs of our country do +not allow us to have a second wife. Indeed they would imprison us +if we were to have two wives." + +"How singular," said the official with a nod of his head. "You do +not appreciate the advantages of this custom of ours." + +That there are advantages in this custom from the Chinese point +of view, I have no doubt. But from certain things I have heard I +fear there are disadvantages as well. One day the head eunuch +from the palace of one of the leading princes in Peking came to +ask my wife, who was their physician, to go to see some of the +women or children who were ill. It was drawing near to the New +Year festival and, of course, they had their own absorbing topics +of conversation in the servants' courts. I said to him: + +"The Prince has a good many children, has he not?" + +"Twenty-three," he answered. + +"How many concubines has he?" I inquired. + +"Three," he replied, "but he expects to take on two more after +the holidays." + +"Doesn't it cause trouble in a family for a man to have so many +women about? I should think they would be jealous of each other." + +"Ah," said he, with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head, +"that is a topic that is difficult to discuss. Naturally if this +woman sees him taking to that woman, this one is going to eat +vinegar." + +They do "eat vinegar," but perhaps as little of it as any people +who live in the way in which they live, for the Chinese have +organized their home life as nearly on a governmental basis as +any people in the world. + +In addition to the wife and concubines, each son when he marries +brings his wife home to a parental court, and all these +sisters-in-law, or daughters-in-law add so much to the +complications of living, for each must have her own retinue of +servants. + +Young people in China are all engaged by their parents without +their knowledge or consent. This was very unsatisfactory to the +young people of the old regime, and it is being modified in the +new. One day one of my students in discussing this matter said to +me: + +"Our method of getting a wife is very much better than either the +old Chinese method or your foreign method." + +"How is that?" I asked. + +"Well," said he, "according to the old Chinese custom a man could +never see his wife until she was brought to his house. But we can +see the girls in public meetings, we have sisters in the girls' +school, they have brothers in the college, and when we go home +during vacation we can learn all about each other." + +"But how do you consider it better than our method?" I persisted. + +"Why, you see, when you have found the girl you want, you have to +go and get her yourself, while we can send a middleman to do it +for us." + +I still argued that by our method we could become better +acquainted with the young lady. + +"Yes," he said, "that is true; but doesn't it make you awfully +mad if you ask a lady to marry you and she refuses?" and it must +be confessed that this was a difficult question to answer without +compromising one's self. + +The rigour of the old regime was apparently modified by giving +the young lady a chance to refuse. About ten days before the +marriage, two ladies are selected by the mother of the young man +to carry a peculiar ornament made of ebony and jade, or jade +alone, or red lacquer, to the home of the prospective bride. This +ornament is called the ju yi, which means "According to my +wishes." If the lady receives it into her own hands it signifies +her willingness to become his bride; if she rejects it, the +negotiations are at an end, though I have never heard of a girl +who refused the ju yi.[3] + + +[3] The remainder of the chapter is from Mrs. Headland's +note-book. + + +Very erroneous ideas of the life and occupations of the Chinese +ladies of the noble and official classes are held by those not +conversant with their home life. The Chinese woman is commonly +regarded as little better than a secluded slave, who whiles away +the tedious hours at an embroidery frame, where with her needle +she works those delicate and intricate pieces of embroidery for +which she is famous throughout the world. In reality, a Chinese +lady has little time to give to such work. Her life is full of +the most exacting social duties. Few American ladies in the whirl +of society in Washington or New York have more social functions +to attend or duties to perform. I have often been present in the +evening when the head eunuch brought to the ruling lady of the +home (and the head of the home in China is the woman, not the +man) an ebony tablet on which was written in red ink the list of +social functions the ladies were to attend the following day. + +She would select from the list such as she and her unmarried +daughters could attend,--the daughters always going with their +mother and not with their sisters-in-law,--then she would +apportion the other engagements to her daughters-in-law, who +would attend them in her stead. + +The Chinese lady in Peking sleeps upon a brick bed, one half of +the room being built up a foot and a half above the floor, with +flues running through it; and in the winter a fire is built under +the bed, so that, instead of having one hot brick in her bed, she +has a hundred. She rises about eight. She has a large number of +women servants, a few slave girls, and if she belongs to the +family of a prince, she has several eunuchs, these latter to do +the heavy work about the household. Each servant has her own +special duties, and resents being asked to perform those of +another. When my lady awakes a servant brings her a cup of hot +tea and a cake made of wheat or rice flour. After eating this a +slave girl presents her with a tiny pipe with a long stem from +which she takes a few whiffs. Two servants then appear with a +large polished brass basin of very hot water, towels, soaps, +preparations of honey to be used on her face and hands while they +are still warm and moist from the bathing. After the bath they +remove the things and disappear, and two other women take their +places, with a tray on which are combs, brushes, hair-pomades, +and the framework and accessories needed for combing her hair. +Then begins a long and tedious operation that may continue for +two hours. Finally the hair is ready for the ornaments, jewels +and flowers which are brought by another servant on a large tray. +The mistress selects the ones she wishes, placing them in her +hair with her own hands. + +Some of these flowers are exquisite. The Chinese are expert at +making artificial flowers which are true to nature in every +detail. Often above the flower a beautiful butterfly is poised on +a delicate spring, and looks so natural that it is easy to be +deceived into believing it to be alive. When the jasmine is in +bloom beautiful creations are made of these tiny flowers by means +of standards from which protrude fine wires on which the flowers +are strung in the shape of butterflies or other symbols, and the +flowers massed in this way make a very effective ornament. With +the exception of the jasmine the flowers used in the hair are all +artificial, though natural flowers are worn in season--roses in +summer, orchids in late summer, and chrysanthemums in autumn. + +The prevailing idea with the Chinese ladies is that the foreign +woman does not comb her hair. I have often heard my friends +apologizing to ladies whom they have brought to see me for the +first time, and on whom they wanted me to make a good impression, +by saying: + +"You must not mind her hair; she is really so busy she has no +time to comb it. All her time is spent in acts of benevolence." + +At the first audience when the Empress Dowager received the +foreign ladies, she presented each of them with two boxes of +combs, one ivory inlaid with gold, the other ordinary hard wood, +and the set was complete even to the fine comb. One cannot but +wonder if Her Majesty had not heard of the untidy locks of the +foreign woman, which she attributed to a lack of proper combs. + +After the hair has been properly combed and ornamented, cosmetics +of white and carmine are brought for the face and neck. The +Manchu lady uses these in great profusion, her Chinese sister +more sparingly. No Chinese lady, unless a widow or a woman past +sixty, is supposed to appear in the presence of her family +without a full coating of powder and paint. A lady one day +complained to me of difficulty in lifting her eyelids, and +consulted me as to the reason. + +"Perhaps," said I, "they are partially paralyzed by the lead in +your cosmetics. Wash off the paint and see if the nerves do not +recover their tone." + +"But," said she, "I would not dare appear in the presence of my +husband or family without paint and powder; it would not be +respectable." + +The final touch to the face is the deep carmine spot on the lower +lip. + +The robing then begins. And what beautiful robes they are! the +softest silks, over which are worn in summer the most delicate of +embroidered grenadines, or in winter, rich satins lined with +costly furs, each season calling for a certain number and kind. +She then decorates herself with her jewels,--earrings, +bracelets, beads, rings, charms, embroidered bags holding the +betel-nut, and the tiny mirror in its embroidered case with silk +tassels. When these are hung on the buttons of her dress her +outfit is complete, and she arises from her couch a wonderful +creation, from her glossy head, with every hair in place, to the +toe of her tiny embroidered slipper. But it has taken the time of +a half-dozen servants for three hours to get these results. + +To one accustomed to the Chinese or Manchu mode of dress, she +appears very beautiful. The rich array of colours, the +embroidered gowns, and the bright head-dress, make a striking +picture. Often as the ladies of a home or palace came out on the +veranda to greet me, or bid me adieu, I have been impressed with +their wonderful beauty, to which our own dull colours, and cloth +goods, suffer greatly in comparison, and I could not blame these +good ladies for looking upon our toilets with more or less +disdain. + +It is now after eleven o'clock and her breakfast is ready to be +served in another room. Word that the leading lady of the +household is about to appear is sent to the other apartments. +Hurried finishing touches are given to toilets, for all +daughters, daughters-in-law and grandchildren must be ready to +receive her in the outer room when she appears leaning on the +arms of two eunuchs if she is a princess, or on two stout serving +women if a Chinese. + +According to her rank, each one in turn takes a step towards her +and gives a low courtesy in which the left knee touches the +floor. Even the children go through this same formality. All are +gaily dressed, with hair bedecked and faces painted like her own. +She inclines her head but slightly. These are the members of her +household over whom she has sway--her little realm. While her +mother-in-law lived she was under the same rigorous rule. + +In China where there are so many women in the home it is +necessary to have a head--one who without dispute rules with +autocratic sway. This is the mother-in-law. When she dies the +first wife takes her place as head of the family. A concubine may +be the favourite of the husband. He may give her fine apartments +to live in, many servants to wait on her, and every luxury he can +afford; but there his power ends. The first wife is head of the +household, is legally mother of all the children born to any or +all of the concubines her husband possesses. The children all +call her mother, and the inferior wives recognize her as their +mistress. She and her daughters, and daughters-in-law, attend +social functions, receive friends, extend hospitality; but the +concubines have no place in this, unless by her permission. When +the time comes for selecting wives for her sons, it is the first +wife who does it, although she may be childless herself. It is to +her the brides of these sons are brought, and to her all +deference is due. In rare cases, where the concubine has had the +good fortune to supply the heir to the throne or to a princely +family, she is raised to the position of empress or princess. But +this is seldom done, and is usually remembered against the woman. +She is never received with the same feeling as if she had been +first wife. + +One day I was asked to go to a palace to see a concubine who was +ill. In such cases I always went directly to the Princess, and +she took me to see the sick one. As we entered the room there was +a nurse standing with a child in her arms, and the Princess +called my attention to a blemish on its face. + +"Can it be removed?" she asked. + +I looked at it and, seeing that it would require but a minor +operation, told her it could. + +While attending to the patient, the nurse, fearing that the child +would be hurt, left the room and another entered with another +child. + +"Now," said the Princess when we had finished with the patient, +"we will attend to the child." And she called the woman to her. + +"But," said the woman, "this is not the child." + +"There," said the Princess, "you see I do not know my own +children." + +But I left our friend receiving the morning salutations of her +household. These over, she dismisses them to their own +apartments, where each mother sits down with her own children to +her morning meal, waited on by her own servants. If there are +still unmarried daughters, they remain with their mother; if +none, she eats alone. + +Since Peking is in the same latitude as Philadelphia my lady has +the same kinds of fruit--apples, peaches, pears, apricots, the +most delicious grapes, and persimmons as large as the biggest +tomato you ever saw; indeed, the Chinese call the tomato the +western red persimmon. She has mutton from the Mongolian sheep +(the finest I have ever eaten), beef, pork or lamb; chicken, +goose or duck; hare, pheasant or deer, or fish of whatever kind +she may choose. Of course these are all prepared after the +Chinese style, and be it said to the credit of their cooks that +our children are always ready to leave our own table to partake +of Chinese food. + +After her meal she lingers for a few minutes over her cup of tea +and her pipe. In the meantime her cart or sedan chair is +prepared. Her outriders are ready with their horses; the eunuchs, +women and slave girls who are to attend her, don their proper +clothing and prepare the changes of raiment needed for the +various functions of the day. One takes a basin and towels, +another powder and rouge-boxes, another the pipe and embroidered +tobacco pouch, not even forgetting the silver cuspidor, all of +which will be needed. When she eats, a servant gives her a napkin +to spread over her gown; after she has finished, another brings a +basin of hot water, from which a towel is wrung with which she +gently wipes her mouth and hands. Another brings her a glass of +water, or she washes out her mouth with tea, and finally with the +little mirror and rouge-box, while she still sits at table, she +touches up her face with powder and she puts the paint upon her +lip if it has disappeared. + +When ready to start, her cart or chair is drawn up as close as +possible to the gate of the women's apartments. A screen of blue +silk eighteen or twenty feet long and six feet high, fastened to +two wooden standards, is held by eunuchs to screen her while she +enters the cart. The chair can be used only by princesses or +wives of viceroys or members of the Grand Council. But whether +chair or cart it is lined and cushioned with scarlet satin in +summer, and in winter with fur. It is an accomplishment to enter +a cart gracefully, but years of practice enable her to do so, and +as soon as she is seated in Buddhist fashion, the curtain is +dropped; her attendant seats herself cross-legged in front; +several male servants rush up, seize the shafts of the cart, +place the mule between them, fasten the buckles (it reminds one +of the fire department), the driver takes his place at the lines, +two other male servants take hold of the sides of the mule's +bridle, and all is in readiness to start. Female servants and +slave girls crowd into other carts, outriders mount their mules, +and the cavalcade starts with my lady's cart ahead. + +As they pass along the streets they are remarked upon by all +foot-passengers, and as they near their destination, a courier on +horseback spurs up his steed, makes a wild dash forward, leaps +from his horse, and announces to the gate-keeper that the +Princess will soon arrive. The news is at once taken to the +servants of the women's apartments, where the name is given to a +eunuch, who bears it to his mistress. + +In the meantime the party has arrived. The mule is unhitched, +cart drawn to the gate, screen spread, servant descends from +front, and the Princess with the help of a couple of eunuchs is +escorted through a long covered walk into the court, where the +ladies of the household are waiting on the veranda to receive +her. As she enters the gateway the hostess begins slowly to +descend the steps. The others follow, and they meet in the centre +of the court. Low courtesies are made by each and formal +inquiries as to each other's health. There is a short stop and +certain formalities before the guest will ascend the steps ahead +of the hostess. The same occurs again on entering the reception +hall, and taking the seat of honour. The luckless foreigner +sometimes makes the mistake of conceding to her guest's modesty +and allows her to take a lower seat, which is a grievous offense, +and she is only pardoned on the plea that she is an outside +barbarian, and does not understand the rules of polite society. + +After she is seated tea is served, and servants bring in trays of +sweetmeats, fruit, nuts, dried melon seeds, candied fruits and +small cakes. One of these nuts is unique. It is an "English +walnut" in which, after the outer hull is removed, the shell is +self-cracked, and folds back in places so that the kernel +appears. While partaking of these delicacies the object of the +visit is announced, which is that her son is to be married on a +certain date. Of course official announcements will be sent +later, but she wishes to ask if her hostess will act as one of +her representatives to carry the ju yi to the young lady's home. + +After the ladies have chatted for a time about the latest +official appointments, some court gossip, the latest fashion in +robe ornamentation, and the newspaper news at home and +abroad--for the Chinese have ten or a dozen newspapers in Peking, +among which is the first woman's daily in the world--the hostess +invites her guest to see her garden. They pass through a gateway +into a court in which are great trees, shrubbery, fish-ponds +spanned by marble bridges, covered walks, beautiful rockeries, +wisteria vines laden with long clusters of blossoms, +summer-houses, miniature mountains, and flowers of all kinds--a +dream of beauty and loveliness. After returning to the house +another cup of tea is served, and the guest rises to leave. But +before doing so her servants bring in a bundle of clothing, and +there in the presence of her hostess her outer robes are changed +for others of a more official character. + +Her next call is at the birthday celebration of the mother of one +of the highest officials in the capital. I was present when she +arrived. Instead of entering by the front gate, she went by a +private entrance directly to the apartments of her hostess. Many +guests (all gentlemen) were assembled in the front court, which +was covered by a mat pavilion and converted into a theatre. The +court was several feet lower than the adjoining house, the front +windows of which were all removed and it was used for the +accommodation of the lady guests. On the walls of the temporary +structure hung red satin and silk banners on which were pinned +ideographs cut out of gold foil or black velvet, expressive of +beautiful sentiments and good wishes for many happy returns of +the day. The Emperor, wishing to do this official honour, has +informed him that on his mother's birthday an imperial present +will be sent her which is a greater compliment than if sent to +the official himself. + +It was a gala scene. Fresh guests arrived every minute. The +ladies in their most graceful and dignified courtesies were +constantly bending as other guests were announced, while the +gentlemen, with low bows and each shaking his own hands, received +their friends. The clothes of the men, though of a more sombre +hue, were richer in texture than those of the women. Heavy silks +and satins, embroidered with dragons in gold thread, indicated +that this one was a member of the imperial clan, while others +equally rich were worn by the other gentlemen, each embroidered +with the insignia of his rank. Hats adorned with red tassels, +peacock feathers in jade holders, and the button denoting the +rank of the wearer, were worn by all, as it would be a breach of +etiquette to remove the hat in the presence of one's host. + +It would also be bad form for the gentlemen to raise their eyes +to where the ladies were seated; just as the latter, who must +look over the heads of the men to view the theatre, would not be +caught allowing their eyes to dwell upon any one. But no doubt +these gentle little ladies have their own curiosity, and some +means of finding out who's who among that court full of dragon- +draped pillars of state; for I have never failed to receive a +ready answer when I inquired as to the name of some handsome or +distinguished-looking guest whose identity I wished to learn. + +The theatre goes on interminably. Like my lady, they change their +clothes, and the scenery, in full view of the audience. The plays +are mostly historical, the women's parts being taken by men, as +women are not allowed to go on the stage. One daring company, in +imitation of the foreign custom, had a woman take one of the +parts; but a special order from the viceroy put the company out +of commission, and the leader in prison. + +The guests were not expected to sit quietly watching the play, +but moved about greeting each other and chatting at will. +Servants brought tea and sweetmeats and finally a banquet was +served. Near the close of the feast it was announced that the +imperial present was coming, and the members of the household +disappeared. The deep boom of the drums and the honk of the great +horns were heard distinctly as they entered the street, and soon +the yellow imperial chair, with its thirty-six bearers in the +royal livery, moved slowly towards us between two rows of the +male members of the household who had gone out and were kneeling +on both sides of the street, knocking their heads as the chair +passed them. The great gates were thrown open and there in the +gateway the female members of the family knelt and kotowed as the +chair passed by. + +The presents were taken into a room specially prepared for their +reception. The head imperial eunuch placed them in position, and, +with a low obeisance, departed, the richer by several hundred +ounces of silver. The gentlemen guests were first invited to view +these tokens of imperial favour. In order of their rank they +entered, prostrating themselves before them. Later we ladies were +invited into the room, where the Chinese all kotowed. What now +were these wonderful gifts before which these men and women of +rank and noble birth were falling upon their faces? + +They were two squares of red paper, eighteen inches across, +printed in outline of the imperial dragon, on which the +characters for long life and happiness were written with the +imperial pen; and a small yellow satin box in which sat a little +gold Buddha not more than an inch in height! It was the thought, +not the value, which elicited all this appreciation. + +Shall we go with this busy little princess to another festal +occasion? I was with her again. It was at the home of the sister +of one of the sweetest little princesses in the whole empire. Her +baby was a month old and she was celebrating what they call the +full month feast. Instead, however, of having the usual feasting +and theatricals, the mother, who, for days after her child was +born, lay at death's door, sent out invitations to her friends to +come and fast and give thanks to the gods for sparing her life. + +Though the child was a month old the mother was too wan and weak +to leave her couch. She was dressed, however, in festal robes, +and received her guests with many gracious words and apologies. +Of course only ladies were present. The great covered court was +converted into a large shrine. One could imagine they were +looking into the main hall of a temple, only that everything was +so clean and beautiful. From the centre of the shrine a Goddess +of Mercy looked down complacently upon the array of fruit, nuts, +sweetmeats and cakes spread out before her. Many candles in their +tall candlesticks were burning on every side. Before her was a +great bronze incense-burner, from which many sticks of incense +sent out their fragrant odour on the air. As each guest passed +through the court, she took a stick from the pile, lit it, and, +with a word of prayer, added it to the number. + +After the guests had all arrived a princess--sister of the +hostess--accompanied by two of the leading guests, descended into +the paved court and took her place before the altar. Deep-toned +bells were touched by small boys whose shaven heads and priestly +robes denoted that they, like little Samuel, were being brought +up within the courts of the temple. The Princess took a great +bunch of incense in her two hands, one of her attendants lit it +with a torch prepared for that purpose, the flame and smoke +ascended amid the deep tones of the bells, as she prostrated +herself before the goddess. She looked like a beautiful fairy +herself as she stood with the flaming bunch of incense held high +above her head. Three times she prostrated herself and nine times +she bent forward, fulfilling all the requirements of the law. + +At the close of this ceremony the ladies were invited to partake +of a feast prepared wholly of vegetables and vegetable oils. It +requires much more skill to prepare such a feast than when meat +and animal oils are used. The food furnished interesting topics +for discussion. Most of it was prepared by various temples, each +being celebrated for some particular dish, which it was asked to +provide for the occasion. + +It is not uncommon for a Chinese lady to take upon herself a vow +in which she promises the gods to observe certain days of each +month as fast days, on condition that they restore to health a +mother, father, husband or child. No matter what banquet she +attends she need only mention to her hostess that she has a vow +and she is made the chief guest, helping others but eating +nothing herself. After this full month feast the baby was seen, +its presents admired, the last cup of tea drunk, the farewells +said, and we all returned home. + + + +XVII + +The Chinese Ladies--Their Ills + +My home is girdled by a limpid stream, +And there in summer days life's movements pause, +Save where some swallow flits from beam to beam, +And the wild sea-gull near and nearer draws. + +The good wife rules a paper board for chess; +The children beat a fish-hook out of wire; +My ailments call for physic more or less, +What else should this poor frame of mine require? +--"Tu Fu," Translated. + + + +XVII + +THE CHINESE LADIES--THEIR ILLS[4] + +[4] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + +One day a eunuch dashed into the back gate of our compound in +Peking, rode up to the door of the library, dismounted from his +horse, and handed a letter in a red envelope to the house servant +who met him on the steps. + +"What is the matter?" asked the boy. + +"The Princess is ill," replied the servant. + +"What Princess?" further inquired the boy. + +"Our Princess," was the reply. + +"Oh, you are from the palace near the west gate?" + +"Yes," and the boy and the servant continued their conversation +until the former had learned all that the letter contained, +whereupon he brought me the message. + +I opened the letter, written in the Chinese ideographs, and +called the messenger in. + +"Is the Princess very ill?" I inquired. + +"Not very," he answered, "but she has been indisposed for several +days." + +"When does she want me to go?" I inquired, for I had long ago +learned that a few inquiries often brought out interesting and +valuable information. + +"At once," he answered; "the cart will be here in a few minutes." + +By the time I had made ready my medical outfit the cart had +arrived. It was very much like a great Saratoga trunk on two +wheels. It was without seat and without springs, but filled with +thick cushions, and as I had learned to sit tailor fashion it was +not entirely uncomfortable to ride in. It had gauze curtains in +summer, and was lined with quilted silk or fur in winter, and was +a comfortable conveyance. + +When I reached the palace I was met by the head eunuch, who +conducted me at once to the apartments of the Princess. Her +reception room was handsomely furnished with rich, carved, +teak-wood furniture after the Manchu fashion, with one or two +large, comfortable, leather-covered easy chairs of foreign make. +Clocks sat upon the tables and window-sills, and fine Swiss +watches hung on the walls. Beautiful jade and other rich Chinese +ornaments were arranged in a tasteful way about the room. On the +wall hung a picture painted by the Empress Dowager, a gift to the +Prince on his birthday. + +After a moment's waiting the Princess appeared attended by her +women and slave girls. + +"I beg your pardon for not having my hair properly dressed," she +said, as she took my hands in hers, the custom of these Manchu +princesses and even the Empress Dowager herself, in greeting +foreign ladies. "I welcome you back to Peking after your summer +vacation." + +When the usual salutations had been passed she told me her +trouble and I gave her the proper medicine, with minute +instructions as to how to take it, which I also repeated to her +women. + +"The cause of my illness," she explained, "is over-fatigue. I had +to be present at court on the eighth of the eighth month and I +became very tired from standing all day." + +"But could you not sit down?" I asked. + +"Not in the presence of the Empress Dowager," she replied. + +"Of course, I know you could not sit down in the presence of Her +Majesty, but could you not withdraw and rest a while?" I +inquired. + +"Not that day. It was a busy and tiresome day for us all," she +replied. + +While we were talking the young Princess, her son's wife, came in +and greeted her mother-in-law in a formal but kindly way, and +gave her hands to me just as the Princess had done. She remained +standing all the time she was in the room, as did four of the +secondary princesses or wives of her husband. They were all +beautifully dressed, but they are beneath the Princess in rank, +and so must stand in her presence. If the Prince's mother had +come in, as she often did when I was there, the Princess would +have to stand and wait on her. All Manchu families are very +particular in this respect. + +"You will be interested," said the Princess, "in one phase of our +visit to the palace." Then turning to one of her women she said: +"Bring me those two pairs of shoes." + +"These," she explained, "are like some made by my mother-in-law +and myself as presents for the Empress Dowager. On the eighth of +the eighth month we have a feast, when the ladies of the royal +household are invited into the palace, and our custom is for each +of us to present Her Majesty with a pair of shoes." + +The shoes were daintily embroidered, though not so pretty as some +I have seen the Empress Dowager wear. Some of her shoes are +decorated with beautiful pearls and others are covered with +precious stones. + +"The Empress Dowager," continued the Princess, "is very vain of +her small feet; though," she continued, as she put her own foot +out, encased in the daintiest little embroidered slipper of +light-blue satin, "it is not so small as my own." + +It seemed very human to hear this delicate little Princess make a +remark of this kind. Of course, both she and the Empress Dowager +have natural feet. + +It was late in the afternoon, some months after my visit to the +Princess, that a very different call came for my services. + +The boy came in and told me that a man wanted me to go to see his +wife, who lived in the southern city outside the Ha-ta gate. It +has always been my custom never to refuse any one whether they be +rich or poor, and so I told him to call a cart. + +It was in midwinter and a bitter cold night, the room was without +fire and yet there was a child of three or four toddling about +upon the kang or brick bed whose only garment was a long coat. + +"You should put a pair of trousers on that child," I said, "or it +will catch cold and I will soon have to come again." + +"Yes," they said, "we will put trousers on it." + +"You had better do it at once," I insisted. + +"Yes," they continued, "we will see that it is dressed." + +After attending to the woman, and again urging them to dress the +child, I wrapped my warm cloak around me and started home, though +I could not forget the child. + +"It is a cold night," I said to the driver as we started on our +way. + +"Yes," he answered, "there will be some uncomfortable people in +the city to-night." + +"In that house we just left," I continued, for I could not banish +the child from my thoughts, "there was a little child playing on +the bed without a shred of trousers on." + +"Quite right," said he; "they pawned the trousers of that child +to get money to pay me for taking you to see the sick woman." + +"To pay you!" said I, with indignation, and yet with admiration +for the character of the people for whom I was giving my +services--"to pay you! Then drive right back and give them their +money and tell them to go and redeem those trousers and put them +on the child!" + +"The city gate will be closed before we can reach it if I +return," said he, "and we will not be able to get in to-night." + +"No matter about that," I insisted, "go back and give them the +money." + +He turned around with many mutterings, lashed up his mule at the +top of his speed, gave them the money, and then started on a +gallop for the city gate. It was a rough ride in that springless +cart over the rutty roads. But my house seemed warmer that night +and my bed seemed softer after I had paid the carter myself. + +Among my friends and patients none are more interesting than the +Misses Hsu. They are very intelligent, and after I had become +well acquainted with them I said to them one day: + +"How is it that you have done such wide reading?" + +"You know, of course," they said, "that our father is a chuang +yuan." + +I asked them the meaning of a chuang yuan. Then I learned that +under the Chinese system a great many students enter the +examinations, and those who secure their degree are called hsiu +tsai; a year or two later these are examined again, and those who +pass are given the degree of chu jen; once more these latter are +examined and the successful candidates are called chin shih, and +are then ready for official position. They continue to study, +however, and are allowed to go into the palace, where they are +examined in the presence of the Emperor, and those who pass are +called han lin, or forest of pencils. Once in three years these +han lins are examined and one is allowed to obtain a degree--he +is a chuang yuan. + +Out of four hundred million people but one is allowed this degree +once in three years. + +"Your father must be a very great scholar," I remarked. + +"He has always been a diligent student," they answered, modestly. + +"What is his given name?" I inquired, one day. + +"If you will give me a pencil I will write it for you; we never +speak the given name of our father in China," said the eldest, +and she wrote it down. + +"How many sisters are there in your family--eight, are there +not?" + +"Yes. You know, of course, that number five was engaged when a +child of six to the son of Li Hung-chang." + +"No, I was not aware of the fact; and were they married?" + +"No, they were never married. The young man died before they were +old enough to wed. When word of his death was brought to her, +child that she was, she went to our mother and told her she must +never engage her to any one else, as she meant to live and die +the widow of this boy." + +"And did she go to Li Hung-chang's home?" + +"No, the old Viceroy wanted to take her to his home, build a +suite of rooms for her, and treat her as his daughter-in-law, but +our parents objected because she was so young. The Viceroy loved +her very much, and his eyes often filled with tears as he spoke +of her and the son who had passed away. When the Viceroy died she +wanted to go and kotow at his funeral, and all his family except +the eldest son were anxious to have her do so, and thus be +recognized as one of the family. But this son objected, and +though Lady Li knocked her head on the coffin until it bled he +would not yield, lest she might want her portion." + +"And what has become of your sister? How is it that I have never +seen her?" + +"She withdrew to a small court, where she has lived with none but +her women servants, not even seeing our father or brothers, and +not allowing a male servant to go near her. And she will not +permit the word Li to be spoken in her presence." + +"And what does she do?" I asked. "How does she employ herself?" + +"Studying, reading, painting, and embroidery. When young Li +refused to allow her to attend his father's funeral her sense of +self-respect was outraged and she cut off her hair and threatened +to commit suicide. She often fasts for a week, and has tried on +several occasions to take her own life." + +I asked them if they did not fear that she might succeed finally +in this attempt to kill herself. + +"Yes, we have constant apprehensions. But then, what if she did? +It would only emphasize her virtue." + +It was some months after the young ladies told me what I have +just related that they called, for they had taken up the study of +English and I had agreed to help them a bit. + +"How is your sister?" I inquired, for the sad fate of this young +girl weighed like a burden on my heart. + +"She fasted more than usual during the early summer, but she +bathed daily and changed her clothes, dressing herself in her +most beautiful garments. She had not been sleeping well for some +time, and one day she ordered her women to leave her and not +return until they were called. They remained away until a married +sister and a sister-in-law-a niece of Li Hung-chang--called and +wanted to see her. We went to her room but found it locked. We +knocked but received no answer. We finally punched a hole through +the paper window and saw her sitting on her brick bed, her head +bolstered up with cushions and her eyes closed. We supposed she +was sleeping, but on forcing open the door we found that she had +gone to join her boy husband, though her colour and appearance +was that of a living person." + +"And are you sure she had not swooned?" + +"She remained in this condition for twenty-two hours without +pulse or heart beat, and so we put her in her casket." + +I could not but feel sad that I had not been in the city, and had +had an opportunity to help them to ascertain whether her life had +really gone out. But the girls seemed proud of the distinction of +having had a sister of such consummate virtue. Numerous +embroidered scrolls and laudatory inscriptions were sent her from +friends of the Li family as well as of their own, and it is +expected that the throne will order a memorial arch erected to +her memory. + +On another occasion I was requested to go to the palace of one of +the princes. The fourth Princess, a beautiful little child of +five, was ill with diphtheria, and the first greeting of the +mother as I went in was that she "was homesick to see me." The +child had been ill for several days before they sent for me, and +I told them at once that the case was dangerous. I wanted to do +all I could for them and at the same time protect my own children +from the danger of infection. After the first treatment with +antitoxin she seemed to rally, her throat cleared up, but I soon +found that the poison had pervaded her entire system, and so I +stayed with her day and night. + +I found that the child had contracted the disease from another +about her own age, who was both her playmate and her slave. It is +the custom among the wealthy to purchase for each daughter a +companion who plays with her as a child, becomes a companion in +youth and her maid when she marries. These slaves are usually +treated well, and when this one became ill the members of the +family visited her often, taking her such dainties as might tempt +her appetite. As a result I had to administer antitoxin to eight +of the younger members of the household, so careless had they +been about the spread of this disease; indeed I have found that +the isolation of patients suffering from contagious diseases is +wholly unknown in China. + +One of the most attractive of all my Chinese lady friends and +patients is the niece of the great Viceroy, Li Hung-chang, the +daughter of his brother, Li Han-chang, who is himself a viceroy. +I have been her physician for eighteen years or more and hence +have become intimately acquainted with her. She has visited me +very often in my home and, of all the women I have ever known, of +any race or people, I have never met one whom I thought more +cultured or refined than she. This may seem a strange statement, +but the quiet dignity that she manifested on all occasions and +her charming manners are not often met with. I have never felt on +entering a drawing-room such an atmosphere of refinement as +seemed to surround her. + +That the Chinese take very kindly to foreign medicine there is no +doubt, though it is sometimes amusing how they go back to their +own native methods. + +One day my husband brought home a physiological chart about the +size of an ordinary man. It was covered with black spots and I +asked him the reason for them. + +"That is what I asked the dealer from whom I bought it," he +replied, "and he told me that those spots indicate where the +needle can be inserted in treatment by acupuncture without +killing the patient." + +When a Chinese is ill the doctor generally concludes that the +only way to cure him is to stick a long needle into him and let +out the pain or set up counter irritation. If the patient dies it +is evident he stuck the needle into the wrong spot. And this +chart has been made up from millions of experiments during the +past two or three thousand years from patients who have died or +recovered. + +This was practically illustrated by a woman who was brought to +the hospital. Having had pain in the knee she sent for a Chinese +physician who concluded that the only method of relieving her was +by acupuncture. He therefore inserted a needle which +unfortunately pierced the synovial sac causing inflammation which +finally resulted in complete destruction of the joint. Such cases +are not infrequent both among adults and children in all grades +of society, due to this method of treatment. + +One day I was called to see a lady who was in immediate need of +surgical treatment. She had three sons who were in high official +positions in the palace, and if their mother died they would have +to withdraw from official life and go into mourning for three +years. When men are thus compelled to resign the new incumbent is +not inclined to restore the office when the period of mourning is +over. They were therefore doubly anxious to have their mother +recover. They had tried all kinds of Chinese physicians and +finally sent for me. + +I explained the nature of the operation necessary, and gave them +every reason to hope for a speedy recovery, while without +surgical treatment she must surely die. They consented and the +operation was successful. She recovered rapidly for a few days +until I regarded her as practically out of danger. But one day +when I called I found her bathed in perspiration, shaking with +fear, weeping and depressed. Her wound was in an excellent +condition and I could find no reason for her despondency. I +cheered her up, laughed and talked with her, gave her such +articles of diet as she craved, and left her happy. The next day +I again found her in the same nervous condition. + +"Something is wrong with your mother of which you have not told +me," I said to her son. + +"Before we sent for you," he said, "we had called a spirit +doctor, who went into a sort of trance, claimed to have descended +into the spirit world where he saw them making a coffin which he +said my mother would occupy before the fifteenth of the month. It +is because that time is approaching that she is filled with +fear." + +I talked with the lady, showed her how her wound was healing, +encouraged her to rest easy until the fifteenth, when I would +spend the day with her, after which she immediately began gaining +strength and soon recovered. + +At another time I was called to see the wife of the president of +the Board of Punishments. I found an operation necessary. The +next day I found the patient delirious with a fever, and asked +the husband if my directions had been followed. + +"I assure you they have," he answered. "But the cause of the +fever is this: Last evening while the servants were taking their +meal she was left alone for a short time. While they were absent, +her sister who lived on this street, a short distance from here, +committed suicide. When the servant discovered it she ran +directly to my wife's room, and told her of the tragedy. My wife +began to tremble, had a severe chill, and soon became delirious. +I suspect that her sister's spirit accompanied the servant and +entered my wife." + +In spite of this explanation I cleaned and dressed the wound and +left her more comfortable. The next morning she was somewhat +better, without fever and in her right mind. + +"What kind of a night did she have?" I asked her husband. + +"Oh, very good," he answered. "I managed to get the spirit out of +her." + +"How did you do it?" I inquired. + +"Soon after you left yesterday, I dressed myself in my official +garments, came into my wife's apartments, and asked the spirit if +it would not like to go with me to the yamen, adding that we +would have some interesting cases to settle. I felt a strange +sensation come over me and I knew the spirit had entered me. I +got into my cart, drove down to the home of my sister-in-law, +went in where the corpse lay, and told the spirit that it would +be a disgrace to have a woman at the Board of Punishments. 'This +is your place,' I said, in an angry voice; 'get out of me and +stay where you belong.' I felt the spirit leaving me, my fingers +became stiff and I felt faint. I had only been at the Board a +short time when they sent a servant to tell me that my wife was +quiet and sleeping. When I returned in the evening the fever was +gone and she was rational." + + + +XVIII + +The Funeral Ceremonies of a Dowager Princess + +There are five degrees of mourning, as follows:--For parents, +grandparents and great-grandparents; for brothers and sisters; +for uncles and aunts; and for distant relatives. In the first +sackcloth without hem or border; in the second with hem or +border; in the third, fourth and fifth, pieces of sackcloth on +parts of the dress. When sackcloth is worn, after the third +interval of seven days is over the mourners can cast it off, and +wear plain colours, such as white, gray, black and blue. For a +parent the period is nominally three years, but really +twenty-seven months, during all which time no silk can be worn; +during this time officials have to resign their appointments, and +retire from public life. --Dyer Ball in "Things Chinese." + + +XVIII + +THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS[5] + +[5] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book. + + +One day I received a large sheet of white paper on which was +written in Chinese characters the announcement of the death of +the Dowager Princess Su, and inviting me to the "third-day +exercises." The real meaning of this "chieh san" I did not +comprehend, but I knew that those who were invited sent presents +of cakes or fruit, or baskets of paper flowers, incense, gold and +silver ingots made of paper, or rolls of paper silk, all of which +were intended for the use of the spirit of the departed. The +paper presents were all burned on the evening of the third day, +while the spirit feasted upon the flavour of the fruit and cakes. + +As I did not feel that it was appropriate for me to send these +things, I had a beautiful wreath of white chrysanthemum flowers +made, and sent that instead. While I appreciated the invitation, +I thought it was probably given only as a matter of form, and +that I was not expected to attend the exercises, and so I sent my +Chinese maid with the wreath, saying that as I did not understand +their customs I would not go. + +It was not long until the maid returned saying that they were +anxious to have me come, that under no circumstances must I +refuse, as they wished me to see their funeral ceremonies. The +Princess sent her cart for me, and according to the Chinese +custom, I took my maid seated upon the front, and set out for +Prince Su's palace. As we neared our destination we passed +numerous carts and chairs of princes who had been at the palace +to pay their respects. The street leading off the great +thoroughfare was filled with carts, chairs, servants and +outriders, but the utmost order prevailed. There were scores of +soldiers and special police, the latter dressed in long garments +of gray with a short jacket of white on the breast of which was +his number in black. These gray and white uniforms were mourning +colours, and were given by the Prince. + +As we entered the gate we saw white-robed servants everywhere, +each with a sober face and a dignified bearing, waiting to be of +use. My name was announced and two servants stepped out from the +crowd, clothed from head to feet in white sackcloth, one +presenting his arm to help me through the court, as though I were +a bound-footed woman, and the other led the way. We were taken +by a roundabout path, through numerous courts and passages, the +front being reserved for the male guests, and were finally +ushered into a room filled with white-robed women servants, who +with one accord bent their knee in a low courtesy. + +We were there met by the first and third Princesses, daughters of +the Dowager who had just passed away. They were dressed in white, +their hair being put up in the Manchu fashion. Instead of the +jewels and bright flowers, however, it was crossed and recrossed +with bands of white folded sackcloth. As these two ladies were +married daughters, and had left this home, their sackcloth was +not so coarse as that of the daughters-in-law and granddaughters +who dwelt in the palace. It was they who received the guests and +conducted them into the room where the mourners were kneeling. + +As the white door screen was raised I saw two rows of white-robed +figures kneeling on the floor, and as I entered they all bent +forward and touched their head to the ground, giving forth as +they did it a low, wailing chant. + +Not knowing their customs I went up and stooped over, speaking +first to the Princess and then to the ladies as best I could. I +afterwards watched the other lady visitors and saw that they put +their right hand up near their head as our soldiers salute, and +courtesied to the Princess, her daughter-in-law and her eldest +daughter. They then went over to a little table on which was a +silver sacrificial set, consisting of a wine tankard, a great +bowl, and a number of tiny cups holding but two tablespoonfuls. +They took the cup in its little saucer, and, facing the beautiful +canopied catafalque where the Dowager Princess was lying in +state, they raised the cup as high as their head three times, +emptying and refilling it each time. The mourners prostrated +themselves and gave forth a mournful wail each time the cup was +poured, after which the visitor arose and came over to where we +were, and the ceremony was over. + +The third daughter of the late Dowager seemed to regard me as her +special friend and guest, and insisted on my coming over to a +white curtain that separated us from the view of the gentlemen, +and from there I watched the proceedings of princes and officials +who went through a similar ceremony. There was this difference +with them, however, as they entered through the great canopied +court, they were conducted by white-robed servants directly to +the altar, and there kneeling, they made their obeisance to the +spirit of the departed, after which they went into the room where +the Prince and the other male descendants of the dead Dowager +were kneeling and prostrating themselves. + +There was a heavy yellow curtain over the door that led into the +sacrificial hall, and when the servants from without announced a +visitor, this curtain was drawn aside, and as the guest and a +flood of light entered, the mourners began their wailing which +they continued until he had departed. These visitors remained but +a moment, while the ladies who were there were all near +relatives, and were dressed either entirely or partially in +sackcloth. + +The room in which these ladies knelt was draped in white. The +cushions were all covered with white, and all porcelain and other +decorations had been removed. The floor was covered with a heavy +rope matting, on which the ladies knelt--all except the Princess, +for whom was prepared a small dark blue felt cushion. The +Princess knelt at the northwest corner of the room, directly in +front of the curtain which separated them from the sacrificial +hall. Several of the very near male relatives entered and gave +the low Manchu courtesy to the Princess, the son's wife, and the +eldest daughter, though none of the other kneeling ladies were +recognized. They left immediately without, so far as I noticed, +raising their eyes. + +The Prince, his sons and the other mourners in the men's room +were clothed in white fur, and the servants too, who stood in the +sacrificial hall, and at intervals along the way towards the +hall, wore white fur coats instead of sackcloth. + +To the left of the Princess there knelt in succession all the +secondary wives of Prince Su, and if I mistake not there were +five of these concubines. Behind the Princess knelt her son's +wife--the future Princess Su, and on her left, the daughters and +granddaughters of the Prince knelt in succession. The Princess +and secondary princesses had bands of sackcloth wound around +their heads, though their hair hung down their backs in two long +braids, and as I had never seen these princesses except when +clothed in beautifully embroidered satin garments, with hair put +up in elaborate coiffures, decked with jewels and flowers, and +faces painted and powdered in the proper Manchu fashion, it was +not easy to recognize them in these white-robed, yellow-faced +women, with hair hanging down their backs. + +The grandson's wife and granddaughters, on the other hand, had +their hair combed, but the long hairpin was of silver instead of +jade or gold, and instead of being decorated with jewels and +flowers, and a red cord, it was crossed and recrossed with bands +of folded sackcloth an inch and a half in width. It was neat and +very effective--the black hair and white cloth making a pretty +contrast to the Western eye, though it would probably not be so +considered by the Chinese. + +After I had watched them for a few moments I said to the princess +who accompanied me: + +"I must not intrude upon your time longer; you have been very +kind to allow me to witness all these interesting customs." + +"Oh, but you must not go now," she insisted; "you must remain and +see the arrival of the priests, and the burning of the paper +houses, goods, chattels, and images on the great street. I want +you to understand all our customs, and this is the greatest and +most interesting day of the funeral ceremonies." + +I urged that I ought not to intrude myself upon them at this +time. + +"No, no," she said, "you must not say that. It is not intrusion; +you must stay and dine with us this evening." + +When I still insisted upon going she said that if I went they +would feel that I did not care for them, and she was so +persistent that I consented to remain if the maid might be sent +home to the children, which they at once arranged for. + +In the interval between the arrival of male guests, the ladies +took me out into a large canopied court to see the decorations, +and into the sacrificial hall. These ceremonies were all +conducted in the house and court which the Dowager Princess had +occupied, and where I had often gone to see her when she wanted +to thank me for some medical attention I had given her children +or grandchildren. + +As we passed through the great gate, I noticed that the court was +covered with a mat pavilion making a room about one hundred and +fifty feet square, lighted by great squares of glass near the +top, and decorated with banners of rich brocade silks or satins, +of sober colours, blue, gray or white, on which were texts +extolling the virtues of the late Dowager or her family. These +were the gifts of friends, who had been coming and would continue +to come for days if not weeks. + +At the north end as one came in at the gate was a gallery running +the whole length of the northern court, fitted up with special +hangings which separated it into different compartments. Many +elegant banners and decorations gave it a striking effect. This +was the place where the priests, who had not yet arrived, were to +say their prayers day and night until the funeral ceremonies were +over. + +Directly in front of the catafalque, in the gallery, there was a +table on which I afterwards saw the priests place a silver vessel +which the head priest carried, and the others regarded with much +solemnity. + +From the gateway leading into the sacrificial hall the floor of +the court had been raised even with the door of the house and the +gate, a height of about five feet, and forty feet wide, and was +covered with the same kind of rope matting that was on the +floors. On the canopied verandas there were stacks of cakes, +incense, fruit and money. These were the most novel sights I have +ever seen in China. They were ten or twelve feet high. They were +a very pretty sight, and it required some scrutiny to discover +that they were made of cakes and fruit. How they were able to +build them thus, tier upon tier, and prevent their falling when +they were touched is beyond my comprehension. What magic there is +in it I do not know. + +As one entered the door of the sacrificial hall, towering above +everything else, was the great catafalque, draped in cloth of +gold, and in front of it were stacks of these sacrificial cakes. +Near them there was a table on which there were great white, +square candles, five inches or more in diameter, the four sides +of which were stamped with figures of fairies and immortals. On +this table there were also various savoury dishes, together with +cakes and fruit, prepared to feed the spirit of the dead. In +front of this table again there was another about a foot high on +which were placed the sacrificial wine vessels, and before which +the guests knelt. As we entered I saw the gentlemen kneeling to +the left, while the ladies, separated from them by white +curtains, were kneeling to the right. + +After we had seen the various customs without, I was taken into +the dining-room, where I sat down with the young Princess and her +two aunts, daughters of the Dowager. They were very kind and +polite, and did all in their power to make me feel at home. We +were attended by white-robed eunuchs, who knelt when they spoke +to the Princess. There was such a lot of them. + +"How many servants do you use ordinarily?" I asked the eldest +daughter. + +"About four hundred," she replied. + +I thought of the task of robing four hundred servants in new +white sackcloth, and attending to all the other things that I had +seen, in the forty-eight hours since the death of the Dowager +Princess. Even the bread, instead of being dotted with red as it +is ordinarily, was dotted with black! + +As we were finishing our supper we heard the horns of the priests +and went to see them arrive. Prince Su, and the other male +members of the family, went out to the door to receive them, but +we remained within. They first went to the gallery, then the head +priest came down into the sacrificial hall and made nine +prostrations before the catafalque, without, however, pouring or +offering wine. After each third prostration he stood up and +raised his clasped hands to a level with his eyes. They then +began their weird music, standing on the two sides of the raised +platform between the gate and the house, thus allowing a +passageway between them for the guests. + +The Princess told me that they were about to form a procession to +go to the great street. I therefore took my leave in order that I +might precede them and see the procession arrive, and witness the +burning of the presents for the spirit. + +When I arrived on the great street I there beheld a paper cart +and horses which were intended to transport the spirit to the +eastern heaven. There was a sedan chair for her use after her +arrival, numerous servants, money, silk, and a beautiful, big +house for her to dwell in, all made of paper. I had not long to +wait for the procession, which was headed by the priests playing +mournful, wailing music on large and small horns and drums. The +priests were followed by the mourners and their friends. When +they arrived at the place of the burning, the mourners prostrated +themselves upon white cushions before the paper furnishings amid +the shrieks of the instruments, the wailing of the hired +mourners, and the petitions of the priests for the spirits to +assist the departed on her way. + +While this was going on, fire was applied to various parts of the +paper pile, and in a moment a great flame sprang up into the +air--a flame that could be seen from miles around, and in less +time than it takes to tell it the whole was a heap of glowing +ashes, the mourners had departed, and the little street children +were stirring it up with long sticks. + +The first three days after death, the spirit is supposed to visit +the different temples, going, as it were, from official court to +official court receiving judgment, and cards of merit or demerit +to take with it, for the deeds done in the body. On the third day +it returns to say farewell to the home, and then leaves for its +long journey, and all this paper furniture is sent on ahead. + +They continue forty-nine days of prayers by the priests, +alternating three days by the Buddhists, three by the Lamas, and +three by the Taoists, after which the Buddhists take their turn +again. Everything else remains much as I have described it. The +family, servants, everybody in mourning, and all business put +aside to make way for this ceremony of mourning, mourning, +mourning, when they ought to be rejoicing, for the poor old +Princess had been a paralytic for years and was far better out of +her misery. + +The Princess frequently sent her cart for me during these days. +Once when I was going through the court where there were vast +quantities of things to be burned for the spirit, all made of +paper, I noticed some that were so natural that I was unable to +distinguish between them and the real things. Especially was this +true of the furniture and flowers like that which had been in her +apartments. There were great ebony chairs with fantastically +marked marble seats, cabinets, and all the furniture necessary +for her use. Among these things I noticed on the table a pack of +cards and a set of dice, of which she had been very fond, and a +chair like the one in which the eunuchs had carried the crippled +old Princess about the court, and I said to the young Princess +who accompanied me: + +"You do not think your grandmother will require these things in +the spirit world, do you?" + +"Perhaps not," she replied, "but she enjoyed her cards and dice, +and the chair was such a necessity, that, whether she needs them +or not, it is a comfort to us to get and send her everything she +liked while she lived, and it helps us bear our sorrows." + + +XIX + +Chinese Princes and Officials + +In any estimate of the forces which lead and control public +opinion in China, everywhere from the knot of peasants in the +hamlet to the highest officers of state and the Emperor himself, +the literati, or educated class, must be given a prominent +position. They form an immense body, increased each year by the +government examinations. They are at the head of the social +order. Every civil officer in the empire must be chosen from +their number. They constitute the basis of an elaborate system of +civil service, well equipped with checks and balances which, if +corrected and brought into touch with modern life and thought, +would easily command the admiration of the world. +--Chester Holcomb in "The Real Chinese Question." + + +XIX + +CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS + +One day while the head eunuch from the palace of one of the +leading princes in Peking was sitting in my study he said: + +"It is drawing near to the New Year. Do you celebrate the New +Year in your honourable country?" + +"Yes," I replied, "though not quite the same as you do here." + +"Do you fire off crackers?" + +"Yes, in the matter of firecrackers, we celebrate very much the +same as you do." + +"And do you settle up all your debts as we do here?" + +"I am afraid we do not. That is not a part of our New Year +celebration." + +"Our Prince is going to take on two more concubines this New +Year," he volunteered. + +"Ah, indeed, I thought he had three concubines already." + +"So he does, but he is entitled to five." + +"I should think it would make trouble in a family for one man to +have so many women," I ventured. + +He waved his hand in that peculiar way the Chinese have of +saying, don't mention it, as he answered: + +"That is a difficult matter to discuss. Naturally if this woman +sees the Prince talking to that one, this one is going to eat +vinegar," which gives us a glimpse of some of the domestic +difficulties in Chinese high life. However it is a fact worth +remembering that the Manchu prince does not receive his full +stipend from the government until he has five concubines, each of +whom is the mother of a son. + +The leading princes of the new regime are Ching, Su, and Pu-lun. +Prince Ching has been the leader of the Manchus ever since the +downfall of Prince Kung. He has held almost every office it was +in the power of the Empress Dowager to give, "though disliked by +the Emperor." He was made president of the Tsung-li Yamen in +1884, and from that time until the present has never been +degraded, or in any way lost the imperial favour. He is small in +stature, has none of the elements of the great man that +characterized Li Hung-chang and Chang Chih-tung, or Prince Kung, +but he has always been characterized by that diplomacy which has +kept him one of the most useful officials in close connection +with the Empress Dowager. It is to his credit moreover that the +legations were preserved from the Boxers in the siege of 1900. + +Prince Su is the only one of the eight hereditary princes who +holds any office that brings him into intimate contact with the +foreigners. During the Boxer siege he gave his palace for the use +of the native Christians, and at the close was made collector of +the customs duties (octoroi) at the city gates. Never had there +been any one in charge of this post who turned in as large +proportion of the total collections as he. This excited the +jealousy of the other officials, and they said to each other: "If +Prince Su is allowed to hold this position for any length of time +there will never be anything in it for any one else." They +therefore sought for a ground of accusation, and they found it, +in the eyes of the conservatives, in the fact that he rode in a +foreign carriage, built himself a house after the foreign style +of architecture, furnished it with foreign furniture, employed an +Englishman to teach his boys, and as we have seen opened a school +for the women and girls of his family. He therefore lost his +position, but it is to the credit of Prince Chun, the new Regent, +and his progressive policy, that Prince Su has been made chief of +the naval department, of which Prince Ching is only an adviser. + +The most important person among either princes or officials that +has been connected with the new regime is Yuan Shih-kai. He was +born in the province of Honan, that province south of the Yellow +River which is almost annually flooded by that great muddy stream +which is called "China's Sorrow." As a boy he was a diligent +student of the Chinese classics and of such foreign books as had +been translated into the Chinese language, but he has never +studied a foreign tongue nor visited a foreign country. Here then +rests the first element of his greatness--that without any +knowledge of foreign language, foreign law, foreign literature, +science of government, or the history of progress and of +civilization, he has occupied the highest and most responsible +positions in the gift of the empire, has steered the ship of +state on a straight course between the shoals of conservatism on +the one hand and radical reform on the other until he has brought +her near to the harbour of a safe progressive policy. + +He has always been what the Chinese call the tu-ti or pupil of Li +Hung-chang, and it may be that it was from him he learned his +statecraft. Certain it is that he always basked in the favour of +the great Viceroy, and it may be that he had more or less +influence with him in his earlier appointments, for he rose +rapidly and in spite of all other officials. + +On his return from Korea he was made a judge. He was then put in +charge of the army of the metropolitan province, and with the +assistance of German officers he succeeded in drilling 12,500 +troops after the European fashion. + +It was about this time that the Emperor conceived the plan of +instituting and carrying out one of the most stupendous reforms +that has ever been undertaken in human government--that of +transforming four thousand years of conservatism of four hundred +millions of people in the short space of a few months. + +Given: A people who cannot make a nail, to build a railroad. + +Given: A people who dare not plow a deep furrow for fear of +disturbing the spirits of the place, to open gold, silver, iron +and coal mines. + +Given: A people who in 4,000 years did not have the genius to +develop a decent high school, to open a university in the capital +of every province. + +These are three of the score or more of equally difficult +problems that the Emperor undertook to solve in twice as many +days. In order to the solution of these problems there was +organized in Peking a Reform Party of hot-headed, radical young +scholars not one of whom has ever turned out to be a statesman. +They were brilliant young men, many of them, but they so lost +their heads in their enthusiasm for reform that they forgot that +their government was in the hands of the same old conservative +leaders under whom it had been for forty centuries. + +They introduced into the palace as the private adviser of the +Emperor, Kang Yu-wei, as we have already shown, to whom was thus +offered one of the greatest opportunities that was ever given to +a human being--that of being the leader in this great reform. He +was hailed as a young Confucius, but his popularity was +short-lived, for he so lacked all statesmanship as to allow the +young Emperor to issue twenty-seven edicts, disposing of +twenty-seven difficult problems such as I have given above in +about twice that many days, and it is this hot-headed and +unstatesman-like young "Confucius" who now calls Yuan Shih-kai +an opportunist and a traitor because he did not enter into the +following plot. + +After the Emperor had dismissed two conservative vice-presidents +of a Board, two governors of provinces, and a half dozen other +useless conservative leaders, they plotted to overthrow him by +appealing to the ambition of the Empress Dowager and induce her +to dethrone him and again assume the reins of government. They +argued that "he was her adopted son, it was she who had placed +him on the throne, and she was therefore responsible for his +mistakes." They complimented her on "the wisdom which she had +manifested, and the statesmanship she had exhibited" during the +thirty years and more of her regency. To all which she listened +with a greedy ear, but still she made no move. + +During this time were the Emperor and his young "Confucius" idle? +By no means. They had hatched a counterplot, and had decided that +what they could not do by moral suasion and statesmanship they +would do by force, and so they sent an order to Yuan Shih-kai, +who as we have said had drilled and was in charge of 12,500 of +the best troops in the empire, urging him to "hasten to the +capital at once, place the Empress Dowager under guard in the +Summer Palace so that she may not be allowed to interfere in the +affairs of the government, and protect him in his reform +measures." + +The Emperor knew that nothing could be done without the command +of the army which was largely in the hands of a great +conservative friend of the Empress Dowager (Jung Lu) the +father-in-law of the present Regent. Yuan was in charge of an +army corps of 12,500 troops, but for him to have taken them even +at the command of the Emperor, without informing his superior +officer, would have meant the loss of his head at once. The first +thing then for him to do was to take this order to Jung Lu. Yuan +was in favour of reform, though he may not have approved of the +Emperor's methods. Jung Lu hastened to Prince Ching and they two +sped to the Empress Dowager in the Summer Palace where they laid +the whole matter before her. She hurried to Peking, boldly faced +and denounced the Emperor, took from him his seal of state, and +confined him a prisoner in the Winter Palace. Kang Yu-wei, the +young "Confucius," fled, but the Empress Dowager seized his +brother and five other patriotic young reformers, and ordered +them beheaded on the public execution grounds in Peking. + +Naturally the Empress Dowager approved of the "wise and +statesmanlike methods" of Yuan in thus protecting instead of +imprisoning her, and thus placing the reins of government once +more in her hands, and she appointed him Junior Vice-President of +the Board of Works, and when she was compelled to remove the +Governor of Shantung who had organized the Boxer Society, she +appointed Yuan Acting Governor in his stead. "Yuan," says Arthur +H. Smith, was "a man of a wholly different stripe" from the one +removed, and "if left to himself he would speedily have +exterminated the whole Boxer brood, but being hampered by +'confidential instructions' from the palace, he could do little +but issue poetical proclamations, and revile his subordinates for +failure to do their duty." + +When Yuan was made Governor of Shantung a number of the Boxer +leaders called upon him expecting to find in him a sympathizer +worthy of his predecessor. They told him of their great powers +and possibilities, and of how they were proof against the spears, +swords and bullets of their enemies. Yuan listened to them with +patience and interest, and invited them to dine with him and +other official friends in the near future. + +During the dinner the Governor directed the conversation towards +the Boxer leaders and their prowess, and led them once more to +relate to all his friends their powers of resistance. He fed them +well, and after the dinner was over he suggested that they give +an exhibition of their wonderful powers to the friends whom he +had invited. This they could not well refuse to do after the +braggadocio way in which they had talked, and so the Governor +lined them up, called forth a number of his best marksmen, and +proceeded with the exhibition, and it is unnecessary to add that +if the Empress Dowager had invited Yuan to the meeting with the +princes when they discussed the advisability of joining the +Boxers on account of a belief in their supernatural powers, she +might have been spared the humiliation of 1900. + +We shall soon see that Yuan cared no more for the "confidential +instructions" of the Empress Dowager, when his statesmanship was +involved, than for the orders of the Emperor. His business was to +govern and protect the people of his province, and thanks to his +wise statesmanship and strong character "there was not only no +foreigner killed during the troubled season of anxiety and +flight" of 1900, and "comparatively little of the suffering +elsewhere so common." + +And now we come to another plot which indicates the character of +Yuan and two other great viceroys, Chang Chih-tung, now Grand +Secretary, and Liu Kun-yi, Viceroy of the Yangtse-kiang +provinces. It is a well-known fact that during the Boxer +rebellion the Empress Dowager was so influenced by the promises +of the Boxers to drive out all the foreigners that she sent out +some very unwise edicts that they should be massacred in the +provinces. Yuan and his two confreres secretly stipulated that if +the foreign men of war would keep away from the ports of their +provinces they would maintain peace and protect the foreigners no +matter what orders came from the throne. So that when these +confidential instructions came from the palace to massacre the +foreigners, in order to gain time they pretended to believe that +no such orders could have come from the throne. They must be +forgeries of the Boxers. They therefore refused to believe them +until they had sent their own special messenger all the way to +Peking to get the edict from the hands of Her Majesty and bring +it to them in their provinces. This messenger was also secretly +instructed to find out what the contents of the edict were, and +if it was contrary to the desires of the Governor, he was to +dilly-dally on the way home until the Boxer trouble was ended or +until the foreigners had all been removed from the territory. And +it was such conduct as this on the part of three Chinese and one +Manchu viceroys that saved China from being divided up among the +Powers in 1900, a fact which the Empress Dowager was not slow to +understand and reward. + +In 1900 Yuan was made Governor of the Shantung province, and the +court was compelled to flee to Hsian. It was while the court was +thus in hiding that an incident occurred which indicates the +fertility of the Empress Dowager and the elasticity of all +Chinese social customs. Governor Yuan's mother died. In a case of +this kind customs dictate, and the rules of filial affection +demand, that a man shall resign all his official positions and go +into mourning for a period of three years. Yuan therefore sent +his resignation to the Empress Dowager, while "weeping tears of +blood." + +The country was of course in desperate straits and could ill +afford to lose, for three years, for a mere sentiment, the +services of one of her greatest and most powerful statesmen. +However much he may have regretted to give up such a brilliant +career which was just well begun, Yuan no doubt expected to do +so. What was his surprise therefore to receive from Her Majesty a +message of condolence in which she praised his mother in the +highest terms for having given the world such a brilliant and +able son. Under the circumstances, however, it would be +impossible to accept his resignation as his services to the +country just at this juncture were indispensable. She would, +however, appoint a substitute to go into mourning for him, and +this with the knowledge that she had borne a son whose services +were so necessary to the safety of the government and the +country, would be a sufficient comfort to the spirit of his +departed mother, and Yuan was forced to continue in his official +position as Governor of the province without the intermission of +a single day of mourning. Such is the elasticity and adaptability +of the unchanging laws and customs of the Oriental when in the +hands of a master--or a mistress--like Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager. + +One can imagine that in proportion as the Empress Dowager was +pleased with the statesmanship manifested by Yuan Shih-kai in +unintentionally reseating her upon the throne, in a like +proportion the Emperor would be dissatisfied with it as being the +cause of his dethronement. This was not, however, against Yuan +alone but against the father-in-law of the present Regent and +even Prince Ching as well. During the whole ten years, from 1898 +until his death, while he was a prisoner "his heart boiled with +wrath" against those who had been the cause of his downfall. + +It was not until the Boxer troubles of 1900 were over, and Yuan, +by the masterly way in which he had disregarded the imperial +edicts, had protected and preserved the lives of all the +foreigners in his province, keeping peace the while, that honours +began to be heaped upon him. And this not without reason as we +shall proceed to show. + +In 1901 he was made Governor-General of the metropolitan +province, and Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In 1902 he +was decorated with the Yellow Jacket, placed in charge of the +affairs of the Northern Railway, and consulting minister to +counsel the government. Wherever he was he gave as much attention +to the city government as to that of the province or the nation, +and in spite of his having no foreign education himself, he began +building up a system of public schools in his province like which +there is nothing else in the whole of China. Let us remember also +that during ail this time there was suspended over his head, from +the palace, a sword of Damocles which was liable to fall at any +time. But we will explain that further on as it is the last act +of the drama. + +When Yuan went to Tientsin as Viceroy of the metropolitan +province he found there Dr. C. D. Tenny, the president of the +Tientsin University which had been begun by Li Hung-chang some +ten or a dozen years before. It had a good course of study and +was turning out a large number of young graduates for whom there +ought to be a better future than that of interpreters in the +various business houses of that and other cities. He therefore +called Dr. Tenny to him and inquired particularly about the +system of public school education throughout the United States. + +"What is to prevent our putting into operation such a system +throughout this province?" asked the Viceroy. + +"Nothing," answered Dr. Tenny, "except to be willing to submit to +the conditions." + +"And what are those conditions?" asked His Excellency. + +"They are that you open schools in every important town, place in +them well-educated, competent teachers, whom you are willing to +pay a salary equal to what they may reasonably expect to get if +they enter business." + +"May I ask if you would be willing to undertake the development +of such a system?" he asked further. + +"On one condition," answered Dr. Tenny. + +"And what is that?" + +"That you allow me to open a school wherever I think there should +be one, call my teachers from whatsoever source I please to call +them, pay them whatever salary I think they deserve, sending all +the bills to Your Excellency, and you pay them without question." + +The Viceroy had known Dr. Tenny for years, had always had the +most implicit confidence both in his ability and his honesty, and +so, lightening up his duties in the Tientsin and Paotingfu Uni- +versities, he commissioned him to establish what may be termed +the first public school system of education on modern lines in +the whole empire. This one act, if he had done no other, was +reason enough for a wise regent to have continued him in office +even though he "had rheumatism of the leg." But it may be that +there are extenuating circumstances in this act of the Regent as +we shall point out later. + +There is one phase of the Boxer uprising that I have never yet +seen properly represented in any book or magazine. We all know +how the ministers of the various European governments with their +wives and children, the customs officials, missionaries, business +men, and tourists who happened to be in Peking at the time, with +all the Chinese Christians, were confined in the British legation +and Prince Su's palace. We know how they barricaded their +defense. We know how they were fired upon day and night for six +weeks by the Boxer leaders and the army of the conservatives +under the leadership of their general, Tung Fu-hsiang. But the +thing which we do not know, or at least which has not been +adequately told, is the most interesting secret plot of the +liberal progressives, under the leadership of "Prince Ching and +others," to thwart the Empress Dowager and the Boxer leaders, the +conservatives and their army, and protect the most noted company +of prisoners that have ever been confined in a legation quarter. +The plot was this: + +When Prince Ching and his progressive associates in Peking +discovered that they could not vote down the Boxer princes, they +dared not openly oppose them, but they secretly decided that the +representatives of the Powers must not be massacred else the doom +of China was sealed. When they discovered that Yuan Shih-kai and +the other great viceroys had decided by stratagem to foil the +Boxers even though they must set all the imperial edicts at +naught, they decided, for the sake of the protection of the +legations and the preservation of the empire, that they would do +the same. They secretly sent supplies of food to the besieged, +which the latter feared to use lest they be poisoned. But more +than that they kept their own armies in Peking as a guard and as +a final resort in case there was danger of the legation being +overcome, and as a matter of fact there were regular pitched +battles between the troops of Prince Ching and his associates and +those of the Boxer leader, Tung Fu-hsiang. Had the Boxers finally +succeeded, Yuan Shih-kai and Prince Ching and their associates +would have lost their heads, but as the Boxers failed it was they +who went to their graves by the short process of the +executioner's knife. + +So Yuan was between two fires. He had disobeyed the commands of +the Emperor in not coming to Peking and had therefore incurred +his displeasure and caused his downfall. He had disobeyed the +Empress Dowager in not putting to death the foreigners in his +province, and if the Boxers were successful he would surely lose +his head on that account. The Boxers, however, were not +successful and as his disobedience had helped to save the empire, +Yuan, so long as the Dowager remained in power, was safe. + +But a day of reckoning must inevitably come. The Empress Dowager +was an old woman, the Emperor was a young man. In all human +probabilities she would be the first to die, while his only hope +was in her outliving the Emperor, who had sworn vengeance on all +those who had been instrumental in his imprisonment. + +I have a friend in Peking who is also a friend of one of the +greatest Chinese officials. This official has gone into the +palace daily for a dozen years past and knows every plot and +counterplot that has been hatched in that nest of seclusion +during all that time, though he has been implicated in none of +them. He has held the highest positions in the gift of the empire +without ever once having been degraded. One day when he was in +the palace the Emperor unburdened his heart to him, thinking that +what he said would never reach the ears of his enemies. + +"You have no idea," said the Emperor, "what I suffer here." + +"Indeed?" was the only reply of the official. + +"Yes," continued the Emperor, "I am not allowed to speak to any +one from outside. I am without power, without companions, and +even the eunuchs act as though they are under no obligations to +respect me. The position of the lowest servant in the palace is +more desirable than mine." Then lowering his voice he continued, +"But there is a day of reckoning to come. The Empress Dowager +cannot live forever, and if ever I get my throne again I will see +to it that those who put me here will suffer as I have done." + +It is not unlikely that this conversation of the Emperor reached +the ears of Yuan Shih-kai. Walls have ears in China. Everything +has ears, and every part of nature has a tongue. If so, here was +the occasion for the last plot in the drama of the Emperor's +life, and next to the last in the official life of Yuan Shih-kai. + +The problem is to so manipulate the laws of nature as to prevent +the Emperor outliving the Empress Dowager, and not allow the +world to know that you have been trifling with occult forces. He +must die a natural death, a death which is above suspicion. He +must not die one day after the Empress Dowager as that would +create talk. And he ought to die some time before her. The death +fuse is one which often burns very much longer than we expect-- +was it not one of the English kings who said "I fear I am a very +long time a-dying, gentlemen" --and sometimes it burns out sooner +than is intended. There were two imperial death fuses burning at +the same time in that Forbidden City of Peking. The Empress +Dowager had "had a stroke." Hers was undoubtedly nature's own +work. But the enemies of Yuan Shih-kai tell us that the Emperor +had "had a Chinese doctor," to whom the great Viceroy paid +$33,000 for his services. We are told that the Empress Dowager in +reality died first and then the Emperor, though the Emperor's +death was first announced, and the next day that of the Dowager. + +What then are we to infer? That the Emperor was poisoned? Let it +be so. That is what the Japanese believed at the time. But who +did it? Most assuredly no one man. One might have employed a +Chinese physician for him, but the last man whose physician the +Emperor would have accepted would have been Yuan Shih-kai's. Had +you or I been ill would we have allowed the man who was the cause +of our fall to select our physician? But granted that Yuan +Shih-kai did employ his physician, and that his death was the +result of slow poisoning, could Yuan Shih-kai have so manipulated +Prince Ching, the Regent (who is the late Emperor's brother), the +ladies of the court, and all those thousands of eunuchs, to +remain silent as to the death of the Empress Dowager until he had +completed the slow process on His Majesty? No! If the Emperor was +poisoned--and the world believes he was--there are a number of +others whose skirts are as badly stained as those of the great +Viceroy, or long ere this his body would have been sent home a +headless corpse instead of with "rheumatism of the leg." + +What then is the explanation? It may be this, that the court, and +the officials as a whole, felt that the Emperor was an unsafe +person to resume the throne, and that it were better that one man +should perish than that the whole regime should be upset. They +even refused to allow a foreign physician to go in to see him, +saying that of his own free will he had turned again to the +Chinese, all of which indicates that it was not the plot of any +one man. + +Why then should Yuan Shih-kai have been made the scapegoat of the +court and the officials, and branded as a murderer in the face of +the whole world? That may be another plot. The radical reformers, +followers of Kang Yu-wei, have been making such a hubbub about +the matter ever since the death of the Emperor and the Empress +Dowager that somebody had to be punished. They said that Yuan had +been a traitor to the cause of reform, that he had not only +betrayed his sovereign in 1898, but that now he had encompassed +his death. + +Now to satisfy these enemies, the Prince Regent may have decided +that the best thing to do was to dismiss Yuan for a time. I think +that the trivial excuse he gives for doing so favours my +theory--with "rheumatism of the leg," to which is added, "Thus +our clemency is manifest"--a sentence which may be severe or may +mean nothing, and when the storm has blown over and the sky is +clear again, Yuan may be once more brought to the front as Li +Hung-chang and others have been in the past. Which is a +consummation, I think, devoutly to be wished. + + + +XX + +Peking--The City of the Court + +The position of Peking at the present time is one of peculiar +interest, for all the different forces that are now at work to +make or mar China issue from, or converge towards, the capital. +There, on the dragon throne, beside, or rather above, the +powerless and unhappy Emperor, the father of his people and their +god, sits the astute and ever-watchful lady whose word is law to +Emperor, minister and clown alike. There dwell the heads of the +government boards, the leaders of the Manchu aristocracy, and the +great political parties, the drafters of new constitutions and +imperial decrees, and the keen-witted diplomatists who know so +well how to play against European antagonists the great game of +international chess. +--R. F. Johnston in "From Peking to Mandelay." + + +XX + +PEKING--THE CITY OF THE COURT + +In the place where Peking now stands there has been a city for +three thousand years. Five centuries before Christ it was the +capital of a small state, but was destroyed three centuries later +by the builder of the great wall. It was soon rebuilt, however, +and has continued from that time until the present, with varied +fortunes, as the capital of a state, the chief city of a +department, or the dwelling-place of the court. + +It is the greatest and best preserved walled city in the empire, +if not in the world. The Tartar City is sixteen miles in +circumference, surrounded by a wall sixty feet thick at the +bottom, fifty feet thick at the top and forty feet high, with six +feet of balustrade on the outside, beautifully crenelated and +loopholed, and in a good state of preservation. The streets are +sixty feet wide,--or even more in places,--well macadamized, and +lit with electric light. The chief mode of conveyance is the +'ricksha, though carriages may be hired by the week, day or hour +at various livery stables in proximity to the hotels, which, by +the way, furnish as good accommodation to their guests as the +hotels of other Oriental cities. + +In the centre of the Tartar City is the Imperial City, eight +miles in circumference, encircled by a wall six feet thick and +fifteen feet high, pierced by four gates at the points of the +compass; and in the centre of this again is the Forbidden City, +occupying less than half a square mile, the home of the court. + +Fairs are held, at various temples, fourteen days of every month, +distributed in such a way as to bring them almost on alternate +days, while at certain times there are two fairs on the same day. +It is a mistake to suppose that the Chinese women in the capital +are very much secluded. They may be seen on the streets at almost +any time, while the temple courts and adjacent streets, on fair +days, are crowded with women and girls, dressed in the most +gorgeous colours, their hair decorated with all kinds of +artificial flowers, followed by little boys and girls as gaily +dressed as themselves. Here they find all kinds of toys, curios, +and articles of general use, from a top to a broom, from bits of +jade or other precious stones, to a snuff bottle hollowed out of +a solid quartz crystal, or a market basket or a dust-pan made of +reeds. + +Peking being the city of the court, and the headquarters of many +of the greatest officials, is the receptacle of the finest +products of the oldest and greatest non-Christian people the +world has ever known. China easily leads the world in the making +of porcelain, the best of which has always gone to Peking for use +in the palace, and so we can find here the best products of every +reign from the time of Kang Hsi, as well as those of the former +dynasties, to that of Kuang Hsu and the Empress Dowager. The same +is true of her brass and bronze incense-burners and images, her +wood and ivory carvings, her beautiful embroideries, her +magnificent tapestries, and her paintings by old masters of six +or eight hundred years ago. Here we can find the finest Oriental +rugs, in a good state of preservation, with the "tone' that only +age can give, made long before the time of Washington. + +There is no better market for fine bits of embroidery, mandarin +coats, and all the better products of needle, silk and floss, of +which the Chinese have been masters for centuries, than the city +of the court. The population consists largely of great officials +and their families, whose cast-off clothing, toned down by the +use of years, often without a blemish or a spot, finds its way +into the hands of dealers. The finest furs,--seal, otter, +squirrel, sable and ermine,--are brought from Siberia, Manchuria +and elsewhere, for the officials and the court, and can be +secured for less than half what they would cost in America. +Pearls, of which the Chinese ladies and the court are more fond +than of diamonds, may be found in abundance in all the bazars, +which are many, and judging from the way they are purchased by +tourists, are both cheaper and better than elsewhere. + +The Chinese have little appreciation of diamonds as jewelry. On +one occasion there was offered to me a beautiful ring containing +a large sapphire encircled by twenty diamonds. When I offered the +dealer less than he asked for it, he said: "No, rather than sell +it for that price, I will tear it apart, and sell the diamonds +separately for drill-points to the tinkers who mend dishes. I can +make more from it in that way, only I dislike to spoil the ring." +The Empress Dowager during her late years, and many of the ladies +and gentlemen of the more progressive type, affected, whether +genuinely or not, an appreciation of the diamond as a piece of +jewelry, especially in the form of rings, though coloured stones, +polished, but not cut, have always been more popular with the +Chinese. The turquoise, the emerald, the sapphire, the ruby and +the other precious stones with colour have, therefore, always +graced the tables of the bazars in the capital, while the diamond +until very recently was relegated to the point of the tinker's +drill. + +There is another method of bringing bits of their ancient +handiwork to the capital which most of those living in Peking, +even, know nothing about. A company, whose headquarters is at an +inn, called the Hsing Lung Tien, sends agents all over the +empire, to purchase and bring to them everything in the nature of +a curio, whether porcelain, painting, embroidery, pottery or even +an ancient tile or inkstone, which they then, at public auction, +sell to the dealers. The sale is at noon each day. The first time +I visited it was with a friend from Iowa who was anxious to get +some unique bits of porcelain. The auctioneer does not "cry" the +wares. Neither buyer nor seller says a word. Nobody knows what +anybody else has offered. The goods are passed out of a closed +room from a high window where the crowd can see them, and then +each one wanting them tries to be first in securing the hand of +the auctioneer, which is ensconced in his long sleeve, where, by +squeezing his fingers, they tell him how much they will give for +the particular piece. It is the only real case of "talking in the +sleeve' I have ever seen, and each piece is sold to the first +person offering a fair profit on the money invested, though he +might get much more by allowing them to bid against each other. + +Among the attractive sights in Peking, none are quite so +interesting as the places where His Majesty worships, and of +these the most beautiful in architecture, the grandest in +conception, and the one laid out on the most magnificent scale, +is the Temple of Heaven. + +Think of six hundred and forty acres of valuable city property +being set aside for the grounds of a single temple, as compared +with the way our own great churches are crowded into small city +lots of scarcely as many square feet, and over-shadowed by great +business blocks costing a hundred times as much, and we can get +some conception of the magnificence of the scale on which this +temple is laid out. A large part of the grounds is covered with +cedars, many of which are not less than five hundred years old, +while other parts are used to pasture a flock of black cattle +from which they select the sacrifice for a burnt offering. The +grounds are not well kept like those of our own parks and +churches, but the original conception of a temple on such a large +scale is worthy of a great people. + +The worship at this temple is the most important of all the +religious observances of the empire, and constitutes a most +interesting remnant of the ancient monotheistic cultus which +prevailed in China before the rationalism of Confucius and the +polytheistic superstition of Buddhism predominated among the +people. While the ceremonies of the sacrifices are very +complicated, they are kept with the strictest severity. The chief +of these is at the winter solstice. On December 21st the Emperor +goes in a sedan chair, covered with yellow silk, and carried by +thirty-two men, preceded by a band of musicians, and followed by +an immense retinue of princes and officials on horseback. He +first goes to the tablet-chapel, where he offers incense to +Shang Ti, the God above, and to his ancestors, with three +kneelings and nine prostrations. Then going to the great altar he +inspects the offerings, after which he repairs to the Palace of +Abstinence, where he spends the night in fasting and prayer. The +next morning at 5:45 A. M. he dons his sacrificial robes, +proceeds to the open altar, where he kneels and burns incense, +offers a prayer to Shang Ti, and incense to his ancestors whose +shrines and tablets are arranged on the northeast and northwest +portions of the altar. + +There are two altars in the temple, a quarter of a mile apart, +the covered and the open altar, and this latter is one of the +grandest religious conceptions of the human mind. It is a triple +circular marble terrace, 210 feet wide at the base, 150 feet in +the middle, and ninety feet at the top, ascended at the points of +the compass by three flights of nine steps each. A circular stone +is in the centre of the top, around which are nine stones in the +first circle, eighteen in the second, twenty-seven in the third, +etc., and eighty-one in the ninth, or last circle. The Emperor +kneels on the circular stone, surrounded by the circles of +stones, then by the circles of the terraces, and finally by the +horizon, and thus seems to himself and his retinue to be in the +centre of the universe, his only walls being the skies, and his +only covering, the shining dome. + +There are no images of any kind connected with the temple or the +worship, the only offerings being a bullock, the various +productions of the soil, and a cylindrical piece of jade about a +foot long, formerly used as a symbol of sovereignty. Twelve +bundles of cloth are offered to Heaven, and only one to each of +the emperors, and to the sun and moon. The bullocks must be two +years old, the best of their kind, without blemish, and while +they were formerly killed by the Emperor they are now slaughtered +by an official appointed for that purpose. + +The covered altar is, I think, the most beautiful piece of +architecture in China. It is smaller than the one already +described but has erected upon it a lofty, circular triple-roofed +temple ninety-nine feet in height, roofed with blue tiles, the +eaves painted in brilliant colours and protected from the birds +by a wire netting. In the centre, immediately in front of the +altar, is a circular stone, as in the open altar. The ceiling is +covered with gilded dragons in high relief, and the whole is +supported by immense pillars. It was this building that was +struck by lightning in 1890, but it was restored during the ten +years that followed. Being made the camp of the British during +the occupation of 1900, it received some small injuries from +curio seekers, but none of any consequence. The Sikh soldiers who +died during this period were cremated in the furnace connected +with the open altar. + +The Chinese have been an agricultural people for thirty centuries +or more, and this characteristic is embodied in the Temple of +Agriculture, which occupies a park of not less than three hundred +and twenty acres of city property opposite the Temple of Heaven. +It has four great altars, with their adjacent halls, to the +spirits of Heaven, Earth, the Year, and the Ancestral Husbandman, +Shen Nung, to whom the temple is dedicated. It was used as the +camp of the American soldiers in 1900, and was well cared for. At +one time some of the soldiers upset one of the urns, and when it +was reported to the officer in command, the whole company was +called out and the urn properly replaced, after which the men +were lectured on the matter of injuring any property belonging to +the temple. + +There are several large plots of ground in this enclosure, one of +which the Emperor ploughs, while another is marked "City +Magistrate," another "Prefect," and on these bits of land the +"five kinds of grain" are sown. One cannot view these imperial +temples without being impressed with the potential greatness of a +people who do things on such a magnificent scale. But one, at the +same time, also feels that these temples, and the great Oriental +religions which inspire and support them have failed in a measure +to accomplish their design, which ought to be to educate and +develop the people. This they can hardly be said to have done, +especially if we consider their condition in their lack of all +phases of scientific development, for as the sciences stand +to-day they are all the product of the Christian peoples. + +There are three other imperial temples on the same large scale as +those just described. The Temple of the Sun east of the city, +that of the Moon on the west, and that of the Earth on the north, +though it must be confessed that the worship at these has been +allowed to lapse. In the Tartar City there are two others, the +Lama Temple and the Confucian Temple, in the former of which +there is a statue of Buddha seventy-five feet high, and from +thirteen to fifteen hundred priests who worship daily at his +shrine. This statue is made of stucco, over a framework, and not +of wood as some have told us, and as the guide will assure us at +the present day. One can ascend to a level with its head by +several flights of stairs, where a lamp is lit when the Emperor +visits the temple. In the east wing of this same building is a +prayer-wheel, which reaches up through several successive +stories, and is kept in motion while the Emperor is present. + +In the east side buildings there are a few interesting, though in +some cases very disgusting idols, such for instance as those +illustrating the creation, but over these draperies have been +thrown during recent years, which make them a trifle more +respectable. + +The temple is very imposing. At the entrance there are two large +arches covered with yellow tiles, from which a broad paved court +leads to the front gate, on the two sides of which are the +residences of the Lamas or Mongol priests. At the hour of prayer, +which is about nine o'clock, they may be seen going in crowds, +clothed in yellow robes, to the various halls of worship where +they chant their prayers. + +Very different from this is the Confucian Temple only a quarter +of a mile away. Here we find neither priest nor idol--nothing but +a small board tablet to "Confucius, the teacher of ten thousand +ages" with those of his most faithful and worthy disciples. In +the court on each side are rows of buildings--that on the east +containing the tablets of seventy-eight virtuous men; that on the +west the tablets of fifty-four learned men; eighty-six of these +were pupils of the Sage, while the remainder were men who +accepted his teachings. No Taoists, however learned; no +Buddhists, however pure; no original thinkers, however great may +have been their following, are allowed a place here. It is a +Temple of Fame for Confucianists alone. + +I have been in this temple when a whole bullock, the skin and +entrails having been removed, was kneeling upon a table facing +the tablet of the Sage, while sheep and pigs were similarly +arranged facing the tablets of his disciples. + +For twenty-four centuries China has had Taoism preached within +her dominions; for twenty-three centuries she has worshipped at +the shrine of Confucius; for eighteen centuries she has had +Buddhism, and for twelve centuries Mohammedanism: and during all +this time if we believe the statements of her own people, she has +slept. Does it not therefore seem significant, that less than a +century after the Gospel of Jesus Christ had been preached to her +people, and the Bible circulated freely throughout her dominions, +she opened her court to the world, began to build railroads, open +mines, erect educational institutions, adopt the telegraph and +the telephone, and step into line with the industrial methods of +the most progressive nations of the Western world? + + + +XXI + +The Death of Kuang Hsu and the Empress Dowager + +Who knows whether the Dowager Empress will ever repose in the +magnificent tomb she has built for herself at such a cost, or +whether a new dynasty may not rifle its riches to embellish its +own? Tze-Hsi is growing old! According to nature's immutable law +her faculties must soon fail her; her iron will must bend and her +far-seeing eye grow dim, and after her who will resist the tide +of foreign aggression and stem the torrent of inward revolt? +--Lady Susan Townley in "My Chinese Note Book." + + +XXI + +THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + +During mid-November of 1908 the Forbidden City of Peking was a +blind stage before which an expectant world sat as an audience. +It had not long to wait, for on the fifteenth and sixteenth it +learned that Kuang Hsu and the Empress Dowager, less than +twenty-four hours apart, had taken "the fairy ride and ascended +upon the dragon to be guests on high." The world looked on in +awe. It expected a demonstration if not a revolution but nothing +of the kind happened. But on the other hand one of the most +difficult diplomatic problems of her history was solved in a +quiet and peaceable, if not a statesman-like way, by the aged +Dowager and her officials, and China once more had upon her +throne an emperor, though only a child, about whose succession +there was no question. And all this was done with less commotion +than is caused by the election of a mayor in New York or Chicago, +which may or may not be to the credit of an absolute monarchy +over a republican form of government. + +The world has speculated a good deal as to what happened in the +Forbidden City of Peking during the early half of November. Will +the curious world ever know? Whether it will or not remains for +the future to determine. We have, however, the edicts issued to +the foreign legations at Peking and with these at the present we +must be content. From them we learn that it was the Empress +Dowager and not Kuang Hsu who appointed Prince Chun as Regent, +and that this appointment was made--or at least +announced--twenty-four hours before the death of the Emperor. + +On the thirteenth of November the foreign diplomatic +representatives received the following edict from the great +Dowager through the regular channel of the Foreign Office of +which Prince Ching was the president: + + +"It is the excellent will of Tze-hsi-kuan-yu-k'ang- +i-chao-yu-chuang-ch'eng-shou-kung-ch'in-hsien-chung-hsi, the +great Empress Dowager that Tsai Feng, Prince of Chun, be +appointed Prince Regent (She Chang-wang)." + + +The above edict was soon followed by another which stated that +"Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, should be reared in the palace and +taught in the imperial schoolroom," an indication that he was to +be the next emperor, and that Tsai Feng and not Kuang Hsu was to +occupy the throne, and all this by the "excellent will" of the +Empress Dowager. + +On the morning of the fourteenth the following edict came from +the Emperor himself: + +"From the beginning of August of last year, our health has been +poor. We formerly ordered the Tartar generals, viceroys, and +governors of every province to recommend physicians of ability. +Thereupon the viceroys of Chihli, the Liang Kiang, Hu Kiang, +Kiangsu and Chekiang recommended and sent forward Chen Ping-chun, +Tsao Yuen-wang, Lu Yung-ping, Chow Ching-tao, Tu Chung-chun, +Shih Huan, and Chang Pang-nien, who came to Peking and treated +us. But their prescriptions have given no relief. Now the +negative and positive elements (Yin-Yang) are both failing. There +are ailments both external and internal, and the breath is +stopped up, the stomach rebellious, the back and legs painful, +appetite failing. On moving, the breath fails and there is +coughing and panting. Besides, we have chills and fever, cannot +sleep, and experience a general failure of bodily strength which +is hard to bear. + +"Our heart is very impatient and now the Tartar generals, +viceroys, and governors of every province are ordered to select +capable physicians, regardless of the official rank, and to send +them quickly to Peking to await summons to give medical aid. If +any can show beneficial results he will receive extraordinary +rewards, and the Tartar generals, viceroys, and governors who +recommend them will receive special grace. Let this be +published." + +This was followed on the same day by the following edict: + +"Inasmuch as the Emperor Tung Chih had no issue, on the fifth day +of the twelfth moon of that reign (January 12, 1875) an edict was +promulgated to the effect that if the late Emperor Kuang Hsu +should have a son, the said prince should carry on the succession +as the heir of Tung Chih. But now the late Emperor has ascended +upon the dragon to be a guest on high, leaving no son, and there +is no course open but to appoint Pu I, the son of Tsai Feng, the +Prince Regent, as the successor to Tung Chih and also as heir to +the Emperor Kuang Hsu." + +The next day--the fifteenth--another edict, purporting to come +from little Pu I, but transcribed by Prince Ching, was sent out +to the diplomatic body and to the world. It is as follows: + +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that on the 21st day +of the 10th moon [Nov. 14, 1908] at the yu-ke [5-7 P. M.] the +late Emperor ascended on the dragon to be a guest on high. We +have received the command of Tze-hsi, etc., the Great Empress +Dowager to enter on the succession as Emperor. We lamented to +Earth and Heaven. We stretched out our hands, wailing our +insufficiency. Prostrate we reflect on how the late Emperor +occupied the Imperial Throne for thirty-four years, reverently +following the customs of his ancestors, receiving the gracious +instruction of the Empress Dowager, exerting himself to the +utmost, not failing one day to revere Heaven and observe the laws +of his ancestors, devoting himself with diligence to the affairs +of government and loving the people, appointing the virtuous to +office, changing the laws of the land to make the country +powerful, considering new methods of government which arouse the +admiration of both Chinese and foreigners. All who have blood and +breath cannot but mourn and be moved to the extreme point. We +weep tears of blood and beat upon our heart. How can we bear to +express our feelings! + +"But we think upon our heavy responsibility and our weakness, and +we must depend upon the great and small civil and military +officials of Peking and the provinces to show public spirit and +patriotism, and aid in the government. The viceroys and governors +should harmonize the people and arrange carefully methods of +government to comfort the spirit of the late Emperor in heaven. +This is our earnest expectation." + +On the sixteenth day of November, three days after she had +appointed the regent, and two days after she had appointed Pu I, +the diplomatic representatives received the following from Prince +Ching: + +"Your Excellency: + +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that we have +reverently received the following testamentary statement of Her +Imperial Majesty Tze-hsi, etc., the Great Empress Dowager: + +" 'Although of scanty merit, I received the command of His +Majesty the Emperor Wen Tsung-hsien (the posthumous title of +Hsien Feng) to occupy a throne prepared for me in the palace. +When the Emperor Mu Tsung I (Tung Chih) as a child succeeded to +the throne, violence and confusion prevailed. It was a critical +period of suppression by force. "Long-hairs" (Tai-ping rebels) +and the "twisted turbans" (Nien Fei) were in rebellion. The +Mohammedans and the aborigines had commenced to make trouble. +There were many disturbances along the seacoast. The people were +destitute. Ulcers and sores met the eye on every side. +Cooperating with the Empress Dowager Hsiao Chen-hsien, I +supported and taught the Emperor and toiled day and night. +According to the instructions contained in the testamentary +counsels of the Emperor Wen Tsung-hsien (Hsien Feng) I urged on +the officials of Peking and the provinces and all the military +commanders, determining the policy to be followed, diligently +searching the right way of governing, choosing the upright for +official positions, rescuing from calamity and pitying the +people, and so obtained the protection of Heaven, gaining peace +and tranquillity instead of distress and danger. Then the Emperor +Mu Tsung I (Tung Chih) departed this life and the late Emperor +succeeded to the throne. The times became still harder and the +people in still greater straits, sorrow within and calamity +without, confusion and noise; I had no recourse but to give +instruction in government once more. + +" 'The year before last the preparatory measures for the +institution of constitutional government were published. This +year the time limits for the measures preparatory to +constitutional government have been promulgated. Attending to +these myriad affairs the strength of my heart has been exhausted. +Fortunately my constitution was originally strong and up to the +present I have stood the strain. Unexpectedly from the summer and +autumn of this year I have been ill and have not been able to +assist in the multitudinous affairs of government with +tranquillity. Appetite and the power to sleep have gone. This has +continued for a long time until my strength is exhausted and I +have not dared to rest for even a day. On the 21st of this moon +[November 14th] came the sorrow of the death of the late Emperor, +and I was unable to control myself, so that my illness increased +till I was unable to rise from my bed. I look back upon our fifty +years of sorrow and trouble. I have been continually in a state +of high tension without a moment's respite. Now a reform in the +method of government has been commenced and there begins to be a +clue to follow. The Emperor now succeeding to the throne is in +his infancy. All depends upon his instruction and guidance. The +Prince Regent and all the officials of Peking and the provinces +should exert themselves to strengthen the foundations of our +empire. Let the Emperor now succeedings to the throne make his +country's affairs of first importance and moderate his sorrow, +diligently attending to his studies so that he may in future +illustrate the instruction which he has received. This is my +devout hope. Let the mourning period be for twenty-seven days +only. Let this be proclaimed to the empire that all may know.' " + +Still one more edict was necessary to complete this remarkable +list, and this was sent to the legations on the 17th of November. +It is as follows: + +"I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that on the 22d of +the moon [November 15, 1908] I reverently received the following +edict: + +"We received in our early childhood the love and care of Tze-hsi, +etc., the Great Empress Dowager. Our gratitude is boundless. We +have received the command to succeed to the throne and we fully +expected that the gentle Empress Dowager would be vigorous and +reach a hundred years so that we might be cherished and made glad +and reverently receive her instructions so that our government +might be established and the state made firm. But her toil by day +and night gradually weakened her. Medicine was constantly +administered in the hope that she might recover. Contrary to our +hopes, on the 21st day of the moon [November 14th] at the wei-k'o +[1-3 P.M.] she took the fairy ride and ascended to the far +country. We cried out and mourned how frantically! We learn from +her testamentary statement that the period of full mourning is to +be limited to twenty-seven days. We certainly cannot be +satisfied with this. Full mourning must be worn for one hundred +days and half mourning for twenty-seven months, by which our +grief may be partly expressed. The order to restrain grief so +that the affairs of the empire may be of first importance we dare +not disregard, as it is her parting command. We will strive to be +temperate so as to comfort the spirit of the late Empress in +Heaven." + +We call attention to the fact that according to the fourth of +these edicts the death of the Emperor is put at from 5 to 7 P. M +on the evening of the 14th of November, while that of the Empress +Dowager is from 1 to 3 P. M. of the same day at least two hours +earlier, and that in her last edict she is made to speak of the +death of Kuang Hsu. Whether these dates have become mixed in +crossing to America we have not been able to ascertain, though we +think it more than likely that her death occurred on November +15th instead of the 14th. + + + +XXII + +The Court and the New Education + +Abolish the eight-legged essay. Let the new learning be the test +of scholarship, but include the classics, history, geography and +government of China in the examinations. The true essay will then +come out. If so desired, the eight-legged essay can be studied at +home; but why trouble the school with them, and at the same time +waste time and strength that can be expended in something more +profitable? --Chang Chih-tung in "Chinas Only Hope," + + + +XXII + +THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION + +The changes in the attitude of the court towards a new +educational system began, as do many great undertakings, in a +very simple way. We have already shown how the eunuchs secured +all kinds of foreign mechanical toys to entertain the baby +Emperor Kuang Hsu; how these were supplemented in his boyhood by +ingenious clocks and watches; how he became interested in the +telegraph, the telephone, steam cars, steamboats, electric light +and steam heat, and how he had them first brought into the palace +and then established throughout the empire: and how he had the +phonograph, graphophone, cinematograph, bicycle, and indeed all +the useful and unique inventions of modern times brought in for +his entertainment. + +He then began the study of English. When in 1894 a New Testament +was sent to the Empress Dowager on the occasion of her sixtieth +birthday, he at once secured from the American Bible Society a +copy of the complete Bible for himself. He began studying the +Gospel of Luke. This gave him a taste for foreign literature and +he sent his eunuchs to the various book depositories and bought +every book that had been translated from the European languages +into the Chinese. To these he bent all his energies and it soon +became noised abroad that the Emperor was studying foreign books +and was about to embrace the Christian faith. This continued from +1894 till 1898, during which time his example was followed by +tens of thousands of young Chinese scholars throughout the +empire, and Chang Chih-tung wrote his epoch-making book "China's +Only Hope" which, being sent to the young Emperor, led him to +enter upon a universal reform, the chief feature of which may be +considered the adoption of a new educational system. + +But now let us notice the animus of Kuang Hsu. He has been +praised without stint for his leaning towards foreign affairs, +when in reality was it not simply an effort on the part of the +young man to make China strong enough to resist the incursions of +the European powers? Germany had taken Kiaochou, Russia had taken +Port Arthur, Japan had taken Formosa, Great Britain had taken +Weihaiwei, France had taken Kuangchouwan, and even Italy was +anxious to have a slice of his territory, while all the English +papers in the port cities were talking of China being divided up +amongst the Powers, and it was these things which led the Emperor +to enter upon his work of reform. + +In the summer of 1898 therefore he sent out an edict to the +effect that: "Our scholars are now without solid and practical +education; our artisans are without scientific instructors; when +compared with other countries WE SOON SEE HOW WEAK WE ARE. DOES +ANY ONE THINK THAT OUR TROOPS ARE AS WELL DRILLED OR AS WELL LED +AS THOSE OF THE FOREIGN ARMIES? OR THAT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY STAND +AGAINST THEM? Changes must be made to accord with the necessities +of the times. . . . Keeping in mind the morals of the sages and +wise men, we must make them the basis on which to build newer and +better structures. WE MUST SUBSTITUTE MODERN ARMS AND WESTERN +ORGANIZATION FOR OUR OLD REGIME; WE MUST SELECT OUR MILITARY +OFFICERS ACCORDING TO WESTERN METHODS OF MILITARY EDUCATION; we +must establish elementary and high schools, colleges and +universities, in accordance with those of foreign countries; we +must abolish the Wen-chang (literary essay) and obtain a +knowledge of ancient and modern world-history, a right conception +of the present-day state of affairs, with special reference to +the governments and institutions of the countries of the five +great continents; and we must understand their arts and +sciences." + +The effect of this edict was to cause hundreds of thousands of +young aspirants for office to put aside the classics and unite in +establishing reform clubs in many of the provincial capitals, +open ports, and prefectural cities. Book depots were opened for +the sale of the same kind of literature the Emperor had been +studying, magazines and newspapers were issued and circulated in +great numbers, lectures were delivered and libraries established, +and students flocked to the mission schools ready to study +anything the course contained, literary, scientific or religious. +Christians and pastors were even invited into the palace by the +eunuchs to dine with and instruct them. But the matter that gave +the deepest concern to the boy in the palace was: "How can we so +strengthen ourselves that we will be able to resist the White +Peril from Europe?" + +Among the important edicts issued in the establishment of the new +education was the one of June 11, 1898, in which he ordered that +"a great central university be established at Peking," the funds +for which were provided by the government. Among other things he +said: "Let all take advantage of the opportunities for the new +education thus open to them, so that in time we may have many who +will be competent to help us in the stupendous task of putting +our country on a level with the strongest of the western powers." +It was not wisdom the young man was after for the sake of wisdom, +but he wanted knowledge because knowledge was power, and at that +time it was the particular kind of power that was necessary to +save China from utter destruction. + +On the 26th of the same month he censured the princes and +ministers who were lax in reporting upon this edict, and ordered +them to do so at once, and it was not long until a favourable +report was given and, for the first time in the history of the +empire, a great university was launched by the government, +destined, may we not hope, to accomplish the end the ambitious +boy Emperor had in view. + +Kuang Hsu was aware that a single institution was not sufficient +to accomplish that end. On July 10th therefore he ordered that +"schools and colleges be established in all the provincial +capitals, prefectoral, departmental and district cities, and +allowed the viceroys and governors but two months to report upon +the number of colleges and free schools within their provinces," +saying that "all must be changed into practical schools for the +teaching of Chinese literature, and Western learning and become +feeders to the Peking Imperial University." He ordered further +that all memorial and other temples that had been erected by the +people but which were not recorded in the list of the Board of +Rites or of Sacrificial Worship, were to be turned into schools +and colleges for the propagation of Western learning, a thought +which was quite in harmony with that advocated by Chang Chih- +tung. The funds for carrying on this work, and the establishment +of these schools, were to be provided for by the China Merchants' +Steamship Company, the Telegraph Company and the Lottery at +Canton. + +On August 4th he ordered that numerous preparatory schools be +established in Peking as special feeders to the university; and +on the 9th appointed Dr. W. A. P. Martin as Head of the Faculty +and approved the site suggested for the university by Sun +Chia-nai, the president. On the 16th he authorized the +establishment of a Bureau for "translating into Chinese Western +works on science, arts and literature, and textbooks for use in +schools and colleges"; and on the 19th he abolished the "Palace +examinations for Hanlins as useless, superficial and obsolete," +thus severing the last cord that bound them to the old regime. + +What, now, was the Empress Dowager doing while Kuang Hsu was +issuing all these reform edicts, which, we are told, were so +contrary to all her reactionary principles? Why did she not +stretch forth her hand and prevent them? She was spending the hot +months at the Summer Palace, fifteen miles away, without offering +either advice, objection or hindrance, and it was not until two +delegations of officials and princes had appeared before her and +plead with her to come and take control of affairs and thus save +them from being ousted or beheaded, and herself from +imprisonment, did she consent to come. By thus taking the throne +she virtually placed herself in the hands of the conservative +party, and all his reform measures, except that of the Peking +University and provincial schools, were, for the time, +countermanded, and the Boxers were allowed to test their strength +with the allied Powers. + +Passing over the two bad years of the Empress Dowager, which we +have treated in another chapter, we find her again, after the +failure of the Boxer uprising, and the return of the court to +Peking, reissuing the same style of edicts that had gone out from +the pen of Kuang Hsu. On August 29, 1901, she ordered "the +abolition of essays on the Chinese classics in examinations for +literary degrees, and substituted therefor essays and articles on +some phase of modern affairs, Western laws or political economy. +This same procedure is to be followed in examination of +candidates for office." + +And now notice another phase of this same edict. "The old methods +of gaining military degrees by trial of strength with stone +weights, agility with the sword, or marksmanship with the bow on +foot or on horseback, ARE OF NO USE TO MEN IN THE ARMY, WHERE +STRATEGY AND MILITARY SCIENCE ARE THE SINE QUA NON TO OFFICE, and +hence they should be done away with forever." It is, as it was +with Kuang Hsu, the strengthening of the army she has in mind in +her first efforts at reform, that she may be able to back up with +war-ships and cannon, if necessary, her refusal to allow Italy or +any other European power to filch, without reason or excuse, the +territory of her ancestors. + +September 12, 1901, she issued another edict commanding that "all +the colleges in the empire should be turned into schools of +Western learning; each provincial capital should have a +university like that in Peking, whilst all the schools in the +prefectures and districts are to be schools or colleges of the +second or third class," neither more nor less than a restatement +of the edict of July 10, 1898, as issued by the deposed Emperor, +except that she confined it to the schools without taking the +temples. + +September 17, 1901, she ordered "the viceroys and governors of +other provinces to follow the example of Liu Kun-yi of Liang +Kiang, Chang Chih-tung of Hukuang, and Kuei Chun (Manchu) of +Szechuan, in sending young men of scholastic promise abroad to +study any branch of Western science or art best suited to their +tastes, that in time they may return to China and place the +fruits of their knowledge at the service of the empire." Such +were some of the edicts issued by the Emperor and the Empress +Dowager in their efforts to launch this new system of education +which was to transform the old China into a strong and sturdy +youth. What now were the results? + +The Imperial College in Shansi was opened with 300 students all +of whom had already taken the Chinese degree of Bachelor of Arts. +It had both Chinese and foreign departments, and after the +students had completed the first, they were allowed to pass on to +the second, which had six foreign professors who held diplomas +from Western colleges or universities, and a staff of six +translators of university textbooks into Chinese, superintended +by a foreigner. In 1901-2 ten provinces, under the wise +leadership of the Empress Dowager, opened colleges for the +support of which they raised not less than $400,000. + +The following are some of the questions given at the triennial +examinations of these two years in six southern provinces: + +1. "As Chinese and Western laws differ, and Western people will +not submit to Chinese punishments, what ought to be done that +China, like other nations, may be mistress in her own country?" + +2. "What are the Western sources of economic prosperity, and as +China is now so poor, what should she do?" + +3. "According to international law has any one a right to +interfere with the internal affairs of any foreign country?" + +4. "State the advantages of constructing railways in Shantung." + +5. "Of what importance is the study of chemistry to the +agriculturist?" + +While Yuan Shih-kai was Governor of Shantung he induced Dr. W. M. +Hayes to resign the presidency of the Presbyterian College at +Teng Choufu and accept the presidency of the new government +college at Chinanfu the capital of the province. Dr. Hayes drew +up a working plan of grammar and high schools for Shantung which +were to be feeders to this provincial college. This was approved +by the Governor, and embodied in a memorial to the throne, copies +of which the Empress Dowager sent to the governors and viceroys +of all the provinces declaring it to be a law, and ordering the +"viceroys, governors and literary chancellors to see that it was +obeyed." + +Dr. Hayes and Yuan Shih-kai soon split upon a regulation which +the Governor thought it best to introduce, viz., "That the +Chinese professors shall, on the first and fifteenth of each +month, conduct their classes in reverential sacrifice to the Most +Holy Confucius, and to all the former worthies and scholars of +the provinces." Dr. Hayes and his Christian teachers withdrew, +and it was not long until those who professed Christianity were +excused from this rite, while the Christian physicians who taught +in the Peking Imperial University were allowed to dispense with +the queue and wear foreign clothes, as being both more convenient +and more sanitary. + +When Governor Yuan was made viceroy of Chihli, he requested Dr. +C. D. Tenny to draw up and put into operation a similar schedule +for the metropolitan province. This was done on a very much +enlarged scale, and at present (1909) "the Chihli province alone +has nine thousand schools, all of which are aiming at Western +education; while in the empire as a whole there are not less than +forty thousand schools, colleges and universities," representing +one phase of the educational changes that have been brought about +in China during the last dozen years. + +The changes in the new education among women promise to be even +more sweeping than those among men. Dr. Martin, expressing the +sentiments then in vogue, said, as far back as 1877, "that not +one in ten thousand women could read." In 1893 I began studying +the subject, and was led at once to doubt the statement. The +Chinese in an offhand way will agree with Dr. Martin. But I found +that it was a Chinese woman who wrote the first book that was +ever written in any language for the instruction of girls, and +that the Chinese for many years have had "Four Books for Girls" +corresponding to the "Four Books" of the old regime, and that +they were printed in large editions, and have been read by the +better class of people in almost every family. In every company +of women that came to call on my wife from 1894 to 1900, there +was at least one if not more who had read these books, while the +Empress Dowager herself was a brilliant example of what a woman +of the old regime could do. Where the desire for education was so +great among women, that as soon as it became possible to do so, +she launched the first woman's daily newspaper that was published +anywhere in the world, with a woman as an editor, we may be sure +that there was more than one in ten thousand during the old +regime that could read. What therefore may we expect in this new +regime where women are ready to sacrifice their lives rather than +that the school which they are undertaking to establish shall be +a failure? + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Court Life in China + diff --git a/old/clchi10.zip b/old/clchi10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4adcd9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/clchi10.zip |