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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-25 22:21:02 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-25 22:21:02 -0800 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/75210-0.txt b/75210-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a6e1e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/75210-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8379 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75210 *** + + + + + + With the + Empress Dowager + of China + + By + + Katharine A. Carl + + Illustrated by the Author + and with Photographs + + [Illustration: Printer Logo] + + New York + The Century Co. + 1907 + + + Copyright, 1905, by + THE CENTURY CO. + + _Published November, 1905._ + + + [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + + This is the portrait which was exhibited at the St. Louis + Exposition, is now owned by the United States Government, + and is in the National Museum at Washington] + + + TO SIR ROBERT HART + + To whose helpful encouragement I owe so + much, I affectionately dedicate this account + of my experiences at the Court of the country + he has so long and faithfully served. + + KATHARINE A. CARL. + _=New York, May=, 1905._ + + + Contents + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. 3 + MY PRESENTATION AND FIRST DAY AT THE CHINESE COURT + Drive Out to the Summer Palace--Presentation--Beginning the + Portrait--Luncheon--The Palace Theater--My Pavilion within the + Precincts. + + CHAPTER II. 18 + PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF HER MAJESTY--A CHINESE REPAST-- + BOATING + Second Sitting--The Siesta--Her Majesty’s Barge--A Promenade + on the Lake. + + CHAPTER III. 27 + THE PALACE OF THE EMPEROR’S FATHER + A Chinese Palace--Gardens--The Chinese Poem--Tombstones of + Pets--The Highway from Peking to the Summer Palace--Chinese + Modes of Locomotion--The Seventh Prince. + + CHAPTER IV. 34 + HER MAJESTY’S THRONE-ROOM + Clocks--Third Sitting--A Promenade in the Gardens--The + Orchard--The Empress Dowager’s Love of Flowers--Customs as + to Fruits and Flowers. + + CHAPTER V. 42 + THE YOUNG EMPRESS AND LADIES OF THE COURT + The Young Empress--The Secondary Wife--The Princesses-- + Children by Adoption--Chinese Widows--The Princess Imperial-- + The Relationships of the Princesses of the Blood--The Maids + and Tiring-women--Women of the Eighth Banner--The Chinese + Woman at Court--Slaves. + + CHAPTER VI. 50 + CONTINUATION OF THE PORTRAIT + Advantages and Disadvantages of Painting in the Throne-room-- + The Empress Dowager’s Voice--Chinese Opinion as to Portraits + of Royalty--Walks with Her Majesty--Her Dogs--Their + Pavilions--Cats--The Empress Dowager’s Gift of “Me-lah.” + + CHAPTER VII. 57 + FESTIVITIES AT COURT + The Celebration of His Majesty’s Birthday--Invitation from + the Empress Dowager to be Present--Birthday Plays--The + Imperial Actors--Birthday Decorations of the Palace Courts + and Buildings--Presents--First Gala Performance--Luncheon in + the Court of the Theater--The Mat-sheds at the Palace-- + Visitors--Chinese Courtesy--The Imperial Theater at Summer + Palace--Actresses--Customs of Manchu Women. + + CHAPTER VIII. 64 + HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR + Beginning of his Reign--The Name of an Emperor--The Manchu + Dynasty--Personality of the Emperor--Appearance--His + Orientalism--His Dreams of Progress--His Edicts--Despatches-- + The Emperor’s Palace and Attendants--His Studies and Talents-- + Early Rising--His Meals--Conventionalities Observed--Dislike + of Public Functions. + + CHAPTER IX. 73 + THE EMPEROR’S BIRTHDAY + Morning Salutations--His Majesty’s Throne-room--The Imperial + Pearl-Buttons Denoting Rank of Officials--Manchu Buttons-- + “Lever” of the Empress Dowager--Court Costume--Young Empress + in Court Attire--Going in State to Audience Hall--Official + Congratulation by High Officials and Princes--The Young + Empress’s Palace--Presentation of Jade Emblem (Ruyie)--Young + Empress’s Official Congratulation to the Emperor--Simplicity + of Attire of Empress Dowager--Grand Theatrical Representation + at Palace Theater--Imperial Congratulatory Poem--Splendid + Costumes--Luncheon in the Court of the Theater--Children at + Court--The Emperor’s Presents to the Manchu Nobles and High + Officials--The Finale at the Theater--Spectacular Procession-- + Thanks of the Princes and Nobles--Bowing to the “Great + Ancestress”--The Procession to the Hall of Ancestral Tablets. + + CHAPTER X. 87 + PEKING--THE SEA PALACE + His Majesty’s Sacrifice to his Ancestors--The Empress + Dowager’s Favorite Summer-house--The Sacred Picture--The + United States Legation at Peking--Mrs. Conger’s Relations + with Chinese Ladies--The Sea Palace--The Boats of the + Lake--Our Resting-place at the Sea Palace--Promenade on the + Lake--The Eunuch Li-Wun-ti--Memory--Story-telling--The + Island--Temple Gardens--Two Temples--Cathedral within the + Precincts--Theater. + + CHAPTER XI. 100 + SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF HER MAJESTY--SECOND VISIT TO + THE SEA PALACE + The Empress Dowager’s Magnetic Personality--Interesting + Study--Her Chinese Appellations--Hall of Mongolian Princes-- + Dragon Wall--Fruits Sent to the Palace--Repast at the Sea + Palace--Promenade in the Train of Her Majesty--The Imperial + Gourds--A Promenade in the Rain--Rest in Hall of Mongolian + Princes--Archery in China--The Sunset Call. + + CHAPTER XII. 111 + RETURN TO THE SUMMER PALACE + The Empress Dowager as a Psychological Study--Seeing Her + Face to Face--Work on Portrait Resumed--Easels and Cases + for Materials for Work on Sacred Picture--Walks--Refreshments + for the Promenades--Imperial Tea--The Empress Dowager’s Tea + and Tea-cups--Her Deftness with her Fingers--Her + Thoughtfulness. + + CHAPTER XIII. 117 + THE STEAM-LAUNCH--SEMI-ANNUAL SACRIFICES TO CONFUCIUS + Chinese Tolerance in Religious Matters--Halls of Confucius-- + The Odes to Peace--Burning the Offerings. + + CHAPTER XIV. 123 + THE PALACE EUNUCHS + Their Grades--The Chief Eunuchs--Li Lien Ying--His Power + with the Courtiers--“L’Eminence Grise” of the Court--The + Shut-in Position of Chinese Imperial Rulers--Need of an + Unofficial Messenger--Personal Appearance of Li Lien Ying-- + Sui, Her Majesty’s Second Eunuch--Punishment of Eunuchs-- + Pupils--Opium Smoking--Pets--Good Manners of the Eunuchs. + + CHAPTER XV. 130 + LITERARY TASTES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE EMPRESS + DOWAGER + The Empress of the Eastern Palace--Co-Regency--Her Majesty’s + Literary Tastes--Her Love of Heroic Poems--Her Memory--The + Chinese Joan of Arc--The Empress, Widow of Tung-Chih--The + Empress Dowager’s Reader and her Favorite Authors--Her Love + of the Theater--Her Humor--A Great Stickler for Purity of + Language--Li-Hung-Chang’s Chinese--How the Empress Dowager + Speaks It--Her Writing of the Great Characters--The Chinese + Written Character--Painting--Embroidery--Her Designs for + Floral Decorations--Cultivation of her Person--The + Empress Dowager an Epicure--Her Soaps and Perfumes--Her + Personal Magnetism as a Power over Animals--The Escaped + Bird--The Katydid. + + CHAPTER XVI. 142 + THE GREAT AUDIENCE HALL + Hours of the Audiences--The Audience Hall at Summer Palace-- + Its Interior--Ancient and Modern Thrones and Dais--Audiences + of Heads of Departments--The Grand Council--Official + Despatches--Telegrams--The Cushions for Members of the Grand + Council--Special Audiences--The Introducing Eunuch--Amusing + Subterfuge of Officials at Audience--The Young Emperor and + Tiresome Official--Sacred Quality of the Imperial Person-- + Mode of Address of Courtiers--The Kow-tow. + + CHAPTER XVII. 149 + THE SUMMER PALACE + The Empress Dowager’s Favorite Palace--The Marble Terrace-- + The Hills of the Summer Palace--The Temple of the Ten + Thousand Buddhas--Memorial Arches--The Marble Bridge--The + Canals--Camel-back Bridges--Chinese Architecture--Utilitarian + Spirit of the Chinese--Flowers and Fields in the Park of + Summer Palace--Grand Peony Mountain--The Sacred Buddha-Temple + of the Ten Thousand Buddhas--Ruins of Old Summer Palace-- + Views from the Summer Palace Belvederes--When Their Majesties + Go Abroad. + + CHAPTER XVIII. 156 + FESTIVAL OF THE HARVEST MOON + The Chinese Love of Festivals--The Fruit of Immortality--The + Little Handmaiden and her White Rabbit--The Play at the + Palace Theater on the Mid-Autumn Festival--Dinner in the + Imperial Loge--Procession to the Moonlit Terrace--Floral + Pai-lou to the Moon--“Bowing” to the Moon--The Poem to the + Moon--The Burnt-Offering--Return to the Palace on the Moonlit + Lake--Continuation of the Portrait--Some Disadvantages of Too + Much Pleasure--Hospitality of the Empress Dowager--Chinese + Conventions and Traditions--Wonderful Opportunities for + Picturesqueness in Painting the Empress Dowager--Restrictions + Imposed by Chinese Tradition--First Exhibition of the “Sacred + Picture”--Description of First Portrait of the Empress + Dowager--How I Should Have Liked to Paint Her. + + CHAPTER XIX. 165 + A GARDEN PARTY + Reception to the Diplomatic Corps and Ladies of the + Legation--The Ceremony of Reception of the Ladies--The + Empress Dowager’s Cordiality--Taking Tea in the Audience + Hall--Luncheon in the Throne-room--Promenade on the Lake-- + Visit to the Palace and Temple on the Island--The Marble + Boat--Lack of Harmony among the Guests at Garden Party-- + Chinese Comment on our Costumes and Appearance--Dislike of + Blonde Hair. + + CHAPTER XX. 171 + BEGINNING A SECOND PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + Putting the Characters Representing Her Majesty’s Titles and + her Two Seals on the Portrait--Beginning the Small Portrait-- + Toilette d’Intimité--“Hailo” and “Shadza”--The Palace + Painters--Their Manner of Working--New Variety of + Chrysanthemum--The “Peafowl Feather”--The Audience Hall + Pianos--Her Majesty’s Ideas of Dancing. + + CHAPTER XXI. 178 + A EUROPEAN CIRCUS AT THE PALACE + The Posters--Sites for the Ring--The Turnip Field--Their + Majesties Go in State across the Lake--The Houseboats--The + Young Empress’s State Boat--The Imperial Loges at the + Circus--Invited Officials--Bands of Music--A Glimpse of the + Manchu Princes and Some High Officials--The Son of the + Imperial Princess--The Opera Glasses of Their Majesties--What + Interested Them Most. + + CHAPTER XXII. 185 + PALACE CUSTOMS + Early Rising--When the Empress Dowager Sleeps--Her Bedroom-- + Irregular Hours except for the Audience--Domestic Duties-- + Her Favorite Game--Her Luck--Her Meals--Conventions Observed + at the Empress Dowager’s Table--Her Dishes--The Hour of the + Siesta--Her Promenades--The Days of the Theater--When Their + Majesties Dine Together--Rigorous Observance of Fasts at the + Table of the Empress Dowager--Court Etiquette--The Graceful + Bow--Rigid Observance of Court Customs--Her Majesty’s Reproof + of Too Indulgent Mother. + + CHAPTER XXIII. 194 + HER MAJESTY’S ANXIETY--HER BIRTHDAY + Her Anxiety--Exterior and Interior Troubles--Preparations + for Her Majesty’s Birthday--Her Desire to Have Everything + as Simple as Possible and to Spare Expense--The Emperor’s + Wish to Celebrate with the Usual Pomp, and Desire to Bestow + a New Title upon the Empress Dowager--Difference of Her + Majesty’s Interest in her Own and the Emperor’s Birthday-- + When She Received the Congratulations--Early Hour of + Congratulation--The Interior of the Throne-room and + Decorations for the Birthday--Winter Court Dress of the + Ladies--The Empress Dowager’s Fatigue. + + CHAPTER XXIV. 200 + THE WINTER PALACE + The Empress Dowager’s Love of the Summer Palace--Return to + Peking--Young Empress and Ladies Precede and Receive Her on + the Threshold of her Own Throne-room--City of Peking, the + Palace within the Forbidden City--Its many Walls within + Walls--The Guard-Houses--The Ceremony of Reception--The + Throne-room of the Winter Palace--The Interior Dome--Her + Majesty’s Sitting-room--Private Chapel--Portraits of Queen + Victoria--The Three Great Halls--The Spirit-Stairway--The + Central Hall--Presents from European Royalties--Where I was + to Paint--The Emperor’s Precincts--Tradition at the Winter + Palace. + + CHAPTER XXV. 211 + PEKING--BEGINNING THE PORTRAIT FOR ST. LOUIS + Legation Quarter--Morning Ride to the Palace--Splendid Walls + of the Palace and City--The Streets in the Forbidden City--A + Funeral--The Mongolians--Beggars at the Gate-- + Unsatisfactoriness of Studio at Winter Palace--Her Majesty + Orders It Remodeled--Beginning Portrait for St. Louis-- + Imperial Paraphernalia and Insignia of Royalty--Importance + of Propriety--The Throne--Her Majesty’s Costume for the + Portrait--Pearl Mantle--First Sketch--Stretching the Great + Canvas. + + CHAPTER XXVI. 219 + SOME SOCIAL CUSTOMS + Manchu Ladies of the Palace--Presentation, on Their Marriage, + of Manchu Noblewomen--Bridal Costume--Sedan Chairs--By Whom + Bride is Presented--The Young Empress’s Graciousness--A + Daughter in a Manchu Family--Comparison of Manchu and + American Girl--The Unmarried Daughter of the Manchus--Her + Position in the Family--Social Qualities--The Manchu Men-- + Sports--Costume--Young Dandies--Concubinage--Early Marriages + of Men--Secondary Wives--The Family--Secondary Wives of an + Emperor--Their Rank--Position in the Palace--Title. + + CHAPTER XXVII. 230 + PRESENT-GIVING + The Palace as the Heart of Empire--Occasions on which + Presents are Given (Private, Official, and Festivals)-- + Style of Presents Given by the Empress Dowager--Presents to + the Ladies of Legation--Birthday Presents--Some Presents + Received by Me from Her Majesty. + + CHAPTER XXVIII. 237 + SOME WINTER DAYS AT THE PALACE + The Portrait for America--Details and Accessories of the + Same--Days at the Palace--The Meals in Winter--Winter + Evenings--Learning Chinese--Occupations of the Ladies--The + Young Empress’s Birthday--Days of Mourning at the Palace-- + Anniversary of Death of the Emperor Tung-Chih--The Empress + Dowager’s Sorrow. + + CHAPTER XXIX. 245 + RELIGIOUS RITES + The Three Great Religions--The Temple of Heaven--The Emperor + as High Priest--Preparations for the Sacrifice to Heaven-- + Buddhism and Taoism--Confucius--Origin of Chinese Religious + Ceremonies--Vitality of China as a Nation--Its Amalgamation + of Conquering Races--The Manchus--Some Nature Worship--The + Festival of the Awakening of Spring at the Palace--Guardians + of the Cocoons. + + CHAPTER XXX. 253 + HER MAJESTY THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + Her Family--Presentation at Court--Fifth Wife of the Emperor + Hsien-Feng--Favorite of Empress Mother and First Wife--Birth + of a Son--Death of Emperor Hsien-Feng--Empress of Western + Palace--Co-Regents for Young Emperor Tung-Chih--Friendliness + of the Two Co-Regents--State of China at Beginning of + Regency--Intrigue--The Anti-foreign Princes--Prince Kung-- + First Political Act of Young Empress of Western Palace-- + Support of the Princes of the Blood--The Emperor Tung-Chih + Begins to Reign--Death of Tung-Chih--Resumption of the + Regency by the Empress Dowager--Minority of Kwang-Hsu--Death + of Empress of Eastern Palace--Policy of Empress Dowager--The + Emperor Kwang-Hsu Begins to Reign--His Policy--The War with + Japan--Change of Policy by the Emperor--The Progress Party-- + The Ultra-Conservatives--Return from Retirement of the Empress + Dowager--The Emperor’s Edict--So-called Coup d’État--Rout of + Progress Party--Punishment of Ringleaders--Effect on the + Emperor--Reign of Emperor “Assisted” by Empress Dowager--The + Secret Society of the Boxers--Its Growth--Boxers in the + Capital--Boxers among the Princes of the Blood--The Outbreak + in Peking--Reported Cause of Outbreak--The Emperor and Empress + Dowager’s Attempt to Check Movement--The Imperial Military + Forces--Position of Legation Quarter in Peking--British + Legation--Return of Their Majesties to Peking--Edicts Issued-- + Arrival of Allies in Peking--Flight of Her Majesty and the + Court--The Route to Singan Fu--Hardships Endured--Incidents. + + CHAPTER XXXI. 270 + HER MAJESTY THE EMPRESS DOWAGER (CONTINUED) + Her Charities--Incident of the Boxer Rising--Widows’ Petition + to the Empress Dowager--Her Majesty’s Action thereon--Her + Extravagance--Extravagance in the Palace--Efforts of Past + Emperors for Economy--Cost of Food in the Palace--Her + Majesty’s Personal Extravagance--Her Jewels--Wardrobe-- + Examples of Her Economy--Her Patriotism--Scheme of Taxation-- + Her Penetration--Her Judgment--Her Prejudices--Sarcasm--Her + Determination--Tact--Social Instinct--Reception of Young + German Prince. + + CHAPTER XXXII. 279 + THE CHINESE NEW YEAR + Greatest Festival of the Year--Decorations of the Palace-- + Imitation Money--New Year’s Presents--Work on Portrait--Some + Changes--Removal of the Court to Sea Palace--My Studio at Sea + Palace--New Year’s Audience of Ladies of the Legation-- + Congratulations--Lantern Festival--The Illuminated + Procession--The Double Dragon--The Flaming Pearl--Fireworks + in the Palace--Day Rockets--Old Customs as to the Fireworks + in the Palace Grounds. + + CHAPTER XXXIII. 287 + CONTINUATION OF THE ST. LOUIS PORTRAIT + Propitious Date for Finishing it--Changing Ornaments--Frame + for Portrait--Spring Days--Her Majesty’s Walks--Inspecting + the New Buildings--The Jinrikisha--The Miniature Railway--Her + Majesty’s Automobiles--Kite Flying--His Majesty the Emperor + Plows and Sows the Seed of a Furrow. + + CHAPTER XXXIV. 294 + FINISHING AND SENDING OFF THE PORTRAIT + Nineteenth Day of April--Invitations to Ladies of the + Legation to see the Portrait--Visit of the Ladies to the + Palace--The Portrait--Princes and Nobles see the “Sacred + Picture”--Attempt to Photograph--Portrait taken to + Wai-Wu-Pu--Visit of Corps Diplomatique--Packing the Portrait-- + Special Railway built from Foreign Office to Railway Station-- + Departure of Picture--En route--Tientsin--Shanghai-- + Embarkation for San Francisco--Reception by Prince Pu L’un + and Imperial Commission at St. Louis--Unveiling the + Portrait--Placing the Portrait in the Gallery of Fine Arts-- + Arrival at Washington--Presentation to the Government. + + CHAPTER XXXV. 300 + RETURN TO THE SUMMER PALACE + Return to the Summer Palace--The Palace of the Emperor’s + Father in Spring--The Grounds of the Summer Palace--The + Studio--At Work Again--The Theater--His Majesty’s Theater + Program--Work of the Vermilion Pencil--His Majesty’s + Interest in the Russo-Japanese War--Spring Garden Party to + the Ladies of the Legation--Another large Portrait of Her + Majesty--Showing it to the Ladies--Her Majesty’s Desire for + Highly Finished Detail--Her Delight in her New Hobby--Final + Days. + + + List of Illustrations + + Portrait of the Empress Dowager _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + The Empress and the Ladies of the Court in the Imperial Barge 24 + + Princesses of the Court 40 + + The Young Empress Ye-Ho-Na-Lah 44 + + At the American Legation, Peking 88 + + Chinese Architecture 104 + + On the Road from Peking to the Summer Palace 112 + + The Empress Dowager Writing a “Great Character” 136 + + The Empress Dowager in the Gardens of the Summer Palace 140 + + The Official Audience of Their Majesties 146 + + Old Ruins in the Summer Palace 152 + + The Secondary Wife of the Emperor 168 + + Pai-lou in the Grounds of the Summer Palace--on the Shore + of the Lake 176 + + Princesses of the Court 188 + + Court in the Winter Palace--“Her Majesty Comes” 204 + + Confucian Temple--“Spirit-Stairway” in Central Flight of + Steps 208 + + Prince Ching 216 + + The Author in Chinese Costume 234 + + Temple of Heaven--Peking 246 + + Altar to the Invisible Deity 250 + + Slave Girls 280 + + The Portrait of the Empress Dowager in its Frame 304 + + + + + INTRODUCTORY + +In April, 1903, while I was visiting in Shanghai, I received a letter +from Mrs. Conger, wife of the Minister of the United States to Peking, +in which she said there was a question of Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager’s having her portrait painted, and asking me if such a thing +should be arranged would I be willing to come to Peking and undertake +it. Mrs. Conger hoped, if the project should materialize, that Her +Majesty might later consent to send the portrait to the Exposition +at St. Louis. She thought such a portrait would be of great interest +to the American people and might prove an attractive feature to +the Exposition, in which she and Mr. Conger were, naturally, much +interested. She also felt, as she had had an opportunity of seeing a +good deal of the Empress Dowager, that if the world could see a true +likeness of her, it might modify the generally accepted idea which +prevailed as to Her Majesty’s character. + +I answered Mrs. Conger’s letter, saying I should be delighted to +undertake the work, should it be decided upon, and I awaited further +developments. The idea of sitting for her portrait met with Her +Majesty’s approval, and she said she would arrange an Audience and +set a day for beginning. But the “mills of”--Chinese Officialdom +“grind slowly,” and not until July did Mrs. Conger receive an official +notification from the Wai-Wu-Pu (Chinese Foreign Office) requesting +“Her Excellency Mrs. Conger to present the American artist, Miss Carl, +to Her Imperial Majesty on the fifth day of August, for the purpose of +painting a portrait of Her Majesty.” Mrs. Conger immediately informed +me of the reception of this document, and I left Shanghai for Peking on +the 29th of July. I was cordially received, on my arrival in Peking, +by Mr. and Mrs. Conger at the American Legation, and on the fifth of +August was presented by Mrs. Conger to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager +at the Summer Palace in private Audience. + +As it was a great innovation in Chinese customs and a breaking away +from long-established tradition for an Imperial portrait to be painted, +there was no precedent to follow and all arrangements were of the +vaguest kind; and when I went into the Palace for my first Audience, I +did not know whether I would have one sitting or ten, and no one else +seemed to have any more definite information. All was uncertainty. +Everything depended upon Her Majesty’s inclination, and future +developments must be awaited. I felt that I was really going into the +Palace on trial and that my reception and the work depended upon the +fantasy and whims of a great Personage from whom, according to current +reports, I had but little to expect. On the day of my first Audience, +I was told at the Foreign Office that Her Majesty was to give me but +one sitting, hence it was not in a very tranquil state of mind that +I went up to be presented to the Great Empress Dowager, Tze-Shi! But +all this was changed when I saw her. She received me kindly, was very +gracious. A Palace was set aside for me, and every facility afforded me +for my work: during my sojourn at the Chinese Court I painted not only +the portrait for the Exposition at St. Louis, but three others of Her +Majesty. + +Unique as my experiences at the different Palaces of Their Celestial +Majesties were, I concluded, after I had lived at Court for a few +months, I would never make these experiences public. The Empress +Dowager received me in so friendly a manner, I met with such +consideration at her hands and such unfailing courtesy from all with +whom I came in contact, I felt I should requite this kindness by +an equal consideration, and that it was my duty to respect Chinese +prejudices and conform to their ideas of “Propriety” by refraining from +any relation of my charming experiences. + +After I returned to America, I was constantly seeing in newspapers +(and hearing of) statements ascribed to me which I never made. Her +Majesty was represented as having stood over me in threatening +attitudes, forcing me to represent her as a young and beautiful woman! +It was reported that she refused to give me any compensation for the +portraits, and a number of other statements, equally false, were +daily appearing in the papers. The London “Times,” in speaking of the +Empress Dowager, said: “Some one has said ‘she has the soul of a tiger +in the body of a woman,’ and Miss Carl found the old lady shrewd and +tempestuous.” The latter statement, which I never made, seemed to me +enough to have on my shoulders, but the article was copied in American +papers and I was put down as the author of the first, as well as of +the second statement. The power of the Press has become such that it +cannot be ignored. It is of no avail to say nothing in such a case as +mine; when you do this, words are put into your mouth and sentiments +ascribed to you at the will of the newsmongers. If a correction be +made, it never seems to get the same circulation or publicity as the +first statement. These erroneous statements continue to appear, and I +have finally decided that, in justice to my August Patroness as well +as to my humbler self, it is incumbent upon me to correct them, and it +seems to me the only proper way to do so is to write a full and true +relation of my life at the Palace and my experiences while painting the +portraits of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. + +I know I publish this account at the risk of offending the +sensibilities of my Chinese friends, for many of them will never +know what called it forth. I know that by so doing I may change any +favorable opinion they may have formed as to my good-breeding and +discretion. I was on sufficiently intimate terms with Her Majesty and +the Ladies of the Court to know that this account will be looked upon +by them as an “indiscretion,” to say the least of it. + +In this story of my life at the Palace, I must naturally give some +description of Their Majesties and necessarily make some comment +upon their characters. In doing this, I will transgress another +long-established rule of Chinese Propriety, which makes any comment, +favorable or unfavorable, upon the Sacred Persons of Their Majesties, +a breach of etiquette. No act of theirs is ever criticized, no report +in reference to them is ever explained, no slander about them is ever +refuted by loyal Chinese, and the generality of Chinese are loyal. Thus +the falsest statements, not being refuted by those in a position to +know, gain in credence until they are reported as facts. + +If my comment on Their Majesties and discussion of their acts be +favorable, this will be no palliation from the Chinese standpoint. Any +sort of comment will be looked upon as a breach of hospitality. I have +absolutely nothing to gain, should I suppress any disagreeable facts I +may have learned as to Her Majesty. Should I be willing to sacrifice +the truth, in order to please my Chinese friends, this would avail me +nothing, for should my account of Her Majesty be construed by them into +an apology for her, I would be considered most presumptuous and the +enormity of my offense aggravated. Thus I am between two fires. Those +who read my account may imagine I am trying to justify Her Majesty and +thereby gain her favor; and should the Chinese put this construction +on it, my indiscretion will become an offense. Knowing all this, and +with the memory of the charming consideration I received at the Chinese +Court, I nevertheless feel it is my duty to publish a simple and +truthful narrative of my experiences, and I hope I may be pardoned for +thus breaking Chinese conventions. + +The Boxer rebellion was a frequent topic of conversation at the Palace +and I heard a great deal about it from the Ladies of the Court. It was +not considered at all indiscreet to ask questions on this subject, and +I did not hesitate to inform myself by asking about things I wished to +know. If it be true, as the philosophers say, that “the proper study +of mankind is man under his own environment,” I had an opportunity of +studying Her Majesty on the right principles. My account of her should, +therefore, have some little value, for I am the only European who has +ever had a chance to study this remarkable woman in her own milieu, or +to look upon the facts of her life from the standpoint within her own +circle. + +In this simple relation of what I saw of the customs, religious +rites and ceremonies, I have also preferred to rest upon my own +personal interpretation of the same, rather than to study the learned +explanations of the many clever Sinologues, whose works abound. These +works may be consulted by those who desire to enter more deeply into +things. I had no time to make a comprehensive study of any works on +the subject, and I purposely have read nothing and consulted no books +on China, wishing to give a fresh impression. As all their curious +ceremonies were a matter of course to the Chinese, they had become so +petrified by long use and tradition, as to have, in many instances, +lost their original signification to most of those who went through +them. I could thus get very little help from the Chinese and was +forced to put my own interpretation upon things. I feel that, with my +limited capacities, and my inexperience as a writer, the only reason +for my entering this field at all lies in the interest of what I saw, +as I saw it. Notwithstanding the attitude of the Court in this matter, +I have decided to run the risk of incurring their displeasure and +reprobation, for I feel assured that what I have to say may serve to +clear up certain misapprehensions and place Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager in more favorable light. What follows is but the simple +narration, the unsophisticated interpretation, of an observant painter. + + + [Illustration: Ornamental Design] + + WITH THE EMPRESS + DOWAGER OF CHINA + + + + + CHAPTER I + + MY PRESENTATION AND FIRST DAY AT THE + CHINESE COURT + +The day of my first Audience at the Chinese Court, August 5th, we were +up betimes at the American Legation, for it takes full three hours to +drive out to the Summer Palace from Peking; and punctuality is the +etiquette of Oriental as well as of Occidental potentates. Our audience +was for half-past ten o’clock, and the portrait of the Empress Dowager +was to be begun at eleven; that hour, as well as the day and the month, +having been chosen, after much deliberation and many consultations of +the almanac, as the most auspicious for beginning work on the first +likeness ever made of Her Majesty. + +We left the Legation at seven A.M. in the trap of the United States +Legation Guard, that being the only vehicle available large enough to +carry the party, Mrs. Conger and her interpreter and myself and my +painting materials, which included a large canvas and a folding easel. +After leaving the City, the drive out to the Summer Palace is through +fertile fields and a fair, smiling landscape. It had rained the night +before and everything was beautifully fresh. The wet, stone-paved road +stretched ahead like a shining stream; the wheat and corn fields along +the road were of a brilliant green, with here and there the somber note +of a clump of arbor-vitæ, out of which rose the walls of a temple! The +distant hills, where lay the Summer Palace, were delicately limned +against a soft blue-gray sky, and the whole made an entrancing picture. + +Soon after leaving Peking the mounted official Legation servants that +followed Mrs. Conger’s carriage were joined by a Chinese Guard of Honor +sent by the Wai-Wu-Pu (Foreign Office) to escort us to the Palace. +After an hour and a half’s drive we rattled through a busy village, +past the yellow ruins of a great lama temple, and along the park walls +of the summer homes of several Princes of the Imperial Family, and +soon came within sight of the beautiful grounds of the Summer Palace +with its hills, valleys, canals, and lakes; the hills crowned with +tea-houses and temples, the waters of the canals lapping the marble +terraces of the Palaces. The red walls and glazed tiles of the yellow +and green roofs, the brilliant foliage, freshened by the rain, made a +gay picture; and the temples, arches, pagodas, and the many buildings +that constitute a Chinese palace gave it the appearance of a whole town +rather than of a single palace. + +As in all Oriental palaces, upon the very threshold of the outer courts +sit the beggar, the lame, the halt, and the blind, gathering rich +harvests from the generosity of the high nobles and officials and their +myriad retainers as they pass in and out of the Foreign Office and the +outer courts of the Palace. The Foreign Office, during the residence +of the Court at the Summer Palace, sixteen miles from the Capital, has +offices on the left of the great Imperial entrance, in order that state +business may be more easily transacted while Their Majesties are in +villeggiatura. + +We alighted at the Foreign Office and were met by a number of officials +with their interpreters, coming out to receive us. After readjusting +ourselves in the waiting-room, we were met, when we came out, by the +Chief Eunuch of the Palace, who conducted us to the red-covered Palace +chairs, each carried by six men. They bore us past the Imperial gateway +(used only for Their Majesties), through a door of entrance at the +left, when we were within the sacred precincts of one of the residences +of the Sons of Heaven and within the walls of the favorite Palace of +the Empress Dowager! Before we could take in our surroundings, we had +been rapidly carried through various courts and gardens, and had come +at last to a larger, quadrangular court, filled with pots of rare +blooming plants and many beautiful growing shrubs. Here the bearers put +down our chairs; we descended and walked through the court, preceded +and followed by a number of eunuchs. The great plate-glass doors of +the Palace in front of us, blazing with the huge red character “Sho” +(longevity), were swung noiselessly back, and we were at last within +the Throne-room of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager of China! + +A group of Princesses and Ladies-in-waiting stood to receive us. The +Ladies Yu-Keng, wife and daughter of a former Chinese Minister to +France, stood near the Princesses; and their perfect knowledge of both +Chinese and English rendered them delightful mediums of communication +between the Princesses and ourselves. Having known these ladies in +Paris, it was almost like seeing old friends. They seemed a link +between the real, every-day world and this Arabian Nights Palace into +which we had been wafted. As we arrived at a quarter-past ten, we were +in the Throne-room a few moments before Their Majesties appeared! Their +entrance was so simply made, so unobtrusive, that the first I knew of +it, noticing a sudden lull, I looked around and saw a charming little +lady, with a brilliant smile, greeting Mrs. Conger very cordially. One +of the Ladies Yu-Keng whispered, “Her Majesty”; but even after this it +seemed almost impossible for me to realize that this kindly looking +lady, so remarkably young-looking, with so winning a smile, could be +the so-called cruel, implacable tyrant, the redoubtable “old” Empress +Dowager, whose name had been on the lips of the world since 1900! A +young man, almost boyish in appearance, entered the Throne-room with +her: this was the Son of Heaven, the Emperor of China! + +After greeting Mrs. Conger, the Empress Dowager looked toward me, and +I advanced with a reverence. She met me half-way and extended her hand +with another brilliant smile which quite won me, and I spontaneously +raised her dainty fingers to my lips. This was not in the protocol +program. It was an involuntary and surprised tribute on my part to her +unexpected charm. She then turned and with graceful gesture extended +her hand toward the Emperor and murmured “The Emperor,” and watched me +closely while I made His Majesty the formal reverence. He acknowledged +the salutation by a slight bow and a stereotyped smile, but I felt that +he, too, was closely scrutinizing me as his shrewd glance swept my +person. + +After a few moments’ conversation, interpreted by the Ladies Yu-Keng, +Her Majesty ordered my painting things brought in, while she retired +to be dressed in the gown she had decided upon as appropriate for the +portrait. + +After she had left the Throne-room, I tried to take in the conditions +of the place for painting. The hall was large and spacious, but the +light was false, the upper parts of the windows being covered with +paper shades. The only place in the hall where there was any sort of +light for painting was in front of the great plate-glass doors, and +this was but a small space in which to begin so large a picture. To +get a light upon the portrait, as well as upon the sitter, I should +be forced to place my canvas very near the throne where she was to +sit; and, with so large a portrait as I was to paint, this would be a +great disadvantage. When I thought I must paint here, and begin at once +upon the canvas which was to be the final picture, my heart fell! Her +Majesty wished, above all, to have a large portrait, and I was told +she would not understand my beginning on a small canvas or making any +preliminary studies--that if I did not begin on the big canvas at +once she would probably not give me any more sittings; in fact we had +that morning been told at the Foreign Office that Her Majesty was to +give me but two sittings, so there was no alternative! There could be +no preliminary poses, no choice from several sketches, and only a few +moments in which to choose the pose, which must be final--and I totally +ignorant of the possibilities of my sitter or her characteristics. + +Luckily, I had but a few moments to consider all these adverse +circumstances, for Her Majesty soon returned! She had been clothed in +a gown of Imperial yellow, brocaded in the wistaria vine in realistic +colors and richly embroidered in pearls. It was made, in the graceful +Manchu fashion, in one piece, reaching from the neck to the floor; +fastened from the right shoulder to the hem with jade buttons. The +stuff of the gown was of a stiff, transparent silk, and was worn over a +softer under-gown of the same color and length. At the top button, from +the right shoulder, hung a string of eighteen enormous pearls separated +by flat pieces of brilliant, transparent green jade. From the same +button was suspended a large, carved pale ruby, which had yellow silk +tassels terminating in two immense pear-shaped pearls of rare beauty! +At each side, just under the arms, hung a pale-blue, embroidered silk +handkerchief and a scent-bag with long, black silk tassels. Around her +throat was a pale-blue, two-inch-wide cravat, embroidered in gold with +large pearls. This cravat had one end tucked into the opening on the +shoulder of her gown, and the other hanging. Her jet-black hair was +parted in the middle, carried smoothly over the temples, and brought to +the top of the head in a large, flat coil. + +Formerly all Manchu ladies who have marvelous hair carried the hair +itself out from this coil over a golden, jade, or tortoise-shell +sword-like pin, into a large-winged bow. The Empress Dowager and the +Ladies of the Court have substituted satin instead of the hair, for +this wing-like construction, as being more practicable and less liable +to get out of order. So satin-like and glossy is their hair that it is +difficult to tell where it ends and the satin begins. A band of pearls, +with an immense “flaming pearl” in the center, encircled the coil. +On either side of the winged bow were bunches of natural flowers and +a profusion of jewels. From the right side of the head-dress hung a +tassel of eight strings of beautiful pearls reaching to the shoulder. + +She wore bracelets and rings, and on each hand had two nail-protectors, +for she wore her nails so long the protectors were necessary adjuncts. +These nail-protectors were worn on the third and fourth fingers of +either hand; those on the left being of brilliant green jade, while +those on the right hand were of gold, set with rubies and pearls. + +Her Majesty advanced with animation and asked me where the Double +Dragon Throne was to be placed. After the eunuchs had put it where I +said, she took her seat. Although not more than five feet tall, as +she wears the Manchu shoes with six-inch-high, stilt-like soles, to +avoid throwing the knees up higher than the lap she must sit upon +cushions, and when she is seated she looks a much larger woman than +when standing. She took a conventional pose and told me I might make +any suggestion I wished; but I had made up my mind that the pose and +surroundings must be as typical and characteristic as possible, and as +I had had no time to study my August Sitter I thought she would know +best as to her position and accessories. + +It was nearing eleven! + +Beginning anything is momentous. Every artist knows how the wonderful +possibilities of the bare canvas in its virgin purity standing before +him inspires him with almost a feeling of awe; how he hesitates about +beginning, so great is the responsibility. This bare canvas may become +a masterpiece, the full expression of his thought, or it may come forth +a maimed and distorted effort. To-day in these strange surroundings, +with these unusual and unfavorable conditions, my hesitancy was greater +than usual; for upon this beginning depended my being able to go on +with the portrait. + +My hands trembled! The inscrutable eyes of the wonderful woman I was +to paint, fixed piercingly upon me, were also disconcerting; but just +then the eighty-five clocks in this particular Throne-room began to +chime, play airs, and strike the hour in eighty-five different ways. +The auspicious moment had come! I raised my charcoal and put the first +stroke upon the canvas of the first portrait that had ever been painted +of the Empress Dowager of Great China, the powerful “Tze-Shi.” The +Princesses, Ladies-in-waiting, the high eunuchs and attendants, stood +in breathless silence around, intently watching my every movement, for +everything touching Her Majesty is a solemnity. + +For a few moments I heard the faintest ticking of the eighty-five +clocks as if they were great Cathedral bells clanging in my ears, and +my charcoal on the canvas sounded like some mighty saw drawn back and +forth. Then, happily, I became interested, and absolutely unconscious +of anything but my sitter and my work. I worked steadily on for +what seemed to be a very short time, when Her Majesty turned to the +interpreter and said “enough work had been done for that day”; the +conditions had been fulfilled and the picture begun at the auspicious +moment. She added that she knew I must be tired from our long drive out +from Peking, as well as from my work. She said I must rest and we must +partake of some refreshments. She then descended from the throne and +came over to look at the sketch. + +I had blocked in the whole figure and had drawn the head with some +accuracy. So strong and impressive is her personality, I had been able +to get enough of her character into this rough whole to make it a sort +of likeness. After looking critically at it for a few moments, she +expressed herself as well pleased with what had been done, and paid +me some compliments on my talent as an artist! I felt instinctively, +however, this was due more to her natural courtesy--her desire to put +me at ease--than to an actual expression of her opinion. After she had +looked at the portrait, she called Mrs. Conger and the Princesses to +see what had been done, and it was discussed for a few moments. Then +she turned to me and said the portrait interested her greatly, that she +should like to see it go on. She asked me, looking straight into my +eyes the while, if I would care to remain at the Palace for a few days, +that she might give me sittings at her leisure. + +This invitation filled me with joy. The reports I had heard of Her +Majesty’s hatred of the foreigner had been dispelled by this first +Audience and what I had seen there. I felt that the most consummate +actress could not so belie her personality, and I accepted, without a +moment’s hesitation, the invitation so graciously tendered. I thought +thus I should be able to get a good beginning for a satisfactory +likeness of this most remarkable and interesting woman. My sanguine +heart even leaped forward to the possibility of probably finishing +the portrait entirely at the Palace. Her Majesty seemed pleased at my +acceptance and said she would try to make me happy. She then withdrew +and we were served to luncheon. + +The Empress Dowager always eats alone. When she has guests the Princess +Imperial, as the first of the Ladies of the Palace, acts as hostess. +The guests of honor are placed at her right and left. The Princesses, +Ladies Yu-Keng, Mrs. Conger, and myself formed the guests on this +occasion. + +The table, decorated with flowers and fruit, groaned under the many +Chinese dishes placed thereon. Foreign dishes were served _à la Russe_. +The Chinese dishes, attractive to the eye as well as to the senses of +smell and taste, appealed to me at once; though I had been told one +must cultivate a taste for them. There were foreign table waters and +wines as well as Chinese drinks. We did full justice to the viands, +tasting everything and trying to use the chop-sticks, though knives and +forks were also placed for each of the guests. + +After the repast Her Majesty and the young Empress, the first wife of +the Emperor Kwang-Hsu, came in. Her Majesty presented the young Empress +with the same grace with which she had indicated the Emperor at the +morning Audience, repeating her title, “The Empress,” as she did so. +Immediately behind the young Empress was the only secondary wife of the +Emperor, who was also presented by the Empress Dowager. + +Then Her Majesty told Mrs. Conger she had her Players at the Theater +that day, and she invited us to come and hear them. The Empress Dowager +and Mrs. Conger led the way and I followed with the young Empress and +Princesses. We passed through several courts, all gay with flowers, +and finally reached the largest of all, the Court of the Theater. The +Theater projects into this rectangular court and consists of a covered +rostrum, open on three sides with doors at the back for the entrance +and exit of the actors. In front of the stage and across the open, +flower-filled court, with splendid bronze ornaments here and there, is +a building which might be called the Imperial loge. This is from sixty +to eighty feet long with a pillared stone verandah and occupies one +entire side of the court. Huge panes of plate-glass, the full height of +the building, enable Her Majesty and the Emperor to see, from within, +all that passes on the stage, and they can, of course, hear everything +perfectly. The buildings which form the other sides of this court, +those which run at right angles to the Imperial loge, are divided into +small stalls, each about the size of an ordinary opera box. There are +no chairs in these boxes, the occupants sit Turkish fashion upon the +floor, for no courtier can occupy a chair when in the presence of Their +Majesties. These side rooms are for the use of the high officials and +Princes who are sometimes invited by Their Majesties to be present at +the Imperial Theatrical Representations. + +On my first day at Court there were no other invited guests; the +Players had been summoned in our honor. Her Majesty sat in a +yellow-covered chair on the red-pillared verandah of the Imperial +loge. The Emperor was seated on a yellow stool at her left, the place +of honor in China. Mrs. Conger and I were on Her Majesty’s right, the +young Empresses, Princesses, and Ladies-in-waiting standing around. +After seeing two or three acts of a play of which we understood little +more than the pantomime, but which was interesting from its very +novelty, Mrs. Conger arose to take leave of Their Majesties and the +Princesses. After this was accomplished, I accompanied her to one of +the outer courts and there told her good-by. + +When she left, I was alone in the Palace, the first foreigner to be +domiciled in any residence of a Son of Heaven since the time of Marco +Polo, and the only foreigner who had ever been within the Ladies’ +Precincts. I had a curious feeling of having been transported into a +strange world. A sense of loneliness crept over me, and I feared the +strangeness of my position might affect my work, and that, after all, +I should not accomplish what I had remained in the Palace to do. I +stood for a few minutes pondering my position, but was soon joined by +the Ladies Yu-Keng with a message from the Empress Dowager that I need +not return to the Theater, as she had gone to rest. She sent word that +she thought it would be well for me to go to my apartments and try to +sleep a little. She hoped I would be happy in the Palace and find the +pavilion she had set aside for me comfortable. She added that I must +not hesitate to order anything I wished and must make myself perfectly +at home. + +The Summer Palace, like all Chinese palaces and temples, and even +the dwelling-houses of the rich, consists of a series of verandahed +buildings, built on stone foundations which rise about eight feet +from the ground, generally of one story, around the four sides +of rectangular or square courts, connected by open verandah-like +corridors. The apartments set aside for my private use, while in the +Precincts, were to the left of the Empress Dowager’s Throne-room and +quite near it--in order that I might go and come to my painting with +ease. These apartments occupied an entire pavilion. It was charming. +Its shining marble floors and beautifully carved partitions, its +painted walls and charming outlook over flowery courts, made it a +delightful spot. These pavilions at the Palace have movable partitions +and the rooms may be made as small as closets or as large as the whole +building. + +My pavilion consisted of two sitting-rooms, a dining-room, and a +charming bedroom, separated from each other by screen-like walls of +beautifully carved open woodwork, with blue silk showing through the +interstices. In the larger spaces were artistic panels of flowers +painted on white silk, alternating with poems and quotations from the +classics, in the picturesque, ideographic writing of the Chinese. On +one of the solid walls was a large water-color painting on white silk, +representing a realistically painted peafowl in a flowery field; an +immense mirror formed the other solid wall. The plate-glass lower +windows had blue silken curtains, the upper windows of white paper were +rolled down, and the rich perfume of the flowers in the court came in. +In my honor, several foreign “objets de virtu” adorned the tables and +window-shelves. The bed, a couch built into an alcove, was covered with +blue satin cushions; and the windows were shaded from the outside by +blue silken awnings, which gave a soft subdued light to the room, that +made it very cool and restful-looking. I found the couch so inviting +I was soon really resting, and the events of the day passed before my +mental vision in kaleidoscopic array. Although the cushions of the +bed were harder than I had been accustomed to, and the dozen or more +eunuchs, who had been set aside for my service, were whispering just +outside my window to be ready for any call, I soon fell asleep from +sheer exhaustion and reaction from the unusual events of the day. + +At five o’clock one of the Ladies Yu-Keng knocked at my door to tell +me the Empress Dowager was awake, and had asked that I come up to +the Throne-room as soon as I was ready. When we went up she called +me to her side and said she hoped I had rested well, that I found my +apartments comfortable; she repeated again the wish that I would be +happy with her. She said we would not paint any more for that day, +but on the morrow we would have another and longer sitting for the +portrait. She begged me to let her know if there was anything I cared +for particularly, that she might order it for me. + +The Empress Dowager then dined alone, after which the young Empress +and the Princesses led me into the Throne-room, and we dined at Her +Majesty’s table, her seat being left vacant. The young Empress occupied +the place at the left of this vacant seat, and had me on her left. +When we had finished dinner, at which the young Empress and the Ladies +were most considerate of me, seeming to try to make me feel at ease, +we went up to take our leave of the Empress Dowager. After this was +accomplished we left the Throne-room, and made our adieus to the young +Empress and Princesses, and left the Imperial inclosure for the Palace +of the Emperor’s Father, which Her Majesty had set aside for the use of +the Ladies Yu-Keng and myself while I was at work on the portrait. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF HER MAJESTY--A CHINESE + REPAST--BOATING + +I was eager to be off the next morning, to have the promised long +sitting from Her Majesty. The sitting of the day before had but whetted +my desire for further work on the portrait. When we arrived within the +Precincts we met the Empress Dowager and the Emperor coming out of the +Great Audience Hall from their joint Audience. When Her Majesty saw +us she stopped, as did the whole train of her attendant Ladies and +eunuchs. She called me up to her side, took my hand, and asked me how +I had rested and “whether I felt ready for work.” This question showed +her penetration, for she had seen the day before, from my eagerness and +the breathless haste with which I used every moment, that my work was +my first object, and she smiled when she put the query. I walked along +by her side from the Audience Hall to the Throne-room where I had begun +the portrait of the day before. When we reached the Throne-room she was +divested of her official vestments, took a cup of tea, and called one +of her tiring-women to bring her the dress and ornaments worn the day +before, and she prepared to sit for me the second time. + +At this second sitting I looked at the Empress Dowager critically. I +feared that the agreeable impression I had formed, the day before, of +herself and her personal appearance had probably been too hasty, the +result of the unusual glamour in which I had begun the portrait; I +thought perhaps the Oriental environment had dazzled me and prevented +my seeing the Empress Dowager as she really was, and I looked forward +to a disillusion. As she sat there, upon the throne, before she was +quite ready for me to begin, before she had transfixed me with her +penetrating glance, before she knew I was looking at her, I scanned her +person and face with all the penetration I could bring to bear, and +this is what I saw: + +A perfectly proportioned figure, with head well set upon her shoulders +and a fine presence; really beautiful hands, daintily small and +high-bred in shape; a symmetrical, well-formed head, with a good +development above the rather large ears; jet-black hair, smoothly +parted over a fine, broad brow; delicate, well-arched eyebrows; +brilliant, black eyes, set perfectly straight in the head; a high nose, +of the type the Chinese call “noble,” broad between the eyes and on +a line with the forehead; an upper lip of great firmness, a rather +large but beautiful mouth with mobile, red lips, which, when parted +over her firm white teeth, gave her smile a rare charm; a strong chin, +but not of exaggerated firmness and with no marks of obstinacy.[1] +Had I not known she was nearing her sixty-ninth year, I should have +thought her a well-preserved woman of forty. Being a widow, she used +no cosmetics. Her face had the natural glow of health, and one could +see that exquisite care and attention were bestowed upon everything +concerning her toilet. Personal neatness and an excellent taste in +the choice of becoming colors and ornaments enhanced this wonderfully +youthful appearance, and a look of keen interest in her surroundings +and remarkable intelligence crowned all these physical qualities and +made an unusually attractive personality. + +[1] + + In the firmament of the Son of Heaven + A brilliant new star has risen!-- + Supple as the neck of the swan + Is the charm of her graceful form. + + From the firm contour of charming chin + Springs the faultless oval of her fair face, + Crowned by the harmonious arch + Of a broad and noble brow. + + The stately profile, chiseled clear, + Is dominated by the pure line of noble nose + Straight and slender and singularly mobile, + Sensitive to all the impressions of the soul. + + Dewy lips with gracious curves + Are the portals of a dainty mouth + Where often blooms the sweet flower + Of a most alluring smile. + + Her face is lit by black and sparkling eyes, + Whose flames, in hours of ease, + With oblique caress, envelop and thrill + That happy mortal allowed to see. + + When stern circumstance demands, + Her graceful form an attitude of firmness takes, + The soft glow of her brilliant eyes + Grows penetrating and holds one with proud authority. + + O beauty Supreme! O brilliant Star + Shining but for the Son of Heaven! + From thy glowing soul radiate + Love, daring, hope, intellect, ambition, power! + + _From a Chinese poet--written when Her Majesty + was twenty-five years old._ + +When I was so far in my study of her appearance, the Empress Dowager +had finished speaking to her attendants, had settled herself to her +satisfaction on the throne, and she turned to me and asked “what part +of the portrait I was to work on.” I had been told she would be much +pleased if I would paint in the face. Thinking it was important to +please her at the outset, instead of perfecting and advancing the +drawing of the whole figure, as I should have done, I began on the +face; first correcting the drawing as far as possible and then putting +in a thin wash of color. During the sitting the Ladies, attendants, +and eunuchs were coming and going; she took tea and conversed, but she +seemed to understand that she must keep her head in the same position, +and she would look over apologetically at me when she moved it. I did +not wish her to be stiff, and preferred her moving a little to sitting +like a statue. Her Majesty, like all Oriental ladies, smokes, and +during the sitting the eunuchs or some of the Princesses brought her +either the graceful water-pipe, of which she would take a few whiffs, +or she would indulge in European cigarettes. She never allowed the +latter to touch her lips, but used a long cigarette-holder. She was +extremely graceful in her use of both the cigarette and water-pipe. + +After little more than an hour’s work Her Majesty decided that enough +had been done for the morning and that we both needed rest! She came +over to look at the face, and it was easy to see that she liked it +much better now that the color was being put in. She stood behind me, +discussing it for some time, and said she wished it were possible for +some one else to pose for the face, so that she might sit and watch it +grow. She thought it very wonderful that on the flat canvas the relief +of the face could be represented. She then turned to me and said she +knew I must be tired both mentally and bodily, as I stand to my work, +advised me to go to my pavilion, have lunch, and rest, and added that +she would try to give me another sitting in the afternoon before we +went out for some sort of promenade. + +I returned to my pavilion with the Ladies Yu-Keng, whom Her Majesty had +appointed to keep me company for the meals in my own quarters. There +was a young Manchu girl at Court whose father had been an attaché at +Berlin, who spoke German and English; she, also, had been ordered by +Her Majesty to take her meals with us, so that I might have pleasant +company and be able to converse in my own language and have proper +relaxation during my meals. Besides, I did not know enough Chinese to +direct the servants or make my wants known, and these Ladies were Her +Majesty’s interpreters. + +The meals at the Palace were all of the most lavish description, +twenty or thirty dishes being placed upon the table at the beginning +of the meal, while macaroni, rice, and a few other things were served +from a side table. The Chinese are passed masters in the culinary +art, and the delicacies seen at good Chinese tables are fit for a +repast of Lucullus. Sharks’ fins, deers’ sinews, birds’ tongues, +rare fish, bird’s-nest soups, fish brains, shrimps’ eggs, and many +other extraordinary dishes make up the every-day menu. No one can +cook goose, duck, and in fact all fowls and game, to such perfection +as the Chinese. Their soups are of a delicacy and flavor quite +unequaled. Their breads and cakes seem to the foreigner, at first, the +least delectable of their viands; their bread particularly, which is +steamed instead of baked, is not tempting; but when you get over or +rather through the raw-looking outside, with its five cochineal spots +surmounting its pyramidal form, it is very sweet and wholesome. It is +made of gray flour, as the Chinese do not believe in whitening the +flour as we do. They make delicious creams, as to consistency; and +these and their sweets generally are much esteemed by the foreigners. + +At the Palace the food is served in tall dishes of painted Chinese +porcelain, and everything is placed upon the table at once--soups, +roast, sweets, all except the rice and macaroni. These latter dishes +the Chinese eat boiling hot, and they are kept on chafing-dishes +until served. Each person has a bowl, a small saucer, and a pair of +chop-sticks. A small square of very soft cloth is used as a napkin. +There is never any salt upon the table. The small saucer at the side +of each guest contains a very salty sauce; if extra salt is needed, +this sauce is used. The Chinese consider powdered salt too coarse for +seasoning food after it is cooked! + +They rarely drink at meals, and when they do, only tiny cups, about the +size of a liqueur-glass, of heated wine. This is poured out of silver +teapots, and is kept hot by being placed in receptacles containing +boiling water. Their wines are more like liqueurs than ours; they +are generally distilled with flowers and herbs and have a delightful +“bouquet.” Some of these wines have most poetic names, such as “Dew +from the Early Morning Rose,” and “Drops from the Hands of Buddha.” The +Chinese never drink cold water, nor do they take tea at meals. For me, +being a foreigner, champagne was always provided, as well as claret or +Burgundy. The Chinese do not drink coffee. After leaving the table, +they take tea without milk or sugar. + +The middle of the day is set aside for the siesta, and during the heat +of the summer, every one goes to her apartments for two hours after +luncheon. As I found the Chinese bed-cushions too hard to rest well +upon, I took to my pavilion a foreign, eiderdown cushion, which I used +for several days, until one day, on going to my room, I found two +lovely new cushions with pale-blue silk, removable slips. On touching +them, I found them to be soft and deliciously cool and fragrant as +well. They were made of tea-leaves and had been sent as a present from +the Empress Dowager. I found them a great improvement over eiderdown or +feather cushions, especially for summer use. Though I did not care for +this long midday rest, I was forced to go to my room and remain there, +as there was nothing else to do. + +When Her Majesty awakes, the news flashes like an electric spark +through all the Precincts and over the whole inclosure, and every one +is on the “qui vive” in a moment. The young Empress and the Princesses +go up to Her Majesty’s Throne-room to be present at her “lever.” When +her afternoon toilet is made, the Empress Dowager comes out of her +private apartments into the Throne-room and generally partakes of some +light refreshment, or drinks a cup of tea or some fruit juice. + +She gave me a short sitting after her nap this second day and then +ordered the boats for a row on the lakes. Attended by the young Empress +and Princesses, and with the usual train of attendants and eunuchs, +we went out into the court of the Throne-room, passed through a small +pavilion opening directly upon the beautiful white marble terrace, +with its quaintly carved marble balustrade, which stretches all along +the southern side of the lake. Her Majesty’s own barge lay at the foot +of the marble steps and numbers of other barges and boats lay around, +forming quite a little fleet. She descended the steps and entered the +barge. The young Empress, Princesses, and Ladies followed. Her Majesty +sat in the yellow, throne-like chair in the middle of the raised +platform of the barge. The young Empress, Princesses, and Ladies took +their places as decreed by centuries-old tradition. They sat upon +cushions placed upon the carpeted floor of the raised platform of the +barge. + + [Illustration: THE EMPRESS AND LADIES OF THE COURT + IN THE IMPERIAL BARGE + On the Lake of the Summer Palace] + +When I stepped on, Her Majesty motioned me to come near her and sit +at her right. The young Empress was on her left. Several of the high +eunuchs stood at the back of the Empress Dowager’s chair with her +extra wraps, bonbons, cigarettes, water-pipes, etc. There were two +rowers on the barge who stood with their long oars to guide it, for it +was attached by great yellow ropes to two boats, manned by twenty-four +rowers each, and was towed along by them. Only the eunuchs of the +highest rank, Her Majesty’s personal attendants, went on the barge with +her, and the two boatmen simply guided it. All the Palace boatmen stand +to their oars, for they cannot sit in the presence of Her Majesty, +even though not upon the Imperial barge. And it is only on the barge +that the Empress and Ladies sit in the presence of the Empress Dowager +without being invited by her to do so. + +A number of flat boats followed the Imperial barge with the army of +eunuchs that go to make up the train of Their Majesties when they move +about the Palace or grounds. One boat carried portable stoves and +all the necessary arrangements for making tea, as this is taken so +frequently by Her Majesty and the Ladies, it may be called for at any +time. + +We were rowed across the lake to one of the islands; and when we looked +back at the Palaces, the memorial arches, the temple-crowned hills, the +curious camel-back bridges, and the beautiful white marble terraces +jutting out into the lake with its islands, the scene was indeed +fairy-like. We were then rowed into a field of beautiful lotus flowers, +and Her Majesty ordered some pulled by the eunuchs to be given to the +Ladies. She seemed delighted at my sincere admiration of this beautiful +water-plant, so dear to the Chinese. After an hour on the lake, we +were rowed back to our starting-point and disembarked. This time the +Princesses and Ladies left the barge first and stood to receive the +Empress Dowager when she landed. When she had dined she asked us to +dine with the young Empress and Ladies at her table in her Throne-room, +after which we made our adieus and returned to our own Palace, without +the Precincts. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE PALACE OF THE EMPEROR’S FATHER + (PRINCE CH’UN, THE SEVENTH PRINCE) + +The Palace of the Emperor’s Father, which the Empress Dowager had set +aside for me to live in while I was at work on her portrait, was a +splendid demesne, with a noble park and spacious buildings. It had been +much injured by the foreign troops in 1900 and had been unoccupied +since, until Her Majesty decided it would be a suitable dwelling-place +for her “Portrait Painter.” She had it hastily restored and refurnished +for our occupation, but many of the pavilions and summer-houses in the +grounds were in ruins, and the stables but partly rebuilt. Except the +grounds immediately surrounding the buildings in which the Yu-Kengs +and I lived, which were well kept and garnished, the greater part of +the extensive park was in a fascinating state of natural wildness. The +Palace, like all others in China, consisted of a network of verandahed +pavilions built around spacious courts. There was a small Theater with +the Prince’s loge and stalls for his guests, and numerous tea and +summer houses were scattered over different parts of the grounds. + +I selected, as my abiding-place, a charming group of buildings in a +walled-in garden, fronting on a lotus-covered lake, with a winding +stream at the back, spanned by a picturesque bridge. The principal +pavilion of this group had a lofty central hall, out of which opened, +on one side, bedrooms and dressing-rooms, and on the other dining-room +and dependencies. Great doors in the center of the hall, which I had +decided to use as my living-room, opened on a wide verandah which ran +the whole length of the building. Marble steps led from this into a +court filled with flowering shrubs. Two sides of the charming court had +smaller pavilions similar to the central hall, and opposite this latter +was a quaint stone wall, the upper part of tiled lattice-work, with +curiously shaped openings at irregular intervals. In the center of this +wall, massive wooden doors opened out on a beautiful terrace, shaded +by fine old elms, over the lake. It was a charming dwelling-place, +and this group of buildings soon came to be known as the “Ker-Gunia +Fu,” “Ker-Gunia” being “Miss Carl” rendered into Chinese, and “Fu” +meaning “Palace,” for the Chinese are very fond of nicknames. I learned +later that these pavilions had been the dwelling-place of the Seventh +Prince’s son, the present Emperor Kwang-Hsu, after he had been chosen +as Heir to the Throne and until he went to live regularly at the +Imperial Palace. + +As Her Majesty gave me my morning sittings after the Audience was +finished (which lasted from eight A.M. to ten or eleven), I had +plenty of time, after my cup of tea, to explore the grounds of our +Palace, and I discovered new beauties each day. The Park was inclosed +by high walls, for the Chinese are jealous of their privacy. Parts of +the grounds were gently undulating, and all the eminences, where views +could be had, were surmounted by charming summer-houses and belvederes. +In one of these, where I loved to go in the early morning to refresh +myself by the contemplation of the calm and peaceful lake beneath, +and drink in the faint perfume of the stately lotus flowers, which +grew in rich profusion on its bosom, I found an inscription on a large +flat stone at the left of the entrance. I had seen enough of Chinese +characters to know the inscription looked like a “poem.” The Chinese +poem is rarely more than a phrase: the expression, in elegant and +concise form, of some dainty fancy, some bit of philosophy, and is more +properly a “verse” than a poem. + +I found, later, the inscription on the stone at the entrance of the +summer-house was really a “poem,” and had been written by no less a +personage than the Seventh Prince himself! This had been his favorite +place for rest and contemplation, and one day, as he reclined upon a +cushion at the entrance, he had written this poem on the flat stone +which lay conveniently near. The Chinese write with a brush well +charged with liquid India ink, and their writing accommodates itself +to almost any surface. Their characters, one for each word, take up +less space than our combination of letters, and are infinitely more +picturesque! Chinese gentlemen, or some attendant, generally carry +about with them tablets of writing-ink and a brush, and they thus have +the means at hand for jotting down a thought as it comes to them. + +This little poem had been written with a brush, and some of the +Prince’s followers had afterward cut the characters in the stone, +so that it became a permanent record of a fleeting thought. It had +evidently been inspired by the lotus flowers growing beneath; so +gloriously beautiful to-day, and to-morrow shorn of their splendor. It +was a plaint on the transience of worldly glory-- + + ... Which to-day, like the lotus fair, + Lifts its head in pride; + But to-morrow lies low, + Bathed in the stagnant waters of oblivion. + +One day I came upon a number of small tombstones, in a beautiful +shady corner, near the stables. I learned that these marked the last +resting-places of the Prince’s favorite dogs and horses. Each stone had +an inscription with the name, and extolled the virtues of the favorite, +whose bones lay beneath it. The Prince was a great lover of animals, +and is said to have had the best kennels and stables of any of the +Imperial Princes. + +In my morning rambles, I also often came upon stones engraved with +some character or a phrase from the classics. The ideographic Chinese +characters, always picturesque, are doubly so when deeply engraved, +or standing out in high relief on some rugged stone in a charming +spot in the landscape. The picturesque form of the characters is +sometimes heightened by being painted in vermilion or gilded; and the +glowing color makes a delightful contrast with the cool gray of the +stone. Even though I could not decipher the characters, nor read the +phrases, I loved to come upon them in my morning walks. How much more +interesting they must have been to the scholarly Chinese who understood +them! How fine, when out for rest and contemplation, to come upon some +thought of their great Sages cut in the living rock, or to see some +character meaning “Peace” or “Prosperity” standing out, in bold relief +or glowing color, from some shady nook, as if to bless him! + +From another of the summer-houses in the Park I could see the +stone-paved highway leading from the Capital to the Summer Palace. +During Their Majesties’ residence at the Summer Palace, this is a +busy thoroughfare. When I did not care for peaceful contemplation +or quiet rambles over the grounds, I would go to this summer-house, +whence I could see the carts and “chairs” of the officials, with their +outriders, going to and from the Palace; messengers galloping past, +bearing despatches; all sorts of itinerant venders, with their wares; +heavily laden wagons, with small yellow banners flying, which showed +they carried supplies to the Palace. Sometimes a group of horsemen +would dash gaily past, the retainers of some splendidly attired +young Prince, who rode in their midst on a red-saddled, handsomely +caparisoned horse with silver trappings. Anon, the cumbersome, red, +fringe-bedecked cart of some Princess, preceded and followed by from +fifteen to thirty outriders, according to her rank in the Princely +hierarchy, the black carts of her women bringing up the rear. + +One can tell the rank of the Chinese from the outsides of their +chairs or carts. Only a reigning Emperor and Empress can go abroad in +yellow chairs. The Emperor’s secondary wives ride in orange-colored +chairs. The relicts of an Emperor, first or secondary, go in yellow or +orange-colored carts. Princesses go abroad in red carts. Mandarins of +the first and second degrees ride in green chairs; those of the third +and fourth in blue chairs; and there is still another shape and style +of chair for the ordinary individual, who may prefer a chair to a cart. +The rank and file go in carts. These carts, peculiar to Peking, curious +two-wheeled vehicles with heavy, iron-studded wheels, are uniformly +covered in blue cloth. The wealth and standing of their occupants are +discernible from the quality of the cloth and its trimmings, and the +richness of the harness and trappings of the mule which is always used +in the Peking carts. The mule in North China is a magnificent animal, +much finer than the Chinese horse, which is only a pony. + +The Seventh Prince (Prince Ch’un) must have been a most interesting +personality. He was brother to the Emperor Hsien-Feng, the husband of +the present Empress Dowager; and his wife, the mother of the present +Emperor, was Her Majesty’s sister. This Prince was a valued friend of +the two Empresses, the present Empress Dowager and She of the Eastern +Palace, while they were Co-Regents during the minority of the late +and a part of that of the present Emperor, and he remained, up to the +time of his death, one of the most trusted advisers of the Regency. +He was recognized by foreigners, as well as by the Chinese, to be an +enlightened Prince as well as a man of fine character. The esteem +in which he was held may have had something to do with the choice of +his second son as the Successor of the late Emperor Tung-Chih, who +died childless. The Chinese Emperors and their Council may choose the +Successor to the Throne. If there be but one son, he is chosen as the +next Heir; if there be a number, a selection may be made from them of +the one seeming to be most suited for the exalted position. If there be +no sons, the Successor is chosen from the nephews without reference to +their age or to their being the sons of an elder or younger brother. +The present Emperor’s Father, Prince Ch’un, was the seventh brother of +the Emperor Hsien-Feng, hence his Chinese name of “Seventh Prince.” + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + HER MAJESTY’S THRONE-ROOM--SOME PERSONAL + CHARACTERISTICS + +We arrived at the Palace in good time the next morning, as Her Majesty +and suite were coming out of the Great Audience Hall. She greeted us +with a charming smile and made her usual inquiry for my health. We +joined her suite and went along to the Throne-room where the portrait +had been begun. This Throne-room is a very spacious and lofty hall; +one side of the great room is almost entirely of glass, with only the +wooden columns that support the roof between the windows--the lower +half of plate-glass, the upper of lattice-work with Corean paper as +shades. In the center of this side of windows is a huge plate-glass +door, reaching from ceiling to floor. The other three sides of the +hall, which separate it from the apartments at the side and back, +are of the same beautiful, open woodwork carving I have mentioned +as serving as partitions in my pavilion. Those in Her Majesty’s +Throne-room were, however, of greater delicacy of workmanship and were +more beautiful as to the painted panels. The poems, written on white +silk, and alternating with the painted panels, were from Her Majesty’s +favorite authors, original poems written by an Emperor or Empress, or +laudatory verses dedicated to Her Majesty. There were satin portières +at the doorways, and blue silk curtains over the plate-glass windows. +Blue, being the Empress Dowager’s favorite color, is used for all the +hangings in the Palaces which are not intended for official purposes; +where yellow is the color. + +On the right of the Throne-room is a small chapel with an altar, over +which presides a figure of the contemplative Buddha seated on the +lotus. This altar was always sweet with offerings of fresh flowers and +fruit. In front of the figure of Buddha stood the incense-burner, with +perfumes constantly burning. On the left of the Throne-room are Her +Majesty’s sleeping apartments, and behind the open-work partition at +the back of the hall is a large ante-chamber where the attendants and +Ladies await their turn to make their entrance into the Throne-room. In +the rear of the hall is a magnificent five-leaved screen of teakwood, +inlaid with lapis lazuli, chalcedony, and many other semi-precious +stones. In front of this screen, on a dais, stood an immense, +couch-like throne, with a large footstool. These couch-like thrones, +where Their Celestial Majesties may recline when holding Audiences, are +not at all favored by the Empress Dowager, who always sits extremely +erect, without leaning upon a cushion or the back of the throne. Except +in the Great Audience Hall, where she uses the traditional throne of +state of the Dynasty, she prefers a much lighter and quite modern one, +which she has introduced into the Palaces. The thrones favored by Her +Majesty are of open carved teakwood, circular in form, with cushions +of Imperial yellow. One of these stood in the front part of this hall, +on which she sat for the portrait. + +The great throne, which I have described above, was hence relegated to +the back of the Throne-room and kept for the sake of tradition, but +never used by Her Majesty. On either side of it stood two immense, +processional fans of peafowl feathers, with ebony handles placed in +magnificent cloisonné supports. Superb cloisonné vases stood at either +side of these ceremonial fans; and huge bowls of rare old porcelain +held pyramids of fruits--apples, sweet-smelling quince, and the highly +perfumed “Buddha’s hand.” + +And there were flowers everywhere! It was the season of the year when +bloomed a sort of orchid, of delicious fragrance, of which Her Majesty +is very fond. These were growing in rare porcelain jardinières, placed +at intervals around the hall. There were also vases of lotus flowers +and bowls of lilies. The combined odors of all these fruits and flowers +gave a subtle, composite perfume quite indescribable and delightful, +but not at all overpowering, for the Empress Dowager is so fond of +fresh air that there are always windows open in the Palace, even in the +coldest weather. + +Aside from the fruits and flowers, clocks were the dominant feature +of this Throne-room, as well as of every other one I ever went into +in any of the Chinese Palaces. The love of the Chinese for clocks +and timepieces is well known, and there are thousands in each of +the Palaces I visited. In this Throne-room there were, as I have +said before, eighty-five: magnificent jeweled and gold clocks, and +specimens of all the varieties that were ever made; some with chimes; +some with crowing cocks and singing-birds; some with running water; +some with musical-box attachments, and others with processions of +figures that came out at every hour and moved around the dial; some +rare works of art and some commonplace examples of the clockmaker’s +trade. There are many foreign ornaments in the Palace, but, aside +from the clocks and watches, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager does not +seem to care much for European “objets de virtu.” Unfortunately, what +they have at the Palaces, aside from a few presents from European +sovereigns, are generally very poor specimens of European art, and +compare but lamentably with the beautiful Chinese curios. They are +principally cheap modern stuff, bought by the Chinese nobles when +abroad and sent as presents to Their Majesties. These presents, when +they are accepted, are placed in apartments of the Palace not in +general use. + +When Her Majesty had her official garments removed (she always changed +her dress after the morning Audience), and when the portrait had been +placed upon the easel, she came over to look at it. After studying it +for some time, she concluded that the nail-protectors on both hands +were not artistic, and that she would have the gold ones (set with +pearls and rubies) taken off, and show the uncovered nails on the +right hand. I was delighted at this decision, for the nail-protectors +destroyed the symmetry of the hand and hid the beautiful tips of her +fingers. I had, of course, not presumed to make any suggestions as to +her costume or ornaments. As the nail-shields are characteristic of the +high-class Chinese ladies, it was well to have them on one hand. + +After this change had been decided upon, she went over to a great +vase, standing near, and took from it a lotus flower, held it up, in +a charmingly graceful way, and asked me if that would not be pretty +in the portrait, adding that the lotus was one of her attributes. As +the color did not harmonize with the general scheme, I did not care +for this suggestion, but temporized by saying “I was not ready to put +it in then.” After a little more than an hour’s work, with the usual +interruptions, she decided that enough had been done for that morning. +When I suggested that I might work even after Her Majesty was tired, +she said “No,” that if she were tired sitting still, I could not fail +to be more so doing the work and standing as I did. She said there was +no hurry, that I had plenty of time to finish the picture, and must not +run the risk of making myself ill. + +After a short sitting in the afternoon Her Majesty ordered the boats, +and we went out to the marble terrace, beneath which lay moored the +Palace fleet, manned by blue-gowned oarsmen. We again took the Imperial +barge, the Empress Dowager in the center, on her yellow chair, the +young Empress and Princesses sitting around, Turkish fashion, on +cushions. The barge, drawn along by the two great boats, glided as +gently as a swan over the still waters of the lake. The air was soft +and balmy. Two of the eunuchs were ordered to sing, and the minor +chords of a curious air mingled their rhythm with the soft swish of +the water. Beyond us lay the hills, the beautiful Western Hills, +unchanging in form, but ever varying in color--sometimes blurred and +gray, or a soft, warm violet; again a clear, deep blue, as if hewn out +of lapis lazuli, and now and then, as a cloud passed over the sun, dark +and threatening almost. I drank in deep breaths of delight! + +The quaint picturesqueness of the marble-terraced banks, the +summer-houses, the green and yellow-tiled roofs, the vermilion walls +and lacquered columns of the buildings, the curious fleet silently +moving along, the eunuchs singing, the Empress Dowager sitting in +state surrounded by her Ladies, the camel-back bridges--everything was +strange, and, stranger still, I formed a part of this curious pageant! +Only the beautiful hills beyond seemed familiar. + +After drifting about for some time, we landed and went into the +orchards and among the apple trees. The apple is a favorite fruit of +the Chinese, and esteemed as much for its fragrance as its taste. It +is emblematic of Peace and Prosperity, and is always placed among the +offerings to Buddha, hence has also a sacred quality; but, though +beautiful in form and color, the Chinese apple has very little taste, +and the least savor of any of their fruits. + +Her Majesty walked about among the trees and ordered several apples +gathered, which she ate with greater relish than I could, for she +graciously offered me one, and then told me to pull some for myself. A +eunuch brought a basket and took them as I gathered them, and she told +me to have them taken to my own apartments. + +From the orchard she continued her walk to the flower gardens, where +she picked some small blooms and placed them behind her ears, Spanish +fashion, telling the Ladies to do likewise, and herself choosing some +for me and placing them over my ears. I knew these little marks of +favor she showed me were not due so much to regard for me as to her +desire to make the “stranger” feel at home. She hoped by showing me +these special favors to insure a similar treatment of me by the Ladies +and eunuchs. I have already alluded to Her Majesty’s love of flowers. +This was the one of her characteristics which seemed most incompatible +with the idea I had formed of her from what I had heard, and her love +of flowers and all nature caused me first to change that idea. It +seemed to me no one could love flowers and nature as she did and be the +woman she had been painted. + +She had flowers always about her. Her private apartments, her +Throne-rooms, her loge at the Theater, even the Great Audience Hall +where she only went to transact affairs of state and hold official +Audiences, all were decorated with a profusion of flowers, cut and +growing--never, though, of but one kind at a time. She wears natural +flowers in her coiffure always, winter and summer, and however careworn +or harassed she might be, she seemed to find solace in flowers! She +would hold a flower to her face, drink in its fragrance and caress it +as if it were a sentient thing. She would go herself among the flowers +that filled her rooms, and place, with lingering touch, some fair bloom +in a better light or turn a jardinière so that the growing plant might +have a more favorable position. + + [Illustration: PRINCESSES OF THE COURT + THE PRINCESS IMPERIAL, FIRST LADY OF THE COURT + A PRINCESS IN WINTER COSTUME--A PRINCESS IN SUMMER COSTUME] + +The Chinese do not place certain cut flowers in water, but keep them +dry in bowls or vases, to get their full fragrance. The Empress Dowager +had some quaint conceits about the arrangements of these. She would +have the corollas of the lily bloom or the fragrant jasmine placed in +shallow bowls in curious, star-like designs, beautiful to look at, as +well as most fragrant. + +Her passion for flowers being generally known among the courtiers, +Princes, and high officials, they send daily offerings to the Palace of +all that is rare and choice in the way of plants and flowers, for they +know this is one present Her Majesty will always accept and appreciate. + +There are some quaint customs in the Palace, as to flowers and fruits +that grow within the Precincts. Though the Princesses and Ladies have +the freedom of the gardens and may pull as many flowers and cull as +many fruits as they wish, it is not etiquette for them to gather the +smallest flower or to touch a fruit when in the presence of the Empress +Dowager, unless they are especially told to do so. When Her Majesty +tells them to pull a flower or fruit, the permission is gratefully +accepted and that special flower or fruit religiously kept. The first +fruits of every tree and vegetable, the first flowers of every plant +and growing shrub in the Palace grounds, are considered sacred to Their +Majesties, and no Princess, attendant, or eunuch would touch a flower +or fruit until the Empress Dowager had been presented with the first +of them. All these, apparently trivial, marks of respect to the Sacred +Persons of Their Majesties were religiously observed! + + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE YOUNG EMPRESS AND LADIES OF THE COURT + +The young Empress, the first Lady of the Court after Her Majesty the +Empress Dowager, was, to me, a charming character. She is the daughter +of the Duke Chow, General of one of the Manchu Banner Corps and a +brother of the reigning Empress Dowager. She is thus a first cousin +of the Emperor, and is his senior by three years. Her mother, a lady +of high birth, ancient lineage, and great distinction, brought her up +with much care. She also had the advantage of being a great deal at the +Court with her august Aunt, and is highly accomplished, according to +Chinese standards. She was affianced at an early age to the Emperor, +but, as the custom is, their marriage did not take place for several +years later. It was celebrated with great pomp at the Winter Palace in +February, 1889, the week before the young Emperor himself took in hand +the reins of Government, held, up to that time, by the Empress Dowager, +and became Emperor in reality. + +The young Empress has the erect carriage and light, swift walk of Her +Majesty the Empress Dowager. She is small, not quite five feet tall, +with exquisitely dainty hands and feet, of most patrician type. She +has a narrow, high-bred face, with a thin, high nose. Her eyes are more +of the Chinese type, as we conceive it, than either the Emperor’s or +Empress Dowager’s. Her chin is long and of the type generally called +strong. Her mouth is large and extremely sensitive. Her eyes have so +kindly a look, her face shines with so sweet an expression, criticism +is disarmed and she seems beautiful. She has a sweet dignity, charming +manners, and a lovable nature, but there is sometimes a look in her +eyes of patient resignation that is almost pathetic. I should not say +she possessed any great executive ability, though full of tact, but +while Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was in retirement and she was the +first Lady at Court, she is said to have shown great capability in her +conduct of affairs. Her dignity, perfect breeding, and natural kindness +of heart would insure this. + +The next Lady, after the young Empress, is the only secondary wife +of the Emperor. She is said to have been extremely beautiful at the +time she was chosen as his second wife by the Empress Dowager. She +belongs to an excellent family, being the daughter of a Viceroy, but +though only twenty-eight years old when I knew her, she was already +very stout, and there were few remains visible of great beauty. She +has very large, full-orbed, brown eyes, and still has a beautifully +clear complexion, but her nose is flat, her mouth large and weak; the +contour of her face is marred by layers of flesh, her forehead does +not indicate much intelligence, and she has very little distinction +in appearance. She seems good-natured, but is neither very clever +nor tactful. She is not a favorite among the Ladies generally, and +is not nearly so interesting, in any way, as the young Empress. She +is, however, treated with the most kindly consideration by the young +Empress and has precedence over all the other Ladies, and her position +at Court is second only to that of the young Empress. Whenever I +mention the young Empress, it may be understood that the secondary wife +followed immediately after her, coming before the Princesses or any +other of the Ladies forming the Court of Her Majesty. I have often seen +allusions made to the “Imperial Harem”; there is no such thing as an +Imperial Harem at the Court of His Majesty the Emperor Kwang-Hsu. He +has only these two wives. + +Her Majesty’s Ladies-in-waiting are principally Princesses of the Blood +or the widows of Imperial Princes. Her first Lady, Sih-Gerga (Fourth +Princess), daughter of Prince Ching, the Prime Minister, is a widow +of twenty-four. She married, at the age of sixteen, a son of a high +Manchu official, Viceroy of Tientsin, and was left a widow a few months +later. She is a beautiful young woman, with face a perfect oval, large +brown eyes, and a clear, magnolia-leaf complexion of exquisite texture. +She would be called beautiful, judged by any standard. She has no +children of her own, but, like most ladies of position who are widows +or childless, has an adopted son. Adopted children in China are much +closer relationships than is a child, by adoption, with us. In many +instances their own parents are still living when they are adopted, +and even these parents speak of their child as the son of the adopted +mother or parents, and bow to her wishes in bringing up the child. + + [Illustration: THE YOUNG EMPRESS YE-HO-NA-LAH + First Wife of the Emperor of China] + +The next two Ladies of the Court are two Duchesses--also widows. Widows +in China never remarry, or if they do, they lose caste and reputation. +They are not sacrificed on the funeral pyres of their departed +husbands, as in India; but a voluntary suicide on the part of a widow +in China is still looked upon as a noble act. A widow who remains +faithful to the memory of her husband during a long life is rewarded +by the greatest respect and consideration during her life, and honored +after death. + +If a girl prefers to remain unmarried, if a widow remains faithful +to the memory of her husband, she is honored after her death with +much pomp and ceremony! And great memorial arches are erected in her +memory! All over China, one is constantly coming upon these arches to +widows and virgins. If the family is not sufficiently wealthy to raise +these monuments themselves, public subscriptions are taken, all the +relatives contribute, and often the inhabitants of the village or the +country where the heroine lived beg to be allowed to have their part in +raising a monument to her memory. These arches, of stone or wood, are +elaborately carved, sometimes with remarkable sculptures of fabulous +animals, flowers, and thousands of birds of every kind (these latter +showing the immortality the soul has acquired). Across the entablature +of the arch, cut deep into the stone or wood, and gilded or painted in +glowing vermilion, shines the name of the virgin or widow to whom it is +erected, and on the sides of the arch is inscribed an account of her +virtuous acts. + +A girl is sometimes affianced at the early age of from six to eight +years, and the affianced is from that time spoken of as her husband. +Should he die before they marry, which is never earlier than sixteen +for the bride, she is considered a “widow,” and must henceforth live +the life of a recluse. She can never marry any one else. She may adopt +a son, who will call her “mother”; but she may never hope for the joys +of family life of her own, without calling down upon her head the +obloquy of all whose respect she desires. She wears deep mourning the +first three years after his death, and then second mourning; and she +can never again put on the festive red, joyous green, or any other +color except blue or violet--second mourning. + +The Northern Chinese and the Manchu ladies use a great deal of paint +and powder on their faces; but a widow can never add one artificial +iota to the rose of her cheek, to the cherry of her lips, or the lily +of her brow. She can nevermore use paint or powder. In most instances +the Chinese ladies are but the prettier for this, for they have +beautiful skins, and the use of powder and paint is carried to such an +excess as to be quite unnatural. + +There are only eight of Her Majesty’s Ladies who live always in the +Palace, but this number is increased about four times on festive +occasions. The Princess Imperial, the Empress Dowager’s adopted +daughter, is the first of the Princesses at Court, and, when she comes +to the Palace, ranks next to the Empress and the secondary wife of the +Emperor. + +One evening, at dinner, in the Throne-room, Sih-Gerga undertook to tell +me the relationships of the different Princesses to each other and to +the young Empress. Incidentally, this made them related to the Emperor +and the Empress Dowager, but neither of Their Majesties’ names was +mentioned in this connection, for such would have been a great piece +of presumption, amounting almost to sacrilege. They might be related, +but no Princess would dare mention such a thing. It would be against +all the laws of Chinese proprieties. I found, after this explanation +of Sih-Gerga’s, that the Ladies were all related by consanguinity or +marriage to each other and to the young Empress. + +There are a number of tiring-women and maids in the Palace who are +called by outsiders “slaves”; but they are not slaves, or, if they +are so, it is but for a time, a space of ten years. Every spring, the +daughters of the lowest of the Manchu families, the Seventh and Eighth +Banners, are brought into the Palace to be chosen from, by the Empress +and Empress Dowager, for maids and tiring-women. One day, on going to +the Palace, I saw a number of ordinary carts near one of the Postern +Gates, and I learned they had brought crowds of these girls of the +families of the Eighth Banner. They are first passed in review by the +Head Eunuch, and he selects from them, those he thinks may please Her +Majesty. These pass before her, and she tells the Head Eunuch which +ones are to remain in the Palace. They are brought to the Palace from +the ages of ten to sixteen years. They remain in service for ten years, +after which time they are allowed to return to their families; and in +case they have been satisfactory and pleased Their Majesties, they +are given a comfortable dot and are provided with a handsome marriage +outfit, which causes them to make much better marriages than they would +otherwise do. During their so-called ten years’ slavery in the Palace, +they live upon the fat of the land, have beautiful clothes and many +advantages. They wear, while in Her Majesty’s service, blue gowns, +with their hair plainly parted at the side and braided in a single +long braid (tied with red silk cords), which hangs down the back. They +wear bunches of flowers over each ear. The young Empress and secondary +wife, as well as each of the Princesses, have their own maids and +tiring-women, who remain in the private quarters of these Ladies. + +Besides these young maids, there are in the Palace a number of old +women, servants of Her Majesty, who have been married and have +children; these overlook the younger women, direct the work of the +lower eunuchs, and are in a position somewhat similar to housekeepers +with us. Among these is a Chinese woman who nursed Her Majesty through +a long illness, about twenty-five years since, and saved her life by +giving her mother’s milk to drink. Her Majesty, who never forgets a +favor, has always kept this woman in the Palace. Being a Chinese, she +had bound feet. Her Majesty, who cannot bear to see them even, had her +feet unbound and carefully treated, until now she can walk comfortably. +Her Majesty has educated the son, who was an infant at the time of her +illness, and whose natural nourishment she partook of. This young man +is already a Secretary in a good yamen (Government Office). + +No Chinese lady of position ever dresses herself or combs her own hair, +and she generally has three or four personal maids. These are, in many +instances, bought outright from their parents, and might be considered +really slaves; but they are treated with great consideration and even +friendliness by their mistresses, and have in most instances a happy +lot. As these maids are bought when they and their mistresses are +children, they grow up together, and though the maid never forgets the +respect due her mistress, they are on a much more friendly footing than +mistress and maid could ever be in Europe in such cases. + +The first of a lady’s maids stands behind her at table, no matter how +many servitors there may be; goes out with her, sits with her, and +sleeps either in her room or at her door, and is almost her constant +companion. When the time comes for them to marry, they are given a +comfortable outfit by their mistresses, and are cared for to the third +and fourth generation; but the children of the so-called slaves are +free, unless the mother or parents decide, of their own free will, to +sell them, as they have been sold, to some good family. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + CONTINUATION OF THE PORTRAIT--HER MAJESTY’S + DOGS + +I had daily morning sittings from Her Majesty for the portrait, +but always surrounded by the whole Court, with eunuchs coming and +going. The sittings were long enough, for I had an hour in the morning +and a half-hour in the afternoon with Her Majesty, but she did not +expect me to work except when she posed, and this was not enough to +make any headway on the picture, as there was a great deal I might +have done at other times. Though there was so much going and coming in +the Throne-room, it was a great advantage working in Her Majesty’s own +“milieu,” surrounded by her favorite furniture, flowers, and fruits. +This was some compensation; but I saw, if Her Majesty insisted upon my +resting when she did--if I were allowed to work only in the Throne-room +and only when she posed--the work could not go on as it should. Sitting +for her portrait seemed to be looked on somewhat in the light of an +amusement by the Empress Dowager, as a time for conversation and +relaxation. She put me many questions while she sat, and I felt she was +studying me as closely as I was studying her during that time. + +My interest in the personality of this wonderful woman increased each +day. I loved to watch the extreme mobility of her countenance when she +was at ease and was not invested in her official expression, nor her +Buddha-like pose. Her voice was most musical, with no indication of age +in it. Her enunciation was clear, and I loved to hear her talk. Though +understanding but little of what she said, the music of her voice, +the grace of her gesticulations, and the charm of her smile made her +conversation most delightful to watch and listen to. + +I was delighted that Her Majesty seemed to like me, and I appreciated +her consideration in not wishing me to tire myself out with my work, +and her kind hospitality which desired to make me acquainted with the +charms of the Summer Palace and which allowed me to participate in her +promenades and the simple amusements of her Ladies; but I felt it was +important to advance the work on the portrait as quickly as possible. I +knew that the “favor of kings” is uncertain, and I feared Her Majesty +might soon tire of this new departure, of having her portrait painted! +I feared the openly expressed opposition of the Chinese to a foreign +lady being made a member of the Court circle, their superstition +regarding the painting of a portrait of one of Their Majesties, which +was against all Chinese tradition, might any day put a stop to the +work; but, notwithstanding my fears and my desire to work, the days +passed with little painting, and this was the only flaw in my perfect +enjoyment of the fairy-like days and the unique experiences through +which I was passing. + +The walks with Her Majesty had all the pomp and ceremony of the +boat-rides--Her Majesty’s and the Empress’s yellow satin sedan chairs, +with their six bearers, leading off, followed by the red chairs of +the Princesses and Ladies-in-waiting, according to their rank, with a +rigorous adherence to precedence, and attended by an army of eunuchs +and chair-bearers, etc. No one ever knew what our destination was +to be when we started out on these walks, Her Majesty directing her +chair-bearers as she was carried along, and the others following this +lead; but we were always taken to some interesting spot, where there +was something quite worth seeing. When Her Majesty’s chair stopped, all +the others were immediately put down by the bearers, and the Ladies got +out and went up to where the Empress Dowager’s yellow camp-stool was +placed. She had excellent taste in the choice of stopping-places, and +the views were always picturesque. She seemed to take great pleasure +in showing off the charming points of view, as well as the flowers, +grounds, and buildings. + +On one of our walks, her dogs were brought out by their attendant +eunuchs. Dogs are great favorites with all the Chinese, and especially +with the Empress Dowager. She has some magnificent specimens of +Pekingese pugs and of a sort of Skye terrier. The pugs are bred with +great care and have reached a high state of perfection, their spots +being perfectly symmetrical and their hair beautifully long and silky, +and they are of wonderful intelligence. The King Charles spaniels are +said to have been bred out of the first of these dogs ever carried +to Europe. The Empress Dowager has dozens of these pets, but she has +favorites among them, and two are privileged characters. One of these +is of the Skye variety, and is most intelligent and clever at tricks. +Among other tricks, he will lie as dead at Her Majesty’s command, and +never move until she tells him to, no matter how many others may speak +to him. Her other favorite she loves for his beauty. He is a splendid, +fawn-colored Pekingese pug, with large, pale-brown, liquid eyes. He is +devoted to her, and she is very fond of him, but as he was not easily +taught, even as a puppy, she called him “Shadza” (fool). Her dogs all +have most appropriate names, given by herself. They know Her Majesty’s +voice and will obey her slightest word. + +The Empress Dowager does not care for the small sleeve-dog; she hates +the thought of their being stunted by being fed only on sweets and +wines. She says she cannot understand animals being deformed, at +man’s pleasure. The day we first met the dogs in the garden was the +first time I had seen them. They rushed up to Her Majesty, not paying +the slightest attention to any one else. She patted their heads and +caressed and spoke to her favorites. After a while they seemed to +notice that a stranger was present, and they bounded over toward +me. Some of them growled and showed other evidences of displeasure, +some seemed surprised almost to fear; but as the instinct of a dog +never deceives him as to who is his friend, this was all soon changed +to friendly greetings. I bent down to caress them, and forgot my +surroundings, in my pleasure at seeing and fondling these beautiful +creatures. I glanced up, presently, never dreaming Her Majesty had been +paying any attention to me, as I was standing at a little distance +behind her, and I saw on her face the first sign of displeasure I had +noticed there. It seems her dogs never noticed any one but herself, and +she appeared not to like her pets being so friendly with a stranger +at first sight. Noticing this, I immediately ceased fondling them, +and they were presently sent away. It was but a momentary shadow that +passed over her face, and I quite understood the feeling. One does not +like to see one’s pets too friendly with strangers, and I had been +tactless in trying to make friends with them at once. + +A few days later, on another of our walks, some young puppies were +brought to be shown the Empress Dowager. She caressed the mother and +examined critically the points of the puppies. Then she called me up to +show them to me, asking me which I liked best. I tried not to evince +too much interest in them this time, but she called my attention to +their fine points and insisted upon my taking each of them up. She +seemed to be ashamed of her slight displeasure of the day before, and +to wish to compensate for it. + +The dogs at the Palace are kept in a beautiful pavilion with marble +floors. They have silken cushions to sleep on, and special eunuchs to +attend them. They are taken for daily outdoor exercise and given their +baths with regularity. There are hundreds of dogs in the Palace, the +young Empress, the Princesses and Ladies, and even the eunuchs, having +their own. Some of the eunuchs are great fanciers and breeders of them. +One of them still breeds the sleeve-dog. Her Majesty’s known dislike to +these latter is probably the cause of fewer being bred in the Palace +now than formerly; and the race is slowly dying out. All the other dogs +in the Palace, except Her Majesty’s, are kept in the apartments and +courts of their owners, and are not seen by her. + +She dislikes cats very much, but some of the eunuchs have very fine +specimens of the felines. They keep them, however, “sub rosa” and +within rigid bounds, on no condition allowing them to come within Her +Majesty’s ken. + +The pavilion at the Summer Palace where the Empress Dowager’s dogs +were kept was near her Throne-room, and also near the pavilion she had +set aside for me. When the Court was taking its siesta, I used to go +out where the dogs were basking in the sun in their court and look at +and play with these interesting little animals. I was free to do as I +pleased, and no one but the dogs’ guardian eunuchs saw me there. + +Among the younger set, of these pampered pets, was one that caught my +fancy--one of those which had been brought for Her Majesty to look at +in the garden. He was a beautiful white-and-amber-colored Pekingese +pug. He soon learned to know me and would come running to me when I +crossed the threshold of the court. Not long after I had discovered +where the dogs were kept and had been paying them my daily visits, +one night, when we had finished dinner at Her Majesty’s table, one of +her eunuchs brought in this very little dog and put it in my arms, +saying Her Majesty had presented it to me from her own kennel! She had +evidently learned of my visits to the dogs, though none of the eunuchs +around her person had seen me go there, at least so I thought! I was +delighted to own this beautiful animal, and when the Empress Dowager +came into the Throne-room from her own apartments, I went up to her and +kissed her hand and thanked her for it. She seemed much pleased that +I liked it, and remarked that she had heard it was my favorite of her +dogs, that I was to call him “Me-lah” (Golden Amber), from the color +of his spots. Her Majesty and the Princesses were all much amused at +the way he followed me around, not leaving my side for an instant, +nor paying any attention to their frequent efforts to attract his +attention. From that day, he became my constant companion and faithful +friend. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + FESTIVITIES AT COURT + +Preparations were now beginning at the Palace for the celebration of +His Majesty the Emperor’s Birthday. This is not celebrated on the +anniversary of the day he was born, but two days earlier. His Majesty +must make the Autumnal Sacrifices to his Ancestors three days after +the real date of his Birthday, and he must prepare himself for these +sacrifices by a rigorous fast of three days. As it would be impossible +to accomplish the ceremonial prescribed for the Imperial Birthday while +fasting, the celebration of the Birthday was advanced, a special edict +having been issued by the two Empresses, when Co-Regents for the young +Emperor, ordering the Birthday celebrations to be advanced by two days, +for the date of the sacrifices could not be changed--the sacrifice to +one’s Ancestors being the most sacred of obligations to the Chinese, +and most rigidly and religiously observed. Even the Chinese Emperor’s +Birthday is not celebrated for two years after the death of his +predecessor, so rigorous are the rules of respect to the dead and the +rites accorded to one’s Ancestors in China. + +I knew no painting could be done during these festivities, and I +expected to go back to the United States Legation. I never dreamed I +should be invited to participate in this celebration, hitherto unseen +by any foreigner. A week before the Birthday itself, when out for +one of our walks with Her Majesty, she called me up to her side and +said the Emperor’s Birthday was to be celebrated the next week, and +invited me to remain in the Palace for these festivities. I was, of +course, overjoyed at this gracious mark of her favor, and delighted to +be able to see the Oriental pomp and pageantry that accompanied these +ceremonial celebrations in China. + +There were to be magnificent theatrical performances, splendid +fireworks and decorations, and all sorts of pageants. The Imperial +company of actors had already begun rehearsing special poems and plays, +written to celebrate the occasion. Eunuchs were constantly bringing Her +Majesty specimens of the work of the decorators and painters who were +carrying out her designs as to special scenes and tableaux, or coming +to ask for further instructions. The literati, who were preparing the +original poems, sent in their manuscripts, that she might judge of +their merits and make suggestions. She herself overlooked every detail, +and seemed most interested and anxious to have everything successful. + +The festivities began four days before the Birthday with gala +performances at the Theater. Each day the decorations of the buildings, +the courts, and gardens increased in beauty. In the principal courts, +magnificent bronzes, all sorts of antique instruments of music, used +only on these great occasions, were brought out as decorations; +for music forms part of every ceremonial, official or religious, in +China. Among the curious instruments were splendid bronze frames, with +several superposed octaves of triangular musical-stones suspended +therefrom; elaborately carved supports for different-toned bells; huge +“triangles”; immense bronze “tam-tams,” curiously and beautifully +wrought; big drums on splendid bronze stands; wonderfully chased bells; +and many other quaint instruments, used only for official and state +processions in honor of Their Celestial Majesties. + +The slanting and projecting, upturned roofs of the different buildings +forming the Palaces were decorated with scarfs of vari-colored silk, +knotted into a curious sort of fringe of rosettes, about two feet long; +yellow, the Imperial color, and red, the festive color, predominating, +but other colors were introduced into the color-scheme to accentuate +these. + +The large Square in front of the Imperial gateway, outside the +Precincts, was filled with huge, tent-like, yellow satin umbrellas, +with deep curtains around the edge. These umbrellas are used for +all great festivities in China, and are generally of red. Those for +the Emperor’s Birthday were, of course, of the Imperial yellow, and +were richly embroidered with emblematic designs. Presents for the +Emperor were arriving daily from all parts of the Great Empire, and +though everything was directed by splendid system the commotion was +nevertheless great. + +Finally, there was the first gala performance at the Theater. Her +Majesty occupied her loge nearly all day, overlooking every detail, +sending now and then to the stage one of her eunuchs to transmit her +Imperial commands as to the speaking of certain lines or the using +of certain postures. On the day of this gala performance she invited +all the Ladies of the Palace to lunch, for the first time since I had +been there, in the court of the Theater. Her Majesty lunched in the +Imperial loge, and then ordered our repast to be served in the court, +where tables were laid and served with all the pomp and ceremony +that characterized the meals at the Palace. Even this “al-fresco” +entertainment was ceremonious. + +Most of the large courts of the Summer Palace have roofs of matting +erected over them, to keep out the sun. These mat-roofs make, of +the flower-filled courts, delightfully cool, outdoor parlors. The +mat-sheds at the Palace are almost works of art. Tall poles, reaching +from twenty to thirty feet above the roofs surrounding the courts to +be protected from the sun, are painted in festive designs, and they +support transversal beams, also gaily painted. Over these roof-beams +are stretched strips of the beautiful matting which the Chinese excel +in making. Matting-curtains drop from the roof of the sheds to a level +with the Palace roofs. These side-curtains, as well as huge sections of +the matting-roof, are movable, and may be opened and raised by means +of cords and pulleys attached to the supporting pillars. The whole +structure, supporting pillars and transversal beams, is tied together +with ropes the same color of the beams, and not a nail is used. The +mat-sheds are put up in June and taken down in September. + +New ladies were arriving at the Palace every day for a week before +the Birthday--members of the Imperial Family from a distance, and the +wives and daughters of Manchu nobles who were of sufficient rank to +present their congratulations in person. The young Empress never failed +to introduce me to these ladies. A foreigner in the Chinese Court is a +much more extraordinary circumstance than a Chinese at a European Court +would be, and this was, in most instances, the first meeting of these +Princesses with any foreigner; but they were uniformly courteous and +even cordial, never evincing the slightest curiosity as to my dress +or my habits. I doubted whether a Chinese at a European Court, or at +our White House, would have been treated with the same consideration +by all, even to the servants. The children, of whom there were several +at Court at this time, were as well-bred as their elders in their +treatment of the “foreign lady.” + +After our first lunch in the court of the Theater, when the theatrical +performance of the day was finished and the actors had left, I +approached the stage of the Theater and began examining, with interest, +its construction and appointments. The Palace Theater is raised about +twelve feet from the ground, and its main floor is on a level with the +Imperial loge. The building consists of three stories and a cellar. The +latter is used for the few pieces of scenery of the scenic plays, and +is where the simple devices used for moving it are manipulated. Like +the Greek theater, the stage is open on three sides; and the actors +come out and speak their parts, their entrance being to the left and +the exit to the right of the stage. + +Her Majesty was within her loge while I was examining the construction +of the Theater; but she evidently noticed my movements, for the eunuchs +soon threw open the great plate doors and she descended the steps of +the Imperial loge and came across the court to where I was standing. +She asked me if I would not like to go on the stage and look over the +building and examine things thoroughly. She added, “You probably may +never have such a chance to see a good Chinese theater again.” She, +herself, went up the steps leading from the court to the stage, and +told me to follow her. + +The stage is about twenty-five feet square, is roofed over, and +projects into the court, its three sides being open. The fourth side +has doors and curtains for the entrance and exit of the actors. There +are no actresses in China. The men perform the parts of women, and +represent them with such success that I was much surprised when I +learned there were no actresses. At the back of the stage sit the +musicians, who accompany all the theatrical performances in China. + +Her Majesty, herself, led the way across the stage and we went behind +the scenes. Here, I examined closely a number of “Floats” that were to +be used, in the procession in honor of the Emperor, on the day of the +Birthday. These floats had all been designed by the Empress Dowager. +After we had looked at these, she suggested that I had better see the +upper floors. These latter are not in general use in Chinese theaters. +The theaters, even at the other Palaces, have but one stage. The steps +which lead to the second stage, and thence to the third stage, are +behind the scenes. The two upper stages are used for spectacular +plays and tableaux, when certain of the players group themselves +in pyramidal form on these superposed stages and speak their lines +therefrom. The upper stages have also trap-doors and pulleys for use in +the spectacular plays. Her Majesty went up, herself, to show me these +stages. She mounted the steep and difficult steps with as much ease and +lightness as I did, and I had on comfortable European shoes, while she +wears the six-inch-high Manchu sole in the middle of her foot, and must +really walk as if on stilts. + +Neither the Empress Dowager nor any of the Manchu ladies bind their +feet; that custom prevailed in China before the Manchu conquest. The +Manchus have adopted many of the manners and customs of the Chinese, +but the Manchu women have retained their own individuality; and to-day, +after more than two hundred and fifty years in China, they still wear +their native costume, entirely different from the Chinese women. They +still dress their hair in the picturesque Manchu fashion. They not only +have never bound their feet, but they have as great a horror of it as +Europeans have. Manchu ladies are not bound by the same rigid social +conventions as are the Chinese women. They are less circumscribed and +have more individual freedom than any other Oriental women. In fact, +the Manchu woman seems to be, to other Oriental women, what the modern +American woman is to her European sisters. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR KWANG-HSU + +The Emperor Kwang-Hsu was barely eighteen years old when Her Majesty +the Empress Dowager, Regent of the Empire, handed over to him the +reins of Government, admonishing him in a parting Imperial Decree to +“discipline his body, develop his mind, love his People, and give +unceasing attention to the administration of Government,” which Decree +His Majesty responded to in fitting terms, by another Decree, begging +“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager to continue to advise him in important +affairs,” saying he “would not dare to be indolent,” that only after +prayer and sacrifice “to Heaven and Earth and his Ancestors would +he Himself begin to administer affairs of State on the 15th day of +the First moon of the 13th year of his Reign”! He began to reign by +our count the 25th day of February, 1889, under the appellation of +“Kwang-Hsu” (Glorious Succession). The name under which an Emperor of +China reigns is not his own, but one chosen for him, and has generally +some appropriate signification or some symbolic meaning. + +His Majesty Kwang-Hsu is the twelfth Emperor, who has reigned over +China, of the Dynasty of the “Great Purity,” as the Manchu Dynasty +is called.[2] His reign began at the age of five years, under the +Co-Regency of the Empress of the Eastern and Empress of the Western +Palaces. The former died in 1881, and from that time on Her Majesty, +the present Empress Dowager, ruled alone as “Regent.” His reign, +counting the years of the Regency, has already lasted thirty years, the +third in point of length of any of the Emperors of the Manchu Dynasty. + +[2] Confucius says “Purity is the Essence of Heaven.” Did the Manchus +call theirs the “Dynasty of the Great Purity” with a knowledge of +Confucian teaching, that the descendants of the Dynasty of the Great +Purity (Essence of Heaven) might become literally the “Sons of Heaven,” +the appellation borne by the Emperors of China? + +His Majesty the Emperor Kwang-Hsu was nearing the completion of +his thirty-second year when I was first presented to him. I found +him an interesting study, but not to the degree of Her Majesty the +Empress Dowager, who has charm and is so fascinating. The Emperor +is singularly devoid of this quality of “charm,” and has but little +personal magnetism. He interests one, nevertheless. Her Majesty is +Universal, the Emperor is typically Oriental. In person he is of slight +and elegant figure, not more than five feet four in height. He has a +well-shaped head, with the intellectual qualities well developed, a +high brow, with large brown eyes and rather drooping lids, not at all +Chinese in form or setting. His nose is high and, like most members of +the Imperial Family, is of the so-called “noble” type. A rather large +mouth with thin lips, the upper short with a proud curve, the lower +slightly protruding, a clear-cut, thin jaw, a strong chin a little +beyond the line of the forehead, with not an ounce of superfluous +flesh on the whole face, give him an ascetic air and, in spite of his +rather delicate physique, an appearance of great reserve strength. His +complexion is not so white and clear as that of the other members +of the Imperial Family, for the Manchus have whiter skins than the +Chinese; but this seems more the result of delicacy than natural with +the Emperor. His luxuriant, very long hair, a characteristic of the +Manchus, is beautifully silky and glossy and always arranged with +the greatest care. It is said he much dislikes being shaved, but +tradition, immutable in China, does not allow a man under forty, even +if he be the “Son of Heaven,” to wear a mustache or whiskers. Like all +well-bred Chinese, he has small feet and hands, the latter long and +thin and most expressive. The Emperor dresses with extreme neatness +and great simplicity, wearing few ornaments and no jewels except on +State occasions. His face is kindly in expression, but the glance from +his rather heavy-lidded eyes is shrewd and intelligent. His manner is +shy and retiring, but this does not seem to be so much from a lack of +confidence in himself as from the absence of that magnetic quality, +which gives one an appearance of assurance. + +He seemed to me the ideal of what one would imagine an Oriental +potentate to be, whose title is the “Son of Heaven.” There is a +Sphinx-like quality to his smile. In his eyes one sees the calm, +half-contemptuous outlook upon the world, of the fatalist. There is +an abstractness in the subtilty of his regard, an abstractness that +embodies one’s idea of the “Spirit of the Orient.” At first it is +difficult to tell whether this comes from a sense of power or from a +knowledge of the lack of it, but that firm and fleshless jaw, that +ascetic face and keen eye, show there must be reserve strength, that +there can be no lack of power, should he wish to exert it. Over his +whole face there is a look of self-repression, which has almost reached +a state of passivity. + +Does he dream of future greatness for the Empire? Does he feel that +though his first efforts at governing have failed, he can bide his +time--that all things will come to him who waits? Enigma, difficult +to divine! But it almost seems so! He appears to fully realize, now, +that he made a mistake in the choice of his instruments and time, in +his efforts for Progress. But the look of eternal patience in the +half-veiled regard of those large eyes seems to show that he will +yet try to accomplish China’s salvation--that he is but waiting his +opportunity. + +There is no evidence of the Emperor’s feeling any animosity toward +the Empress Dowager. Their relations, though rigidly formal, as is +necessary from their exalted positions, seem to be most friendly. +If there is any feeling on his part as to the check his Government +received by the “coup d’état” of 1898, he does not seem to feel that +Her Majesty is responsible for it. It was not she who put a momentary +stop to his dreams of Progress. It was Chinese conservatism, a +coalition of powerful ministers who put up the barriers of the “coup +d’état” before him when His Majesty thought to drive on to Progress. + +The Empress Dowager returned from her retirement and took up the reins +of Government again, at the earnest prayers of the wisest Statesmen +of China. She was persuaded by them, and she also believed, that the +Emperor was driving the Chariot of State too fast over the difficult +and ill-kept roads of traditional Chinese routine. She felt that His +Majesty, as well as the state, would soon be dashed to pieces if he +continued as he was then going. It seems as if the Emperor realizes +it all now. His unfathomable eye hides an infinity of possibilities, +perchance a world of events. Is he quietly studying how to seize +opportunity, when it next passes, and leap upon its back and lash it on +to Progress or to--Ruin? He would meet either with that same stoical, +Sphinx-like smile, I feel confident. + +He seems, now, to give but little advice. He holds Audiences, however, +and sees many of the officials alone. He issues edicts independent +of Her Majesty; but on all grave affairs, and at the meeting of the +Grand Council, Her Majesty is always present, and the decisions are +the results of their two opinions. When despatches were brought into +Her Majesty’s Throne-room when the Emperor was present, they were +first handed to her, and, after glancing them over, she would give +them to him. He, after carefully reading them, handed them back to her +with rarely a comment. One could see, though, that this was not from +ignorance of the subject, but that he trusted, for the time being, to +Her Majesty’s greater experience. + +Though the Emperor does not seem to feel that the time has come for +him to act, he studies every event with the closest attention, and is +well informed upon every subject connected with the welfare of the +state. As long as the Empress Dowager sits upon the throne with him, I +think he will not try to make any of his ideas paramount to hers. He +knows that she also wishes Progress for China, and that her methods, +more conservative and necessarily slower than his, may, in the end, +accomplish just as good results. He seems to trust her thoroughly, +and to be willing to have her take the lead. He knows, and the world +will soon see, that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is also vowed to +Progress for China; that she is not anti-progressive, nor against +reform, now that she feels the time has come for Progress and Reform. +Her late edicts show this. + +Whether the remodeling of China’s laws, which will bring her into line +with the Great Nations of to-day, will come during the Emperor’s life; +whether his power of waiting and his patience may enable him to reach +the time when accomplishment shall crown his efforts, who can tell! In +the meantime, he fulfils his duties as Official Head of the Empire, +rigidly observing all public and private ceremonies incumbent upon him +as Emperor. + +The Emperor occupies a Palace fronting on the Great Lake as elegant and +luxurious as Her Majesty’s. He has his own eunuchs and attendants, and +leads his own life, quite independent of Her Majesty and the Ladies. He +pays his respects to his “august aunt and adopted mother” every morning +before the Audience, and they go together to transact affairs of state, +after which he returns to his own Palace and follows his own pursuits. +On festivals, when the Theater is going, he comes into the Imperial +loge during the representations, and, on these days, joins the Empress +Dowager and the Ladies in their walks around the gardens or in boating +on the lake. He also dines with Her Majesty on these occasions. He +does not seem to care as much for the Theater as she does, nor to +follow it with so much interest. He often leaves the Imperial loge in +the middle of a play, and goes to his own Theater Throne-room, just +behind the great Imperial loge, where he passes the time in reading or +smoking, which he never does in the presence of Her Majesty. + +He occupies himself daily with his studies, among which is English. He +is a great reader. There is a special official, at the Palace, who buys +His Majesty’s books, and they say this is no sinecure, as he does not +devote himself only to Chinese literature and the classics, but devours +translations of foreign works and is constantly calling for new ones. +They say he always reads a book a day, besides attending to his other +duties. + +He is passionately fond of music, plays on a number of Chinese +instruments, and has even tried the piano. He has a good ear for +music, and can pick out any air he has heard upon any instrument at +his disposal. He is very clever, also, in a mechanical way, and can +take to pieces and put together a clock, with fair success. He has been +known, however, to fail in getting the very complicated mechanism of +some of the Palace clocks properly together again. The Empress Dowager +is constantly fearing that His Majesty will take some of her favorite +clocks to pieces and not be able to put them into working order again; +and he will not allow any one else to finish what he has begun. + +He is a very early riser, often getting up as early as two A.M. +When there was some ceremony in Peking or some sacrifice to his +Ancestors, he would go the sixteen miles, perform the ceremony or +sacrifice and return in time for the Audience at eight o’clock, and it +takes two hours and a half for the Emperor’s swift runners to carry +him the sixteen miles between the Summer Palace and Peking. He does +not seem to care for young associates, either men or women, though +he is very fond of children. He had but few favorites in the Palace, +and quite ignored the pretty young girls and women of Her Majesty’s +“entourage.” He seems to have great respect for cleverness. + +There are certain distinctions made with reference to Her Majesty +and the Emperor, which are rather curious. Her Majesty, being his +Ancestress, is first in everything. She sits upon the Throne in the +Great Audience Hall, while His Majesty sits on a stool at her left. He +walks beside her chair when they go out, and stands in her presence, +but when they dine together he sits in the place of honor at the end of +the table. When Her Majesty dines alone, her chop-sticks and spoons, as +well as the covers of her yellow porcelain dishes, are of silver. When +Their Majesties dine together, the covers of the dishes are of gold, +and His Majesty’s chop-sticks and spoons are also of gold. I never +knew what kind of covers or chop-sticks were used when the Emperor +dined alone; for this was always in his own Palace, and I never saw his +Palace except from the outside. It was not considered good taste, nor +according to the “Proprieties,” even to look that way when the Ladies +happened to pass it in their promenades. + +When His Majesty walked in the grounds with only his own attendants, +without being in the train of the Empress Dowager, his walks were in +parts of the grounds not frequented by the Ladies. On Festival days, +when he went out in the Imperial barge, or walked with Her Majesty +and the Ladies, as he sometimes did, he went through these promenades +with his usual courteous demeanor, but he did not seem to enjoy them, +and when they were finished he would return with his own attendants +to his own Palace. He assisted Her Majesty when she was entertaining +the Foreign Representatives, but one, who knew him, could plainly see +that he was bored by these Audiences. He would slip away at the first +opportunity, not because he objected to the foreigners, but that these +state functions were not to his taste. Her Majesty would have preferred +him to do his share in the entertainment of the Foreign Representatives +and be more “en évidence.” Though never out of temper or disagreeable +on these occasions, and while he seemed to wish to do his duty, he +seemed anxious to get them over. Whether from shyness or dislike at the +functions, I could not tell. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + THE EMPEROR’S BIRTHDAY + +We went to the Palace early the day of His Majesty’s Birthday, and were +in the Empress Dowager’s Throne-room at six o’clock in the morning; +but long before that time, the outer court was filled with the red and +yellow chairs and carts of the visiting members of the Imperial Family, +who had come in from Peking and from the neighboring Palaces for the +day. The high eunuchs were in gala costume, wearing silken gowns of +great beauty, embroidered in the Double Dragon. The eunuchs of lower +rank were more simply gowned, as the representation of the Double +Dragon on the Court gown is only allowed to those of a certain rank. +Our chair-bearers were clad in the festive red, with brocaded figures, +representing the characters for Longevity. + +We passed through the beautifully decorated courts, past the gaily +decked Palaces to the Throne-room of Her Majesty, where the Emperor +had come to receive the private congratulations of the Princesses of +the blood and the Ladies of the Court. It would have been against the +laws of Chinese etiquette for these Ladies to go into the Emperor’s +Palace to congratulate him, even on such an occasion as his Birthday. +When we entered the Throne-room, the Emperor was seated, or rather, +reclining upon a lounge in the most informal manner. He was not averse, +as was Her Majesty, to the reclining position when on the Throne. His +greater Orientalism was evidenced here, for the Oriental proverb says, +“’Tis better to be sitting than standing, to be lying than sitting,” +etc. He sat up a little straighter on our entrance, and the Ladies made +the formal Chinese bow, which he returned by a friendly nod and kindly +smile. I made the European reverence as usual. + +His Majesty was dressed a little more elaborately than usual, in +a yellow gown, tightly belted in around his slender waist with a +handsome belt buckle of jade. At this morning salutation by the Ladies +of his family, his hat lay beside him on the couch, which showed it +was unceremonious, for ceremonies are carried on by the Emperor and +all Chinese with their hats on. The great Imperial Pearl, one of the +most precious of the Imperial jewels, formed the button of his hat +on his Birthday. The seven official ranks of Mandarins are shown by +the different colors of the buttons worn on their hats. The color of +these buttons denotes the rank acquired by their wearers, those of the +Manchu Princes, alone, being hereditary. The buttons of these latter +are generally of jewels or semi-precious stones. The Emperor, the most +simply dressed man I saw in China, wears, as a rule, a plain red silk +button, but the Pearl, which can only be worn by a reigning Emperor, is +used on state occasions. + +After we had greeted His Majesty, we moved further into the Throne-room +to await the “lever” of the Empress Dowager. When she came out +of her sleeping apartments, the Ladies fell upon their knees and +simultaneously repeated the words of greeting used every morning to +Her Majesty, “Lao-Tzu-Tzung Chee-Siang” (Great Ancestress, be happy). +After acknowledging their salutations, she advanced and held out her +hand to me, and I took it and, as was now my custom, raised the tips +of her fingers to my lips. I, of course, never made any but a European +salutation to either Her Majesty or the Emperor. She was very gracious +and said I would be the first foreigner who had ever seen the birthday +celebration of any of the Sons of Heaven, and she hoped I would enjoy +it! She then commented on my dress and ornaments, examining the few +jewels I wore. After this she turned to the Ladies and, with a quick +glance, took in all the details of their Court costumes, calling their +attention to the way their official beads hung and signaling any little +deviation from traditional forms that she noticed in their attire. She +was extremely rigid as to all the details of Court dress. + +The Court costume of the Ladies is magnificent. That worn at the +Emperor’s Birthday (the summer costume) was of the stiff transparent +silk I have described in the gown worn by Her Majesty for the portrait. +The Court costume of the married ladies is of dark red, embroidered +in golden dragons. The widows wear blue; the unmarried girls, bright +red--all with the Double Dragon embroidered thereon. The married ladies +and widows, when in Court attire, wear a magnificent court head-dress +with jeweled crown. The young girls, even in Court dress, wear the +ordinary Manchu coiffure, with the long red silk tassels falling to +their shoulders. The young Empress was charming on the Birthday. Her +head-dress was of golden filigree, thickly set with jewels. Across +the front, nine beautifully chased golden phenix, with jeweled tails +outspread, held in their bills strings of pearls that fell to her +shoulders and veiled her forehead. Square, conventionalized bunches of +flowers projected from either side of this curiously and elaborately +wrought head-dress. Her gown was of the Imperial yellow, embroidered +with the golden Double Dragon. She had, around her neck, a solid piece +of chased gold, like a huge open ring, with balls at the ends; and she +wore the official beads that are always worn in Court dress by Princes +and Officials and their wives. The Emperor and Empress Dowager are +the only members of the Court who wear, neither the Double Dragon on +their Court dress, nor the official beads. Suspended from the Empress’s +neck was a magnificently embroidered stole, about four inches wide, +which reached to the hem of her gown. This stole is only worn by the +wives of Emperors, during their husband’s lifetime. The young Empress +seemed unusually happy to-day, and this was the first time I had ever +seen her and the Emperor in conversation. Next to the young Empress +came the only secondary wife of the Emperor. She was dressed exactly +as the young Empress was; the same gown, the same head-dress, the same +embroidered stole, only her jewels were not so handsome, and her dress, +instead of being of the Imperial yellow, was of orange. Yellow can only +be worn by the first wife of an Emperor! + +After the salutations to the Emperor and Empress Dowager in Her +Majesty’s private Throne-room, Her Majesty went out into the court and +took her place in her yellow chair of State, the Emperor following, on +foot, as was his custom. The cymbals clashed. The flutes sounded and +all the instruments of the Imperial Band played the curious minor air, +with its tragic undertone of sound, its rhythm like a Gregorian chant, +which is only played at the passing of Their Majesties for some great +ceremony or official function, and which I soon called the “Imperial +Hymn.” This is the only approach to a National air that I ever heard in +China. + +Their Majesties went in ceremonious procession to the Great Audience +Hall, where the Princes, Nobles, and high Officials privileged to +enter Precincts, were to present their homage and congratulations to +the Son of Heaven on the happy occasion of his Birthday. Besides these +privileged visitors, there were a number of officials whose rank was +not high enough to allow them to enter the Great Hall of Ceremonies. +These kneel and make the prostrations in the outer courts. + +The young Empress and Ladies of the Court did not follow Their +Majesties to the Great Hall, but stopped at the Palace of the young +Empress, to await there their turn for the official congratulations, +which were not to be made until after those of the Princes and Nobles. +The young Empress is a charming hostess, and her eunuchs and women +handed us tea and cigarettes while we were waiting. She also had her +dogs brought in for me to see. Her apartments opened on a sunny court, +full of flowering shrubs and fruit trees. Around the other three sides +of the court were built the pavilions for the use of her attendants +and ladies. We spent half an hour in her pavilion, waiting for the +congratulations of the Princes and Nobles to be finished. + +The Emperor, for these official congratulations, was seated upon the +Dynastic Throne, erect and stiff as an archaic figure; no longer the +shy boy, but the Monarch clothed in all his power, and, for to-day, +alone upon his great ancestral Throne. He was attended by his Master +of Ceremonies, gorgeously attired, who stood in the rigid attitude +prescribed for this ceremony. + +Each splendidly garbed Prince and Noble knelt and made the prostration +prescribed by the Book of Rites, and each presented His Majesty with +a jade emblem, called by the Chinese “ruyie,”[3] erroneously supposed +to be a scepter by most foreigners; but the “ruyie” is simply an +emblem of Good Luck, and may be presented on festive occasions to any +one whom the givers wish to honor, and is not an emblem of Imperial +authority. The Emperor held each of these “ruyie” in his hands for a +few seconds after their presentation, bowed profoundly to the kneeling +Prince, and then handed the emblem to an attendant eunuch, who placed +it on a Dragon table at the left of the Emperor. When the Princes +and Nobles had congratulated His Majesty and left the Throne-room, +the young Empress and secondary wife, followed by the Princesses and +Ladies, went in to make their official congratulations. The greeting +in Her Majesty’s Throne-room in the morning had been but a friendly +salutation, without any official signification. The young Empress knelt +and made her bow first and presented--as did each of the Ladies--a +“ruyie.” She made the same official salutation as did the others, but +her “ruyie” was of a much richer style than those presented by the +other Ladies. + +[3] Generally written “jui,” but pronounced as I have written it. + +After the ceremony of formal congratulations was over, Her Majesty, +the Emperor, and Empress, followed by the Ladies and attendants, went +in state to the Theater, with the same ceremonial and pomp with which +they had gone into the Hall of Ceremonies. The Empress Dowager, who +was always the most gorgeously attired person at Court, was, on His +Majesty’s Birthday, dressed with an extreme simplicity that amounted +almost to plainness, and she wore no jewels. This plainness of attire +was not an accident, but had been arranged with her usual forethought. +She wished the Emperor and Empress to be the central figures of this +day’s festivities, and did not wish to vie with the Empress even in her +attire. + +The Princes and Nobles, who had come to the Palace for the official +congratulations, were invited to the theatrical performance. They +occupied the boxes that ran at right angles to the Imperial loge, which +I have already described as forming the other two sides of the court +of the Theater. A huge screen of painted silk, twelve feet high, was +stretched from the last of the boxes occupied by the Princes to the +stage--allowing the latter to be perfectly seen by the occupants of the +boxes, but cutting off their view of the Imperial loge, whence Their +Majesties, the Empress, and Ladies viewed the play. These invited +guests are thus neither seen by the Imperial party, nor can they see +the latter. + +When Their Majesties and the Empress were seated in their loge, the +principal actors came to the front of the stage, knelt, and “kow-towed” +to the Imperial box. Then the play began. There was first a noisy +burst of weird music, then the chief actor recited a laudatory, +congratulatory poem in honor of the Birthday of the Emperor, wishing +His Majesty “ten thousand years” of happiness and all the blessings +possible. The poem was intoned like a chant by the actor, dressed in +the gorgeous historic costume of an Imperial Herald of the time of +Kublai Kahn. This poem was most impressive. One of the verses ran thus: + + “The vast merits of His Imperial Majesty’s August Ancestors have + been handed down to Him from generation to generation. + + “To the wisdom of His whole Dynasty we owe it, that we have lived + in happiness, + + “Ever ready to comply with the lofty teaching of our Rulers, leading + us unto Good....” + +The poem went on to recite His Majesty’s merits as a son, his respect +for his August Mother, his filial piety, and ended with a wish that +Great China might flourish and prosper--grow strong outwardly and +inwardly, through the blessings of his reign and his desire for +Progress. + +After this poem had been intoned by the chief actor, with the whole +company of players grouped around on the lower, as well as on the +two superposed stages, all in splendid historic costumes, there was +another noisy clash of weird music and the play itself began. The +Chinese theater, which goes on from morning to night with a series of +plays, generally begins with a short one, a curtain-raiser of a quarter +to half an hour’s length. To-day it began at once, after the poem was +intoned, with a great historic drama. The exploits and high deeds of +former Emperors were shown, and the actors were magnificently costumed +in superb historic gowns which had been handed down from antiquity and +were absolutely authentic. + +At half-past eleven, with the Theater still in full swing, the eunuchs +brought out tables of sweetmeats on the verandah of the Imperial loge, +and set them before the young Empress and the Princesses and Ladies, +and we were served to refreshments. Sweets and fruits in China are +served between the regular meals. The sweetmeats to-day were “birthday +food,” and were all inscribed with some character meaning “Longevity,” +“Good Luck,” “Happiness,” “Peace,” etc. There were pyramids of the +delicious crystallized fruits which the Chinese excel in making; +macédoines of queer fruits, nut pastes, almond creams, and all the +fresh fruits in season. With this preliminary repast were served, also, +some delicious Chinese wines. + +Soon after the repast of sweetmeats was finished, we were served in the +court of the Theater this time to the regular meal. It was an immense +table to which we sat down on the Emperor’s Birthday. There were so +many Princesses, Duchesses, and Ladies of high degree from a distance, +that our usual number was more than quadrupled. The repast was a +joyous one. The Chinese are very witty and gay, and though I could not +understand all the scintillations of wit, their gaiety was contagious! +Each gave me special delicacies that she liked, to try, and each seemed +to vie with the other in endeavoring to make the “stranger” feel at +ease. Some of the Ladies drank champagne in my honor, and held up their +glasses toward me as they had seen the foreigners do. When the elders +had finished eating, the young people sat down. These were the children +of the Princesses and Nobles who had been invited to join their parents +for these festivities at the Palace. No girl or boy under sixteen is +allowed to sit down with their elders to a ceremonious dinner at the +Palace. + +Soon after we had finished our gay luncheon in the court of the Theater +the Ladies retired within their loge, next to that of Their Majesties, +and the screen which hid the visiting Princes and Nobles from the +Imperial party was removed by the attendant eunuchs. When it was taken +away, there sat, Turkish fashion, the great Princes and high Nobles +in their splendid Court dress. Those of the highest ranks occupied +the boxes nearest the Imperial party. The Princesses pointed out to +me, from their box, their brothers and kinsmen and others whom they +recognized; but we saw without being seen, and were only looking from +behind the scenes. + +The eunuchs then handed around refreshments to the Princes and +gentlemen, sweetmeats and fruits, such as we had partaken of before our +luncheon. Then there were some huge steaming silver caldrons brought +into the court, and from these caldrons the eunuchs ladled into bowls +some sort of white drink. As we had had nothing of this kind at our +repast, I was curious to know what it might be. I knew it could not +be wine, for that is served only in tiny cups, and this was served in +the ordinary-sized eating-bowls. I was much surprised to learn that +this drink was simply hot milk, flavored with almonds, and slightly +sweetened, a drink of which the Manchus are very fond, and which is +a special mark of Imperial favor, given only on great occasions. The +gentlemen raised their bowls to their lips with both hands and drank it +off with great ceremony, as if it were a sacred beverage, and seemed, +in drinking it thus, to pledge the Emperor’s Health and Happiness. + +After the Princes had partaken of these refreshments, and while some +eunuchs were removing the caldrons and dishes, another army of eunuchs +came in, in pairs, each pair carrying between them trays of Imperial +yellow, decorated with the red characters for Longevity. These trays +contained presents from the Emperor to each of the invited guests, for +His Majesty gives as well as receives presents on his Birthday! There +was no difference made in the presents given, each tray being the +exact counterpart of every other. Each contained a pair of porcelain +vases from the Imperial Potteries, a bronze Incense-burner, a scroll +with a quotation from the classics or an aphorism of Confucius written +thereon. The scrolls were inclosed in silken covers, tied with the +Imperial colors. There was also a jade “ruyie” in each tray, such +as had been handed the Emperor at the morning ceremony, and an +Archer’s ring. After the contents of the trays had been delivered to +each gentleman present, and the empty trays borne away by the Palace +eunuchs, the dividing screen was again placed between the visiting +Princes and Their Majesties, and the young Empress and Ladies went out +of their loge to the verandah once more, and the theatrical performance +again went on. In fact, it had been going on throughout our luncheon +and the subsequent entertainment of the Princes, but we had paid no +attention to it. + +At four o’clock there was the grand “finale.” The three superposed +stages were occupied by all the gorgeously attired actors, and another +Hymn of praise to the Emperor was intoned. He was extolled as the Son +of Heaven and representative on earth of Buddha, and other extravagant +wishes for “ten thousand years” of happiness were made. When this +Hymn was finished, the floats, which we had seen the day before +behind the scenes, came out in procession. These floats represented +mythical animals, Buddhas, fairies, and personifications of the higher +attributes. There were gigantic fruits which opened, disclosing figures +representing eternal beauty, perfect happiness, and serene old age. +Prominent among the gigantic fruits was the peach, the emblem of +Longevity. Last of all, in this curious procession, came the Imperial +Dragon, of huge proportions. Its contortions, as it struggled for the +Flaming Pearl, emblematic of the unattainable, were most curious. All +these figures made their obeisances to Their Majesties and the Empress. +They were accompanied by splendidly clothed warriors, heralds, +princes, and many gorgeously attired attendants, bearing banners and +escutcheons. After the procession had made the tour several times, the +dragon stopped with his huge head in the middle of the stage, made an +obeisance to His Majesty, then raised it with a mighty roar and spouted +forth--a copious shower of fresh spring water, which sprinkled the +whole flower-filled court! The Empress and Princesses were all in the +secret and knew what was coming, but they kept it from me, and much +enjoyed my start of surprise as some of the spray fell upon me, as I +had advanced to the very edge of the verandah in order to miss nothing. + +When all was finished, the screen was again removed and the great glass +doors of the Imperial loge were thrown open, so that Her Majesty and +the Emperor could be seen. The visiting Princes and Nobles came forward +from their places and knelt in a body, though still observing the laws +of precedence as to their ranks. They knelt three times, and bowed +their heads to the ground nine times to thank Their Majesties for the +entertainment they had received. To receive these prostrations from +the Princes, the Emperor and Empress Dowager assumed their Buddha-like +poses and acknowledged the genuflexions by a formal inclination of +their heads. When the Princes had retired, the actors, clothed in +their usual garments, came to the front of the stage and knelt and +“kow-towed,” but Their Majesties did not return this salutation. + +When the Princes and players had left and the Imperial party was alone, +cushions were brought into the middle of the court, the Emperor +and Empress and secondary wife knelt thereon, while their “Great +Ancestress,” the Empress Dowager, preceded by acolytes, swinging golden +incense-burners which gave forth azure clouds of perfumed smoke, came +down the steps to the weird accompaniment of the flutes and cymbals +playing the “Imperial Hymn.” The Emperor and Empress knelt to do Her +Majesty homage, as the greatest living member of their Ancestors. +When she reached them, they arose and followed her, and the three +moved along in stately procession to the slow beating of the cymbals, +followed by the Princesses and Ladies and all the attendant eunuchs. +The subtle perfume of the incense, the stately rhythm, the splendid +costumes, the flashing jewels and brilliant colors, made a magnificent +picture never to be forgotten. The Imperial procession moved through +several sunlit courts until it finally came to the entrance of the +Sacred Hall, containing the Ancestral tablets; here the Empress Dowager +stopped at the threshold until His Majesty and the young Empress had +passed within, to complete the ceremonies of the day by worshiping and +kneeling together before the tablets of their Ancestors. The music +ceased. The ceremony was finished. His Majesty the Emperor Kwang-Hsu +had accomplished another year. + + + + + CHAPTER X + + PEKING--THE SEA PALACE + +The Autumnal Sacrifices to his Ancestors and His Majesty’s consequent +three days’ abstinence, to prepare for them, put a stop to further +festivities after the Birthday, which would have otherwise continued +for several days longer. The day after the Birthday was a quiet one at +the Palace. Her Majesty was feeling tired and did not care to pose, +after the Audience in the morning. The visiting Princesses and Ladies +were preparing to leave the Palace; the eunuchs and Her Majesty’s maids +were bustling around, preparing for the moving of the Court to Peking, +for Her Majesty and the Court, as well as the Emperor, were to go into +one of the City Palaces the following day. Her Majesty ordered luncheon +to be served in one of the beautiful summer-houses in the gardens, +about a mile from the Palace, for she said a change would be good for +all. + +This summer-house, or rather Palace, situated on a hill overlooking +the lake, was one of Her Majesty’s favorite resorts. She often went +to it, after a tiring Audience, and spent the rest of the day there, +lunching and dining, and even taking her siesta there. Whenever she +went to any of these Palaces inside the inclosure, she always invited +all the Ladies of the Court to accompany her. It made a change in the +monotony of their lives. This Palace was very luxuriously fitted up, +and contained a splendid library, with thousands of volumes of the +classics and Her Majesty’s favorite authors. The view from its broad +verandahs and fair marble terraces was one of the finest, even of the +many beautiful ones, in the grounds. We lunched on the wide verandah +and drank in the beauty of the scene. No wonder Her Majesty loved this +spot! Beneath lay the beautiful grounds of the Summer Palace, with its +calm lake and winding streams. On an eminence beyond, the graceful +seven-storied pagoda that forms so characteristic a feature in all +the views of the Summer Palace, proudly reared its stately height. On +the right lay the temple-crowned hills, the upturned roofs of their +buildings nestling on their slopes like a flight of gigantic gaily-hued +birds, with wings outspread. In the distance, beyond a soft gray +undulating landscape, with fields of brilliant green here and there, +lay Peking, with its walls and towers, enveloped in a golden haze. + + [Illustration: AT THE AMERICAN LEGATION, PEKING] + +After luncheon and the siesta, Her Majesty called me up and said she +was to go into Peking on the morrow, and asked whether I wished the +portrait to be taken in for the three days the Court was to remain +in the City. She said she would be much occupied with ceremonies and +sacrifices, and there would be but little time for painting, but if I +wished to work she might be able to give me a short sitting! I told +her I did not care to have the portrait taken into the City, for I +knew it would not be possible to get a room with the same light as that +in which I had begun the picture. When she found I did not care to +paint in Peking, she suggested that I go to the United States Legation +and spend the time of the Court’s sojourn at the Sea Palace. It had +been more than two weeks since I had seen Mrs. Conger, or been in the +Legation quarter, and I was delighted at Her Majesty’s kind forethought +in allowing me to spend these days at the Legation. She, however, +suggested that, as I had not seen the Sea Palace, where the Court +was to go, I might enjoy coming there for the day--and spending some +of the time in seeing the Palace and grounds. She knew how I enjoyed +seeing these beautiful Palaces, and this was another proof of her +consideration. She said she would be much occupied with the ceremonies, +but that she would map out a nice day for me, and would herself take +me for a walk! She added, “This will give you a chance to study me, so +your time will not be entirely spent in vain.” She said we would resume +the portrait on the Court’s return to the Summer Palace. + +After our return to her Throne-room, and when we had finished dinner, +she told me I had better go into the room where the portrait and my +materials were kept, when I was not working on it, and said I had +better overlook its being put away myself. She followed me into the +room, and herself aided and directed the arrangement of things. She +ordered the “sacred picture” (for this is what the Chinese call a +likeness of a reigning Emperor or Empress) to be attached to the wall +with yellow cords and covered with a transparent yellow silk, box-like +screen, which had been especially made to protect it from dust. The +portrait was treated, from its very beginning, as an almost sacred +object, with the respect a reverent officiant accords the Holy Vessels +of the Church. Even my painting materials seemed to be invested with +a sort of semi-sacred quality. When Her Majesty felt fatigued, and +indicated that the sittings were finished, my brushes and palette were +taken by the eunuch from my hands, the portrait removed from the easel +and reverently consigned to the room that had been set aside for it. + +The next morning early, I preceded the Court into Peking and went +directly to the United States Legation, where I was warmly welcomed +by my kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Conger. The United States Legation +occupied, at this time, a Chinese temple near the “Water Gate.” This +building had been given to the United States Government by the Chinese +after the Boxer rebellion, and was occupied temporarily by the Minister +of the United States during the construction of the new Legation on +Legation Street. The temple had been transformed into a comfortable +American dwelling-place--its Chinese individuality having been +preserved wherever possible, consistent with comfort. The shaded court, +filled with beautiful, growing flowers (many of them gifts from the +Empress Dowager to Mrs. Conger), was a charming spot. While distinctly +American as to its artistic comfort and furniture, the interior +construction and decoration of the drawing-room were purely Chinese, +which gave a touch of Oriental “couleur locale” to this pleasant haven +of American hospitality, where Mr. and Mrs. Conger dispensed their +kindly favors. + +Mrs. Conger, by her own individual initiative, has done much to bring +about a friendly social feeling between the Chinese and foreign ladies. +It was she who first thought of entertaining the Princesses and Ladies +of the Court in her own home; and the United States Legation was +the first of the Legations in Peking to issue an invitation to the +Ladies of the Court, or to entertain them. It is the first Legation to +entertain other Chinese ladies, wives of officials or of the gentry. +Several other Legations have since entertained the Ladies of the Court, +but in doing so they were only following Mrs. Conger’s initiative. +While doing so much to bring about friendly social relations with the +Chinese, Mr. and Mrs. Conger receive all Americans, regardless of their +importance or social position, with a kind cordiality. I was delighted +to be in their charming family circle once more. I found my room at the +Legation, with its sweet touches of homeliness, a delightful haven, and +my visits to the Legation seemed always like going home. + +The next morning at seven, a green official chair with its bearers +came to take me to the Sea Palace. I was first carried to the +Hsien-Liang-Hsu, the “Temple of the loyal and virtuous,” where +Li-Hung-Chang formerly had his home in Peking, and a part of which the +Yu-Kengs had arranged for their home after their return from their +mission at Paris, their own semi-foreign house having been destroyed by +the Boxers. At the Hsien-Liang-Hsu I was joined by the Ladies Yu-Keng, +and we continued on to the Sea Palace. Our chairs, with their bearers, +were preceded and followed by mounted attendants. + +The Sea Palace is a comparatively new Palace, most of it having +been built within the last fifty years. Our chairs were met at the +northern entrance by the same eunuchs who had been set aside for our +service at the Summer Palace. They led us to the boats in waiting to +carry us across the lake, to the buildings occupied by Her Majesty +and the Court. These boats were of the houseboat variety, with an +inclosed cabin forming the center, and a platform running all around, +on which the rowers walked up and down propelling it. The interior +was carpeted, with a cushioned lounge, tea-tables, and chairs. The +eunuchs and attendants sat outside on the prow. It takes twenty minutes +to row across the lake in one of these boats, but the movement is +delightful. When we reached the other side, we landed and went through +several courts to that of one of Her Majesty’s private chapels. She, +herself, had just been making an offering here, and was coming out, +preceded by acolytes swinging incense-burners, the musicians playing +the “Imperial Hymn.” When she saw us, Her Majesty called us to her +side, asked if I had had a good trip into Peking, and how Mrs. Conger +was. She then ordered the eunuchs to show us our apartments. We were +led through corridors and courts to a charming pavilion which was to +be our resting-place while at the Sea Palace. It had exquisitely and +elaborately carved woodwork arches with heavy satin curtains, which +divided it into five rooms. After we had rested a few moments here, we +returned to the Throne-room. Her Majesty told me she had arranged for +me to go out in one of the boats, and that I was to be shown all that I +cared to see, or at least as much as I could see in that day. A eunuch +standing near her held a number of strips of embroidery in his hand. +They were embroidered head-dresses, which are placed upon the heads +of the Buddhas during the great ceremonies in the Palace temples. She +explained their use to me and then dismissed us, and we went out to the +landing-place on the lake. + +A number of boats lay at the foot of the steps--among them a charming +open barge with blue silken awnings. As I had not been in a boat of +this kind before, and as I was told to choose, I selected it for our +row; and we started off, followed by several other boats carrying +eunuchs and refreshments, with the necessary utensils for serving +them. Our head eunuch, one of the six highest in the Palace, who had +been appointed to look after me and the “sacred picture,” was very +intelligent, an enlightened lover of Chinese art, and a great collector +of old Chinese paintings and curios. He had been, in his youth, one +of Her Majesty’s favorite players, was said to have great dramatic +talent, and, when he was younger, had a fine voice for singing. Memory +is among the most esteemed of the intellectual faculties by the Chinese +and reaches a high state of cultivation with them. Many of the eunuchs +can repeat whole pages from the classics, and some are accomplished +literati. This eunuch had a good speaking voice, and recited poems and +told stories in a charming way. As we were rowed along, he stood at the +prow and recited verse after verse of classic lore and told stories +of the heroic times. He intoned them like a recitative--the rhythm +so perfectly observed, the intoning so musical, it was a pleasure to +listen to him, though I could not understand. + +I lay back among the cushions, as we glided softly along, past +beautiful pavilions, with splendid trees overhanging the lake and +lovely flowers growing wherever there was a place to plant them. The +tall figure of the splendidly attired eunuch, standing in the prow, +repeating, with rhythmic cadence, poems and stories, gave one the +illusion and charm of the “Arabian Nights,” which I had fed upon in my +childhood, and which I seemed to be living through to-day. + +We soon came to a tiny islet in the lake, with a sort of open temple +built over a black marble tablet which bore an incised inscription. +I asked to land and examine it, and San-Gunia, the eldest of Lady +Yu-Keng’s daughters, a remarkably clever girl and well posted in +Chinese literature, translated the characters. The inscription was a +poem, a tribute to the Great Father who had graciously placed there +this island, which “by night was bathed in the glory of the Moon and +Sun-kissed by day, while the crystal waters of the lake formed a +brilliant necklace on its breast.” + +Beyond the island I saw a temple. There was no landing-place, and the +temple was under repair. The head eunuch, however, seeing how much I +wished to go up, had the boat draw near and steps brought, up which we +clambered, as best we could. + +This was one of the temples so ruthlessly destroyed and unnecessarily +desecrated by the Allies during their occupation of Peking. We passed +through the vegetable garden of the monks--all shorn of its glory, +but where a few vegetables and flowers still grew--and we went on +through a beautiful grove of arbor-vitæ, with centuries-old trees, +planted in the form of a cross, and came into the court of the temple. +Even in its dilapidated state, with the workmen still in it, it was +beautiful, and before it was so injured it must have been a splendid +example of Chinese temple architecture. The cells of the lama monks +were now unoccupied, and there were no officiating priests. Workmen +were repairing and regilding the Great Buddha, and most of the effigies +of the saints and images of the personified attributes were standing +in dejected rows in the corridors awaiting the completion of their +niches and chapels. The interior, of splendid proportions, glowed in +beautiful somber colors. The carved wood ceilings were in pendentive +designs, recalling those I had seen in the Alhambra; but the painting, +in primary colors, of this elaborately carved ceiling gave it a greater +richness of coloring and lent to the interior a warmer, deeper harmony +than the white Moorish designs. The chapels behind the high altar were +separated from the main temple and from each other by beautifully +carved wooden screens, with rich brocaded silk of brilliant green (the +color of Buddha), stretched behind the open-work and showing through +the interstices of the carving. These chapels are for the Sacred +writings and for the vestments of the priests, and are also used for +robing- and retiring-rooms for the officiants. They correspond to the +sacristies of the Catholic Churches in Europe. + +The space behind the altar was of apse-like form, and opened upon a +semi-circular marble terrace, thirty feet high, with a balustrade of +the conventionalized lotus design so dear to the Chinese architects. +From this terrace we had a beautiful view of the Coal Hill, surmounted +by the curious Dagoba, so well known in all views of the Imperial City, +as well as of the belvedere that marks the spot where the last Emperor +of the Mings committed suicide when he was conquered. At the two +extremities of the terrace were charming octagonal summer-houses, where +the priests could go for rest and contemplation, and, while murmuring +their prayers, could feast their eyes upon a charming view. After a few +moments on the terrace, enjoying the beautiful view, we passed through +the cells of the monks, which were large and comfortable, and, finally, +out again into the sun-flecked shade of the marble-paved court, where +we sat under low-hanging boughs of a splendid elm, and the eunuchs +brought out tables and served us with tea and refreshments. + +Then we took the boats and were rowed on further, till we came beneath +a steep battlemented wall, surmounted by the rich green of arbor-vitæ +trees. I was surprised to learn that this was another temple, for it +looked more like an old feudal castle than a peaceful temple to the +mild Buddha. We landed at the foot of the beautiful white Marble Bridge +that spans the narrow northern portion of the lake, just under the +stone wall on which the temple was built. We were carried up the steep, +winding incline in our chairs. It was a most picturesque approach, and +when we reached the top, with the beautiful temple lying peacefully on +these martial heights, we found it well worth the climb. + +There was a grove of arbor-vitæ trees leading to this temple. These +trees seem to be sacred to the temples and burial-places in China, for +all I ever visited in China were either built in a grove of arbor-vitæ, +or had some of these evergreens growing near. Did the Greeks get their +idea and name of the ever-living tree from the Chinese, who regard the +arbor-vitæ as the tree of life and emblem of Immortality? This temple +has a great Buddha of white jade, with jeweled stole and cuffs. Its +expression of placid contemplation and kindly thought is typically +Chinese. When Buddhism was first brought into China from India, the +Buddhas had an Indian type; and not until the religion had taken firm +hold of the people, was its divinity clothed in a Chinese personality, +and a national individuality assumed. The day of our visit, the great +jade Buddha was decked in a mantle of Imperial yellow satin, with a +richly embroidered Manchu hood, such as I had seen that morning in +Her Majesty’s Throne-room, on its head. Tall, lighted candles, fresh +offerings of fruit and flowers, and the smoking censer standing on +the altar, showed there had been services that morning, and added +to the religious atmosphere of the interior. The service had been +a continuation of the commemorative celebrations in honor of the +Emperor’s Birthday and his sacrifice to his Ancestors. + +The principal court of this temple is one of the most picturesque in +the Sea Palace, shaded by magnificent cedars and stately elms. In the +center, there was a magnificent cistern of verd-antique, splendidly +carved in dragons. Over this cistern was a marble portico, its columns +supporting a curious concave, copper roof. This roof had been a Palace +“cooking utensil,” that had been used in former times to prepare food +for the poor; hence its extraordinary size. When it was worn out in +this capacity it was used as the interior of the dome over the temple +well, where the poor and weary could come to rest under its shadow +and drink of the water of the well it protected. There were cells and +outhouses for the monks in this temple also. But as we sat in the +shady court, looking across the sunlit lake, the sky became suddenly +overcast, and we took our chairs and hurried down the steep, paved +road that led from the temple to the lake. We did not take the boats +again on reaching the lake, but were carried, in our chairs, across +the beautiful Marble Bridge. Just beyond us, we saw the towers of the +first Catholic Cathedral ever built in Peking. It was built on land +given to the Catholics by the Emperor; but, when finished, its towers +were found to overlook the Palace grounds; so the Cathedral was bought +by the Emperor, and land was given the Mission further on, and another +Cathedral was built. The first Cathedral is now within the Walls of the +Sea Palace, and is visible from every part of the grounds of the two +Peking Palaces. It seems a strange anomaly to see this Christian Church +within the Precincts of the Palace of an Oriental potentate, who is +one of the representatives on earth of the “Great Buddha.” + +It began to rain, and the chair-bearers ran along to the Palace without +stopping again, and we were soon called to dinner in the Throne-room, +overlooking the small Theater, for there are two Theaters in the Sea +Palace, one for winter use and one for summer. The latter is built on +piles over the waters of a canal. Building the stage over water is +supposed to give a peculiar musical resonance to the voices of the +actors, softening the sounds and making them more pleasant to the ear. + +After dinner in the beautiful summer Throne-room, with the rippling +waters just beneath the windows, we made our adieus, first to Her +Majesty and then to the young Empress and Ladies, and went out to be +again rowed over the beautiful lake to the outside gates. The sun was +setting! The arches of the Marble Bridge had become a beautiful, deep +violet hue, and spanned the waters of the lake, now a gleaming mass +of liquid gold. The sky beyond shone through the masses of foliage +with a golden glow, and the towers of the old Cathedral were strongly +silhouetted against this brilliant background. The scene was an ideal +one. A beautiful silence pervaded everything, made the more rhythmic +and intense by the regular movement of the oars in the water. When +we reached the other side of the lake we were conducted to our green +chairs, which were waiting without the gate, and were swiftly carried +back to the Legation. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF HER MAJESTY--SECOND + VISIT TO THE SEA PALACE + +I spent the next day at the Legation, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I +was glad to think that I was to spend the following day at the Palace +again. The study of Her Majesty had now become to me like a thrilling +novel. I could not bear to lay it down; and when I was forced to do +so, I was longing to be able to resume it. She was such a delightful +surprise to me. I had heard and read so much of her, before I went to +the Palace, and nothing that I had heard or read had at all prepared +me for the reality, so charming, so unusual was her personality. Not +charming and interesting by fits and starts, but always so! She was so +considerate and tactful, and seemed so really kind in her relations +with those who surrounded her. I had been now nearly a month in daily +contact with her. I saw her, not only when she sat for the portrait; I +was with her the greater part of the day, and I began to let myself go +in my admiration of her. The days seemed flat and stale when I could +not see her--so full of interest and charm I found her. She was a woman +of such infinite variety! There was always something new and fresh to +study in her. She was the very embodiment of the Eternal Feminine. +She was at once a child and a woman with strong, virile qualities. She +would go into the Audience Hall, transact weighty affairs of State +for three hours, and then go for her walks or excursions, and take a +childish interest in the simplest pleasures. She would be seated in one +of her Throne-rooms in trivial conversation with her Ladies, when an +Official Despatch, in its yellow silk case, would be brought in, and +presented by the eunuch on bended knees. Her face would immediately +become full of serious interest; she would bend her brows and become +the statesman; a few moments later, when she had duly considered, and +given orders relative to the despatch, she became again the woman, full +of interest in her flowers, dresses, and jewels. + +A distinguished Frenchman once said of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, +“C’est le seul homme de la Chine,” and she deserves the appellation of +“man,” if it goes to mean superior intelligence and executive ability; +but it was not the “statesman” that I had the best opportunity of +studying. It was the woman in her private life; and I had unusual +advantages for this study, and the more I saw of her, the more +remarkable I found her! Her favors to the Ladies of the Court were very +impartially distributed. She had her favorites, but she did not allow +them to gain any supremacy over her, nor to warp her judgment. Although +her “entourage” never expressed an opinion contrary to hers, in her +presence, and though she always accepted their _expressed_ views in the +most courteous manner, one could see she was not imposed upon, and +that she knew, perfectly well, their real opinions, so great was her +natural penetration. + +I was astonished to find in what veneration the Empress Dowager was +really held by the Ladies of the Court and her “entourage.” Her +favorite title, and that by which she has been longest known to the +courtiers, is, “Lao-Fo-yeh,” the “Old Buddha,” which shows that they +invest her with sacred qualities. After her return from Hsi-An Fu, +where the Court went when the allied troops occupied Peking, and where +the sacred Persons of Her Majesty and the Emperor suffered so many +hardships and endured them so bravely, the courtiers gave her another, +a closer and more affectionate appellation, “Lao-Tzu-Tzung” (The Old +Ancestress). This was the title by which she was called in the Palace, +by the Emperor, Empress, and Princesses, and by which she allowed me to +address her. + +On our arrival at the Sea Palace, the day of my second visit there, +after making our bows to Her Majesty, we started, in our chairs, to +the Hall of the Mongolian Princes. This is a magnificent hall in the +northeastern part of the park, some distance away from Her Majesty’s +and the Emperor’s Palaces. It is of one story, as usual, but this +nearly forty feet high. The interior is spacious, with only a few +dragon tables and chairs and no ornaments or other furniture. There +is a raised dais at the back, with several steps leading up to it. +Upon the dais stood a splendid Throne of archaic design, and over the +Throne there are two huge tablets of black marble, with inscriptions +in Chinese and Manchu characters. This great hall is used only for +receiving the Mongolian Princes on their annual visit to Peking, when +they come in state, with hundreds of followers and retainers, to pay +homage and tribute to the Emperor of China. The rear of the hall +opens on a court surrounded by smaller buildings, which are used as +waiting-rooms for the retainers and followers of the Princes. + +From this hall we were carried in our chairs along the banks of the +lake, beyond the Marble Bridge to a distant part of the grounds, +where stands the famous Dragon Wall. Most of the Chinese houses have +a sort of stone screen opposite the principal gate of entrance. This +screen, called “A Wall of Respect,” often has some sort of painted or +carved representation of a dragon, which is supposed to chase away +evil spirits. This superstition does not seem to obtain as regards +the residences of the Son of Heaven, for I never saw a dragon wall +built in front of any of the entrances to the buildings in the Palace +inclosures. Perhaps the Son of Heaven is immune from the visit of +demons, or is it that the rampant Double Dragon on everything Imperial +serves as sufficient protection to the Palace? The Dragon Wall, in the +Sea Palace, must have formed a part of some of the outside palaces or +temples which were brought into the sacred inclosure when the Emperor +Hsien-Feng decided to make it a place of residence and enlarge its +domain. Many foreigners in Peking can remember when the beautiful +Marble Bridge, of such noble proportions, of such exquisite design, now +within the Precincts, was used by the public. However it got there, +the Dragon Wall is at present within the Palace inclosure, though +in an unused part of the grounds--not in front of any “residence,” +and hence not filling its mission as a “Wall of Respect,” to keep +the wicked spirits from crossing the threshold. This Dragon Wall of +beautiful white marble is of great beauty, exquisitely carved in its +minutest details, and fine in general conception and line. + + [Illustration: CHINESE ARCHITECTURE] + +Her Majesty had returned from the Audience when we got back to the +Palace from our morning promenade. She was now attending to household +affairs. The eunuchs were bringing up, for her inspection, the baskets +of splendid fruits, which are daily sent into the Palace. Among others, +there was a basket of magnificent grapes. She was delighted with their +beauty, and held up one splendid bunch against the light, before she +tasted them, remarking that “the beautiful color lent an added zest +to the delicious fruit.” Her Majesty then lunched, while we joined +the Empress and Princesses on the verandah, after which we lunched +again in this beautiful Throne-room. The meals taken with the young +Empress and Ladies of the Court had now come to be gay reunions. Her +Majesty would ask us every day to lunch or dine at her table, and I +rarely took a meal in my own quarters. I had discarded the knife and +fork and was learning to use the chop-sticks. I thought them such +graceful implements when wielded by the beautiful hands of the Chinese +Ladies, that I determined to learn their use. Though I never became +an adept with them, I found these dainty implements perfectly adapted +for eating the Chinese food. They are used both in the same hand like +twin fairy wands, and seemed to me much more delicate and graceful +than a knife and fork. My efforts at using them, and my desire to try +all the new dishes, amused and pleased the Ladies. Each would give me +special tidbits from her favorite dishes; they tried to teach me the +Chinese names of the viands. My efforts at pronouncing these names, +or my giving them to the wrong dishes, sometimes raised peals of +laughter from the whole table. Her Majesty often heard the merriment, +and would ask us, when we went into her private apartments after the +meal, what had been the cause; and sometimes she would say, “What has +‘Kergunia’[4] said?” + +[4] My Chinese name. + +We had scarcely finished luncheon, on this my second day at the Sea +Palace, before the chairs were ordered for a promenade. It had begun +to rain, and the air was chilly; but Her Majesty had made up her mind +to have a walk at that hour, and nothing ever interfered with her +plans, in so far as she was able to carry them out. No weather, however +disagreeable or severe, ever kept her from an outdoor promenade that +she had planned. The open chairs were brought, as if the day were fine. +Her Majesty and the Empress took their seats in their yellow chairs. +Their attendant eunuchs unfurled the huge yellow umbrellas, used only +for Their Imperial Majesties and the young Empress; the second Empress +took her orange-colored chair; the Princesses and the rest of us seated +ourselves in our red chairs, and our eunuchs raised the red umbrellas +over us. Her Majesty the Empress and Princesses, clothed in the +brilliant colors daily worn, the eunuchs still wearing their richly +embroidered gala costumes, the chair-bearers still clad in the festive +red, the yellow and red chairs with the big yellow, orange, and red +umbrellas made a quaint procession, bright with color, that started off +through the courts into the gardens. + +Her Majesty loves every phase of nature and every kind of weather; +but it seemed to me as if she particularly loved rain. She once said +it lent such a poetic charm to the landscape, bathing it in a soft +mystery and washing away all defects. Peking is a dry place, and rain +is a rarity, which probably accounts for this predilection. Her Majesty +was in great good humor, but her partiality for rain was not shared by +the other Ladies of the Palace, and these rainy promenades were never +indulged in by them with any great show of delight. Her Majesty likes +moving swiftly, and the chair-bearers always run when she leads the +procession. We sped along for about fifteen minutes, when the chairs +suddenly stopped. I looked to see for what reason, as we were in the +open, with no shelter anywhere near, and the rain still falling. I was +surprised to see Her Majesty was already out of her chair and walking +off toward a “gourd-arbor” at the side of the paved walk. + +The gourd is much esteemed by the Chinese. It is emblematic of +Fruitfulness and Prosperity, and is a special favorite of Her +Majesty’s. Those cultivated at the Palace, and known all over China as +the “Imperial Gourd,” have long been famous; but have reached a greater +state of perfection than ever before, under the special care and +training given them during Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s reign. +They are of one shape only, with a contracted neck and two equal parts +above and below; but they are of all sizes, from one to twelve inches, +the one-inch size being as perfect as the larger ones. They are grown +on trellises, about seven feet high, and the vines are very carefully +trained, so that each of the much-prized fruit may attain its best +development and have its proper quota of light and sun. + +Her Majesty walked through the mud to the arbor. The white kid +six-inch-high soles of her shoes sank deep into the soft, rain-soaked +soil. The eunuchs made vain attempts to protect her from the rain, but +she went imperturbably on and was soon under the gourd-arbor. Here she +leisurely tried several of the gourds, to see if they were properly +ripe; for they must be pulled at a certain time or they do not dry +well. After looking at and trying a number, she had several gathered +and went back to her chair. The young Empress and the other Ladies had, +of course, got out of the chairs when Her Majesty stopped. Luckily, she +did not ask us to go into the arbor with her; but etiquette obliged +us to stand on the marble walk, which though not muddy and not so +disagreeable as the walk to the gourd-arbor, was, however, running with +water. When Her Majesty took her chair again, we resumed ours, with a +sigh of relief; for, though we were unprotected even in the chairs, we +felt the truth of the Oriental saying, “It is better to be sitting than +standing,” etc. + +After another quarter of an hour, the chair-bearers stopped again. We +had come to another gourd-arbor! Her Majesty got out of her chair +and examined the gourds in this arbor with the same deliberation and +interest as she had looked at those where we first stopped. The rain +was now falling in torrents, but Her Majesty’s spirits seemed to go +up in proportion to its coming down. The Ladies were again obliged +to get out of their chairs! They stood in two dejected lines, with +the eunuchs holding, as best they might, the red umbrellas over +each, and they vainly tried to keep up an appearance of interest +and enjoyment. The brave finery of the eunuchs, who may not carry +umbrellas when on service, was now hanging in limp folds about them, +and their fine feathers were much bedraggled. The Chinese Ladies had +their two-inch-high, kid-covered cork soles to protect their feet from +the water; but mine, in thin kid slippers, were soaking. The picture +of the dejected Ladies, the rain-soaked eunuchs, was, however, so +amusing, that I quite forgot my own discomfort and thoroughly enjoyed +the situation. After another twenty minutes’ run, with the rain still +falling, Her Majesty gave the word and the procession turned toward the +Hall of the Mongolian Princes. The great doors were thrown open, and we +were, at last, under shelter. + +A yellow chair was placed for Her Majesty in front of the dais, and she +had some of the gourds she had gathered brought to her. She selected +one for herself, gave one to her principal Lady-in-waiting, Sih-Gerga, +and handed one to the Chief Eunuch Li--the Princess and the Chief +Eunuch both being proficient in the art of scraping them. A sharpened +piece of bamboo was brought to Her Majesty and she began to work on +the gourd she had taken, scraping off the outer skin. She told me to +stand near and watch her scrape it, as it was a very difficult thing +to do well! She certainly did it well, and it was most interesting to +watch her beautiful little hands, as they gracefully moved the piece +of bamboo back and forth, quickly removing the outer skin, in the most +approved way. Though apparently thoroughly interested in scraping her +gourd, she asked me how I had enjoyed my promenade of the day before, +and what I thought of the Sea Palace. She called my attention to the +inscriptions on the tablets behind the Throne, saying they were in +Manchu and Chinese characters, pointing out their difference of form +and also speaking of the differences in the two languages. She said she +thought Manchu would be easier for a foreigner to learn than Chinese, +as Manchu has an alphabet and is constructed more on the lines of a +European language. Presently Her Majesty turned to speak to some one +else, and I immediately withdrew, as is the custom at the Palace. We +went out and joined the Empress and Princesses, who had already retired +from the Throne-room and were having tea and cigarettes reclining on +the couches in one of the rooms in the rear. After an hour’s rest in +the Mongolian Hall, the rain having ceased, we continued our promenade +through the grounds much more pleasantly than we had begun it, and Her +Majesty took me for a walk in the Gardens of the Sea Palace, as she had +promised. + +After dinner, we were rowed over the lake to the Gates. Just beyond +them a company of archers was practising with their bows and arrows; +for archery is still in vogue in China, and fine marksmanship among the +archers is rewarded by substantial advancement in the army. Archery is +also practised as a sport by the young Manchu nobles. It is said to +educate the eye and materially develop the chest and arms. The Chinese +pay great attention to position in archery. They stand stiffly erect, +the chest thrown well forward, the head held high, the bow and arrow +at rigidly prescribed angles; and if this position be not observed, +however true the flight of the arrow, it goes for naught. From the +shelter of my chair, I watched the company’s practice until I heard +the “Sunset call” resounding through the Palace grounds; echoed and +reëchoed until it reached the outer gates, which began to move upon +their huge hinges until they clanged together for the night. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + RETURN TO THE SUMMER PALACE + +The next day the Court returned to the Summer Palace. The festivities +and sacrifices in connection with the Emperor’s Birthday being now over +and the Court settled down to its usual routine, I hoped I might be +allowed to go regularly to work on the portrait, and that Her Majesty +would allow me to paint when she was not posing. There was much I could +do between times, and she could pose but for a short time each day. Up +to that time, Her Majesty had treated me as a guest at Court, whose +amusement was the most important thing to be looked after. She seemed +much interested in the work, but my painting was an incident and even +the “Sacred Picture” a secondary consideration. All these walks, these +delightful excursions, were perfectly charming, and, had I gone to the +Palace to enjoy myself, or to study Her Majesty and Chinese manners and +customs, I would have been perfectly satisfied. I had, in the Empress +Dowager, a psychological study full of ever varying and constant +interest. I was living through a unique experience, seeing what I could +never hope to see again, but I was not allowed to paint on the portrait +as much as I should have liked. Could I but have had permission to +work more, I should have been very happy. Had I been able to speak +Chinese well enough, I felt I would obtain what I desired; she had +shown herself so uniformly kind. She probably felt I was enjoying +myself more in this way than working at my painting. + +While I thoroughly enjoyed the promenades with Her Majesty, I loved the +daily sittings. Every portrait painter knows the sort of intimacy that +establishes itself between him and his sitter, however unsympathetic +the latter may be at first sight, which was certainly not the case in +this instance. The effort of the painter to get under the exterior and +discover the real person of his sitter; the desire to see the best side +and make the most of it, meets generally with a sympathetic response. +If the “rapport” is properly established, they get to know each other +better by the time the portrait is finished than they could otherwise +have done, perhaps in years. Though I saw Her Majesty so intimately at +other times, I felt I was not seeing her “face to face” (figuratively +speaking), except at the sittings. + + [Illustration: ON THE ROAD FROM PEKING TO THE SUMMER PALACE] + +The morning after our return to the Summer Palace, my easel was again +placed in the Throne-room. The portrait was taken down from its +resting-place and work resumed. Her Majesty gave me a long sitting, +and the portrait made a step ahead. If I had only had a place to work +alone, where I might study the picture, when she was not posing, I +could have made so many improvements! But I was obliged to possess my +soul in patience, and work along for the short space of an hour or so a +day and stop the moment Her Majesty felt fatigued, when my brushes and +palette were whisked away, as if by magic. There was no chance to study +the portrait or to do anything, except when the Empress Dowager and the +crowd of attendants were present. + +I had taken to the Palace only a small folding easel, which was not +at all suitable for regular work on so large a portrait, but it was +impossible to get a better one in Peking. Her Majesty, who observed +everything, noticed that it was not convenient, and suggested that I +draw a design for a large easel and give it to the Palace carpenters to +copy. She thought they would be able to make me one. I did so, and they +made me a very satisfactory working easel. When the eunuchs found that +this Palace easel suited me, five others of different sizes were made. +I asked for what reason, and was told that everything for Her Majesty +was made in sixes. It would have been establishing a precedent, making +an innovation, to have fewer than six easels for her portrait. + +Her Majesty also ordered some large flat boxes, with lock and key, to +be made for my materials. These boxes were covered in yellow, for they +were to be used for the Sacred Picture, and must be in the Imperial +color. I forgot to say the six easels had all been stained a bright +yellow! A table, surmounted by one of these yellow boxes, occupied a +prominent place in the Throne-room during the whole time this portrait +was being painted. When I finished painting each day, the Chief Eunuch, +himself, removed the picture from the easel, and a number of others +came and took my brushes and palette, put away the easel and closed +the yellow box and locked it. Our head eunuch carried the key to the +box. + +When the afternoon sitting was finished, we went out for another of +those delightful promenades around the grounds. The days were now +growing visibly shorter, and the evenings were beginning to be cool. As +we went through the gardens, Her Majesty stopped at all her favorite +points and looked for a few moments at the view, as if to greet it +again, after her absence. She loved the Summer Palace and it always +seemed a pleasure to her to return to it. We had tea in one of the +tea-houses where there were tables and seats. She ordered the eunuchs +to make a sort of blanc-mange of lotus-root flour, which was delicious, +and, as she said, most wholesome. When the Empress Dowager goes for a +walk, portable stoves and all the paraphernalia necessary for cooking a +light repast are taken along. It seemed wonderful to me to see the way +the Chinese could cook, with apparently so few conveniences. After this +we had tea. The finest tea in China is sent to the Palace. The first +leaves of the plantations all over the Great Empire are reserved for +Their Majesties. Her Majesty, who is a great epicure, has her choice +of these chosen leaves. She adds to the delicacy of its already fine +flavor by putting into her tea-cup the blooms of dried honeysuckle, +the flowers of jasmine, or other fragrant blooms. The honey from these +flowers slightly sweetens the tea, besides giving it a delicate, subtle +flavor, quite unique. These dried blooms are brought in a jade bowl, +with two long cherry sticks, with which Her Majesty takes the flowers +and places them in her cup, stirring them into the tea with these +graceful wands. The Chinese never use a teaspoon. Her Majesty drinks +her tea from a jade cup, which is placed in a curiously fashioned, +cunningly wrought, open-work, silver saucer. The Chinese take their tea +boiling hot, and the jade does not get so hot as a porcelain cup. + +We continued our walk through the gardens after leaving the tea-house, +and when we were passing a bed of flowers Her Majesty spied some +curious grass, which she ordered the eunuchs to gather. When it was +brought to her she deftly wove several blades of it into a perfectly +recognizable representation of a rabbit. She did it so quickly I did +not realize she was trying to make anything until she tossed the +finished result over to me and asked me what I thought it was. It was +unmistakable. + +When we reached our objective point, one of the highest eminences in +the grounds, with the whole panorama of the Western Hills spread out +beneath us, and the setting sun glowing over all in brilliant splendor, +it was a glorious scene. She called me up to her side and made a +graceful, sweeping gesture of the hand that said, “This is all mine, +but you may share it with me.” She had that sense of possession of +nature’s beauties which all artistic souls feel, for their appreciation +makes what they view their own. She felt it was hers, because she loved +it so, and she knew I would appreciate it, which few of her “entourage” +did, as none of them were such passionate lovers of nature as the +Empress Dowager, and custom had dulled their perception of the beauty +of the scene. The exquisite pleasure the contemplation of this glorious +view gave me, made me tremble with delight. As the day was fading and +as I was thinly clad, Her Majesty thought I was cold, and, seeing I had +no wrap, she called to the Chief Eunuch to bring me one of hers. He +selected one from the number that were always brought along for these +promenades, and gave it to Her Majesty, who threw it over my shoulders. +She asked me to keep it and to try to remember to take better care of +myself in the future. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + THE STEAM-LAUNCH--SEMI-ANNUAL SACRIFICES TO + CONFUCIUS + +We began now to go out on the lake in the steam-launches, instead of +the picturesque Imperial barge. The Empress Dowager is artistic and +conservative enough to like the old-fashioned barge; but she is also +intelligent enough to appreciate the advantages of other modes of +locomotion, and has no prejudices; in fact, she rather likes trying +new things. When the days were long, the air soft, and the bosom of +the lake engirdled with its chain of blooming lotus, she preferred the +barge; but when the shorter and cooler days came, when the lotus were +no longer in bloom, she ordered the steam-launch for our promenades. +She seemed now to like its swift and noisy progress as much as she had +before enjoyed the softly gliding motion of the barge. Her Throne on +the launch was on the prow, just outside and above the cabin, where the +Princesses and Ladies sat. Her Majesty always wanted the fresh air and +the view, and never went inside. The young Empress and the Ladies sat +within the luxuriously fitted up cabin with its lounges and tables. + +The first day we went out in the launch the engineer seemed not to +have it quite under control, and we soon ran aground in a field of +water-plants near the island. There was great consternation among +the eunuchs when it was found the launch could not advance, even by +putting on full steam. The engineer didn’t seem to know what to do. Her +Majesty ordered the engines reversed, and this was tried, but it was +some time before the launch moved. The Princesses and eunuchs became +quite excited, but Her Majesty was perfectly unconcerned, and laughed +at their fears for her safety. She said it would be no great matter for +her to walk over to the island. It would only mean one pair of shoes +the less! When the launch finally moved, the Chief Eunuch, not wishing +to run the risk of another mishap, wanted to give word to the engineer +to return; but Her Majesty would not hear of this, and insisted upon +completing the excursion as she had at first planned it. We had several +other mishaps, and the launch finally ran aground; and no effort of the +engineers, no putting on of extra steam, was able to get us off again. +Her Majesty kept her good humor, ordered her barge brought alongside, +and we were all “transshipped.” We finished our tour on the lake as +she had planned it, but in the barge instead of the launch. She is too +intelligent not to use any means at hand to attain her ends, and she +is intelligent enough to see that these ends can be attained, by some +means or other, before she fixes upon them. + +The Emperor of China, with the usual Chinese tolerance,--and the +Chinese are the most tolerant people in the world as to religious +faith,--is not only the head of one church, but of all the churches +in China. He is, as Emperor, the Great High Priest of Heaven, the High +Priest of Buddhism and Taoism, and is, of course, a Confucian; though +this is a philosophy rather than a religion. But though a philosophy, +there are certain rites and ceremonies observed by the Confucians. +All the great ceremonies of the different cults are celebrated in the +Palace temples with rigid impartiality and equal pomp. Whatever may be +the individual leanings of the Emperor, and, of course, he must have +his own preferences, he participates in each of these celebrations. But +his official, public exercise of religion, is limited to the worship +of Heaven and Earth, to which he makes annual public sacrifices in the +Great Temple of Heaven at Peking. + +The afternoon of our first steam-launch excursion, finished in Her +Majesty’s barge, there was a splendid ceremony in the chapel at +the foot of the hill crowned with the Temple of the Ten Thousand +Buddhas, to the memory of Confucius, the great Sage, whose philosophy +has directed the lives and laws of the Chinese people for nearly +twenty-five hundred years. Though a philosopher like Plato, he is +appreciated and his teachings followed by the masses, as well as +the classes, in China. He is not a religious leader but an ethical +teacher, and though many temples have been erected to his memory, they +are like Halls of Science and not temples to a divinity. There are no +images either of Confucius or the Sages in these temples. They are +classic halls, bare of all church-like ornamentation. Quotations from +the “analects,” painted on scrolls, cut into wood, and carved out of +stone, adorn the walls, not only of the interiors of the temples, but +of the courts and verandahs of the buildings. At the place where the +altar would be in a temple, there is a plain niche, painted in red +with a tablet bearing an inscription in gold, “The Seat of the Perfect +One.” On either side are similar niches, containing the tablets of four +other great Sages, among whom was Mencius. These semi-annual sacrifices +are in commemoration of Confucius as an ethical teacher, a wise +philosopher, a Sage. At this service in the Palace, the participants +and celebrants were all in full Court dress. There was an address to +the memory of the great Sage, with music and hymns; the latter were +rhythmic verses, containing some truth inculcated by the Sage. There +was an altar with a dragon table in front for offerings. There were +sacrifices, incense, and music. The altar was rich with splendid vases, +rare old bronze bowls, and incense-burners, and sweet with flowers +and fruit. On the dragon table, which stood in front, were offerings +of millet, meat, and wine. Tall cressets of open iron-work containing +huge, burning pine-knots were placed in front of the raised platform, +on which stood the altar, which was beautifully illuminated with tall +candles in square, silver candelabra. The court in front of this +temple, as well as the surrounding buildings, were hung with charming +painted lanterns. + +Their Majesties, with the Empress and Ladies, preceded and surrounded +by eunuchs and officials, in full Court dress, went in ceremonious +procession through the verandahed corridors, from Her Majesty’s +Throne-room to the temple. Their approach was accompanied by the slow +beating of drums. When they reached the temple, three yellow cushions +were placed on the paved floor for Their Majesties and the Empress, and +red cushions for the Ladies. The music was played in rhythmic strains, +while Their Majesties knelt and prostrated themselves three times; the +Empress and Ladies doing likewise. The officials and other participants +knelt outside in the court. When the prostrations were finished, a +yellow chair was brought for the Empress Dowager. She sat during the +rest of the service, but the Emperor, the Empress, and Ladies remained +standing during the whole celebration. This consisted of a number of +genuflexions and prostrations by the celebrants, and a moving about +of the offerings on the dragon table in a ceremonious and reverent +manner. The chief officiant read the address from a long scroll. After +finishing it, he placed it on a casket on the altar. The first part +of the ceremony took place inside the temple, then the celebrants +went out into the court and intoned the six hymns and made renewed +prostrations. I was not able to understand enough of the hymns, or to +get them sufficiently translated to make out their meaning. They were +all of uniform length. They were in praise of Confucius and were called +“Odes to Peace.” When all the verses were intoned, the scroll with the +address, some of each of the offerings, were placed in the huge iron +incense-burner, that stood in the center of the outer court, and set on +fire by the chief celebrant, while one of the several flagons of wine +that had made part of the offerings was poured over the blaze. + +I had not expected to enter the temple with Their Majesties and the +Ladies, but when we reached the door, the Empress drew me in with her. +They seemed to realize that I enjoyed seeing these celebrations and to +perfectly understand my not taking any active part in them. I always +remained standing, but I listened reverently to the intoning of the +hymns and the reading of the address. I conducted myself as I would at +any religious ceremony, and they seemed to appreciate it. + +When all was finished, Her Majesty told me to go up to the altar and +examine the rare, old, bronze ornaments, the candelabra, etc. They +explained to me that the address, which had been read, was burned, +as it had filled its mission when it was read; that the ashes of a +literary essay were a most fitting offering to the memory of Confucius, +the great philosopher. When all was over, Their Majesties ordered the +boats to come to the foot of the terrace, where the last part of the +celebration had been made, and we returned to the Palace by way of the +lake. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + THE PALACE EUNUCHS + +The internal affairs of the Palace are managed by eunuchs, among +whom there are all grades, all sorts and conditions. Some are clever +literati given to study; some have the polished, insinuating manners +of the courtier; some have a Mandarin rank of high degree; some are +menials. There are actors and singers, cooks and gardeners, teachers +and pupils, writers and readers. They occupy all sorts of positions, +from Their Majesties’ body-guard to gate-keepers. In this hierarchy, +Their Majesties’ Chief Eunuchs held the first place. Under each of +these there are six eunuchs of high rank, all exceptionally clever, who +have raised themselves to the positions they occupy in the Palace by +their own efforts or by some special qualification. + +Each of the hundreds of pavilions and palaces in the inclosures has a +corps of eunuchs, presided over by a head eunuch. These act as guards +to the premises, as well as servants, and keep things in readiness +for a visit from Their Majesties. There is a head eunuch who directs +the large corps of Palace gardeners; another who presides over the +dozens of cooks in the Imperial kitchen; one is at the head of each +of the departments, and each of these head eunuchs, chiefs of the +different departments, is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Eunuch, +for Her Majesty’s Chief Eunuch may be called the real Chief Eunuch +of the Palace. He is not only older than the Emperor’s Chief Eunuch, +but is more capable. The two Chief Eunuchs, from their position near +the sacred persons of Their Majesties, have unusual power. They may +make or mar the career of the eunuchs beneath them; and they not only +have this power inside the Palace, but from their exceptionally fine +opportunities to present petitions, to speak for or against certain +people, they also have a great deal of power with people outside the +Palace. Her Majesty’s Chief Eunuch has almost the power in Peking, +among officials and courtiers, that “Son Eminence Grise” had at the +Court of Louis XIII of France. He is courted and fawned upon, receives +magnificent presents, and nobles of high degree wait upon his pleasure; +but while he occupies this high position with outsiders, in the Palace +I saw no evidence of his having any unusual power with Her Majesty, +beyond that of one who has been in the life-long service of his master +and who has the privileges resulting therefrom. + +The peculiar position of a Chinese Emperor, which shuts him in his +Palace like a Buddha in a temple, makes some sort of confidential +private messenger an absolute necessity. There is much business of an +unofficial kind, which must be transacted in a private way. The Chief +Eunuchs are naturally called upon in such cases. When the Ruler of +the Celestial Empire is a woman, the Palace becomes more of a gilded +prison, a shut-in shrine, than even in the case of an Emperor. She +cannot see officials, or even members of the Imperial clan, except in +the Audience Halls. Thus a Chief Eunuch under an Empress would have +even greater power than under an Emperor; and in this instance, Her +Majesty’s Chief Eunuch, Li Lien Ying, is really of exceptional ability! + +In person he is tall and thin. His head is, in type, like Savonarola’s. +He has a Roman nose, a massive lean jaw, a protruding lower lip, and +very shrewd eyes, full of intelligence, that shine out of sunken +orbits. His face is much wrinkled and his skin like old parchment. +Though only sixty years old, he looks seventy-five, and is the oldest +eunuch in the Palace. He has been there since the age of ten. He has +elegant, insinuating manners, speaks excellent Chinese--having a fine +enunciation, a good choice of words, and a low, pleasant voice. If one +may judge from appearances, he possesses ability in a marked degree. +Of His Majesty’s Chief Eunuch I can say nothing. I only saw him on the +days of the Theater, or some festival, when His Majesty passed the day +with the Empress Dowager and the Ladies, when he was always accompanied +by his suite. + +Her Majesty’s second eunuch, Sui, who is of equal rank with Li Lien +Ying, is as unlike him as two people could possibly be, both as to +person, character, mental and moral nature. This one has none of +the qualities of the intriguer--no Machiavellian schemes would be +forwarded by him. He is almost a giant in size, tall and heavy. He is +forty-six years old, and has a round, full face, without a line--a +typical Chinese face, as we know it from pictures, benevolent and +kind. He, also, is a good Chinese scholar, and, of course, speaks it +elegantly. Her Majesty will have no one around her person who does +not speak it well. If it be true that Her Majesty, in choosing her +ministers, tries to have them the opposites of each other, so that she +may thus hear the different sides of a question and arrive at more just +conclusions, her two Chief Eunuchs seem to have been chosen in the same +way. + +There is a eunuch appointed to administer the punishment, ordered by +Their Majesties for the eunuchs around their persons. For the higher +eunuchs, this is generally the deprivation of a certain amount of their +annual wages, or the loss of their buttons, for the buttons on the hats +of Chinese denote their rank, and to be deprived of a button, or to +have one of lower rank given, is considered a disgrace. I once saw Her +Majesty very angry over the failure to carry out one of her orders, by +two of the high eunuchs, and she ordered them to be deprived of two +months’ pay. The head eunuchs of the different departments administer +whatever punishment they see fit, to those over whom they are placed. +This punishment is generally corporal. Sometimes they abuse their +authority and are very cruel in administering this, but, as a rule, +the eunuchs seem to be of a mild and peace-loving nature, rather than +cruel and vindictive--inclined to condone the faults of their inferiors +rather than punish them to the full extent of their authority. There +seemed to be a feeling of “esprit de corps” among them--a spirit of +mutual helpfulness. + +Each of the higher eunuchs has a number of pupils among the lower +grades, who call him “Master,” and whom he trains in manners and +teaches his own specialties. The higher eunuchs seemed to take the +liveliest interest in the good conduct, and literary, or other, +advancement of these pupils, and they push their interests with Their +Majesties in every way possible--each one, of course, trying to advance +his pupils beyond those of some other eunuch. + +Her Majesty has a great horror of opium smoking. If a eunuch, however +high his position, indulged in it, the severest punishments she ever +ordered were administered. They were not only deprived of so many +months’ pay and loss of their buttons, but were sometimes banished +from the Palace for a certain length of time, and even severe corporal +punishment would be ordered. These stringent measures did not prevent +some of them, however, from indulging surreptitiously in the narcotic, +but they took the most extreme precautions to prevent its being found +out. Her Majesty has unusually acute olfactories, especially for opium. +This, it seems, can be detected by its odor, which hangs around the +clothes, and, like the odor of the rose, one “can break the vase, it +lingers there still.” But it seems the eunuchs have special linen +clothes, which they put on for smoking, and these are given to be +washed, immediately the fascinating pipe is finished. Unless one is an +habitual smoker, the drug has very little outward effect and, except by +the odor, it cannot be detected. + +The eunuchs are very fond of all sorts of pets, and have in their +quarters dogs without number, cats and birds. While the younger eunuchs +generally depend for their advancement upon their teachers, who report +favorably on them to Their Majesties, they sometimes attract the +attention of Their Majesties, and may be raised out of their places by +Imperial favor. Among the eunuchs assigned to my service in the Palace, +was one who was fortunate enough to attract the Emperor’s notice. His +Majesty had happened to notice him, carrying my wraps on one of the +promenades with Her Majesty. He liked his face and manners and took +him into his own service. The eunuch had a “button” bestowed on him +and promised to mount very fast in grade. This eunuch had been in the +Palace about fifteen years; and had His Majesty not happened to notice +him, he might have lived and died in oblivion, and never had a button, +for his “master” was dead and he had no protector to push his interests! + +When one realizes that the Palaces of the Chinese Emperor are like +towns, that their affairs are administered principally by the eunuchs, +one can see there must be a good deal of intelligence among them, as +well as great opportunities to add to their personal wealth. + +I heard, before I went into the Palace, of the great power and +unscrupulousness of the Chief Eunuchs; that it would be necessary to be +very conciliatory toward them and make them many handsome presents. I +did not find it so. I never made an effort to conciliate any of them, +nor gave any handsome presents, and I found them all respectful, and I +had every consideration shown me by them, and found them, on the whole, +pleasant enough to deal with. Some of them were clever and interesting +even, and they all had very good manners. In fact, I cannot too highly +praise the manners of the Chinese, as a race. I quite concur in the +opinion of a clever Frenchman, who said of China, “Aujourd’hui c’est là +où les bonnes manières se sont refugiées.” + + + + + CHAPTER XV + + THE LITERARY TASTES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE + EMPRESS DOWAGER + +When Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was Empress of the Western Palace, +Co-Regent with the Empress of the Eastern Palace, who died in 1881, +the Empress of the Eastern Palace was known as the “Literary Empress.” +All State affairs were left to the stronger executive ability of the +Empress of the Western Palace; while she of the Eastern Palace gave +herself up to literary pursuits and led the life of a student. She was +a woman of such fine literary ability that she, herself, sometimes +examined the essays of the aspirants for the highest literary honors in +the University of Peking. She was also a writer of distinction. + +During the long Co-Regency of these two remarkable women, widows of +the Emperor Hsien-Feng, one led the life of a student; the other, the +active, militant life of the ruler. For the present Empress Dowager +has been the real ruler of the great Chinese Empire for the last +forty-five years. Had the Empress of the Eastern Palace not been such +an exceptional light as a literary woman and had not Her Majesty, +Tze-Hsi, possessed so many other and more remarkable qualities, the +latter’s name might also go down to history as a “literary Empress,” +for the Empress Dowager has literary qualities of no mean kind. She +writes a graceful poem, is able to express herself in elegant Chinese, +as well as in the ruder, more forcible Manchu language. She can +write in literary style, fine idiomatic Chinese, and this is a rare +accomplishment for a woman. The written Chinese language is quite +different from that spoken by even the most cultivated. Imagery and +figure abound to such a degree, literary form is so important, that +many fine scholars are unable to write the language acceptably, except +for practical purposes. Aside from Her Majesty’s literary acquirements, +she has an enlightened taste, is a great reader of the classics, and +a fine critic. She also loves poems of heroic adventure. One of her +favorite historical characters is the Chinese Jeanne d’Arc, the warlike +Maiden, Whar-Mou-Lahn, who went forth to battle in masculine guise, had +many heroic adventures in her twelve years’ service, and, through them +all, remained a virgin pure. + +The Empress Dowager has a wonderful verbal memory. Memory, so highly +esteemed by the Chinese, is most carefully cultivated, and is generally +better developed with them than with us. Her Majesty’s memory is, +however, considered exceptional, even among the Chinese. She can repeat +pages, not only of the classics, but of her favorite authors. One of +the widows of her son (the Emperor Tung-Chih), who came regularly every +week to pay her respects to Her Majesty, is a very clever woman and a +great favorite of her august mother-in-law. This lady also possesses +a remarkable memory. On her visits to the Palace I used to hear Her +Majesty and this Empress quoting from some of their favorite classics +or poems. The quotations would pass from one to another, sometimes +for a half-hour without stopping, and, at times, they would repeat in +concert some favorite phrase. I will never forget how they looked: Her +Majesty sitting at her Throne-table with her flowers or some light +occupation, her daughter-in-law standing beside her, each of their +faces lighted up with pleasure as they repeated line after line. + +When the Empress Dowager went to her own apartments for her “siesta,” +her reader would come bringing volumes of her favorite authors. Some +days I could hear his voice rising and falling in regular cadence +during the whole time she was resting in her apartments. When she was +particularly interested in what had been read to her she would have the +book taken out when she went for her daily promenade and would sit and +read as she was carried along in her open chair, or was rowed along on +the barge. This did not often happen, however, for she took such keen +delight in all its manifestations, she preferred to read in Nature’s +book when out-of-doors. + +She is a great lover of the theater and prefers the classic, the old +plays, to the modern Chinese drama. She had one new play staged, while +I was in the Palace, with which she seemed to be much pleased. She +studied the play for several days before it was given for the first +time, and, at the first representation, she followed every line with +intense interest. She sent her eunuchs several times to the stage +to suggest changes in the rendering of certain parts and in the +interpretation of certain lines. The Theater generally begins with +a short play, which is often a light farce. She seemed sometimes to +enjoy these very much and would laugh heartily at the good hits, which +were often original additions by the actors, allusions to some passing +event. Contrary to my preconceived idea as to the Chinese, they are +witty and appreciate humor in others. The Empress Dowager has a fine +sense of humor. She not only sees the point of a joke, but she can turn +one very cleverly herself. + +She is very particular about the way Chinese is spoken, a great +stickler for purity of expression and elegance of style. There are as +many dialects in China as there are Provinces in the Great Empire; +and although the literati and gentry speak, what is called Mandarin +Chinese, some of the most highly educated of the literati from the +Provinces speak it with an accent. Her Majesty, who has a musical ear +and great discernment as to sounds, gets very impatient when listening +to Chinese spoken with an accent. It is said, other things being +not quite equal, she will give the preference, in an appointment, +to an official who speaks perfect Chinese and who has a good voice, +especially if his office brings him often into the Presence. However, +particular as she is, bad Chinese in a man of merit is not a bar to +advancement, for Li-Hung-Chang, whom she appreciated so highly, and to +whom she gave such preferment, is said to have spoken very indifferent +Chinese. + +Whether it be, that Her Majesty’s musical and exquisitely modulated +voice, so fresh and silvery, so youthful, adds to the charm of her +Chinese, when she speaks it, it sounds like beautiful rhythmic poetry. +She speaks it so graphically, with such expression and graceful +gestures, that it charms one even who does not understand the language. + +One day when she was out for a walk, one of the directors of the +gardeners was brought up to explain something to her, some change in +the laying out of new flower beds. She listened a few moments, but +I saw her frown and begin to look impatient. After a few more words +from the poor man, who was evidently overcome by timidity and probably +speaking worse Chinese than usual, Her Majesty turned to the Chief +Eunuch and said, “Let him tell you and you can translate to me; I can’t +stand any more of that language,” and she walked away, still frowning. + +Another day, I heard the Empress Dowager tell one of the Ladies at +Court (her daughter-in-law), who was also a great purist in the matter +of language, about her own Chinese having been misunderstood by one +of the eunuchs. There are many Chinese words almost exactly alike in +sound, which are only differentiated by the inflection or tone. Thus +there must be great accuracy of enunciation, and there must also be +great accuracy of ear. Her Majesty had given an order to one of the +eunuchs. The stupid fellow had misunderstood the inflection and had +done the exact opposite. She was so amused and astonished, when she +found that _her_ tone had been misunderstood, that she did not reprove +him for his stupidity. + +One day, she corrected one of the Princesses for the pronunciation of +a word, and she said (in an aside) it was not strange this Princess +did not speak better, for her father’s Chinese was “execrable,” thus +showing that even Princes do not always speak the language correctly. + +One of the most precious gifts the Empress Dowager makes, and which is +sacredly treasured by its recipients, is a scroll with a single great +character written upon it by Her Majesty’s own hand. This is considered +one of the most difficult feats of a Chinese writer. These characters +are sometimes four feet long. One day we were invited to go into the +Throne-room to see Her Majesty make some of these characters. When +I went into the Great Hall, Her Majesty and the Ladies were already +there. She was stirring a great bowl of India ink, for she is very +particular as to its consistency and fluidity. When the ink suited +her, she took from a eunuch standing near, who held a number, a huge +short-handled brush, which she could hardly clasp in her small hand. +She tried two or three, before she found one that pleased her, and, +turning to me, said, “You see I also have my choice in brushes.” I +asked Lady Yu-Keng to tell her that I thought her large brushes were +more suitable for my hands and that my smaller ones would have been +more appropriate for her. She laughingly replied she preferred the +Chinese brush, and that her hands, small as they were, were able to +wield it very satisfactorily, which was no vain boast. + +When all was ready, and the huge scroll spread out before her on a +table, she dipped her brush into the bowl of ink, held by the eunuch, +and began the first stroke of one of these famous characters, in which +she is said to equal the most proficient writers in China. I was amazed +to see the firmness of her wrist and the beautiful clearness of her +stroke, which deviated not a hair’s breadth from the line she wished +to follow. She made six great characters on six of the scrolls. These +characters meant “Peace,” “Prosperity,” “Longevity,” etc. When she had +finished these, she said she feared her hand had no longer the firmness +necessary for doing another. + +While she was writing, the young Empress, the Princesses, and the +eunuchs stood around, watching her with intense interest. They seemed +to take great pride in her firmness of touch and her accuracy of line. + +The Chinese written character must be made in a certain way. It must +begin at a given part. The strokes must follow a given direction. The +transversal strokes must be placed with mathematical precision. Nothing +is left to the caprice or individuality of the writer. Any one, knowing +the Chinese written characters, can tell you whether these complicated +hieroglyphs were begun at the proper place or made in the proper way. +They may look perfectly correct to the uninitiated observer who has a +most accurate eye, and still not be so considered by the connoisseur. + + [Illustration: THE EMPRESS DOWAGER WRITING A “GREAT CHARACTER”] + +The firmness of Her Majesty’s touch is also very apparent in her +painting, for she is very artistic, and paints flowers in a charming +way; in fact, she is remarkably clever with her fingers. She does not +embroider now, as she formerly did, nor does she paint so much, for she +says her eyes are not so good as they were, though she does not and has +never worn glasses. There are a great number of artificial flowers +made in the Palace, as no Manchu lady’s coiffure is considered complete +without flowers. Her Majesty is very particular about the way these +flowers are made, and when they were brought to her for inspection, +with a deft touch she would give a defective flower the required form. + +She often makes new designs for the flowers, having them woven into +quaint figures, or having a number of small blooms made into a +representation of some large flower. She sometimes had her diadem made +of the snowy blooms of the fragrant jasmine, set with leaves and other +small flowers, representing jewels, and she would wear this instead of +her real jewels. + +She is a great believer in one of the rules that Confucius lays down +for the attainment of “Illustrious Virtue”; she “cultivates her +person.” She is always immaculately neat. She designs her own dresses, +and has her jewels set according to her own directions. She is very +artistic in the arrangement of her flowers and jewels, and sees that +they harmonize with her toilet. She has excellent taste in the choice +of colors, and I never saw her with an unbecoming color on, except the +Imperial yellow. This was not becoming, but she was obliged to wear it +on all official occasions. She used to modify it, as much as possible, +by the trimmings, and would sometimes have it so heavily embroidered +that the original color was hardly visible. + +She is a great epicure, and often designs new and dainty dishes. She +has perfumes and soaps for her own use, made in the Palace. Although +there are quantities of French and German soaps and perfumes bought for +the Palace, she prefers an almond paste that she has made and often +uses the soap made in the Palace. The maids would make these under her +supervision. I have frequently seen them bring the mortar in which they +were stirring it to Her Majesty, that she might see its progress, and +she would energetically stir it herself. She is also a great lover of +perfumes, and herself combines the oils of different flowers so as to +produce most subtle and delightful perfumes. The Chinese say “colors, +odors, and perfumes are good for the soul.” The Empress Dowager’s soul +was certainly well cared for in this respect. + +The Chinese are so near to nature, so simple in every way, that their +influence over animals and birds is extraordinary, and seems to us +almost magical. They are very fond of all animals, and especially so +of birds. They train and teach these latter in wonderful ways. I have +often seen a Chinese go near a singing bird’s cage and tell it to sing, +and it would pour forth its little heart in melody. Birds never seem +to have any fear of them. In the afternoons, in early spring, or on a +fine day in winter, one may see hundreds of well-dressed and dignified +men each carrying a covered bird cage, taking the birds out for the +air. When they arrive at some open space in the city, or beautiful +spot in the environs, they uncover the cages and hold them aloft, or +simply sit with them on their knees, and the bird will sing as if its +little throat would burst. They have absolutely no fear, and, though +caged, seem to have a perfect understanding with their owners and obey +their voices. They are often let out of the cages when taken out for +exercise, but they will return to them at the call of their owners; and +these birds are not hatched in cages--they are taken from the forests +and trained. + +Two of the religious precepts of the Chinese--“Hurt no living thing,” +“Protect all living things”--are carried so far, they will allow an +animal to live in misery rather than put him out of it by a speedy +death. They love all animals and fear none. They say if you do not +attack an animal, however dangerous he is, he will not harm you. + +The Empress Dowager seemed also to possess this almost magical power +over animals. Her dogs never paid the slightest attention but to her +voice, and would obey her slightest gesture; but, fond as she was of +them, she rarely caressed them; and she was so particular about her +hands that, when she did stroke or fondle one of her pets, she would +immediately after have a cloth wrung out of hot water brought to wipe +her fingers. I never saw a dog in her arms but once, and this was a +puppy which she took a fancy to when visiting her kennels one day, and +she brought him back to the Throne-room in her arms and played with him +for some time. + +On one of our promenades in the park I saw a curious instance of her +wonderful personal magnetism and her power over animals. A bird had +escaped from its cage, and some eunuchs were making efforts to catch +it, when Her Majesty and suite came into that part of the grounds. +The eunuchs had found it impossible to entice the bird back into its +cage; nor would it come upon a long stick with a perch attached, which +they held up near the tree where it rested. The eunuchs scattered at +the approach of Her Majesty, and she inquired the cause of their being +here. The Chief Eunuch explained what they were doing, and the Empress +Dowager said, “I will call it down.” I thought this was a vain boast, +and in my heart I pitied her. She was so accustomed to have the whole +world bow to her, she fancied even a bird in the grounds would obey her +mandates, and I watched to see how she would take her defeat. She had +a long, wand-like stick, which had been cut from a sapling and freshly +stripped of its bark. She loved the faint forest odor of these freshly +cut sticks, and in the spring often had one when she went out. They +were long and slender, with a crook at the top. I used to think she +looked like the pictures of fairies when she walked with these long, +white wands. She would use them for pointing out a flower she wished +the eunuchs to gather, or for tracing designs on the gravel when she +sat down. To-day she held the wand she carried aloft and made a low, +bird-like sound with her lips, never taking her eyes off the bird. She +had the most musical of voices, and its flute-like sound seemed like +a magical magnet to the bird. He fluttered and began to descend from +bough to bough until he lighted upon the crook of her wand, when she +gently moved her other hand up nearer and nearer, until it finally +rested on her finger! + + [Illustration: THE EMPRESS DOWAGER IN THE GARDENS OF THE SUMMER + PALACE--CALLING A BIRD] + +I had been watching with breathless attention, and so tense and +absorbed had I become that the sudden cessation, when the bird finally +came upon her finger, caused me a throb of almost pain. No one else, +however, of her entourage seemed to think this anything extraordinary. +After a few moments she handed the bird to one of the eunuchs, and we +continued on our promenade. + +I saw another instance of her magnetic power, this time with a katydid. +One of the Princesses, seeing one on a bush, tried to catch it, but in +vain. Her Majesty held out her hand toward the beautiful insect, made a +peculiar sound like their own cry, and advanced her outstretched finger +until it rested upon it. She stroked it gently for a few moments, and +then removed her fingers, and the katydid made no effort to fly until +she put it down! + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + THE GREAT AUDIENCE HALL--SOME OFFICIAL + CUSTOMS + +When His Majesty the Emperor reigned alone, he was in the habit of +holding his Audiences as early as three o’clock A.M. It is said, +however, that this custom was owing as much to his personal shyness as +to his love of early rising, for at these Audiences he would allow but +two candles on the Throne-table in front of him, and the Great Hall +was lighted elsewhere only by the beautiful Chinese lanterns, which +shine with but a dim brilliancy and are not very effective as lights. +Thus his face could not be seen if an official should so forget the +Proprieties as to raise his eyes to the Imperial Person. + +Their Majesties’ Audiences are held in the Great Audience Hall, a +detached building apart and quite distinct from all the other buildings +of the Palace inclosure. The inscription over its great doors points +out that it is the “Hall where Industry is to be applied to State +Affairs.” In all the Palaces the Audience Hall is nearest the outside +walls and entrances, so that the officials who are privileged to +have Audiences must only pass through the outer courts to reach the +hall--Their Majesties’ Palaces with their private apartments being at +some distance beyond. At the Winter Palace, where there are so many +walls within walls, each of Their Majesties’ Palaces is surrounded with +walls, and the Audience Hall is also in a walled-in inclosure near one +of the Great Gates, but at the Summer Palace there are no walls except +the exterior ones! + +The interior of the Audience Hall, at the Summer Palace, is not by +any means bare or austere. It is furnished in the same style as the +Throne-rooms, with splendid ornaments, curios, tea-tables and chairs, +and, curious anachronism, there are here three pianos! The walls are +hung with ornamental scrolls, as well as with those bearing some +gigantic character traced by an Emperor’s hand or some condensed bit of +philosophy of the Sages. One of these scrolls has an admonition to the +Emperor to remember that “he is responsible to Heaven for the happiness +and prosperity of his people.” + +There is a great dais in the center of the hall, on which stands +the Throne, with its table, behind which is the three-, five-, or +seven-leaved screen. The ancient dais was lower than those now used, +and the antique Throne, with its capacious size and cushions, was more +like a lounge than the modern Throne. This seems to indicate that the +administration of justice by the Emperor was in ancient times less +formal and more patriarchal than to-day. In former times the Emperor +could lounge upon his Throne at his ease when seeing his Ministers, and +they could approach nearer the Sacred Person, as the dais was not so +large nor so high as that in use to-day. + +Heads of departments and Princes with honorary official positions +have Audiences on certain days of the month, to report upon affairs of +their Boards or to pay their respects to His Majesty. Every day Their +Majesties hold Audience and see the Prime Minister and Grand Secretary, +and there are frequent meetings of the Grand Council. The Prime +Minister, Prince Ching, has the last Audience of the day, and business +reported on during the other Audiences is then discussed. + +All telegrams and despatches go to their respective Boards, and are, +except in cases of extreme gravity, only reported to Their Majesties +at the Audiences. After eleven all State business is supposed to be +finished by Their Majesties. They are then free from State worries +and cares until the following day. During the times of the rebellion +in the Province of Kwang-Si, when the Russian evacuation of Manchuria +was expected, and at the time of outbreak of hostilities in Manchuria +(the three grave events occurring during my stay in the Palace), +telegrams and despatches were constantly being sent to Her Majesty out +of Audience hours. They were brought to her Throne-room, and sometimes +even during her walks in the gardens they would be handed her. These +despatches were sent over to the Palace from the Wai-Wu-Pu on their +arrival. Of course, it was by Her Majesty’s express command that her +privacy was thus infringed upon. No official would otherwise have +dared transgress the prescribed rules. The despatches were received +at the entrance of the Palace by the eunuch whose province it was. He +placed them in the yellow-covered, silken-lined box, in which they were +presented to Her Majesty on bended knees. + +In front of the Throne dais, during the hours of Audience, there are +five cushions placed on the floor for the members of the Grand Council +to kneel upon when they are memorializing Their Majesties. The Prime +Minister’s cushion is nearest the Throne. A cushion to kneel upon +is a privilege only granted members of the Grand Council. Any other +official, when making communications to Their Majesties, must kneel +upon the bare marble floor, and must kneel beyond the space occupied by +these five cushions. He is thus placed at a disadvantage. The distance +at which he is from Their Majesties may prevent his hearing some of +their words, especially the Emperor’s, whose voice is very low and +without any carrying quality. The official may overcome this difficulty +and shorten the distance by paying the eunuch who conducts him to the +Audience Hall, to remove some of the cushions, so that he may kneel +nearer the dais. The Prime Minister’s and Grand Secretary’s cushions +may on no condition be removed, but the other three are subject to the +will of the introducing eunuch. If this latter be sufficiently paid, +and there is a fixed price for each cushion, he will remove the three +of the lower members of the Cabinet. + +When the official who has been granted an Audience is conducted to +the Audience Hall by the eunuch appointed for the purpose, the latter +throws open the great doors, falls upon his knees at the threshold, +and announces the name and position of the official, gives the hour +and minute of his arrival at the Palace, and, before he rises, he has +deftly removed the cushions for which he has received the required +sum. After his name has been announced, the official enters and kneels +as near the dais as is consistent with his rank and the sum paid the +eunuch. When the eunuch has introduced the official, he turns from +the door and must run away as fast as he can. Officials and eunuchs +stationed at some distance watch his departure. Should he linger or +transgress this law, capital punishment is the result. This is to avoid +eavesdropping and the possible transmission of State secrets. + +When the official granted an Audience hears the last echo of the +steps of the departing eunuch, he falls upon his knees and begins the +relation of his business. Their Majesties question him, if necessary, +to elicit further explanations. When the Audience is finished, the +official rises and walks out. The Chinese never back out of the +Presence, and it is not considered a breach of etiquette to turn their +backs upon Royalty! + +The officials who are obliged to go often to Audiences resort to an +amusing subterfuge to protect their knees from the marble floor. They +strap heavily wadded cushions around their knees before they go in, and +they can thus kneel in comfort. The long Chinese gown worn by the men, +of course, hides these knee cushions. + + [Illustration: THE OFFICIAL AUDIENCE OF THEIR MAJESTIES] + +His Majesty assumed the cares of State at an early age, when he was +still filled with boyish spirit. Many of the heads of departments are +old men, and some of them doubtless most tiresome in reiterating facts +and dwelling upon details. When the young Emperor first took over +the direction of affairs and held his Audiences alone, he would get +very impatient at hearing several of these old men go over tiresome +details. As it is not “according to the laws of propriety” for the +official to raise his eyes to the Sacred Person, while the old man +rambled on, with prosy detail, the young Emperor would slip off the +Throne and quietly descend from the dais, and when the poor official +raised his eyes to make his obeisance to the Emperor, he would see only +the vacant Throne! His Majesty had been in the rear of the hall behind +the screen for perhaps five minutes smoking a cigarette or otherwise +diverting himself! + +I noticed a curious fact as to the quality of the sacredness of the +persons of Their Celestial Majesties. This sacredness seems to belong +to them as rulers and not as individuals. In the Audience Hall when +administering justice, they are not approached nor addressed, except +upon bended knee. In the Palace, in their own privacy, when they give +an order or any command touching upon official affairs, this order +is received by the attendant, be he courtier, high official or great +prince, on his knees. When any official communication is made to Their +Majesties, in private or elsewhere, it is made kneeling, but when Their +Majesties are in their private capacity and spoken to on ordinary +affairs, they are addressed almost familiarly, and the courtier or +simple attendant stands while speaking to them. If, however, in the +midst of a familiar conversation an order is given, the attendant +immediately drops upon his knees to receive it. + +The kow-tow (pronounced ker-toe and meaning literally to bow the head) +is used as a form of thanks, and is not a manner of greeting. The +actors kow-tow to Their Majesties at the beginning and end of each +performance at the Theater, first to thank for the honor they are to +receive in being allowed to act before them, and at the end to thank +for the privilege granted. The officials “bow the head” to thank for +an Audience or any favor or gift they have received or are to receive +from Their Majesties. The kow-tow is not only made by people at the +Palace and at Imperial Audiences: it is sometimes used by equals to +each other as a proper manner of thanking for some great favor. To make +the kow-tow, the person kneels three times and each time bows his head +three times, touching the ground with it. The kow-tow could not be made +by a foreigner without looking most awkward and appearing most servile, +but the Chinese do it with dignity, and it is neither ungraceful nor +degrading-looking. It is a time-honored manner of giving thanks, +a Chinese tradition surviving from a time when the courtiers were +perhaps like slaves, but at present it does not imply any slave-like +inferiority on the part of him who performs it. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + + THE SUMMER PALACE AND ITS GROUNDS + +The Summer Palace, the Empress Dowager’s favorite residence, is +really a superb domain. Its naturally picturesque situation among the +beautiful Western Hills, sixteen miles from Peking, has been improved +wherever possible, by the devices of art. The many buildings that +constitute an Oriental Palace have been most picturesquely grouped on +the banks of its great lake. The eminences and natural undulations have +all been made the most of as sites for Palaces and temples, and the +grounds are laid out with all the art the Chinese landscape artist has +at his command. + +The buildings of the Palace proper, where Their Majesties and their +suites live, are all massed in one great town-like group at the +southeastern end of the lake. In this group are the Theater, with its +courts, and the Great Audience Hall. Palaces, temples, summer-houses, +tea-booths, dot the whole surface of the great park, and all the +vantage-points have been utilized for constructions. + +A beautiful white marble terrace runs the length of the southern side +of the lake. Pavilions at intervals vary the monotony of this line or +give accent to the natural indentations of the banks. Picturesque +landing-places, with their marble steps lapped by the waters of the +lake, also lend their variety to this terrace surmounted by its +beautiful lotus balustrade. + +The highest of the hills in the park of the Summer Palace is crowned +by the Great Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddhas. This is approached +by hundreds of steps, which lead up from the broadest part of the +marble terrace over the lake. Beautiful Palaces are built along this +terraced height. Picturesque pai-lou (memorial arches) are built at +such beautiful points, that Nature herself seems to have designed these +positions for them. + +A fair, verdure-clad island lies peacefully on the bosom of the lake, +and the Palace and temple built thereon seem a part of the natural +formation of stone out of which they rise. A graceful seventeen-arched +bridge of white marble connects this island with the northern bank of +the lake. + +The canal from Peking, which feeds the lake, winds in and out of +the grounds in such graceful meanderings as to seem some fair +mountain stream. The outlets to the lakes are spanned by the graceful +camel-backed bridges that only the Chinese architects build. Nature +and art are everywhere so blended, so harmonized, it is difficult to +tell which is which. The simple lines and beautiful proportions and +harmonious colors of the one-storied Chinese buildings make even these +seem almost a part of the landscape. + +Chinese architecture--and one grows to admire it very much when studied +in its own environment--is tent-building, carried to its greatest +perfection and made enduring by the use of materials that last. +The grouping of the Chinese buildings is on the same order as the +congregation of tents of some roving tribe of Nomads. The downward +curve and upturned tilt of their roofs is but the natural slope of the +canvas and its uplifting by the tent-poles. These slender tent-poles +have developed into the supporting pillars of the verandah, and the +raised canvas door of the tent has grown into its buoyantly curved +roof. The ornamental eaves are but the solidified silken fringes +and embroidered valances of the tents of old. The curious roof +ornamentations of the modern Chinese house replace the weights that +held the tent-canvas steady. These weights, from rough stones, have now +become carven images, cunningly wrought. The Chinese even erect their +houses as their ancestors raised their tents. The builder places the +columns and puts on the roof before the walls are built. Except the +pagoda--and this even seems like so many superposed tents--the Chinese +building remains to-day, in spite of its elaborate roofs, its lacquered +pillars, and elaborate ornamentation, like some splendid tent, grown +into greater fixity and beautified by some magician’s wand. It is +admirably suited to the calm pastoral landscapes in which it rests, and +seems a part of Nature itself, and is never out of keeping with its +surroundings! + +Wherever available, in the grounds of the Summer Palace, flowers are +planted, and they succeed each other almost the whole year round, +for the Chinese are wonderful gardeners. The extensive grounds are, +however, not given up entirely to flowers and beautiful constructions; +there are great fields of grain. Wheat and millet, and even +vegetables, are raised in these pleasure grounds. It was curious to +me to see how picturesque so prosaic a thing as a field of turnips +might become, when properly placed in a large pleasure domain. By +the planting of these useful crops, a great deal of fertile land is +utilized, without any detriment to the landscape, and the utilitarian +spirit, so strong in the Chinese, is satisfied. + +There is one terraced hillside in the grounds of the Summer Palace, +called the “Flowery Mountain.” In the season of the peonies, which +the Chinese call “The King of Flowers,” this is really a flowery +mountain--one mass of blooms of exquisitely blended colors and faint +evanescent perfume. The China Aster is also brought to great perfection +by the Chinese gardeners, and in the time of the chrysanthemum the +grounds fairly blaze with this autumnal glory. The Chinese do not go +in for the cultivation of the chrysanthemum of extraordinary size. Her +Majesty does not care much for these; but her gardeners arrive at some +wonderful combinations of colors and some most curious shapes. The year +I was in the Palace, Her Majesty was delighted with a beautiful green +variety, that the gardeners had succeeded in getting, and that year +there was also a new variety whose petals were like threads, they were +so thin and hair-like. + + [Illustration: OLD RUINS IN THE SUMMER PALACE] + +The Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddhas is so-called from its being +built in glazed yellow tiles, each representing a niche, in which is +seated a Buddha, of which there are many more than ten thousand. The +interior is composed of three chapels. In the central one thrones the +Great Buddha. There was another famous Buddha in this temple, which +was invested with peculiarly sacred qualities, but it was hurled into +the lake below and broken into a thousand pieces when the foreign +troops were in possession in 1900. Her Majesty seemed to feel the +depredations to the temples, by the foreigners, more keenly than +anything else. The Chinese are so perfectly tolerant in matters of +religion, they cannot understand our attitude toward any other religion +but our own, and our contempt for any other kind of worship except that +in which we ourselves indulge. + +The Chinese are said to hate the foreigner. They certainly have not +much reason to like him; nor to admire our much vaunted civilization. +The European Christian soldier in China has burned, destroyed, and +killed with as much barbarity as the heathen, and in many instances has +given the latter points in cruelty. + +On the slope behind the terraced hill of the Ten Thousand Buddhas are +the ruins of the old Summer Palace, destroyed by the European troops +fifty years ago. After this, the site of the dwelling Palaces was +changed, and they were massed on the southern side of the lake. Her +Majesty has nearly hidden all trace of the 1900 devastations to the +Summer Palace, but these old ruins of the former Palace still remain, +and they are not a blot upon the landscape. On the contrary, they have +become picturesque with time, and give the one note of somberness to +this smiling demesne that is needed to accentuate its charm. There is +a small lake not far from these old ruins, built around with smiling +pavilions and a curious tower-like construction which is used as a +private temple. There are landing-places and small boats. It looks +like a charming bit of old Venice. We never went here, however, but +once. There are some unhappy associations connected with this beautiful +spot, and Her Majesty did not seem to care to visit it. The promenade +in the direction of the old Palace also seemed to sadden her, for she +had passed the early years of her married life in these now crumbling +ruins. + +From the highest elevations in the grounds of the Summer Palace, we +could see the road from Peking! Sometimes Her Majesty and the Ladies +would watch from some of the summer-houses, the carts and chairs and +vehicles as they passed along. Several times we saw the Emperor and his +suite returning from some ceremony in Peking, over the road cleared for +his passage. Her Majesty, herself, would be the first to descry him, +and she would say, “The Emperor comes.” Then the Empress and Ladies +would all look, for it was not against the Proprieties for them to look +at His Majesty at such a distance. These views of the high road from +the eminences of the Summer Palace were all Her Majesty and the young +Empress ever saw of the outside world and common humanity; for neither +at the Winter nor Sea Palaces could they get any views from a distance, +nor was there any opportunity of seeing beyond the walls. When Their +Chinese Majesties go abroad--and this is generally only from one Palace +to another--quaint, triangular flags are placed along the Imperial +route, warning the people that Their Sacred Majesties are to pass, +and that the road will be reserved for them between certain hours. No +vehicles or pedestrians are allowed for some time before and after +the Imperial passage. In the City of Peking, the inhabitants, even on +the streets where the Imperial cortège is to pass, are shut into their +houses and not allowed to go out of their doors during the time, and +at the intersection of the transversal streets huge curtains are hung, +shutting them off from the Imperial way. For these progresses of Their +Majesties, the roads are covered with yellow sand. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + THE FESTIVAL OF THE HARVEST MOON--WORK ON + THE PORTRAIT + +We think the Chinese so unemotional, so little given to pleasure or +amusement; but there are more popular festivals in China, indulged in +by all classes of people, than in any country in the world, except +perhaps Japan. The people, from the highest to the lowest, enter into +these celebrations with whole-souled earnestness and real enjoyment, +and all the popular festivals, as well as the religious ceremonies, are +celebrated in the Palace with apparently the same zest as among the +people. + +The Mid-Autumn Festival, popularly known as the Festival of the Harvest +Moon, which is at its full at the time of the celebration, was, of +course, observed with due ceremony at the Palace. For these festivals +there are always representations at the Palace Theater, and one of the +plays on such days is the dramatization of the Legend of the Festival. +The legend of the Harvest Moon is this: One day an Emperor received the +visit of a fairy. When she left she gave the Emperor an herb, saying, +should he eat it, he would be endowed with Immortality. The Emperor +was called out, soon after the fairy’s visit, and forgot the gift +for a time, and the herb lay upon his table. During his absence from +the Throne-room, a young handmaiden entered and, seeing the root on +the table, with childish curiosity, tasted it, and, finding it good, +ate the whole of it. When the Emperor again thought of his precious +gift from the fairy, he hastened back to the Throne-room, to remove it +from the table where he had left it. What was his horror to find it +gone! Learning that the little handmaid was the only person who had +been in the Throne-room, he called her up to find out what she had +done with it. When he found she had eaten it, he ordered her killed, +that he might thus again obtain the herb. Before the eunuchs could +accomplish their task, the charm began to work, and she felt the wings +of Immortality; and borne up by them, she flew to the skies and took +refuge in the Moon, where she still lives with the pet white rabbit she +had in her arms at the time she flew away from the earth. She is now +an Immortal, and in the Moon she compounds the Elixir of Immortality. +The rabbit, also, shares her immortality, and ever watches at the lunar +threshold. + +The drama, with this little maiden as heroine, was played by Her +Majesty’s actors on the day of the Moon Festival, and the finale of +the plays that day was one of the most beautiful spectacular tableaux +I have ever seen. The Chinese obtain most artistic effects in their +illuminations, and by the most simple means. The stage represented a +lake covered with luminous lotus, with the full moon floating above. +Throned on a gigantic lotus flower in the center of the lake sat an +immense, golden Buddha, impassible and serene, ingeniously illuminated +lotus flowers and luminous birds, emblems of Immortality, hovered over +the lake, and the whole tableau was supposed to represent Nirvana, when +the soul is absorbed into Nature and forms a part of it. It was really +fairy-like. + +The Ladies dined in Her Majesty’s loge, and this beautiful, illuminated +tableau was scarcely finished before we were obliged to hurry away to +join Their Majesties, who had already started for the gardens where +the ceremony was to take place. The procession, with the Emperor and +Empress Dowager and Ladies in full dress, as usual for a ceremony, was +accompanied by hundreds of lantern-bearing eunuchs. It wound, in and +out, through the verandahed corridors and the paths of the garden like +some great glow-worm, until it came to the marble terrace beneath the +Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddhas, on the great terrace over the lake. + +Here, in an open space bathed in the rays of the softly glowing moon, +with the glory of the setting sun still in the west, in front of the +great Stone Pai-lou stood a beautifully illuminated floral pai-lou +and an altar decorated with the usual pyramids of fruits, floral +offerings, and flagons of wine. The pai-lou to the Moon was entirely +of chrysanthemums, with an inscription “To the Glory of the Chaste and +Pure Celestial Orb” in white blooms, like gleaming stars, across the +top. + +Their Majesties first made the bows and prostrations to the Moon, +and placed floral offerings on the altar. Then the young Empress and +Ladies did likewise, while the eunuchs recited a poem in melodious +and rhythmic cadence. The Chinese “recitative” is very musical, much +more so, to the foreign ear, than their music. This poem to the Moon +was recited by two voices in alternating rhythm with wonderful effect. +When the recitation was finished, an “auto da fe” was made of the +offerings, to which were added sticks of sweet incense and paper cut +in curious designs. Over all was poured some of the inflammable wine +from the flagons on the altar, and the flames leaped high above the +huge incense-burner that stood on a great bronze tripod in the center +of the moonlit terrace. It was a wonderfully picturesque sight--the +brilliant circle of splendidly gowned Ladies, with the Emperor and +Empress Dowager in their midst, around the flaming censer, whose +leaping flames glinted and glowed upon the jewels and gold embroidery +of their costumes. The lantern-bearing eunuchs formed a faintly glowing +circle around this shining center; and over the whole fantastic picture +the brilliant Harvest Moon shone with unwonted splendor, as if to +show itself worthy of the obeisances it had just received from this +brilliant group. + +When the flames no longer leaped from the censer, when only the white +smoke of the incense curled through the interstices of its cover, Their +Majesties turned away, and the lantern-lit procession followed them +to the banks of the lake, where the whole Palace fleet, brilliantly +illuminated, lay moored beneath the marble terrace. The eunuchs, +holding aloft their gleaming lanterns, stood along the terrace and +knelt on the steps leading into the water, while Their Majesties +descended them. On two of the boats, at either side of the Imperial +barge, the eunuchs held their lanterns to form the characters “Peace” +and “Prosperity.” The waters of the lake were now glowing with the +reflections of the myriad lanterns and dancing under their many-colored +lights. A faint glow still illumined the western sky, while the +reflection of the resplendent Moon gleamed like liquid diamonds across +the lake! When we reached the Imperial landing-place, its great +arc-lights on the two tall, painted poles sent their reflections +shimmering, in long, wavy lines, far out into the lake, and almost +rivaled in their splendor that of the celestial orb itself. + +Although I took part in all these Palace festivals, my work on the +portrait was advancing, but I longed for more opportunity to quietly +study it and for a little more freedom in working. I felt I needed +more time also for my painting. I ardently desired to be able to work +some when Her Majesty did not pose, and I finally decided to ask her +to allow me to remain at my painting when she and the Ladies went for +their morning walks after a short sitting. It was a deprivation for +me to give up even one of these delightful walks, when I saw such a +charming side of the Empress Dowager’s character, but I felt it must be +done. She reluctantly consented to excuse me on a few occasions, but +she seemed to feel it was not hospitable on her part to leave me alone; +and when she did so she would remain out a shorter time than usual. She +seemed so concerned at my working while the others enjoyed themselves, +that I soon ceased to ask to be left at work; I could only try to make +the best of the time I had at my disposal. + +My desire to have more time for my painting and more opportunity +for studying the work was not the only cloud in the heaven of these +delightful days. As the portrait progressed I found myself constantly +running up against Chinese conventionalities as to the way it was done. +They wished so much detail and no shadow. Had Her Majesty been alone to +be considered, she was artistic and progressive enough to have, in the +end, allowed me more liberty; but she, also, was obliged to conform to +tradition, and no fantasy could be indulged in painting the portrait of +a Celestial Majesty. It was necessary to conform to rigid conventions. + +I had such a fine opportunity to do something really picturesque in +painting this great Empress and most interesting woman, and I found I +was to be bound down by the iron fetters of Chinese tradition! I could +neither choose an accessory, nor even arrange a fold according to the +lines of the composition. I was obliged to follow, in every detail, +centuries-old conventions. There could be no shadows and very little +perspective, and everything must be painted in such full light as to +lose all relief and picturesque effect. When I saw I must represent Her +Majesty in such a conventional way as to make her unusually attractive +personality banal, I was no longer filled with the ardent enthusiasm +for my work with which I had begun it, and I had many a heartache and +much inward rebellion before I settled down to the inevitable. + +The Empress Dowager, however, knew nothing of my discouragement, and +seemed perfectly contented with the progress of the portrait then on +hand--so pleased, in fact, she asked me if I would not like Mrs. +Conger to come and see it. I, of course, replied that I would, and an +invitation was accordingly sent, through the Foreign Office, inviting +Mrs. Conger to come to see the portrait. + +As Her Majesty was to receive her in the Throne-room where I painted, +it was decided I could not work on that day. I fully expected the +portrait would be exhibited in the Throne-room, the only place where it +had a proper light; but, to my disappointment, Mrs. Conger was asked to +look at it in the small room where it was kept when I was not working +on it. When we went in, the Chief Eunuch ceremoniously removed the +yellow covering over the “Sacred Picture,” which hung flat against the +wall in a very bad light, with annoying reflections. The small room was +also uncomfortably crowded with Her Majesty and suite, so that it was +impossible to see the whole canvas at once. Mrs. Conger was, however, +so pleased with the likeness and lifelike expression in the eyes, +the upper part of the picture being in a fairly good light, that the +comment stopped here. + +This first portrait represented the Empress Dowager sitting on one of +her favorite Cantonese carved Thrones. The figure was life-size. In one +hand she held a flower, and the other lay over a yellow cushion. The +tip of one small embroidered shoe, with its jeweled, white kid sole +resting on a dragon footstool, showed under the hem of her gown. The +head was a three-quarters view, with the eyes looking at the observer. +A jardinière, with her favorite orchid, stood behind the Throne at the +right. It was painted in full light. The canvas was four by six feet +in size; and there was thus no place for any of the emblems or insignia +of Her Majesty’s rank, save that she was clothed in her official +costume of Imperial yellow. + +This was the conventional reality, and I had dreamed of painting Her +Majesty in one of her Buddha-like poses, sitting erect upon an antique +Throne of the Dynasty, with one beautifully rounded arm and exquisitely +shaped hand resting on its high side, contrasting in their grace with +its severe lines. I should have exaggerated her small stature by +placing her upon the largest of these Dynastic Thrones. Her wonderfully +magnetic personality alone should have dominated. At the left of the +Throne, I should have placed one of those huge Palace braziers, its +blue flames leaping into the air, their glow glinting here and there +upon her jewels and the rich folds of her drapery; the whole enveloped +in the soft azure smoke of incense, rising from splendid antique +bronze censers. Across the base of the picture, under her feet, should +have writhed and sprawled the rampant double dragon. The Eternal +Feminine, with its eternal enigma shining from her inscrutable eyes, +should have pierced, with almost cruel penetration, the mystery of her +surroundings. Her face should have shone out of this dim interior, as +her personality does above her real environment. I should have tried to +show all the force and strength of her nature in that characteristic +face, exaggerating every feature of it, rather than toning down one +line. + +With all these possibilities that the Empress Dowager’s person and +surroundings would suggest to the most unimaginative of artists, +and with the conventional traditions, which I was obliged to follow, +no wonder I became discouraged. But I had always the solace of her +personality--the fascinating study of herself to delight and console +me. New phases of her character and personality were constantly +opening out before me. She dominates everything and everybody in the +Palace, and is far and away, the most interesting personality there, +not because she is the first figure at the Court, but because she is +really the most interesting one, and she would be that in any position. +No wonder that when she smiles the Court is gay--her smile is so +entrancing. No wonder that when she frowns the Court trembles, for she +excites sympathy in all her moods. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + A GARDEN PARTY AT THE SUMMER PALACE + +Not long after this, Her Majesty gave a garden party for the ladies +and gentlemen of the Legations. These garden parties occupy two +days, for ladies and gentlemen are not received at the same time +by Their Majesties of China. The Corps Diplomatique and attachés +were entertained the first day, and the ladies of the Legations the +following day. The entertainment was the same for each. The gentlemen +were formally received in the Great Audience Hall by Their Majesties, +after which a repast was served them in a pavilion near. When this was +finished, they were taken for a tour of the gardens and lakes, and they +left the Palace about two o’clock. None of the Ladies of the Court, +except, of course, the Empress Dowager, were present at the receptions +of the gentlemen of the Corps Diplomatique. The ladies of the Legations +were received the following day. + +I was rather embarrassed as to what I should do, at this first formal +reception, for the ladies of the Legations, since my arrival in the +Palace. Being a foreigner, I thought it looked incongruous for me to +receive with the Chinese Ladies. My uneasiness seemed to be divined by +Her Majesty (she was always wonderful for her tact); she said, as I had +been presented first in private Audience, it would be well for me to be +presented also in public Audience. She suggested that I should go to +the Foreign Office, meet Mrs. Conger on her arrival, and come into the +Throne-room with her. When the eunuchs announced that the ladies had +arrived at the Foreign Office, Her Majesty ordered my red Palace chair +to take me there. + +The Foreign Office is only a few hundred yards to the left of the +Imperial entrance to the Palace. Mrs. Conger was one of the first +ladies to arrive. When the other ladies came, all walked over to the +gate of the Palace, and, after entering, went to a pavilion at the +right of the Audience Hall, where they arranged themselves in the order +in which they were to be presented. + +The verandah and large marble platform of approach to the Audience +Hall were shaded with tent-like silken awnings and covered, for the +day, with red carpets, the latter a concession to foreign taste; for +Her Majesty, though having many beautiful carpets stored up, has none +in use, and only in winter and for certain functions are the courts +carpeted. She never uses them in the interior. + +A double line of Princesses, led by the Princess Imperial, descended +the steps of the Audience Hall and met the ladies on the marble +platform. The Princesses then turned and preceded them into the +Audience Hall. Here they separated and stood in a picturesque group on +either side of the Throne dais. + +Here, in the dim obscurity, sat the Empress Dowager on the Dynastic +Throne, with the Emperor seated at her left. In front of Her Majesty +stood the official table, with its cover of Imperial yellow reaching +to the floor. To the ladies standing below the dais only the heads and +shoulders of the Empress Dowager were visible above the table, with its +pyramids of fruits and flowers. + +The ladies made three reverences on entering, and each advanced and +went up on the dais at her presentation. Her Majesty’s interpreter, the +elder Miss Yu, stood at her right, a little behind, and repeated the +Chinese name and title of each lady presented. Her Majesty, who has a +royal memory for faces, recognized each lady who had been presented +before, but treated all with equal cordiality. This cordiality was +sometimes construed by the ladies, on their first presentation, as +a special mark of interest in themselves; but it was the Empress +Dowager’s invariable position toward all the foreigners at these +diplomatic receptions. Like all well-bred hostesses, she was most +particular to show no difference even to those ladies she liked best. + +When all had been presented, the eunuchs removed the official table +behind which the Empress Dowager received the formal presentations, and +she descended from the dais. One of her yellow satin chairs was brought +and she sat down at the right side of the Audience Hall. The ladies +were then, collectively, presented by Her Majesty to the young Empress +and the Princess Imperial, and tea was ordered. While the ladies were +drinking tea, standing around the Empress Dowager’s chair, she said a +few words to each, informally. + +When the tea was finished, the ladies, conducted by the eunuchs and +accompanied by the Princesses, went through the court of the Theater, +past the Palace of the young Empress, through Her Majesty’s court to +her Throne-room, where luncheon was served. This was in alternate +courses of foreign and Chinese food. There were foreign wines and table +waters, as well as Chinese, and quantities of sweet champagne, without +which, the Chinese imagine, no foreigner can eat. + +After luncheon, at which the Imperial Princess and Princesses acted as +hostesses, the visiting ladies went to the marble terrace overlooking +the lake. Here they were met by the young Empress and the secondary +wife of the Emperor, for they were never present at the table when the +foreign ladies were entertained, any more than Her Majesty herself. + +The Empress Dowager’s barge did not lead the Palace fleet that day. +There were three big houseboats, each of which ponderous affairs had a +large cabin with a yellow-covered seat for Her Majesty, which, though +she never used, was never occupied by any one else. Anything covered +with yellow is sacred to Their Majesties, and is never used except by +them. + + [Illustration: THE SECONDARY WIFE OF THE EMPEROR + In Summer Coiffure] + +We were rowed across the lake, first to the island, where the Palace +and small temple adjacent were visited, after which the ladies took +the boats again and continued the tour of the lake to the Marble Boat. +This Marble Boat was built over the lake as a summer-house for one of +the Emperors, and is on the plan of the Palace houseboat, but with an +upper, as well as lower deck. It is one of the things in the Summer +Palace most talked about by foreigners, and it is a curiosity, though +not a thing of beauty. It was never made the objective point of any +of Her Majesty’s promenades, nor visited, except when foreigners were +invited to the Palace. On the lower deck of the Marble Boat, where was +the best view of the lake, light refreshments, sweets, and fruits were +served. When the tour of the lake was finished, the ladies made their +adieus to Their Majesties and the young Empress and Princesses, and +left the Palace grounds for the Foreign Office, where they took their +own chairs and carriages for Peking. + +In spite of Her Majesty’s cordiality and the efforts of the Princesses +and Ladies, these garden parties were not always as pleasant as they +might be. There seemed an absolute lack of harmony among the ladies +of the Legation. Each seemed to watch the other with a jealous eye, +in constant fear that some one might overstep her place. Some did not +hesitate, even, to show their private animosities on the steps of the +Throne, or before their hostesses at the table. They seemed to act +on the principle that the Chinese, not understanding the language, +would not understand anything else. It was unfortunate that this most +punctilious of people, the Chinese, should have had this apparent lack +of friendliness to judge the European ladies by. They received all with +equal favor and perfect etiquette, and it was a pity that the lack of +harmony among the foreign ladies should have led them to commit what +seemed to be breaches of etiquette, which the Chinese could not have +failed to observe. I was astonished to see how observant the latter +were and how accurately they gauged our standing. + +Their comments on our costumes were also very interesting. Her Majesty +seemed to like foreign dress, especially when in pretty colors, for +she reveled in color. She said the foreign costume was very becoming +to well-made and well-proportioned people; but she thought, while it +showed off to advantage a good figure, it was unfortunate for any one +who was not so blessed. She thought the Chinese costume, falling in +straight lines from the shoulder, was more becoming to stout people, +for it hid many defects. One universal comment, among these Chinese +ladies, on us, was that we look old for our years. The well-bred +Chinese repress, from early childhood, all outward evidences of +emotion. They lead such simple, wholesome lives--“Early to bed and +early to rise”--that there are rarely any lines visible in their faces +until they reach an advanced age, when they seem to go suddenly from +ripe womanhood into extreme old age. + +They have a particular aversion to blond hair. They did not tell me so, +as I have blond hair; but on the stage all the demons are represented +with blond hair, and the more blond it is, the more wicked the demon. +One day, one of the Ladies suggested to me that there were some very +fine vegetable hair dyes for turning the hair black without injuring +it; in fact, the growth was increased thereby. She said if I used this, +my hair “might in time become black; at least, it would grow much +darker.” + + + + + CHAPTER XX + + I BEGIN A SECOND PORTRAIT OF HER MAJESTY--THE + PALACE PAINTERS + +I had several days of good work on the portrait after the garden +party, when Her Majesty decided it was sufficiently advanced for the +characters, giving her name and titles, to be placed across the top of +the canvas. As she has sixteen appellations, represented by sixteen +characters, and as they were all to be placed upon the picture, +together with her two seals, official and personal, it required some +manœuvering to get them into the space required. This lettering was +looked upon as a very important detail; there were numbers of models +of the characters made before the proper size and style was arrived +at. The seals, about three inches long, had to be placed at either end +of the sixteen characters, and there was a great deal of deliberation +as to the color in which the characters were to be painted. Red was +finally decided upon. The two seals were to be painted, one in red +characters on a white ground, and the other in white characters on a +red ground. As I had not known these appellations were to be placed +across the top of the canvas when I began the portrait, I had not +allowed for them, and putting them on took away from the space above +the head and detracted from the general effect. This was another +discouragement. I left the discussion of the lettering to Her Majesty +and the writers, and I decided to give the canvas over entirely to the +latter for a few days, in order that they might place the characters +thereon, and that Her Majesty might have time to decide upon their +color at her leisure. + +Her Majesty had told me, a few days before, she wished me to paint a +“number of portraits” of her, so I decided to begin another now, and +I hoped to be able, as this was not to be an official portrait, to +have a little more liberty in painting it. Her Majesty decided that +it should be painted in her ordinary dress and without the Manchu +coiffure, which she only wears at her Audiences, as it is very heavy +and very tiring to her head. The day I began the portrait she had +on a gown of soft, embroidered blue. Her hair, in a coil at the top +of her head, was beautifully dressed, with the jasmine flowers so +quaintly arranged, a realistic butterfly poised above them; her jewels +so discreet and picturesque, I asked her to pose and let me paint +her as she was then. Her coiffure, without the Manchu head-dress, is +much more becoming to her than with the huge, wing-like construction +which made her look top-heavy; for when she wore it, being in official +costume, she was obliged to wear a great profusion of jewels and +ornaments. In this portrait she was seated upon her Throne, but not in +a traditional attitude, and I began it full of hope; for, at least, +I had more choice as to the surroundings and accessories, which were +not obliged to be “according to tradition.” As it was only to be seen +by her intimates, I asked her to let me paint her two favorite dogs +lying beside her footstool, the blond “Shadza” and dusky “Hailo.” Her +Majesty gladly consented, and “Hailo” was ordered to be decorated in +his “gala costume.” This consisted of two huge chrysanthemums tied +in his hair over his ears. “Shadza,” the Pekingese pug, resented any +such accoutrement and was painted in his natural state. She took the +liveliest interest in the painting of the dogs’ portraits, and seemed +to think it much more wonderful to paint these little animals, so that +they were recognizable, than to make a likeness of herself. I was +obliged, of course, to do them very quickly. She sat behind me all the +time I was painting them, and the rapidity with which they grew much +astonished her. + +I discovered about this time I was not the only painter in the Palace. +Her Majesty has a corps of painters always there. These painters +decorate the thousands of lanterns used in the Palace ceremonies and +processions. They paint the scenery for the spectacular plays at the +Theater, and the flowers used for the decorations of the screen-like +walls I have already alluded to. Some are very clever flower painters, +and one even paints portraits, but they have never seen the Empress +Dowager except from afar! Though Mandarins of the Third rank, the +painters were obliged to withdraw from the court where they worked when +Her Majesty and suite passed by. It was amusing to see these dignified, +handsomely gowned officials being hurried out of the court on Her +Majesty’s approach by the eunuchs who precede her. Their paintings +were submitted to her by one of the eunuchs, by whom she sent her +instructions to them. + +I saw these painters first, at the time of the chrysanthemums. There +were some new varieties in one of Her Majesty’s courts that she wished +painted. One day, on going into this court, I saw a group of bebuttoned +officials studying the flowers. They gravely inclined their heads with +the customary dignity of the Chinese, and I found later they were +“confrères.” + +It was interesting to me to see their methods--so different from ours, +but arriving at a very artistic result. I never spoke to them; but, as +I was an outer barbarian, I took advantage of my position and watched +them work from my windows, though I took care to keep myself hidden +behind the curtains, in true Oriental style. They worked in the court +quite near my pavilion. The chief painter selected the flower to be +copied, and the others stood around while he painted, petal by petal, +with most laborious and minute attention. While he worked, the others +took notes and made studies of the same flower. When this laborious +first study was finished, it was copied with a freer hand by one of +the painters, and this copy was copied until they finally arrived at a +dashing study, which seemed to be done “de premier coup.” + +When the chrysanthemums were in their full glory, one day when Her +Majesty had allowed me to remain at my work while she and the Ladies +went for their walk, she brought me, on her return, a curious new +variety. When she handed it to me she said, “I will give you something +nice if you guess what I have named this flower.” It was one of those +new varieties with hair-like petals and a compact center, like the +bald head of an old man. I told her I was afraid I couldn’t guess, but +I thought “it looked like an old man’s head.” She was delighted, and +said, “You have guessed. I have just given it the name of the Old Man +of the Mountain.” + +We were still having daily walks in the gardens, and there was always +some delightful little incident to make them pleasant and memorable. +One day, when we were out and were resting, while Her Majesty was +sitting alone before the “Peony Mountain,” the young Empress and Ladies +stood in a group at a little distance. We were near some arbor-vitæ +trees, and the young Empress picked a piece that looked like a +“peacock’s feather.” She told me to kneel and let her “decorate” me. +She stuck the curiously shaped branch in my hair so that it hung over +the neck and looked like the “peacock feather,” which is given as a +reward of merit to the highest officials, and is always worn upon +their hats. When she had placed it, she told me to rise, and called me +“Your Excellency Carl,” which is the title of those who possess the +decoration of the peacock feather. I kept it in my hair and soon quite +forgot my “decoration.” When we were walking on, Her Majesty noticed +it. She had been preoccupied and sad that day, but when she saw it she +smiled, and said, “Who decorated you with the peacock feather?” I told +her the young Empress had done so. She said that was her prerogative, +but she added, “If you were a man you would win it, and probably +a yellow jacket also, for you are fearless.” Why did she think me +fearless? Could she have heard that the foreigners in Peking seemed to +think it was almost as much as taking my life in my own hands to go and +live entirely alone among the Chinese at Court, and put myself in Her +Majesty’s power, after the Boxer trouble? + + [Illustration: PAI-LOU IN GROUNDS OF SUMMER + PALACE--ON THE SHORE OF THE LAKE] + +Another afternoon we went into the Great Audience Hall when we were +passing it, and I had an opportunity of studying in detail the interior +of this magnificent hall. I examined closely some of the rare old +niellée bronzes and wonderful Chinese cloisonné, for here are some of +the finest specimens in the Summer Palace. In the back of the hall were +three pianos, two upright and a new Grand piano, which had but lately +arrived at the Palace. Her Majesty wished us to try the Grand piano, +and one of Lady Yu-Keng’s daughters, who had studied music in Paris, +played a few airs. Her Majesty thought the piano a curious sort of +instrument, but lacking in volume and tone for so large an instrument. +She asked me to play also, and then said she would like to see how +the foreigners danced, and suggested my playing some dance music. The +Misses Yu-Keng waltzed, and she thought it very amusing to watch them. +She could not, however, understand how ladies and gentlemen could +enjoy dancing together, nor what pleasure they found in it. She said +the Chinese pay others to dance for them, and would not think of doing +so themselves for pleasure. It seemed to her the charm was rather in +watching the graceful movements of the dancer than in executing those +movements one’s self. I wondered what she would say, could she see one +of our crowded European ball-rooms, with hundreds of couples on the +floor at the same time, making violent efforts to steer through the +crowd. I fancy she would not have found pleasure even in watching these +dancers. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + + A EUROPEAN CIRCUS AT THE PALACE + +Chinese ceremonies and celebrations were not all I was destined to +enjoy while at the Summer Palace. There began to be talk of some +“foreign entertainment” soon to be given, and when I found this +foreign entertainment was to be a circus, a real European circus, I +was delighted. I had been out in China two years, and had not had +much European entertainment during that time, and--shall I confess +it?--I dearly loved a circus if the horses and animals were fine. +This circus was then in Tientsin, and some one had suggested to Their +Majesties it would be an interesting thing to see. A young Manchu was +sent to Tientsin to investigate. When he returned, flaming posters +were submitted to Their Majesties by the Chief Eunuchs. When the +Empress Dowager saw the vulgarly colored picture of a summarily clad +young woman of the show, I was watching her face and I saw a look of +contemptuous scorn pass over it. She brightened up, however, when she +saw the pictures of the animals at their tricks, and the men on horses, +and it was decided that the circus should be brought up from Tientsin! +The animals and performers were to be domiciled in one of the parks +near by, but the tent was to be stretched within the inclosure of the +Palace. + +Sites for the ring were discussed, and it was finally decided to have +the tents pitched at the extreme western end of the lake. There was a +large open field here, planted in turnips! As the turnips were ready to +be gathered, it was decided that the crop should be pulled up and this +place prepared for the tents. + +One day we went out into the turnip field, and the Empress Dowager +herself pulled the first turnip; then the Empress and all the +Princesses pulled some, and when they found a curiously shaped one, +it was given to Her Majesty. It was a strange sight to see the Great +Empress Dowager, sitting there at the side of the field, on her yellow +camp-stool, smiling and interested, with the turnips piled around her, +and the gaily dressed Empress and Princesses in their silken gowns +flitting in and out of the field, apparently enjoying, to its utmost, +the simple task of pulling these prosaic vegetables. The eunuchs and +attendants stood in crowds around to take the turnips when pulled. They +were not allowed, however, to pull any themselves. When a small square +was denuded, Her Majesty and the Ladies returned to the Palace, and an +army of workmen came and pulled up the whole field and began to prepare +the ground for the circus tents. + +As the performance of the circus was to be on the first day of the +month, the Imperial players were at the Theater. When the morning +Audience was finished, Their Majesties and the Empress and Ladies +went to the Theater and listened to two or three plays. After +luncheon, taken in the Imperial loge, Their Majesties started for +the landing-place, followed by the young Empress and Ladies. The lake +was gay with beautiful barges, great houseboats, and numbers of flat +boats for the eunuchs. The barges and houseboats were picturesquely +decorated with flying banners, pennants, and tasseled wands. Two +steam-launches, puffing away, gave an air of modernity to this most +Oriental fleet. One of the steam-launches was splendidly decorated with +yellow banners, with gorgeous yellow silk scarfs festooned around the +cabin and the Imperial flag flying above it. The Empress Dowager and +the Emperor descended the marble steps to this gaily decked launch, and +started off alone for the other end of the lake, the Imperial banners +and colors flying. + +The Empress and Princesses went in the Empress’s State boat; the +visiting ladies followed in another of these ponderous but picturesque +affairs. In size they are as large as an ordinary Chinese pavilion. +The Empress’s cabin was carpeted and splendidly upholstered in cloth +of gold, with the usual tea-tables and lounges. It had one of those +gallery-like prows with silken awnings, where the Princesses stood. +The young Empress sat within, on one of the gold-covered couches. As +she had been brought up with several of the Princesses as playmates, +the young Empress generally waived ceremony with them; but she knew +how, when necessary, to maintain a sweet dignity that was charming +and perfectly in accord with her exalted position. To-day was a State +occasion. She sat alone, and the Ladies remained outside on the prow. +She asked me to come in and showed me the interior and some of the +curiously inlaid tables. She knew I was interested in all these things. +She made me sit at her side, and when I demurred she said she knew it +was not the foreign custom to sit on cushions on the floor, as was the +habit of the Ladies when in her presence, and that I must sit beside +her. This was the consideration they always showed me at the Palace, +which I fully realized was not due to any special liking for me, but +simply to their exquisite breeding--their desire to make me feel +comfortable and at home. + +When we arrived at the other side of the lake, the Empress and Ladies +stood while Their Majesties landed. They were welcomed by a great +burst of music from the bands. A number of Princes and Officials stood +waiting to receive them and conduct them to the handsome loges that had +been prepared for them. + +It was a picturesque procession that started from the landing-place-- +the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, under the big, embroidered, +yellow silk, State umbrellas, preceded and surrounded by gorgeously +attired attendants and splendidly gowned officials, the young Empress +and Ladies, in gala attire, following after, with their eunuchs and +attendants. The day was perfect, and glorious sunshine added to the +brilliant effect. The side of the tent toward the Imperial loges was +open. There was a railed platform before the pavilions that had been +erected as “loges.” These pavilions were luxuriously fitted up: Their +Majesties’ loges were hung with the Imperial yellow. A yellow satin +chair (with a smaller one at its left) was placed in the center of the +raised platform, under the silken awning, and Their Majesties could sit +here or within as they chose. The Empress and Ladies stood in groups on +either side of this platform. + +About two hundred officials had been invited to see the circus, and, +contrary to the usual custom, there was no screen between them and the +Imperial party. On the right were two bands of foreign music, or rather +of Chinese musicians who played foreign music on European instruments. +These were the bands of Yuan-Shih-Kai, Viceroy of Tientsin, and of Sir +Robert Hart, the Inspector-General of Imperial Customs. Sir Robert’s +band was formed about eighteen years since, when, as music is his +hobby, he decided to try to have some Chinese taught European music +on European instruments. He has now a well-equipped band of twenty +trained Chinese musicians under a competent European conductor. They +play on both brass and stringed instruments. His efforts have been so +successful that his example has lately been followed by several high +Chinese Officials, first among whom was Yuan-Shih-Kai. The latter’s +band is military, with fifty musicians, who play only on brass +instruments. The two bands played alternately during the intervals of +the performance. + +For the first time during my residence at the Palace, I now had an +opportunity of seeing the Imperial Princes and many of the great +nobles and officials. Though they were often asked to the Theater at +the Palace, the screen between them and the Imperial loge was never +removed, except at the end of the performance, when they bowed their +thanks and when the Ladies retired to their own loge. The gentlemen, +however, could be well seen at the circus; and though the Chinese +Ladies did not glance in their direction, I took advantage of being a +foreigner, and when I was behind the others, and could do so without +being seen, I closely scanned their faces and attire. Several of the +Princes of the Imperial Family came up to the platform where Their +Majesties sat and made their bows to them, afterward slightly saluting +their relations among the Ladies and Princesses. + +Among these young Princes at the circus was a son of Prince Kung and +an adopted son of the Imperial Princess. This young man not only had +a remarkably fine figure, tall and slender, with broad shoulders, but +his face was very handsome. His bow, on coming up to pay his respects +to Their Majesties, was as graceful as that of a young chevalier. His +regard was so ingenuous, his expression so clever and withal so modest, +his whole demeanor so gracious, I was much struck with him. His dress +was elegant, and his jewels chosen with discretion. There was none +of that overloading of belt ornamentation that the young dandies of +the Imperial set were then affecting. His father was one of the great +Princes of China, and if this young man develops and carries out the +promise of his youth (he was then only seventeen), I fancy he will +be heard of also. Like most of the young Manchu Princes, he held a +position in the Imperial household, such as Master of the Horse or +Captain of the Archers. + +It was not much of a circus, but none of the Imperial party had ever +seen one before, and the setting was so gorgeous, it was unique as a +circus performance even to me. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor +had splendidly jeweled opera glasses, which a eunuch held ready for +their use. The Emperor, disliking to be looked at, held his own +glasses before his face most of the time. It seemed to me he used them +principally for the purpose of screening himself. The animals pleased +both Their Majesties; but aside from the dwarfs, of which there were +two, the rest of the performers seemed to have but a mediocre interest +for them. Her Majesty was particularly interested in the dogs and +trained animals, and His Majesty in the horses and fancy riding. I +was standing near him, and he looked keenly at me several times to +see how the performance struck me; and one of his head eunuchs asked +me in English--the Emperor would not try it--whether I thought it was +“good or bad.” Their Majesties sat through the performance, the Empress +Dowager only retiring to her loge once during the time, which was while +one of the summarily clad young ladies was gyrating on a trapeze. +There was a magnificent tigress which the circus master had trained, +and which was his “pièce de résistance.” The Empress Dowager would not +allow this to be taken out of its cage, and though it was brought out +in front of the Imperial platform, it was too cat-like to interest her. +She has a great antipathy to anything feline. When the performance was +finished, the Imperial party left in the same state in which it had +arrived, Their Majesties accompanied to the launch by the Princes and +high Officials, the music of the two bands playing simultaneously. The +Ladies of the Palace and Their Majesties, themselves, have so little +novelty in their lives, I think, on the whole, the innovation of the +circus was generally appreciated. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + + PALACE CUSTOMS + +The Empress Dowager is an early riser, but the joint Audiences which +Their Majesties now hold are never at the extraordinary hours in vogue +when His Majesty ruled alone. When there is a press of business, and +many heads of departments to be seen, the Audiences begin very early, +but they rarely extend past eleven o’clock--the usual hours being from +half-past seven to eleven. + +When the Empress Dowager sleeps, a maid watches in her room, two +eunuchs stand on guard in the ante-chamber to the room, four watch +at the door of the ante-chamber, and her body-guard of eunuchs fill +the building where her private apartments are situated. The maid and +eunuchs who watch in the night are changed every second day. Only the +High Eunuchs are intrusted with the duty of guarding her bed-chamber +and Throne-room. At the Summer Palace, Her Majesty’s bedroom is not +more than fifteen feet square; the bed, like all in North China, is +built into an alcove in the room. Shelves run around the three inclosed +sides of the alcove, and on these are placed Her Majesty’s favorite +ornaments--small jade curios, books, and, of course, clocks. In this +bedroom I counted fifteen timepieces on the bed shelves, and all +running. Their ticking and striking, not at all simultaneous, was +enough to run a nervous European woman wild; but Her Majesty takes so +much outdoor exercise, she seemed to have no nerves. There were no +flowers in her bedroom, but the ante-chamber, leading into it, was +always full of flowers, pyramids of apples, and “Buddha’s hands.”[5] +The bed-alcove is separated from the room by satin curtains, suspended +from a handsomely embroidered valance, with two long embroidered bands +to loop them back. + +[5] “Buddha’s hand,” a very fragrant fruit of the family of lemons, +which is shaped like a hand, with long, curving fingers. Pyramids of +this fruit are used for their perfume. + +Her Majesty is a light and irregular sleeper. When she wakes and +finds it impossible to go to sleep again, she rises, is dressed, and +often goes for a walk in the grounds, at what we would call the most +unseasonable of hours. She says Nature is beautiful at every hour +of the twenty-four, with a different charm for each moment. As she +loves it in all its phases, she likes to see it at every hour of the +twenty-four, at least once a year! When she wakes and goes for a walk +at night, the eunuchs who are on duty in her Palace accompany her with +lanterns, but she never takes these night walks, except by moonlight, +and when the night is beautiful. + +Whether she has slept well or ill, she rises at six o’clock; for the +morning is devoted to business, and she never misses an Audience. On +rising, she takes a bowl of hot milk, or lotus-root porridge; then +her maids and tiring-women begin her toilet for the Audience. This +is the “grande toilette” for the day, for full dress is worn by the +Chinese in the morning, and in the evening they wear simple gowns. +When her toilet is finished, the young Empress and Ladies, having +“assisted” (from without) at her “lever,” she comes out into the +Throne-room and receives their morning greeting. The Emperor then +comes to pay his respects to the Great Ancestress, and together they +go in State, accompanied by all the Ladies of the Court, to the Great +Audience Hall. The Ladies of the Court remain outside the Great Hall +until the Audience is finished, when they accompany Her Majesty to her +Throne-room. The business of the day is then over. Her Majesty lays +aside her robes of State and gives herself up to duties connected with +the Palace. + +While I was painting the portraits, she would pose on returning from +the Audience; or, if the Audience had been too tiring, she would first +go for a walk. Then would begin her various self-imposed household +duties. She would overlook the baskets of flowers and fruits sent +into the Palace daily, select some to be sent as presents, and send +others to the eunuchs of the kitchen to be cooked. Then she would +look at new rolls of silk, just arrived from the Imperial looms, or +examine new articles of toilet, fresh from the workshops of the Palace +tailors. Sometimes she would play a game, of which she seemed very +fond, and of which I know no counterpart. It was played on a large +square board, covered with white silk and painted in fantastic designs, +representing the Earth and Fairyland. The object of the game was to get +an ivory chessman, representing “man,” into Fairyland. The length of +the move was decided by throwing dice. There was no box for throwing +the dice: they were taken in the hands and thrown into a jade bowl. The +numbers uppermost were then counted and the move made. She would play +this game with the Princesses; and sometimes two of the High Eunuchs, +who were proficient, would be called in to make out the number. The +game was played for money, but, if Her Majesty won, the others did +not pay. If, however, they won, she paid, and at once. She was ever a +cheerful giver. She had wonderful luck, and it was a rare occurrence +for the others to win. I only happened to see it three times. The +Princesses were always pleased to play this game, for they had a chance +of winning and they never lost. One day I saw her get quite angry with +one of the Ladies playing. This Lady could not bear to lose, and would +get sulky and cross if she did. This annoyed Her Majesty, until finally +she reproved her sharply. She asked her why she played a game if she +were not willing to take her chances as they came, and meet loss or +gain with equal equanimity. + + [Illustration: PRINCESSES OF THE COURT] + +The Empress Dowager only eats two solid meals a day--luncheon and +dinner. These were exactly similar. The dishes, so far as I could see, +were identical; but they were so numerous, and of such variety, one +could make a change of menu by eating different dishes. The hours of +these two meals were very irregular; in fact, Her Majesty had no fixed +hour for anything except rising and attendance at the Audience Hall. +“Early rice,” as the Chinese call luncheon, was served the Empress +Dowager at any time between half-past ten and half-past twelve. She was +likely to order it at any hour after she returned from the Audience. +“Late rice,” or dinner, was ordered with the same irregularity. She was +very fond of nuts and fruits, and ate them between meals, when she +drank tea, hot milk, and certain fruit juices. + +The young Empress and Ladies of the Court were not bound to these +irregular hours. They ordered their meals in their own pavilions at +the hours they wished. Sometimes they had but just finished their own +meals, when the Empress Dowager would order hers, and, when she had +finished, invite them to eat at her table. Then it would be a matter of +etiquette to eat with, at least apparent, relish. At this meal at Her +Majesty’s table, her place remained vacant. When I was in the Palace +and we were invited to eat at her table, the Ladies sat; but when I was +not there, the Ladies stood to eat, if she were still in the building, +thus observing a very old convention. The Empress Dowager was very +rigid about the observance of all traditional customs, and a stickler +for Court etiquette, but she was also very considerate of the Ladies. +When she had eaten, she would leave her Throne-room, or would conceal +herself behind some screen, so that they might sit and eat in peace. I +have seen her return to the Throne-room while the Ladies were eating, +but she would do it stealthily, not allowing the eunuchs to precede +her, so that the Ladies might not be obliged to rise on her entrance. + +When the Empress Dowager dined, she sat at the head of a long table +absolutely groaning under the many dishes placed thereon. Huge silver +platters stood on side tables with sucking-pig, steamed goose, whole +fowls, etc. Before serving the latter, they were brought to her to look +at, just as the butler, in Europe, shows the pheasant and set dishes to +the mistress of the house. Her dishes were of yellow porcelain, with +curiously chased silver covers of pyramidal shape and quaint design. +When she arose to go to the table, a eunuch standing near would shout, +“Remove the covers,” the word would be repeated along the line of +waiting eunuchs, who would spring forward and whip off the covers of +the many dishes on the table as if by magic. At Her Majesty’s place +were two spoons, a saucer and bowl, a pair of chop-sticks, and a small +folded square of soft cloth, corresponding to our napkin. When she +sat down, she attached to the front of her dress, by a quaint, golden +pin, a large silken napkin,--for she was immaculately neat and had a +horror of a spot on her clothes. She was an epicure and thoroughly +appreciated any new dish the Palace cooks sent forth, and, like all +epicures, she ate very slowly and seemed to enjoy her food. She never +drank wine or anything else at meals. I only saw her drink wine on two +occasions, when some new vintages had been received at the Palace, +and then it seemed more to judge of their merits, as a connoisseur, +than anything else. When she finished her meal and left the table, the +eunuchs brought hot cloths for her hands and a golden “rince-bouche.” +After this, one of the maids would bring her a silver basin, soap, and +towels, and she would indulge in an elaborate hand-washing. + +After “Early rice” came the hour of her siesta. She would retire to her +bedroom, and her reader, bringing several volumes from which to choose, +would come to read to her. She would remain in her room for an hour and +a half, whether sleeping or being read to. When she awoke, she would +make another careful toilet, the Ladies would join her, and she would +go for a long walk before taking “Late rice.” + +On the first and fifteenth of the month, the Imperial players were at +the Theater. On these days, the Emperor, instead of returning to his +own Palace, would accompany the Empress Dowager and the Ladies from the +Audience Hall to the Theater. The Imperial Hymn was played on Their +Majesties’ entrance into the court of the Theater, and when they had +entered the Imperial loge, the players would come in a body on the +stage and “kow-tow.” Then the actors, splendidly gowned, would make the +customary wishes for the Imperial Peace, Prosperity, Longevity, after +which there would be a posture-play in costume, and then the plays for +the day would begin. On Theater days Their Majesties would lunch and +dine together in the Imperial loge. They did not sit at the ends of +the great table, but at right angles to each other--the Emperor at the +head of the table, and the Empress Dowager at his left. His Majesty was +not much of an epicure. He ate fast, and apparently did not care what +it was. When he finished, he would stand up near Her Majesty, or walk +around the Throne-room until she had finished. + +The Empress Dowager was very rigorous in the observance of all fasts, +as well as feasts, prescribed by the rites. On fast-days, no meat +nor fish was eaten at her table. The meals consisted entirely of +vegetables, bread, and rice; but there was always a great variety of +these dishes, and they were temptingly prepared. Meat dishes and fish +were always prepared for me when I was invited to eat at the Imperial +table on fast-days, until I learned that the Empress Dowager and the +Ladies were fasting, when I asked to eat only what was prepared for +them when I dined with them at Her Majesty’s table. + +On Festivals and Theater days, Princesses of the Imperial Family, wives +of Manchu Nobles, and high Officials were invited to spend the day at +the Palace. Sometimes their children would accompany them, little girls +and boys under twelve. I never saw a boy over seventeen in the Palace; +and only once, one sixteen years old. This was a son of Prince Ching. +When these young people came to the Court, they observed the same +rules of etiquette as their elders, and behaved with great decorum. +Her Majesty is very fond of children, but very particular as to their +manners. When a little girl did not make a graceful bow, Her Majesty +would not correct her, but would ask the young Empress, an authority on +etiquette and very graceful, to bow. Her Majesty would then tell the +little girl to notice how the Empress bowed and try to do it in that +manner. The child, or her parents, generally followed this suggestion, +and the grace of the bow was improved on the next visit to Court! + +On one occasion, a lady of high rank, married to a kinsman of the +Empress Dowager, was invited to the Palace with her family. She had +two little girls, and when the family went up to bow and repeat the +salutation to Her Majesty, the younger daughter, only five years old, +refused either to make the bow or repeat the salutation, but sat down +on the floor and cried! The Empress Dowager waited patiently for the +mother to correct the little girl, for she is very fond of children +and disposed to condone their faults. The little girl would not, +however, listen to reason and continued to show temper. Her Majesty +could not allow such a breach of the “Proprieties,” even in a child of +this age, and the high rank of the family of the little girl made it +the more imperative that she should conform to the rules of Propriety +and observe the etiquette of the Court. When Her Majesty saw that all +efforts at bringing her to reason were fruitless, she ordered the child +to be taken away. Whereupon the mother began crying, and begged her +not to be offended with the little girl. She replied, “Do you think +a person of superior intelligence could be offended with a baby? I +send you out of the Palace to teach you a lesson, which you must teach +your child. I do not blame her; I blame you and pity her; but she must +suffer as well as yourself. You must teach your child that ‘it is by +the rules of propriety that the character is established’ (Confucius)”; +and she was inexorable. The family left the Palace and was not invited +again for some time. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + HER MAJESTY’S ANXIETY--HER BIRTHDAY + +Her Majesty was looking tired and anxious these days; the Audiences +were unusually long, and despatches were arriving all during the day. +She would often go to the Gardens immediately after her Audience for +solitary walks, unattended by the Ladies, and when she went out for +the walk, accompanied by the Empress and Princesses, she would sit +distraught and abstracted before the finest views and those she loved +most. She seemed absent-minded, and when some eunuch with the official +message would kneel before her, awaiting her order to deliver his +message, she would recall herself with an effort. One day when we were +out, after days of this anxiety, and she was sitting alone in front of +the “Peony Mountain,” the Empress and Princesses standing in a group at +a little distance, she looked a pathetic figure. Her strong face looked +tired and worn. Her arms hung listlessly by her sides and she seemed +almost to have given up, and I saw her, furtively, brush a tear away. +The days were so like each other at the Palace, the Chinese dates being +different from ours, I lost my reckoning until I had a Tientsin paper, +and I saw that the date on which the Russians had promised to evacuate +Manchuria had passed and they were making no move toward doing so; +and that there were rumors of war between Japan and Russia. This, +then, must be what was weighing upon the mind of the Empress Dowager. +A few days later a telegram was handed her in the Throne-room while +she was posing, that seemed to greatly agitate her. It was from Kwang +Hsi, and reported the ineffectual attempts of the authorities to put +down a serious rebellion there. Thus, there were interior as well as +exterior troubles to make her anxious. She seemed to take these State +troubles to heart; and it was touching to see her anxiety, which she +made but little effort to conceal when surrounded only by the Ladies. +The Emperor, on the contrary, preserved his usual calm exterior, and +if he was racked by anxiety, showed no evidence of it. This may have +been because he had schooled himself to hide his feelings. Be that as +it may, his face had always that enigmatic smile lurking around the +corners of his mouth. I fancied, though, his eyes looked more resigned +and sadder than usual. + +The date of the Empress Dowager’s Birthday (November 16) was +approaching, and preparations to celebrate it were beginning. She +was determined to keep this celebration very simple. She issued +edicts prohibiting the high Officials and Viceroys from sending the +extravagant presents which always pour in at the celebration of the +birthday of any one of her age in China. She recommended great economy +in expenditures for the celebration, saying it would be improper and +unworthy at this time of National distress, when the Foreign Indemnity +was not yet paid, to make a large outlay for her Birthday. The +celebration of a birthday in China is a great event, almost a religious +ceremony, and is observed with great rejoicings by all classes. The +poorest in the land, if they are not able to keep any other festival, +always celebrate with as much pomp as possible the birthdays of their +parents. This is one of the duties enjoined by the Book of Rites, and, +in spite of Her Majesty’s expressed wishes on the subject, the Emperor +could not allow her Birthday to pass without a fitting celebration. + +The Emperor beseeched Her Majesty “on bended knee” to allow him to have +her Birthday celebrated with the same pomp as usual--to permit him to +add another honorific title to the sixteen she already possessed--but +though she was very proud of her titles, which the Ministers and +Emperor had conferred upon her at different times, she was inexorable +on this point, for the adding of a new title would necessitate an +annual grant of twelve thousand dollars in gold. She also insisted that +everything must be on a smaller scale than usual. She was, one could +well see, in no happy frame of mind. There was none of the enthusiasm +she had shown over the preparations for the Emperor’s Birthday. Then +she was in gay good humor. She then evidently fully believed that +things were going well for the State, that China would soon obtain +her full rights in Manchuria again; then everything seemed brighter +for the Nation’s outlook than now. It was her duty, however, to go +through these Birthday celebrations, which, curtail as she would, must, +nevertheless, be very elaborate, owing to her age as well as to her +high rank. The Empress Dowager’s wishes as to the adding of a new +title were observed, and it was not conferred, but the preparations for +the Birthday went on, on a magnificent scale. Presents came pouring +into the Palace, and even more elaborate festive decorations than those +used for the Emperor’s Birthday were being put in place. + +Her Majesty was to receive the prostrations of the Emperor and +Empress,[6] Princesses, and members of the Imperial Family, on a +Throne in the Palace, that was built half-way up the terraced hill +crowned by the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas. She did not receive +these prostrations in the Great Audience Hall: this was set aside, +by tradition, for the Emperor, alone. Had she been reigning for him, +she would have received them there, but as she was reigning with him, +she received them in the other Palace. The elevation of this Palace +permitted all who were allowed to enter the Precincts to offer their +congratulations, to get a glimpse of Her Majesty. As the weather was +getting cold, the marble steps leading up to this Palace, the courts, +and even a large part of the terrace over the lake, were covered with +carpets of gala red. + +[6] It has been said by foreigners, that Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager obliges the Emperor and Empress to make the prostrations before +her on her Birthday as an indignity to them and to show her authority. +The truth is, that every son in China kneels before his parents on +their birthdays, and should the Emperor fail to do so, the whole of +China would be horrified and cry out against his unfilial conduct. Her +Majesty is not only the wife of his uncle, the Emperor Hsien-Feng, but +the sister of his mother, and, more than all else, the Empress Dowager +is the Emperor’s adopted mother. The duties of an adopted child to his +adopted parents are the same, in China, as to his own parents. In the +Viceroy Chang-Chih-Tung’s famous ode to the Emperor, he speaks of this +filial piety as one of the Emperor’s greatest qualities: “Who does not +admire the filial reverence and piety with which he waits upon his +august mother? Setting a brilliant example to all, he inquires early +and late after her well-being and watches over her meals in person. Let +us now add a new ode, extolling to the skies our Emperor’s fidelity to +his Imperial mother.” + +The congratulations and prostrations were to begin at 2 A.M., the +hour of her birth. There were three pairs of huge silver candelabra +standing at either side of the Throne to hold the enormous wax candles +of Imperial yellow, entwined with golden dragons, which weighed fifty +pounds each. They stood five feet high. Lanterns with the ever-present +character “Sho” and others inscribed “Wan-Sho-Wu-Chiang” (no limit to +Imperial longevity) stood on each step of the long flight leading up +to the Palace. The whole terrace below, all the temples and buildings +in the grounds, were brilliantly illuminated with splendid lanterns, +elaborately ornamented with tassels of red silk, with the characters +for longevity emblazoned thereon in vermilion. + +With the few changes necessitated by the different season of the year +of the Empress Dowager’s Birthday, everything was carried out as for +the Emperor’s except on a larger scale, as she was celebrating more +years than His Majesty. The Palace was filled to overflowing with the +many ladies invited to be present. Some came from the heart of distant +Manchuria, the cradle of the Dynasty. The winter Court dress of the +ladies, worn for Her Majesty’s Birthday, was of satin, lined and +trimmed with fur, with sable collars. Like the summer Court dress, the +winter gown was elaborately embroidered in the golden double dragon. +The picturesque summer coiffure had also been replaced by winter hats +of fur with jewels across the front and an elaborate crown, studded +with precious stones. Brilliant bunches of flowers were worn on either +side of the coiffure, in winter as in summer. + +The celebration of birthday festivities in China is always accompanied +by rites and worship of the ancestral tablets, and Her Majesty was +obliged to go into Peking several times during the celebration. The +ceremonies, themselves, were also very tiring. All this effort to keep +up, and to properly carry out her part of the ceremonies, added to her +real anxiety, made the forced celebration of her sixty-ninth Birthday +far from a happy event to the Empress Dowager of China, who found +the Empire she was trying to guide, in so perilous a position--war +threatening on its confines, foreign complications of all kinds to +deal with, and rebellion within. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + THE WINTER PALACE + +The Summer Palace was always the Empress Dowager’s favorite Palace, but +after the Boxer rising and the subsequent occupation of Peking by the +Allies, when foreign troops were stationed in both the Peking Palaces, +and so much damage done them, she would have preferred to have lived +the whole year round at the Summer Palace. As it is, she occupies it +from eight to nine months of the year, going out to it at the first +opportunity in the spring, and leaving it only when it is so cold as +to make it impracticable. There is a system of heating it by furnaces +beneath the floors, but Her Majesty never used these, and the small +Chinese porcelain stoves, sorts of braziers, were quite insufficient +for heating the immense halls. This, however, would not have influenced +her, as she never minded the cold, but it was very difficult for the +officials to take the long trip to the Summer Palace during the winter, +and this consideration alone caused her to move into the Winter Palace +when the weather became very cold. The members of the Cabinet and the +Princes had summer homes in the immediate vicinity of the Palace, but +there were thousands of officials who were obliged to come out every +day from Peking. + +The time had now come for the Court to move in definitively to the +Winter Palace, and shortly after the Birthday festivities, Their +Majesties took up their residence in the Capital. Before I left the +Summer Palace, the young Empress suggested that I should go to the +Winter Palace the next day in time to assist in receiving Her Majesty +on her arrival there, for, as usual, I left the Summer Palace the +day before the Court, and went in to the United States Legation. At +every change of residence of the Empress Dowager, the young Empress, +Princesses, and Ladies of the Court precede her by a few hours, and +stand upon the threshold of her own dwelling Palace to receive her when +she arrives. Full Court dress is worn for this reception, and it is, as +is everything touching Her Majesty, a ceremony! + +The day of the Empress Dowager’s entrance into her loyal City of Peking +for the winter, in December, 1903, was a typical Peking winter day; the +air was crisp and clear, the atmosphere positively sparkling, and like +champagne. One seemed to breathe an elixir. For her “progresses” from +one Palace to another the Empress Dowager always had, what they call in +England, “Queen’s weather.” + +The City of Peking is composed of three walled towns--the Chinese, +the Tartar, and the Imperial City. Within the Imperial City lies the +Winter Palace, its battlemented, turreted walls surrounded by a moat. +After passing through one of the great gates, in the wall surrounding +the Imperial City, and crossing the stone bridge that spans “the +Grain-bearing Canal,” we soon came in sight of the splendid walls +and lofty gates of the Palace inclosure. The red outer walls of the +Palace, faded by Time and weather to a charming gray-pink, with their +beautiful corner constructions of airy-looking turrets reflected in +the still waters of the moat beneath, were most picturesque. We were +carried along the raised road beyond the moat until we came to a marble +bridge (formerly a portcullis), that leads into the gate of the Palace +in front of the Manchu Banner quarters, at the foot of the Coal Hill. +Our chairs, by special arrangement, were allowed to enter the inclosure +proper, of the Winter Palace; but even after entering the exterior +gates, one winds in and out between high walls, through massive gates +and heavy wooden doors studded with huge iron nails and ornamental +copper balls. Against the high wall on either side of this approach, +wooden sheds were built as sleeping-places for the guards and soldiers. +Each shed had a front of lattice-work, with paper pasted over the +interstices. Within was a cemented platform, which the Northern Chinese +use as beds. These have a place underneath for building a fire, for +they keep warm at night by sleeping on hot beds and use very little +cover. + +Just beyond the last of these guard-houses, our official “green chairs” +were put down between two high walls, with forbidding gates in front of +us. Here we took the red Palace chairs which were awaiting us. We were +swiftly carried through still other gates and past a very labyrinth of +walls. The courts were all paved in large flagstones of white marble, +and surrounded by high walls with heavy doors. We finally reached a +charming court, where, standing under the overhanging branches of a +beautiful cedar, we found the young Empress and Princesses, in full +Court dress, already awaiting the coming of Her Majesty. It was a +pretty group that stood there, gowned in their splendid Court costumes, +the sunlight glinting upon the jeweled crowns of their fur caps, and +giving a touch of nature to the brilliant flowers in their hair. My +plain, foreign, tailor-made gown was the only dark spot in this bright +group of gorgeously attired ladies. + +Presently the cymbals and flutes sounded the weird notes of the +“Imperial Hymn.” The great wooden doors of the court were thrown open +and the Imperial procession came in sight. Splendidly gowned eunuchs +advanced in two lines, walking with rigid bodies and stately step. +At a sign from the young Empress, a hush fell upon the chattering +group of Princesses and each took her proper place. Then the Imperial +chair-bearers crossed the threshold, with Her Majesty sitting erect +in one of her “open chairs,” for as soon as she gets into the Palace +grounds she leaves the closed palanquin, in which she is obliged to +travel abroad and which she very much dislikes on account of its +stuffiness. The Ladies, as if moved by one impulse, made the formal +bow at her approach, and repeated the usual Imperial salutation +“Lao-tzu-tzung-chee-siang,” which I repeated with the others. Her +Majesty had her chair stopped in the center of the Court and got out, +and I went up to salute her. She shook hands, and said she hoped I +would be happy in the Winter Palace, but that it was a dull, depressing +sort of a place, with too many walls and gates, after the open +brightness, of the Summer Palace. After a few minutes’ conversation she +went into the Throne-room, followed by the Empress and Ladies. + +Her Majesty’s Throne-room at the Winter Palace fronted on a court which +was surrounded by well-built walls with curiously shaped doors and +windows and ornamental yellow and green tiled designs at intervals. In +the center of the wall in front was the immense gateway, with wooden +folding-doors, which had just opened for her passage. The verandah +of the Throne-room had two rooms projecting upon it, making of it a +rectangular space with walls around three of its sides. This verandah +was quite different from any at the Summer Palace, where they run the +whole length of the buildings, back and front. + +Entering, I was struck by the beauty of the great central hall--the +harmony of its proportions, the somber splendor of its color. It seemed +to me the most satisfying, the most picturesque of all the restful, +harmonious Chinese interiors I had seen. Its dull red walls, splendid +coffered ceiling glowing in color and glinting in gold, its central +dome, with elaborately carved pendentives, was painted in brilliant +primary colors, subdued into a rich harmony by the demi-obscurity, for +it had no “lantern” and received its light from the windows below. + + [Illustration: COURT IN THE WINTER PALACE--“HER MAJESTY COMES”] + +The curious feature of the domes in several of the palaces in the +Violet City, so effective from within, giving elevation and space to +the interiors, is that they are not visible from the outside of the +edifice. The beautiful straight line of the roof, with its upturned +corners, remains intact in its purity and retains its restful +simplicity. + +The hall was paved with great blocks of highly polished black marble, +which dimly reflected the glowing splendor of the walls and ceiling. +In the center of one side was a low dais, richly carpeted, on which +stood a great antique throne and footstool of red lacquer, framed +in ebony and inlaid with cloisonné--the three-leaved screen behind +was of bronze, with landscapes in low relief. On each leaf a poem in +golden characters gave the needed touch of brilliancy to the somber +massiveness of the dull bronze. + +Great wooden doors, with huge gilded dragons in high relief, opened +into apartments on the right and left of this splendid hall. These +portals were always thrown wide, and heavily padded satin portières +hung from the lintels. The front and rear of the hall was almost +entirely of glass, with the pillars that supported the roof standing +clear between the windows--the lower half of plate-glass, the upper, of +transparent Corean paper. + +The apartments to the right, where, at a sign from Her Majesty, I +followed the Ladies, were her day-rooms. Her sitting-room, projecting +on the verandah, brilliantly lighted by two sides of windows, was in +dazzling contrast to the somber splendor of the Throne-room. The sun +pouring through the windows, the gay flowers and growing plants, the +fruits piled high in great painted bowls, the divans, beneath the +windows, with satin cushions, the touches of femininity, the subtle +perfume, even the small shrine to Buddha--everything bespoke the +characteristics of its august mistress, who, in her hours of ease, +loved sunshine and flowers, and reveled in beauty and perfume. + +On entering, Her Majesty approached the small shrine, lighted three +slender tapers of fragrant incense, and placed them upright in the +perfumed ashes of the golden censer at the feet of Buddha. She +rearranged the offerings, placed a picture of the Mother of Buddha +behind the Image, and then stood in reverent attitude a few seconds +before turning to her waiting tirewomen to have her outer garments +removed. + +As I had now learned that my interest in her surroundings pleased her, +I looked around the room. It was as lofty as the Great Throne-room, but +the rear wall was divided into two stories, and a hidden stairway led +to the upper rooms. In an alcove, under the second floor, was built +the bed where she took her siesta in the afternoon, screened from the +sitting-room by beautifully embroidered satin curtains. The walls of +carved teakwood had a rare frieze of panels of flying birds and bats +in mother-of-pearl. There were scrolls bearing quotations from the +classics; and, of course, many beautiful and curious clocks adorned the +dragon tables, the window-seats, and carved chests! + +In prominent places, each flanked by good-luck pennants, hung two +steel-engravings: the first representing Queen Victoria in regal array; +the second, the Queen and Prince Consort, surrounded by their children +and grandchildren. I was surprised to see them here in Her Majesty’s +living-room, though I had heard that the Empress Dowager had a great +admiration for the Queen, and that she thought there were many points +of similarity in their reigns. They had each been widows the greater +part of their lives, and had each ruled over great empires. She said +she noticed in the Queen’s face the same lines of longevity that she, +herself, had. She probably dreams of as long a life as the great Queen +of England had. + +The Empress Dowager was astonished that I had seen so many members of +the English Royal family, and the Queen herself, when I had never had +an “Audience,” and was still more so when she learned that the Great +English Empress took her daily promenade outside her Palace Walls in +“an open chair,” and could be seen by any one who happened to pass that +way. + +Her Majesty told me I might go up the hidden stairway, leading from +her bed-alcove to the floor above, where was her private chapel. Here, +on special occasions, services were held by lama priests. It was a +beautiful haven, in whose dim, religious light one might meditate or +pray. + +Its high altar, with a great golden Buddha of fine design, had tall, +golden candlesticks, shining with pearls and rubies. Richly wrought +and enameled vases held bouquets of jeweled flowers, and censers, +damascened with gold, sent up spirals of perfumed smoke. The floor +was covered with a splendid silken rug of Imperial yellow, and +small, exquisitely executed, paintings of the saints and personified +attributes formed a dado around the walls. + +Curiously shaped windows, with bits of translucent shell set into the +elaborate lattice-work, shed but a dim light, and out of mysterious +depths shone the splendid jewels of the altar ornaments, the dull gold +of the Great Buddha, and the gleaming dado of red-and-gold clothed +saints! This was Her Majesty’s favorite chapel. She had followed me up +and showed it with pride. She appreciated its perfect artistic quality +as much, I am sure, as she loved its religious element. + +Here she could come, from the privacy of her bed-alcove, mount the +hidden stairs when she willed, unnoticed and unattended, and here seek +that peace which seemed so far away those troubled days of January, +1904, when all looked so dark for her country. + +Her Majesty’s Throne-room is in the first of three large halls in +the northeastern corner of the inclosure, which, with their courts, +extend to the exterior walls of the Palace. The buildings are raised +about eight feet above the marble-paved court and are approached +by handsome, white marble steps. Leading up to the second, for the +first time I saw a “spirit-stairway” used in secular architecture. +This “spirit-stairway” consists of a block of marble placed in the +center and reaching from the top to the bottom of the stairway. This +block, instead of being cut into steps, is elaborately carved with the +double dragon. It lies in the middle of the stairway like a beautiful +heavy carpet thrown over it, too stiff to take the form of steps. The +“spirit-stairway,” not to be touched by mortal feet, is used in the +approaches to all the fine temples; and when, as in the case of the +Temple of Heaven at Peking, the stairs are high, the effect is as +beautiful as it is original and unique. + + [Illustration: CONFUCIAN TEMPLE--SPIRIT-STAIRWAY + IN CENTRAL FLIGHT OF STEPS] + +The hall with the “spirit-stairway” is the handsomest of the three in +the Empress Dowager’s inclosure. Its interior, a height of fifty feet, +has a splendid coffered ceiling, and its walls are of wonderfully +carved wood, with cloisonné medallions, which give great richness and +splendor. A balcony surrounds this lofty hall, with openings from it +into rooms over the side apartments, which are of but the usual height. +This great front hall, with a dais and throne, screen and ceremonial +fans, showed it was for more formal receptions than the beautiful domed +room we had first entered. Opposite the Throne dais stood a “cistern” +of splendidly carved jade to hold water for cooling the temperature +in summer. A handsome music-box, which had been sent as a present to +the Dowager Empress by Queen Victoria, and several other presents from +European Royalties, stood around. The apartments on the right were for +His Majesty’s use when he came to the Theater, which was near. On the +left were Her Majesty’s night apartments. Two doors led through the +open-work screen which separated the hall from the entrance at the rear. +Here there was another magnificent block of jade, about five feet high, +elaborately carved in designs representing the manner in which the jade +is mined and taken from its native mountains. + +From the central hall, a raised marble platform led into the third +of the buildings. Here, again, the central hall occupied the entire +height, while the sides were divided into two stories. This was one +of the Emperor’s Throne-rooms, and he had graciously given it for +my use while painting the Empress Dowager’s portraits. I had been +told I was to have a “magnificent place for working” in the Winter +Palace, and so far as magnificence went, I had it here. But, lofty +and spacious as the hall was, it was very dark, and there was also a +disagreeable reflection from the shining, yellow-tiled roof of the +Palace in front. The court was very small, and the reflection from the +roof was consequently unavoidable. My heart fell. It was a dreadful +disappointment to find that my “studio,” to which I had so looked +forward, was so unsatisfactory as to light! + +The Empress Dowager’s quarters at the Winter Palace are separated by +high walls and guarded gates from the Emperor’s. The pavilions of the +Emperor’s inclosure are on a more magnificent scale even than those of +the Empress Dowager. The Audience Hall of the Winter Palace is in the +Emperor’s inclosure. In Her Majesty’s inclosure, there is a Theater, +but the Imperial “loge” is small, indeed, when compared with the +splendid hall at the Summer Palace. Tradition seemed to be more rigidly +observed here than at the Summer Palace, and everything seemed to be +referred to the Emperor; whereas Her Majesty seemed to be the first +figure at the Summer Palace, and there, traditional laws were often in +abeyance. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + PEKING--BEGINNING THE PORTRAIT FOR ST. LOUIS + +The Legation quarter of Peking lies in the Tartar City, just under +the walls of the Imperial City. The United States Legation, in 1904, +occupied a Chinese Temple on the canal, at the left of the “Water +Gate,” the opening of which was exacted by the Allies in 1900. Before +this time, there was no gate between the Chien-Mên and the Hata-Mên. + +It was a picturesque jaunt in the early morning that I had from +the United States Legation to the Palace. My cart rattled down the +road, running parallel to the canal, past the splendid inclosure of +the English Legation to the “Glacis,” and across the Marble Bridge, +that traverses it, to the narrow street under the great red walls of +the Imperial City. The walls all over China are wonderful feats of +architecture, the culminating point of the science of the Chinese +builder. The “Great Wall,” long counted one of the wonders of the +world, is one of many in China, and only remarkable on account of its +size and great length. Nearly every town and city in China has massive, +well-constructed walls, which, with their splendid gate-towers, make +them really remarkable works of architecture. Even the palaces and +parks of the rich have fine walls, the monotony of their line varied +by the turreted summer-houses which surmount their angles. These walls, +quite overtopping the cities and houses they inclose, with their +watch-towers permitting their defenders to see at great distances, +must, in medieval times, have been a splendid protection against the +attacks of enemies or the inroads of barbarians. + +The main thoroughfares of the Tartar City are very wide, with a raised +causeway, about two feet high, in the center. When Their Majesties go +abroad, this is covered with yellow sand and is used as an Imperial +roadway. Ordinarily any cart or chair, irrespective of the rank of +the occupant, may use it. It is always kept in excellent condition, +and seems to be a survival of the raised roads that Marco Polo speaks +of in describing the grounds of the Palace of Kublai-Kahn. The lower +roads on either side of this raised causeway are generally in a +lamentable state. Itinerant cooks ply their odorous trade of frying +grease-balls, etc.; barbers shave their clients and act as manicures +and chiropodists, in full view of the passer-by; venders of old iron, +clothes, vegetables, etc, spread out their wares in the middle of the +road, in reckless disregard of the wandering fowls, dogs, and even +pigs, which roam about. Pools of stagnant water and piles of refuse +add their quota to the malodorous confusion. Still the streets are not +unpicturesque. The elaborately carved fronts of the shops, the graceful +signs, with their red pennants, the gaily colored lanterns swinging to +and fro, the great umbrellas unfurled here and there over the itinerant +venders, all have a certain sort of charm. + +After entering the gate of the Imperial City, the roads are gay with +carts, official chairs, and handsomely caparisoned horses. We sometimes +met attachés of the “Wai-Wu-Pu” and different Yamens hurrying to and +fro with despatches, or caught a glimpse, in the depths of his green +chair, of one of the great ministers, the thin white-bearded face of +Prince Ching, or the heavy Jewish-looking physiognomy of Na-Tung, +the new minister, who seems likely to grow in favor. Sometimes we +passed a bridal procession, with its gay, red-embroidered chairs, +or some splendid funeral, with the great red catafalque, covered +with magnificent embroideries (for red is used alike for wedding +chairs and for funeral decorations)--its massive, long poles held by +hundreds of red-gowned bearers and accompanied by the motley crew of +figurants, who are always hired for funeral celebrations in China; the +catafalque, followed by white-covered carts, carrying the mourning +white-garbed women of the family. Sometimes we passed a crowd of +yellow-gowned lama priests and monks returning from some celebration +in the Palace--sometimes, great droves of camels laden with coal +from the mountains or produce from afar. During the annual visit of +the Mongolian Princes to Peking we met them with their fur-dressed +and leather-booted followers, their quaintly caparisoned horses, and +splendidly bedecked camels, for they were domiciled in Palaces, within +the Imperial City. + +All this we could see as we went on our way to the Great Gate of +the Palace, itself. Within the walls and at the gate of the Empress +Dowager’s Palace, with the usual Chinese tolerance, the consideration +of the great for the poor, beggars are allowed to come at certain +times each day, to receive remnants from the Imperial kitchen. The +poor are also permitted to examine the garbage of the Palace, before +it is carted away. There was always a motley crew of ragged beggars +around this gate, who received, apparently, kind consideration from the +soldiers and guards. At least, they were allowed to ply their trade and +to follow their avocations in peace. + +I found the light, in the magnificent hall which had now become my +studio, so obscure, even in front of the great plate-glass doors, that +it was almost useless to attempt to work. After trying to do so for two +or three days, I told the head eunuch it was impossible. I did not wish +to trouble Her Majesty with my annoyances, for she had enough of her +own cares, and seemed to grow daily more and more anxious and depressed +over the constantly growing rumors of war in Manchuria; but it was +impossible to work longer where I was, and I decided I would have one +of the ends of the hall, which projected beyond the overhanging eaves +of the verandah, fitted up for my work, and in order to have sufficient +light, even here, it was necessary to have the upper paper windows +replaced by plate-glass. The eunuchs demurred. They said this would +necessitate great changes, with heavy expense, besides establishing a +precedent, as no other part of the Palace had plate-glass windows at +the top! The next time the Empress Dowager came in, I told her it was +impossible to work as it was. She, herself, remarked how dark it was, +and noticed the reflection from the yellow roof opposite. And when +she heard what I wished, she ordered it to be done at once, saying she +would “speak to the Emperor” about it. An order of Her Majesty’s was +always promptly carried out, and two days after, to my astonishment, +the plate-glass windows were placed as I wished. I had the divan that +was built under the windows removed, and all the furniture taken out +of this end of the hall. The eunuchs hesitated about removing an +immense elephant clock of wonderful mechanism, as it had not been +moved for a hundred and fifty years, but I finally accomplished even +this! Even without the furniture, this end of the hall was but a small +space in which to work; but I had a fairly good light, and a quiet +place to paint in, for the first time since I began painting the +Empress Dowager. Here I was sufficiently far away from Her Majesty’s +apartments, as well as from those of the Princesses and Ladies, to +be able to work in quiet, without interruptions. A set of European +furniture had been placed in the great hall, when it was decided to +give it to me, and though this did not please me, in an artistic sense, +it being absolutely out of keeping with its environment, I found the +well-cushioned easy-chairs a real comfort when I wanted to rest. + +As soon as I was comfortably settled in my new studio, the Empress +Dowager began to talk of having another large portrait begun--large +enough to represent her with all the paraphernalia of Royalty (the +ceremonial fans, the three-fold screen, the nine phenix, plants of +heavenly bamboo) and pyramids of apples--all emblematic, or symbolic. +I told Her Majesty it would be best to make a small study for this +picture, and that the size of the portrait could be determined on after +this was finished. She readily assented, and I began the small study. +There were a number of beautiful thrones in the Palace, any one of +which would have suited the lines of the composition. I selected one +of the superb, antique thrones of red lacquer, a magnificent work of +art, but the Empress Dowager did not care for this throne. It was not +a matter of whether the lines or color suited the picture, the point +was to have everything “Ho-shih” (proper), as the Chinese say. With +the Chinese, propriety is a religion, and a thing that is “proper” +must conform to tradition, for tradition and propriety are synonymous. +The question of the throne was left in abeyance for the moment, as Her +Majesty said there was one she would like to have painted, which she +would have found before I began the big picture. + + [Illustration: PRINCE CHING] + +I finally began the sketch. Her Majesty was dressed in one of her +official winter gowns. Its fur lining rendered the already heavily +embroidered satin stiffer than ever, and any stray folds that might +perchance have appeared, were pulled out by a heavy fringe of pearls +around the hem. She had on her famous pearl mantle over an official +jacket. In her coiffure she wore her long tassel of pearls, and many +curious ceremonial jewels. She had on fur-lined undersleeves, which +hid half her beautiful hands. The effect of her tiny finger-tips, with +their long curving nails and jeweled shields, the palms not being +visible, was most unfortunate. Added to this, she held them tightly +together in her lap, and the lines were obscured by a large, pale-blue +handkerchief in one hand. + +My heart fell. Thus I would lose one of her chief beauties. I begged +Lady Yu-Keng to ask her to pose her hands differently. She said she +could not do such a thing; so, in my inelegant Chinese, I told Her +Majesty I did not like her hands as they were. “But I like them like +that,” she said, looking at me with a charming expression of amused +astonishment, amazed that it was possible for any one not to like what +she liked; and she kept her hands as they were, and I was obliged to +begin the picture with the hands in that position. + +The first sketch was quickly made, and Her Majesty expressed herself +as pleased with it. Then came the discussion as to the size of the +portrait. I made my measurements, and thought five feet by eight +was large enough, but when she saw what size it was going to be, +she thought six feet by ten would be better. The Palace carpenters +were accordingly called in, and I gave them as accurate directions +as I could, for making a stretcher. The Chinese workmen are clever, +patient, and apt at carrying out suggestions, and the stretcher was +satisfactorily made. But the canvas was to be put on this stretcher, +and this they seemed to have no idea of, so I was obliged to try to +do it myself. Owing to the size of the canvas, I was compelled to +stand on a stool six feet high (they had no ladders), with the huge +stretcher before me. An army of eunuchs stood around to assist me, +presided over by a head eunuch. I used the iron pincers and pulled +the canvas, myself. It was held at the corners by eunuchs, also on +stools; one eunuch held the tacks, another the hammer, etc. Each order +I gave was repeated in a loud voice by the head eunuch, and at every +failure to comprehend my directions, the working eunuchs were rebuked +and threatened with the “bamboo.” Finally, I accomplished the difficult +task, and the great canvas was stretched. Her Majesty was greatly +exercised when she learned I had done it myself. She said that I should +have made the eunuchs “stretch four or five,” until they learned to do +one properly. But I hadn’t sufficient canvas for such experiments, and +could get no more in China. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI + + SOME SOCIAL CUSTOMS--MANCHU AND CHINESE + +I met the wives and families of all the Princes, nobles, and high +Manchu officials in Peking, for they came to the Court at stated +intervals, besides on many special occasions, when they were invited +by Her Majesty. The most frequent of these visitors to the Palace +were Prince Ching’s wives and daughters, the wives of the Emperor’s +brothers, his father’s secondary wives and their daughters, and the +sisters of the young Empress, one of whom is the clever Princess Schun. +The widow of the Grand Secretary Yung Lu, who lost, in one year, her +husband and a promising son, and who was nearly crazed by grief, also +came often. She was not very brilliant, nor the kind of woman to appeal +to Her Majesty; but her grief seemed to touch the Empress Dowager, +and she received special marks of favor when in the Palace, and came +and went as she willed. A step-daughter, whom she had herself brought +up through a very delicate childhood, was the wife of the Emperor’s +brother, Prince C’hun. Should they have a son he will probably be the +next heir to the Throne. + +On their marriage the brides of nobles of a certain rank go to +the Palace to be presented to the Empress Dowager. This ceremony +corresponds to the presentation, on their marriage, of ladies at +the English Court. These brides are always magnificently dressed in +embroidered gowns of rich colors, and wear, for the first time, the +Court coiffure of the married ladies, the magnificent golden filigree, +jeweled construction, which I have already described, and for this +occasion they wear a profusion of jewels. The Manchu ladies use much +more discretion in wearing jewels than the Chinese ladies. The latter +will sometimes wear as many as fifteen bracelets on each arm, and the +number of jewels they put in their coiffure seems to be limited only by +the space they have at their disposal. + +The brides come to the Palace in red satin bridal chairs, accompanied +by their husband’s mother and his married sisters, if he has any; if +not, by his nearest women relations. On their arrival in the Precincts +they first go to the Throne-room and make their bows and prostrations +before the Empress Dowager, to thank her for the gifts she has sent. +Sometimes Her Majesty would speak to them at some length, seeming to +give them advice. After making their obeisances to her, they then make +their salutations to the young Empress. They spend the day at the +Palace, take luncheon with the young Empress and Princesses, and leave +about three o’clock. These brides were generally very young girls, +though sometimes I was surprised to see that they had well passed +the first bloom of youth, for I had thought that all Oriental women +were married very young. The young Empress was always charming to the +brides, and seemed to watch over their pleasure, and try to make them +enjoy this rather trying day, when they were the observed of all +observers. Among these brides, the winter I was in Peking, was the wife +of the Emperor’s youngest brother, a charming young girl with sweet +manners, far more attractive in every way than Yung Lu’s daughter, the +wife of Prince C’hun. + +The Chinese look upon a daughter, at her birth, as a misfortune, one +of the ills that must be endured, and while loving her individually, +a daughter is not welcomed into the family nor allowed the privileges +of a son. It is, however, quite different with the Manchus. A daughter +not being able to sacrifice to the ancestors, even Manchus prefer a +son; but a daughter is a welcome member of the family, and she has +a distinct and independent position of her own. One of the Chinese +ministers to Washington once told me that the only unmarried woman in +the world whose position is analogous to that of the “American Girl,” +in her own family, is the Manchu girl. + +As long as the Manchu girl remains unmarried, she is a veritable power +in the household. She ranks as high as her brother, and always takes +precedence of her brother’s wife, even if that wife be double her age +and married before she was born. She precedes her mother even, as she +is of the Blood and her mother of “another family.” Not only has she +these social privileges, but she has well-defined legal rights. Her +father cannot make a disposition of his property without his eldest +daughter’s consent. She can go into her brother’s house, dismiss his +servants, and generally direct his affairs. Her word has more weight +as to the bringing up of her brother’s children than his wife’s, as +she is a sister, a born relation, and the wife is only an acquired +relation. When she marries, however, she becomes a member of the +family into which she marries; but even then, such is the ascendancy +of the girl in the Manchu family, even after her marriage into another +family, she often goes on dictating to her brother’s family and her +own as before, if she does not find her own household duties and her +own family sufficient occupation to keep her from doing so. Such is +the force of consanguinity among the Manchus, and the position of the +daughter in the family. + +The unmarried Manchu girl has not only this liberty in her family, but +she has more liberty in the outside world than any other Oriental woman. + +They are not so restricted in their social intercourse as any other +Oriental women, and while they are not so literary as the Chinese, they +have more social qualities and are brighter conversationalists, being +both witty and gay. + +They are not forced to marry against their inclinations and some remain +single to the end of their days, or marry late in life if they so +desire. These unmarried ladies are not only looked up to by their own +families, but they are not regarded as being objects of commiseration +by the world at large. On the contrary, they are rewarded with +triumphal arches and splendid monuments if they have passed a long +and exemplary life of maidenhood. Although the brides that came into +the Palace were generally young, one who came to make her bow to the +Empress Dowager, while I was there, was a lady of forty-two summers. +She had brought up two or three families of brothers’ children and +directed their households; but she finally succumbed to the charms of a +wealthy official, who had lost his wife two years before and who had a +number of children on which she could continue to practise her theories +as to their bringing up. Had she held out longer and died a maiden, she +might have had an arch built to her memory after death and gone down to +posterity. + +Only ladies, young girls and boys under seventeen were ever guests of +the Empress Dowager in her Palace. The Manchu nobles and high officials +were invited on certain days to the Theater, but there was always the +high intervening screen between them and Her Majesty’s and the Ladies’ +loges. The Princes and nobles who have official positions, see the +Empress Dowager in the Audience Hall, and she is now over sixty. She +has more liberty than before, but generally their Audiences are with +the Emperor alone, and they never come into the Ladies’ Precincts. At +the performance of the European circus in the Palace grounds I saw, for +the first time, nearly all the Princes and Manchu officials. + +The Manchus are a taller race than the Chinese and more +athletic-looking. They are fond of exercise, indulge in archery, +riding, etc, and do not look down upon a military career, as do the +Chinese. It is said that polo playing, which the English got from +India, originated among the Tartars, and that it is still played +in Manchuria. I never saw polo played by the Manchus, but I have +seen some daring riding done by the young nobles that would seem to +show they could play polo if they would. The Manchu nobles have an +inherited military rank, and they also receive military advancement for +proficiency in archery and riding. The warlike spirit that prompted +the Manchus and their progenitors, the Nu-Chih Tartars, who not only +conquered China, but, as “the Huns,” almost overran Europe itself, +is no longer so militant as it was. The modern Manchu is becoming +almost as peace-loving as the Chinese themselves, but there are still +qualities which show their descent from a race of warriors. + +They wear the ordinary Chinese costume, and though it is said “the +shaven head and wearing of the queue” were instituted as marks of +degradation for the Chinese when they were conquered by the Manchus, +the Emperor himself and all the Manchu nobles shave their heads and +wear the queue! They wear satin boots with white kid soles. Their hats, +in summer of finely woven straw, and of fur in winter, have the crown +covered with a tassel of red silk, surmounted by the jeweled button +denoting their ranks. From this button stands out, almost at right +angles, a jade-mounted aigret, mixed with the peafowl feathers, if they +have attained that rank. In winter, they wear splendid sable short +coats. Except these sable topcoats, fur is never worn on the outside of +a garment in China, but is used only as a lining. + +When I saw the Manchu nobles at the circus at the Summer Palace, they +wore the splendid summer Court costume, embroidered in the double +dragon, reaching below the knee. They were tightly belted in around the +waist, and very full and ample across the shoulders, giving the men the +appearance, at least, of broad shoulders, and enhancing their already +fine figures. One could see that the Emperor was the “glass of fashion +and mold of form” of the young nobles; for they all aimed, as much as +possible, at his slenderness of figure and even imitated his carriage. +The young dandies, however, wore a much greater profusion of ornaments +than His Majesty ever indulged in. The belt buckle, the handsomest +ornament worn, was of carved jade, ruby quartz, or of beautifully +chased gold set with precious stones. They were then wearing a +profusion of ornaments dangling from their belts--embroidered cases +for fans, chop-sticks and knives, and many other ornaments besides the +watch, an indispensable adjunct to every Chinese gentleman’s costume. +This is worn hanging from the belt in a handsome, embroidered case +with an open front, so that the elaborate case, generally studded with +jewels, beautifully enameled, or curiously incised, could be seen. +This case had a sort of fob attachment made of silken cord, woven into +quaint designs and finished generally with a wonderfully carved piece +of jade, ruby quartz, or some other curious stone. + +Manchu ladies wear their gowns long and loose, hanging from the +shoulders, and never show the line of the waist, nor the outline of the +figure; but the men belt in their gowns tightly, and are very proud of +a small waist. + +Among the social customs in China, which obtain also among the +Manchus, is “concubinage.” But it exists in such a form that in its +actual state, it might more properly be called “plurality of wives.” +The concubine, or secondary wife, as I will call her, is taken from +the bosom of her family, and her position in her husband’s family +is considered as secure as that of the first wife. Though the first +wife only has a legal standing, custom gives the secondary wife equal +rights, and she is no more likely to be put aside than the first wife. +There are, I suppose, men in China who put away a secondary wife, if +they are wealthy enough to have taken one or several, but they would be +socially and generally ostracized. + +The man marries in China as soon as he reaches manhood. Some young girl +who is of the same social standing and has the requisite qualities +for his wife is chosen for him by his parents. This is the legitimate +wife. She is the first and remains first always, taking precedence of +any and all others that may be chosen. The secondary wife is often of +the same class as the first wife. She is generally chosen by the man +himself, and is taken from some good family who may be poor, and she is +an honest young girl. + +She is received, on her entrance into the household, by the wife and +the man’s mother, if she be alive, and her position in the family is +assigned to her. While she must pay court and due respect to the first +wife, she has her own servants and her own rights, and leads her own +independent life. The first wife has entire authority, in certain +matters, over the secondary ones, but they generally live amicably +together. As the first wife is married several years before any second +wife is taken, and as she is also generally their superior in age, this +entitles her to their respect, aside from her legal standing and her +position as first in the household. The secondary wives stand in the +presence of the first wife until she asks them to sit. Should they have +any children, the latter call the first wife “mother,” and though the +mother has her part in bringing up the child, it calls her, if she be +a secondary wife, by her first name, and, in important matters, her +authority over the child must give way to that of the first wife. But +the first wife rarely abuses her authority over the children any more +than over the other wives, and does not interfere except for, what she +thinks is, the child’s good. + +In theory, according to our ideas, and with American or European women, +this would be a sad state of affairs, but practically, as it exists in +China and with Chinese women, it seems to work well. The arrangement of +the houses in China is also well adapted for this kind of life. There +are a number of courts surrounded by pavilions, each court and its +pavilions forming a unit--a separate dwelling-place--this unit being a +part of a great whole. + +The wives live in harmony together, and seem like a family of sisters. +The first wife apparently takes pride in the good conduct and handsome +appearance of the others, and there seems to be very little jealousy +among them. + +If this be the position of the secondary wife in the families of the +gentry and nobility, one may imagine how much more exalted it is in +the Imperial family and how the secondary wife of an Emperor would be +considered. To have their daughter chosen as the secondary wife of an +Emperor is looked upon as an honor in the highest Manchu families. +Of course, they would prefer to have her the first wife, for she +has more power, but none of them would demur at an alliance of the +secondary kind for their daughter, for she may thus become the mother +of an Emperor, and she does become, by this marriage, a member of the +Imperial family, and is treated as such. She ranks higher than any of +the Princesses or Ladies of the Court, and takes precedence of all +except the first wife, or a secondary wife, of the Emperor, who may +have been married before she was. Her place is at the side of the first +wife, the Empress. In the Palace she is called by the same title as +the first wife, a Manchu word meaning “Mistress.” She cannot wear the +Imperial yellow, it is true, but she does wear the Imperial orange, +which no other Lady at Court can wear. + +These secondary wives are not taken for some physical quality from +among the masses; they are not in the Palace as the result of a caprice +of the Emperor. They are from the highest families in the land. They +are generally chosen by the Emperor’s mother, if she be alive, with +as much care as the first wife, and her position is inferior, only +from an official standpoint, to that of the Empress. She may even +become Empress herself on the death of the first wife and those who +precede her. The Emperor of China has no “harem,” but he may have +as many wives as he wishes. His wives never live together in the +promiscuity of a harem, where all individuality is lost. Each wife +has her own establishment and her own position, and is not dependent +on her physical charms for her maintenance in that position, any more +than is the first wife. Should she be the mother of children, she +may advance beyond the others who have none, excepting always the +first wife; and even should she have no children, she has always her +separate establishment and is considered a member of the family. The +Emperor Kwang-Hsu has two wives, both designated by the same title in +the Palace. In this account of my experiences I only allude to the +first wife, because it would be confusing to speak of two Empresses +where there is also an Empress Dowager, and also because the first +wife, in this instance, is so much the stronger character and the more +interesting personality. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII + + PRESENT-GIVING IN CHINA + +Present-giving is really carried to great excess all over China, +and whatever obtains in China obtains at the Palace. The Palace is +spoken of in Peking as the “Inside,” that is, the heart of the Empire. +From this “Inside,” customs and habits flow and pulse over the rest +of China, as the blood does from the heart, by a thousand arteries +reaching to the very confines of the Empire, and it also receives the +impress of what passes on outside among the people. Whether it be, +in the instance of present-giving, that the custom has grown from +the “Inside” to the “Outside” or vice versa, I know not, but it is +universal in China. However, it probably reaches its greatest excess in +the Palace. + +Births, marriages, and deaths are all marked by presents, and there is +a very riot of present-giving at the New Year! Every one then exchanges +them, from the lowest to the highest. Next comes the anniversary of +the birth. This is celebrated with an unheard-of pomp in China. The +more exalted the rank and the greater the age, the more splendid is +the celebration and the more magnificent the presents. The Emperor’s +Birthday was the first I saw celebrated, and I was astonished at +the number and elegance of the presents that flowed into the Palace +on this occasion. But at the Empress Dowager’s Birthday all this was +far surpassed; and her presents exceeded in number and elegance His +Majesty’s, for she was celebrating more years than the Emperor, and the +number and value of birthday presents increase in proportion to the +years. Their elegance and number are also regulated by the rank. The +presents the Grand Secretary and the Prime Minister receive on such +occasions would quite astonish a Westerner, and, of course, far surpass +in number and magnificence what would be offered to the president +of a department, as his would exceed, in elegance, those offered to +secretaries of the Board. + +Every festival, every ceremony, and all anniversaries are marked by +presents, in the Palace. There is scarcely a day that presents are not +sent into the Palace, that some are not sent out, and rarely a day when +some presents are not exchanged by those “Inside.” The Empress Dowager +and the Emperor receive the greatest number, and, of course, they +give the greatest number. This seemed to me the greatest extravagance +of the Empress Dowager. At every change of season, she presents the +young Empress, the Princesses, and Ladies, without reference to her +favorites, with silks, dresses, shoes, and ornaments appropriate to the +season, and not only do the Ladies receive these articles of wearing +apparel at the changes of the season: she gives them many presents +at each festival. Besides this, she gives nearly all the expensive +Court dresses that are worn at the Palace, which cost, with their +embroideries, from three to six hundred dollars each. She presents +the Ladies with coiffures and many jeweled ornaments as well. On +the occasion of a wedding among the Manchu nobility, which must be +announced to the Court before it takes place, Her Majesty presents +the bride handsome rolls of silk, embroideries, and jewels. On the +occasion of births among the courtiers, she sends handsome ornaments +to be worn by the new-born child. Even on the death of certain people, +she sends handsome presents to the family, or something to be worn by +the departed, if it should be a widow, who had led a long and exemplary +life of widowhood, and had devoted herself to charity and good works. + +When the ladies of the Legation were first received at the Palace, +the Empress Dowager naturally followed the Chinese Imperial custom of +giving each lady a present. This precedent having been established +and seeming to have given pleasure, when the ladies were received +the next time, which was after the Boxer rebellion, she gave them +presents again. Unfortunately, this act was construed into a desire +on her part to wheedle the foreigners, and curry favor, so that she +might receive better treatment at the hands of the Powers. The truth +is, she loves to play the Lady Bountiful, and she never mixes up the +social with the political, and I am sure she had no “arrière-pensée” +but was simply indulging her usual bent. After the first few Audiences +(when the presents were really of value), Her Majesty gave small and +unimportant presents at the garden parties, which were made the subject +of ridicule. Her Majesty had heard that the ladies did not wish to +receive such handsome presents as she had first given, and she hence +gave inexpensive souvenirs. Finally, the Ministers asked the Chinese +Foreign Office to request the Empress Dowager to give no more presents +at the Audiences, and the custom was abolished; though Her Majesty +continued to give presents in private, and she still sends, on the four +great Chinese festivals, flowers, fruits, and confectionery to all the +ladies of the Legation, as well as to every lady who has ever been +received at the garden parties, and on the departure of any Minister +from Peking, she sends his wife some parting presents. + +But though present-giving has been stopped at the Audiences of the +foreign ladies, it goes on with the same excess in the Palace and among +officials in China. At each of Their Majesties’ Birthdays, in spite of +their protests and edicts to prevent it, presents pour into the Palace! +Every official who has ever been presented in Audience, or who has the +right, by his official position, to send anything, does so. Edicts +from the Throne to prevent it will remain as ineffectual as those with +reference to the binding of the feet of the Chinese women (which Her +Majesty has for years been “recommending” in edicts to be abolished), +for it has become so thoroughly a part of Chinese life as to be almost +indispensable. Present-giving in China is one of those “unwritten +laws” whose tyranny is hardest to break away from. Though the system +of present-giving is a great tax on the officials, as well as their +subordinates, in this instance the change must come from the people. + +As I was an inmate of the Palace for so long, of course I came in for +my share of presents from the Empress Dowager. At every festival I was +remembered, as well as the Princesses and Ladies of the Court, and when +presents were sent to the ladies of the Legation, she sent similar ones +to me. Many of the presents she made me showed a real consideration +for my comfort and displayed much forethought. When the weather became +cool, and the Ladies of the Court put on wadded dresses, Her Majesty +sent one of her maids to my apartments to get one of my tailor-made +dresses. She had the Palace tailors copy this in wadded silk. It was +wonderful how well they did it, too, for, as I knew nothing about it, +I could give no advice. She ordered a few changes made in the severity +of the tailor-costume, thinking it was too hard in its lines. She had +a long, soft sash to tie at the side, which, she decided, made it look +more graceful. When the Princesses put on furs, Her Majesty, herself, +designed for me a long fur-lined garment which she thought would be +comfortable to paint in. She had some trouble in arriving at a result +which pleased her, which would be warm enough, and which, at the same +time, would not interfere with the freedom of movement necessary for +me to work with ease. At the time of the Chinese New Year, she sent me +two curiously fashioned fur-lined dresses. She had the skirts copied +from old pictures. They were not unlike our pleated skirts, with an +embroidered panel down the center of the front. The jackets were a sort +of compromise between European and Chinese, and the costumes were not +only pretty but very comfortable.[7] + +[7] Her Majesty said my individuality was not lost in these costumes, +and that I was clothed in attire suitable to the Chinese interior. She +had now devised a costume for me which was really in harmony with my +new environment. Our rough tweeds and somber garments, outlining and +defining the figure, looked mesquin and out of place in these great +halls. The bright colors and simple lines of the gowns of the Chinese +ladies are much more in keeping with their interiors. Her Majesty’s +artistic taste had divined this, and she had made several attempts to +devise something for me that was in harmony with the Chinese “milieu” +and at the same time comfortable. + + [Illustration: THE AUTHOR IN CHINESE COSTUME] + +For wearing with these she ordered a sable hat, for the Chinese ladies +wear some sort of coiffure on the head, winter and summer. This had an +embroidered crown of pale lavender satin, with long satin streamers +embroidered in gold with good-luck emblems. The brim could be worn +either turned off the face or pulled over the ears and tied under the +chin with lavender strings. She said she had some trouble in finding +a design which she thought would suit me. This hat she had also had +copied from old prints. I learned later she had tried three sorts of +sables before she got a color which she thought would be becoming to my +unfortunate blonde hair! On the front of the brim she placed a Princess +Button. This is worn only by Ladies of the Court, and represents the +Flaming Pearl of the Dynasty. It was established by the founders of the +Dynasty and is the distinguishing jewel of the members of the Imperial +family. It consists of a large pearl, surrounded by three alternating +rows of seed-pearls and corals, which are supposed to represent flames! +This Flaming Pearl, symbol of the “Unattainable,” is the eternal quest +of the double dragon! + +Her Majesty also presented me with a number of other charming things +that I shall always treasure as coming from her, and as evidence of her +consideration for “the stranger within her gates,” or as spontaneous +offerings from her naturally generous nature--ever desirous of giving +pleasure. I wish I might have preserved the flowers and curious grasses +which she, herself, gathered and gave me on our many promenades around +the beautiful grounds of the Summer Palace, but which, alas! are +withered and gone! + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + SOME WINTER DAYS AT THE PALACE + +The big, official portrait for St. Louis was advancing. I was able +to accomplish much more now that I had a place where I could work +uninterruptedly, and quietly study the painting when I was not working. +Her Majesty came, with her usual retinue, to pose, but it was not at +fixed times, and was often when I did not expect her. She was looking +more and more anxious these days; but she came to pose whenever it +was necessary, and was very particular as to all the details in the +portrait. She often had the jewels and ornaments changed, and her pearl +mantle was made over, after she saw it in the first sketch, as she did +not like its form. + +The throne, about which there had been a question when I began the +portrait, and which had been a present to Her Majesty from the late +Emperor Tong Chih, her son, had been “lost” during the Boxer troubles, +but Her Majesty thought it might be reproduced from descriptions and +from sketches by the Palace painters who had seen it; but I could not +consent to work either from memory or other painters’ sketches, and +I was finally obliged to paint, “faute de mieux,” one of the carved +teakwood thrones of which Her Majesty is so fond. This throne did not +suit the straight lines of the composition so well as almost any other +in the Palace would have done, but Her Majesty wished it. + +I found the representation of the nine life-size phenix, in vigorous +colors, on a blue cloisonné screen placed almost touching the throne, +very difficult to represent, so that they did not seem to be real birds +flying around her head. The vases of flowers and ornaments were also +placed at exactly equal distances on either side of the throne, but it +was necessary to paint them this way. It would not have been “proper” +otherwise. The figure was in the exact center of the three-fold +screen, and so near it, it was impossible to get any atmosphere in +the background. There was not a fold in either gown or sleeves; but +I had now resigned myself to convention and tradition, and I copied +mechanically what was placed before me, and made no more efforts at +artistic arrangements, nor tried any experiments in execution. I worked +like a good artisan, finishing so many inches a day. + +The weather was now too cold for anything but the short constitutional, +and, besides, there was no place in the Winter Palace to tempt one to +promenades--only the walled-in courts and the shut-in walks, between +high walls. Even Her Majesty’s promenades were confined to going to the +Audience Hall in the morning, and walking through the courts, from one +Throne-room to another. + +Every day we saw the Empress Dowager for some moments in her +Throne-room before I went to my work. On Theater days, I made her my +morning salutation in her loge at the Theater, and when the light +faded and I could paint no more, I would go into the young Empress’s +and the Ladies’ loge for the last play and the spectacular finale, +when there were always some good illuminations and pretty effects. Her +Majesty and the young Empress seemed now to perfectly understand that +I wanted to work, and must work, in order to finish the large portrait +for the St. Louis Exposition. They saw I appreciated the amusements and +ceremonies, etc, but that I did not wish them to interfere with my +work. When there was a special festival, or some fine ceremony, I was +always called in, but otherwise I might go or not, as I wished. + +I lunched generally with the Ladies, with the charming young Empress as +gracious hostess, and dined at night at Her Majesty’s table. Two huge +copper braziers had now been placed in the Throne-room, and though so +picturesque with the blue flames curling above their openings in the +top, they made but little impression upon the temperature of this lofty +room. The curtains over the immense doors that opened on the courts +were constantly being raised for the passage of some eunuch, and it was +very drafty. But one could at least warm one’s hands by the braziers, +and they were so beautiful and picturesque, I was reconciled to being a +little cold; besides, I soon became accustomed to the temperature. The +Chinese Ladies wear heavy fur-lined dresses in the house, and cannot +stand the rooms very warm. + +At dinner, a large carpet was now placed under the table, which was an +improvement over the cold marble floors. This was done for my comfort, +for the Chinese Ladies wear two-inch-thick cork soles to their +fur-lined shoes. Down the center of the table, during the winter, there +were several silver chafing-dishes, with burning charcoal beneath their +steaming contents. Soups, vegetables, and meat stews were thus kept +boiling hot on the table. One night I suggested to one of the eunuchs +to place the claret-bottle near the fire before serving it, that the +chill might be taken off. One very cold day, soon after, the eunuch +brought in a large teapot, and began pouring the boiling claret out +of this! The Chinese drink their wines hot, and he thought he would +improve on my suggestion of “taking off the chill,” and he naïvely +remarked “it was better for me to drink it thus on such a cold day!” + +When there was no Theater, and it became too dark to paint, I would +join the young Empress and Ladies in their sitting-room at the left of +Her Majesty’s Throne-room and there await dinner. The young Empress +would then teach me Chinese. She was very particular about my accent +and seemed to take a real interest in my progress. The Chinese language +is very difficult for a beginner, even for one who has a good ear, +for the “tone” or inflection with which you pronounce the word may +change its meaning. Sometimes one after the other of the Princesses +would repeat the same word in different tones and make me repeat it +and then give the meaning of each tone. They would sometimes make puns +on words, or give me a string of difficult words for the accent and to +improve my enunciation, as the French teach the children, “Trois gros +rats dans trois gros trous.” When I would finally get quite tangled +up with these words I would retaliate with “Peter Piper picked a peck +of pickled peppers.” This would end the lesson for that day, for they +would all try to say it and get so hilarious that there was no effort +at further study, and dinner would be announced in the midst of the fun. + +Sometimes the young Empress and the Ladies would play cards in the +evenings. Her Majesty seemed only to like her fairy game! The cards +were narrow slips of pasteboard with curious devices on each, but +little more than an inch wide, and there were one hundred and fifty +in a pack. I never succeeded in getting into the merits of the game. +Sometimes when the Ladies felt industriously inclined, they would weave +a kind of braid. The threads, gold, silver, or silk, were attached to +the center of a wooden table and were weighted at the ends. They would +weave these in and out into cunningly fashioned braids and ribbons. The +Princesses did a great deal of beautiful embroidery, making their own +shoes, which are of exquisitely embroidered satin, but they could not +do this at night, for only candles are used in the two Peking Palaces, +the Summer Palace being the only one in China lighted by electricity. + +One night at dinner the young Empress asked me to come earlier than +usual the next morning, as there was something she wished me to see. +Several eunuchs were waiting at the gate of the Palace to conduct us +to the young Empress when we arrived at nine o’clock the next morning, +and I then learned this was her Birthday. I hurried in and found the +Imperial Princess and all the Ladies of the Palace, besides a number +of visitors, standing in front of the young Empress’s pavilion. They +told me she had asked them to wait to present their congratulations +until I came, and said that I was to go in first. I did so, and there, +on a throne, sat the young Empress in full Court dress, wearing the +Court coiffure, with its veil of pearls, which was most becoming to her +narrow patrician face. She was looking very sweet and gracious and held +out her tiny hand to me on my entrance. I bowed low over it and kissed +it, and wished her from the bottom of my heart “ten thousand” years +of happiness and all kinds of “felicitous omens.” I then started to +move out, but she told me to remain in the room at one side and watch +the Princesses and Ladies as they came in. Each made the prostrations +before her and presented a jade “ruyie,”[8] which she received with due +ceremony--the same ceremony as for the Emperor’s and Empress Dowager’s +Birthday! + +[8] Also spelled jiu. + +But these winter days were not all given up to the Theater and +festivals. There were some days of sadder import. Days of mourning +were often celebrated at the Palace. The anniversary of the deaths +of some Emperor or Ancestor was of frequent occurrence. It seemed to +me they celebrated the anniversary of the death of every Emperor of +the Dynasty! On these days there would be sacrifices at the ancestral +tablets and religious ceremonies early in the mornings. The Empress +Dowager and the whole Court would wear mourning for the day and there +was never any sort of amusement. White, which is full mourning, is +not worn on these anniversaries after the third, but violet and blue +(second mourning) is put on. The flowers worn in the coiffure were +also in violet, white or blue, the mourning colors. One night at dinner +the young Empress, who acts as Mistress of Ceremonies in the Palace, +told me the following was a day of mourning. She asked me if I would +wear one of the mourning colors, as it was the anniversary of the death +of the Emperor Tung-Chih (the Empress Dowager’s son). + +The next day I put on a black dress, our mourning, and wore violet +flowers in my hair. When we entered, Her Majesty was sacrificing at +the small shrine in her sitting-room. She was dressed in dark violet, +heavily trimmed with black, and had not a flower of any kind in her +hair--only a few pearls. She looked very sad and was more earnest and +reverent at the sacrifice than usual, but when she had finished her +sacrifice, she bade us “Good morning” and inquired after our health, +with her usual consideration. We soon left the Throne-room for my +working-hall, and I did not see her again until after our dinner with +the Empress and Ladies, when we went into the Throne-room to make our +adieus. As I had not been wearing black for some time (as Her Majesty +said she didn’t like it), she now noticed that I had it on and she +asked Lady Yu-Keng, in an aside, “why.” She was told that when I knew +what anniversary it was, I had put it on on that account. She seemed +much touched, took my hand in both hers, and said, “You have a good +heart to think of my grief and to have wished to sympathize,” and tears +fell from her eyes on my hand, which she held in hers. + +Poor lady! Private sorrows and sad memories were not all she had to +grieve her now. I had noticed her growing anxiety for many days! She +seemed to feel all the gravity of the political situation of China. As +the rumors of war between Russia and Japan grew, her anxiety increased +and she was looking sad and careworn. She seemed to be full of doubt +and fear, and quite unlike her usual self. I fancy she thought of the +unprepared state of her country and feared that it might be drawn into +this struggle. She seemed to be in doubt as to the course that was best +to be taken. Even should the Empire not be drawn into the conflict, +two hostile nations were to meet within its borders. The struggle was +to take place in Manchuria, the cradle of the Dynasty. That beautiful, +smiling country would be ravished by war, and the awful possibility +of the ancestral tombs being desecrated, loomed up before her. The +desecration of the tombs of one’s ancestors in China is supposed to +bring dire consequences upon the family, and a pious Chinaman would +face any material loss rather than run the risk of these tombs being +desecrated. She felt it all, and was sad indeed. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX + + RELIGIOUS RITES IN CHINA + +There are three great religions in China--Buddhism, Taoism, and the +worship of Nature. The worship of Nature, in which is embodied their +highest idea of an Invisible Deity, is the purest form of religion in +China. Its Temples are situated in a magnificent Park in the Chinese +City of Peking. The Temple of Heaven, the most imposing of the group, +spherical and triple-domed, rears its proud height here and is visible +from afar. Its triple dome tiled, without, in the sacred green of +Nature and vaulted within in Heaven’s own blue, is surrounded by groves +of century-old arbor-vitæ. In other parts of the great Park are the +scarcely less splendid Temples to the Earth, to the Sun and Moon and to +Agriculture, and grandest, most unique of these Temples, is that to the +Invisible Deity. Its foundations are the Earth, its walls are limitless +Ether, its dome Heaven’s own vault! On its great open altar this +Nature worship has its culmination and reaches its highest fulfilment. +This altar is the Holy of Holies, the tabernacle of the group of +Temples consecrated to the worship of Nature. + +It is built in the center of a great marble-paved space with the +secular arbor-vitæ radiating therefrom in long concentric avenues. It +is of pure white marble, round as is the Earth. The Trinity in Nature +and its Infinity are symbolized in its three superposed circles. Each +of the circular platforms is surrounded by an exquisitely carved +balustrade and approached by flights of nine steps each, to the north, +south, east, and west. The central point of the great upper circle thus +represents the center of the Universe, accessible from every point of +the compass. + +Here in this symbolic center of the world, in this great Temple, whose +walls are Space, whose towers are Infinity, on this great triple altar, +canopied with Heaven itself, the Emperor of China, “Son of Heaven,” +glorifies the Invisible Deity and sacrifices for the prosperity of “the +Great, Pure Kingdom” and his people. This worship of the Invisible +Deity has no Priestly Hierarchy. The Emperor of China is its one High +Priest. He alone is worthy, as the Son of Heaven, to perform its unique +ceremonies, on its one great Altar, in its single great Temple of China. + +The Emperor prepares himself for the great ceremony of the semi-annual +celebration on this altar by a rigorous fast of three days, spending +the final night before the celebration in a vigil in the Great Park of +the Nature Temples, where there is a Purifying Palace set aside for +his use. This glorification of the Invisible Deity at the summer and +winter solstices is the most solemn act performed by the Emperor in his +quality of Son of Heaven. + + [Illustration: TEMPLE OF HEAVEN--PEKING] + +The Emperor is not only the one High Priest worthy to sacrifice on the +great altars to the Invisible Deity, the Priestly Hierarchy of the +whole of this Cult of Nature is vested in his Sacred Person. He alone +offers sacrifices in the Temples of Heaven and the other Great Temples, +at times set aside in the Book of Rites, and on special occasions. When +famine devastates the land, when drought or any other National Calamity +is visited upon the Empire, the Emperor prays in these Temples for its +cessation, for he is not only the High Priest, but as “Son of Heaven” +is the expiator for the afflictions visited upon his people by Heaven, +and he publicly holds himself responsible for the misfortunes of the +Empire. According to the Book of Rites, he says in time of trouble, “I +will purify myself by sacrifice that these calamities may be lifted +from the Empire and the people. I alone am responsible.” + +The great semi-annual celebration to the Invisible Deity is not only +the most solemn of the religious rites the Emperor performs; it is at +the same time the most formal of his official acts as ruler of the +Great Empire. He prepares himself, by fasting and subduing the body, +for the religious rite; for the official ceremony as Emperor of China, +he is accompanied by all his ministers and the highest nobles of the +land and surrounded by splendid pomp and Imperial pageantry. + +Though in his triple quality of Emperor, High Priest, and Expiator, +he personally sacrifices only in the great Temples to Nature the +Emperor has all the religions of his Empire under his protection and +is their nominal Head. He assists indiscriminately at Buddhist or +Taoist ceremonies, and encourages with impartiality both cults. But +these religions have priestly hierarchies, and complicated Rituals, +and the Emperor is only the “Ex-officio” Head and High Priest. All the +festivals and fasts of both are celebrated in the Palace. + +The Chinese are not a religious people, though so moral a race. They +are rather followers of a philosophy than members of religious bodies. +The two most popular religions of China, Buddhism and Taoism, have +become more or less outward forms. They are empty shells which may +once have contained the Spirit, but have now become mere conventional +representations of ancient rites. The Chinese people are really +Confucians, and Confucianism is a system of ethics, a philosophy +rather than a religion. Whether they be Buddhists or Taoists, they are +all followers of Confucius, and live by the rules the Great Sage has +laid down for them. The doctrines of Buddha and Laotze have become so +incrusted with error in China as to afford no moral or ideal help to +their followers. The Chinese participate indiscriminately in either +of these religious rites, many of which have become mere outward +spectacular ceremonies, where there is a great deal of display and much +form, but very little real worship. They get all their moral support +from the writings of Confucius and all their ideals from communion with +Nature. They are really philosophers and worshipers of Nature, and the +Emperor’s semi-annual sacrifice on the altar of Heaven and those at the +Temples of Nature typify the real worship of the people. + +All the religious rites in China have their origin in, or are in +celebration of, some natural phenomenon or some periodical event in +Nature. They celebrate the summer and winter solstices, the equinoxes, +the New Year, the awakening of spring, when the sap (life-giving +element) begins to mount. The Harvest Moon is the time of the going to +rest of this life-giving element. Their complicated ceremonial is but +the crystallization of some simple observance of Nature’s fundamental +laws. This ceremonial has been kept alive all these centuries, because +of the vivifying spark of Nature which enkindled them. These rites +are now observed without a thought of their origin, but Nature still +remains their creative force. In spite of their conventions, the +Chinese have kept very near to Nature, and I believe this is the secret +of their wonderful vitality. They have been overrun and conquered by +many different races, and their assimilation of these conquerors is one +of the most astonishing things in the ethnic study of this wonderful +race. + +No conquering race has ever changed the Chinese. Tartars, Mongols, +Manchus have all passed and become amalgamated with them. Their +conquerors have adopted the Chinese philosophy and religion, their +customs and habits, and even their system of government. And they have +never been able to impose any really new system of government upon the +Chinese. + +These founders of Dynasties in China have all been “warriors bold” and +reckless marauders with little philosophy and no literature to speak +of. When the Manchus, the last of these conquerors, founders of the +present Dynasty, established themselves in Peking, in 1646, they were +a wild and warlike race. They, like all the other conquerors of China, +conciliated their vanquished foes by all sorts of concessions, and +they now rule by Chinese laws, and to-day are hardly distinguishable +from the Chinese. They have never made, any more than the other +conquerors, the slightest impress upon this calm and passive race; and +they have become Chinese. “To-day the Emperor Kwang-Hsu is recognized +as one of the best Chinamen in China.” The Manchu men to-day wear +Chinese dress. The Emperor, himself, shaves his head and wears the +queue, the one visible sign of degradation that is said to have been +imposed upon the Chinese at the time of the conquest. Oh! Irony of fate! + +The Manchus are now as quiet and peaceful a race as the Chinese +themselves. They dread war. They live by the laws of Confucius. Though +not a race of thinkers or philosophers, they have come to have the +same ideals as the Chinese, and this, without the natural amalgamation +brought about by inter-marriage, for it is only within the last few +years that the Throne has issued an edict, allowing inter-marriage +between the Chinese and Manchu, and even, with this edict, up to this +time there has been very little mixture, by marriage, of the races. The +Chinese seem easily led and conquered, but their national vitality is +very vigorous, and has kept them pure in racial characteristics after +their thousands of years of national existence. + + [Illustration: ALTAR TO THE INVISIBLE DEITY + In the Park of the Temple of Heaven] + +The Festival of the Harvest Moon, which typifies the season when the +life-giving element in Nature goes to rest for the Winter, I have +already described. It is intermixed with legends and practices that +destroy its original meaning; but the ceremony to the awakening of +Spring has not departed from its original intention, and is simpler +and nearer Nature. The awakening of Spring, the day when the sap is +supposed to stir from its long sleep and to feel the first throes of +renewed life, is commemorated in a pretty, homely ceremony at the +Palace. The radish and young shoots of lettuce, the first vegetables +to receive the benefit of the rising sap, are presented on a silver +salver to Her Majesty by a kneeling eunuch. She partakes of them, and +then gives them to the young Empress and Ladies to taste of. When +Her Majesty raises the first radish to her lips, the young Empress, +Princesses, and Ladies assembled in her Throne-room, repeat the wish +for Imperial happiness, synonymous with “National prosperity.” This +wish is echoed by the high attendants in the ante-chamber, and reëchoed +by the eunuchs kneeling in the courts without, and still echoed and +reëchoed by every inmate of the Palace, until the waves of sound reach +to the outer walls. Then Her Majesty makes a wish that the sap may rise +in such abundance as to produce a fruitful season, that all the people +of the Great Empire may enjoy peace and plenty. + +Thus are these first fruits of the awakening Spring partaken of with +a simple ceremony of praise and thanksgiving. Thus are these homely +plants consecrated with wishes made for the good of the country and the +happiness of its rulers. It was to me a beautiful ceremony, so simple +that it brought these people with all their conventions and all their +forms very near the heart itself of Nature. + +The annual plowing of a furrow and sowing of the first seeds of the +year by the Emperor, the planting of a mulberry tree (to nourish the +silkworms) by the Empress, are other touches of Nature which show +how near the Chinese are to the heart of things. One of the honorary +offices which is considered a great mark of Imperial favor, and which +the highest ladies of the land receive with reverent gratitude, is to +be appointed “Guardian of the Cocoons”; for the silk industry is one +of the great sources of National prosperity in China. These ladies +of high degree, guardians of the cocoons, go in annual pilgrimage to +the mulberry groves, where the cocoons flourish, to make sacrifices +and prayers for the health and growth of the cocoon. Being so near +to Nature, the Chinese are naturally a pastoral people, a race of +agriculturists; and agriculture, being thus honored by the Sacred +Persons of Their Majesties, becomes a lofty ideal. Labor, which +the Emperor publicly performs, loses all taint and grows into an +Inspiration. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX + + HER MAJESTY THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + +The current story that the Empress Dowager was a slave-girl and is +of low origin is absolutely false. Her Majesty is the daughter of a +Lieutenant-General of the Manchu forces, a position only attainable by +members of the highest Manchu nobility. She belongs to the family of +the White Banner, second only to that of the Yellow Banner, of which +the Emperor of China, himself, is the head. At the time of the conquest +of China by the Manchus, there was a fierce struggle between these two +powerful families for the supremacy, and the Yellow Banner finally +carried the day. The Empress Dowager was brought up with great care and +highly educated by her father, a noble of great acquirements. + +Like all young Manchu ladies of rank, she went to the Palace for +presentation to the then Empress and Empress Dowager between the +ages of seventeen and twenty. She immediately attracted them by her +cleverness and wit, as well as by her charm and beauty, and, being +of an honorable and high Manchu family, was at once considered as a +possible wife for the Emperor. On presentation to the Emperor, she met +also with his approval and was then chosen as one of the wives and +given her establishment at Court. She was the fifth chosen, and hence +ranked fifth on her marriage and was taken precedence of by the four +others who were married before she was. + +She became at once a favorite, both with the Dowager Empress and +Empress, the first wife, as well as with the Emperor. She soon took +precedence over the wife just over her and became fourth wife, +for secondary wives can mount in degree. A brilliant woman, with +exceptional qualities, takes her place in a Chinese family, as in the +world, above that of her less endowed sister, unless this latter should +be the first wife. Her place can never be taken, except in case of +her death. The first wife of the Emperor Hsien-Feng died two months +before he came to the Throne and was never Empress. There were two +years of mourning, prescribed by the rites, during which time there was +no official Empress. Then the first of his secondary wives was made +Empress, and she it was who was the first wife when the present Empress +Dowager went into the Palace as fifth wife. + +Two years after her marriage, she gave birth to a son, and five +years later, on the death of his father, this son became the Emperor +Tung-Chih; the young mother, together with the Empress, the first wife, +who had adopted him, were given the title of “Dowager Empress.” They +were appointed Co-Regents for the boy Emperor, and bore, respectively, +the titles of Empress of the Eastern Palace and Empress of the Western +Palace, with equal rank and power. She of the Eastern Palace was a +woman of quiet tastes, given to literary pursuits, with none of the +remarkable executive ability of her Co-Regent, the Empress of the +Western Palace, the great Tze-Hsi, who still rules the destiny of +China. Though so different, they lived amicably together, thoroughly +appreciated each other’s qualities, and are said to have had a sincere +affection for each other, which never weakened during the whole of +their long association, first as wives of the Emperor Hsien-Feng, +then as Regents for his son, and afterward as Regents for the present +Emperor Kwang-Hsu. The amicable relations of these two Empresses were +only severed by the death of the Empress of the Eastern Palace in 1881, +when posthumous honors were lavished upon her by the present Empress +Dowager. + +China was passing through troublous times when the young Tung-Chih, son +of the Empress Dowager, came to the Throne. His father, the Emperor +Hsien-Feng died at Jehol, far from Peking, where the Court had gone at +the approach of the foreigners, who were aiding in quelling the Taiping +rebellion. The times were critical. The integrity of China, the future, +even, of the Empire, depended upon the action of its ministers and +its rulers at this crisis. In the absence of the Court from Peking, +some reactionary ministers, strongly anti-foreign, claimed they had +been appointed by the late Emperor as Regents for young Tung-Chih. +Had his mother and adopted mother, the two Empress Dowagers, joined +them, anarchy might have followed; and, at least, there would have +been serious foreign complications, for this anti-foreign party would +never have come to terms with the foreigners, who were then in Peking. +It was most important for the ruling Power, that is, the party which +should become Regents, to have the support of the Empresses who held +the Sacred Person of the young Emperor, under their care. They were +approached by both parties. The young Empress of the Western Palace, +absolutely unversed in Statecraft, and, up to that time, ignorant +of all that was passing outside the Palace walls, showed wonderful +perspicacity and rare judgment in her keen grasp of the situation at +this time. She repudiated the anti-foreign party and joined forces +with Prince Kung, whose name was then synonymous with Progress in +China--an enlightened Prince and the most pro-foreign of all the +Imperial Family--and she and the first Empress were appointed Regents +for the young Emperor. Prince Kung was the Minister who, thanks to +this coöperation of the Empress of the Western Palace, carried the +negotiations with France and England to a successful conclusion. + +This first political act of the young Empress of the Western Palace +brought her into immediate notice, and showed the progressive statesmen +of China that they had an intelligent aid in her. The Grand Council +and the Princes of the Imperial Family at once recognized her superior +ability and they have always stanchly supported her throughout her +career and remained true to her in all vicissitudes. In fact, she has +known how to inspire loyalty and great devotion in all by whom she has +been surrounded. + +It was through her wonderful grasp of the situation at this time and +the great executive ability she showed later, that the two Empresses +brought the Emperor Tung-Chih through his minority, and when he began +to reign in his eighteenth year, internal troubles had been quelled and +foreign complications avoided, and China was in a much more settled +and prosperous condition than when he came to the Throne, twelve years +before. + +There was an interval of but two years in their long Regency for the +two Emperors, when the Emperor Tung-Chih, having reached his majority, +reigned. The death of her son, the Emperor, at the early age of twenty, +after only two years of actual reigning, was a dreadful blow to the +Empress of the Western Palace. She had, however, but a short time for +grief. With heart bleeding and sore, she was obliged almost immediately +to again assume the duties of Co-Regent with the Empress of the Eastern +Palace, for her nephew and adopted son, the young Emperor Kwang-Hsu. +The two Empresses had then another boy Emperor only five years old, to +protect, prepare for reigning, and to govern for. + +One has only to be cognizant of events in China since the Dowager +Empress Tze-Hsi has ruled, to know the facts of her government. When +she took up the Regency, China was seething with rebellion and there +were foreign complications, requiring great tact and keen intelligence. +She has steered the ship of State between the two extremes, though she +has sometimes run it against the rocks of Scylla in trying to avoid the +whirlpool of Charybdis, and she has always been a “moderate” in her +political course. China having, for so many centuries, had no relations +with foreign powers, her statesmen being so absolutely unversed in +modern methods of diplomacy, has not made a brilliant record in her +foreign relations, and she has so frequently been made the dupe of +European diplomacy, it is not wonderful China has tried to defend +herself by duplicity: using what she thought the same methods she saw +were so efficacious in the hands of Europeans. + +When the Empress Dowager gave up the reins of government to the Emperor +Kwang-Hsu, in the year 1889, after twenty-eight years of Regency, the +Great Empire was at that time in a prosperous condition. Its ports had +been opened to foreign trade, a fine Customs organization had been +established upon a firm basis, and China was at peace with the world. + +The first part of the young Emperor’s reign was uneventful. He was +directed in most things by his ministers, and followed the moderate +policy laid down by the Empress Dowager. He seemed to have no special +views of his own and no designs of progress for China. Until the war +with Japan with reference to the suzerainty of Corea, in 1894, he +was a passive figurehead. The Japanese victories changed all this. +Their victory gave China one of her most humiliating lessons; for the +Chinese, who had given Japan the nucleus of its literature, its art +and architecture, looked down upon the Japanese as a race of imitators +and had a deep-seated contempt for them as a nation. This victory +almost awoke the passive leviathan--that is, China--from its long +sleep of national self-content. The young Emperor, smarting under this +galling defeat, felt that China had only been conquered by Japan’s +use of modern methods of warfare and determined on sweeping reforms +in the government. Full of youthful enthusiasm, he felt he could +put the Great Empire on the road to progress and wished to institute +sweeping reforms in all departments. He immediately abandoned the +moderate policy of the Regency and surrounded himself by a number of +hot-headed, self-seeking reformers, each pushing some new method of +reform. The reformers wished, at one fell swoop, to change the system +of education, the system of government--in fact to make such sweeping +changes that this conservative nation would have risen in a mass had +they been carried out. Besides the Radicals, who were the reform party, +there were also a number of discontents among the ultra-Conservatives, +who, seeing the Emperor’s anxiety and desire for change, began to push +forward certain schemes of their own. Finally, the ultra-conservatives +and reactionaries decided they would join forces with the Radicals, +hoping by so doing to change the National policy and the then existing +state of government. In the turmoil that would follow this upheaval, +each hoped to carry out his own designs, quite different in scope. Each +party made the Emperor believe that progress was its aim. The coalition +of these two diametrically opposed parties was for the purpose of +persuading the Emperor to depart from the moderate opportunist policy +which had been the motive power of the Empress Dowager’s régime. The +adherents of the Reform party were opposed to this moderate policy +because it was too conservative. Those of the Reactionaries objected to +it because it was too progressive. The power of the central government +vested in the young Emperor seemed likely to be crushed between these +two self-seeking factions. China’s wisest statesmen saw the peril, +sought the Empress Dowager, beseeched her to return from her retirement +and, for the salvation of China, to give the Empire again the benefit +of her wise counsels. When she realized the danger she returned. Such +is the ascendancy of the “ancestor” in China, the Emperor could not +refuse to accept the counsel of his August Ancestress, thus forced upon +him. He issued an edict in which he recalled “that Her Majesty the +Empress Dowager has on two occasions taken the reins of government, +with great success, at most critical times. In all she has done, Her +Majesty has been moved by a deep regard for the welfare of the Empire. +I have implored Her Majesty to be graciously pleased to advise me in +government, and I have received her assent.” The Emperor’s authority +was not wrested from him--he was not deposed. He still remained the +Emperor of China; but the Empress Dowager’s counsels were forced upon +him, he could not but accept them, and she became once more the real +Ruler of China. This was what foreigners call the “coup d’état” of 1898. + +Her Majesty’s keenness of insight and fine judgment (as far as Chinese +questions are concerned), served her well again in this crisis. She +dismissed not only the self-seeking Radicals, but the self-seeking +ultra-Conservatives. Such of the Reformers as were caught were tried, +convicted of treason, summarily and cruelly punished. Those who +escaped, among them Kang-Yu-Wei, the ringleader of the Reformers, +were outlawed. The leader of the ultra-Conservatives, the Emperor’s +tutor, was not beheaded, but was sent into exile; for a tutor in +China occupies almost the position of a parent to his pupil, and +this position exempted him from more cruel punishment. These summary +proceedings on the part of the Moderates, led by Her Majesty, were +considered by the foreigners, who were altogether in sympathy with +the Reformers, as a reversion to anti-progress ideas, and hence were +considered anti-foreign. It certainly was an “anti-reform” movement +that caused the “coup d’état” of 1898, but had the adherents of the +so-called reformer Kang-Yu-Wei, whose subsequent career has proven how +self-seeking he was, carried the day; had his sweeping measures been +inaugurated, it might have brought China into a state of anarchy and +would certainly have been most pernicious to the Nation, for she was +not ready for the drastic measures the Reformers advocated, and the +great mass of the people would have rebelled against them. + +The “coup d’état” and the consequent check upon the Emperor’s dreams +of progress was a great blow to him. He was not only chagrined at +the failure of his efforts for reform, by which he hoped to show the +world that China still counted as a power and to retaliate upon Japan, +but he was also profoundly discouraged when he discovered the real +nature and designs of his chosen instruments. He saw that he had been +over-sanguine in hoping to realize at once his enthusiastic dreams +for the immediate rehabilitation of China’s prestige; he saw that his +ardent desire for progress was not enough, and that to hope to reform +in a few years the century-old traditions of his most conservative +people was but the wild irrealizable dream of youth, and absolutely +impracticable. Though he knew he had been led away by his wishes for +reform to expect the impossible, the disappointment was none the less +severe and was most depressing to his sensitive nature. The reaction +took place. His never-too-strong constitution broke down under the +strain, and this breaking down of his health lent color to the reports, +which were immediately circulated among Her Majesty’s enemies as well +as among the foreigners, that the Empress Dowager was trying to kill +the Emperor! She was reported to have imprisoned him, was said to +be trying to poison him at one time and at another to starve him to +death--the nephew she had brought up through a delicate boyhood and +whom she cherished as her own son! Time has shown the truth of these +reports, for, had she so desired, she would have had no difficulty in +accomplishing his death. She had any number of instruments at her hand, +fanatically loyal to her and ready to carry out any of her wishes. + +She still “assists” the Emperor in ruling; and, according to Chinese +tradition, she, being his “ancestor,” must always take the first +place. She sits upon the Throne, he upon a chair at her side. It would +be improper, according to all Chinese law, were it otherwise. The +foreigners speak of the Empress Dowager forcing the Emperor to stand +in her presence and to sit upon a stool while she occupies the Throne. +It is not Her Majesty who forces him to do this, it is an immutable +thousand-year-old tradition in China that a son must take a lower place +than his parent in his presence, be he Emperor or peasant. The Empress +Dowager still reigns. The times are still too troublous for her to +withdraw her experience from the councils of State, and though longing +for the quiet and rest so necessary to a woman of her age, and though +really anxious to retire, she feels the time has not yet come. + +The Empress Dowager, having crushed the Reformers, and reseated herself +upon the Throne, was, from the time of the “coup d’état,” considered +to be anti-foreign and responsible for all the attacks upon foreigners +by ignorant Chinese that took place after that event. When, only +two years after the “coup d’état,” the secret society of the Boxers +began their sanguinary attacks upon the foreigners, Her Majesty was +considered responsible for them, was looked upon as aiding and abetting +the Boxers; and, by the foreigners at least, she was considered to +be the high priestess if not the originator of the order. But the +Boxer movement had no such high origin. It started among the people, +the humble people, in the Northern provinces of China, far from the +Capital, and had been in existence for a number of years before the +attack upon the Legations in 1900. + +The open contempt of many of the foreigners living in China, not +only for the Chinese as a race, but for their most cherished customs +and traditions; the fact that the Chinese converts of the foreign +missionaries may break Chinese laws and still not be amenable to +Chinese punishment; the constantly renewed demands of the foreign +powers for territory, for the punishment of high Chinese officials and +hundreds of other acts that no body of foreigners in any country but +China would dare to try to force upon the people, finally aroused +even this peaceable, long-suffering Nation.[9] The worm turned. The +secret society of the Boxers took “China for the Chinese” as its motto, +and to “drive out the foreigner,” or, at least, curtail his rapidly +growing power, became its object. This society gained in force and +grew in volume until it reached the Capital. Here, from the obscure +classes among which it had its origin, it spread to the upper stratum +of society and had followers among the highest in the land. Certain +Princes of the Imperial Family even joined the ranks--among these +latter the father of the next heir to the Throne, the Prince Tuan. +These gave the movement an added force and made of it a patriotic +effort. + +[9] Since the above was in type I find the following in F. Laur’s +“Siège de Péking.” In speaking of the cause of the Boxer rising, he +quotes Dr. Matignon as saying: + + “C’est l’Europe tout entière qu’il faut mettre en cause. C’est parce + qu’elle n’a pas compris les Chinois, c’est parce qu’elle a cru que ce + peuple doux, somnolent, passif, pouvait, sans regimber, accepter toutes + les innovations, toutes les humiliations, que l’Europe s’est laissée + entrainer, et par ses missionnaires, et par ses ingénieurs.... + + Voilà pourquoi le mouvement Boxeur s’est produit. Ce mouvement, c’est + l’éveil du patriotisme chinois, avec toute l’intransigeance d’un + _nationalisme_ aveugle, ignorant, mais légitime.” + +Then from smoldering discontent, it burst into open acts of violence +against the foreigners. The final spark which caused the outbreak in +the Capital and the attack upon the Legations is said to have been +the report, which gained immediate credence among the discontents, +that the Foreign Ministers were going to interfere with the Government +itself, and ask for a change in it; that they were to insist upon the +Empress Dowager’s retiring from the management of State affairs. This +interference, by the foreigners, with the sacred prerogatives of China, +as a Nation; this attempt at the removal of the Person of one of its +Sacred Rulers, aroused the people to a wild fury. Without waiting +to find out the truth of this report, and thinking, in their blind +ignorance, that by getting rid of the representatives of the Foreign +Powers, they might then be left in peace, the mob first attacked and +killed the German Minister, the Baron von Ketteler, as he was on his +way to the Tsung Li Yamen, which the Wai-Wu-Pu now replaces. Then +followed the general attack on the Legations. + +The movement then became a veritable torrent, rushing madly along, +dashing aside all opposition and overwhelming right and reason. + +The Emperor and Empress Dowager, powerful and autocratic as they are, +could not stem the current, and only by going with it could they ever +hope to bring judgment and reason to the surface again. No ruler in the +world can or ever has been able to stop an uprising of his people when +the latter felt they had right on their side or had been downtrodden +or oppressed. Their Celestial Majesties were obliged to wait until +the popular fury had somewhat abated before they could even attempt +it. No sane person could believe that the Empress Dowager, with her +natural intelligence and after thirty years of government and knowledge +of foreign methods, did not know that this attack on the foreign +representatives by the Chinese people would bring on severe reprisals. +But she was powerless to do more than she did at the time. Their +Majesties could not go against the people in their maddened state of +mind. They hoped by joining the Imperial forces to the wild insurgents +that these seething masses might be brought to reason. The mob was +given a semblance of right by a declaration of war on the part of the +government after the forts of Taku were taken by the foreign war-ships +(which was really the first act of war of this unfortunate episode). + +When I saw the position of the Legation quarter and especially +that of the British Legation, where all the foreigners finally +congregated--open to attack on every side, lying under the very walls +of the Palace and the Imperial City--I felt convinced that had there +not been some restraining force within their own ranks, the Chinese +could have wiped out the foreigners in less than a week. Bad firing on +their part could only have averted, for a short space, the inevitable +result to the Legations. Had there not been some power that was acting +as a check upon the Chinese, no European would have been left to tell +the tale; and this restraining force I feel confident came from the +Emperor and the Empress Dowager themselves. + +The Empress Dowager (with the Emperor) was at the Summer Palace, as +usual, during the summer of 1900. Though urged by her ministers and +the Princes to remain there, where she was out of danger or could +easily escape at its approach, she insisted on returning to the Capital +and went into the Winter Palace a week before the Allies reached the +city. She hoped as a “dernier resort” that the presence of the Sacred +Persons, Their Majesties, in the city might serve as a check upon the +soldiers and people, now maddened by their own fury; for the Imperial +troops, instead of checking the insurgents and leavening the masses +by their right and reason, had, instead, become imbued with the same +spirit as the Boxers themselves! But the Empress Dowager, on this +occasion, counted too strongly on her popularity and upon the respect +that the people felt for the “Sacred Persons,” for even after their +return to the Capital, even Their Majesties’ presence--even the issuing +of Imperial edicts posted all over the city for the people to protect, +or at least cease their attacks on the Legations--were powerless to do +more than intermittently check the attacks. + +Finally the Allies reached and entered the city! The Empress Dowager, +discouraged and finding herself powerless, finally succumbed to the +fears of her entourage for her Person. She, herself, became almost +panic-stricken at the thought of falling into the hands of the +foreigners, whose depredations and cruelty to the Chinese on that +memorable march from Tientsin had all been reported to her with the +usual exaggerations. Her indomitable spirit was broken. She consented, +in an agony of womanly fear, to fly. She was disguised as a common +woman, her long finger nails, which would have revealed her exalted +rank, were cut off, and, in a common cart, she made her escape from +the city. As she had refused to go until the last moment, everything +at the Palace was left in the wildest confusion. Neither her jewelry, +nor hardly sufficient clothing, was taken. She did not leave the Palace +until several hours after the foreign troops had passed the Water Gate +and were already within the walls of the English Legation. She had held +out as long as possible. + +The memorable flight to Singan Fu began that night. The Court was +accompanied by a regiment of Imperial troops, but such was their +demoralized condition, so many Boxers were among the soldiers, that +rank insubordination prevailed. Neither the officers, nor even the +presence in their midst of the Sacred Persons, served as any check +upon the soldiers. The greatest confusion prevailed. The maddest of +the insurgents had begun to look forward to retribution and to realize +that punishment would be inevitably visited upon them either by the +foreigners or by the Chinese Government when things calmed down, and +this thought seemed but to madden them further. + +As the flight led the Imperial party through the section of country +where the society of Boxers had the greatest number of adherents, the +people, in many instances, refused food and shelter to the Imperial +fugitives. They felt the Court had been against them and for the +foreigners. Prince Su, in his account of the journey to Singan Fu, +relates that neither Her Majesty nor the Emperor had enough to eat; +that the soldiers stole the food that was prepared for Their Majesties. +I heard at the Palace that it was only His Majesty who suffered the +pangs of hunger. He, as well as all in the great company that formed +the Court party, deprived himself rather than see the Empress Dowager +suffer. I heard Her Majesty say that the Emperor’s food was stolen, +and she did not know for several days that he was depriving himself +for her. She thought all the Imperial party had her own, meager enough +allowance. + +The Empress Dowager saw and heard many new and strange things on that +memorable journey, but she bore it all bravely. After the first panic +of fear, her indomitable spirit resumed its natural poise. Her capacity +for seeing the humorous side of things also helped her to bear it, +and furnished her with a fund of witty anecdotes later, though she +once remarked that, at the time, she did not appreciate the humorous +side to its full extent. Their experiences at this time were often the +theme of conversation among the Ladies at the Palace. While I was there +they were constantly referred to by the Princesses and even by the +eunuchs of the Court. These pampered individuals had then their first +experience with the hardships of the outer world, though, to do them +justice, they rarely referred to their own hardships, which must have +been severe, only speaking of what Their Majesties and the Ladies had +to endure. This flight from Peking to Singan Fu marks an epoch in the +Palace. Everything is dated as before or after that time. After Her +Majesty had accomplished this perilous journey and borne it so bravely, +she was given a new title, a dearer, higher one. She was called +Lao-Tzu-Tzung (the Great Ancestress) by her enthusiastic admirers. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI + + THE EMPRESS DOWAGER’S CHARITIES, SENSE OF JUSTICE, + EXTRAVAGANCE, AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. + +The Empress Dowager’s charities are extensive; she feeds the poor and +succors the unfortunate. When her sympathies are aroused, she gives +freely and generously. Her edicts are constantly ordering sacks of rice +and food to be distributed among the poor and sent to districts where +famine reigns. There is a great refuge in Peking, which she supports, +where ten thousand poor are succored and fed during the year. During +the winter, edicts are constantly appearing similar to this--commanding +“The distribution from the Imperial granaries of fifteen hundred piculs +(133-1/3 pounds to the picul) of rice for refuges and gruel stations +for the poor in North Tung Chow.” Edict of November 6, 1904. + +She also sympathizes with misfortune, tries to right the wrongs she +knows of, and correct the abuses that come to her ears. From the “North +China Herald” of November 19, 1904, I copy the following, and this +paper cannot be accused of viewing any of Her Majesty’s acts with a +partial spirit (much to the contrary): + + “During the Boxer troubles a bad character, by the name of Wang, owed + money to a certain Chinese Mohammedan. Wang had been frequently + dunned, and was finally condemned by the courts to pay the debt; he + was, besides, ordered to be beaten, as he had been insolent to the + Mandarin trying the case. This incensed Wang, and he swore vengeance. + When the Boxer troubles were in full swing in Peking, he became the + leader of a band of insurgents and led his band to the house of the + Mohammedan whom he had been forced by the courts to pay. Wang and + his band massacred not only his old enemy, but eleven members of his + family; leaving only a young daughter-in-law who had hidden in a loft + and saw the whole tragedy; she also saw them march off, carrying, on + spears, the heads of the old man and four of his sons. + + The poor daughter-in-law escaped from Peking soon after, and was not + able to return there until a few months since, in 1904. She discovered + the dwelling of the murderer of her husband’s family, and had a + petition drawn up on the subject. + + One day when Her Majesty was proceeding from one Palace to another, + the young widow threw herself before the Empress Dowager’s cortège. + Her Majesty saw the prostrate girl (only nineteen years of age), and + commanded her guards to ask what she wanted. The girl, dressed in + deep mourning, held above her head her petition, calling for justice + against her husband’s murderers. Her Majesty read the petition, and + her brow became black as night. She called to a eunuch in her train + and commanded him to take the young petitioner and her petition to the + ‘Board of Punishments,’ and deliver the Imperial Commands that no time + be lost in arresting the murderers; that they should be tried, and the + result reported to Her Majesty. This was done, and on the first of + November, 1904, the chief murderer Wang, his two sons and a nephew + were decapitated to expiate their cruel crimes.” + +The Empress Dowager is said to be recklessly extravagant in her +own habits as well as in the management of Palace affairs. As for +extravagance in the Palace, bad management doubtless exists, and +extravagance does prevail. Abuses always creep in where the management +of great establishments is intrusted to money-seeking officials, and +to eunuchs, as is the case in the Palace at Peking. + +Extravagance in the Palace has been the theme of Chinese economists +for many generations, for hundreds of years before the Manchu Dynasty +came to the Throne. Several of the Emperors have themselves attempted +to stem this extravagance by personal efforts and private economy, but +to no avail. It is related of one Emperor that the sleeve of his State +robe being a little worn, he called up his Master of the Household +to ask what a new robe would cost. He found that it would cost three +thousand taels, and as only the right sleeve of this gown was worn (as +he used his arm a great deal in writing), he decided, in order that +he might himself show a good example, and inaugurate economy, to have +a new sleeve made, instead of ordering an entire gown. He gave his +commands, in consequence, and the gown was taken out of the Palace and +remained several months. When it was returned, what was His Majesty’s +astonishment and chagrin to find that the cost of the new sleeve had +exceeded that of a new gown! + +In his walks outside of the Palace, another Emperor bought an article +of food for a few pence. The next time he had it in the Palace he +asked what the dish cost and was told it was “four taels.” When he +remonstrated, saying what he had paid for it outside of the Palace, his +Master of the Household told him it was impossible to have it “inside” +the Palace or on His Majesty’s table at any less than the sum of four +taels. If His Majesty wished it for a few pence, His Majesty might buy +it outside the Palace and bring it in himself for that sum, but no one +else could bring it inside for the price it could be bought outside, +as it had to go through so many official hands before it reached His +Majesty’s table, that it actually cost the sum of four taels. + +After several efforts of this kind at reducing the Palace expenses, +even these wise and economical Emperors were obliged to give it up. If +these Emperors of ancient times, when the Palace was conducted on more +simple lines than it is to-day, were powerless to check extravagance +in the Imperial household, how much more difficult must it be to do so +now that the system has become petrified with age--especially for the +Empress Dowager, who can never go outside and see things for herself! +It is said that each egg at Their Majesties’ table costs three taels, +but Palace reform, necessary as it is, must come from without, from the +officials, and no private effort of Their Majesties can change things. + +As for the Empress Dowager’s personal extravagance, aside from +present-giving, I saw no evidence of it. Her wardrobe, in point of +actual cost, aside from her jewels, would not be superior in price to +that of the wives of some of our American millionaires; for the styles +do not change in China, and furs and embroideries are handed down from +generation to generation. Her jewels, even, are not more gorgeous or +more numerous, though they are more unique, than those of any of the +European sovereigns. She has an immense number of pearls--for the +pearl is her favorite precious stone, besides being the jewel of the +Dynasty--but she has no diamonds, no emeralds, and very few European +precious stones. She has a quantity of fine jade jewels, but these, as +well as pearls, are cheaper in China than elsewhere. + +I saw several incidents which seemed to point rather to personal +economy on Her Majesty’s part than to extravagance. While I was +painting one of the portraits, she decided that the trimming on the +gown must be changed. She had bolts of different kinds of ribbon +brought in to select from and finally decided upon a certain piece. +She called a maid to sew some around the neck. When I wanted to have +this piece cut off, so that some might be sewed around the hem where +it was also visible, she said the ribbon had better not be cut, for +it was a “handsome piece,” and, if cut, it might spoil it for use in +“trimming another gown.” These pieces of ribbon and embroidery come in +lengths for one dress only. One day when she was drinking some fruit +juice, her hand slipped on the polished jade bowl and some of it fell +upon the front of her jacket. She was most annoyed, and after several +ineffectual attempts of her own and the attendants to remove the spot, +she said she had heard that the foreigners had some wonderful processes +of cleaning and she must have them investigated, for it was too bad to +have a thing spoiled by an accident of that kind when a good garment +was rendered useless for any one! + +She had the good of China at heart and was really a patriot; in fact, +I observed more patriotism, more National pride among the people I saw +at Court, than I ever noticed elsewhere in China. I feel convinced +the Empress Dowager has strong National feeling and really loves her +country, and is as patriotic a Chinese as there is in China. When there +were internal troubles, or exterior complications, she seemed to be +really worried and to grieve, as if it were a personal thing. She made +mistakes, of course, and grave ones, but when it is remembered that +her knowledge of what takes place “outside,” comes entirely from the +reports made to her, that she has no opportunity of seeing things for +herself, it seems wonderful she does not make more. + +Last winter a new scheme of taxation, by which the revenue would +be largely increased and which taxation would be scarcely felt by +the people, was presented to Their Majesties for consideration. Her +Majesty soon grasped the entire scope of the scheme and thought it good +and feasible; but though the payment of the foreign indemnity made +it imperative to increase the revenue by every means possible, she +hesitated over the inauguration of this new scheme, fearing it might +give the officials a new opportunity to oppress the common people, +for it is not the laws that oppress the people in China. This is done +by the officials who enforce them. She evidently realized this power +that the officials have of “squeezing” the people, and she wished to +be assured of the manner in which this taxation would be enforced +before she gave her consent to the scheme. At the first presentation to +her of this plan of taxation, she repeated several times, “I fear it +may harass the people; we cannot harass the people; they have enough +burdens to bear.” She was not so particular about not harassing the +Officials, for they were called upon all over China to make great +contributions to the Imperial Treasury for the purpose of assisting in +paying the foreign indemnity. + +Notwithstanding her penetration of character, her naturally good +judgment, she made mistakes in her appreciation of those who surrounded +her; but this was not strange, for she had almost no opportunity of +seeing them in their true light. She was a good physiognomist, but one +cannot always trust to physiognomy. She was in the habit of giving all +who surrounded her a certain amount of latitude, until they came to +rely on her favor and revealed themselves in their true light to her. +Then she would quickly suppress them or cast them aside. This often +seemed cruel and heartless. She sometimes would take another’s estimate +of a character which she had favorably judged, for, of course, there +is a great deal of jealousy and intrigue among her entourage, and she +was influenced by reports that she heard; for she was obliged, in order +to form an opinion, to listen to the gossip of the Palace. Her own +penetration, however, would generally come to her aid and, in the end, +her judgment would right itself. + +She had strong prejudices, and often allowed herself to be deceived +by the favorites to whom she had given her confidence. After several +preliminary trials of their character, and when she thought she had +arrived at a proper estimate of it, she was an easy victim. These +favorites could then act with impunity, and she was sometimes made +the dupe of their schemes. Thus Ministers, courtiers, friends, and +attendants, who had once thoroughly established their positions with +her, could often get the advantage of her and impose upon her natural +acumen. + +She could be most sarcastic, sometimes cruelly so, but I generally +found there was some reason for her sarcasm. She was very impulsive and +had her share of temper, but there was never any unladylike display of +it. When she was angry her voice was never raised; it simply lost its +silvery sweetness and took the quality of some ordinary metal, and she +was always quiet and well-bred. + +From what I saw of the Empress Dowager, it seemed to me she would not +brook interference in the accomplishment of a design she had set her +heart upon--that she would not hesitate even at crushing an individual +who stood in the way of the realization of some plan she had fixed +upon. But her judgment was so good, she did not decide upon a thing +unless she felt it was absolutely imperative to carry it out. + +As for tact and social savoir, she is remarkable. I never knew any one +to possess these qualities to a greater degree. At her first Audience +to foreigners, Sir Claude MacDonald, in reporting it, spoke of the +Empress Dowager as “a kind and courteous hostess, who displayed both +the tact and softness of a womanly disposition.” Lady Susan Townley +says of her: “Where has she learned the ease and dignity with which +she receives her European guests?” These opinions of her social tact, +so far as I could learn, are held by all the members of the Foreign +Legations in Peking. + +When the young Prince Adalbert of Prussia was received in special +Audience by Their Majesties, on his visit to Peking, he was accompanied +not only by the German Minister and his staff, but by a number of +officers as his personal escort. This made an unusually large number +of presentations necessary. I have been told that at the Audiences of +the Diplomatic Corps, where only gentlemen were present, the Empress +Dowager had a sort of shyness and did not show the same ease of manner +as when she received the ladies. But at this Audience of the young +Prince she became interested in talking with him, and I heard one of +the gentlemen who was present say it was the first time he had seen Her +Majesty thoroughly at ease at one of the Audiences to the Diplomatic +Corps, and that on that day she was perfectly charming, seeming to take +the liveliest interest in questioning the young Prince and conversing +with him in a motherly way, and that he then realized to its full +extent her wonderful charm and her great social instinct. + +I have heard it said that the Empress Dowager puts all this charm on +for these occasions; that she is a consummate actress, but during +the whole time I was in the Palace I never saw her other than the +charming hostess, considerate of the comfort of those who surround her +and readily sympathizing with sorrow, and I have seen her under all +circumstances, at Audiences and in private, in anxiety and sorrow and +in joy. She was too great a lover of Nature in all its phases to be +cruel and heartless, and I am convinced she is really genuinely kind. +She apparently greatly admired intelligence, and goodness always seemed +to appeal to her. She was ever a fascinating study, and her magnetic +personality full of charm. I found her thoroughly human and perfectly +womanly. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII + + THE CHINESE NEW YEAR--OFFICIAL AUDIENCE + +The Chinese New Year, the greatest of the popular festivals, is, +of course, celebrated with much pomp and enthusiasm at the Palace. +Splendid decorations, hundreds of beautiful horn lanterns, with their +long, red silk tassels, the great red “Sho” emblazoned on their +sides, made the courts and verandahs gay with color. Painted figures +of red-clothed gods regarded one at every turn. Hideous monsters +with vermilion faces, painted on the outside doors, brandished +spears to frighten away the bad spirits. There were the usual gala +representations at the Theater; and the Palace, as at all festivals, +was filled with visitors. + +The Chinese pay all their debts at the New Year. If they have not the +ready money to do so, they will dispose of anything valuable they +have, in order to begin the New Year free from debt. It is considered +tempting Heaven to begin it otherwise. A great deal of silver imitation +money is exchanged at this season. This is an old custom and supposed +to bring abundance during the year. At the New Year, present-giving +reaches its culminating point in China. Every one, rich and poor, high +and low, gives presents then. + +Their Majesties not only gave to all the Ladies and Princesses, but +to every inmate of the Palace, and even the beggar at the gate was +not forgotten; but the presents exchanged at the New Year are never +so handsome as those given for a birthday. The presents the Empress +Dowager received on this occasion were principally flowers (her +Throne-room was full of them, as well as her private apartments)--dwarf +fruit trees twisted into fantastic shapes, laden with fragrant blossoms +and splendid plants of peonies in full flower, and countless vases of +the Chinese Lily, as they call the Narcissus in China. The Empress +Dowager tried to be cheerful and not dampen the gaiety of the Festival +by her alarm, but the long-looked-for and much-dreaded war between +Russia and Japan had then actually begun, and she was mortally anxious! +The Japanese were already in Manchuria, and no one knew how it might +affect China! + + [Illustration: SLAVE GIRLS] + +Though I did not work on the portrait during the New Year’s +festivities, it was now really advancing. When Her Majesty saw how +the hands looked when they were drawn in, with the palms of the hands +hidden by the long fur undersleeves, in the position I had dared to +find fault with at the first sitting, she at once suggested having the +fur undersleeves taken off, but she still said nothing about changing +the position of the hands, though I saw she had her doubts about them, +and I felt confident her good taste would finally prevail and she would +want them changed. I painted them in with a thin wash of color, knowing +they would be changed later. A few days after this, she remarked that +my “idea about the position of the hands was not bad,” and suggested +that the left hand “would look well on a cushion.” I made this change +in the small study, much to her satisfaction, and then did the hands +likewise in the large portrait. + +The New Year festivities were hardly over before the Empress Dowager +decided to move the Court to the Sea Palace. This Palace, though not +so much a favorite with her as the Summer Palace, she liked better +than the Winter Palace; the latter’s small, shut-in courts, walled-in +walks, and rigid traditions seemed to depress her. At the Sea Palace +she had gardens for her promenades and there was a lake. It was not so +beautiful as the Summer Palace, but was an improvement over the Winter +Palace. + +This move to the Sea Palace necessitated another change of studio for +me, just as I was comfortably installed in my quarters in the Winter +Palace, and had begun to progress with my work. I knew I should be +obliged to have the new place arranged with upper glass windows and +that I would again lose time, and the date of the opening of the St. +Louis Exposition was approaching! But there was no help for it; I +must go with the Court to the Sea Palace. I was told that there I was +to have a magnificent pavilion on the lake, with a perfect light for +painting. As to the pavilion’s being magnificent, I had no doubt, but I +did doubt, from past experiences, whether the light would be all that +could be desired. + +One morning our chairs carried us to the Sea Palace instead of to the +Winter Palace. All my painting things, materials, canvases, as well +as Her Majesty’s Throne, on which she was seated for the portrait, +had been moved. Not the smallest piece of paper, nor even a bit of +charcoal was missing. I had painted until the last moment at the Winter +Palace, the day before; and early the next morning my things were in +perfect order--the portrait on the easel, and the Throne in the proper +position in my quarters at the Sea Palace. It was an “Aladdin’s-Lamp” +move. + +The group of buildings that had been set aside for my painting fronted +on the lake, and were really charming, but the overhanging verandahs to +each pavilion forced me again to have the upper windows put in. After +this was accomplished, it was the best working-room I had ever had at +any of the Palaces. The days were getting longer and the light better, +and I hoped now to soon finish the portrait. + +A few days after the Court moved to the Sea Palace, the members of +the Corps Diplomatique were received in Audience to present their +congratulations to the Emperor and Empress Dowager on the occasion +of the Chinese New Year. They were received in the Great Audience +Hall; but the ladies of the Legation, whose reception took place the +following day, were received in Her Majesty’s Throne-room opening on +the Court of the large Theater at the Sea Palace. As it was cold, the +Theater and its court were entirely inclosed and roofed over in glass, +in panes of about a foot and a half square. On each pane was painted, +in red, the ever-present character “Sho” (longevity), surrounded by +five bats. The marble pavement of the court and the steps leading up +to the Throne-room were carpeted in red; and when the great doors were +thrown wide, there was a good effect of size given, although this +Throne-room was one of the smallest in the Sea Palace. + +As this was to be a formal reception, several members of the Wai-Wu-Pu +were present as interpreters. The ladies of the Legation were presented +by the Baron Czikan, the Austrian Minister, Doyen of the Corps. He +made a graceful address in French, wishing Their Majesties a Happy New +Year, and China much prosperity. This was translated into Chinese by +one of the Secretaries of the Wai-Wu-Pu. The Empress Dowager replied +for herself and the Emperor, in Chinese. Her Majesty’s words were +interpreted by His Excellency Liang Fang, a good French scholar. Then +the Doyen presented the ladies individually, and the usual order of +ceremonies followed. When the presentations were over, the Doyen, +foreign attachés and interpreters, with the Chinese officials, repaired +to the hall which had been set aside for their luncheon, while the +ladies, accompanied by the Princesses, went to their repast in another +part of the Palace! + +Only a few days after this, came the lantern festival; but this was not +an interruption to my work, for I painted all day, and only went to the +Theater for the final piece and the spectacular tableau. We dined in +the Imperial loge, and after dinner there were beautiful lantern and +torch-light processions. In the court opposite the Throne-room where +we dined, there was a beautiful pai-lou of transparent gauze, painted +in charming designs, illuminated from within, and hung with luminous +flowers and quaint lanterns. Tall eunuchs, in gala red, stood around +the courts, holding great lanterns aloft, like huge caryatides with +luminous burdens. Others with fanciful vermilion lanterns wound in and +out through corridors and courts. When they reached the court of the +softly glowing pai-lou, they manœuvered and made intricate designs and +luminous tableaux, holding aloft their red-globed lanterns to form +characters and phrases of “felicitous omen.” These huge, luminous +characters were wonderfully accurate. + +After the torch- and lantern-lit processions, and the glowing tableaux, +a pair of illuminated dragons writhed into the court and struggled +for the “flaming pearl,” which flitted around with elusive fantastic +movements, ever beyond their grasp. I was not able to find out the +origin of the Imperial legend of the Double Dragon and the Flaming +Pearl, representations of which appear everywhere at the Palace on +whatever is meant for Imperial use, or for any official function over +which the Emperor is supposed to preside. It is on all the Thrones of +the Dynasty; it adorns the Imperial pennant; it is cut into stone, +carved into wood, and painted in pictures. It decorates the gowns of +the higher officials, and is embroidered upon the Court dresses of the +Ladies of the Palace. At the Birthdays of the Emperor and Empress, +and at all Dynastic celebrations there are realistic representations +of the immortal struggle where the Double Dragon strives to absorb +the “flaming pearl.” The significance of the legend seems to be: The +Double Dragon represents the Powers of Earth or Evil which try ever to +absorb the Flaming Pearl, Emblem of the Dynasty, symbol of Heaven or +Perfection. The Flaming Pearl, the Unattainable, keeps ever beyond and +above their grasp, seeming to serve always as an incentive for further +effort. + +For a fortnight after the lantern festival, there were fireworks every +night on the banks of the lake. We would dine in the Throne-room, +and then Her Majesty and the Emperor, accompanied by the Ladies, and +attended by the usual number of eunuchs (each bearing transparent horn +lanterns), would go through the courts and paths of the garden to the +lake, on the banks of which the fireworks were sent up. Here, in full +view of the set pieces, stood four large, roomy sleds. When the lake +was frozen, these sleds were used to push Their Majesties and the +ladies over its glassy surface. They had not been used as sleds this +winter, for the ice had not been sufficiently firm, the winter having +been comparatively mild. But when the lake was well frozen, as is usual +at this season in Peking, Their Majesties viewed the fireworks from +these sleds as they skimmed along over its smooth surface. There was a +sled for each of them--one for the Empress and second wife, and one for +the Princesses. They were cloth-covered, lined with fur, and had great +fur rugs. There were seats around the three sides; the wadded curtain, +with its large square of plate-glass that hung down over the front, was +taken off for the fireworks. Their Majesties occupied each of theirs +alone, but the Empress had several of the Ladies in hers. + +The fireworks were superb. There were beautiful set pieces, pagodas, +with ladies on balconies, pavilions with grapevines, wistaria arbors, +and beds of flowers so lifelike they seemed to grow at the side of the +luminous cascades, and many other effects I had never seen before in +fireworks. One day, during the time of the lantern festival, we had +fireworks in the brilliant sunshine. When these day rockets exploded, +all sorts of curious paper devices fell to the ground--fish dragons +and animals, as well as flags and baskets. When anything interesting +was revealed, Her Majesty would send the eunuchs to pick it up as it +fell and bring it to her that she might examine it. Many fell outside +the Palace walls, and she said these would give pleasure to the “poor +people outside.” + +Formerly, at these fireworks in the Palace to celebrate the lantern +festival, the public was admitted into the Inclosure, but this practice +stopped when the two Empresses were Co-Regents for the first boy +Emperor, Tung-Chih. As this was coincident with the establishment of +the first Foreign Legations in Peking, the latter fact may have had +some influence in changing the custom. The Chinese people were shut +out because it was feared that the foreigners might also come into +the Precincts. These beautiful fireworks I could enjoy without any +qualms of conscience, for I could not paint at night, and they were +consequently no interruption to my work. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII + + CONTINUATION OF THE ST. LOUIS PORTRAIT--SPRING + DAYS AT THE SEA PALACE + +There began now to be some discussion as to what would be the most +propitious date for finishing the portrait. I had thought I might +finish when I could, but this was not to be the case. The almanacs +were consulted, and it was decided that the nineteenth day of April +would be an auspicious time to finish and before four o’clock! The +Empress Dowager informed me of the “happy augury” of this date and +asked me if I thought it possible to finish then. Not only had the +date for beginning the portrait been carefully chosen, but there was +much deliberation as to the proper time for finishing! Her Majesty +seemed very anxious until she received my reply as to whether it would +be possible to finish at this happy date, for I could not say at +first, as I had never thought of finishing at any particular moment! +When I finally told her I could finish it before four o’clock, April +19th, she was delighted. She said “How good” and asked me to please +“not disappoint her.” As the portrait neared completion she came +very often to the studio and watched over the painting-in of all the +accessories, which she seemed to consider quite as important as the +likeness itself. As she was tired after the Audiences, she gave me two +or three sittings at this time before she went to the Audience Hall, +and I painted from half-past six to eight A.M. for two or three days. +The jewels in the head-dress, all official, were the subject of much +deliberation. After a jewel was painted in, she would decide she didn’t +like it and that something else would be better. She seemed to think +it was as easy to take it from the picture as to remove it from her +person. All these requests for changes were so graciously made, I never +complained. She would sometimes say, “I am giving you a great deal of +trouble, and you are very kind.” I didn’t mind the trouble, only these +changes took away the freshness of the painting and did not add to the +artistic effect of the picture. + +Her Majesty ordered a magnificent frame for the portrait. She, +herself, made the design. The Double Dragon at the top struggled for +the “flaming pearl” with the character “Sho” on it. The sides were +elaborately carved in designs representing the symbol of “ten thousand” +years with the characters for longevity. The frame was to be set in +a superbly carved stand, as the Chinese do their mirrors. The whole, +of rare camphor-wood, was made by Her Majesty’s own artisans at the +Palace--the most expert workmen in China. + +The days were lengthening now, the trees beginning to bud and the +flowers in the courts to bloom. The icy fetters that had locked the +lake were broken; the boats again glided over its bosom. In the +mornings we no longer had to take the winter “chairs” and be carried +the long distance from the gates to the Throne-room. The comfortable +boats once more lay moored at the foot of the landing-steps, just +within the gates, and we enjoyed again those ideal trips across the +lake. + +The Empress Dowager began to take long promenades now and was much +out-of-doors. Sometimes in the mornings, on our arrival, she would +already be in the gardens. One day we met her on the banks of the +lake and made our morning salutations there. Another day, she and the +Emperor were inspecting the new buildings which were being erected to +replace those burned during the occupation of Peking by the Allies, +when Count von Waldersee had his headquarters in the Sea Palace. +Splendid buildings were being erected on the site of those burned. The +Emperor and Empress Dowager, each with his own suite, carefully visited +every part of these new constructions and seemed much interested in +their progress. Of course, the workmen were banished during the visit +of Their Majesties. One of these new halls was to be used for the +entertainment of foreigners, when they are invited to the Palace, and +many concessions had been made to foreign ideas in its construction. +Let us hope it may not lose its Chinese character! I am sure the +foreigners will regret this innovation and would prefer the typical +Chinese interior, even though it be less suited to the exigencies of a +modern reception. + +Sometimes we would see the Empress Dowager in her Japanese +“jinricksha.” This was a beautiful, gold-lacquered affair in dragon +form, the two dragons’ heads in front. It had splendid gold-lacquered +shafts and wheels--the latter with rubber tires. It was pulled by one +eunuch and pushed by another, and Her Majesty seemed greatly to enjoy +this novelty for a while, but she said she preferred to walk or to be +carried in her open chair, as a usual thing. + +Two other modern and novel methods of locomotion had been installed in +the grounds of the Sea Palace. There was a small railway, which ran +from the outer gates to the dwelling Palaces, which had its engine and +complete running outfit. This had been constructed by some progressive +Mandarins, who wished to get the Empress Dowager’s support for some +railway scheme, but though she often spoke of how much she had enjoyed +her one trip on a real railway, her spirit was too utilitarian to care +for toy pleasures. She couldn’t stand the puffing of the engine, the +tiny cars, and all this trouble for so short and useless a jaunt. + +There was also in the Sea Palace, as well as at the Summer Palace, a +number of automobiles, which had been presented to Their Majesties +by Chinese nobles and officials who had been abroad, as examples of +the curiosities of European civilization. One of these was gorgeously +fitted up in the Imperial yellow and gold lacquer, with the Double +Dragon. The body was inclosed in glass and there was a throne-like +seat within for the Empress Dowager. The question of how the chauffeur +should run the machine standing, as he would be obliged to do if Her +Majesty were inside, had not then been solved. She was, however, +willing to throw tradition to the winds in this instance, and was most +anxious to try one of these motor-cars. Her entourage was, however, +bitterly opposed to it, even for a short distance in the grounds. They +were afraid of an accident. She never tried one while I was there, but +I am confident that her venturesome spirit will not rest content until +she has had a ride in one of these modern carriages. + +In April, kite-flying time begins in China. High Officials and +dignified literati indulge in the pastime as well as children and young +people. The popular pastimes of the people, as well as their serious +occupations, being always honored in the Palace, kites were, of course, +sent off by the Empress Dowager and the Ladies. The first day the kites +were to be flown Her Majesty sent for me to come into the garden, where +the kite-flying was to take place. The kites were of paper, wonderfully +fashioned, representing birds, fish, bats, and even personages. The +strings were wound on curiously shaped reels and the cleverness with +which Her Majesty let out the string and manipulated the kites was +wonderful. After she had let one go, she graciously handed me her own +reel and told me she would teach me to fly a kite. I was hard at work +at my painting when I was called out into the garden and I wished to +return to it as soon as possible; and as I knew I would not be very +clever at kite-flying, I begged her to allow me to watch her instead. +The young Empress and Princesses were also very proficient in flying +them, and Her Majesty flew hers as she did everything else, with +unusual grace. + +One of these beautiful spring mornings as we were softly gliding +across the lake, propelled by the graceful Palace boatmen, I lay back +on my cushions reveling in the scene of quiet loveliness before me +and drinking in the ineffable perfume of the spring, when my glance, +roaming lazily around in perfect content, caught sight of a group of +gentlemen on the bank of the lake beyond. The rays of the morning sun, +glinting upon the gold of their embroidered costumes and touching, with +iridescent rays, the peacock’s feathers upon their hats, revealed their +rank and official standing. + +As it was a most unusual thing to see gentlemen in the Palace +Inclosure, I was at once all attention, knowing there must be some +important event on hand, especially as, on looking closer, I saw one +small figure in their midst more plainly dressed than the others, +whom I at once recognized as His Majesty the Emperor. As we slowly +approached I saw the Emperor go over to a plow to which was hitched +an ox, and which stood at a little distance off in the field. Fortune +favored me! I was to see the Emperor plow the first furrow of the year! +For it was only on the morrow that the official public ceremony was to +take place at the Temple of Agriculture, near the great triple altar of +Heaven. I was to see the private plowing, done in the Palace grounds +and viewed only by the Princes of the Imperial Family and the highest +Manchu nobles. + +When all was ready the Emperor took the handles of the plow and guided +it down a furrow marked off the ground, and when the furrow was +upturned, the seed was dropped in. The ox for this ceremony, which I +had heard was white, was (at the Palace function) of a soft doe color. +He seemed to have been trained for the purpose and performed his part +with a dignity in harmony with the attitude of all the assistants and +in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion. + +I was rejoiced to have an opportunity of seeing this interesting +ceremony and to learn that even this great rite, which I had thought, +like the sacrifice to the Invisible Deity on the triple altar, was only +performed in the grounds of the Temple to Heaven; and to learn that +every custom dear to the people, or incorporated in the National life, +is observed in the Palace by the Emperor and Empress--that His Majesty +really plants the first furrow of the year and gathers the first +sheaves of ripened wheat, and that the Ladies of the Palace really spin +the first silk and pull the first fruits. + +The slow movement of the Palace boats was never so appreciated by me +as on this morning, for I was thus enabled to see well this curious +National ceremony, which I would never have seen but for the accident +of the hour of my crossing the lake and the time it took to do so; for, +as at all ceremonies where men are present, there were, of course, +no members of Her Majesty’s entourage, and none of the Ladies or +Princesses had ever seen this ceremony! + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV + + FINISHING AND SENDING OFF THE PORTRAIT + +The nineteenth day of April was approaching, and the portrait steadily +advancing. As it neared completion Her Majesty’s interest in it seemed +to grow. She spent a great deal of time in my pavilion watching its +progress, and expressed herself as much delighted with it. A few days +before the nineteenth, I asked Her Majesty to allow Mrs. Conger to come +and see it on that day. She immediately consented, and invitations were +sent through the Foreign Office, not only to Mrs. Conger, but to the +wives of the Ministers and First Secretaries of Legations to come to +the Palace on the nineteenth day of April, for the purpose of “seeing +the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dowager, painted by +the American artist.” + +The ladies of the Legation, of course, responded to the invitation, +and on the morning of the nineteenth the portrait was placed in the +splendid frame. Her Majesty decided she would receive the ladies first +in her Throne-room, after which they were to come to my studio to +see the portrait. As I was still working until the “fateful hour,” +I did not go up to the Throne-room but awaited the ladies in my own +place. Her Majesty did not accompany the ladies when they came to +see the portrait, but she sent the young Empress and Princesses to my +pavilion to assist me in receiving and to lend a proper dignity to the +occasion. The portrait, in a Chinese milieu, and seen in the light in +which it was painted, made a better effect than it could in any other +surroundings. The ladies were, of course, much interested in seeing +this long-talked-of picture--the first ever painted of Her Majesty--and +the novelty of the precedent, as well as the interest of a visit +to the Palace, favorably predisposed them, and they expressed themselves +as most interested in the work, finding it a good likeness. The +admiration it received from the young Empress and the Ladies of the +Court was almost embarrassing, and the eunuchs said it was so lifelike +when they passed the windows that it inspired the same awe Her Majesty’s +own presence did. + +After the ladies had duly looked at and commented upon the portrait, +they repaired to one of the halls in connection with my studio, where +a repast had been prepared by the orders of Her Majesty. Here, for the +first and only time, while I was in the Palace, the young Empress sat +down at the table with the foreign ladies, and acted as hostess, and +very gracefully she filled her rôle. + +After the visit of the ladies of the Legation, Her Majesty informed +me that the Princes and nobles, whose rank entitled them to enter the +Palace Inclosure, were to come to see it the following day. As it would +not have been “according to the Proprieties” for gentlemen to enter the +quarters reserved for ladies, or the buildings where even a foreign +lady worked, the portrait was, for their visit, carried out into the +open court of my pavilion. + +To place the portrait in its carved pedestal, it was necessary to erect +a scaffolding by which the framed picture was raised into the air, +and then lowered into its stand. When all was finally arranged, the +scaffolding was removed, the debris cleared away, and the Princes and +nobles, in full dress, came into the court to see the portrait. Each +one approached the picture and closely examined it, even touching the +canvas. Unfortunately, I could not hear their comments, as I only saw +the ceremony discreetly ensconced behind a curtain, but I could watch +their faces and study their expressions, though I must confess that +they revealed very little. + +A young Manchu, who had been attached to a Legation abroad and had +learned photography in an amateur way, had been ordered by Her Majesty +to make a photograph of the portrait. This was done while the Princes +and nobles were still in the court. When it was photographed, and the +Princes had retired, the scaffolding was again put up, the picture was +raised out of its carved wood pedestal and was replaced in my studio. +All this took the greater part of the day. + +Her Majesty was so pleased with the comments she heard upon the +portrait (of course no unfavorable ones were made to her), that she +decided to accede to the prayers of several of the high officials, +and allow the Sacred Picture to be viewed by a number of other high +functionaries. For this purpose, the portrait was removed to the +Wai-Wu-Pu (Foreign Office); for many of the highest Officials are not +permitted to enter the Palace Inclosure. + +At the Foreign Office, not only the high Chinese Officials, but the +foreign Ministers and their staffs were invited to see it. Many of the +foreigners went in full dress uniform for this visit, in deference to +Chinese prejudices. After it had been duly viewed by all in Peking of +sufficient rank to have that honor, it was inclosed in a satin-lined +camphor-wood box, covered with satin of Imperial yellow, and the box +was closed with great solemnity. The pedestal was placed in a similar +box. Each had splendid bronze handles and huge circular locks. These +boxes were inclosed in others, also lined with the Imperial color, and +were finally ready for shipment. The packing-cases, containing the +framed picture and its carved pedestal, were placed upon a flat freight +car, which had been elaborately decorated with red and yellow festoons +of silk. The boxes were covered with yellow cloth, painted with the +Double Dragon. A special railway had been laid from the Wai-Wu-Pu to +the station outside the Chien-Mên, for it was not considered fitting +that ordinary bearers transport the picture of Her Majesty. + +The Officials of the Wai-Wu-Pu, as well as many other of the high +Officials in Peking, dressed in full dress, accompanied it to the +station, and stood to watch the Sacred Picture start off on its long +journey to St. Louis. The special train carrying it was met at Tientsin +by the Viceroy of the Province, surrounded by all his official staff. +It was there placed with great ceremony upon the steamer on which it +was to make the journey to Shanghai, and was accompanied from Peking to +Shanghai by an official specially appointed for the purpose. + +At Shanghai it was received in the same formal state and with the same +official pomp as at Tientsin. It was met at the steamer by the Governor +of the Province and all his staff and transhipped with great ceremony +to one of the Pacific Mail Steamers for San Francisco. The Sacred +Picture was accompanied on its journey from Shanghai to St. Louis by +a high Official and his suite. A special car conveyed it from San +Francisco to St. Louis. + +His Imperial Highness Prince Pu L’un, Imperial Commissioner and +personal representative of Their Majesties at the Exposition of +St. Louis, awaited the arrival of the portrait there, delaying his +departure for several days in order to be able himself to assist at the +reception and placing of the portrait. At four o’clock on the afternoon +of the 19th of June, His Imperial Highness and the Imperial Chinese +Commission repaired to the Art Gallery, where the cases containing the +portrait and pedestal were awaiting their presence to be opened. The +Director of the Art Gallery, the Assistant Director, and several other +members of the Board of Fine Arts, were also present. + +The cases containing the portrait, one within the other, were opened, +and finally within the last, lined with yellow silk, lay the “Sacred +Picture,” covered with a screen of brocaded satin of Imperial hue. This +satin cover was ceremoniously removed, and the picture was “unveiled.” +The Prince proposed the health of Her Majesty and the Prosperity of +China, which the assistants drank in sparkling champagne. This opening +of the cases and unveiling of the picture lasted from four o’clock to +nine P.M. A few days later, when the Gallery where it was placed was +opened to the public, it lost, for the first time since its inception, +its semi-sacred qualities. Only then did it stand upon its own merits +and become as other portraits. Then, for the first time, it could be +seen by the ordinary individual--then only it became the subject of +comment as any other picture at the Fair. Then it was open to the gaze +of the vulgar and the comment of the scoffer. + +At the close of the Exposition, a delegate was sent from the Chinese +Legation in Washington to arrange for the transportation of the +picture to the latter place. The portrait and its carved support were +again placed in their satin-lined cases, and it began the journey to +Washington. Her Majesty had decided when the portrait was completed to +her satisfaction that it would be a suitable present for her to make to +the United States. She thought this would be particularly appropriate, +as the painting of the portrait for the St. Louis Exposition had been +thought of by the wife of the American Minister to Peking, and as +it had been executed by an American artist. Thus the United States +received the gift of the first portrait ever painted of a Chinese Ruler. + +When the portrait arrived in Washington, His Excellency Sir Chentung +Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minister to Washington, attended by his +Secretaries, made a formal presentation of the portrait to the +President, which Mr. Roosevelt received on behalf of the United States +Government. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV + + RETURN TO THE SUMMER PALACE + +Sending off the picture to St. Louis did not sever my connection with +the Palace, for I had still other work to finish! At the end of April, +a month later than usual, the Court moved out to the Summer Palace for +the rest of the year. The country was beautiful, the trees were almost +in full leaf, and lilacs, blue and white, bloomed everywhere. My garden +in the Park of the Palace of the Emperor’s Father was full of them, +and over my entrance gate clambered a beautiful yellow rose-bush laden +with masses of blooms. Wild flowers were springing up at every turn, +and my dog “Me-lah” in his wild races through the park, when we were out +for our walks, would often start up coveys of birds; or rabbits would +scurry away at his approach. I went back to my favorite haunts in the +park, to the summer-house, where upon the threshold, cut in stone, lay +the plaint of the Seventh Prince! It was a delightful change to be in +this beautiful spot after the four months in Peking, and to see Nature +everywhere budding into perfection. The grounds of the Summer Palace +were one maze of delight. The peonies in all their royal splendor, the +fragrant lilac, the stately magnolia, and the budding elms, each added +their charm to this beautiful spot, where everything was lovely. I +could not wonder at the Empress Dowager’s desire to come back again to +all this beauty. + +A charming studio was fitted up for me at the Summer Palace on our +return. Her Majesty saw how much more satisfactory it was for me to +have a proper place to work in, where I would be undisturbed, and +even had she not seen the utility of a studio, I think she would have +granted my request for one, for she was always kind and considerate. +Upper windows of plate-glass were put into the north side of one of +His Majesty’s Throne-rooms, behind the Imperial loge. It looked over +a charming terrace of the garden. The days were long, and it was a +delight to live and breathe, and the quiet of the studio, where I could +work at leisure, made me resume my work with renewed vigor. + +I began at once to finish up the small sketch of the St. Louis +portrait, which Her Majesty wished to keep, and then to put the +final touches on the two portraits begun at the Summer Palace. The +Throne-room that was now my studio had only one disadvantage. It was so +near the Theater that on theater days I could hear the music and the +voices of the actors. And on those days, the court outside my windows +was filled all day with eunuchs and Their Majesties’ attendants, moving +to and fro. I decided if it was necessary for me to go into Peking at +any time, to take a “Theater day” to do so. + +One Theater day I did go into Peking, and on my return to the Summer +Palace the next day I found that His Majesty the Emperor had taken +advantage of my absence to occupy his Throne-room the day before, for I +found his Theater program, distinguishable by being written on Imperial +yellow paper, and he had also left a few papers scattered around with +characters and phrases written with the “Vermilion Pencil,” which may +only be used by His Majesty. On one paper he had evidently been trying +to draw a plan of the part of Manchuria where the war operations were +then being carried on. He had also drawn a part of the Great Wall of +China, and the dividing line between China and Manchuria. + +So the Emperor, notwithstanding his stoical smile, his apparent +unconcern, was not indifferent to affairs in Manchuria. He was watching +the course of events there, and he probably worried and grieved as much +as even the Empress Dowager, about what might be the result for China. +He had probably schooled himself to appear indifferent. The ceremonies +and festivals at the Palace had been going on as usual, but the two +central figures of all these functions had their own secret anxieties +and cares. The Emperor was following the campaign in Manchuria, and the +Empress Dowager was probably planning and thinking of the best course +for China to follow. + +In May, the Empress Dowager had another Garden Party for the ladies of +the Legation, at which she, as usual, asked me to assist. When I went +into the Audience Hall for this reception, a few moments before the +ladies were to arrive, Her Majesty, after greeting me and scanning my +toilet, which was all in gray without any color, took a pink peony from +a vase at hand, and pinned it on my dress, saying I needed a little +color. I had just finished the largest of the other three portraits I +had painted at the Summer Palace, and Her Majesty told me she liked it +so much that she had decided to show it to the foreign ladies at this +Garden Party. As I had heard nothing of this plan before leaving my +studio that morning, I had made no preparations for it. The picture was +on my easel, unframed, and I told her I would prefer it to be placed +in its frame, before it was shown. This frame, designed also by the +Empress Dowager, and made by the Palace workmen, was a magnificent +piece of work, elaborately carved and beautiful in form. It was in the +natural color of teakwood, and this quiet tone admirably set off the +vivid color of the gown and accessories, and was a great improvement +to the picture. When she heard what were my wishes on the subject, Her +Majesty said she would see that the picture was placed in the frame, +and it was arranged that as soon as I had finished my luncheon, I +would return to the studio and overlook things myself, and arrange the +portrait as I wished. + +The Audience passed off as usual. Immediately after luncheon the ladies +were invited to go to the studio to see the portrait. The Empress +Dowager had evidently forgotten about my wish to go there first, and as +she herself, contrary to all precedent, led the way, followed by the +ladies, I could not, of course, precede her. I had not thought that +she would make such an innovation as to, herself, accompany the ladies +to the studio. I felt greatly honored, but I feared the eunuchs had +not arranged things as they should be, and knew I could do nothing +with Her Majesty present, and what was my chagrin on reaching the +hall in the wake of the Empress Dowager and the ladies, to find that +the portrait, though placed in the frame as I had desired, was in the +center of the narrow hall, and every window on both sides had been +opened to its widest extent, and the light came in from all sides! I +had shut off all the lights of this hall, except the double windows to +the north, where I had the upper glasses put in, and this is where the +picture should have been placed, but as Her Majesty’s Throne always +occupies the center of the Throne-rooms, the eunuchs evidently thought +that was the proper place for her portrait when on exhibition. As +the halls are narrow in proportion to their length, no one could get +further off than four feet from this life-size portrait. This, added +to the cross-lights, was heartrending. I was in despair. Her Majesty’s +presence prevented my ordering the eunuchs to change the position +of the portrait, and, besides, every one had already seen it! The +ladies, who could not do otherwise than express their admiration in the +presence of both the August Subject and the artist, duly praised the +portrait. Her Majesty, who knew how it looked in its proper light, and +who only glanced at it here, did not realize at what a disadvantage it +appeared, and was perfectly satisfied with the effect. + + [Illustration: THE PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER IN ITS FRAME + This Frame is Made of Camphor-wood Carved in the Palace after the + Empress’s own Designs and under Her Direction] + +An amusing little incident took place while the ladies were looking +at it. The Empress Dowager, in her cursory examination in this light, +noticed a part of the trimming of the gown where the design was not +well worked out. She came up to me, as I stood in a group of ladies, +and pointed out the defect. She took my hand in hers, and said in an +almost pleading way, “There is a bit of trimming that is not well +finished. You will arrange it for me, will you not, Ker-Gunia?” She did +not believe in leaving anything to the imagination, and wished every +detail fully worked out! + +This portrait was very successfully photographed, and Her Majesty +concluded she liked it much better than the one which had been sent +to St. Louis. She said it would make me “famous.” But when I thought +of how I might have painted this wonderfully interesting woman in the +unique setting in which she was placed, I realized that “it might have +been” are really the “saddest words of tongue or pen.” + +The precedent having been established, the idea of a representation of +the Sacred Person of a Chinese Majesty being seen by the world having +been accepted, the painting of Her Majesty’s first portrait not having +been followed by the dire results that the Chinese had prophesied, the +traditional prejudice was overcome, and when she saw how quickly the +photograph was made of the portrait, and how satisfactory it was, she +decided she would have the photographer try one of herself, and she was +not one to stop at a single trial. After waiting sixty-eight years to +see a counterfeit presentment of herself, I know she will now indulge +this new fantasy of hers to its fullest extent, and perhaps some other +artist may at some time paint her according to western ideas, and +represent her attractive personality in its best setting. But there +must always be a pioneer, and he it is who suffers the hardships and +makes the way clear for others, which must be my solace and consolation +for not being able to paint her as I should have liked. The Empress +Dowager “consented” to have a portrait of herself painted. Before I +finished the first one she told me she wanted “many,” and suggested my +passing the rest of my life out in Peking. I painted four. Who will do +the others? + +I felt I could not go on forever painting portraits, according to +Chinese traditions, of the Empress Dowager. I could not spend my life +in this dalliance with Oriental splendor. The world beyond the Palace +gates called me. I hurried to finish my task. The last portrait was +nearing completion. My sojourn at the Palace was drawing to a close. +Though I longed to be where I might paint in a freer way, I looked +forward with real regret to leaving the Palace, and especially to +leaving the Empress Dowager and the young Empress, for I had come to +really love them. I found Her Majesty by far the most fascinating +personality it had ever been my good fortune to study at such close +range. The young Empress was a sweet, kind nature, full of dignity +and pathos, for whom I prayed there might be greater happiness in +store than had yet fallen to her lot. My sojourn at the Palaces of Her +Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager of China, my association with +herself and the Ladies of her Court, I shall always remember as one of +the most charming experiences of my life. + + + TRANSCRIBERS’ NOTES + +The following changes have been applied to the text: + + Page 30: “transcience” changed to “transience”: _It was a plaint on + the transience of worldly glory_ + + Page 94: a period was added to the end of: _reaches a high state of + cultivation with them._ + + Page 95: “pendative” changed to “pendentive”: _The carved wood ceilings + were in pendentive designs_ + + Page 125: “Macchiavellian” changed to “Machiavellian”: _no Machiavellian + schemes would be forwarded_ + + Page 204: “pendatives” changed to “pendentives”: _dome, with elaborately + carved pendentives, was painted in_ + + Page 238: “ge” changed to “get”: _it was impossible to get any + atmosphere in the background_ + + Page 247: “Hierachy” changed to “Hierarchy”: _the Priestly Hierarchy of + the whole_ + +The following markings were added to the plain text to indicate the +original text styles: “=” for bold and “_” for italics. In addition, +all small-caps have been replaced with capital letters. + +All inconsistencies in the hyphenation of words and the spelling of +names have been standardized. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75210 *** diff --git a/75210-h/75210-h.htm b/75210-h/75210-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9bda6e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/75210-h/75210-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10367 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title>With the Empress Dowager of China | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> +<style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +a { + text-decoration: none; +} + +.return { + font-size: 1em; + color: blue; +} + +h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +.s1 .s2 .s3 .s4 .s5 { + text-align: center; +} + +.s1 {font-size: 2em;} +.s2 {font-size: 1.5em;} +.s3 {font-size: 1.17em;} +.s4 {font-size: 1em;} +.s5 {font-size: 0.83em;} + +.caption { + display: block; + text-align: left; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +.capt4 { + font-size: 1em; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +.capt5 { + font-size: 0.9em; + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +.dedication { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + width: 80%; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { + hr.chap { + display: none; visibility: hidden; + } +} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +h1 .small-text { + font-size: 0.8em; + display: block; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; +} + +h2 .small-text { + font-size: 0.6em; + display: block; + margin-top: 2.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; +} + +.block { + display: block; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +table, tr, td, th { + padding: 0.5em; + border-collapse: collapse; +} + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.subchap { + padding-left: 1em; + padding-right: 1em; + text-align: justify; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.bold {font-weight: bold;} + +img {width: 100%; max-width: 100%; height: auto;} + +img.landscape { + display: block; + margin: 2em auto; + max-width: 900px; /* Size depends on the actual dimensions of the image */ +} + +img.portrait { + display: block; + margin: 2em auto; + max-width: 400px; /* Set for the narrowest one to avoid any going higher than actual size */ +} + +img.logo { + display: block; + margin: 2em auto; + max-width: 10%; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img, .x-ebookmaker img.landscape {width: 80%;} +.x-ebookmaker img.portrait {width: 70%;} +.x-ebookmaker img.logo {width: 10%;} + +.wo { + border: none; +} + +.border { + border: 1px black solid; +} + +.footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: 0.9em; + text-align: justify; +} + +.footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; + text-decoration: none; + font-weight: bold;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: 0.8em; + text-decoration: none; + font-weight: bold; +} + +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} + +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + +</style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75210 ***</div> +<!-- Front Cover --> + <img class="portrait border x-ebookmaker" src="images/cover.jpg" + width="1654" height="2560" alt="Book Cover"> + +<!-- Page: i --> +<p> + <span class="pagenum">i</span> +</p> + +<!-- Page: ii --> +<p> + <span class="pagenum">ii</span> +</p> + +<div> +<!-- Page: iii Title Page --> +<span class="pagenum">iii</span> + <h1 class="center p2"> + <span class="small-text">With the</span> + Empress Dowager + <span class="small-text">of China</span> + </h1> + <p class="s4 p2 center">By</p> + <p class="s2 p2 center">Katharine A. Carl</p> + <p class="s5 p2 center">Illustrated by the Author + <span class="block">and with Photographs</span> + </p> + + <img class="logo wo" src="images/logo.jpg" + width="200" height="197" alt="Printer Logo"> + + <p class="block p2 center"> + <span class="block">New York</span> + <span class="block">The Century Co.</span> + <span class="block">1907</span> + </p> + +<!-- Copyright --> + <div> + <p class="center p2 s5"> + Copyright, 1905, by + <span class="block smcap s4">The Century Co.</span> + </p> + <p class="center p2 s5"><i>Published November, 1905.</i></p> + </div> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + </div> + +<div> +<!-- Page: iv --> +<span class="pagenum">iv</span> + + <img class="portrait wo x-ebookmaker" src="images/frontispiece.jpg" + width="600" height="1057" alt="Frontispiece" id="frontispiece"> + + <div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4">PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER</p> + <p class="capt5" style="text-align: justify;">This is the portrait + which was exhibited at the St. Louis Exposition, is now owned by + the United States Government, and is in the National Museum at + Washington</p> + </div> + +<!-- Page: v --> + <span class="pagenum">v</span> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + <div class="dedication"> + <p class="s4 center">TO SIR ROBERT HART</p> + <p>To whose helpful encouragement I owe so much, + I affectionately dedicate this account of my experiences at the + Court of the country he has so long and faithfully served.</p> + <p class="smcap s4 right">Katharine A. Carl.</p> + <p class="s5"> + <i><b>New York, May</b>, 1905.</i> + </p> + <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + </div> + + <div> + <!-- Page: vi --> + <span class="pagenum">vi</span> + <table> + <tr> + <th class="center" colspan="2"> + <p class="center s2"> + Contents + </p> + </th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdr smcap s4"> + PAGE + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 3 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">My Presentation and First Day at + the Chinese Court</span><br> + Drive Out to the Summer Palace—Presentation—Beginning the + Portrait—Luncheon—The Palace Theater—My Pavilion within the + Precincts. + <!-- Page: vii --> + <span class="pagenum">vii</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 18 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Personal Appearance of Her Majesty—A + Chinese Repast—Boating</span><br> + Second Sitting—The Siesta—Her Majesty’s Barge—A Promenade + on the Lake. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chapter III</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 27 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Palace of the Emperor’s Father + </span><br> + A Chinese Palace—Gardens—The Chinese Poem—Tombstones of + Pets—The Highway from Peking to the Summer Palace—Chinese + Modes of Locomotion—The Seventh Prince. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 34 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Her Majesty’s Throne-room</span><br> + Clocks—Third Sitting—A Promenade in the Gardens—The Orchard—The + Empress Dowager’s Love of Flowers—Customs as to Fruits and + Flowers. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 42 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Young Empress and Ladies of the + Court</span><br> + The Young Empress—The Secondary Wife—The Princesses—Children + by Adoption—Chinese Widows—The Princess Imperial—The + Relationships of the Princesses of the Blood—The Maids and + Tiring-women—Women of the Eighth Banner—The Chinese Woman + at Court—Slaves. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chapter VI</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 50 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Continuation of the Portrait + </span><br> + Advantages and Disadvantages of Painting in the Throne-room—The + Empress Dowager’s Voice—Chinese Opinion as to Portraits of + Royalty—Walks with Her Majesty—Her Dogs—Their Pavilions—Cats—The + Empress Dowager’s Gift of “Me-lah.” + <!-- Page: viii --> + <span class="pagenum">viii</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 57 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Festivities at Court</span><br> + The Celebration of His Majesty’s Birthday—Invitation from the + Empress Dowager to be Present—Birthday Plays—The Imperial + Actors—Birthday Decorations of the Palace Courts and + Buildings—Presents—First Gala Performance—Luncheon in the Court + of the Theater—The Mat-sheds at the Palace—Visitors—Chinese + Courtesy—The Imperial Theater at Summer Palace—Actresses—Customs + of Manchu Women. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 64 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">His Majesty the Emperor</span><br> + Beginning of his Reign—The Name of an Emperor—The Manchu + Dynasty—Personality of the Emperor—Appearance—His + Orientalism—His Dreams of Progress—His Edicts—Despatches—The + Emperor’s Palace and Attendants—His Studies and Talents—Early + Rising—His Meals—Conventionalities Observed—Dislike of Public + Functions. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 73 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Emperor’s Birthday</span><br> + Morning Salutations—His Majesty’s Throne-room—The Imperial + Pearl-Buttons Denoting Rank of Officials—Manchu Buttons—“Lever” + of the Empress Dowager—Court Costume—Young Empress in Court + Attire—Going in State to Audience Hall—Official Congratulation + by High Officials and Princes—The Young Empress’s + Palace—Presentation of Jade Emblem (Ruyie)—Young Empress’s + Official Congratulation to the Emperor—Simplicity of Attire + of Empress Dowager—Grand Theatrical Representation at Palace + Theater—Imperial Congratulatory Poem—Splendid Costumes—Luncheon + in the Court of the Theater—Children at Court—The Emperor’s + Presents to the Manchu Nobles and High Officials—The Finale at + the Theater—Spectacular Procession—Thanks of the Princes and + Nobles—Bowing to the “Great Ancestress”—The Procession to the + Hall of Ancestral Tablets. + <!-- Page: ix --> + <span class="pagenum">ix</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 87 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Peking—The Sea Palace</span><br> + His Majesty’s Sacrifice to his Ancestors—The Empress + Dowager’s Favorite Summer-house—The Sacred Picture—The United + States Legation at Peking—Mrs. Conger’s Relations with Chinese + Ladies—The Sea Palace—The Boats of the Lake—Our Resting-place + at the Sea Palace—Promenade on the Lake—The Eunuch + Li-Wun-ti—Memory—Story-telling—The Island—Temple Gardens—Two + Temples—Cathedral within the Precincts—Theater. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 100 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Some Characteristics of Her + Majesty—Second Visit to the Sea Palace</span><br> + The Empress Dowager’s Magnetic Personality—Interesting + Study—Her Chinese Appellations—Hall of Mongolian Princes—Dragon + Wall—Fruits Sent to the Palace—Repast at the Sea + Palace—Promenade in the Train of Her Majesty—The Imperial + Gourds—A Promenade in the Rain—Rest in Hall of Mongolian + Princes—Archery in China—The Sunset Call. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 111 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Return to the Summer Palace + </span><br> + The Empress Dowager as a Psychological Study—Seeing Her Face + to Face—Work on Portrait Resumed—Easels and Cases for Materials + for Work on Sacred Picture—Walks—Refreshments for the + Promenades—Imperial Tea—The Empress Dowager’s Tea and + Tea-cups—Her Deftness with her Fingers—Her Thoughtfulness. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">Chapter XIII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 117 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Steam-launch—Semi-annual + Sacrifices to Confucius</span><br> + Chinese Tolerance in Religious Matters—Halls of Confucius—The + Odes to Peace—Burning the Offerings. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Chapter XIV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 123 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Palace Eunuchs</span><br> + Their Grades—The Chief Eunuchs—Li Lien Ying—His Power with the + Courtiers—“L’Eminence Grise” of the Court—The Shut-in Position + of Chinese Imperial Rulers—Need of an Unofficial + Messenger—Personal Appearance of Li Lien Ying—Sui, Her + Majesty’s Second Eunuch—Punishment of Eunuchs—Pupils—Opium + Smoking—Pets—Good Manners of the Eunuchs. + <!-- Page: x --> + <span class="pagenum">x</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XV">Chapter XV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 130 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Literary Tastes and Accomplishments + of the Empress Dowager</span><br> + The Empress of the Eastern Palace—Co-Regency—Her Majesty’s + Literary Tastes—Her Love of Heroic Poems—Her Memory—The Chinese + Joan of Arc—The Empress, Widow of Tung-Chih—The Empress + Dowager’s Reader and her Favorite Authors—Her Love of the + Theater—Her Humor—A Great Stickler for Purity of + Language—Li-Hung-Chang’s Chinese—How the Empress Dowager Speaks + It—Her Writing of the Great Characters—The Chinese Written + Character—Painting—Embroidery—Her Designs for Floral + Decorations—Cultivation of her Person—The Empress Dowager an + Epicure—Her Soaps and Perfumes—Her Personal Magnetism as a + Power over Animals—The Escaped Bird—The Katydid. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Chapter XVI</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 142 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Great Audience Hall</span><br> + Hours of the Audiences—The Audience Hall at Summer Palace—Its + Interior—Ancient and Modern Thrones and Dais—Audiences of Heads + of Departments—The Grand Council—Official + Despatches—Telegrams—The Cushions for Members of the Grand + Council—Special Audiences—The Introducing Eunuch—Amusing + Subterfuge of Officials at Audience—The Young Emperor and + Tiresome Official—Sacred Quality of the Imperial Person—Mode + of Address of Courtiers—The Kow-tow. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Chapter XVII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 149 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Summer Palace</span><br> + The Empress Dowager’s Favorite Palace—The Marble Terrace—The + Hills of the Summer Palace—The Temple of the Ten Thousand + Buddhas—Memorial Arches—The Marble Bridge—The Canals—Camel-back + Bridges—Chinese Architecture—Utilitarian Spirit of the + Chinese—Flowers and Fields in the Park of Summer Palace—Grand + Peony Mountain—The Sacred Buddha-Temple of the Ten Thousand + Buddhas—Ruins of Old Summer Palace—Views from the Summer + Palace Belvederes—When Their Majesties Go Abroad. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Chapter XVIII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 156 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Festival of the Harvest Moon + </span><br> + The Chinese Love of Festivals—The Fruit of Immortality—The + Little Handmaiden and her White Rabbit—The Play at the Palace + Theater on the Mid-Autumn Festival—Dinner in the Imperial + Loge—Procession to the Moonlit Terrace—Floral Pai-lou to the + Moon—“Bowing” to the Moon—The Poem to the Moon—The + Burnt-Offering—Return to the Palace on the Moonlit + Lake—Continuation of the Portrait—Some Disadvantages of Too + Much Pleasure—Hospitality of the Empress Dowager—Chinese + Conventions and Traditions—Wonderful Opportunities for + Picturesqueness in Painting the Empress Dowager—Restrictions + Imposed by Chinese Tradition—First Exhibition of the + “Sacred Picture”—Description of First Portrait of the Empress + Dowager—How I Should Have Liked to Paint Her. + <!-- Page: xi --> + <span class="pagenum">xi</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Chapter XIX</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 165 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">A Garden Party</span><br> + Reception to the Diplomatic Corps and Ladies of the + Legation—The Ceremony of Reception of the Ladies—The Empress + Dowager’s Cordiality—Taking Tea in the Audience Hall—Luncheon + in the Throne-room—Promenade on the Lake—Visit to the Palace + and Temple on the Island—The Marble Boat—Lack of Harmony among + the Guests at Garden Party—Chinese Comment on our Costumes and + Appearance—Dislike of Blonde Hair. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Chapter XX</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 171 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Beginning a Second Portrait of the + Empress Dowager</span><br> + Putting the Characters Representing Her Majesty’s Titles and + her Two Seals on the Portrait—Beginning the Small + Portrait—Toilette d’Intimité—“Hailo” and “Shadza”—The Palace + Painters—Their Manner of Working—New Variety of + Chrysanthemum—The “Peafowl Feather”—The Audience Hall + Pianos—Her Majesty’s Ideas of Dancing. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Chapter XXI</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 178 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">A European Circus at the Palace + </span><br> + The Posters—Sites for the Ring—The Turnip Field—Their + Majesties Go in State across the Lake—The Houseboats—The + Young Empress’s State Boat—The Imperial Loges at the + Circus—Invited Officials—Bands of Music—A Glimpse of the + Manchu Princes and Some High Officials—The Son of the + Imperial Princess—The Opera Glasses of Their Majesties—What + Interested Them Most. + <!-- Page: xii --> + <span class="pagenum">xii</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Chapter XXII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 185 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Palace Customs</span><br> + Early Rising—When the Empress Dowager Sleeps—Her + Bedroom—Irregular Hours except for the Audience—Domestic + Duties—Her Favorite Game—Her Luck—Her Meals—Conventions + Observed at the Empress Dowager’s Table—Her Dishes—The Hour + of the Siesta—Her Promenades—The Days of the Theater—When + Their Majesties Dine Together—Rigorous Observance of Fasts at + the Table of the Empress Dowager—Court Etiquette—The Graceful + Bow—Rigid Observance of Court Customs—Her Majesty’s Reproof + of Too Indulgent Mother. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Chapter XXIII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 194 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Her Majesty’s Anxiety—Her Birthday + </span><br> + Her Anxiety—Exterior and Interior Troubles—Preparations for + Her Majesty’s Birthday—Her Desire to Have Everything as + Simple as Possible and to Spare Expense—The Emperor’s Wish + to Celebrate with the Usual Pomp, and Desire to Bestow a New + Title upon the Empress Dowager—Difference of Her Majesty’s + Interest in her Own and the Emperor’s Birthday—When She + Received the Congratulations—Early Hour of Congratulation—The + Interior of the Throne-room and Decorations for the + Birthday—Winter Court Dress of the Ladies—The Empress + Dowager’s Fatigue. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Chapter XXIV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 200 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Winter Palace</span><br> + The Empress Dowager’s Love of the Summer Palace—Return to + Peking—Young Empress and Ladies Precede and Receive Her on + the Threshold of her Own Throne-room—City of Peking, the + Palace within the Forbidden City—Its many Walls within + Walls—The Guard-Houses—The Ceremony of Reception—The + Throne-room of the Winter Palace—The Interior Dome—Her + Majesty’s Sitting-room—Private Chapel—Portraits of Queen + Victoria—The Three Great Halls—The Spirit-Stairway—The + Central Hall—Presents from European Royalties—Where I was to + Paint—The Emperor’s Precincts—Tradition at the Winter + Palace. + <!-- Page: xiii --> + <span class="pagenum">xiii</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Chapter XXV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 211 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Peking—Beginning the Portrait for + St. Louis</span><br> + Legation Quarter—Morning Ride to the Palace—Splendid + Walls of the Palace and City—The Streets in the + Forbidden City—A Funeral—The Mongolians—Beggars + at the Gate—Unsatisfactoriness of Studio at Winter + Palace—Her Majesty Orders It Remodeled—Beginning + Portrait for St. Louis—Imperial Paraphernalia and + Insignia of Royalty—Importance of Propriety—The + Throne—Her Majesty’s Costume for the Portrait—Pearl + Mantle—First Sketch—Stretching the Great Canvas. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">Chapter XXVI</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 219 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Some Social Customs</span><br> + Manchu Ladies of the Palace—Presentation, on Their Marriage, of + Manchu Noblewomen—Bridal Costume—Sedan Chairs—By Whom Bride is + Presented—The Young Empress’s Graciousness—A Daughter in a + Manchu Family—Comparison of Manchu and American Girl—The + Unmarried Daughter of the Manchus—Her Position in the + Family—Social Qualities—The Manchu Men—Sports—Costume—Young + Dandies—Concubinage—Early Marriages of Men—Secondary Wives—The + Family—Secondary Wives of an Emperor—Their Rank—Position in + the Palace—Title. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Chapter XXVII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 230 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Present-Giving</span><br> + The Palace as the Heart of Empire—Occasions on which + Presents are Given (Private, Official, and + Festivals)—Style of Presents Given by the Empress + Dowager—Presents to the Ladies of Legation—Birthday + Presents—Some Presents Received by Me from Her Majesty. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">Chapter XXVIII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 237 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Some Winter Days at the Palace + </span><br> + The Portrait for America—Details and Accessories of the + Same—Days at the Palace—The Meals in Winter—Winter + Evenings—Learning Chinese—Occupations of the + Ladies—The Young Empress’s Birthday—Days of Mourning + at the Palace—Anniversary of Death of the Emperor + Tung-Chih—The Empress Dowager’s Sorrow. + <!-- Page: xiv --> + <span class="pagenum">xiv</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">Chapter XXIX</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 245 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Religious Rites</span><br> + The Three Great Religions—The Temple of Heaven—The + Emperor as High Priest—Preparations for the Sacrifice + to Heaven—Buddhism and Taoism—Confucius—Origin of + Chinese Religious Ceremonies—Vitality of China as a + Nation—Its Amalgamation of Conquering Races—The + Manchus—Some Nature Worship—The Festival of the + Awakening of Spring at the Palace—Guardians of the + Cocoons. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">Chapter XXX</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 253 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Her Majesty the Empress Dowager + </span><br> + Her Family—Presentation at Court—Fifth Wife of the + Emperor Hsien-Feng—Favorite of Empress Mother and First + Wife—Birth of a Son—Death of Emperor Hsien-Feng—Empress + of Western Palace—Co-Regents for Young Emperor + Tung-Chih—Friendliness of the Two Co-Regents—State of + China at Beginning of Regency—Intrigue—The Anti-foreign + Princes—Prince Kung—First Political Act of Young Empress + of Western Palace—Support of the Princes of the + Blood—The Emperor Tung-Chih Begins to Reign—Death of + Tung-Chih—Resumption of the Regency by the Empress + Dowager—Minority of Kwang-Hsu—Death of Empress of + Eastern Palace—Policy of Empress Dowager—The Emperor + Kwang-Hsu Begins to Reign—His Policy—The War with + Japan—Change of Policy by the Emperor—The Progress + Party—The Ultra-Conservatives—Return from Retirement of + the Empress Dowager—The Emperor’s Edict—So-called + Coup d’État—Rout of Progress Party—Punishment of + Ringleaders—Effect on the Emperor—Reign of Emperor + “Assisted” by Empress Dowager—The Secret Society of the + Boxers—Its Growth—Boxers in the Capital—Boxers among the + Princes of the Blood—The Outbreak in Peking—Reported + Cause of Outbreak—The Emperor and Empress Dowager’s + Attempt to Check Movement—The Imperial Military + Forces—Position of Legation Quarter in Peking—British + Legation—Return of Their Majesties to Peking—Edicts + Issued—Arrival of Allies in Peking—Flight of Her Majesty + and the Court—The Route to Singan Fu—Hardships + Endured—Incidents. + <!-- Page: xv --> + <span class="pagenum">xv</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">Chapter XXXI</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 270 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Her Majesty the Empress Dowager + (Continued)</span><br> + Her Charities—Incident of the Boxer Rising—Widows’ + Petition to the Empress Dowager—Her Majesty’s Action + thereon—Her Extravagance—Extravagance in the + Palace—Efforts of Past Emperors for Economy—Cost of + Food in the Palace—Her Majesty’s Personal + Extravagance—Her Jewels—Wardrobe—Examples of Her + Economy—Her Patriotism—Scheme of Taxation—Her + Penetration—Her Judgment—Her + Prejudices—Sarcasm—Her Determination—Tact—Social + Instinct—Reception of Young German Prince. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">Chapter XXXII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 279 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">The Chinese New Year</span><br> + Greatest Festival of the Year—Decorations of the + Palace—Imitation Money—New Year’s Presents—Work on + Portrait—Some Changes—Removal of the Court to Sea + Palace—My Studio at Sea Palace—New Year’s Audience of + Ladies of the Legation—Congratulations—Lantern + Festival—The Illuminated Procession—The Double + Dragon—The Flaming Pearl—Fireworks in the Palace—Day + Rockets—Old Customs as to the Fireworks in the Palace + Grounds. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">Chapter XXXIII</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 287 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Continuation of the St. Louis + Portrait</span><br> + Propitious Date for Finishing it—Changing + Ornaments—Frame for Portrait—Spring Days—Her Majesty’s + Walks—Inspecting the New Buildings—The Jinrikisha—The + Miniature Railway—Her Majesty’s Automobiles—Kite + Flying—His Majesty the Emperor Plows and Sows the Seed + of a Furrow. + <!-- Page: xvi --> + <span class="pagenum">xvi</span> + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">Chapter XXXIV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 294 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Finishing and Sending off the + Portrait</span><br> + Nineteenth Day of April—Invitations to Ladies of the + Legation to see the Portrait—Visit of the Ladies to + the Palace—The Portrait—Princes and Nobles see the + “Sacred Picture”—Attempt to Photograph—Portrait taken + to Wai-Wu-Pu—Visit of Corps Diplomatique—Packing the + Portrait—Special Railway built from Foreign Office to + Railway Station—Departure of Picture—En + route—Tientsin—Shanghai—Embarkation for San + Francisco—Reception by Prince Pu L’un and Imperial + Commission at St. Louis—Unveiling the Portrait—Placing + the Portrait in the Gallery of Fine Arts—Arrival at + Washington—Presentation to the Government. + </td> + </tr> + <tr class="smcap s3"> + <td class="tdl"> + <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">Chapter XXXV</a>. + </td> + <td class="tdr"> + 300 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdl s5 subchap"> + <span class="s3 bold smcap">Return to the Summer Palace + </span><br> + Return to the Summer Palace—The Palace of the Emperor’s + Father in Spring—The Grounds of the Summer Palace—The + Studio—At Work Again—The Theater—His Majesty’s Theater + Program—Work of the Vermilion Pencil—His Majesty’s + Interest in the Russo-Japanese War—Spring Garden Party + to the Ladies of the Legation—Another large Portrait of + Her Majesty—Showing it to the Ladies—Her Majesty’s + Desire for Highly Finished Detail—Her Delight in her + New Hobby—Final Days. + </td> + </tr> + </table> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<!-- Page: xvii --> + <span class="pagenum">xvii &</span><br> + <span class="pagenum">xviii</span> +<h2>List of Illustrations</h2> +<table> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Portrait of the Empress Dowager</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdr">FACING PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Empress and the Ladies of the Court + in the Imperial Barge</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#24a">24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Princesses of the Court</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#40a">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Young Empress Ye-Ho-Na-Lah</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#44a">44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">At the American Legation, Peking</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#88a">88</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Chinese Architecture</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#104a">104</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">On the Road from Peking to the Summer Palace</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#112a">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Empress Dowager Writing a “Great + Character”</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#136a">136</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Empress Dowager in the Gardens of the Summer + Palace</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#140a">140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Official Audience of Their Majesties</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#146a">146</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Old Ruins in the Summer Palace</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#152a">152</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Secondary Wife of the Emperor</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#168a">168</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Pai-lou in the Grounds of the Summer + Palace—on the Shore of the Lake</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#176a">176</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Princesses of the Court</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#188a">188</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Court in the Winter Palace—“Her Majesty Comes”</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#204a">204</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Confucian Temple—“Spirit-Stairway” in Central + Flight of Steps</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#208a">208</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Prince Ching</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#216a">216</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Author in Chinese Costume</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#234a">234</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Temple of Heaven—Peking</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#246a">246</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Altar to the Invisible Deity</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#250a">250</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Slave Girls</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#280a">280</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Portrait of the Empress Dowager in its + Frame</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#304a">304</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<span class="pagenum">xix</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTORY">INTRODUCTORY</h2> + +<p>In April, 1903, while I was visiting in Shanghai, I received a +letter from Mrs. Conger, wife of the Minister of the United States +to Peking, in which she said there was a question of Her Majesty the +Empress Dowager’s having her portrait painted, and asking me if such +a thing should be arranged would I be willing to come to Peking and +undertake it. Mrs. Conger hoped, if the project should materialize, +that Her Majesty might later consent to send the portrait to the +Exposition at St. Louis. She thought such a portrait would be of great +interest to the American people and might prove an attractive feature +to the Exposition, in which she and Mr. Conger were, naturally, much +interested. She also felt, as she had had an opportunity of seeing a +good deal of the Empress Dowager, that if the world could see a true +likeness of her, it might modify the generally accepted idea which +prevailed as to Her Majesty’s character.</p> + +<p>I answered Mrs. Conger’s letter, saying I should be delighted to +undertake the work, should it be decided upon, and I awaited further +developments. The idea of sitting for her portrait met with Her +Majesty’s approval, and she said she would arrange an Audience and set +a day for beginning. But the “mills of”—Chinese + +<span class="pagenum">xx</span> + +Officialdom “grind slowly,” and not until July did Mrs. Conger receive +an official notification from the Wai-Wu-Pu (Chinese Foreign Office) +requesting “Her Excellency Mrs. Conger to present the American artist, +Miss Carl, to Her Imperial Majesty on the fifth day of August, for the +purpose of painting a portrait of Her Majesty.” Mrs. Conger immediately +informed me of the reception of this document, and I left Shanghai for +Peking on the 29th of July. I was cordially received, on my arrival in +Peking, by Mr. and Mrs. Conger at the American Legation, and on the +fifth of August was presented by Mrs. Conger to Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager at the Summer Palace in private Audience.</p> + +<p>As it was a great innovation in Chinese customs and a breaking away +from long-established tradition for an Imperial portrait to be painted, +there was no precedent to follow and all arrangements were of the +vaguest kind; and when I went into the Palace for my first Audience, I +did not know whether I would have one sitting or ten, and no one else +seemed to have any more definite information. All was uncertainty. +Everything depended upon Her Majesty’s inclination, and future +developments must be awaited. I felt that I was really going into the +Palace on trial and that my reception and the work depended upon the +fantasy and whims of a great Personage from whom, according to current +reports, I had but little to expect. On the day of my first Audience, I +was told at the Foreign Office that Her Majesty was to give me but one +sitting, hence it was not in a very tranquil state of mind that I went +up to be presented to the + +<span class="pagenum">xxi</span> + +Great Empress Dowager, Tze-Shi! But all this was changed when I saw +her. She received me kindly, was very gracious. A Palace was set aside +for me, and every facility afforded me for my work: during my sojourn +at the Chinese Court I painted not only the portrait for the Exposition +at St. Louis, but three others of Her Majesty.</p> + +<p>Unique as my experiences at the different Palaces of Their +Celestial Majesties were, I concluded, after I had lived at Court +for a few months, I would never make these experiences public. The +Empress Dowager received me in so friendly a manner, I met with such +consideration at her hands and such unfailing courtesy from all with +whom I came in contact, I felt I should requite this kindness by +an equal consideration, and that it was my duty to respect Chinese +prejudices and conform to their ideas of “Propriety” by refraining from +any relation of my charming experiences.</p> + +<p>After I returned to America, I was constantly seeing in newspapers +(and hearing of) statements ascribed to me which I never made. Her +Majesty was represented as having stood over me in threatening +attitudes, forcing me to represent her as a young and beautiful woman! +It was reported that she refused to give me any compensation for the +portraits, and a number of other statements, equally false, were +daily appearing in the papers. The London “Times,” in speaking of the +Empress Dowager, said: “Some one has said ‘she has the soul of a tiger +in the body of a woman,’ and Miss Carl found the old lady shrewd and +tempestuous.” The latter statement, which I never + +<span class="pagenum">xxii</span> + +made, seemed to me enough to have on my shoulders, but the article +was copied in American papers and I was put down as the author of the +first, as well as of the second statement. The power of the Press has +become such that it cannot be ignored. It is of no avail to say nothing +in such a case as mine; when you do this, words are put into your +mouth and sentiments ascribed to you at the will of the newsmongers. +If a correction be made, it never seems to get the same circulation +or publicity as the first statement. These erroneous statements +continue to appear, and I have finally decided that, in justice to my +August Patroness as well as to my humbler self, it is incumbent upon +me to correct them, and it seems to me the only proper way to do so +is to write a full and true relation of my life at the Palace and my +experiences while painting the portraits of Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager.</p> + +<p>I know I publish this account at the risk of offending the +sensibilities of my Chinese friends, for many of them will never +know what called it forth. I know that by so doing I may change any +favorable opinion they may have formed as to my good-breeding and +discretion. I was on sufficiently intimate terms with Her Majesty and +the Ladies of the Court to know that this account will be looked upon +by them as an “indiscretion,” to say the least of it.</p> + +<p>In this story of my life at the Palace, I must naturally give some +description of Their Majesties and necessarily make some comment +upon their characters. In doing this, I will transgress another +long-established rule of Chinese Propriety, which makes any comment, + +<span class="pagenum">xxiii</span> + +favorable or unfavorable, upon the Sacred Persons of Their Majesties, +a breach of etiquette. No act of theirs is ever criticized, no report +in reference to them is ever explained, no slander about them is ever +refuted by loyal Chinese, and the generality of Chinese are loyal. Thus +the falsest statements, not being refuted by those in a position to +know, gain in credence until they are reported as facts.</p> + +<p>If my comment on Their Majesties and discussion of their acts be +favorable, this will be no palliation from the Chinese standpoint. Any +sort of comment will be looked upon as a breach of hospitality. I have +absolutely nothing to gain, should I suppress any disagreeable facts I +may have learned as to Her Majesty. Should I be willing to sacrifice +the truth, in order to please my Chinese friends, this would avail me +nothing, for should my account of Her Majesty be construed by them into +an apology for her, I would be considered most presumptuous and the +enormity of my offense aggravated. Thus I am between two fires. Those +who read my account may imagine I am trying to justify Her Majesty and +thereby gain her favor; and should the Chinese put this construction +on it, my indiscretion will become an offense. Knowing all this, and +with the memory of the charming consideration I received at the Chinese +Court, I nevertheless feel it is my duty to publish a simple and +truthful narrative of my experiences, and I hope I may be pardoned for +thus breaking Chinese conventions.</p> + +<p>The Boxer rebellion was a frequent topic of conversation at the +Palace and I heard a great deal about it from the Ladies of the Court. +It was not considered + +<span class="pagenum">xxiv</span> + +at all indiscreet to ask questions on this subject, and I did not +hesitate to inform myself by asking about things I wished to know. +If it be true, as the philosophers say, that “the proper study of +mankind is man under his own environment,” I had an opportunity of +studying Her Majesty on the right principles. My account of her should, +therefore, have some little value, for I am the only European who has +ever had a chance to study this remarkable woman in her own milieu, or +to look upon the facts of her life from the standpoint within her own +circle.</p> + +<p>In this simple relation of what I saw of the customs, religious +rites and ceremonies, I have also preferred to rest upon my own +personal interpretation of the same, rather than to study the learned +explanations of the many clever Sinologues, whose works abound. These +works may be consulted by those who desire to enter more deeply into +things. I had no time to make a comprehensive study of any works on +the subject, and I purposely have read nothing and consulted no books +on China, wishing to give a fresh impression. As all their curious +ceremonies were a matter of course to the Chinese, they had become so +petrified by long use and tradition, as to have, in many instances, +lost their original signification to most of those who went through +them. I could thus get very little help from the Chinese and was forced +to put my own interpretation upon things. I feel that, with my limited +capacities, and my inexperience as a writer, the only reason for my +entering this field at all lies in the interest of what I saw, as I saw +it. Notwithstanding the attitude of the Court in this matter, I have +decided to run the + +<span class="pagenum">xxv</span> + +risk of incurring their displeasure and reprobation, for I feel assured +that what I have to say may serve to clear up certain misapprehensions +and place Her Majesty the Empress Dowager in more favorable light. +What follows is but the simple narration, the unsophisticated +interpretation, of an observant painter.</p> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">1-3</span> + + <img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/3a.jpg" width="1200" + height="440" + alt="Ornamental Element"> + + <p class="nobreak s1 center bold" id="CHAPTER_I"> + WITH THE EMPRESS DOWAGER OF CHINA + </p> +<h2 class="nobreak p2"> + CHAPTER I + <span class="small-text"> + MY PRESENTATION AND FIRST DAY AT THE CHINESE COURT + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The day of my first Audience at the Chinese Court, August 5th, we +were up betimes at the American Legation, for it takes full three hours +to drive out to the Summer Palace from Peking; and punctuality is the +etiquette of Oriental as well as of Occidental potentates. Our audience +was for half-past ten o’clock, and the portrait of the Empress Dowager +was to be begun at eleven; that hour, as well as the day and the month, +having been chosen, after much deliberation and many consultations of +the almanac, as the most auspicious for beginning work on the first +likeness ever made of Her Majesty.</p> + +<p>We left the Legation at seven A.M. in the trap of the United States +Legation Guard, that being the only vehicle available large enough to +carry the party, Mrs. Conger and her interpreter and myself and my +painting materials, which included a large canvas and + +<span class="pagenum">4</span> + +a folding easel. After leaving the City, the drive out to the Summer +Palace is through fertile fields and a fair, smiling landscape. It had +rained the night before and everything was beautifully fresh. The wet, +stone-paved road stretched ahead like a shining stream; the wheat and +corn fields along the road were of a brilliant green, with here and +there the somber note of a clump of arbor-vitæ, out of which rose the +walls of a temple! The distant hills, where lay the Summer Palace, were +delicately limned against a soft blue-gray sky, and the whole made an +entrancing picture.</p> + +<p>Soon after leaving Peking the mounted official Legation servants +that followed Mrs. Conger’s carriage were joined by a Chinese Guard +of Honor sent by the Wai-Wu-Pu (Foreign Office) to escort us to the +Palace. After an hour and a half’s drive we rattled through a busy +village, past the yellow ruins of a great lama temple, and along the +park walls of the summer homes of several Princes of the Imperial +Family, and soon came within sight of the beautiful grounds of the +Summer Palace with its hills, valleys, canals, and lakes; the hills +crowned with tea-houses and temples, the waters of the canals lapping +the marble terraces of the Palaces. The red walls and glazed tiles of +the yellow and green roofs, the brilliant foliage, freshened by the +rain, made a gay picture; and the temples, arches, pagodas, and the +many buildings that constitute a Chinese palace gave it the appearance +of a whole town rather than of a single palace.</p> + +<p>As in all Oriental palaces, upon the very threshold of the outer +courts sit the beggar, the lame, the halt, + +<span class="pagenum">5</span> + +and the blind, gathering rich harvests from the generosity of the high +nobles and officials and their myriad retainers as they pass in and out +of the Foreign Office and the outer courts of the Palace. The Foreign +Office, during the residence of the Court at the Summer Palace, sixteen +miles from the Capital, has offices on the left of the great Imperial +entrance, in order that state business may be more easily transacted +while Their Majesties are in <span lang="it">villeggiatura.</span> +</p> + +<p>We alighted at the Foreign Office and were met by a number of +officials with their interpreters, coming out to receive us. After +readjusting ourselves in the waiting-room, we were met, when we came +out, by the Chief Eunuch of the Palace, who conducted us to the +red-covered Palace chairs, each carried by six men. They bore us past +the Imperial gateway (used only for Their Majesties), through a door +of entrance at the left, when we were within the sacred precincts of +one of the residences of the Sons of Heaven and within the walls of the +favorite Palace of the Empress Dowager! Before we could take in our +surroundings, we had been rapidly carried through various courts and +gardens, and had come at last to a larger, quadrangular court, filled +with pots of rare blooming plants and many beautiful growing shrubs. +Here the bearers put down our chairs; we descended and walked through +the court, preceded and followed by a number of eunuchs. The great +plate-glass doors of the Palace in front of us, blazing with the huge +red character “Sho” (longevity), were swung noiselessly back, and we +were at last within the Throne-room of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress +Dowager of China!</p> + +<span class="pagenum">6</span> + +<p>A group of Princesses and Ladies-in-waiting stood to receive us. +The Ladies Yu-Keng, wife and daughter of a former Chinese Minister to +France, stood near the Princesses; and their perfect knowledge of both +Chinese and English rendered them delightful mediums of communication +between the Princesses and ourselves. Having known these ladies in +Paris, it was almost like seeing old friends. They seemed a link +between the real, every-day world and this Arabian Nights Palace into +which we had been wafted. As we arrived at a quarter-past ten, we were +in the Throne-room a few moments before Their Majesties appeared! Their +entrance was so simply made, so unobtrusive, that the first I knew of +it, noticing a sudden lull, I looked around and saw a charming little +lady, with a brilliant smile, greeting Mrs. Conger very cordially. One +of the Ladies Yu-Keng whispered, “Her Majesty”; but even after this it +seemed almost impossible for me to realize that this kindly looking +lady, so remarkably young-looking, with so winning a smile, could be +the so-called cruel, implacable tyrant, the redoubtable “old” Empress +Dowager, whose name had been on the lips of the world since 1900! A +young man, almost boyish in appearance, entered the Throne-room with +her: this was the Son of Heaven, the Emperor of China!</p> + +<p>After greeting Mrs. Conger, the Empress Dowager looked toward me, +and I advanced with a reverence. She met me half-way and extended +her hand with another brilliant smile which quite won me, and I +spontaneously raised her dainty fingers to my lips. This was not in the +protocol program. It was an + +<span class="pagenum">7</span> + +involuntary and surprised tribute on my part to her unexpected charm. +She then turned and with graceful gesture extended her hand toward the +Emperor and murmured “The Emperor,” and watched me closely while I +made His Majesty the formal reverence. He acknowledged the salutation +by a slight bow and a stereotyped smile, but I felt that he, too, was +closely scrutinizing me as his shrewd glance swept my person.</p> + +<p>After a few moments’ conversation, interpreted by the Ladies +Yu-Keng, Her Majesty ordered my painting things brought in, while she +retired to be dressed in the gown she had decided upon as appropriate +for the portrait.</p> + +<p>After she had left the Throne-room, I tried to take in the +conditions of the place for painting. The hall was large and spacious, +but the light was false, the upper parts of the windows being covered +with paper shades. The only place in the hall where there was any sort +of light for painting was in front of the great plate-glass doors, and +this was but a small space in which to begin so large a picture. To +get a light upon the portrait, as well as upon the sitter, I should +be forced to place my canvas very near the throne where she was to +sit; and, with so large a portrait as I was to paint, this would be +a great disadvantage. When I thought I must paint here, and begin +at once upon the canvas which was to be the final picture, my heart +fell! Her Majesty wished, above all, to have a large portrait, and +I was told she would not understand my beginning on a small canvas +or making any preliminary studies—that if I did not begin on the + +<span class="pagenum">8</span> + +big canvas at once she would probably not give me any more sittings; +in fact we had that morning been told at the Foreign Office that Her +Majesty was to give me but two sittings, so there was no alternative! +There could be no preliminary poses, no choice from several sketches, +and only a few moments in which to choose the pose, which must be +final—and I totally ignorant of the possibilities of my sitter or her +characteristics.</p> + +<p>Luckily, I had but a few moments to consider all these adverse +circumstances, for Her Majesty soon returned! She had been clothed in +a gown of Imperial yellow, brocaded in the wistaria vine in realistic +colors and richly embroidered in pearls. It was made, in the graceful +Manchu fashion, in one piece, reaching from the neck to the floor; +fastened from the right shoulder to the hem with jade buttons. The +stuff of the gown was of a stiff, transparent silk, and was worn over a +softer under-gown of the same color and length. At the top button, from +the right shoulder, hung a string of eighteen enormous pearls separated +by flat pieces of brilliant, transparent green jade. From the same +button was suspended a large, carved pale ruby, which had yellow silk +tassels terminating in two immense pear-shaped pearls of rare beauty! +At each side, just under the arms, hung a pale-blue, embroidered silk +handkerchief and a scent-bag with long, black silk tassels. Around her +throat was a pale-blue, two-inch-wide cravat, embroidered in gold with +large pearls. This cravat had one end tucked into the opening on the +shoulder of her gown, and the other hanging. Her jet-black hair + +<span class="pagenum">9</span> + +was parted in the middle, carried smoothly over the temples, and +brought to the top of the head in a large, flat coil.</p> + +<p>Formerly all Manchu ladies who have marvelous hair carried the +hair itself out from this coil over a golden, jade, or tortoise-shell +sword-like pin, into a large-winged bow. The Empress Dowager and the +Ladies of the Court have substituted satin instead of the hair, for +this wing-like construction, as being more practicable and less liable +to get out of order. So satin-like and glossy is their hair that it +is difficult to tell where it ends and the satin begins. A band of +pearls, with an immense “flaming pearl” in the center, encircled the +coil. On either side of the winged bow were bunches of natural flowers +and a profusion of jewels. From the right side of the head-dress +hung a tassel of eight strings of beautiful pearls reaching to the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>She wore bracelets and rings, and on each hand had two +nail-protectors, for she wore her nails so long the protectors were +necessary adjuncts. These nail-protectors were worn on the third and +fourth fingers of either hand; those on the left being of brilliant +green jade, while those on the right hand were of gold, set with rubies +and pearls.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty advanced with animation and asked me where the Double +Dragon Throne was to be placed. After the eunuchs had put it where I +said, she took her seat. Although not more than five feet tall, as she +wears the Manchu shoes with six-inch-high, stilt-like soles, to avoid +throwing the knees up higher than the lap she must sit upon cushions, +and when + +<span class="pagenum">10</span> + +she is seated she looks a much larger woman than when standing. She +took a conventional pose and told me I might make any suggestion I +wished; but I had made up my mind that the pose and surroundings must +be as typical and characteristic as possible, and as I had had no time +to study my August Sitter I thought she would know best as to her +position and accessories.</p> + +<p>It was nearing eleven!</p> + +<p>Beginning anything is momentous. Every artist knows how the +wonderful possibilities of the bare canvas in its virgin purity +standing before him inspires him with almost a feeling of awe; how he +hesitates about beginning, so great is the responsibility. This bare +canvas may become a masterpiece, the full expression of his thought, +or it may come forth a maimed and distorted effort. To-day in these +strange surroundings, with these unusual and unfavorable conditions, my +hesitancy was greater than usual; for upon this beginning depended my +being able to go on with the portrait.</p> + +<p>My hands trembled! The inscrutable eyes of the wonderful woman I was +to paint, fixed piercingly upon me, were also disconcerting; but just +then the eighty-five clocks in this particular Throne-room began to +chime, play airs, and strike the hour in eighty-five different ways. +The auspicious moment had come! I raised my charcoal and put the first +stroke upon the canvas of the first portrait that had ever been painted +of the Empress Dowager of Great China, the powerful “Tze-Shi.” The +Princesses, Ladies-in-waiting, the high eunuchs and attendants, + +<span class="pagenum">11</span> + +stood in breathless silence around, intently watching my every +movement, for everything touching Her Majesty is a solemnity.</p> + +<p>For a few moments I heard the faintest ticking of the eighty-five +clocks as if they were great Cathedral bells clanging in my ears, and +my charcoal on the canvas sounded like some mighty saw drawn back and +forth. Then, happily, I became interested, and absolutely unconscious +of anything but my sitter and my work. I worked steadily on for +what seemed to be a very short time, when Her Majesty turned to the +interpreter and said “enough work had been done for that day”; the +conditions had been fulfilled and the picture begun at the auspicious +moment. She added that she knew I must be tired from our long drive out +from Peking, as well as from my work. She said I must rest and we must +partake of some refreshments. She then descended from the throne and +came over to look at the sketch.</p> + +<p>I had blocked in the whole figure and had drawn the head with some +accuracy. So strong and impressive is her personality, I had been able +to get enough of her character into this rough whole to make it a sort +of likeness. After looking critically at it for a few moments, she +expressed herself as well pleased with what had been done, and paid +me some compliments on my talent as an artist! I felt instinctively, +however, this was due more to her natural courtesy—her desire to put +me at ease—than to an actual expression of her opinion. After she had +looked at the portrait, she called Mrs. Conger and the Princesses to +see what had been done, and it was discussed for a few + +<span class="pagenum">12</span> + +moments. Then she turned to me and said the portrait interested +her greatly, that she should like to see it go on. She asked me, +looking straight into my eyes the while, if I would care to remain +at the Palace for a few days, that she might give me sittings at her +leisure.</p> + +<p>This invitation filled me with joy. The reports I had heard of Her +Majesty’s hatred of the foreigner had been dispelled by this first +Audience and what I had seen there. I felt that the most consummate +actress could not so belie her personality, and I accepted, without a +moment’s hesitation, the invitation so graciously tendered. I thought +thus I should be able to get a good beginning for a satisfactory +likeness of this most remarkable and interesting woman. My sanguine +heart even leaped forward to the possibility of probably finishing +the portrait entirely at the Palace. Her Majesty seemed pleased at my +acceptance and said she would try to make me happy. She then withdrew +and we were served to luncheon.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager always eats alone. When she has guests the +Princess Imperial, as the first of the Ladies of the Palace, acts as +hostess. The guests of honor are placed at her right and left. The +Princesses, Ladies Yu-Keng, Mrs. Conger, and myself formed the guests +on this occasion.</p> + +<p>The table, decorated with flowers and fruit, groaned under the many +Chinese dishes placed thereon. Foreign dishes were served <i>à la +Russe</i>. The Chinese dishes, attractive to the eye as well as to the +senses of smell and taste, appealed to me at once; though I had been +told one must cultivate a taste for them. There were + +<span class="pagenum">13</span> + +foreign table waters and wines as well as Chinese drinks. We did +full justice to the viands, tasting everything and trying to use the +chop-sticks, though knives and forks were also placed for each of the +guests.</p> + +<p>After the repast Her Majesty and the young Empress, the first wife +of the Emperor Kwang-Hsu, came in. Her Majesty presented the young +Empress with the same grace with which she had indicated the Emperor at +the morning Audience, repeating her title, “The Empress,” as she did +so. Immediately behind the young Empress was the only secondary wife of +the Emperor, who was also presented by the Empress Dowager.</p> + +<p>Then Her Majesty told Mrs. Conger she had her Players at the Theater +that day, and she invited us to come and hear them. The Empress Dowager +and Mrs. Conger led the way and I followed with the young Empress and +Princesses. We passed through several courts, all gay with flowers, +and finally reached the largest of all, the Court of the Theater. The +Theater projects into this rectangular court and consists of a covered +rostrum, open on three sides with doors at the back for the entrance +and exit of the actors. In front of the stage and across the open, +flower-filled court, with splendid bronze ornaments here and there, is +a building which might be called the Imperial loge. This is from sixty +to eighty feet long with a pillared stone verandah and occupies one +entire side of the court. Huge panes of plate-glass, the full height of +the building, enable Her Majesty and the Emperor to see, from within, +all that passes on the stage, and they can, + +<span class="pagenum">14</span> + +of course, hear everything perfectly. The +buildings which form the other sides of this court, those which run +at right angles to the Imperial loge, are divided into small stalls, +each about the size of an ordinary opera box. There are no chairs in +these boxes, the occupants sit Turkish fashion upon the floor, for no +courtier can occupy a chair when in the presence of Their Majesties. +These side rooms are for the use of the high officials and Princes who +are sometimes invited by Their Majesties to be present at the Imperial +Theatrical Representations.</p> + +<p>On my first day at Court there were no other invited guests; +the Players had been summoned in our honor. Her Majesty sat in a +yellow-covered chair on the red-pillared verandah of the Imperial +loge. The Emperor was seated on a yellow stool at her left, the place +of honor in China. Mrs. Conger and I were on Her Majesty’s right, the +young Empresses, Princesses, and Ladies-in-waiting standing around. +After seeing two or three acts of a play of which we understood little +more than the pantomime, but which was interesting from its very +novelty, Mrs. Conger arose to take leave of Their Majesties and the +Princesses. After this was accomplished, I accompanied her to one of +the outer courts and there told her good-by.</p> + +<p>When she left, I was alone in the Palace, the first foreigner to be +domiciled in any residence of a Son of Heaven since the time of Marco +Polo, and the only foreigner who had ever been within the Ladies’ +Precincts. I had a curious feeling of having been transported into a +strange world. A sense of loneliness crept over me, + +<span class="pagenum">15</span> + +and I feared the strangeness of my position might affect my work, and +that, after all, I should not accomplish what I had remained in the +Palace to do. I stood for a few minutes pondering my position, but +was soon joined by the Ladies Yu-Keng with a message from the Empress +Dowager that I need not return to the Theater, as she had gone to rest. +She sent word that she thought it would be well for me to go to my +apartments and try to sleep a little. She hoped I would be happy in the +Palace and find the pavilion she had set aside for me comfortable. She +added that I must not hesitate to order anything I wished and must make +myself perfectly at home.</p> + +<p>The Summer Palace, like all Chinese palaces and temples, and even +the dwelling-houses of the rich, consists of a series of verandahed +buildings, built on stone foundations which rise about eight feet +from the ground, generally of one story, around the four sides +of rectangular or square courts, connected by open verandah-like +corridors. The apartments set aside for my private use, while in the +Precincts, were to the left of the Empress Dowager’s Throne-room and +quite near it—in order that I might go and come to my painting with +ease. These apartments occupied an entire pavilion. It was charming. +Its shining marble floors and beautifully carved partitions, its +painted walls and charming outlook over flowery courts, made it a +delightful spot. These pavilions at the Palace have movable partitions +and the rooms may be made as small as closets or as large as the whole +building.</p> + +<p>My pavilion consisted of two sitting-rooms, a dining-room, and a +charming bedroom, separated from each + +<span class="pagenum">16</span> + +other by screen-like walls of beautifully carved open woodwork, with +blue silk showing through the interstices. In the larger spaces +were artistic panels of flowers painted on white silk, alternating +with poems and quotations from the classics, in the picturesque, +ideographic writing of the Chinese. On one of the solid walls was a +large water-color painting on white silk, representing a realistically +painted peafowl in a flowery field; an immense mirror formed the other +solid wall. The plate-glass lower windows had blue silken curtains, the +upper windows of white paper were rolled down, and the rich perfume of +the flowers in the court came in. In my honor, several foreign “objets +de virtu” adorned the tables and window-shelves. The bed, a couch built +into an alcove, was covered with blue satin cushions; and the windows +were shaded from the outside by blue silken awnings, which gave a soft +subdued light to the room, that made it very cool and restful-looking. +I found the couch so inviting I was soon really resting, and the events +of the day passed before my mental vision in kaleidoscopic array. +Although the cushions of the bed were harder than I had been accustomed +to, and the dozen or more eunuchs, who had been set aside for my +service, were whispering just outside my window to be ready for any +call, I soon fell asleep from sheer exhaustion and reaction from the +unusual events of the day.</p> + +<p>At five o’clock one of the Ladies Yu-Keng knocked at my door to tell +me the Empress Dowager was awake, and had asked that I come up to the +Throne-room as soon as I was ready. When we went up she + +<span class="pagenum">17</span> + +called me to her side and said she hoped I had rested well, that I +found my apartments comfortable; she repeated again the wish that I +would be happy with her. She said we would not paint any more for that +day, but on the morrow we would have another and longer sitting for the +portrait. She begged me to let her know if there was anything I cared +for particularly, that she might order it for me.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager then dined alone, after which the young Empress +and the Princesses led me into the Throne-room, and we dined at Her +Majesty’s table, her seat being left vacant. The young Empress occupied +the place at the left of this vacant seat, and had me on her left. +When we had finished dinner, at which the young Empress and the Ladies +were most considerate of me, seeming to try to make me feel at ease, +we went up to take our leave of the Empress Dowager. After this was +accomplished we left the Throne-room, and made our adieus to the young +Empress and Princesses, and left the Imperial inclosure for the Palace +of the Emperor’s Father, which Her Majesty had set aside for the use +of the Ladies Yu-Keng and myself while I was at work on the +portrait.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">18</span> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II"> + CHAPTER II + <span class="small-text"> + PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF HER MAJESTY—A CHINESE REPAST— + BOATING + </span> +</h2> + +<p>I was eager to be off the next morning, to have the promised long +sitting from Her Majesty. The sitting of the day before had but whetted +my desire for further work on the portrait. When we arrived within the +Precincts we met the Empress Dowager and the Emperor coming out of the +Great Audience Hall from their joint Audience. When Her Majesty saw +us she stopped, as did the whole train of her attendant Ladies and +eunuchs. She called me up to her side, took my hand, and asked me how +I had rested and “whether I felt ready for work.” This question showed +her penetration, for she had seen the day before, from my eagerness and +the breathless haste with which I used every moment, that my work was +my first object, and she smiled when she put the query. I walked along +by her side from the Audience Hall to the Throne-room where I had begun +the portrait of the day before. When we reached the Throne-room she was +divested of her official vestments, took a cup of tea, and called one +of her tiring-women to bring her the dress and ornaments worn the day +before, and she prepared to sit for me the second time.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">19</span> + +<p>At this second sitting I looked at the Empress Dowager critically. +I feared that the agreeable impression I had formed, the day before, +of herself and her personal appearance had probably been too hasty, +the result of the unusual glamour in which I had begun the portrait; I +thought perhaps the Oriental environment had dazzled me and prevented +my seeing the Empress Dowager as she really was, and I looked forward +to a disillusion. As she sat there, upon the throne, before she was +quite ready for me to begin, before she had transfixed me with her +penetrating glance, before she knew I was looking at her, I scanned her +person and face with all the penetration I could bring to bear, and +this is what I saw:</p> + +<p>A perfectly proportioned figure, with head well set upon her +shoulders and a fine presence; really beautiful hands, daintily small +and high-bred in shape; a symmetrical, well-formed head, with a good +development above the rather large ears; jet-black hair, smoothly +parted over a fine, broad brow; delicate, well-arched eyebrows; +brilliant, black eyes, set perfectly straight in the head; a high nose, +of the type the Chinese call “noble,” broad between the eyes and on +a line with the forehead; an upper lip of great firmness, a rather +large but beautiful mouth with mobile, red lips, which, when parted +over her firm white teeth, gave her smile a rare charm; a strong chin, +but not of exaggerated firmness and with no marks of obstinacy.<a +id="FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor" href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a> + +Had I not known she was nearing her sixty-ninth year, I should have +thought her a well-preserved woman of forty. Being a widow, she used no +cosmetics. Her face had the natural glow of + +<span class="pagenum">20</span> + +health, and one could see that exquisite care and attention were +bestowed upon everything concerning her toilet. Personal neatness and +an excellent taste in the choice of becoming colors and ornaments +enhanced this wonderfully youthful appearance, and a look of keen +interest in her surroundings and remarkable intelligence crowned +all these physical qualities and made an unusually attractive +personality.</p> + +<p>When I was so far in my study of her appearance, the Empress Dowager +had finished speaking to her attendants, had settled herself to her +satisfaction on the throne, and she turned to me and asked “what part +of the portrait I was to work on.” I had been told she would be much +pleased if I would paint in the face. Thinking it was important to +please her at the outset, instead of perfecting and advancing the +drawing of the whole figure, as I should have done, I began on the +face; first correcting the drawing as far as possible and then putting +in a thin wash of color. During the sitting the Ladies, attendants, +and eunuchs were coming and going; she took tea and conversed, but she +seemed to understand that she must keep her head in the same position, +and she would look over apologetically at me when she moved it. I did +not wish her to be stiff, and preferred her moving a little to sitting +like a statue. Her Majesty, like all Oriental ladies, smokes, and +during the sitting the eunuchs or some of the Princesses brought her +either the graceful water-pipe, of which she would take a few whiffs, +or she would indulge in European cigarettes. She never allowed the +latter to touch her lips, but used a long cigarette-holder. She was +extremely + +<span class="pagenum">21</span> + +graceful in her use of both the cigarette and water-pipe.</p> + +<p>After little more than an hour’s work Her Majesty decided that +enough had been done for the morning and that we both needed rest! She +came over to look at the face, and it was easy to see that she liked it +much better now that the color was being put in. She stood behind me, +discussing it for some time, and said she wished it were possible for +some one else to pose for the face, so that she might sit and watch it +grow. She thought it very wonderful that on the flat canvas the relief +of the face could be represented. She then turned to me and said she +knew I must be tired both mentally and bodily, as I stand to my work, +advised me to go to my pavilion, have lunch, and rest, and added that +she would try to give me another sitting in the afternoon before we +went out for some sort of promenade.</p> + +<p>I returned to my pavilion with the Ladies Yu-Keng, whom Her Majesty +had appointed to keep me company for the meals in my own quarters. +There was a young Manchu girl at Court whose father had been an attaché +at Berlin, who spoke German and English; she, also, had been ordered by +Her Majesty to take her meals with us, so that I might have pleasant +company and be able to converse in my own language and have proper +relaxation during my meals. Besides, I did not know enough Chinese to +direct the servants or make my wants known, and these Ladies were Her +Majesty’s interpreters.</p> + +<p>The meals at the Palace were all of the most lavish description, +twenty or thirty dishes being placed + +<span class="pagenum">22</span> + +upon the table at the beginning of the meal, while macaroni, rice, +and a few other things were served from a side table. The Chinese +are passed masters in the culinary art, and the delicacies seen at +good Chinese tables are fit for a repast of Lucullus. Sharks’ fins, +deers’ sinews, birds’ tongues, rare fish, bird’s-nest soups, fish +brains, shrimps’ eggs, and many other extraordinary dishes make up the +every-day menu. No one can cook goose, duck, and in fact all fowls +and game, to such perfection as the Chinese. Their soups are of a +delicacy and flavor quite unequaled. Their breads and cakes seem to the +foreigner, at first, the least delectable of their viands; their bread +particularly, which is steamed instead of baked, is not tempting; but +when you get over or rather through the raw-looking outside, with its +five cochineal spots surmounting its pyramidal form, it is very sweet +and wholesome. It is made of gray flour, as the Chinese do not believe +in whitening the flour as we do. They make delicious creams, as to +consistency; and these and their sweets generally are much esteemed by +the foreigners.</p> + +<p>At the Palace the food is served in tall dishes of painted Chinese +porcelain, and everything is placed upon the table at once—soups, +roast, sweets, all except the rice and macaroni. These latter dishes +the Chinese eat boiling hot, and they are kept on chafing-dishes +until served. Each person has a bowl, a small saucer, and a pair of +chop-sticks. A small square of very soft cloth is used as a napkin. +There is never any salt upon the table. The small saucer at the side of +each guest contains a very salty sauce; if extra salt is needed, this + +<span class="pagenum">23</span> + +sauce is used. The Chinese consider powdered salt too coarse for +seasoning food after it is cooked!</p> + +<p>They rarely drink at meals, and when they do, only tiny cups, +about the size of a liqueur-glass, of heated wine. This is poured out +of silver teapots, and is kept hot by being placed in receptacles +containing boiling water. Their wines are more like liqueurs than +ours; they are generally distilled with flowers and herbs and have +a delightful “bouquet.” Some of these wines have most poetic names, +such as “Dew from the Early Morning Rose,” and “Drops from the Hands +of Buddha.” The Chinese never drink cold water, nor do they take tea +at meals. For me, being a foreigner, champagne was always provided, +as well as claret or Burgundy. The Chinese do not drink coffee. After +leaving the table, they take tea without milk or sugar.</p> + +<p>The middle of the day is set aside for the siesta, and during the +heat of the summer, every one goes to her apartments for two hours +after luncheon. As I found the Chinese bed-cushions too hard to rest +well upon, I took to my pavilion a foreign, eiderdown cushion, which I +used for several days, until one day, on going to my room, I found two +lovely new cushions with pale-blue silk, removable slips. On touching +them, I found them to be soft and deliciously cool and fragrant as +well. They were made of tea-leaves and had been sent as a present from +the Empress Dowager. I found them a great improvement over eiderdown or +feather cushions, especially for summer use. Though I did not care for +this long midday rest, I was forced to go to my room and remain there, +as there was nothing else to do.</p> + +<p>When Her Majesty awakes, the news flashes like an + +<span class="pagenum">24</span> + +electric spark through all the Precincts and over the whole inclosure, +and every one is on the “qui vive” in a moment. The young Empress and +the Princesses go up to Her Majesty’s Throne-room to be present at +her “lever.” When her afternoon toilet is made, the Empress Dowager +comes out of her private apartments into the Throne-room and generally +partakes of some light refreshment, or drinks a cup of tea or some +fruit juice.</p> + +<p>She gave me a short sitting after her nap this second day and then +ordered the boats for a row on the lakes. Attended by the young Empress +and Princesses, and with the usual train of attendants and eunuchs, +we went out into the court of the Throne-room, passed through a small +pavilion opening directly upon the beautiful white marble terrace, +with its quaintly carved marble balustrade, which stretches all along +the southern side of the lake. Her Majesty’s own barge lay at the foot +of the marble steps and numbers of other barges and boats lay around, +forming quite a little fleet. She descended the steps and entered the +barge. The young Empress, Princesses, and Ladies followed. Her Majesty +sat in the yellow, throne-like chair in the middle of the raised +platform of the barge. The young Empress, Princesses, and Ladies took +their places as decreed by centuries-old tradition. They sat upon +cushions placed upon the carpeted floor of the raised platform of the +barge.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/24a.jpg" width="1200" + height="900" alt="Boating on the Lake of the Summer Palace" id="24a"> + + <div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4"> + THE EMPRESS AND LADIES OF THE COURT IN THE IMPERIAL BARGE + </p> + <p class="capt5">On the Lake of the Summer Palace</p> + </div> + +<p>When I stepped on, Her Majesty motioned me to come near her and sit +at her right. The young Empress was on her left. Several of the high +eunuchs stood at the back of the Empress Dowager’s chair with her + +<span class="pagenum">25</span> + +extra wraps, bonbons, cigarettes, water-pipes, etc. There were two +rowers on the barge who stood with their long oars to guide it, for it +was attached by great yellow ropes to two boats, manned by twenty-four +rowers each, and was towed along by them. Only the eunuchs of the +highest rank, Her Majesty’s personal attendants, went on the barge with +her, and the two boatmen simply guided it. All the Palace boatmen stand +to their oars, for they cannot sit in the presence of Her Majesty, +even though not upon the Imperial barge. And it is only on the barge +that the Empress and Ladies sit in the presence of the Empress Dowager +without being invited by her to do so.</p> + +<p>A number of flat boats followed the Imperial barge with the army +of eunuchs that go to make up the train of Their Majesties when they +move about the Palace or grounds. One boat carried portable stoves and +all the necessary arrangements for making tea, as this is taken so +frequently by Her Majesty and the Ladies, it may be called for at any +time.</p> + +<p>We were rowed across the lake to one of the islands; and when we +looked back at the Palaces, the memorial arches, the temple-crowned +hills, the curious camel-back bridges, and the beautiful white marble +terraces jutting out into the lake with its islands, the scene was +indeed fairy-like. We were then rowed into a field of beautiful lotus +flowers, and Her Majesty ordered some pulled by the eunuchs to be given +to the Ladies. She seemed delighted at my sincere admiration of this +beautiful water-plant, so dear to the Chinese. After an hour on the +lake, we were rowed back to our starting-point and disembarked. This +time the Princesses and + +<span class="pagenum">26</span> + +Ladies left the barge first and stood to receive the Empress Dowager +when she landed. When she had dined she asked us to dine with the young +Empress and Ladies at her table in her Throne-room, after which we made +our adieus and returned to our own Palace, without the Precincts.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">27</span> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III"> + CHAPTER III + <span class="small-text"> + THE PALACE OF THE EMPEROR’S FATHER<br>(PRINCE CH’UN, + THE SEVENTH PRINCE) + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Palace of the Emperor’s Father, which the Empress Dowager had +set aside for me to live in while I was at work on her portrait, was +a splendid demesne, with a noble park and spacious buildings. It had +been much injured by the foreign troops in 1900 and had been unoccupied +since, until Her Majesty decided it would be a suitable dwelling-place +for her “Portrait Painter.” She had it hastily restored and refurnished +for our occupation, but many of the pavilions and summer-houses in the +grounds were in ruins, and the stables but partly rebuilt. Except the +grounds immediately surrounding the buildings in which the Yu-Kengs +and I lived, which were well kept and garnished, the greater part of +the extensive park was in a fascinating state of natural wildness. The +Palace, like all others in China, consisted of a network of verandahed +pavilions built around spacious courts. There was a small Theater with +the Prince’s loge and stalls for his guests, and numerous tea and +summer houses were scattered over different parts of the grounds.</p> + +<p>I selected, as my abiding-place, a charming group + +<span class="pagenum">28</span> + +of buildings in a walled-in garden, fronting on a lotus-covered lake, +with a winding stream at the back, spanned by a picturesque bridge. +The principal pavilion of this group had a lofty central hall, out of +which opened, on one side, bedrooms and dressing-rooms, and on the +other dining-room and dependencies. Great doors in the center of the +hall, which I had decided to use as my living-room, opened on a wide +verandah which ran the whole length of the building. Marble steps +led from this into a court filled with flowering shrubs. Two sides +of the charming court had smaller pavilions similar to the central +hall, and opposite this latter was a quaint stone wall, the upper part +of tiled lattice-work, with curiously shaped openings at irregular +intervals. In the center of this wall, massive wooden doors opened +out on a beautiful terrace, shaded by fine old elms, over the lake. +It was a charming dwelling-place, and this group of buildings soon +came to be known as the “Ker-Gunia Fu,” “Ker-Gunia” being “Miss Carl” +rendered into Chinese, and “Fu” meaning “Palace,” for the Chinese are +very fond of nicknames. I learned later that these pavilions had been +the dwelling-place of the Seventh Prince’s son, the present Emperor +Kwang-Hsu, after he had been chosen as Heir to the Throne and until he +went to live regularly at the Imperial Palace.</p> + +<p>As Her Majesty gave me my morning sittings after the Audience was +finished (which lasted from eight A.M. to ten or eleven), I had plenty +of time, after my cup of tea, to explore the grounds of our Palace, and +I discovered new beauties each day. The Park was + +<span class="pagenum">29</span> + +inclosed by high walls, for the Chinese are jealous of their privacy. +Parts of the grounds were gently undulating, and all the eminences, +where views could be had, were surmounted by charming summer-houses and +belvederes. In one of these, where I loved to go in the early morning +to refresh myself by the contemplation of the calm and peaceful lake +beneath, and drink in the faint perfume of the stately lotus flowers, +which grew in rich profusion on its bosom, I found an inscription on +a large flat stone at the left of the entrance. I had seen enough of +Chinese characters to know the inscription looked like a “poem.” The +Chinese poem is rarely more than a phrase: the expression, in elegant +and concise form, of some dainty fancy, some bit of philosophy, and is +more properly a “verse” than a poem.</p> + +<p>I found, later, the inscription on the stone at the entrance of the +summer-house was really a “poem,” and had been written by no less a +personage than the Seventh Prince himself! This had been his favorite +place for rest and contemplation, and one day, as he reclined upon a +cushion at the entrance, he had written this poem on the flat stone +which lay conveniently near. The Chinese write with a brush well +charged with liquid India ink, and their writing accommodates itself +to almost any surface. Their characters, one for each word, take up +less space than our combination of letters, and are infinitely more +picturesque! Chinese gentlemen, or some attendant, generally carry +about with them tablets of writing-ink and a brush, and they thus have +the means at hand for jotting down a thought as it comes to them.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">30</span> + +<p>This little poem had been written with a brush, and some of the +Prince’s followers had afterward cut the characters in the stone, +so that it became a permanent record of a fleeting thought. It had +evidently been inspired by the lotus flowers growing beneath; so +gloriously beautiful to-day, and to-morrow shorn of their splendor. It +was a plaint on the <a href="#a30" id="b30">transience</a> of worldly +glory—</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +... Which to-day, like the lotus fair,<br> + Lifts its head in pride;<br> +But to-morrow lies low,<br> + Bathed in the stagnant waters of oblivion.<br> +</div> + +<p>One day I came upon a number of small tombstones, in a beautiful +shady corner, near the stables. I learned that these marked the last +resting-places of the Prince’s favorite dogs and horses. Each stone had +an inscription with the name, and extolled the virtues of the favorite, +whose bones lay beneath it. The Prince was a great lover of animals, +and is said to have had the best kennels and stables of any of the +Imperial Princes.</p> + +<p>In my morning rambles, I also often came upon stones engraved with +some character or a phrase from the classics. The ideographic Chinese +characters, always picturesque, are doubly so when deeply engraved, or +standing out in high relief on some rugged stone in a charming spot +in the landscape. The picturesque form of the characters is sometimes +heightened by being painted in vermilion or gilded; and the glowing +color makes a delightful contrast with the cool gray of the + +<span class="pagenum">31</span> + +stone. Even though I could not decipher the characters, nor read the +phrases, I loved to come upon them in my morning walks. How much more +interesting they must have been to the scholarly Chinese who understood +them! How fine, when out for rest and contemplation, to come upon some +thought of their great Sages cut in the living rock, or to see some +character meaning “Peace” or “Prosperity” standing out, in bold relief +or glowing color, from some shady nook, as if to bless him!</p> + +<p>From another of the summer-houses in the Park I could see the +stone-paved highway leading from the Capital to the Summer Palace. +During Their Majesties’ residence at the Summer Palace, this is a +busy thoroughfare. When I did not care for peaceful contemplation +or quiet rambles over the grounds, I would go to this summer-house, +whence I could see the carts and “chairs” of the officials, with their +outriders, going to and from the Palace; messengers galloping past, +bearing despatches; all sorts of itinerant venders, with their wares; +heavily laden wagons, with small yellow banners flying, which showed +they carried supplies to the Palace. Sometimes a group of horsemen +would dash gaily past, the retainers of some splendidly attired +young Prince, who rode in their midst on a red-saddled, handsomely +caparisoned horse with silver trappings. Anon, the cumbersome, red, +fringe-bedecked cart of some Princess, preceded and followed by from +fifteen to thirty outriders, according to her rank in the Princely +hierarchy, the black carts of her women bringing up the rear.</p> + +<p>One can tell the rank of the Chinese from the outsides + +<span class="pagenum">32</span> + +of their chairs or carts. Only a reigning Emperor and Empress can +go abroad in yellow chairs. The Emperor’s secondary wives ride in +orange-colored chairs. The relicts of an Emperor, first or secondary, +go in yellow or orange-colored carts. Princesses go abroad in red +carts. Mandarins of the first and second degrees ride in green chairs; +those of the third and fourth in blue chairs; and there is still +another shape and style of chair for the ordinary individual, who +may prefer a chair to a cart. The rank and file go in carts. These +carts, peculiar to Peking, curious two-wheeled vehicles with heavy, +iron-studded wheels, are uniformly covered in blue cloth. The wealth +and standing of their occupants are discernible from the quality of the +cloth and its trimmings, and the richness of the harness and trappings +of the mule which is always used in the Peking carts. The mule in North +China is a magnificent animal, much finer than the Chinese horse, which +is only a pony.</p> + +<p>The Seventh Prince (Prince Ch’un) must have been a most interesting +personality. He was brother to the Emperor Hsien-Feng, the husband of +the present Empress Dowager; and his wife, the mother of the present +Emperor, was Her Majesty’s sister. This Prince was a valued friend of +the two Empresses, the present Empress Dowager and She of the Eastern +Palace, while they were Co-Regents during the minority of the late +and a part of that of the present Emperor, and he remained, up to the +time of his death, one of the most trusted advisers of the Regency. +He was recognized by foreigners, as well as by the Chinese, to be an +enlightened Prince as well as a man of fine + +<span class="pagenum">33</span> + +character. The esteem in which he was held may have had something to do +with the choice of his second son as the Successor of the late Emperor +Tung-Chih, who died childless. The Chinese Emperors and their Council +may choose the Successor to the Throne. If there be but one son, he +is chosen as the next Heir; if there be a number, a selection may be +made from them of the one seeming to be most suited for the exalted +position. If there be no sons, the Successor is chosen from the nephews +without reference to their age or to their being the sons of an elder +or younger brother. The present Emperor’s Father, Prince Ch’un, was the +seventh brother of the Emperor Hsien-Feng, hence his Chinese name of +“Seventh Prince.”</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">34</span> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV"> + CHAPTER IV + <span class="small-text"> + HER MAJESTY’S THRONE-ROOM—SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>We arrived at the Palace in good time the next morning, as Her +Majesty and suite were coming out of the Great Audience Hall. She +greeted us with a charming smile and made her usual inquiry for my +health. We joined her suite and went along to the Throne-room where the +portrait had been begun. This Throne-room is a very spacious and lofty +hall; one side of the great room is almost entirely of glass, with +only the wooden columns that support the roof between the windows—the +lower half of plate-glass, the upper of lattice-work with Corean paper +as shades. In the center of this side of windows is a huge plate-glass +door, reaching from ceiling to floor. The other three sides of the +hall, which separate it from the apartments at the side and back, +are of the same beautiful, open woodwork carving I have mentioned +as serving as partitions in my pavilion. Those in Her Majesty’s +Throne-room were, however, of greater delicacy of workmanship and were +more beautiful as to the painted panels. The poems, written on white +silk, and alternating with the painted panels, were from Her Majesty’s +favorite authors, original poems + +<span class="pagenum">35</span> + +written by an Emperor or Empress, or laudatory verses dedicated to +Her Majesty. There were satin portières at the doorways, and blue +silk curtains over the plate-glass windows. Blue, being the Empress +Dowager’s favorite color, is used for all the hangings in the Palaces +which are not intended for official purposes; where yellow is the +color.</p> + +<p>On the right of the Throne-room is a small chapel with an altar, +over which presides a figure of the contemplative Buddha seated on the +lotus. This altar was always sweet with offerings of fresh flowers and +fruit. In front of the figure of Buddha stood the incense-burner, with +perfumes constantly burning. On the left of the Throne-room are Her +Majesty’s sleeping apartments, and behind the open-work partition at +the back of the hall is a large ante-chamber where the attendants and +Ladies await their turn to make their entrance into the Throne-room. In +the rear of the hall is a magnificent five-leaved screen of teakwood, +inlaid with lapis lazuli, chalcedony, and many other semi-precious +stones. In front of this screen, on a dais, stood an immense, +couch-like throne, with a large footstool. These couch-like thrones, +where Their Celestial Majesties may recline when holding Audiences, are +not at all favored by the Empress Dowager, who always sits extremely +erect, without leaning upon a cushion or the back of the throne. Except +in the Great Audience Hall, where she uses the traditional throne of +state of the Dynasty, she prefers a much lighter and quite modern one, +which she has introduced into the Palaces. The thrones favored by Her +Majesty are of open carved teakwood, circular + +<span class="pagenum">36</span> + +in form, with cushions of Imperial yellow. One of these stood in the +front part of this hall, on which she sat for the portrait.</p> + +<p>The great throne, which I have described above, was hence relegated +to the back of the Throne-room and kept for the sake of tradition, but +never used by Her Majesty. On either side of it stood two immense, +processional fans of peafowl feathers, with ebony handles placed in +magnificent cloisonné supports. Superb cloisonné vases stood at either +side of these ceremonial fans; and huge bowls of rare old porcelain +held pyramids of fruits—apples, sweet-smelling quince, and the highly +perfumed “Buddha’s hand.”</p> + +<p>And there were flowers everywhere! It was the season of the year +when bloomed a sort of orchid, of delicious fragrance, of which Her +Majesty is very fond. These were growing in rare porcelain jardinières, +placed at intervals around the hall. There were also vases of lotus +flowers and bowls of lilies. The combined odors of all these fruits +and flowers gave a subtle, composite perfume quite indescribable and +delightful, but not at all overpowering, for the Empress Dowager is so +fond of fresh air that there are always windows open in the Palace, +even in the coldest weather.</p> + +<p>Aside from the fruits and flowers, clocks were the dominant feature +of this Throne-room, as well as of every other one I ever went into +in any of the Chinese Palaces. The love of the Chinese for clocks +and timepieces is well known, and there are thousands in each of the +Palaces I visited. In this Throne-room there were, as I have said +before, eighty-five: + +<span class="pagenum">37</span> + +magnificent jeweled and gold clocks, and specimens of all the varieties +that were ever made; some with chimes; some with crowing cocks +and singing-birds; some with running water; some with musical-box +attachments, and others with processions of figures that came out at +every hour and moved around the dial; some rare works of art and some +commonplace examples of the clockmaker’s trade. There are many foreign +ornaments in the Palace, but, aside from the clocks and watches, Her +Majesty the Empress Dowager does not seem to care much for European +“objets de virtu.” Unfortunately, what they have at the Palaces, aside +from a few presents from European sovereigns, are generally very +poor specimens of European art, and compare but lamentably with the +beautiful Chinese curios. They are principally cheap modern stuff, +bought by the Chinese nobles when abroad and sent as presents to Their +Majesties. These presents, when they are accepted, are placed in +apartments of the Palace not in general use.</p> + +<p>When Her Majesty had her official garments removed (she always +changed her dress after the morning Audience), and when the portrait +had been placed upon the easel, she came over to look at it. After +studying it for some time, she concluded that the nail-protectors +on both hands were not artistic, and that she would have the gold +ones (set with pearls and rubies) taken off, and show the uncovered +nails on the right hand. I was delighted at this decision, for the +nail-protectors destroyed the symmetry of the hand and hid the +beautiful tips of her fingers. I had, of course, not presumed to make +any suggestions as to + +<span class="pagenum">38</span> + +her costume or ornaments. As the nail-shields are characteristic of the +high-class Chinese ladies, it was well to have them on one hand.</p> + +<p>After this change had been decided upon, she went over to a great +vase, standing near, and took from it a lotus flower, held it up, in +a charmingly graceful way, and asked me if that would not be pretty +in the portrait, adding that the lotus was one of her attributes. As +the color did not harmonize with the general scheme, I did not care +for this suggestion, but temporized by saying “I was not ready to put +it in then.” After a little more than an hour’s work, with the usual +interruptions, she decided that enough had been done for that morning. +When I suggested that I might work even after Her Majesty was tired, +she said “No,” that if she were tired sitting still, I could not fail +to be more so doing the work and standing as I did. She said there was +no hurry, that I had plenty of time to finish the picture, and must not +run the risk of making myself ill.</p> + +<p>After a short sitting in the afternoon Her Majesty ordered the +boats, and we went out to the marble terrace, beneath which lay moored +the Palace fleet, manned by blue-gowned oarsmen. We again took the +Imperial barge, the Empress Dowager in the center, on her yellow chair, +the young Empress and Princesses sitting around, Turkish fashion, on +cushions. The barge, drawn along by the two great boats, glided as +gently as a swan over the still waters of the lake. The air was soft +and balmy. Two of the eunuchs were ordered to sing, and the minor +chords of a curious air mingled their rhythm with the soft swish of the +water. + +<span class="pagenum">39</span> + +Beyond us lay the hills, the beautiful Western Hills, unchanging in +form, but ever varying in color—sometimes blurred and gray, or a soft, +warm violet; again a clear, deep blue, as if hewn out of lapis lazuli, +and now and then, as a cloud passed over the sun, dark and threatening +almost. I drank in deep breaths of delight!</p> + +<p>The quaint picturesqueness of the marble-terraced banks, the +summer-houses, the green and yellow-tiled roofs, the vermilion walls +and lacquered columns of the buildings, the curious fleet silently +moving along, the eunuchs singing, the Empress Dowager sitting in +state surrounded by her Ladies, the camel-back bridges—everything was +strange, and, stranger still, I formed a part of this curious pageant! +Only the beautiful hills beyond seemed familiar.</p> + +<p>After drifting about for some time, we landed and went into the +orchards and among the apple trees. The apple is a favorite fruit of +the Chinese, and esteemed as much for its fragrance as its taste. It +is emblematic of Peace and Prosperity, and is always placed among the +offerings to Buddha, hence has also a sacred quality; but, though +beautiful in form and color, the Chinese apple has very little taste, +and the least savor of any of their fruits.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty walked about among the trees and ordered several apples +gathered, which she ate with greater relish than I could, for she +graciously offered me one, and then told me to pull some for myself. A +eunuch brought a basket and took them as I gathered them, and she told +me to have them taken to my own apartments.</p> + +<p>From the orchard she continued her walk to the + +<span class="pagenum">40</span> + +flower gardens, where she picked some small blooms and placed them +behind her ears, Spanish fashion, telling the Ladies to do likewise, +and herself choosing some for me and placing them over my ears. I knew +these little marks of favor she showed me were not due so much to +regard for me as to her desire to make the “stranger” feel at home. +She hoped by showing me these special favors to insure a similar +treatment of me by the Ladies and eunuchs. I have already alluded to +Her Majesty’s love of flowers. This was the one of her characteristics +which seemed most incompatible with the idea I had formed of her from +what I had heard, and her love of flowers and all nature caused me +first to change that idea. It seemed to me no one could love flowers +and nature as she did and be the woman she had been painted.</p> + +<p>She had flowers always about her. Her private apartments, her +Throne-rooms, her loge at the Theater, even the Great Audience Hall +where she only went to transact affairs of state and hold official +Audiences, all were decorated with a profusion of flowers, cut and +growing—never, though, of but one kind at a time. She wears natural +flowers in her coiffure always, winter and summer, and however careworn +or harassed she might be, she seemed to find solace in flowers! She +would hold a flower to her face, drink in its fragrance and caress it +as if it were a sentient thing. She would go herself among the flowers +that filled her rooms, and place, with lingering touch, some fair bloom +in a better light or turn a jardinière so that the growing plant might +have a more favorable position.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo" src="images/40a.jpg" width="923" height="1200" + alt="Drawing of the Princesses of the Court" id="40a"> + + <div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4">PRINCESSES OF THE COURT</p> + <p class="capt5">THE PRINCESS IMPERIAL, FIRST LADY OF THE COURT + <br>A PRINCESS IN WINTER COSTUME — A PRINCESS IN SUMMER COSTUME</p> + </div> +<p> +<span class="pagenum">41</span> +The Chinese do not place certain cut flowers in water, but keep them +dry in bowls or vases, to get their full fragrance. The Empress Dowager +had some quaint conceits about the arrangements of these. She would +have the corollas of the lily bloom or the fragrant jasmine placed in +shallow bowls in curious, star-like designs, beautiful to look at, as +well as most fragrant.</p> + +<p>Her passion for flowers being generally known among the courtiers, +Princes, and high officials, they send daily offerings to the Palace +of all that is rare and choice in the way of plants and flowers, for +they know this is one present Her Majesty will always accept and +appreciate.</p> + +<p>There are some quaint customs in the Palace, as to flowers and +fruits that grow within the Precincts. Though the Princesses and Ladies +have the freedom of the gardens and may pull as many flowers and cull +as many fruits as they wish, it is not etiquette for them to gather the +smallest flower or to touch a fruit when in the presence of the Empress +Dowager, unless they are especially told to do so. When Her Majesty +tells them to pull a flower or fruit, the permission is gratefully +accepted and that special flower or fruit religiously kept. The first +fruits of every tree and vegetable, the first flowers of every plant +and growing shrub in the Palace grounds, are considered sacred to Their +Majesties, and no Princess, attendant, or eunuch would touch a flower +or fruit until the Empress Dowager had been presented with the first +of them. All these, apparently trivial, marks of respect to the Sacred +Persons of Their Majesties were religiously observed!</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">42</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V"> + CHAPTER V + <span class="small-text"> + THE YOUNG EMPRESS AND LADIES OF THE COURT + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The young Empress, the first Lady of the Court after Her Majesty the +Empress Dowager, was, to me, a charming character. She is the daughter +of the Duke Chow, General of one of the Manchu Banner Corps and a +brother of the reigning Empress Dowager. She is thus a first cousin +of the Emperor, and is his senior by three years. Her mother, a lady +of high birth, ancient lineage, and great distinction, brought her up +with much care. She also had the advantage of being a great deal at the +Court with her august Aunt, and is highly accomplished, according to +Chinese standards. She was affianced at an early age to the Emperor, +but, as the custom is, their marriage did not take place for several +years later. It was celebrated with great pomp at the Winter Palace in +February, 1889, the week before the young Emperor himself took in hand +the reins of Government, held, up to that time, by the Empress Dowager, +and became Emperor in reality.</p> + +<p>The young Empress has the erect carriage and light, swift walk of +Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. She is small, not quite five feet +tall, with exquisitely dainty hands and feet, of most patrician type. +She + +<span class="pagenum">43</span> + +has a narrow, high-bred face, with a thin, high nose. Her eyes are more +of the Chinese type, as we conceive it, than either the Emperor’s or +Empress Dowager’s. Her chin is long and of the type generally called +strong. Her mouth is large and extremely sensitive. Her eyes have so +kindly a look, her face shines with so sweet an expression, criticism +is disarmed and she seems beautiful. She has a sweet dignity, charming +manners, and a lovable nature, but there is sometimes a look in her +eyes of patient resignation that is almost pathetic. I should not say +she possessed any great executive ability, though full of tact, but +while Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was in retirement and she was the +first Lady at Court, she is said to have shown great capability in her +conduct of affairs. Her dignity, perfect breeding, and natural kindness +of heart would insure this.</p> + +<p>The next Lady, after the young Empress, is the only secondary wife +of the Emperor. She is said to have been extremely beautiful at the +time she was chosen as his second wife by the Empress Dowager. She +belongs to an excellent family, being the daughter of a Viceroy, but +though only twenty-eight years old when I knew her, she was already +very stout, and there were few remains visible of great beauty. She +has very large, full-orbed, brown eyes, and still has a beautifully +clear complexion, but her nose is flat, her mouth large and weak; the +contour of her face is marred by layers of flesh, her forehead does +not indicate much intelligence, and she has very little distinction +in appearance. She seems good-natured, but is neither very clever nor +tactful. She is not a favorite among the + +<span class="pagenum">44</span> + +Ladies generally, and is not nearly so interesting, in any way, as +the young Empress. She is, however, treated with the most kindly +consideration by the young Empress and has precedence over all the +other Ladies, and her position at Court is second only to that of +the young Empress. Whenever I mention the young Empress, it may be +understood that the secondary wife followed immediately after her, +coming before the Princesses or any other of the Ladies forming the +Court of Her Majesty. I have often seen allusions made to the “Imperial +Harem”; there is no such thing as an Imperial Harem at the Court of His +Majesty the Emperor Kwang-Hsu. He has only these two wives.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty’s Ladies-in-waiting are principally Princesses of the +Blood or the widows of Imperial Princes. Her first Lady, Sih-Gerga +(Fourth Princess), daughter of Prince Ching, the Prime Minister, is a +widow of twenty-four. She married, at the age of sixteen, a son of a +high Manchu official, Viceroy of Tientsin, and was left a widow a few +months later. She is a beautiful young woman, with face a perfect oval, +large brown eyes, and a clear, magnolia-leaf complexion of exquisite +texture. She would be called beautiful, judged by any standard. She +has no children of her own, but, like most ladies of position who are +widows or childless, has an adopted son. Adopted children in China +are much closer relationships than is a child, by adoption, with us. +In many instances their own parents are still living when they are +adopted, and even these parents speak of their child as the son of the +adopted mother or parents, and bow to her wishes in bringing up the +child.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo" src="images/44a.jpg" width="879" height="1200" + alt="The First Wife of the Emperor" id="44a"> + +<div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4">THE YOUNG EMPRESS YE-HO-NA-LAH</p> + <p class="capt5">First Wife of the Emperor of China</p> +</div> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">45</span> +The next two Ladies of the Court are two Duchesses—also widows. +Widows in China never remarry, or if they do, they lose caste and +reputation. They are not sacrificed on the funeral pyres of their +departed husbands, as in India; but a voluntary suicide on the part +of a widow in China is still looked upon as a noble act. A widow who +remains faithful to the memory of her husband during a long life is +rewarded by the greatest respect and consideration during her life, and +honored after death.</p> + +<p>If a girl prefers to remain unmarried, if a widow remains faithful +to the memory of her husband, she is honored after her death with +much pomp and ceremony! And great memorial arches are erected in her +memory! All over China, one is constantly coming upon these arches to +widows and virgins. If the family is not sufficiently wealthy to raise +these monuments themselves, public subscriptions are taken, all the +relatives contribute, and often the inhabitants of the village or the +country where the heroine lived beg to be allowed to have their part in +raising a monument to her memory. These arches, of stone or wood, are +elaborately carved, sometimes with remarkable sculptures of fabulous +animals, flowers, and thousands of birds of every kind (these latter +showing the immortality the soul has acquired). Across the entablature +of the arch, cut deep into the stone or wood, and gilded or painted in +glowing vermilion, shines the name of the virgin or widow to whom it is +erected, and on the sides of the arch is inscribed an account of her +virtuous acts.</p> + +<p>A girl is sometimes affianced at the early age of + +<span class="pagenum">46</span> + +from six to eight years, and the affianced is from that time spoken +of as her husband. Should he die before they marry, which is never +earlier than sixteen for the bride, she is considered a “widow,” and +must henceforth live the life of a recluse. She can never marry any +one else. She may adopt a son, who will call her “mother”; but she may +never hope for the joys of family life of her own, without calling down +upon her head the obloquy of all whose respect she desires. She wears +deep mourning the first three years after his death, and then second +mourning; and she can never again put on the festive red, joyous green, +or any other color except blue or violet—second mourning.</p> + +<p>The Northern Chinese and the Manchu ladies use a great deal of paint +and powder on their faces; but a widow can never add one artificial +iota to the rose of her cheek, to the cherry of her lips, or the lily +of her brow. She can nevermore use paint or powder. In most instances +the Chinese ladies are but the prettier for this, for they have +beautiful skins, and the use of powder and paint is carried to such an +excess as to be quite unnatural.</p> + +<p>There are only eight of Her Majesty’s Ladies who live always in +the Palace, but this number is increased about four times on festive +occasions. The Princess Imperial, the Empress Dowager’s adopted +daughter, is the first of the Princesses at Court, and, when she comes +to the Palace, ranks next to the Empress and the secondary wife of the +Emperor.</p> + +<p>One evening, at dinner, in the Throne-room, Sih-Gerga +undertook to tell me the relationships of the + +<span class="pagenum">47</span> + +different Princesses to each other and to the young Empress. +Incidentally, this made them related to the Emperor and the Empress +Dowager, but neither of Their Majesties’ names was mentioned in this +connection, for such would have been a great piece of presumption, +amounting almost to sacrilege. They might be related, but no Princess +would dare mention such a thing. It would be against all the laws of +Chinese proprieties. I found, after this explanation of Sih-Gerga’s, +that the Ladies were all related by consanguinity or marriage to each +other and to the young Empress.</p> + +<p>There are a number of tiring-women and maids in the Palace who are +called by outsiders “slaves”; but they are not slaves, or, if they +are so, it is but for a time, a space of ten years. Every spring, the +daughters of the lowest of the Manchu families, the Seventh and Eighth +Banners, are brought into the Palace to be chosen from, by the Empress +and Empress Dowager, for maids and tiring-women. One day, on going to +the Palace, I saw a number of ordinary carts near one of the Postern +Gates, and I learned they had brought crowds of these girls of the +families of the Eighth Banner. They are first passed in review by the +Head Eunuch, and he selects from them, those he thinks may please Her +Majesty. These pass before her, and she tells the Head Eunuch which +ones are to remain in the Palace. They are brought to the Palace from +the ages of ten to sixteen years. They remain in service for ten years, +after which time they are allowed to return to their families; and in +case they have been satisfactory and pleased Their Majesties, + +<span class="pagenum">48</span> + +they are given a comfortable dot and are provided with a handsome +marriage outfit, which causes them to make much better marriages than +they would otherwise do. During their so-called ten years’ slavery in +the Palace, they live upon the fat of the land, have beautiful clothes +and many advantages. They wear, while in Her Majesty’s service, blue +gowns, with their hair plainly parted at the side and braided in a +single long braid (tied with red silk cords), which hangs down the +back. They wear bunches of flowers over each ear. The young Empress +and secondary wife, as well as each of the Princesses, have their own +maids and tiring-women, who remain in the private quarters of these +Ladies.</p> + +<p>Besides these young maids, there are in the Palace a number of +old women, servants of Her Majesty, who have been married and have +children; these overlook the younger women, direct the work of the +lower eunuchs, and are in a position somewhat similar to housekeepers +with us. Among these is a Chinese woman who nursed Her Majesty through +a long illness, about twenty-five years since, and saved her life by +giving her mother’s milk to drink. Her Majesty, who never forgets a +favor, has always kept this woman in the Palace. Being a Chinese, she +had bound feet. Her Majesty, who cannot bear to see them even, had her +feet unbound and carefully treated, until now she can walk comfortably. +Her Majesty has educated the son, who was an infant at the time of her +illness, and whose natural nourishment she partook of. This young man +is already a Secretary in a good yamen (Government Office).</p> + +<span class="pagenum">49</span> + +<p>No Chinese lady of position ever dresses herself or combs her own +hair, and she generally has three or four personal maids. These are, +in many instances, bought outright from their parents, and might be +considered really slaves; but they are treated with great consideration +and even friendliness by their mistresses, and have in most instances a +happy lot. As these maids are bought when they and their mistresses are +children, they grow up together, and though the maid never forgets the +respect due her mistress, they are on a much more friendly footing than +mistress and maid could ever be in Europe in such cases.</p> + +<p>The first of a lady’s maids stands behind her at table, no matter +how many servitors there may be; goes out with her, sits with her, and +sleeps either in her room or at her door, and is almost her constant +companion. When the time comes for them to marry, they are given a +comfortable outfit by their mistresses, and are cared for to the third +and fourth generation; but the children of the so-called slaves are +free, unless the mother or parents decide, of their own free will, to +sell them, as they have been sold, to some good family.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">50</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI"> + CHAPTER VI + <span class="small-text"> + CONTINUATION OF THE PORTRAIT—HER MAJESTY’S DOGS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>I had daily morning sittings from Her Majesty for the portrait, but +always surrounded by the whole Court, with eunuchs coming and going. +The sittings were long enough, for I had an hour in the morning and a +half-hour in the afternoon with Her Majesty, but she did not expect +me to work except when she posed, and this was not enough to make +any headway on the picture, as there was a great deal I might have +done at other times. Though there was so much going and coming in the +Throne-room, it was a great advantage working in Her Majesty’s own +“milieu,” surrounded by her favorite furniture, flowers, and fruits. +This was some compensation; but I saw, if Her Majesty insisted upon my +resting when she did—if I were allowed to work only in the Throne-room +and only when she posed—the work could not go on as it should. Sitting +for her portrait seemed to be looked on somewhat in the light of an +amusement by the Empress Dowager, as a time for conversation and +relaxation. She put me many questions while she sat, and I felt she was +studying me as closely as I was studying her during that time.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">51</span> + +<p>My interest in the personality of this wonderful woman increased +each day. I loved to watch the extreme mobility of her countenance when +she was at ease and was not invested in her official expression, nor +her Buddha-like pose. Her voice was most musical, with no indication +of age in it. Her enunciation was clear, and I loved to hear her talk. +Though understanding but little of what she said, the music of her +voice, the grace of her gesticulations, and the charm of her smile made +her conversation most delightful to watch and listen to.</p> + +<p>I was delighted that Her Majesty seemed to like me, and I +appreciated her consideration in not wishing me to tire myself out +with my work, and her kind hospitality which desired to make me +acquainted with the charms of the Summer Palace and which allowed me to +participate in her promenades and the simple amusements of her Ladies; +but I felt it was important to advance the work on the portrait as +quickly as possible. I knew that the “favor of kings” is uncertain, and +I feared Her Majesty might soon tire of this new departure, of having +her portrait painted! I feared the openly expressed opposition of the +Chinese to a foreign lady being made a member of the Court circle, +their superstition regarding the painting of a portrait of one of Their +Majesties, which was against all Chinese tradition, might any day put a +stop to the work; but, notwithstanding my fears and my desire to work, +the days passed with little painting, and this was the only flaw in my +perfect enjoyment of the fairy-like days and the unique experiences +through which I was passing.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">52</span> + +<p>The walks with Her Majesty had all the pomp and ceremony of the +boat-rides—Her Majesty’s and the Empress’s yellow satin sedan chairs, +with their six bearers, leading off, followed by the red chairs of +the Princesses and Ladies-in-waiting, according to their rank, with a +rigorous adherence to precedence, and attended by an army of eunuchs +and chair-bearers, etc. No one ever knew what our destination was +to be when we started out on these walks, Her Majesty directing her +chair-bearers as she was carried along, and the others following this +lead; but we were always taken to some interesting spot, where there +was something quite worth seeing. When Her Majesty’s chair stopped, all +the others were immediately put down by the bearers, and the Ladies got +out and went up to where the Empress Dowager’s yellow camp-stool was +placed. She had excellent taste in the choice of stopping-places, and +the views were always picturesque. She seemed to take great pleasure +in showing off the charming points of view, as well as the flowers, +grounds, and buildings.</p> + +<p>On one of our walks, her dogs were brought out by their attendant +eunuchs. Dogs are great favorites with all the Chinese, and especially +with the Empress Dowager. She has some magnificent specimens of +Pekingese pugs and of a sort of Skye terrier. The pugs are bred with +great care and have reached a high state of perfection, their spots +being perfectly symmetrical and their hair beautifully long and silky, +and they are of wonderful intelligence. The King Charles spaniels are +said to have been bred out of the first of these dogs ever carried to +Europe. The Empress Dowager + +<span class="pagenum">53</span> + +has dozens of these pets, but she has favorites among them, and two +are privileged characters. One of these is of the Skye variety, and is +most intelligent and clever at tricks. Among other tricks, he will lie +as dead at Her Majesty’s command, and never move until she tells him +to, no matter how many others may speak to him. Her other favorite she +loves for his beauty. He is a splendid, fawn-colored Pekingese pug, +with large, pale-brown, liquid eyes. He is devoted to her, and she is +very fond of him, but as he was not easily taught, even as a puppy, she +called him “Shadza” (fool). Her dogs all have most appropriate names, +given by herself. They know Her Majesty’s voice and will obey her +slightest word.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager does not care for the small sleeve-dog; she +hates the thought of their being stunted by being fed only on sweets +and wines. She says she cannot understand animals being deformed, +at man’s pleasure. The day we first met the dogs in the garden was +the first time I had seen them. They rushed up to Her Majesty, not +paying the slightest attention to any one else. She patted their heads +and caressed and spoke to her favorites. After a while they seemed +to notice that a stranger was present, and they bounded over toward +me. Some of them growled and showed other evidences of displeasure, +some seemed surprised almost to fear; but as the instinct of a dog +never deceives him as to who is his friend, this was all soon changed +to friendly greetings. I bent down to caress them, and forgot my +surroundings, in my pleasure at seeing and fondling these beautiful +creatures. I glanced up, presently, never + +<span class="pagenum">54</span> + +dreaming Her Majesty had been paying any attention to me, as I was +standing at a little distance behind her, and I saw on her face the +first sign of displeasure I had noticed there. It seems her dogs +never noticed any one but herself, and she appeared not to like her +pets being so friendly with a stranger at first sight. Noticing this, +I immediately ceased fondling them, and they were presently sent +away. It was but a momentary shadow that passed over her face, and I +quite understood the feeling. One does not like to see one’s pets too +friendly with strangers, and I had been tactless in trying to make +friends with them at once.</p> + +<p>A few days later, on another of our walks, some young puppies were +brought to be shown the Empress Dowager. She caressed the mother and +examined critically the points of the puppies. Then she called me up to +show them to me, asking me which I liked best. I tried not to evince +too much interest in them this time, but she called my attention to +their fine points and insisted upon my taking each of them up. She +seemed to be ashamed of her slight displeasure of the day before, and +to wish to compensate for it.</p> + +<p>The dogs at the Palace are kept in a beautiful pavilion with marble +floors. They have silken cushions to sleep on, and special eunuchs to +attend them. They are taken for daily outdoor exercise and given their +baths with regularity. There are hundreds of dogs in the Palace, the +young Empress, the Princesses and Ladies, and even the eunuchs, having +their own. Some of the eunuchs are great fanciers and breeders of them. +One of them still breeds the sleeve-dog. Her Majesty’s known dislike to +these + +<span class="pagenum">55</span> + +latter is probably the cause of fewer being bred in the Palace now than +formerly; and the race is slowly dying out. All the other dogs in the +Palace, except Her Majesty’s, are kept in the apartments and courts of +their owners, and are not seen by her.</p> + +<p>She dislikes cats very much, but some of the eunuchs have very fine +specimens of the felines. They keep them, however, “sub rosa” and +within rigid bounds, on no condition allowing them to come within Her +Majesty’s ken.</p> + +<p>The pavilion at the Summer Palace where the Empress Dowager’s dogs +were kept was near her Throne-room, and also near the pavilion she had +set aside for me. When the Court was taking its siesta, I used to go +out where the dogs were basking in the sun in their court and look at +and play with these interesting little animals. I was free to do as I +pleased, and no one but the dogs’ guardian eunuchs saw me there.</p> + +<p>Among the younger set, of these pampered pets, was one that caught +my fancy—one of those which had been brought for Her Majesty to look +at in the garden. He was a beautiful white-and-amber-colored Pekingese +pug. He soon learned to know me and would come running to me when I +crossed the threshold of the court. Not long after I had discovered +where the dogs were kept and had been paying them my daily visits, +one night, when we had finished dinner at Her Majesty’s table, one of +her eunuchs brought in this very little dog and put it in my arms, +saying Her Majesty had presented it to me from her own kennel! She had +evidently learned of my visits to the dogs, though none of the eunuchs +around her + +<span class="pagenum">56</span> + +person had seen me go there, at least so I thought! I was delighted to +own this beautiful animal, and when the Empress Dowager came into the +Throne-room from her own apartments, I went up to her and kissed her +hand and thanked her for it. She seemed much pleased that I liked it, +and remarked that she had heard it was my favorite of her dogs, that I +was to call him “Me-lah” (Golden Amber), from the color of his spots. +Her Majesty and the Princesses were all much amused at the way he +followed me around, not leaving my side for an instant, nor paying any +attention to their frequent efforts to attract his attention. From that +day, he became my constant companion and faithful friend.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">57</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII"> + CHAPTER VII + <span class="small-text"> + FESTIVITIES AT COURT + </span> +</h2> + +<p>Preparations were now beginning at the Palace for the celebration +of His Majesty the Emperor’s Birthday. This is not celebrated on the +anniversary of the day he was born, but two days earlier. His Majesty +must make the Autumnal Sacrifices to his Ancestors three days after +the real date of his Birthday, and he must prepare himself for these +sacrifices by a rigorous fast of three days. As it would be impossible +to accomplish the ceremonial prescribed for the Imperial Birthday while +fasting, the celebration of the Birthday was advanced, a special edict +having been issued by the two Empresses, when Co-Regents for the young +Emperor, ordering the Birthday celebrations to be advanced by two days, +for the date of the sacrifices could not be changed—the sacrifice to +one’s Ancestors being the most sacred of obligations to the Chinese, +and most rigidly and religiously observed. Even the Chinese Emperor’s +Birthday is not celebrated for two years after the death of his +predecessor, so rigorous are the rules of respect to the dead and the +rites accorded to one’s Ancestors in China.</p> + +<p>I knew no painting could be done during these + +<span class="pagenum">58</span> + +festivities, and I expected to go back to the United States Legation. I +never dreamed I should be invited to participate in this celebration, +hitherto unseen by any foreigner. A week before the Birthday itself, +when out for one of our walks with Her Majesty, she called me up to +her side and said the Emperor’s Birthday was to be celebrated the next +week, and invited me to remain in the Palace for these festivities. +I was, of course, overjoyed at this gracious mark of her favor, and +delighted to be able to see the Oriental pomp and pageantry that +accompanied these ceremonial celebrations in China.</p> + +<p>There were to be magnificent theatrical performances, splendid +fireworks and decorations, and all sorts of pageants. The Imperial +company of actors had already begun rehearsing special poems and plays, +written to celebrate the occasion. Eunuchs were constantly bringing Her +Majesty specimens of the work of the decorators and painters who were +carrying out her designs as to special scenes and tableaux, or coming +to ask for further instructions. The literati, who were preparing +the original poems, sent in their manuscripts, that she might judge +of their merits and make suggestions. She herself overlooked every +detail, and seemed most interested and anxious to have everything +successful.</p> + +<p>The festivities began four days before the Birthday with gala +performances at the Theater. Each day the decorations of the buildings, +the courts, and gardens increased in beauty. In the principal courts, +magnificent bronzes, all sorts of antique instruments of music, used +only on these great occasions, were + +<span class="pagenum">59</span> + +brought out as decorations; for music forms part of every ceremonial, +official or religious, in China. Among the curious instruments were +splendid bronze frames, with several superposed octaves of triangular +musical-stones suspended therefrom; elaborately carved supports for +different-toned bells; huge “triangles”; immense bronze “tam-tams,” +curiously and beautifully wrought; big drums on splendid bronze stands; +wonderfully chased bells; and many other quaint instruments, used +only for official and state processions in honor of Their Celestial +Majesties.</p> + +<p>The slanting and projecting, upturned roofs of the different +buildings forming the Palaces were decorated with scarfs of +vari-colored silk, knotted into a curious sort of fringe of rosettes, +about two feet long; yellow, the Imperial color, and red, the festive +color, predominating, but other colors were introduced into the +color-scheme to accentuate these.</p> + +<p>The large Square in front of the Imperial gateway, outside the +Precincts, was filled with huge, tent-like, yellow satin umbrellas, +with deep curtains around the edge. These umbrellas are used for +all great festivities in China, and are generally of red. Those for +the Emperor’s Birthday were, of course, of the Imperial yellow, and +were richly embroidered with emblematic designs. Presents for the +Emperor were arriving daily from all parts of the Great Empire, and +though everything was directed by splendid system the commotion was +nevertheless great.</p> + +<p>Finally, there was the first gala performance at the Theater. Her +Majesty occupied her loge nearly all day, overlooking every detail, +sending now and then + +<span class="pagenum">60</span> + +to the stage one of her eunuchs to transmit her Imperial commands as to +the speaking of certain lines or the using of certain postures. On the +day of this gala performance she invited all the Ladies of the Palace +to lunch, for the first time since I had been there, in the court of +the Theater. Her Majesty lunched in the Imperial loge, and then ordered +our repast to be served in the court, where tables were laid and served +with all the pomp and ceremony that characterized the meals at the +Palace. Even this “al-fresco” entertainment was ceremonious.</p> + +<p>Most of the large courts of the Summer Palace have roofs of matting +erected over them, to keep out the sun. These mat-roofs make, of +the flower-filled courts, delightfully cool, outdoor parlors. The +mat-sheds at the Palace are almost works of art. Tall poles, reaching +from twenty to thirty feet above the roofs surrounding the courts to +be protected from the sun, are painted in festive designs, and they +support transversal beams, also gaily painted. Over these roof-beams +are stretched strips of the beautiful matting which the Chinese excel +in making. Matting-curtains drop from the roof of the sheds to a level +with the Palace roofs. These side-curtains, as well as huge sections of +the matting-roof, are movable, and may be opened and raised by means +of cords and pulleys attached to the supporting pillars. The whole +structure, supporting pillars and transversal beams, is tied together +with ropes the same color of the beams, and not a nail is used. The +mat-sheds are put up in June and taken down in September.</p> + +<p>New ladies were arriving at the Palace every day + +<span class="pagenum">61</span> + +for a week before the Birthday—members of the Imperial Family from a +distance, and the wives and daughters of Manchu nobles who were of +sufficient rank to present their congratulations in person. The young +Empress never failed to introduce me to these ladies. A foreigner in +the Chinese Court is a much more extraordinary circumstance than a +Chinese at a European Court would be, and this was, in most instances, +the first meeting of these Princesses with any foreigner; but they were +uniformly courteous and even cordial, never evincing the slightest +curiosity as to my dress or my habits. I doubted whether a Chinese at a +European Court, or at our White House, would have been treated with the +same consideration by all, even to the servants. The children, of whom +there were several at Court at this time, were as well-bred as their +elders in their treatment of the “foreign lady.”</p> + +<p>After our first lunch in the court of the Theater, when the +theatrical performance of the day was finished and the actors had +left, I approached the stage of the Theater and began examining, with +interest, its construction and appointments. The Palace Theater is +raised about twelve feet from the ground, and its main floor is on a +level with the Imperial loge. The building consists of three stories +and a cellar. The latter is used for the few pieces of scenery of the +scenic plays, and is where the simple devices used for moving it are +manipulated. Like the Greek theater, the stage is open on three sides; +and the actors come out and speak their parts, their entrance being to +the left and the exit to the right of the stage.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">62</span> +Her Majesty was within her loge while I was examining the +construction of the Theater; but she evidently noticed my movements, +for the eunuchs soon threw open the great plate doors and she descended +the steps of the Imperial loge and came across the court to where I +was standing. She asked me if I would not like to go on the stage and +look over the building and examine things thoroughly. She added, “You +probably may never have such a chance to see a good Chinese theater +again.” She, herself, went up the steps leading from the court to the +stage, and told me to follow her.</p> + +<p>The stage is about twenty-five feet square, is roofed over, and +projects into the court, its three sides being open. The fourth side +has doors and curtains for the entrance and exit of the actors. There +are no actresses in China. The men perform the parts of women, and +represent them with such success that I was much surprised when I +learned there were no actresses. At the back of the stage sit the +musicians, who accompany all the theatrical performances in China.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty, herself, led the way across the stage and we went +behind the scenes. Here, I examined closely a number of “Floats” that +were to be used, in the procession in honor of the Emperor, on the day +of the Birthday. These floats had all been designed by the Empress +Dowager. After we had looked at these, she suggested that I had better +see the upper floors. These latter are not in general use in Chinese +theaters. The theaters, even at the other Palaces, have but one stage. +The steps which lead to the second stage, and thence to the third +stage, are behind + +<span class="pagenum">63</span> + +the scenes. The two upper stages are used for spectacular plays and +tableaux, when certain of the players group themselves in pyramidal +form on these superposed stages and speak their lines therefrom. +The upper stages have also trap-doors and pulleys for use in the +spectacular plays. Her Majesty went up, herself, to show me these +stages. She mounted the steep and difficult steps with as much ease and +lightness as I did, and I had on comfortable European shoes, while she +wears the six-inch-high Manchu sole in the middle of her foot, and must +really walk as if on stilts.</p> + +<p>Neither the Empress Dowager nor any of the Manchu ladies bind their +feet; that custom prevailed in China before the Manchu conquest. The +Manchus have adopted many of the manners and customs of the Chinese, +but the Manchu women have retained their own individuality; and to-day, +after more than two hundred and fifty years in China, they still wear +their native costume, entirely different from the Chinese women. They +still dress their hair in the picturesque Manchu fashion. They not only +have never bound their feet, but they have as great a horror of it as +Europeans have. Manchu ladies are not bound by the same rigid social +conventions as are the Chinese women. They are less circumscribed and +have more individual freedom than any other Oriental women. In fact, +the Manchu woman seems to be, to other Oriental women, what the modern +American woman is to her European sisters.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">64</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII"> + CHAPTER VIII + <span class="small-text"> + HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR KWANG-HSU + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Emperor Kwang-Hsu was barely eighteen years old when Her +Majesty the Empress Dowager, Regent of the Empire, handed over to +him the reins of Government, admonishing him in a parting Imperial +Decree to “discipline his body, develop his mind, love his People, and +give unceasing attention to the administration of Government,” which +Decree His Majesty responded to in fitting terms, by another Decree, +begging “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager to continue to advise him in +important affairs,” saying he “would not dare to be indolent,” that +only after prayer and sacrifice “to Heaven and Earth and his Ancestors +would he Himself begin to administer affairs of State on the 15th day +of the First moon of the 13th year of his Reign”! He began to reign +by our count the 25th day of February, 1889, under the appellation of +“Kwang-Hsu” (Glorious Succession). The name under which an Emperor of +China reigns is not his own, but one chosen for him, and has generally +some appropriate signification or some symbolic meaning.</p> + +<p>His Majesty Kwang-Hsu is the twelfth Emperor, who has reigned over +China, of the Dynasty of the + +<span class="pagenum">65</span> + +“Great Purity,” as the Manchu Dynasty is called.<a id="FNanchor_2" +class="fnanchor" href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a> + +His reign began at the age of five years, under the Co-Regency of the +Empress of the Eastern and Empress of the Western Palaces. The former +died in 1881, and from that time on Her Majesty, the present Empress +Dowager, ruled alone as “Regent.” His reign, counting the years of the +Regency, has already lasted thirty years, the third in point of length +of any of the Emperors of the Manchu Dynasty.</p> + +<p>His Majesty the Emperor Kwang-Hsu was nearing the completion of +his thirty-second year when I was first presented to him. I found +him an interesting study, but not to the degree of Her Majesty the +Empress Dowager, who has charm and is so fascinating. The Emperor +is singularly devoid of this quality of “charm,” and has but little +personal magnetism. He interests one, nevertheless. Her Majesty is +Universal, the Emperor is typically Oriental. In person he is of slight +and elegant figure, not more than five feet four in height. He has a +well-shaped head, with the intellectual qualities well developed, a +high brow, with large brown eyes and rather drooping lids, not at all +Chinese in form or setting. His nose is high and, like most members of +the Imperial Family, is of the so-called “noble” type. A rather large +mouth with thin lips, the upper short with a proud curve, the lower +slightly protruding, a clear-cut, thin jaw, a strong chin a little +beyond the line of the forehead, with not an ounce of superfluous +flesh on the whole face, give him an ascetic air and, in spite of his +rather delicate physique, an appearance of great reserve strength. His +complexion is not so white and clear + +<span class="pagenum">66</span> + +as that of the other members of the Imperial Family, for the Manchus +have whiter skins than the Chinese; but this seems more the result of +delicacy than natural with the Emperor. His luxuriant, very long hair, +a characteristic of the Manchus, is beautifully silky and glossy and +always arranged with the greatest care. It is said he much dislikes +being shaved, but tradition, immutable in China, does not allow a man +under forty, even if he be the “Son of Heaven,” to wear a mustache or +whiskers. Like all well-bred Chinese, he has small feet and hands, the +latter long and thin and most expressive. The Emperor dresses with +extreme neatness and great simplicity, wearing few ornaments and no +jewels except on State occasions. His face is kindly in expression, but +the glance from his rather heavy-lidded eyes is shrewd and intelligent. +His manner is shy and retiring, but this does not seem to be so much +from a lack of confidence in himself as from the absence of that +magnetic quality, which gives one an appearance of assurance.</p> + +<p>He seemed to me the ideal of what one would imagine an Oriental +potentate to be, whose title is the “Son of Heaven.” There is a +Sphinx-like quality to his smile. In his eyes one sees the calm, +half-contemptuous outlook upon the world, of the fatalist. There is +an abstractness in the subtilty of his regard, an abstractness that +embodies one’s idea of the “Spirit of the Orient.” At first it is +difficult to tell whether this comes from a sense of power or from a +knowledge of the lack of it, but that firm and fleshless jaw, that +ascetic face and keen eye, show there must be reserve strength, that +there can be no lack of + +<span class="pagenum">67</span> + +power, should he wish to exert it. Over his whole face there is a look +of self-repression, which has almost reached a state of passivity.</p> + +<p>Does he dream of future greatness for the Empire? Does he feel that +though his first efforts at governing have failed, he can bide his +time—that all things will come to him who waits? Enigma, difficult +to divine! But it almost seems so! He appears to fully realize, now, +that he made a mistake in the choice of his instruments and time, in +his efforts for Progress. But the look of eternal patience in the +half-veiled regard of those large eyes seems to show that he will +yet try to accomplish China’s salvation—that he is but waiting his +opportunity.</p> + +<p>There is no evidence of the Emperor’s feeling any animosity toward +the Empress Dowager. Their relations, though rigidly formal, as is +necessary from their exalted positions, seem to be most friendly. +If there is any feeling on his part as to the check his Government +received by the “coup d’état” of 1898, he does not seem to feel that +Her Majesty is responsible for it. It was not she who put a momentary +stop to his dreams of Progress. It was Chinese conservatism, a +coalition of powerful ministers who put up the barriers of the “coup +d’état” before him when His Majesty thought to drive on to Progress.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager returned from her retirement and took up the +reins of Government again, at the earnest prayers of the wisest +Statesmen of China. She was persuaded by them, and she also believed, +that the Emperor was driving the Chariot of State too fast over the +difficult and ill-kept roads of traditional + +<span class="pagenum">68</span> + +Chinese routine. She felt that His Majesty, as well as the state, would +soon be dashed to pieces if he continued as he was then going. It seems +as if the Emperor realizes it all now. His unfathomable eye hides an +infinity of possibilities, perchance a world of events. Is he quietly +studying how to seize opportunity, when it next passes, and leap upon +its back and lash it on to Progress or to—Ruin? He would meet either +with that same stoical, Sphinx-like smile, I feel confident.</p> + +<p>He seems, now, to give but little advice. He holds Audiences, +however, and sees many of the officials alone. He issues edicts +independent of Her Majesty; but on all grave affairs, and at the +meeting of the Grand Council, Her Majesty is always present, and the +decisions are the results of their two opinions. When despatches were +brought into Her Majesty’s Throne-room when the Emperor was present, +they were first handed to her, and, after glancing them over, she would +give them to him. He, after carefully reading them, handed them back +to her with rarely a comment. One could see, though, that this was not +from ignorance of the subject, but that he trusted, for the time being, +to Her Majesty’s greater experience.</p> + +<p>Though the Emperor does not seem to feel that the time has come for +him to act, he studies every event with the closest attention, and is +well informed upon every subject connected with the welfare of the +state. As long as the Empress Dowager sits upon the throne with him, I +think he will not try to make any of his ideas paramount to hers. He +knows that she also + +<span class="pagenum">69</span> + +wishes Progress for China, and that her methods, more conservative and +necessarily slower than his, may, in the end, accomplish just as good +results. He seems to trust her thoroughly, and to be willing to have +her take the lead. He knows, and the world will soon see, that Her +Majesty the Empress Dowager is also vowed to Progress for China; that +she is not anti-progressive, nor against reform, now that she feels the +time has come for Progress and Reform. Her late edicts show this.</p> + +<p>Whether the remodeling of China’s laws, which will bring her into +line with the Great Nations of to-day, will come during the Emperor’s +life; whether his power of waiting and his patience may enable him to +reach the time when accomplishment shall crown his efforts, who can +tell! In the meantime, he fulfils his duties as Official Head of the +Empire, rigidly observing all public and private ceremonies incumbent +upon him as Emperor.</p> + +<p>The Emperor occupies a Palace fronting on the Great Lake as elegant +and luxurious as Her Majesty’s. He has his own eunuchs and attendants, +and leads his own life, quite independent of Her Majesty and the +Ladies. He pays his respects to his “august aunt and adopted mother” +every morning before the Audience, and they go together to transact +affairs of state, after which he returns to his own Palace and follows +his own pursuits. On festivals, when the Theater is going, he comes +into the Imperial loge during the representations, and, on these days, +joins the Empress Dowager and the Ladies in their walks around the +gardens or in boating on the lake. He + +<span class="pagenum">70</span> + +also dines with Her Majesty on these occasions. He does not seem to +care as much for the Theater as she does, nor to follow it with so much +interest. He often leaves the Imperial loge in the middle of a play, +and goes to his own Theater Throne-room, just behind the great Imperial +loge, where he passes the time in reading or smoking, which he never +does in the presence of Her Majesty.</p> + +<p>He occupies himself daily with his studies, among which is English. +He is a great reader. There is a special official, at the Palace, who +buys His Majesty’s books, and they say this is no sinecure, as he does +not devote himself only to Chinese literature and the classics, but +devours translations of foreign works and is constantly calling for new +ones. They say he always reads a book a day, besides attending to his +other duties.</p> + +<p>He is passionately fond of music, plays on a number of Chinese +instruments, and has even tried the piano. He has a good ear for +music, and can pick out any air he has heard upon any instrument at +his disposal. He is very clever, also, in a mechanical way, and can +take to pieces and put together a clock, with fair success. He has been +known, however, to fail in getting the very complicated mechanism of +some of the Palace clocks properly together again. The Empress Dowager +is constantly fearing that His Majesty will take some of her favorite +clocks to pieces and not be able to put them into working order again; +and he will not allow any one else to finish what he has begun.</p> + +<p>He is a very early riser, often getting up as early + +<span class="pagenum">71</span> + +as two A.M. When there was some ceremony in Peking or some sacrifice +to his Ancestors, he would go the sixteen miles, perform the ceremony +or sacrifice and return in time for the Audience at eight o’clock, and +it takes two hours and a half for the Emperor’s swift runners to carry +him the sixteen miles between the Summer Palace and Peking. He does +not seem to care for young associates, either men or women, though +he is very fond of children. He had but few favorites in the Palace, +and quite ignored the pretty young girls and women of Her Majesty’s +“entourage.” He seems to have great respect for cleverness.</p> + +<p>There are certain distinctions made with reference to Her Majesty +and the Emperor, which are rather curious. Her Majesty, being his +Ancestress, is first in everything. She sits upon the Throne in the +Great Audience Hall, while His Majesty sits on a stool at her left. He +walks beside her chair when they go out, and stands in her presence, +but when they dine together he sits in the place of honor at the end of +the table. When Her Majesty dines alone, her chop-sticks and spoons, as +well as the covers of her yellow porcelain dishes, are of silver. When +Their Majesties dine together, the covers of the dishes are of gold, +and His Majesty’s chop-sticks and spoons are also of gold. I never +knew what kind of covers or chop-sticks were used when the Emperor +dined alone; for this was always in his own Palace, and I never saw his +Palace except from the outside. It was not considered good taste, nor +according to the “Proprieties,” even to look that way when the Ladies +happened to pass it in their promenades.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">72</span> +When His Majesty walked in the grounds with only his own attendants, +without being in the train of the Empress Dowager, his walks were in +parts of the grounds not frequented by the Ladies. On Festival days, +when he went out in the Imperial barge, or walked with Her Majesty +and the Ladies, as he sometimes did, he went through these promenades +with his usual courteous demeanor, but he did not seem to enjoy them, +and when they were finished he would return with his own attendants +to his own Palace. He assisted Her Majesty when she was entertaining +the Foreign Representatives, but one, who knew him, could plainly see +that he was bored by these Audiences. He would slip away at the first +opportunity, not because he objected to the foreigners, but that these +state functions were not to his taste. Her Majesty would have preferred +him to do his share in the entertainment of the Foreign Representatives +and be more “en évidence.” Though never out of temper or disagreeable +on these occasions, and while he seemed to wish to do his duty, he +seemed anxious to get them over. Whether from shyness or dislike at the +functions, I could not tell.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">73</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX"> + CHAPTER IX + <span class="small-text"> + THE EMPEROR’S BIRTHDAY + </span> +</h2> + +<p>We went to the Palace early the day of His Majesty’s Birthday, +and were in the Empress Dowager’s Throne-room at six o’clock in the +morning; but long before that time, the outer court was filled with the +red and yellow chairs and carts of the visiting members of the Imperial +Family, who had come in from Peking and from the neighboring Palaces +for the day. The high eunuchs were in gala costume, wearing silken +gowns of great beauty, embroidered in the Double Dragon. The eunuchs of +lower rank were more simply gowned, as the representation of the Double +Dragon on the Court gown is only allowed to those of a certain rank. +Our chair-bearers were clad in the festive red, with brocaded figures, +representing the characters for Longevity.</p> + +<p>We passed through the beautifully decorated courts, past the gaily +decked Palaces to the Throne-room of Her Majesty, where the Emperor had +come to receive the private congratulations of the Princesses of the +blood and the Ladies of the Court. It would have been against the laws +of Chinese etiquette for these Ladies to go into the Emperor’s Palace +to congratulate him, even on such an occasion as his Birthday. + +<span class="pagenum">74</span> + +When we entered the Throne-room, the Emperor was seated, or rather, +reclining upon a lounge in the most informal manner. He was not averse, +as was Her Majesty, to the reclining position when on the Throne. His +greater Orientalism was evidenced here, for the Oriental proverb says, +“’Tis better to be sitting than standing, to be lying than sitting,” +etc. He sat up a little straighter on our entrance, and the Ladies made +the formal Chinese bow, which he returned by a friendly nod and kindly +smile. I made the European reverence as usual.</p> + +<p>His Majesty was dressed a little more elaborately than usual, in +a yellow gown, tightly belted in around his slender waist with a +handsome belt buckle of jade. At this morning salutation by the Ladies +of his family, his hat lay beside him on the couch, which showed it +was unceremonious, for ceremonies are carried on by the Emperor and +all Chinese with their hats on. The great Imperial Pearl, one of the +most precious of the Imperial jewels, formed the button of his hat +on his Birthday. The seven official ranks of Mandarins are shown by +the different colors of the buttons worn on their hats. The color of +these buttons denotes the rank acquired by their wearers, those of the +Manchu Princes, alone, being hereditary. The buttons of these latter +are generally of jewels or semi-precious stones. The Emperor, the most +simply dressed man I saw in China, wears, as a rule, a plain red silk +button, but the Pearl, which can only be worn by a reigning Emperor, is +used on state occasions.</p> + +<p>After we had greeted His Majesty, we moved further into the +Throne-room to await the “lever” of the Empress + +<span class="pagenum">75</span> + +Dowager. When she came out of her sleeping apartments, the Ladies fell +upon their knees and simultaneously repeated the words of greeting +used every morning to Her Majesty, “Lao-Tzu-Tzung Chee-Siang” (Great +Ancestress, be happy). After acknowledging their salutations, she +advanced and held out her hand to me, and I took it and, as was now +my custom, raised the tips of her fingers to my lips. I, of course, +never made any but a European salutation to either Her Majesty or the +Emperor. She was very gracious and said I would be the first foreigner +who had ever seen the birthday celebration of any of the Sons of +Heaven, and she hoped I would enjoy it! She then commented on my dress +and ornaments, examining the few jewels I wore. After this she turned +to the Ladies and, with a quick glance, took in all the details of +their Court costumes, calling their attention to the way their official +beads hung and signaling any little deviation from traditional forms +that she noticed in their attire. She was extremely rigid as to all the +details of Court dress.</p> + +<p>The Court costume of the Ladies is magnificent. That worn at the +Emperor’s Birthday (the summer costume) was of the stiff transparent +silk I have described in the gown worn by Her Majesty for the portrait. +The Court costume of the married ladies is of dark red, embroidered +in golden dragons. The widows wear blue; the unmarried girls, bright +red—all with the Double Dragon embroidered thereon. The married ladies +and widows, when in Court attire, wear a magnificent court head-dress +with jeweled crown. The young girls, even in Court dress, wear + +<span class="pagenum">76</span> + +the ordinary Manchu coiffure, with the long red silk tassels falling +to their shoulders. The young Empress was charming on the Birthday. +Her head-dress was of golden filigree, thickly set with jewels. Across +the front, nine beautifully chased golden phenix, with jeweled tails +outspread, held in their bills strings of pearls that fell to her +shoulders and veiled her forehead. Square, conventionalized bunches of +flowers projected from either side of this curiously and elaborately +wrought head-dress. Her gown was of the Imperial yellow, embroidered +with the golden Double Dragon. She had, around her neck, a solid piece +of chased gold, like a huge open ring, with balls at the ends; and she +wore the official beads that are always worn in Court dress by Princes +and Officials and their wives. The Emperor and Empress Dowager are +the only members of the Court who wear, neither the Double Dragon on +their Court dress, nor the official beads. Suspended from the Empress’s +neck was a magnificently embroidered stole, about four inches wide, +which reached to the hem of her gown. This stole is only worn by the +wives of Emperors, during their husband’s lifetime. The young Empress +seemed unusually happy to-day, and this was the first time I had ever +seen her and the Emperor in conversation. Next to the young Empress +came the only secondary wife of the Emperor. She was dressed exactly +as the young Empress was; the same gown, the same head-dress, the same +embroidered stole, only her jewels were not so handsome, and her dress, +instead of being of the Imperial yellow, was of orange. Yellow can only +be worn by the first wife of an Emperor!</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">77</span> +After the salutations to the Emperor and Empress Dowager in Her +Majesty’s private Throne-room, Her Majesty went out into the court and +took her place in her yellow chair of State, the Emperor following, on +foot, as was his custom. The cymbals clashed. The flutes sounded and +all the instruments of the Imperial Band played the curious minor air, +with its tragic undertone of sound, its rhythm like a Gregorian chant, +which is only played at the passing of Their Majesties for some great +ceremony or official function, and which I soon called the “Imperial +Hymn.” This is the only approach to a National air that I ever heard in +China.</p> + +<p>Their Majesties went in ceremonious procession to the Great Audience +Hall, where the Princes, Nobles, and high Officials privileged to +enter Precincts, were to present their homage and congratulations to +the Son of Heaven on the happy occasion of his Birthday. Besides these +privileged visitors, there were a number of officials whose rank was +not high enough to allow them to enter the Great Hall of Ceremonies. +These kneel and make the prostrations in the outer courts.</p> + +<p>The young Empress and Ladies of the Court did not follow Their +Majesties to the Great Hall, but stopped at the Palace of the young +Empress, to await there their turn for the official congratulations, +which were not to be made until after those of the Princes and Nobles. +The young Empress is a charming hostess, and her eunuchs and women +handed us tea and cigarettes while we were waiting. She also had her +dogs brought in for me to see. Her apartments + +<span class="pagenum">78</span> + +opened on a sunny court, full of flowering shrubs and fruit trees. +Around the other three sides of the court were built the pavilions for +the use of her attendants and ladies. We spent half an hour in her +pavilion, waiting for the congratulations of the Princes and Nobles to +be finished.</p> + +<p>The Emperor, for these official congratulations, was seated upon the +Dynastic Throne, erect and stiff as an archaic figure; no longer the +shy boy, but the Monarch clothed in all his power, and, for to-day, +alone upon his great ancestral Throne. He was attended by his Master +of Ceremonies, gorgeously attired, who stood in the rigid attitude +prescribed for this ceremony.</p> + +<p>Each splendidly garbed Prince and Noble knelt and made the +prostration prescribed by the Book of Rites, and each presented +His Majesty with a jade emblem, called by the Chinese “ruyie,”<a +id="FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor" href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a> + +erroneously supposed to be a scepter by most foreigners; but the +“ruyie” is simply an emblem of Good Luck, and may be presented on +festive occasions to any one whom the givers wish to honor, and is +not an emblem of Imperial authority. The Emperor held each of these +“ruyie” in his hands for a few seconds after their presentation, bowed +profoundly to the kneeling Prince, and then handed the emblem to an +attendant eunuch, who placed it on a Dragon table at the left of the +Emperor. When the Princes and Nobles had congratulated His Majesty +and left the Throne-room, the young Empress and secondary wife, +followed by the Princesses and Ladies, went in to make their official +congratulations. The greeting in Her Majesty’s + +<span class="pagenum">79</span> + +Throne-room in the morning had been but a friendly salutation, without +any official signification. The young Empress knelt and made her bow +first and presented—as did each of the Ladies—a “ruyie.” She made the +same official salutation as did the others, but her “ruyie” was of a +much richer style than those presented by the other Ladies.</p> + +<p>After the ceremony of formal congratulations was over, Her Majesty, +the Emperor, and Empress, followed by the Ladies and attendants, went +in state to the Theater, with the same ceremonial and pomp with which +they had gone into the Hall of Ceremonies. The Empress Dowager, who +was always the most gorgeously attired person at Court, was, on His +Majesty’s Birthday, dressed with an extreme simplicity that amounted +almost to plainness, and she wore no jewels. This plainness of attire +was not an accident, but had been arranged with her usual forethought. +She wished the Emperor and Empress to be the central figures of this +day’s festivities, and did not wish to vie with the Empress even in her +attire.</p> + +<p>The Princes and Nobles, who had come to the Palace for the official +congratulations, were invited to the theatrical performance. They +occupied the boxes that ran at right angles to the Imperial loge, which +I have already described as forming the other two sides of the court +of the Theater. A huge screen of painted silk, twelve feet high, was +stretched from the last of the boxes occupied by the Princes to the +stage—allowing the latter to be perfectly seen by the occupants of the +boxes, but cutting off their view of the Imperial loge, whence Their +Majesties, the Empress, + +<span class="pagenum">80</span> + +and Ladies viewed the play. These invited guests are thus neither seen +by the Imperial party, nor can they see the latter.</p> + +<p>When Their Majesties and the Empress were seated in their loge, +the principal actors came to the front of the stage, knelt, and +“kow-towed” to the Imperial box. Then the play began. There was first a +noisy burst of weird music, then the chief actor recited a laudatory, +congratulatory poem in honor of the Birthday of the Emperor, wishing +His Majesty “ten thousand years” of happiness and all the blessings +possible. The poem was intoned like a chant by the actor, dressed in +the gorgeous historic costume of an Imperial Herald of the time of +Kublai Kahn. This poem was most impressive. One of the verses ran +thus:</p> + +<div class="poetry p1"> +<p>“The vast merits of His Imperial Majesty’s August Ancestors have +been handed down to Him from generation to generation.</p> +<p>“To the wisdom of His whole Dynasty we owe it, that we have lived in +happiness,</p> +<p>“Ever ready to comply with the lofty teaching of our Rulers, leading +us unto Good....”</p> +</div> + +<p class="p1">The poem went on to recite His Majesty’s merits as a son, +his respect for his August Mother, his filial piety, and ended with a +wish that Great China might flourish and prosper—grow strong outwardly +and inwardly, through the blessings of his reign and his desire for +Progress.</p> + +<p>After this poem had been intoned by the chief actor, with the whole +company of players grouped around on the lower, as well as on the two +superposed <span class="pagenum">81</span> +stages, all in splendid historic costumes, there was another noisy +clash of weird music and the play itself began. The Chinese theater, +which goes on from morning to night with a series of plays, generally +begins with a short one, a curtain-raiser of a quarter to half an +hour’s length. To-day it began at once, after the poem was intoned, +with a great historic drama. The exploits and high deeds of former +Emperors were shown, and the actors were magnificently costumed in +superb historic gowns which had been handed down from antiquity and +were absolutely authentic.</p> + +<p>At half-past eleven, with the Theater still in full swing, the +eunuchs brought out tables of sweetmeats on the verandah of the +Imperial loge, and set them before the young Empress and the Princesses +and Ladies, and we were served to refreshments. Sweets and fruits in +China are served between the regular meals. The sweetmeats to-day +were “birthday food,” and were all inscribed with some character +meaning “Longevity,” “Good Luck,” “Happiness,” “Peace,” etc. There +were pyramids of the delicious crystallized fruits which the Chinese +excel in making; macédoines of queer fruits, nut pastes, almond creams, +and all the fresh fruits in season. With this preliminary repast were +served, also, some delicious Chinese wines.</p> + +<p>Soon after the repast of sweetmeats was finished, we were served +in the court of the Theater this time to the regular meal. It was an +immense table to which we sat down on the Emperor’s Birthday. There +were so many Princesses, Duchesses, and Ladies of high degree from a +distance, that our usual number + +<span class="pagenum">82</span> + +was more than quadrupled. The repast was a joyous one. The Chinese +are very witty and gay, and though I could not understand all the +scintillations of wit, their gaiety was contagious! Each gave me +special delicacies that she liked, to try, and each seemed to vie with +the other in endeavoring to make the “stranger” feel at ease. Some +of the Ladies drank champagne in my honor, and held up their glasses +toward me as they had seen the foreigners do. When the elders had +finished eating, the young people sat down. These were the children of +the Princesses and Nobles who had been invited to join their parents +for these festivities at the Palace. No girl or boy under sixteen is +allowed to sit down with their elders to a ceremonious dinner at the +Palace.</p> + +<p>Soon after we had finished our gay luncheon in the court of the +Theater the Ladies retired within their loge, next to that of Their +Majesties, and the screen which hid the visiting Princes and Nobles +from the Imperial party was removed by the attendant eunuchs. When +it was taken away, there sat, Turkish fashion, the great Princes and +high Nobles in their splendid Court dress. Those of the highest ranks +occupied the boxes nearest the Imperial party. The Princesses pointed +out to me, from their box, their brothers and kinsmen and others whom +they recognized; but we saw without being seen, and were only looking +from behind the scenes.</p> + +<p>The eunuchs then handed around refreshments to the Princes and +gentlemen, sweetmeats and fruits, such as we had partaken of before our +luncheon. Then there were some huge steaming silver caldrons + +<span class="pagenum">83</span> + +brought into the court, and from these caldrons the eunuchs ladled into +bowls some sort of white drink. As we had had nothing of this kind at +our repast, I was curious to know what it might be. I knew it could +not be wine, for that is served only in tiny cups, and this was served +in the ordinary-sized eating-bowls. I was much surprised to learn that +this drink was simply hot milk, flavored with almonds, and slightly +sweetened, a drink of which the Manchus are very fond, and which is +a special mark of Imperial favor, given only on great occasions. The +gentlemen raised their bowls to their lips with both hands and drank it +off with great ceremony, as if it were a sacred beverage, and seemed, +in drinking it thus, to pledge the Emperor’s Health and Happiness.</p> + +<p>After the Princes had partaken of these refreshments, and while some +eunuchs were removing the caldrons and dishes, another army of eunuchs +came in, in pairs, each pair carrying between them trays of Imperial +yellow, decorated with the red characters for Longevity. These trays +contained presents from the Emperor to each of the invited guests, for +His Majesty gives as well as receives presents on his Birthday! There +was no difference made in the presents given, each tray being the +exact counterpart of every other. Each contained a pair of porcelain +vases from the Imperial Potteries, a bronze Incense-burner, a scroll +with a quotation from the classics or an aphorism of Confucius written +thereon. The scrolls were inclosed in silken covers, tied with the +Imperial colors. There was also a jade “ruyie” in each tray, such as +had been handed the Emperor at the morning ceremony, + +<span class="pagenum">84</span> + +and an Archer’s ring. After the contents of the trays had been +delivered to each gentleman present, and the empty trays borne away by +the Palace eunuchs, the dividing screen was again placed between the +visiting Princes and Their Majesties, and the young Empress and Ladies +went out of their loge to the verandah once more, and the theatrical +performance again went on. In fact, it had been going on throughout our +luncheon and the subsequent entertainment of the Princes, but we had +paid no attention to it.</p> + +<p>At four o’clock there was the grand “finale.” The three superposed +stages were occupied by all the gorgeously attired actors, and another +Hymn of praise to the Emperor was intoned. He was extolled as the Son +of Heaven and representative on earth of Buddha, and other extravagant +wishes for “ten thousand years” of happiness were made. When this +Hymn was finished, the floats, which we had seen the day before +behind the scenes, came out in procession. These floats represented +mythical animals, Buddhas, fairies, and personifications of the higher +attributes. There were gigantic fruits which opened, disclosing figures +representing eternal beauty, perfect happiness, and serene old age. +Prominent among the gigantic fruits was the peach, the emblem of +Longevity. Last of all, in this curious procession, came the Imperial +Dragon, of huge proportions. Its contortions, as it struggled for the +Flaming Pearl, emblematic of the unattainable, were most curious. All +these figures made their obeisances to Their Majesties and the Empress. +They were accompanied by splendidly clothed + +<span class="pagenum">85</span> + +warriors, heralds, princes, and many gorgeously attired attendants, +bearing banners and escutcheons. After the procession had made the +tour several times, the dragon stopped with his huge head in the +middle of the stage, made an obeisance to His Majesty, then raised it +with a mighty roar and spouted forth—a copious shower of fresh spring +water, which sprinkled the whole flower-filled court! The Empress and +Princesses were all in the secret and knew what was coming, but they +kept it from me, and much enjoyed my start of surprise as some of the +spray fell upon me, as I had advanced to the very edge of the verandah +in order to miss nothing.</p> + +<p>When all was finished, the screen was again removed and the great +glass doors of the Imperial loge were thrown open, so that Her Majesty +and the Emperor could be seen. The visiting Princes and Nobles came +forward from their places and knelt in a body, though still observing +the laws of precedence as to their ranks. They knelt three times, and +bowed their heads to the ground nine times to thank Their Majesties for +the entertainment they had received. To receive these prostrations from +the Princes, the Emperor and Empress Dowager assumed their Buddha-like +poses and acknowledged the genuflexions by a formal inclination of +their heads. When the Princes had retired, the actors, clothed in +their usual garments, came to the front of the stage and knelt and +“kow-towed,” but Their Majesties did not return this salutation.</p> + +<p>When the Princes and players had left and the Imperial party was +alone, cushions were brought into + +<span class="pagenum">86</span> + +the middle of the court, the Emperor and Empress and secondary wife +knelt thereon, while their “Great Ancestress,” the Empress Dowager, +preceded by acolytes, swinging golden incense-burners which gave forth +azure clouds of perfumed smoke, came down the steps to the weird +accompaniment of the flutes and cymbals playing the “Imperial Hymn.” +The Emperor and Empress knelt to do Her Majesty homage, as the greatest +living member of their Ancestors. When she reached them, they arose +and followed her, and the three moved along in stately procession to +the slow beating of the cymbals, followed by the Princesses and Ladies +and all the attendant eunuchs. The subtle perfume of the incense, +the stately rhythm, the splendid costumes, the flashing jewels and +brilliant colors, made a magnificent picture never to be forgotten. +The Imperial procession moved through several sunlit courts until +it finally came to the entrance of the Sacred Hall, containing the +Ancestral tablets; here the Empress Dowager stopped at the threshold +until His Majesty and the young Empress had passed within, to complete +the ceremonies of the day by worshiping and kneeling together before +the tablets of their Ancestors. The music ceased. The ceremony was +finished. His Majesty the Emperor Kwang-Hsu had accomplished another +year.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">87</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X"> + CHAPTER X + <span class="small-text"> + PEKING—THE SEA PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Autumnal Sacrifices to his Ancestors and His Majesty’s +consequent three days’ abstinence, to prepare for them, put a stop to +further festivities after the Birthday, which would have otherwise +continued for several days longer. The day after the Birthday was a +quiet one at the Palace. Her Majesty was feeling tired and did not care +to pose, after the Audience in the morning. The visiting Princesses +and Ladies were preparing to leave the Palace; the eunuchs and Her +Majesty’s maids were bustling around, preparing for the moving of the +Court to Peking, for Her Majesty and the Court, as well as the Emperor, +were to go into one of the City Palaces the following day. Her Majesty +ordered luncheon to be served in one of the beautiful summer-houses in +the gardens, about a mile from the Palace, for she said a change would +be good for all.</p> + +<p>This summer-house, or rather Palace, situated on a hill overlooking +the lake, was one of Her Majesty’s favorite resorts. She often went +to it, after a tiring Audience, and spent the rest of the day there, +lunching and dining, and even taking her siesta there. Whenever she +went to any of these Palaces inside the + +<span class="pagenum">88</span> + +inclosure, she always invited all the Ladies of the Court to accompany +her. It made a change in the monotony of their lives. This Palace +was very luxuriously fitted up, and contained a splendid library, +with thousands of volumes of the classics and Her Majesty’s favorite +authors. The view from its broad verandahs and fair marble terraces was +one of the finest, even of the many beautiful ones, in the grounds. +We lunched on the wide verandah and drank in the beauty of the scene. +No wonder Her Majesty loved this spot! Beneath lay the beautiful +grounds of the Summer Palace, with its calm lake and winding streams. +On an eminence beyond, the graceful seven-storied pagoda that forms +so characteristic a feature in all the views of the Summer Palace, +proudly reared its stately height. On the right lay the temple-crowned +hills, the upturned roofs of their buildings nestling on their slopes +like a flight of gigantic gaily-hued birds, with wings outspread. In +the distance, beyond a soft gray undulating landscape, with fields of +brilliant green here and there, lay Peking, with its walls and towers, +enveloped in a golden haze.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/88a.jpg" width="1200" + height="924" alt="The American Legation in Peking" id="88a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + AT THE AMERICAN LEGATION, PEKING</p> + +<p>After luncheon and the siesta, Her Majesty called me up and said +she was to go into Peking on the morrow, and asked whether I wished +the portrait to be taken in for the three days the Court was to remain +in the City. She said she would be much occupied with ceremonies and +sacrifices, and there would be but little time for painting, but if I +wished to work she might be able to give me a short sitting! I told her +I did not care to have the portrait taken + +<span class="pagenum">89</span> + +into the City, for I knew it would not be possible to get a room with +the same light as that in which I had begun the picture. When she +found I did not care to paint in Peking, she suggested that I go to +the United States Legation and spend the time of the Court’s sojourn +at the Sea Palace. It had been more than two weeks since I had seen +Mrs. Conger, or been in the Legation quarter, and I was delighted at +Her Majesty’s kind forethought in allowing me to spend these days at +the Legation. She, however, suggested that, as I had not seen the Sea +Palace, where the Court was to go, I might enjoy coming there for the +day—and spending some of the time in seeing the Palace and grounds. She +knew how I enjoyed seeing these beautiful Palaces, and this was another +proof of her consideration. She said she would be much occupied with +the ceremonies, but that she would map out a nice day for me, and would +herself take me for a walk! She added, “This will give you a chance +to study me, so your time will not be entirely spent in vain.” She +said we would resume the portrait on the Court’s return to the Summer +Palace.</p> + +<p>After our return to her Throne-room, and when we had finished +dinner, she told me I had better go into the room where the portrait +and my materials were kept, when I was not working on it, and said I +had better overlook its being put away myself. She followed me into +the room, and herself aided and directed the arrangement of things. +She ordered the “sacred picture” (for this is what the Chinese call a +likeness of a reigning Emperor or Empress) to be attached to the wall +with yellow cords and covered with a transparent + +<span class="pagenum">90</span> + +yellow silk, box-like screen, which had been especially made to protect +it from dust. The portrait was treated, from its very beginning, as an +almost sacred object, with the respect a reverent officiant accords +the Holy Vessels of the Church. Even my painting materials seemed to +be invested with a sort of semi-sacred quality. When Her Majesty felt +fatigued, and indicated that the sittings were finished, my brushes and +palette were taken by the eunuch from my hands, the portrait removed +from the easel and reverently consigned to the room that had been set +aside for it.</p> + +<p>The next morning early, I preceded the Court into Peking and went +directly to the United States Legation, where I was warmly welcomed +by my kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Conger. The United States Legation +occupied, at this time, a Chinese temple near the “Water Gate.” This +building had been given to the United States Government by the Chinese +after the Boxer rebellion, and was occupied temporarily by the Minister +of the United States during the construction of the new Legation on +Legation Street. The temple had been transformed into a comfortable +American dwelling-place—its Chinese individuality having been preserved +wherever possible, consistent with comfort. The shaded court, filled +with beautiful, growing flowers (many of them gifts from the Empress +Dowager to Mrs. Conger), was a charming spot. While distinctly American +as to its artistic comfort and furniture, the interior construction and +decoration of the drawing-room were purely Chinese, which gave a touch +of Oriental + +<span class="pagenum">91</span> + +“couleur locale” to this pleasant haven of American hospitality, where +Mr. and Mrs. Conger dispensed their kindly favors.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Conger, by her own individual initiative, has done much to +bring about a friendly social feeling between the Chinese and foreign +ladies. It was she who first thought of entertaining the Princesses and +Ladies of the Court in her own home; and the United States Legation +was the first of the Legations in Peking to issue an invitation to the +Ladies of the Court, or to entertain them. It is the first Legation to +entertain other Chinese ladies, wives of officials or of the gentry. +Several other Legations have since entertained the Ladies of the Court, +but in doing so they were only following Mrs. Conger’s initiative. +While doing so much to bring about friendly social relations with the +Chinese, Mr. and Mrs. Conger receive all Americans, regardless of their +importance or social position, with a kind cordiality. I was delighted +to be in their charming family circle once more. I found my room at the +Legation, with its sweet touches of homeliness, a delightful haven, and +my visits to the Legation seemed always like going home.</p> + +<p>The next morning at seven, a green official chair with its +bearers came to take me to the Sea Palace. I was first carried to +the Hsien-Liang-Hsu, the “Temple of the loyal and virtuous,” where +Li-Hung-Chang formerly had his home in Peking, and a part of which the +Yu-Kengs had arranged for their home after their return from their +mission at Paris, their own semi-foreign house having been destroyed by +the Boxers. + +<span class="pagenum">92</span> + +At the Hsien-Liang-Hsu I was joined by the Ladies Yu-Keng, and we +continued on to the Sea Palace. Our chairs, with their bearers, were +preceded and followed by mounted attendants.</p> + +<p>The Sea Palace is a comparatively new Palace, most of it having +been built within the last fifty years. Our chairs were met at the +northern entrance by the same eunuchs who had been set aside for our +service at the Summer Palace. They led us to the boats in waiting to +carry us across the lake, to the buildings occupied by Her Majesty +and the Court. These boats were of the houseboat variety, with an +inclosed cabin forming the center, and a platform running all around, +on which the rowers walked up and down propelling it. The interior +was carpeted, with a cushioned lounge, tea-tables, and chairs. The +eunuchs and attendants sat outside on the prow. It takes twenty minutes +to row across the lake in one of these boats, but the movement is +delightful. When we reached the other side, we landed and went through +several courts to that of one of Her Majesty’s private chapels. She, +herself, had just been making an offering here, and was coming out, +preceded by acolytes swinging incense-burners, the musicians playing +the “Imperial Hymn.” When she saw us, Her Majesty called us to her +side, asked if I had had a good trip into Peking, and how Mrs. Conger +was. She then ordered the eunuchs to show us our apartments. We were +led through corridors and courts to a charming pavilion which was to +be our resting-place while at the Sea Palace. It had exquisitely and +elaborately carved woodwork arches with heavy satin curtains, which + +<span class="pagenum">93</span> + +divided it into five rooms. After we had rested a few moments here, we +returned to the Throne-room. Her Majesty told me she had arranged for +me to go out in one of the boats, and that I was to be shown all that I +cared to see, or at least as much as I could see in that day. A eunuch +standing near her held a number of strips of embroidery in his hand. +They were embroidered head-dresses, which are placed upon the heads +of the Buddhas during the great ceremonies in the Palace temples. She +explained their use to me and then dismissed us, and we went out to the +landing-place on the lake.</p> + +<p>A number of boats lay at the foot of the steps—among them a charming +open barge with blue silken awnings. As I had not been in a boat of +this kind before, and as I was told to choose, I selected it for our +row; and we started off, followed by several other boats carrying +eunuchs and refreshments, with the necessary utensils for serving +them. Our head eunuch, one of the six highest in the Palace, who had +been appointed to look after me and the “sacred picture,” was very +intelligent, an enlightened lover of Chinese art, and a great collector +of old Chinese paintings and curios. He had been, in his youth, one of +Her Majesty’s favorite players, was said to have great dramatic talent, +and, when he was younger, had a fine voice for singing. Memory is among +the most esteemed of the intellectual faculties by the Chinese and +reaches a high state of cultivation with<a href="#a94" id="b94"> +them. </a> Many of the eunuchs can repeat whole pages from the classics, +and some are accomplished literati. This eunuch had a good speaking +voice, and recited poems + +<span class="pagenum">94</span> + +and told stories in a charming way. As we were rowed along, he stood at +the prow and recited verse after verse of classic lore and told stories +of the heroic times. He intoned them like a recitative—the rhythm so +perfectly observed, the intoning so musical, it was a pleasure to +listen to him, though I could not understand.</p> + +<p>I lay back among the cushions, as we glided softly along, past +beautiful pavilions, with splendid trees overhanging the lake and +lovely flowers growing wherever there was a place to plant them. The +tall figure of the splendidly attired eunuch, standing in the prow, +repeating, with rhythmic cadence, poems and stories, gave one the +illusion and charm of the “Arabian Nights,” which I had fed upon in my +childhood, and which I seemed to be living through to-day.</p> + +<p>We soon came to a tiny islet in the lake, with a sort of open temple +built over a black marble tablet which bore an incised inscription. +I asked to land and examine it, and San-Gunia, the eldest of Lady +Yu-Keng’s daughters, a remarkably clever girl and well posted in +Chinese literature, translated the characters. The inscription was a +poem, a tribute to the Great Father who had graciously placed there +this island, which “by night was bathed in the glory of the Moon and +Sun-kissed by day, while the crystal waters of the lake formed a +brilliant necklace on its breast.”</p> + +<p>Beyond the island I saw a temple. There was no landing-place, and +the temple was under repair. The head eunuch, however, seeing how much +I wished to go up, had the boat draw near and steps brought, up which +we clambered, as best we could.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">95</span> +This was one of the temples so ruthlessly destroyed and +unnecessarily desecrated by the Allies during their occupation of +Peking. We passed through the vegetable garden of the monks—all shorn +of its glory, but where a few vegetables and flowers still grew—and we +went on through a beautiful grove of arbor-vitæ, with centuries-old +trees, planted in the form of a cross, and came into the court of +the temple. Even in its dilapidated state, with the workmen still in +it, it was beautiful, and before it was so injured it must have been +a splendid example of Chinese temple architecture. The cells of the +lama monks were now unoccupied, and there were no officiating priests. +Workmen were repairing and regilding the Great Buddha, and most of the +effigies of the saints and images of the personified attributes were +standing in dejected rows in the corridors awaiting the completion of +their niches and chapels. The interior, of splendid proportions, glowed +in beautiful somber colors. The carved wood ceilings were in <a +href="#a95" id="b95">pendentive</a> designs, recalling those I had +seen in the Alhambra; but the painting, in primary colors, of this +elaborately carved ceiling gave it a greater richness of coloring and +lent to the interior a warmer, deeper harmony than the white Moorish +designs. The chapels behind the high altar were separated from the +main temple and from each other by beautifully carved wooden screens, +with rich brocaded silk of brilliant green (the color of Buddha), +stretched behind the open-work and showing through the interstices of +the carving. These chapels are for the Sacred writings and for the +vestments of the priests, and are also used for robing- and + +<span class="pagenum">96</span> + +retiring-rooms for the officiants. They correspond to the sacristies of +the Catholic Churches in Europe.</p> + +<p>The space behind the altar was of apse-like form, and opened upon a +semi-circular marble terrace, thirty feet high, with a balustrade of +the conventionalized lotus design so dear to the Chinese architects. +From this terrace we had a beautiful view of the Coal Hill, surmounted +by the curious Dagoba, so well known in all views of the Imperial City, +as well as of the belvedere that marks the spot where the last Emperor +of the Mings committed suicide when he was conquered. At the two +extremities of the terrace were charming octagonal summer-houses, where +the priests could go for rest and contemplation, and, while murmuring +their prayers, could feast their eyes upon a charming view. After a few +moments on the terrace, enjoying the beautiful view, we passed through +the cells of the monks, which were large and comfortable, and, finally, +out again into the sun-flecked shade of the marble-paved court, where +we sat under low-hanging boughs of a splendid elm, and the eunuchs +brought out tables and served us with tea and refreshments.</p> + +<p>Then we took the boats and were rowed on further, till we came +beneath a steep battlemented wall, surmounted by the rich green of +arbor-vitæ trees. I was surprised to learn that this was another +temple, for it looked more like an old feudal castle than a peaceful +temple to the mild Buddha. We landed at the foot of the beautiful white +Marble Bridge that spans the narrow northern portion of the lake, just +under the + +<span class="pagenum">97</span> + +stone wall on which the temple was built. We were carried up the steep, +winding incline in our chairs. It was a most picturesque approach, and +when we reached the top, with the beautiful temple lying peacefully on +these martial heights, we found it well worth the climb.</p> + +<p>There was a grove of arbor-vitæ trees leading to this temple. These +trees seem to be sacred to the temples and burial-places in China, for +all I ever visited in China were either built in a grove of arbor-vitæ, +or had some of these evergreens growing near. Did the Greeks get their +idea and name of the ever-living tree from the Chinese, who regard the +arbor-vitæ as the tree of life and emblem of Immortality? This temple +has a great Buddha of white jade, with jeweled stole and cuffs. Its +expression of placid contemplation and kindly thought is typically +Chinese. When Buddhism was first brought into China from India, the +Buddhas had an Indian type; and not until the religion had taken firm +hold of the people, was its divinity clothed in a Chinese personality, +and a national individuality assumed. The day of our visit, the great +jade Buddha was decked in a mantle of Imperial yellow satin, with a +richly embroidered Manchu hood, such as I had seen that morning in +Her Majesty’s Throne-room, on its head. Tall, lighted candles, fresh +offerings of fruit and flowers, and the smoking censer standing on +the altar, showed there had been services that morning, and added +to the religious atmosphere of the interior. The service had been +a continuation of the commemorative celebrations in honor of the +Emperor’s Birthday and his sacrifice to his Ancestors.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">98</span> +The principal court of this temple is one of the most picturesque +in the Sea Palace, shaded by magnificent cedars and stately elms. In +the center, there was a magnificent cistern of verd-antique, splendidly +carved in dragons. Over this cistern was a marble portico, its columns +supporting a curious concave, copper roof. This roof had been a Palace +“cooking utensil,” that had been used in former times to prepare food +for the poor; hence its extraordinary size. When it was worn out in +this capacity it was used as the interior of the dome over the temple +well, where the poor and weary could come to rest under its shadow +and drink of the water of the well it protected. There were cells and +outhouses for the monks in this temple also. But as we sat in the +shady court, looking across the sunlit lake, the sky became suddenly +overcast, and we took our chairs and hurried down the steep, paved +road that led from the temple to the lake. We did not take the boats +again on reaching the lake, but were carried, in our chairs, across +the beautiful Marble Bridge. Just beyond us, we saw the towers of the +first Catholic Cathedral ever built in Peking. It was built on land +given to the Catholics by the Emperor; but, when finished, its towers +were found to overlook the Palace grounds; so the Cathedral was bought +by the Emperor, and land was given the Mission further on, and another +Cathedral was built. The first Cathedral is now within the Walls of the +Sea Palace, and is visible from every part of the grounds of the two +Peking Palaces. It seems a strange anomaly to see this Christian Church +within the Precincts of the Palace of + +<span class="pagenum">99</span> + +an Oriental potentate, who is one of the representatives on earth of +the “Great Buddha.”</p> + +<p>It began to rain, and the chair-bearers ran along to the Palace +without stopping again, and we were soon called to dinner in the +Throne-room, overlooking the small Theater, for there are two Theaters +in the Sea Palace, one for winter use and one for summer. The latter +is built on piles over the waters of a canal. Building the stage over +water is supposed to give a peculiar musical resonance to the voices of +the actors, softening the sounds and making them more pleasant to the +ear.</p> + +<p>After dinner in the beautiful summer Throne-room, with the rippling +waters just beneath the windows, we made our adieus, first to Her +Majesty and then to the young Empress and Ladies, and went out to be +again rowed over the beautiful lake to the outside gates. The sun was +setting! The arches of the Marble Bridge had become a beautiful, deep +violet hue, and spanned the waters of the lake, now a gleaming mass +of liquid gold. The sky beyond shone through the masses of foliage +with a golden glow, and the towers of the old Cathedral were strongly +silhouetted against this brilliant background. The scene was an ideal +one. A beautiful silence pervaded everything, made the more rhythmic +and intense by the regular movement of the oars in the water. When +we reached the other side of the lake we were conducted to our green +chairs, which were waiting without the gate, and were swiftly carried +back to the Legation.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">100</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI"> + CHAPTER XI + <span class="small-text"> + SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF HER MAJESTY—SECOND VISIT TO THE SEA + PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>I spent the next day at the Legation, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but +I was glad to think that I was to spend the following day at the Palace +again. The study of Her Majesty had now become to me like a thrilling +novel. I could not bear to lay it down; and when I was forced to do +so, I was longing to be able to resume it. She was such a delightful +surprise to me. I had heard and read so much of her, before I went to +the Palace, and nothing that I had heard or read had at all prepared +me for the reality, so charming, so unusual was her personality. Not +charming and interesting by fits and starts, but always so! She was so +considerate and tactful, and seemed so really kind in her relations +with those who surrounded her. I had been now nearly a month in daily +contact with her. I saw her, not only when she sat for the portrait; I +was with her the greater part of the day, and I began to let myself go +in my admiration of her. The days seemed flat and stale when I could +not see her—so full of interest and charm I found her. She was a woman +of such infinite variety! There was always something new and fresh to +study + +<span class="pagenum">101</span> + +in her. She was the very embodiment of the Eternal Feminine. She was +at once a child and a woman with strong, virile qualities. She would +go into the Audience Hall, transact weighty affairs of State for three +hours, and then go for her walks or excursions, and take a childish +interest in the simplest pleasures. She would be seated in one of her +Throne-rooms in trivial conversation with her Ladies, when an Official +Despatch, in its yellow silk case, would be brought in, and presented +by the eunuch on bended knees. Her face would immediately become full +of serious interest; she would bend her brows and become the statesman; +a few moments later, when she had duly considered, and given orders +relative to the despatch, she became again the woman, full of interest +in her flowers, dresses, and jewels.</p> + +<p>A distinguished Frenchman once said of Her Majesty the Empress +Dowager, “C’est le seul homme de la Chine,” and she deserves the +appellation of “man,” if it goes to mean superior intelligence and +executive ability; but it was not the “statesman” that I had the best +opportunity of studying. It was the woman in her private life; and I +had unusual advantages for this study, and the more I saw of her, the +more remarkable I found her! Her favors to the Ladies of the Court were +very impartially distributed. She had her favorites, but she did not +allow them to gain any supremacy over her, nor to warp her judgment. +Although her “entourage” never expressed an opinion contrary to hers, +in her presence, and though she always accepted their <i>expressed</i> +views in the most courteous manner, one could see she was not imposed + +<span class="pagenum">102</span> + +upon, and that she knew, perfectly well, their real opinions, so great +was her natural penetration.</p> + +<p>I was astonished to find in what veneration the Empress Dowager +was really held by the Ladies of the Court and her “entourage.” Her +favorite title, and that by which she has been longest known to the +courtiers, is, “Lao-Fo-yeh,” the “Old Buddha,” which shows that they +invest her with sacred qualities. After her return from Hsi-An Fu, +where the Court went when the allied troops occupied Peking, and where +the sacred Persons of Her Majesty and the Emperor suffered so many +hardships and endured them so bravely, the courtiers gave her another, +a closer and more affectionate appellation, “Lao-Tzu-Tzung” (The Old +Ancestress). This was the title by which she was called in the Palace, +by the Emperor, Empress, and Princesses, and by which she allowed me to +address her.</p> + +<p>On our arrival at the Sea Palace, the day of my second visit there, +after making our bows to Her Majesty, we started, in our chairs, to +the Hall of the Mongolian Princes. This is a magnificent hall in the +northeastern part of the park, some distance away from Her Majesty’s +and the Emperor’s Palaces. It is of one story, as usual, but this +nearly forty feet high. The interior is spacious, with only a few +dragon tables and chairs and no ornaments or other furniture. There +is a raised dais at the back, with several steps leading up to it. +Upon the dais stood a splendid Throne of archaic design, and over the +Throne there are two huge tablets of black marble, with inscriptions in +Chinese and Manchu characters. This + +<span class="pagenum">103</span> + +great hall is used only for receiving the Mongolian Princes on their +annual visit to Peking, when they come in state, with hundreds of +followers and retainers, to pay homage and tribute to the Emperor of +China. The rear of the hall opens on a court surrounded by smaller +buildings, which are used as waiting-rooms for the retainers and +followers of the Princes.</p> + +<p>From this hall we were carried in our chairs along the banks of +the lake, beyond the Marble Bridge to a distant part of the grounds, +where stands the famous Dragon Wall. Most of the Chinese houses have +a sort of stone screen opposite the principal gate of entrance. This +screen, called “A Wall of Respect,” often has some sort of painted or +carved representation of a dragon, which is supposed to chase away +evil spirits. This superstition does not seem to obtain as regards +the residences of the Son of Heaven, for I never saw a dragon wall +built in front of any of the entrances to the buildings in the Palace +inclosures. Perhaps the Son of Heaven is immune from the visit of +demons, or is it that the rampant Double Dragon on everything Imperial +serves as sufficient protection to the Palace? The Dragon Wall, in the +Sea Palace, must have formed a part of some of the outside palaces or +temples which were brought into the sacred inclosure when the Emperor +Hsien-Feng decided to make it a place of residence and enlarge its +domain. Many foreigners in Peking can remember when the beautiful +Marble Bridge, of such noble proportions, of such exquisite design, now +within the Precincts, was used by the public. However it got there, the + +<span class="pagenum">104</span> + +Dragon Wall is at present within the Palace inclosure, though in an +unused part of the grounds—not in front of any “residence,” and hence +not filling its mission as a “Wall of Respect,” to keep the wicked +spirits from crossing the threshold. This Dragon Wall of beautiful +white marble is of great beauty, exquisitely carved in its minutest +details, and fine in general conception and line.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/104a.jpg" width="1200" + height="907" alt="Chinese Architecturre" id="104a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + CHINESE ARCHITECTURE</p> + +<p>Her Majesty had returned from the Audience when we got back to the +Palace from our morning promenade. She was now attending to household +affairs. The eunuchs were bringing up, for her inspection, the baskets +of splendid fruits, which are daily sent into the Palace. Among others, +there was a basket of magnificent grapes. She was delighted with their +beauty, and held up one splendid bunch against the light, before she +tasted them, remarking that “the beautiful color lent an added zest to +the delicious fruit.” Her Majesty then lunched, while we joined the +Empress and Princesses on the verandah, after which we lunched again +in this beautiful Throne-room. The meals taken with the young Empress +and Ladies of the Court had now come to be gay reunions. Her Majesty +would ask us every day to lunch or dine at her table, and I rarely +took a meal in my own quarters. I had discarded the knife and fork +and was learning to use the chop-sticks. I thought them such graceful +implements when wielded by the beautiful hands of the Chinese Ladies, +that I determined to learn their use. Though I never became an adept +with them, I found these dainty implements perfectly adapted for eating +the Chinese food. They are used + +<span class="pagenum">105</span> + +both in the same hand like twin fairy wands, and seemed to me much more +delicate and graceful than a knife and fork. My efforts at using them, +and my desire to try all the new dishes, amused and pleased the Ladies. +Each would give me special tidbits from her favorite dishes; they tried +to teach me the Chinese names of the viands. My efforts at pronouncing +these names, or my giving them to the wrong dishes, sometimes raised +peals of laughter from the whole table. Her Majesty often heard the +merriment, and would ask us, when we went into her private apartments +after the meal, what had been the cause; and sometimes she would +say, “What has ‘Kergunia’<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" +class="fnanchor">[4]</a> said?”</p> + +<p>We had scarcely finished luncheon, on this my second day at the Sea +Palace, before the chairs were ordered for a promenade. It had begun +to rain, and the air was chilly; but Her Majesty had made up her mind +to have a walk at that hour, and nothing ever interfered with her +plans, in so far as she was able to carry them out. No weather, however +disagreeable or severe, ever kept her from an outdoor promenade that +she had planned. The open chairs were brought, as if the day were fine. +Her Majesty and the Empress took their seats in their yellow chairs. +Their attendant eunuchs unfurled the huge yellow umbrellas, used only +for Their Imperial Majesties and the young Empress; the second Empress +took her orange-colored chair; the Princesses and the rest of us seated +ourselves in our red chairs, and our eunuchs raised the red umbrellas +over us. Her Majesty the Empress and Princesses, clothed in the +brilliant colors daily + +<span class="pagenum">106</span> + +worn, the eunuchs still wearing their richly embroidered gala costumes, +the chair-bearers still clad in the festive red, the yellow and red +chairs with the big yellow, orange, and red umbrellas made a quaint +procession, bright with color, that started off through the courts into +the gardens.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty loves every phase of nature and every kind of weather; +but it seemed to me as if she particularly loved rain. She once said +it lent such a poetic charm to the landscape, bathing it in a soft +mystery and washing away all defects. Peking is a dry place, and rain +is a rarity, which probably accounts for this predilection. Her Majesty +was in great good humor, but her partiality for rain was not shared by +the other Ladies of the Palace, and these rainy promenades were never +indulged in by them with any great show of delight. Her Majesty likes +moving swiftly, and the chair-bearers always run when she leads the +procession. We sped along for about fifteen minutes, when the chairs +suddenly stopped. I looked to see for what reason, as we were in the +open, with no shelter anywhere near, and the rain still falling. I was +surprised to see Her Majesty was already out of her chair and walking +off toward a “gourd-arbor” at the side of the paved walk.</p> + +<p>The gourd is much esteemed by the Chinese. It is emblematic +of Fruitfulness and Prosperity, and is a special favorite of Her +Majesty’s. Those cultivated at the Palace, and known all over China +as the “Imperial Gourd,” have long been famous; but have reached a +greater state of perfection than ever before, under the special care +and training given them during + +<span class="pagenum">107</span> + +Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s reign. They are of one shape only, +with a contracted neck and two equal parts above and below; but they +are of all sizes, from one to twelve inches, the one-inch size being as +perfect as the larger ones. They are grown on trellises, about seven +feet high, and the vines are very carefully trained, so that each of +the much-prized fruit may attain its best development and have its +proper quota of light and sun.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty walked through the mud to the arbor. The white kid +six-inch-high soles of her shoes sank deep into the soft, rain-soaked +soil. The eunuchs made vain attempts to protect her from the rain, but +she went imperturbably on and was soon under the gourd-arbor. Here she +leisurely tried several of the gourds, to see if they were properly +ripe; for they must be pulled at a certain time or they do not dry +well. After looking at and trying a number, she had several gathered +and went back to her chair. The young Empress and the other Ladies had, +of course, got out of the chairs when Her Majesty stopped. Luckily, she +did not ask us to go into the arbor with her; but etiquette obliged +us to stand on the marble walk, which though not muddy and not so +disagreeable as the walk to the gourd-arbor, was, however, running with +water. When Her Majesty took her chair again, we resumed ours, with a +sigh of relief; for, though we were unprotected even in the chairs, we +felt the truth of the Oriental saying, “It is better to be sitting than +standing,” etc.</p> + +<p>After another quarter of an hour, the chair-bearers stopped again. +We had come to another gourd-arbor! + +<span class="pagenum">108</span> + +Her Majesty got out of her chair and examined the gourds in this arbor +with the same deliberation and interest as she had looked at those +where we first stopped. The rain was now falling in torrents, but Her +Majesty’s spirits seemed to go up in proportion to its coming down. The +Ladies were again obliged to get out of their chairs! They stood in two +dejected lines, with the eunuchs holding, as best they might, the red +umbrellas over each, and they vainly tried to keep up an appearance of +interest and enjoyment. The brave finery of the eunuchs, who may not +carry umbrellas when on service, was now hanging in limp folds about +them, and their fine feathers were much bedraggled. The Chinese Ladies +had their two-inch-high, kid-covered cork soles to protect their feet +from the water; but mine, in thin kid slippers, were soaking. The +picture of the dejected Ladies, the rain-soaked eunuchs, was, however, +so amusing, that I quite forgot my own discomfort and thoroughly +enjoyed the situation. After another twenty minutes’ run, with the rain +still falling, Her Majesty gave the word and the procession turned +toward the Hall of the Mongolian Princes. The great doors were thrown +open, and we were, at last, under shelter.</p> + +<p>A yellow chair was placed for Her Majesty in front of the dais, +and she had some of the gourds she had gathered brought to her. She +selected one for herself, gave one to her principal Lady-in-waiting, +Sih-Gerga, and handed one to the Chief Eunuch Li—the Princess and the +Chief Eunuch both being proficient in the art of scraping them. A +sharpened piece of + +<span class="pagenum">109</span> + +bamboo was brought to Her Majesty and she began to work on the gourd +she had taken, scraping off the outer skin. She told me to stand near +and watch her scrape it, as it was a very difficult thing to do well! +She certainly did it well, and it was most interesting to watch her +beautiful little hands, as they gracefully moved the piece of bamboo +back and forth, quickly removing the outer skin, in the most approved +way. Though apparently thoroughly interested in scraping her gourd, she +asked me how I had enjoyed my promenade of the day before, and what I +thought of the Sea Palace. She called my attention to the inscriptions +on the tablets behind the Throne, saying they were in Manchu and +Chinese characters, pointing out their difference of form and also +speaking of the differences in the two languages. She said she thought +Manchu would be easier for a foreigner to learn than Chinese, as Manchu +has an alphabet and is constructed more on the lines of a European +language. Presently Her Majesty turned to speak to some one else, and I +immediately withdrew, as is the custom at the Palace. We went out and +joined the Empress and Princesses, who had already retired from the +Throne-room and were having tea and cigarettes reclining on the couches +in one of the rooms in the rear. After an hour’s rest in the Mongolian +Hall, the rain having ceased, we continued our promenade through the +grounds much more pleasantly than we had begun it, and Her Majesty took +me for a walk in the Gardens of the Sea Palace, as she had promised.</p> + +<p>After dinner, we were rowed over the lake to the Gates. + +<span class="pagenum">110</span> + +Just beyond them a company of archers was practising with their +bows and arrows; for archery is still in vogue in China, and fine +marksmanship among the archers is rewarded by substantial advancement +in the army. Archery is also practised as a sport by the young Manchu +nobles. It is said to educate the eye and materially develop the chest +and arms. The Chinese pay great attention to position in archery. They +stand stiffly erect, the chest thrown well forward, the head held high, +the bow and arrow at rigidly prescribed angles; and if this position be +not observed, however true the flight of the arrow, it goes for naught. +From the shelter of my chair, I watched the company’s practice until I +heard the “Sunset call” resounding through the Palace grounds; echoed +and reëchoed until it reached the outer gates, which began to move upon +their huge hinges until they clanged together for the night.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">111</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII"> + CHAPTER XII + <span class="small-text"> + RETURN TO THE SUMMER PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The next day the Court returned to the Summer Palace. The +festivities and sacrifices in connection with the Emperor’s Birthday +being now over and the Court settled down to its usual routine, I hoped +I might be allowed to go regularly to work on the portrait, and that +Her Majesty would allow me to paint when she was not posing. There +was much I could do between times, and she could pose but for a short +time each day. Up to that time, Her Majesty had treated me as a guest +at Court, whose amusement was the most important thing to be looked +after. She seemed much interested in the work, but my painting was an +incident and even the “Sacred Picture” a secondary consideration. All +these walks, these delightful excursions, were perfectly charming, and, +had I gone to the Palace to enjoy myself, or to study Her Majesty and +Chinese manners and customs, I would have been perfectly satisfied. I +had, in the Empress Dowager, a psychological study full of ever varying +and constant interest. I was living through a unique experience, seeing +what I could never hope to see again, but I was not allowed to paint +on the portrait as much as I should have liked. Could I but have had +permission + +<span class="pagenum">112</span> + +to work more, I should have been very happy. Had I been able to speak +Chinese well enough, I felt I would obtain what I desired; she had +shown herself so uniformly kind. She probably felt I was enjoying +myself more in this way than working at my painting.</p> + +<p>While I thoroughly enjoyed the promenades with Her Majesty, I +loved the daily sittings. Every portrait painter knows the sort of +intimacy that establishes itself between him and his sitter, however +unsympathetic the latter may be at first sight, which was certainly +not the case in this instance. The effort of the painter to get under +the exterior and discover the real person of his sitter; the desire +to see the best side and make the most of it, meets generally with a +sympathetic response. If the “rapport” is properly established, they +get to know each other better by the time the portrait is finished than +they could otherwise have done, perhaps in years. Though I saw Her +Majesty so intimately at other times, I felt I was not seeing her “face +to face” (figuratively speaking), except at the sittings.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/112a.jpg" width="1200" + height="906" alt="The road to the Summer Palace" id="112a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + ON THE ROAD FROM PEKING TO THE SUMMER PALACE</p> + +<p>The morning after our return to the Summer Palace, my easel was +again placed in the Throne-room. The portrait was taken down from its +resting-place and work resumed. Her Majesty gave me a long sitting, +and the portrait made a step ahead. If I had only had a place to work +alone, where I might study the picture, when she was not posing, I +could have made so many improvements! But I was obliged to possess my +soul in patience, and work along for the short space of an hour or so a +day and stop the moment + +<span class="pagenum">113</span> + +Her Majesty felt fatigued, when my brushes and palette were whisked +away, as if by magic. There was no chance to study the portrait or +to do anything, except when the Empress Dowager and the crowd of +attendants were present.</p> + +<p>I had taken to the Palace only a small folding easel, which was not +at all suitable for regular work on so large a portrait, but it was +impossible to get a better one in Peking. Her Majesty, who observed +everything, noticed that it was not convenient, and suggested that I +draw a design for a large easel and give it to the Palace carpenters to +copy. She thought they would be able to make me one. I did so, and they +made me a very satisfactory working easel. When the eunuchs found that +this Palace easel suited me, five others of different sizes were made. +I asked for what reason, and was told that everything for Her Majesty +was made in sixes. It would have been establishing a precedent, making +an innovation, to have fewer than six easels for her portrait.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty also ordered some large flat boxes, with lock and key, +to be made for my materials. These boxes were covered in yellow, +for they were to be used for the Sacred Picture, and must be in the +Imperial color. I forgot to say the six easels had all been stained +a bright yellow! A table, surmounted by one of these yellow boxes, +occupied a prominent place in the Throne-room during the whole time +this portrait was being painted. When I finished painting each day, the +Chief Eunuch, himself, removed the picture from the easel, and a number +of others came and took my brushes and palette, put away the easel +and <span class="pagenum">114</span> closed +the yellow box and locked it. Our head eunuch carried the key to the +box.</p> + +<p>When the afternoon sitting was finished, we went out for another +of those delightful promenades around the grounds. The days were now +growing visibly shorter, and the evenings were beginning to be cool. As +we went through the gardens, Her Majesty stopped at all her favorite +points and looked for a few moments at the view, as if to greet it +again, after her absence. She loved the Summer Palace and it always +seemed a pleasure to her to return to it. We had tea in one of the +tea-houses where there were tables and seats. She ordered the eunuchs +to make a sort of blanc-mange of lotus-root flour, which was delicious, +and, as she said, most wholesome. When the Empress Dowager goes for a +walk, portable stoves and all the paraphernalia necessary for cooking a +light repast are taken along. It seemed wonderful to me to see the way +the Chinese could cook, with apparently so few conveniences. After this +we had tea. The finest tea in China is sent to the Palace. The first +leaves of the plantations all over the Great Empire are reserved for +Their Majesties. Her Majesty, who is a great epicure, has her choice +of these chosen leaves. She adds to the delicacy of its already fine +flavor by putting into her tea-cup the blooms of dried honeysuckle, +the flowers of jasmine, or other fragrant blooms. The honey from these +flowers slightly sweetens the tea, besides giving it a delicate, subtle +flavor, quite unique. These dried blooms are brought in a jade bowl, +with two long cherry sticks, with which Her Majesty takes the flowers +and places them in her cup, stirring them + +<span class="pagenum">115</span> + +into the tea with these graceful wands. The Chinese never use a +teaspoon. Her Majesty drinks her tea from a jade cup, which is placed +in a curiously fashioned, cunningly wrought, open-work, silver saucer. +The Chinese take their tea boiling hot, and the jade does not get so +hot as a porcelain cup.</p> + +<p>We continued our walk through the gardens after leaving the +tea-house, and when we were passing a bed of flowers Her Majesty +spied some curious grass, which she ordered the eunuchs to gather. +When it was brought to her she deftly wove several blades of it into +a perfectly recognizable representation of a rabbit. She did it so +quickly I did not realize she was trying to make anything until she +tossed the finished result over to me and asked me what I thought it +was. It was unmistakable.</p> + +<p>When we reached our objective point, one of the highest eminences in +the grounds, with the whole panorama of the Western Hills spread out +beneath us, and the setting sun glowing over all in brilliant splendor, +it was a glorious scene. She called me up to her side and made a +graceful, sweeping gesture of the hand that said, “This is all mine, +but you may share it with me.” She had that sense of possession of +nature’s beauties which all artistic souls feel, for their appreciation +makes what they view their own. She felt it was hers, because she loved +it so, and she knew I would appreciate it, which few of her “entourage” +did, as none of them were such passionate lovers of nature as the +Empress Dowager, and custom had dulled their perception of the beauty +of the scene. The exquisite pleasure the contemplation of this glorious +view gave me, made me tremble + +<span class="pagenum">116</span> + +with delight. As the day was fading and as I was thinly clad, Her +Majesty thought I was cold, and, seeing I had no wrap, she called to +the Chief Eunuch to bring me one of hers. He selected one from the +number that were always brought along for these promenades, and gave it +to Her Majesty, who threw it over my shoulders. She asked me to keep it +and to try to remember to take better care of myself in the future.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">117</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII"> + CHAPTER XIII + <span class="small-text"> + THE STEAM-LAUNCH—SEMI-ANNUAL SACRIFICES TO CONFUCIUS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>We began now to go out on the lake in the steam-launches, instead +of the picturesque Imperial barge. The Empress Dowager is artistic +and conservative enough to like the old-fashioned barge; but she is +also intelligent enough to appreciate the advantages of other modes of +locomotion, and has no prejudices; in fact, she rather likes trying +new things. When the days were long, the air soft, and the bosom of +the lake engirdled with its chain of blooming lotus, she preferred the +barge; but when the shorter and cooler days came, when the lotus were +no longer in bloom, she ordered the steam-launch for our promenades. +She seemed now to like its swift and noisy progress as much as she had +before enjoyed the softly gliding motion of the barge. Her Throne on +the launch was on the prow, just outside and above the cabin, where the +Princesses and Ladies sat. Her Majesty always wanted the fresh air and +the view, and never went inside. The young Empress and the Ladies sat +within the luxuriously fitted up cabin with its lounges and tables.</p> + +<p>The first day we went out in the launch the engineer + +<span class="pagenum">118</span> + +seemed not to have it quite under control, and we soon ran aground in +a field of water-plants near the island. There was great consternation +among the eunuchs when it was found the launch could not advance, even +by putting on full steam. The engineer didn’t seem to know what to +do. Her Majesty ordered the engines reversed, and this was tried, but +it was some time before the launch moved. The Princesses and eunuchs +became quite excited, but Her Majesty was perfectly unconcerned, and +laughed at their fears for her safety. She said it would be no great +matter for her to walk over to the island. It would only mean one pair +of shoes the less! When the launch finally moved, the Chief Eunuch, +not wishing to run the risk of another mishap, wanted to give word to +the engineer to return; but Her Majesty would not hear of this, and +insisted upon completing the excursion as she had at first planned it. +We had several other mishaps, and the launch finally ran aground; and +no effort of the engineers, no putting on of extra steam, was able to +get us off again. Her Majesty kept her good humor, ordered her barge +brought alongside, and we were all “transshipped.” We finished our tour +on the lake as she had planned it, but in the barge instead of the +launch. She is too intelligent not to use any means at hand to attain +her ends, and she is intelligent enough to see that these ends can be +attained, by some means or other, before she fixes upon them.</p> + +<p>The Emperor of China, with the usual Chinese tolerance,—and the +Chinese are the most tolerant people in the world as to religious +faith,—is not only + +<span class="pagenum">119</span> + +the head of one church, but of all the churches in China. He is, +as Emperor, the Great High Priest of Heaven, the High Priest of +Buddhism and Taoism, and is, of course, a Confucian; though this is +a philosophy rather than a religion. But though a philosophy, there +are certain rites and ceremonies observed by the Confucians. All the +great ceremonies of the different cults are celebrated in the Palace +temples with rigid impartiality and equal pomp. Whatever may be the +individual leanings of the Emperor, and, of course, he must have his +own preferences, he participates in each of these celebrations. But +his official, public exercise of religion, is limited to the worship +of Heaven and Earth, to which he makes annual public sacrifices in the +Great Temple of Heaven at Peking.</p> + +<p>The afternoon of our first steam-launch excursion, finished in +Her Majesty’s barge, there was a splendid ceremony in the chapel at +the foot of the hill crowned with the Temple of the Ten Thousand +Buddhas, to the memory of Confucius, the great Sage, whose philosophy +has directed the lives and laws of the Chinese people for nearly +twenty-five hundred years. Though a philosopher like Plato, he is +appreciated and his teachings followed by the masses, as well as the +classes, in China. He is not a religious leader but an ethical teacher, +and though many temples have been erected to his memory, they are like +Halls of Science and not temples to a divinity. There are no images +either of Confucius or the Sages in these temples. They are classic +halls, bare of all church-like ornamentation. Quotations from the +“analects,” painted on scrolls, + +<span class="pagenum">120</span> + +cut into wood, and carved out of stone, adorn the walls, not only of +the interiors of the temples, but of the courts and verandahs of the +buildings. At the place where the altar would be in a temple, there +is a plain niche, painted in red with a tablet bearing an inscription +in gold, “The Seat of the Perfect One.” On either side are similar +niches, containing the tablets of four other great Sages, among whom +was Mencius. These semi-annual sacrifices are in commemoration of +Confucius as an ethical teacher, a wise philosopher, a Sage. At this +service in the Palace, the participants and celebrants were all in full +Court dress. There was an address to the memory of the great Sage, with +music and hymns; the latter were rhythmic verses, containing some truth +inculcated by the Sage. There was an altar with a dragon table in front +for offerings. There were sacrifices, incense, and music. The altar was +rich with splendid vases, rare old bronze bowls, and incense-burners, +and sweet with flowers and fruit. On the dragon table, which stood in +front, were offerings of millet, meat, and wine. Tall cressets of open +iron-work containing huge, burning pine-knots were placed in front of +the raised platform, on which stood the altar, which was beautifully +illuminated with tall candles in square, silver candelabra. The court +in front of this temple, as well as the surrounding buildings, were +hung with charming painted lanterns.</p> + +<p>Their Majesties, with the Empress and Ladies, preceded and +surrounded by eunuchs and officials, in full Court dress, went in +ceremonious procession through the verandahed corridors, from Her +Majesty’s Throne-room + +<span class="pagenum">121</span> + +to the temple. Their approach was accompanied by the slow beating +of drums. When they reached the temple, three yellow cushions were +placed on the paved floor for Their Majesties and the Empress, and red +cushions for the Ladies. The music was played in rhythmic strains, +while Their Majesties knelt and prostrated themselves three times; the +Empress and Ladies doing likewise. The officials and other participants +knelt outside in the court. When the prostrations were finished, a +yellow chair was brought for the Empress Dowager. She sat during the +rest of the service, but the Emperor, the Empress, and Ladies remained +standing during the whole celebration. This consisted of a number of +genuflexions and prostrations by the celebrants, and a moving about +of the offerings on the dragon table in a ceremonious and reverent +manner. The chief officiant read the address from a long scroll. After +finishing it, he placed it on a casket on the altar. The first part +of the ceremony took place inside the temple, then the celebrants +went out into the court and intoned the six hymns and made renewed +prostrations. I was not able to understand enough of the hymns, or to +get them sufficiently translated to make out their meaning. They were +all of uniform length. They were in praise of Confucius and were called +“Odes to Peace.” When all the verses were intoned, the scroll with the +address, some of each of the offerings, were placed in the huge iron +incense-burner, that stood in the center of the outer court, and set on +fire by the chief celebrant, while one of the several flagons of wine +that had made part of the offerings was poured over the blaze.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">122</span> + +<p>I had not expected to enter the temple with Their Majesties and the +Ladies, but when we reached the door, the Empress drew me in with her. +They seemed to realize that I enjoyed seeing these celebrations and to +perfectly understand my not taking any active part in them. I always +remained standing, but I listened reverently to the intoning of the +hymns and the reading of the address. I conducted myself as I would at +any religious ceremony, and they seemed to appreciate it.</p> + +<p>When all was finished, Her Majesty told me to go up to the altar +and examine the rare, old, bronze ornaments, the candelabra, etc. They +explained to me that the address, which had been read, was burned, +as it had filled its mission when it was read; that the ashes of a +literary essay were a most fitting offering to the memory of Confucius, +the great philosopher. When all was over, Their Majesties ordered the +boats to come to the foot of the terrace, where the last part of the +celebration had been made, and we returned to the Palace by way of the +lake.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">123</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV"> + CHAPTER XIV + <span class="small-text"> + THE PALACE EUNUCHS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The internal affairs of the Palace are managed by eunuchs, among +whom there are all grades, all sorts and conditions. Some are clever +literati given to study; some have the polished, insinuating manners +of the courtier; some have a Mandarin rank of high degree; some are +menials. There are actors and singers, cooks and gardeners, teachers +and pupils, writers and readers. They occupy all sorts of positions, +from Their Majesties’ body-guard to gate-keepers. In this hierarchy, +Their Majesties’ Chief Eunuchs held the first place. Under each of +these there are six eunuchs of high rank, all exceptionally clever, who +have raised themselves to the positions they occupy in the Palace by +their own efforts or by some special qualification.</p> + +<p>Each of the hundreds of pavilions and palaces in the inclosures has +a corps of eunuchs, presided over by a head eunuch. These act as guards +to the premises, as well as servants, and keep things in readiness for +a visit from Their Majesties. There is a head eunuch who directs the +large corps of Palace gardeners; another who presides over the dozens +of cooks in the Imperial kitchen; one is at the head of each of + +<span class="pagenum">124</span> + +the departments, and each of these head eunuchs, chiefs of the +different departments, is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Eunuch, +for Her Majesty’s Chief Eunuch may be called the real Chief Eunuch +of the Palace. He is not only older than the Emperor’s Chief Eunuch, +but is more capable. The two Chief Eunuchs, from their position near +the sacred persons of Their Majesties, have unusual power. They may +make or mar the career of the eunuchs beneath them; and they not only +have this power inside the Palace, but from their exceptionally fine +opportunities to present petitions, to speak for or against certain +people, they also have a great deal of power with people outside the +Palace. Her Majesty’s Chief Eunuch has almost the power in Peking, +among officials and courtiers, that “Son Eminence Grise” had at the +Court of Louis XIII of France. He is courted and fawned upon, receives +magnificent presents, and nobles of high degree wait upon his pleasure; +but while he occupies this high position with outsiders, in the Palace +I saw no evidence of his having any unusual power with Her Majesty, +beyond that of one who has been in the life-long service of his master +and who has the privileges resulting therefrom.</p> + +<p>The peculiar position of a Chinese Emperor, which shuts him in his +Palace like a Buddha in a temple, makes some sort of confidential +private messenger an absolute necessity. There is much business of an +unofficial kind, which must be transacted in a private way. The Chief +Eunuchs are naturally called upon in such cases. When the Ruler of the +Celestial Empire + +<span class="pagenum">125</span> + +is a woman, the Palace becomes more of a gilded prison, a shut-in +shrine, than even in the case of an Emperor. She cannot see officials, +or even members of the Imperial clan, except in the Audience Halls. +Thus a Chief Eunuch under an Empress would have even greater power than +under an Emperor; and in this instance, Her Majesty’s Chief Eunuch, Li +Lien Ying, is really of exceptional ability!</p> + +<p>In person he is tall and thin. His head is, in type, like +Savonarola’s. He has a Roman nose, a massive lean jaw, a protruding +lower lip, and very shrewd eyes, full of intelligence, that shine +out of sunken orbits. His face is much wrinkled and his skin like +old parchment. Though only sixty years old, he looks seventy-five, +and is the oldest eunuch in the Palace. He has been there since the +age of ten. He has elegant, insinuating manners, speaks excellent +Chinese—having a fine enunciation, a good choice of words, and a low, +pleasant voice. If one may judge from appearances, he possesses ability +in a marked degree. Of His Majesty’s Chief Eunuch I can say nothing. +I only saw him on the days of the Theater, or some festival, when His +Majesty passed the day with the Empress Dowager and the Ladies, when he +was always accompanied by his suite.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty’s second eunuch, Sui, who is of equal rank with +Li Lien Ying, is as unlike him as two people could possibly be, +both as to person, character, mental and moral nature. This one +has none of the qualities of the intriguer—no <a href="#a125" +id="b125">Machiavellian</a> schemes would be forwarded by him. He is +almost a giant in size, tall and heavy. He is forty-six years old, and + +<span class="pagenum">126</span> + +has a round, full face, without a line—a typical Chinese face, as +we know it from pictures, benevolent and kind. He, also, is a good +Chinese scholar, and, of course, speaks it elegantly. Her Majesty will +have no one around her person who does not speak it well. If it be +true that Her Majesty, in choosing her ministers, tries to have them +the opposites of each other, so that she may thus hear the different +sides of a question and arrive at more just conclusions, her two Chief +Eunuchs seem to have been chosen in the same way.</p> + +<p>There is a eunuch appointed to administer the punishment, ordered by +Their Majesties for the eunuchs around their persons. For the higher +eunuchs, this is generally the deprivation of a certain amount of their +annual wages, or the loss of their buttons, for the buttons on the hats +of Chinese denote their rank, and to be deprived of a button, or to +have one of lower rank given, is considered a disgrace. I once saw Her +Majesty very angry over the failure to carry out one of her orders, by +two of the high eunuchs, and she ordered them to be deprived of two +months’ pay. The head eunuchs of the different departments administer +whatever punishment they see fit, to those over whom they are placed. +This punishment is generally corporal. Sometimes they abuse their +authority and are very cruel in administering this, but, as a rule, the +eunuchs seem to be of a mild and peace-loving nature, rather than cruel +and vindictive—inclined to condone the faults of their inferiors rather +than punish them to the full extent of their authority. There seemed to +be a feeling of “esprit + +<span class="pagenum">127</span> + +de corps” among them—a spirit of mutual helpfulness.</p> + +<p>Each of the higher eunuchs has a number of pupils among the lower +grades, who call him “Master,” and whom he trains in manners and +teaches his own specialties. The higher eunuchs seemed to take the +liveliest interest in the good conduct, and literary, or other, +advancement of these pupils, and they push their interests with Their +Majesties in every way possible—each one, of course, trying to advance +his pupils beyond those of some other eunuch.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty has a great horror of opium smoking. If a eunuch, +however high his position, indulged in it, the severest punishments +she ever ordered were administered. They were not only deprived of so +many months’ pay and loss of their buttons, but were sometimes banished +from the Palace for a certain length of time, and even severe corporal +punishment would be ordered. These stringent measures did not prevent +some of them, however, from indulging surreptitiously in the narcotic, +but they took the most extreme precautions to prevent its being found +out. Her Majesty has unusually acute olfactories, especially for opium. +This, it seems, can be detected by its odor, which hangs around the +clothes, and, like the odor of the rose, one “can break the vase, it +lingers there still.” But it seems the eunuchs have special linen +clothes, which they put on for smoking, and these are given to be +washed, immediately the fascinating pipe is finished. Unless one is an +habitual smoker, the drug has very little outward effect and, except by +the odor, it cannot be detected.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">128</span> +The eunuchs are very fond of all sorts of pets, and have in their +quarters dogs without number, cats and birds. While the younger eunuchs +generally depend for their advancement upon their teachers, who report +favorably on them to Their Majesties, they sometimes attract the +attention of Their Majesties, and may be raised out of their places +by Imperial favor. Among the eunuchs assigned to my service in the +Palace, was one who was fortunate enough to attract the Emperor’s +notice. His Majesty had happened to notice him, carrying my wraps on +one of the promenades with Her Majesty. He liked his face and manners +and took him into his own service. The eunuch had a “button” bestowed +on him and promised to mount very fast in grade. This eunuch had been +in the Palace about fifteen years; and had His Majesty not happened to +notice him, he might have lived and died in oblivion, and never had a +button, for his “master” was dead and he had no protector to push his +interests!</p> + +<p>When one realizes that the Palaces of the Chinese Emperor are like +towns, that their affairs are administered principally by the eunuchs, +one can see there must be a good deal of intelligence among them, as +well as great opportunities to add to their personal wealth.</p> + +<p>I heard, before I went into the Palace, of the great power and +unscrupulousness of the Chief Eunuchs; that it would be necessary to be +very conciliatory toward them and make them many handsome presents. I +did not find it so. I never made an effort to conciliate any of them, +nor gave any handsome presents, + +<span class="pagenum">129</span> + +and I found them all respectful, and I had every consideration shown +me by them, and found them, on the whole, pleasant enough to deal +with. Some of them were clever and interesting even, and they all had +very good manners. In fact, I cannot too highly praise the manners +of the Chinese, as a race. I quite concur in the opinion of a clever +Frenchman, who said of China, “Aujourd’hui c’est là où les bonnes +manières se sont refugiées.”</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">130</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV"> + CHAPTER XV + <span class="small-text"> + THE LITERARY TASTES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + </span> +</h2> + +<p>When Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was Empress of the Western +Palace, Co-Regent with the Empress of the Eastern Palace, who died in +1881, the Empress of the Eastern Palace was known as the “Literary +Empress.” All State affairs were left to the stronger executive ability +of the Empress of the Western Palace; while she of the Eastern Palace +gave herself up to literary pursuits and led the life of a student. She +was a woman of such fine literary ability that she, herself, sometimes +examined the essays of the aspirants for the highest literary honors in +the University of Peking. She was also a writer of distinction.</p> + +<p>During the long Co-Regency of these two remarkable women, widows of +the Emperor Hsien-Feng, one led the life of a student; the other, the +active, militant life of the ruler. For the present Empress Dowager +has been the real ruler of the great Chinese Empire for the last +forty-five years. Had the Empress of the Eastern Palace not been such +an exceptional light as a literary woman and had not Her Majesty, +Tze-Hsi, possessed so many other and more remarkable qualities, + +<span class="pagenum">131</span> + +the latter’s name might also go down to history as a “literary +Empress,” for the Empress Dowager has literary qualities of no mean +kind. She writes a graceful poem, is able to express herself in elegant +Chinese, as well as in the ruder, more forcible Manchu language. She +can write in literary style, fine idiomatic Chinese, and this is a +rare accomplishment for a woman. The written Chinese language is quite +different from that spoken by even the most cultivated. Imagery and +figure abound to such a degree, literary form is so important, that +many fine scholars are unable to write the language acceptably, except +for practical purposes. Aside from Her Majesty’s literary acquirements, +she has an enlightened taste, is a great reader of the classics, and +a fine critic. She also loves poems of heroic adventure. One of her +favorite historical characters is the Chinese Jeanne d’Arc, the warlike +Maiden, Whar-Mou-Lahn, who went forth to battle in masculine guise, had +many heroic adventures in her twelve years’ service, and, through them +all, remained a virgin pure.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager has a wonderful verbal memory. Memory, so highly +esteemed by the Chinese, is most carefully cultivated, and is generally +better developed with them than with us. Her Majesty’s memory is, +however, considered exceptional, even among the Chinese. She can repeat +pages, not only of the classics, but of her favorite authors. One of +the widows of her son (the Emperor Tung-Chih), who came regularly every +week to pay her respects to Her Majesty, is a very clever woman and a +great favorite of her august mother-in-law. This lady also possesses + +<span class="pagenum">132</span> + +a remarkable memory. On her visits to the Palace I used to hear Her +Majesty and this Empress quoting from some of their favorite classics +or poems. The quotations would pass from one to another, sometimes +for a half-hour without stopping, and, at times, they would repeat in +concert some favorite phrase. I will never forget how they looked: Her +Majesty sitting at her Throne-table with her flowers or some light +occupation, her daughter-in-law standing beside her, each of their +faces lighted up with pleasure as they repeated line after line.</p> + +<p>When the Empress Dowager went to her own apartments for her +“siesta,” her reader would come bringing volumes of her favorite +authors. Some days I could hear his voice rising and falling in regular +cadence during the whole time she was resting in her apartments. When +she was particularly interested in what had been read to her she would +have the book taken out when she went for her daily promenade and would +sit and read as she was carried along in her open chair, or was rowed +along on the barge. This did not often happen, however, for she took +such keen delight in all its manifestations, she preferred to read in +Nature’s book when out-of-doors.</p> + +<p>She is a great lover of the theater and prefers the classic, the +old plays, to the modern Chinese drama. She had one new play staged, +while I was in the Palace, with which she seemed to be much pleased. +She studied the play for several days before it was given for the first +time, and, at the first representation, she followed every line with +intense interest. She sent her eunuchs several times to the stage to +suggest + +<span class="pagenum">133</span> + +changes in the rendering of certain parts and in the interpretation of +certain lines. The Theater generally begins with a short play, which +is often a light farce. She seemed sometimes to enjoy these very much +and would laugh heartily at the good hits, which were often original +additions by the actors, allusions to some passing event. Contrary to +my preconceived idea as to the Chinese, they are witty and appreciate +humor in others. The Empress Dowager has a fine sense of humor. She +not only sees the point of a joke, but she can turn one very cleverly +herself.</p> + +<p>She is very particular about the way Chinese is spoken, a great +stickler for purity of expression and elegance of style. There are as +many dialects in China as there are Provinces in the Great Empire; +and although the literati and gentry speak, what is called Mandarin +Chinese, some of the most highly educated of the literati from the +Provinces speak it with an accent. Her Majesty, who has a musical ear +and great discernment as to sounds, gets very impatient when listening +to Chinese spoken with an accent. It is said, other things being +not quite equal, she will give the preference, in an appointment, +to an official who speaks perfect Chinese and who has a good voice, +especially if his office brings him often into the Presence. However, +particular as she is, bad Chinese in a man of merit is not a bar to +advancement, for Li-Hung-Chang, whom she appreciated so highly, and to +whom she gave such preferment, is said to have spoken very indifferent +Chinese.</p> + +<p>Whether it be, that Her Majesty’s musical and exquisitely modulated +voice, so fresh and silvery, so + +<span class="pagenum">134</span> + +youthful, adds to the charm of her Chinese, when she speaks it, it +sounds like beautiful rhythmic poetry. She speaks it so graphically, +with such expression and graceful gestures, that it charms one even who +does not understand the language.</p> + +<p>One day when she was out for a walk, one of the directors of the +gardeners was brought up to explain something to her, some change in +the laying out of new flower beds. She listened a few moments, but +I saw her frown and begin to look impatient. After a few more words +from the poor man, who was evidently overcome by timidity and probably +speaking worse Chinese than usual, Her Majesty turned to the Chief +Eunuch and said, “Let him tell you and you can translate to me; I +can’t stand any more of that language,” and she walked away, still +frowning.</p> + +<p>Another day, I heard the Empress Dowager tell one of the Ladies at +Court (her daughter-in-law), who was also a great purist in the matter +of language, about her own Chinese having been misunderstood by one +of the eunuchs. There are many Chinese words almost exactly alike in +sound, which are only differentiated by the inflection or tone. Thus +there must be great accuracy of enunciation, and there must also be +great accuracy of ear. Her Majesty had given an order to one of the +eunuchs. The stupid fellow had misunderstood the inflection and had +done the exact opposite. She was so amused and astonished, when she +found that <i>her</i> tone had been misunderstood, that she did not +reprove him for his stupidity.</p> + +<p>One day, she corrected one of the Princesses for the pronunciation +of a word, and she said (in an aside) + +<span class="pagenum">135</span> + +it was not strange this Princess did not speak better, for her father’s +Chinese was “execrable,” thus showing that even Princes do not always +speak the language correctly.</p> + +<p>One of the most precious gifts the Empress Dowager makes, and which +is sacredly treasured by its recipients, is a scroll with a single +great character written upon it by Her Majesty’s own hand. This is +considered one of the most difficult feats of a Chinese writer. These +characters are sometimes four feet long. One day we were invited to go +into the Throne-room to see Her Majesty make some of these characters. +When I went into the Great Hall, Her Majesty and the Ladies were +already there. She was stirring a great bowl of India ink, for she +is very particular as to its consistency and fluidity. When the ink +suited her, she took from a eunuch standing near, who held a number, +a huge short-handled brush, which she could hardly clasp in her small +hand. She tried two or three, before she found one that pleased her, +and, turning to me, said, “You see I also have my choice in brushes.” +I asked Lady Yu-Keng to tell her that I thought her large brushes were +more suitable for my hands and that my smaller ones would have been +more appropriate for her. She laughingly replied she preferred the +Chinese brush, and that her hands, small as they were, were able to +wield it very satisfactorily, which was no vain boast.</p> + +<p>When all was ready, and the huge scroll spread out before her on a +table, she dipped her brush into the bowl of ink, held by the eunuch, +and began the first stroke of one of these famous characters, in which + +<span class="pagenum">136</span> + +she is said to equal the most proficient writers in China. I was amazed +to see the firmness of her wrist and the beautiful clearness of her +stroke, which deviated not a hair’s breadth from the line she wished +to follow. She made six great characters on six of the scrolls. These +characters meant “Peace,” “Prosperity,” “Longevity,” etc. When she had +finished these, she said she feared her hand had no longer the firmness +necessary for doing another.</p> + +<p>While she was writing, the young Empress, the Princesses, and the +eunuchs stood around, watching her with intense interest. They seemed +to take great pride in her firmness of touch and her accuracy of +line.</p> + +<p>The Chinese written character must be made in a certain way. It +must begin at a given part. The strokes must follow a given direction. +The transversal strokes must be placed with mathematical precision. +Nothing is left to the caprice or individuality of the writer. Any one, +knowing the Chinese written characters, can tell you whether these +complicated hieroglyphs were begun at the proper place or made in the +proper way. They may look perfectly correct to the uninitiated observer +who has a most accurate eye, and still not be so considered by the +connoisseur.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo x-ebookmaker" src="images/136a.jpg" width="719" + height="1200" alt="The Empress Dowager doing caligraphy" id="136a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + THE EMPRESS DOWAGER WRITING A “GREAT CHARACTER”</p> + +<p>The firmness of Her Majesty’s touch is also very apparent in her +painting, for she is very artistic, and paints flowers in a charming +way; in fact, she is remarkably clever with her fingers. She does not +embroider now, as she formerly did, nor does she paint so much, for she +says her eyes are not so good as they were, though she does not and has +never + +<span class="pagenum">137</span> + +worn glasses. There are a great number of artificial flowers made in +the Palace, as no Manchu lady’s coiffure is considered complete without +flowers. Her Majesty is very particular about the way these flowers are +made, and when they were brought to her for inspection, with a deft +touch she would give a defective flower the required form.</p> + +<p>She often makes new designs for the flowers, having them woven +into quaint figures, or having a number of small blooms made into a +representation of some large flower. She sometimes had her diadem made +of the snowy blooms of the fragrant jasmine, set with leaves and other +small flowers, representing jewels, and she would wear this instead of +her real jewels.</p> + +<p>She is a great believer in one of the rules that Confucius lays +down for the attainment of “Illustrious Virtue”; she “cultivates her +person.” She is always immaculately neat. She designs her own dresses, +and has her jewels set according to her own directions. She is very +artistic in the arrangement of her flowers and jewels, and sees that +they harmonize with her toilet. She has excellent taste in the choice +of colors, and I never saw her with an unbecoming color on, except the +Imperial yellow. This was not becoming, but she was obliged to wear it +on all official occasions. She used to modify it, as much as possible, +by the trimmings, and would sometimes have it so heavily embroidered +that the original color was hardly visible.</p> + +<p>She is a great epicure, and often designs new and dainty dishes. She +has perfumes and soaps for her + +<span class="pagenum">138</span> + +own use, made in the Palace. Although there are quantities of French +and German soaps and perfumes bought for the Palace, she prefers an +almond paste that she has made and often uses the soap made in the +Palace. The maids would make these under her supervision. I have +frequently seen them bring the mortar in which they were stirring +it to Her Majesty, that she might see its progress, and she would +energetically stir it herself. She is also a great lover of perfumes, +and herself combines the oils of different flowers so as to produce +most subtle and delightful perfumes. The Chinese say “colors, odors, +and perfumes are good for the soul.” The Empress Dowager’s soul was +certainly well cared for in this respect.</p> + +<p>The Chinese are so near to nature, so simple in every way, that +their influence over animals and birds is extraordinary, and seems to +us almost magical. They are very fond of all animals, and especially so +of birds. They train and teach these latter in wonderful ways. I have +often seen a Chinese go near a singing bird’s cage and tell it to sing, +and it would pour forth its little heart in melody. Birds never seem +to have any fear of them. In the afternoons, in early spring, or on a +fine day in winter, one may see hundreds of well-dressed and dignified +men each carrying a covered bird cage, taking the birds out for the +air. When they arrive at some open space in the city, or beautiful spot +in the environs, they uncover the cages and hold them aloft, or simply +sit with them on their knees, and the bird will sing as if its little +throat would burst. They have absolutely no fear, and, though caged, +seem to have a perfect + +<span class="pagenum">139</span> + +understanding with their owners and obey their voices. They are often +let out of the cages when taken out for exercise, but they will return +to them at the call of their owners; and these birds are not hatched in +cages—they are taken from the forests and trained.</p> + +<p>Two of the religious precepts of the Chinese—“Hurt no living thing,” +“Protect all living things”—are carried so far, they will allow an +animal to live in misery rather than put him out of it by a speedy +death. They love all animals and fear none. They say if you do not +attack an animal, however dangerous he is, he will not harm you.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager seemed also to possess this almost magical power +over animals. Her dogs never paid the slightest attention but to her +voice, and would obey her slightest gesture; but, fond as she was of +them, she rarely caressed them; and she was so particular about her +hands that, when she did stroke or fondle one of her pets, she would +immediately after have a cloth wrung out of hot water brought to wipe +her fingers. I never saw a dog in her arms but once, and this was a +puppy which she took a fancy to when visiting her kennels one day, and +she brought him back to the Throne-room in her arms and played with him +for some time.</p> + +<p>On one of our promenades in the park I saw a curious instance of her +wonderful personal magnetism and her power over animals. A bird had +escaped from its cage, and some eunuchs were making efforts to catch +it, when Her Majesty and suite came into that part of the grounds. The +eunuchs had found it + +<span class="pagenum">140</span> + +impossible to entice the bird back into its cage; nor would it come +upon a long stick with a perch attached, which they held up near the +tree where it rested. The eunuchs scattered at the approach of Her +Majesty, and she inquired the cause of their being here. The Chief +Eunuch explained what they were doing, and the Empress Dowager said, “I +will call it down.” I thought this was a vain boast, and in my heart I +pitied her. She was so accustomed to have the whole world bow to her, +she fancied even a bird in the grounds would obey her mandates, and I +watched to see how she would take her defeat. She had a long, wand-like +stick, which had been cut from a sapling and freshly stripped of its +bark. She loved the faint forest odor of these freshly cut sticks, +and in the spring often had one when she went out. They were long and +slender, with a crook at the top. I used to think she looked like the +pictures of fairies when she walked with these long, white wands. +She would use them for pointing out a flower she wished the eunuchs +to gather, or for tracing designs on the gravel when she sat down. +To-day she held the wand she carried aloft and made a low, bird-like +sound with her lips, never taking her eyes off the bird. She had the +most musical of voices, and its flute-like sound seemed like a magical +magnet to the bird. He fluttered and began to descend from bough to +bough until he lighted upon the crook of her wand, when she gently +moved her other hand up nearer and nearer, until it finally rested on +her finger!</p> + +<img class="portrait wo x-ebookmaker" src="images/140a.jpg" width="728" + height="1200" alt="The Empress Dowager at the Summer Palace" id="140a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + THE EMPRESS DOWAGER IN THE GARDENS OF THE SUMMER PALACE—CALLING A BIRD +</p> + +<p>I had been watching with breathless attention, and so tense and +absorbed had I become that the sudden <span class="pagenum">141</span> +cessation, when the bird finally came upon her finger, caused me a +throb of almost pain. No one else, however, of her entourage seemed to +think this anything extraordinary. After a few moments she handed the +bird to one of the eunuchs, and we continued on our promenade.</p> + +<p>I saw another instance of her magnetic power, this time with a +katydid. One of the Princesses, seeing one on a bush, tried to catch +it, but in vain. Her Majesty held out her hand toward the beautiful +insect, made a peculiar sound like their own cry, and advanced her +outstretched finger until it rested upon it. She stroked it gently for +a few moments, and then removed her fingers, and the katydid made no +effort to fly until she put it down!</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">142</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI"> + CHAPTER XVI + <span class="small-text"> + THE GREAT AUDIENCE HALL—SOME OFFICIAL CUSTOMS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>When His Majesty the Emperor reigned alone, he was in the habit +of holding his Audiences as early as three o’clock A.M. It is said, +however, that this custom was owing as much to his personal shyness as +to his love of early rising, for at these Audiences he would allow but +two candles on the Throne-table in front of him, and the Great Hall +was lighted elsewhere only by the beautiful Chinese lanterns, which +shine with but a dim brilliancy and are not very effective as lights. +Thus his face could not be seen if an official should so forget the +Proprieties as to raise his eyes to the Imperial Person.</p> + +<p>Their Majesties’ Audiences are held in the Great Audience Hall, a +detached building apart and quite distinct from all the other buildings +of the Palace inclosure. The inscription over its great doors points +out that it is the “Hall where Industry is to be applied to State +Affairs.” In all the Palaces the Audience Hall is nearest the outside +walls and entrances, so that the officials who are privileged to +have Audiences must only pass through the outer courts to reach the +hall—Their Majesties’ Palaces with their private apartments + +<span class="pagenum">143</span> + +being at some distance beyond. At the Winter Palace, where there are so +many walls within walls, each of Their Majesties’ Palaces is surrounded +with walls, and the Audience Hall is also in a walled-in inclosure near +one of the Great Gates, but at the Summer Palace there are no walls +except the exterior ones!</p> + +<p>The interior of the Audience Hall, at the Summer Palace, is not by +any means bare or austere. It is furnished in the same style as the +Throne-rooms, with splendid ornaments, curios, tea-tables and chairs, +and, curious anachronism, there are here three pianos! The walls are +hung with ornamental scrolls, as well as with those bearing some +gigantic character traced by an Emperor’s hand or some condensed bit of +philosophy of the Sages. One of these scrolls has an admonition to the +Emperor to remember that “he is responsible to Heaven for the happiness +and prosperity of his people.”</p> + +<p>There is a great dais in the center of the hall, on which stands +the Throne, with its table, behind which is the three-, five-, or +seven-leaved screen. The ancient dais was lower than those now used, +and the antique Throne, with its capacious size and cushions, was more +like a lounge than the modern Throne. This seems to indicate that the +administration of justice by the Emperor was in ancient times less +formal and more patriarchal than to-day. In former times the Emperor +could lounge upon his Throne at his ease when seeing his Ministers, and +they could approach nearer the Sacred Person, as the dais was not so +large nor so high as that in use to-day.</p> + +<p>Heads of departments and Princes with honorary + +<span class="pagenum">144</span> + +official positions have Audiences on certain days of the month, to +report upon affairs of their Boards or to pay their respects to His +Majesty. Every day Their Majesties hold Audience and see the Prime +Minister and Grand Secretary, and there are frequent meetings of the +Grand Council. The Prime Minister, Prince Ching, has the last Audience +of the day, and business reported on during the other Audiences is then +discussed.</p> + +<p>All telegrams and despatches go to their respective Boards, and are, +except in cases of extreme gravity, only reported to Their Majesties +at the Audiences. After eleven all State business is supposed to be +finished by Their Majesties. They are then free from State worries +and cares until the following day. During the times of the rebellion +in the Province of Kwang-Si, when the Russian evacuation of Manchuria +was expected, and at the time of outbreak of hostilities in Manchuria +(the three grave events occurring during my stay in the Palace), +telegrams and despatches were constantly being sent to Her Majesty out +of Audience hours. They were brought to her Throne-room, and sometimes +even during her walks in the gardens they would be handed her. These +despatches were sent over to the Palace from the Wai-Wu-Pu on their +arrival. Of course, it was by Her Majesty’s express command that her +privacy was thus infringed upon. No official would otherwise have +dared transgress the prescribed rules. The despatches were received +at the entrance of the Palace by the eunuch whose province it was. He +placed them in the yellow-covered, silken-lined box, in which they were +presented to Her Majesty on bended knees.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">145</span> + +<p>In front of the Throne dais, during the hours of Audience, there +are five cushions placed on the floor for the members of the Grand +Council to kneel upon when they are memorializing Their Majesties. The +Prime Minister’s cushion is nearest the Throne. A cushion to kneel upon +is a privilege only granted members of the Grand Council. Any other +official, when making communications to Their Majesties, must kneel +upon the bare marble floor, and must kneel beyond the space occupied by +these five cushions. He is thus placed at a disadvantage. The distance +at which he is from Their Majesties may prevent his hearing some of +their words, especially the Emperor’s, whose voice is very low and +without any carrying quality. The official may overcome this difficulty +and shorten the distance by paying the eunuch who conducts him to the +Audience Hall, to remove some of the cushions, so that he may kneel +nearer the dais. The Prime Minister’s and Grand Secretary’s cushions +may on no condition be removed, but the other three are subject to the +will of the introducing eunuch. If this latter be sufficiently paid, +and there is a fixed price for each cushion, he will remove the three +of the lower members of the Cabinet.</p> + +<p>When the official who has been granted an Audience is conducted to +the Audience Hall by the eunuch appointed for the purpose, the latter +throws open the great doors, falls upon his knees at the threshold, +and announces the name and position of the official, gives the hour +and minute of his arrival at the Palace, and, before he rises, he has +deftly removed the cushions for which he has received the + +<span class="pagenum">146</span> + +required sum. After his name has been announced, the official enters +and kneels as near the dais as is consistent with his rank and the +sum paid the eunuch. When the eunuch has introduced the official, he +turns from the door and must run away as fast as he can. Officials +and eunuchs stationed at some distance watch his departure. Should +he linger or transgress this law, capital punishment is the result. +This is to avoid eavesdropping and the possible transmission of State +secrets.</p> + +<p>When the official granted an Audience hears the last echo of the +steps of the departing eunuch, he falls upon his knees and begins the +relation of his business. Their Majesties question him, if necessary, +to elicit further explanations. When the Audience is finished, the +official rises and walks out. The Chinese never back out of the +Presence, and it is not considered a breach of etiquette to turn their +backs upon Royalty!</p> + +<p>The officials who are obliged to go often to Audiences resort to an +amusing subterfuge to protect their knees from the marble floor. They +strap heavily wadded cushions around their knees before they go in, and +they can thus kneel in comfort. The long Chinese gown worn by the men, +of course, hides these knee cushions.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo x-ebookmaker" src="images/146a.jpg" width="724" + height="1200" alt="An Audience with Their Majesties" id="146a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> +THE OFFICIAL AUDIENCE OF THEIR MAJESTIES</p> + +<p>His Majesty assumed the cares of State at an early age, when he was +still filled with boyish spirit. Many of the heads of departments are +old men, and some of them doubtless most tiresome in reiterating facts +and dwelling upon details. When the young Emperor first took over the +direction of affairs and held his Audiences alone, he would get very +impatient at <span class="pagenum">147</span> +hearing several of these old men go over tiresome details. As it is +not “according to the laws of propriety” for the official to raise his +eyes to the Sacred Person, while the old man rambled on, with prosy +detail, the young Emperor would slip off the Throne and quietly descend +from the dais, and when the poor official raised his eyes to make his +obeisance to the Emperor, he would see only the vacant Throne! His +Majesty had been in the rear of the hall behind the screen for perhaps +five minutes smoking a cigarette or otherwise diverting himself!</p> + +<p>I noticed a curious fact as to the quality of the sacredness of the +persons of Their Celestial Majesties. This sacredness seems to belong +to them as rulers and not as individuals. In the Audience Hall when +administering justice, they are not approached nor addressed, except +upon bended knee. In the Palace, in their own privacy, when they give +an order or any command touching upon official affairs, this order +is received by the attendant, be he courtier, high official or great +prince, on his knees. When any official communication is made to Their +Majesties, in private or elsewhere, it is made kneeling, but when Their +Majesties are in their private capacity and spoken to on ordinary +affairs, they are addressed almost familiarly, and the courtier or +simple attendant stands while speaking to them. If, however, in the +midst of a familiar conversation an order is given, the attendant +immediately drops upon his knees to receive it.</p> + +<p>The kow-tow (pronounced ker-toe and meaning literally to bow the +head) is used as a form of thanks, and is not a manner of greeting. The +actors kow-tow + +<span class="pagenum">148</span> + +to Their Majesties at the beginning and end of each performance at the +Theater, first to thank for the honor they are to receive in being +allowed to act before them, and at the end to thank for the privilege +granted. The officials “bow the head” to thank for an Audience or +any favor or gift they have received or are to receive from Their +Majesties. The kow-tow is not only made by people at the Palace and at +Imperial Audiences: it is sometimes used by equals to each other as a +proper manner of thanking for some great favor. To make the kow-tow, +the person kneels three times and each time bows his head three +times, touching the ground with it. The kow-tow could not be made by +a foreigner without looking most awkward and appearing most servile, +but the Chinese do it with dignity, and it is neither ungraceful nor +degrading-looking. It is a time-honored manner of giving thanks, +a Chinese tradition surviving from a time when the courtiers were +perhaps like slaves, but at present it does not imply any slave-like +inferiority on the part of him who performs it.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">149</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII"> + CHAPTER XVII + <span class="small-text"> + THE SUMMER PALACE AND ITS GROUNDS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Summer Palace, the Empress Dowager’s favorite residence, is +really a superb domain. Its naturally picturesque situation among the +beautiful Western Hills, sixteen miles from Peking, has been improved +wherever possible, by the devices of art. The many buildings that +constitute an Oriental Palace have been most picturesquely grouped on +the banks of its great lake. The eminences and natural undulations have +all been made the most of as sites for Palaces and temples, and the +grounds are laid out with all the art the Chinese landscape artist has +at his command.</p> + +<p>The buildings of the Palace proper, where Their Majesties and +their suites live, are all massed in one great town-like group at the +southeastern end of the lake. In this group are the Theater, with its +courts, and the Great Audience Hall. Palaces, temples, summer-houses, +tea-booths, dot the whole surface of the great park, and all the +vantage-points have been utilized for constructions.</p> + +<p>A beautiful white marble terrace runs the length of the southern +side of the lake. Pavilions at intervals vary the monotony of this line +or give accent to + +<span class="pagenum">150</span> + +the natural indentations of the banks. Picturesque landing-places, +with their marble steps lapped by the waters of the lake, also lend +their variety to this terrace surmounted by its beautiful lotus +balustrade.</p> + +<p>The highest of the hills in the park of the Summer Palace is crowned +by the Great Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddhas. This is approached +by hundreds of steps, which lead up from the broadest part of the +marble terrace over the lake. Beautiful Palaces are built along this +terraced height. Picturesque pai-lou (memorial arches) are built at +such beautiful points, that Nature herself seems to have designed these +positions for them.</p> + +<p>A fair, verdure-clad island lies peacefully on the bosom of +the lake, and the Palace and temple built thereon seem a part of +the natural formation of stone out of which they rise. A graceful +seventeen-arched bridge of white marble connects this island with the +northern bank of the lake.</p> + +<p>The canal from Peking, which feeds the lake, winds in and out +of the grounds in such graceful meanderings as to seem some fair +mountain stream. The outlets to the lakes are spanned by the graceful +camel-backed bridges that only the Chinese architects build. Nature +and art are everywhere so blended, so harmonized, it is difficult to +tell which is which. The simple lines and beautiful proportions and +harmonious colors of the one-storied Chinese buildings make even these +seem almost a part of the landscape.</p> + +<p>Chinese architecture—and one grows to admire it very much when +studied in its own environment—is tent-building, carried to its +greatest perfection and + +<span class="pagenum">151</span> + +made enduring by the use of materials that last. The grouping of the +Chinese buildings is on the same order as the congregation of tents of +some roving tribe of Nomads. The downward curve and upturned tilt of +their roofs is but the natural slope of the canvas and its uplifting +by the tent-poles. These slender tent-poles have developed into the +supporting pillars of the verandah, and the raised canvas door of the +tent has grown into its buoyantly curved roof. The ornamental eaves are +but the solidified silken fringes and embroidered valances of the tents +of old. The curious roof ornamentations of the modern Chinese house +replace the weights that held the tent-canvas steady. These weights, +from rough stones, have now become carven images, cunningly wrought. +The Chinese even erect their houses as their ancestors raised their +tents. The builder places the columns and puts on the roof before the +walls are built. Except the pagoda—and this even seems like so many +superposed tents—the Chinese building remains to-day, in spite of its +elaborate roofs, its lacquered pillars, and elaborate ornamentation, +like some splendid tent, grown into greater fixity and beautified by +some magician’s wand. It is admirably suited to the calm pastoral +landscapes in which it rests, and seems a part of Nature itself, and is +never out of keeping with its surroundings!</p> + +<p>Wherever available, in the grounds of the Summer Palace, flowers +are planted, and they succeed each other almost the whole year round, +for the Chinese are wonderful gardeners. The extensive grounds are, +however, not given up entirely to flowers and beautiful constructions; +there are great fields of grain. + +<span class="pagenum">152</span> + +Wheat and millet, and even vegetables, are raised in these pleasure +grounds. It was curious to me to see how picturesque so prosaic a thing +as a field of turnips might become, when properly placed in a large +pleasure domain. By the planting of these useful crops, a great deal of +fertile land is utilized, without any detriment to the landscape, and +the utilitarian spirit, so strong in the Chinese, is satisfied.</p> + +<p>There is one terraced hillside in the grounds of the Summer Palace, +called the “Flowery Mountain.” In the season of the peonies, which +the Chinese call “The King of Flowers,” this is really a flowery +mountain—one mass of blooms of exquisitely blended colors and faint +evanescent perfume. The China Aster is also brought to great perfection +by the Chinese gardeners, and in the time of the chrysanthemum the +grounds fairly blaze with this autumnal glory. The Chinese do not go +in for the cultivation of the chrysanthemum of extraordinary size. Her +Majesty does not care much for these; but her gardeners arrive at some +wonderful combinations of colors and some most curious shapes. The year +I was in the Palace, Her Majesty was delighted with a beautiful green +variety, that the gardeners had succeeded in getting, and that year +there was also a new variety whose petals were like threads, they were +so thin and hair-like.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/152a.jpg" width="1200" + height="877" alt="Old Ruins at the Summer Palace" id="152a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + OLD RUINS IN THE SUMMER PALACE</p> + +<p>The Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddhas is so-called from its being +built in glazed yellow tiles, each representing a niche, in which is +seated a Buddha, of which there are many more than ten thousand. The +interior is composed of three chapels. In the central one thrones +the Great Buddha. There was another + +<span class="pagenum">153</span> + +famous Buddha in this temple, which was invested with peculiarly +sacred qualities, but it was hurled into the lake below and broken +into a thousand pieces when the foreign troops were in possession in +1900. Her Majesty seemed to feel the depredations to the temples, by +the foreigners, more keenly than anything else. The Chinese are so +perfectly tolerant in matters of religion, they cannot understand our +attitude toward any other religion but our own, and our contempt for +any other kind of worship except that in which we ourselves indulge.</p> + +<p>The Chinese are said to hate the foreigner. They certainly have not +much reason to like him; nor to admire our much vaunted civilization. +The European Christian soldier in China has burned, destroyed, and +killed with as much barbarity as the heathen, and in many instances has +given the latter points in cruelty.</p> + +<p>On the slope behind the terraced hill of the Ten Thousand Buddhas +are the ruins of the old Summer Palace, destroyed by the European +troops fifty years ago. After this, the site of the dwelling Palaces +was changed, and they were massed on the southern side of the lake. Her +Majesty has nearly hidden all trace of the 1900 devastations to the +Summer Palace, but these old ruins of the former Palace still remain, +and they are not a blot upon the landscape. On the contrary, they have +become picturesque with time, and give the one note of somberness to +this smiling demesne that is needed to accentuate its charm. There is +a small lake not far from these old ruins, built around with smiling +pavilions and a curious tower-like construction which is used as a +private temple. + +<span class="pagenum">154</span> + +There are landing-places and small boats. It looks like a charming +bit of old Venice. We never went here, however, but once. There are +some unhappy associations connected with this beautiful spot, and +Her Majesty did not seem to care to visit it. The promenade in the +direction of the old Palace also seemed to sadden her, for she had +passed the early years of her married life in these now crumbling +ruins.</p> + +<p>From the highest elevations in the grounds of the Summer Palace, we +could see the road from Peking! Sometimes Her Majesty and the Ladies +would watch from some of the summer-houses, the carts and chairs and +vehicles as they passed along. Several times we saw the Emperor and his +suite returning from some ceremony in Peking, over the road cleared for +his passage. Her Majesty, herself, would be the first to descry him, +and she would say, “The Emperor comes.” Then the Empress and Ladies +would all look, for it was not against the Proprieties for them to look +at His Majesty at such a distance. These views of the high road from +the eminences of the Summer Palace were all Her Majesty and the young +Empress ever saw of the outside world and common humanity; for neither +at the Winter nor Sea Palaces could they get any views from a distance, +nor was there any opportunity of seeing beyond the walls. When Their +Chinese Majesties go abroad—and this is generally only from one Palace +to another—quaint, triangular flags are placed along the Imperial +route, warning the people that Their Sacred Majesties are to pass, +and that the road will be reserved for them between certain hours. No +vehicles or pedestrians + +<span class="pagenum">155</span> + +are allowed for some time before and after the Imperial passage. In the +City of Peking, the inhabitants, even on the streets where the Imperial +cortège is to pass, are shut into their houses and not allowed to go +out of their doors during the time, and at the intersection of the +transversal streets huge curtains are hung, shutting them off from the +Imperial way. For these progresses of Their Majesties, the roads are +covered with yellow sand.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">156</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"> + CHAPTER XVIII + <span class="small-text"> + THE FESTIVAL OF THE HARVEST MOON—WORK ON THE PORTRAIT + </span> +</h2> + +<p>We think the Chinese so unemotional, so little given to pleasure +or amusement; but there are more popular festivals in China, indulged +in by all classes of people, than in any country in the world, except +perhaps Japan. The people, from the highest to the lowest, enter into +these celebrations with whole-souled earnestness and real enjoyment, +and all the popular festivals, as well as the religious ceremonies, are +celebrated in the Palace with apparently the same zest as among the +people.</p> + +<p>The Mid-Autumn Festival, popularly known as the Festival of the +Harvest Moon, which is at its full at the time of the celebration, +was, of course, observed with due ceremony at the Palace. For these +festivals there are always representations at the Palace Theater, and +one of the plays on such days is the dramatization of the Legend of the +Festival. The legend of the Harvest Moon is this: One day an Emperor +received the visit of a fairy. When she left she gave the Emperor an +herb, saying, should he eat it, he would be endowed with Immortality. +The Emperor was called out, soon after the fairy’s visit, and forgot + +<span class="pagenum">157</span> + +the gift for a time, and the herb lay upon his table. During his +absence from the Throne-room, a young handmaiden entered and, seeing +the root on the table, with childish curiosity, tasted it, and, finding +it good, ate the whole of it. When the Emperor again thought of his +precious gift from the fairy, he hastened back to the Throne-room, to +remove it from the table where he had left it. What was his horror to +find it gone! Learning that the little handmaid was the only person who +had been in the Throne-room, he called her up to find out what she had +done with it. When he found she had eaten it, he ordered her killed, +that he might thus again obtain the herb. Before the eunuchs could +accomplish their task, the charm began to work, and she felt the wings +of Immortality; and borne up by them, she flew to the skies and took +refuge in the Moon, where she still lives with the pet white rabbit she +had in her arms at the time she flew away from the earth. She is now +an Immortal, and in the Moon she compounds the Elixir of Immortality. +The rabbit, also, shares her immortality, and ever watches at the lunar +threshold.</p> + +<p>The drama, with this little maiden as heroine, was played by Her +Majesty’s actors on the day of the Moon Festival, and the finale of +the plays that day was one of the most beautiful spectacular tableaux +I have ever seen. The Chinese obtain most artistic effects in their +illuminations, and by the most simple means. The stage represented a +lake covered with luminous lotus, with the full moon floating above. +Throned on a gigantic lotus flower in the center of the lake sat an +immense, golden Buddha, impassible and + +<span class="pagenum">158</span> + +serene, ingeniously illuminated lotus flowers and luminous birds, +emblems of Immortality, hovered over the lake, and the whole tableau +was supposed to represent Nirvana, when the soul is absorbed into +Nature and forms a part of it. It was really fairy-like.</p> + +<p>The Ladies dined in Her Majesty’s loge, and this beautiful, +illuminated tableau was scarcely finished before we were obliged to +hurry away to join Their Majesties, who had already started for the +gardens where the ceremony was to take place. The procession, with the +Emperor and Empress Dowager and Ladies in full dress, as usual for +a ceremony, was accompanied by hundreds of lantern-bearing eunuchs. +It wound, in and out, through the verandahed corridors and the paths +of the garden like some great glow-worm, until it came to the marble +terrace beneath the Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddhas, on the great +terrace over the lake.</p> + +<p>Here, in an open space bathed in the rays of the softly glowing +moon, with the glory of the setting sun still in the west, in front of +the great Stone Pai-lou stood a beautifully illuminated floral pai-lou +and an altar decorated with the usual pyramids of fruits, floral +offerings, and flagons of wine. The pai-lou to the Moon was entirely +of chrysanthemums, with an inscription “To the Glory of the Chaste and +Pure Celestial Orb” in white blooms, like gleaming stars, across the +top.</p> + +<p>Their Majesties first made the bows and prostrations to the Moon, +and placed floral offerings on the altar. Then the young Empress and +Ladies did likewise, while the eunuchs recited a poem in melodious + +<span class="pagenum">159</span> + +and rhythmic cadence. The Chinese “recitative” is very musical, much +more so, to the foreign ear, than their music. This poem to the Moon +was recited by two voices in alternating rhythm with wonderful effect. +When the recitation was finished, an “auto da fe” was made of the +offerings, to which were added sticks of sweet incense and paper cut +in curious designs. Over all was poured some of the inflammable wine +from the flagons on the altar, and the flames leaped high above the +huge incense-burner that stood on a great bronze tripod in the center +of the moonlit terrace. It was a wonderfully picturesque sight—the +brilliant circle of splendidly gowned Ladies, with the Emperor and +Empress Dowager in their midst, around the flaming censer, whose +leaping flames glinted and glowed upon the jewels and gold embroidery +of their costumes. The lantern-bearing eunuchs formed a faintly glowing +circle around this shining center; and over the whole fantastic picture +the brilliant Harvest Moon shone with unwonted splendor, as if to +show itself worthy of the obeisances it had just received from this +brilliant group.</p> + +<p>When the flames no longer leaped from the censer, when only the +white smoke of the incense curled through the interstices of its +cover, Their Majesties turned away, and the lantern-lit procession +followed them to the banks of the lake, where the whole Palace fleet, +brilliantly illuminated, lay moored beneath the marble terrace. The +eunuchs, holding aloft their gleaming lanterns, stood along the terrace +and knelt on the steps leading into the water, while Their Majesties +descended them. On two of the boats, at either + +<span class="pagenum">160</span> + +side of the Imperial barge, the eunuchs held their lanterns to form the +characters “Peace” and “Prosperity.” The waters of the lake were now +glowing with the reflections of the myriad lanterns and dancing under +their many-colored lights. A faint glow still illumined the western +sky, while the reflection of the resplendent Moon gleamed like liquid +diamonds across the lake! When we reached the Imperial landing-place, +its great arc-lights on the two tall, painted poles sent their +reflections shimmering, in long, wavy lines, far out into the lake, and +almost rivaled in their splendor that of the celestial orb itself.</p> + +<p>Although I took part in all these Palace festivals, my work on the +portrait was advancing, but I longed for more opportunity to quietly +study it and for a little more freedom in working. I felt I needed +more time also for my painting. I ardently desired to be able to work +some when Her Majesty did not pose, and I finally decided to ask her +to allow me to remain at my painting when she and the Ladies went for +their morning walks after a short sitting. It was a deprivation for +me to give up even one of these delightful walks, when I saw such a +charming side of the Empress Dowager’s character, but I felt it must be +done. She reluctantly consented to excuse me on a few occasions, but +she seemed to feel it was not hospitable on her part to leave me alone; +and when she did so she would remain out a shorter time than usual. She +seemed so concerned at my working while the others enjoyed themselves, +that I soon ceased to ask to be left at work; I could only try to make +the best of the time I had at my disposal.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">161</span> +My desire to have more time for my painting and more opportunity +for studying the work was not the only cloud in the heaven of these +delightful days. As the portrait progressed I found myself constantly +running up against Chinese conventionalities as to the way it was done. +They wished so much detail and no shadow. Had Her Majesty been alone +to be considered, she was artistic and progressive enough to have, +in the end, allowed me more liberty; but she, also, was obliged to +conform to tradition, and no fantasy could be indulged in painting the +portrait of a Celestial Majesty. It was necessary to conform to rigid +conventions.</p> + +<p>I had such a fine opportunity to do something really picturesque in +painting this great Empress and most interesting woman, and I found I +was to be bound down by the iron fetters of Chinese tradition! I could +neither choose an accessory, nor even arrange a fold according to the +lines of the composition. I was obliged to follow, in every detail, +centuries-old conventions. There could be no shadows and very little +perspective, and everything must be painted in such full light as to +lose all relief and picturesque effect. When I saw I must represent Her +Majesty in such a conventional way as to make her unusually attractive +personality banal, I was no longer filled with the ardent enthusiasm +for my work with which I had begun it, and I had many a heartache and +much inward rebellion before I settled down to the inevitable.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager, however, knew nothing of my discouragement, and +seemed perfectly contented with the progress of the portrait then on +hand—so + +<span class="pagenum">162</span> + +pleased, in fact, she asked me if I would not like Mrs. Conger to come +and see it. I, of course, replied that I would, and an invitation was +accordingly sent, through the Foreign Office, inviting Mrs. Conger to +come to see the portrait.</p> + +<p>As Her Majesty was to receive her in the Throne-room where I +painted, it was decided I could not work on that day. I fully expected +the portrait would be exhibited in the Throne-room, the only place +where it had a proper light; but, to my disappointment, Mrs. Conger was +asked to look at it in the small room where it was kept when I was not +working on it. When we went in, the Chief Eunuch ceremoniously removed +the yellow covering over the “Sacred Picture,” which hung flat against +the wall in a very bad light, with annoying reflections. The small room +was also uncomfortably crowded with Her Majesty and suite, so that +it was impossible to see the whole canvas at once. Mrs. Conger was, +however, so pleased with the likeness and lifelike expression in the +eyes, the upper part of the picture being in a fairly good light, that +the comment stopped here.</p> + +<p>This first portrait represented the Empress Dowager sitting on one +of her favorite Cantonese carved Thrones. The figure was life-size. In +one hand she held a flower, and the other lay over a yellow cushion. +The tip of one small embroidered shoe, with its jeweled, white kid sole +resting on a dragon footstool, showed under the hem of her gown. The +head was a three-quarters view, with the eyes looking at the observer. +A jardinière, with her favorite orchid, stood behind the Throne at the +right. It was painted in full light. + +<span class="pagenum">163</span> + +The canvas was four by six feet in size; and there was thus no place +for any of the emblems or insignia of Her Majesty’s rank, save that she +was clothed in her official costume of Imperial yellow.</p> + +<p>This was the conventional reality, and I had dreamed of painting Her +Majesty in one of her Buddha-like poses, sitting erect upon an antique +Throne of the Dynasty, with one beautifully rounded arm and exquisitely +shaped hand resting on its high side, contrasting in their grace with +its severe lines. I should have exaggerated her small stature by +placing her upon the largest of these Dynastic Thrones. Her wonderfully +magnetic personality alone should have dominated. At the left of the +Throne, I should have placed one of those huge Palace braziers, its +blue flames leaping into the air, their glow glinting here and there +upon her jewels and the rich folds of her drapery; the whole enveloped +in the soft azure smoke of incense, rising from splendid antique +bronze censers. Across the base of the picture, under her feet, should +have writhed and sprawled the rampant double dragon. The Eternal +Feminine, with its eternal enigma shining from her inscrutable eyes, +should have pierced, with almost cruel penetration, the mystery of her +surroundings. Her face should have shone out of this dim interior, as +her personality does above her real environment. I should have tried to +show all the force and strength of her nature in that characteristic +face, exaggerating every feature of it, rather than toning down one +line.</p> + +<p>With all these possibilities that the Empress Dowager’s person and +surroundings would suggest to the + +<span class="pagenum">164</span> + +most unimaginative of artists, and with the conventional traditions, +which I was obliged to follow, no wonder I became discouraged. But +I had always the solace of her personality—the fascinating study of +herself to delight and console me. New phases of her character and +personality were constantly opening out before me. She dominates +everything and everybody in the Palace, and is far and away, the most +interesting personality there, not because she is the first figure at +the Court, but because she is really the most interesting one, and she +would be that in any position. No wonder that when she smiles the Court +is gay—her smile is so entrancing. No wonder that when she frowns the +Court trembles, for she excites sympathy in all her moods.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">165</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX"> + CHAPTER XIX + <span class="small-text"> + A GARDEN PARTY AT THE SUMMER PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>Not long after this, Her Majesty gave a garden party for the +ladies and gentlemen of the Legations. These garden parties occupy +two days, for ladies and gentlemen are not received at the same time +by Their Majesties of China. The Corps Diplomatique and attachés +were entertained the first day, and the ladies of the Legations the +following day. The entertainment was the same for each. The gentlemen +were formally received in the Great Audience Hall by Their Majesties, +after which a repast was served them in a pavilion near. When this was +finished, they were taken for a tour of the gardens and lakes, and they +left the Palace about two o’clock. None of the Ladies of the Court, +except, of course, the Empress Dowager, were present at the receptions +of the gentlemen of the Corps Diplomatique. The ladies of the Legations +were received the following day.</p> + +<p>I was rather embarrassed as to what I should do, at this first +formal reception, for the ladies of the Legations, since my arrival in +the Palace. Being a foreigner, I thought it looked incongruous for me +to receive with the Chinese Ladies. My uneasiness + +<span class="pagenum">166</span> + +seemed to be divined by Her Majesty (she was always wonderful for her +tact); she said, as I had been presented first in private Audience, +it would be well for me to be presented also in public Audience. She +suggested that I should go to the Foreign Office, meet Mrs. Conger on +her arrival, and come into the Throne-room with her. When the eunuchs +announced that the ladies had arrived at the Foreign Office, Her +Majesty ordered my red Palace chair to take me there.</p> + +<p>The Foreign Office is only a few hundred yards to the left of the +Imperial entrance to the Palace. Mrs. Conger was one of the first +ladies to arrive. When the other ladies came, all walked over to the +gate of the Palace, and, after entering, went to a pavilion at the +right of the Audience Hall, where they arranged themselves in the order +in which they were to be presented.</p> + +<p>The verandah and large marble platform of approach to the Audience +Hall were shaded with tent-like silken awnings and covered, for the +day, with red carpets, the latter a concession to foreign taste; for +Her Majesty, though having many beautiful carpets stored up, has none +in use, and only in winter and for certain functions are the courts +carpeted. She never uses them in the interior.</p> + +<p>A double line of Princesses, led by the Princess Imperial, +descended the steps of the Audience Hall and met the ladies on the +marble platform. The Princesses then turned and preceded them into the +Audience Hall. Here they separated and stood in a picturesque group on +either side of the Throne dais.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">167</span> +Here, in the dim obscurity, sat the Empress Dowager on the Dynastic +Throne, with the Emperor seated at her left. In front of Her Majesty +stood the official table, with its cover of Imperial yellow reaching +to the floor. To the ladies standing below the dais only the heads and +shoulders of the Empress Dowager were visible above the table, with its +pyramids of fruits and flowers.</p> + +<p>The ladies made three reverences on entering, and each advanced and +went up on the dais at her presentation. Her Majesty’s interpreter, the +elder Miss Yu, stood at her right, a little behind, and repeated the +Chinese name and title of each lady presented. Her Majesty, who has a +royal memory for faces, recognized each lady who had been presented +before, but treated all with equal cordiality. This cordiality was +sometimes construed by the ladies, on their first presentation, as +a special mark of interest in themselves; but it was the Empress +Dowager’s invariable position toward all the foreigners at these +diplomatic receptions. Like all well-bred hostesses, she was most +particular to show no difference even to those ladies she liked +best.</p> + +<p>When all had been presented, the eunuchs removed the official table +behind which the Empress Dowager received the formal presentations, and +she descended from the dais. One of her yellow satin chairs was brought +and she sat down at the right side of the Audience Hall. The ladies +were then, collectively, presented by Her Majesty to the young Empress +and the Princess Imperial, and tea was ordered. While the ladies were +drinking tea, standing around the + +<span class="pagenum">168</span> + +Empress Dowager’s chair, she said a few words to each, informally.</p> + +<p>When the tea was finished, the ladies, conducted by the eunuchs and +accompanied by the Princesses, went through the court of the Theater, +past the Palace of the young Empress, through Her Majesty’s court to +her Throne-room, where luncheon was served. This was in alternate +courses of foreign and Chinese food. There were foreign wines and table +waters, as well as Chinese, and quantities of sweet champagne, without +which, the Chinese imagine, no foreigner can eat.</p> + +<p>After luncheon, at which the Imperial Princess and Princesses +acted as hostesses, the visiting ladies went to the marble terrace +overlooking the lake. Here they were met by the young Empress and the +secondary wife of the Emperor, for they were never present at the table +when the foreign ladies were entertained, any more than Her Majesty +herself.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager’s barge did not lead the Palace fleet that day. +There were three big houseboats, each of which ponderous affairs had a +large cabin with a yellow-covered seat for Her Majesty, which, though +she never used, was never occupied by any one else. Anything covered +with yellow is sacred to Their Majesties, and is never used except by +them.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo" src="images/168a.jpg" width="933" height="1200" + alt="The secondary wife of the Emperor" id="168a"> + +<div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4">THE SECONDARY WIFE OF THE EMPEROR</p> + <p class="capt5">In Summer Coiffure</p> +</div> + +<p>We were rowed across the lake, first to the island, where the Palace +and small temple adjacent were visited, after which the ladies took +the boats again and continued the tour of the lake to the Marble Boat. +This Marble Boat was built over the lake as a summer-house for one of +the Emperors, and is on the plan of the Palace houseboat, but with an +upper, as well as + +<span class="pagenum">169</span> + +lower deck. It is one of the things in the Summer Palace most talked +about by foreigners, and it is a curiosity, though not a thing of +beauty. It was never made the objective point of any of Her Majesty’s +promenades, nor visited, except when foreigners were invited to the +Palace. On the lower deck of the Marble Boat, where was the best view +of the lake, light refreshments, sweets, and fruits were served. When +the tour of the lake was finished, the ladies made their adieus to +Their Majesties and the young Empress and Princesses, and left the +Palace grounds for the Foreign Office, where they took their own chairs +and carriages for Peking.</p> + +<p>In spite of Her Majesty’s cordiality and the efforts of the +Princesses and Ladies, these garden parties were not always as pleasant +as they might be. There seemed an absolute lack of harmony among the +ladies of the Legation. Each seemed to watch the other with a jealous +eye, in constant fear that some one might overstep her place. Some did +not hesitate, even, to show their private animosities on the steps of +the Throne, or before their hostesses at the table. They seemed to act +on the principle that the Chinese, not understanding the language, +would not understand anything else. It was unfortunate that this most +punctilious of people, the Chinese, should have had this apparent lack +of friendliness to judge the European ladies by. They received all with +equal favor and perfect etiquette, and it was a pity that the lack of +harmony among the foreign ladies should have led them to commit what +seemed to be breaches of etiquette, which the Chinese could not have +failed to + +<span class="pagenum">170</span> + +observe. I was astonished to see how observant the latter were and how +accurately they gauged our standing.</p> + +<p>Their comments on our costumes were also very interesting. Her +Majesty seemed to like foreign dress, especially when in pretty colors, +for she reveled in color. She said the foreign costume was very +becoming to well-made and well-proportioned people; but she thought, +while it showed off to advantage a good figure, it was unfortunate +for any one who was not so blessed. She thought the Chinese costume, +falling in straight lines from the shoulder, was more becoming to +stout people, for it hid many defects. One universal comment, among +these Chinese ladies, on us, was that we look old for our years. The +well-bred Chinese repress, from early childhood, all outward evidences +of emotion. They lead such simple, wholesome lives—“Early to bed and +early to rise”—that there are rarely any lines visible in their faces +until they reach an advanced age, when they seem to go suddenly from +ripe womanhood into extreme old age.</p> + +<p>They have a particular aversion to blond hair. They did not tell +me so, as I have blond hair; but on the stage all the demons are +represented with blond hair, and the more blond it is, the more wicked +the demon. One day, one of the Ladies suggested to me that there were +some very fine vegetable hair dyes for turning the hair black without +injuring it; in fact, the growth was increased thereby. She said if I +used this, my hair “might in time become black; at least, it would grow +much darker.”</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">171</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX"> + CHAPTER XX + <span class="small-text"> + I BEGIN A SECOND PORTRAIT OF HER MAJESTY—THE PALACE PAINTERS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>I had several days of good work on the portrait after the garden +party, when Her Majesty decided it was sufficiently advanced for the +characters, giving her name and titles, to be placed across the top of +the canvas. As she has sixteen appellations, represented by sixteen +characters, and as they were all to be placed upon the picture, +together with her two seals, official and personal, it required some +manœuvering to get them into the space required. This lettering was +looked upon as a very important detail; there were numbers of models +of the characters made before the proper size and style was arrived +at. The seals, about three inches long, had to be placed at either end +of the sixteen characters, and there was a great deal of deliberation +as to the color in which the characters were to be painted. Red was +finally decided upon. The two seals were to be painted, one in red +characters on a white ground, and the other in white characters on a +red ground. As I had not known these appellations were to be placed +across the top of the canvas when I began the portrait, I had not +allowed for them, and putting them on took away from the space above +the head and detracted + +<span class="pagenum">172</span> + +from the general effect. This was another discouragement. I left the +discussion of the lettering to Her Majesty and the writers, and I +decided to give the canvas over entirely to the latter for a few days, +in order that they might place the characters thereon, and that Her +Majesty might have time to decide upon their color at her leisure.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty had told me, a few days before, she wished me to paint +a “number of portraits” of her, so I decided to begin another now, and +I hoped to be able, as this was not to be an official portrait, to +have a little more liberty in painting it. Her Majesty decided that +it should be painted in her ordinary dress and without the Manchu +coiffure, which she only wears at her Audiences, as it is very heavy +and very tiring to her head. The day I began the portrait she had on a +gown of soft, embroidered blue. Her hair, in a coil at the top of her +head, was beautifully dressed, with the jasmine flowers so quaintly +arranged, a realistic butterfly poised above them; her jewels so +discreet and picturesque, I asked her to pose and let me paint her as +she was then. Her coiffure, without the Manchu head-dress, is much more +becoming to her than with the huge, wing-like construction which made +her look top-heavy; for when she wore it, being in official costume, +she was obliged to wear a great profusion of jewels and ornaments. In +this portrait she was seated upon her Throne, but not in a traditional +attitude, and I began it full of hope; for, at least, I had more choice +as to the surroundings and accessories, which were not obliged to be +“according to tradition.” As it was only to be seen by her intimates, I +asked + +<span class="pagenum">173</span> + +her to let me paint her two favorite dogs lying beside her footstool, +the blond “Shadza” and dusky “Hailo.” Her Majesty gladly consented, +and “Hailo” was ordered to be decorated in his “gala costume.” This +consisted of two huge chrysanthemums tied in his hair over his ears. +“Shadza,” the Pekingese pug, resented any such accoutrement and was +painted in his natural state. She took the liveliest interest in +the painting of the dogs’ portraits, and seemed to think it much +more wonderful to paint these little animals, so that they were +recognizable, than to make a likeness of herself. I was obliged, of +course, to do them very quickly. She sat behind me all the time I was +painting them, and the rapidity with which they grew much astonished +her.</p> + +<p>I discovered about this time I was not the only painter in the +Palace. Her Majesty has a corps of painters always there. These +painters decorate the thousands of lanterns used in the Palace +ceremonies and processions. They paint the scenery for the spectacular +plays at the Theater, and the flowers used for the decorations of the +screen-like walls I have already alluded to. Some are very clever +flower painters, and one even paints portraits, but they have never +seen the Empress Dowager except from afar! Though Mandarins of the +Third rank, the painters were obliged to withdraw from the court where +they worked when Her Majesty and suite passed by. It was amusing to see +these dignified, handsomely gowned officials being hurried out of the +court on Her Majesty’s approach by the eunuchs who precede her. Their +paintings were submitted to her by one of the eunuchs, by whom she sent +her instructions to them.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">174</span> +I saw these painters first, at the time of the chrysanthemums. There +were some new varieties in one of Her Majesty’s courts that she wished +painted. One day, on going into this court, I saw a group of bebuttoned +officials studying the flowers. They gravely inclined their heads with +the customary dignity of the Chinese, and I found later they were +“confrères.”</p> + +<p>It was interesting to me to see their methods—so different from +ours, but arriving at a very artistic result. I never spoke to them; +but, as I was an outer barbarian, I took advantage of my position and +watched them work from my windows, though I took care to keep myself +hidden behind the curtains, in true Oriental style. They worked in the +court quite near my pavilion. The chief painter selected the flower +to be copied, and the others stood around while he painted, petal by +petal, with most laborious and minute attention. While he worked, +the others took notes and made studies of the same flower. When this +laborious first study was finished, it was copied with a freer hand +by one of the painters, and this copy was copied until they finally +arrived at a dashing study, which seemed to be done “de premier +coup.”</p> + +<p>When the chrysanthemums were in their full glory, one day when Her +Majesty had allowed me to remain at my work while she and the Ladies +went for their walk, she brought me, on her return, a curious new +variety. When she handed it to me she said, “I will give you something +nice if you guess what I have named this flower.” It was one of those +new + +<span class="pagenum">175</span> + +varieties with hair-like petals and a compact center, like the bald +head of an old man. I told her I was afraid I couldn’t guess, but I +thought “it looked like an old man’s head.” She was delighted, and +said, “You have guessed. I have just given it the name of the Old Man +of the Mountain.”</p> + +<p>We were still having daily walks in the gardens, and there was +always some delightful little incident to make them pleasant and +memorable. One day, when we were out and were resting, while Her +Majesty was sitting alone before the “Peony Mountain,” the young +Empress and Ladies stood in a group at a little distance. We were near +some arbor-vitæ trees, and the young Empress picked a piece that looked +like a “peacock’s feather.” She told me to kneel and let her “decorate” +me. She stuck the curiously shaped branch in my hair so that it hung +over the neck and looked like the “peacock feather,” which is given as +a reward of merit to the highest officials, and is always worn upon +their hats. When she had placed it, she told me to rise, and called me +“Your Excellency Carl,” which is the title of those who possess the +decoration of the peacock feather. I kept it in my hair and soon quite +forgot my “decoration.” When we were walking on, Her Majesty noticed +it. She had been preoccupied and sad that day, but when she saw it she +smiled, and said, “Who decorated you with the peacock feather?” I told +her the young Empress had done so. She said that was her prerogative, +but she added, “If you were a man you would win it, and probably +a yellow jacket also, for you are fearless.” Why did she think me +fearless? Could she have + +<span class="pagenum">176</span> + +heard that the foreigners in Peking seemed to think it was almost as +much as taking my life in my own hands to go and live entirely alone +among the Chinese at Court, and put myself in Her Majesty’s power, +after the Boxer trouble?</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/176a.jpg" width="1200" + height="890" alt="The Lake of the Summer Palace" id="176a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + PAI-LOU IN GROUNDS OF SUMMER PALACE—ON THE SHORE OF THE LAKE</p> + +<p>Another afternoon we went into the Great Audience Hall when we were +passing it, and I had an opportunity of studying in detail the interior +of this magnificent hall. I examined closely some of the rare old +niellée bronzes and wonderful Chinese cloisonné, for here are some of +the finest specimens in the Summer Palace. In the back of the hall were +three pianos, two upright and a new Grand piano, which had but lately +arrived at the Palace. Her Majesty wished us to try the Grand piano, +and one of Lady Yu-Keng’s daughters, who had studied music in Paris, +played a few airs. Her Majesty thought the piano a curious sort of +instrument, but lacking in volume and tone for so large an instrument. +She asked me to play also, and then said she would like to see how +the foreigners danced, and suggested my playing some dance music. The +Misses Yu-Keng waltzed, and she thought it very amusing to watch them. +She could not, however, understand how ladies and gentlemen could +enjoy dancing together, nor what pleasure they found in it. She said +the Chinese pay others to dance for them, and would not think of doing +so themselves for pleasure. It seemed to her the charm was rather in +watching the graceful movements of the dancer than in executing those +movements one’s self. I wondered what she would say, could she see one +of our crowded European ball-rooms, + +<span class="pagenum">177</span> + +with hundreds of couples on the floor at the same time, making violent +efforts to steer through the crowd. I fancy she would not have found +pleasure even in watching these dancers.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">178</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI"> + CHAPTER XXI + <span class="small-text"> + A EUROPEAN CIRCUS AT THE PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>Chinese ceremonies and celebrations were not all I was destined +to enjoy while at the Summer Palace. There began to be talk of some +“foreign entertainment” soon to be given, and when I found this +foreign entertainment was to be a circus, a real European circus, I +was delighted. I had been out in China two years, and had not had +much European entertainment during that time, and—shall I confess +it?—I dearly loved a circus if the horses and animals were fine. This +circus was then in Tientsin, and some one had suggested to Their +Majesties it would be an interesting thing to see. A young Manchu was +sent to Tientsin to investigate. When he returned, flaming posters +were submitted to Their Majesties by the Chief Eunuchs. When the +Empress Dowager saw the vulgarly colored picture of a summarily clad +young woman of the show, I was watching her face and I saw a look of +contemptuous scorn pass over it. She brightened up, however, when +she saw the pictures of the animals at their tricks, and the men on +horses, and it was decided that the circus should be brought up from +Tientsin! The animals and performers were to be domiciled in one of the +parks near by, but the <span class="pagenum">179</span> tent was to be +stretched within the inclosure of the Palace.</p> + +<p>Sites for the ring were discussed, and it was finally decided to +have the tents pitched at the extreme western end of the lake. There +was a large open field here, planted in turnips! As the turnips were +ready to be gathered, it was decided that the crop should be pulled up +and this place prepared for the tents.</p> + +<p>One day we went out into the turnip field, and the Empress Dowager +herself pulled the first turnip; then the Empress and all the +Princesses pulled some, and when they found a curiously shaped one, +it was given to Her Majesty. It was a strange sight to see the Great +Empress Dowager, sitting there at the side of the field, on her yellow +camp-stool, smiling and interested, with the turnips piled around her, +and the gaily dressed Empress and Princesses in their silken gowns +flitting in and out of the field, apparently enjoying, to its utmost, +the simple task of pulling these prosaic vegetables. The eunuchs and +attendants stood in crowds around to take the turnips when pulled. They +were not allowed, however, to pull any themselves. When a small square +was denuded, Her Majesty and the Ladies returned to the Palace, and an +army of workmen came and pulled up the whole field and began to prepare +the ground for the circus tents.</p> + +<p>As the performance of the circus was to be on the first day +of the month, the Imperial players were at the Theater. When the +morning Audience was finished, Their Majesties and the Empress and +Ladies went to the Theater and listened to two or three plays. +After luncheon, taken in the Imperial loge, Their Majesties <span +class="pagenum">180</span> started for the landing-place, followed +by the young Empress and Ladies. The lake was gay with beautiful +barges, great houseboats, and numbers of flat boats for the eunuchs. +The barges and houseboats were picturesquely decorated with flying +banners, pennants, and tasseled wands. Two steam-launches, puffing +away, gave an air of modernity to this most Oriental fleet. One of +the steam-launches was splendidly decorated with yellow banners, with +gorgeous yellow silk scarfs festooned around the cabin and the Imperial +flag flying above it. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor descended the +marble steps to this gaily decked launch, and started off alone for the +other end of the lake, the Imperial banners and colors flying.</p> + +<p>The Empress and Princesses went in the Empress’s State boat; the +visiting ladies followed in another of these ponderous but picturesque +affairs. In size they are as large as an ordinary Chinese pavilion. +The Empress’s cabin was carpeted and splendidly upholstered in cloth +of gold, with the usual tea-tables and lounges. It had one of those +gallery-like prows with silken awnings, where the Princesses stood. +The young Empress sat within, on one of the gold-covered couches. As +she had been brought up with several of the Princesses as playmates, +the young Empress generally waived ceremony with them; but she knew +how, when necessary, to maintain a sweet dignity that was charming +and perfectly in accord with her exalted position. To-day was a State +occasion. She sat alone, and the Ladies remained outside on the prow. +She asked me to come in and showed + +<span class="pagenum">181</span> + +me the interior and some of the curiously inlaid tables. She knew I +was interested in all these things. She made me sit at her side, and +when I demurred she said she knew it was not the foreign custom to sit +on cushions on the floor, as was the habit of the Ladies when in her +presence, and that I must sit beside her. This was the consideration +they always showed me at the Palace, which I fully realized was not +due to any special liking for me, but simply to their exquisite +breeding—their desire to make me feel comfortable and at home.</p> + +<p>When we arrived at the other side of the lake, the Empress and +Ladies stood while Their Majesties landed. They were welcomed by a +great burst of music from the bands. A number of Princes and Officials +stood waiting to receive them and conduct them to the handsome loges +that had been prepared for them.</p> + +<p>It was a picturesque procession that started from the +landing-place—the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, under the big, +embroidered, yellow silk, State umbrellas, preceded and surrounded by +gorgeously attired attendants and splendidly gowned officials, the +young Empress and Ladies, in gala attire, following after, with their +eunuchs and attendants. The day was perfect, and glorious sunshine +added to the brilliant effect. The side of the tent toward the Imperial +loges was open. There was a railed platform before the pavilions that +had been erected as “loges.” These pavilions were luxuriously fitted +up: Their Majesties’ loges were hung with the Imperial yellow. A +yellow satin chair (with a smaller one at its left) was placed in the +center of the raised platform, under the silken awning, and <span +class="pagenum">182</span> Their Majesties +could sit here or within as they chose. The Empress and Ladies stood in +groups on either side of this platform.</p> + +<p>About two hundred officials had been invited to see the circus, and, +contrary to the usual custom, there was no screen between them and the +Imperial party. On the right were two bands of foreign music, or rather +of Chinese musicians who played foreign music on European instruments. +These were the bands of Yuan-Shih-Kai, Viceroy of Tientsin, and of Sir +Robert Hart, the Inspector-General of Imperial Customs. Sir Robert’s +band was formed about eighteen years since, when, as music is his +hobby, he decided to try to have some Chinese taught European music +on European instruments. He has now a well-equipped band of twenty +trained Chinese musicians under a competent European conductor. They +play on both brass and stringed instruments. His efforts have been so +successful that his example has lately been followed by several high +Chinese Officials, first among whom was Yuan-Shih-Kai. The latter’s +band is military, with fifty musicians, who play only on brass +instruments. The two bands played alternately during the intervals of +the performance.</p> + +<p>For the first time during my residence at the Palace, I now had +an opportunity of seeing the Imperial Princes and many of the great +nobles and officials. Though they were often asked to the Theater at +the Palace, the screen between them and the Imperial loge was never +removed, except at the end of the performance, when they bowed their +thanks and when the Ladies retired to their own loge. The gentlemen, + +<span class="pagenum">183</span> + +however, could be well seen at the circus; and though the Chinese +Ladies did not glance in their direction, I took advantage of being a +foreigner, and when I was behind the others, and could do so without +being seen, I closely scanned their faces and attire. Several of the +Princes of the Imperial Family came up to the platform where Their +Majesties sat and made their bows to them, afterward slightly saluting +their relations among the Ladies and Princesses.</p> + +<p>Among these young Princes at the circus was a son of Prince Kung and +an adopted son of the Imperial Princess. This young man not only had +a remarkably fine figure, tall and slender, with broad shoulders, but +his face was very handsome. His bow, on coming up to pay his respects +to Their Majesties, was as graceful as that of a young chevalier. His +regard was so ingenuous, his expression so clever and withal so modest, +his whole demeanor so gracious, I was much struck with him. His dress +was elegant, and his jewels chosen with discretion. There was none +of that overloading of belt ornamentation that the young dandies of +the Imperial set were then affecting. His father was one of the great +Princes of China, and if this young man develops and carries out the +promise of his youth (he was then only seventeen), I fancy he will +be heard of also. Like most of the young Manchu Princes, he held a +position in the Imperial household, such as Master of the Horse or +Captain of the Archers.</p> + +<p>It was not much of a circus, but none of the Imperial party had ever +seen one before, and the setting was so gorgeous, it was unique as a +circus performance even to me. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor + +<span class="pagenum">184</span> + +had splendidly jeweled opera glasses, which a eunuch held ready for +their use. The Emperor, disliking to be looked at, held his own +glasses before his face most of the time. It seemed to me he used them +principally for the purpose of screening himself. The animals pleased +both Their Majesties; but aside from the dwarfs, of which there were +two, the rest of the performers seemed to have but a mediocre interest +for them. Her Majesty was particularly interested in the dogs and +trained animals, and His Majesty in the horses and fancy riding. I was +standing near him, and he looked keenly at me several times to see how +the performance struck me; and one of his head eunuchs asked me in +English—the Emperor would not try it—whether I thought it was “good or +bad.” Their Majesties sat through the performance, the Empress Dowager +only retiring to her loge once during the time, which was while one of +the summarily clad young ladies was gyrating on a trapeze. There was a +magnificent tigress which the circus master had trained, and which was +his “pièce de résistance.” The Empress Dowager would not allow this to +be taken out of its cage, and though it was brought out in front of the +Imperial platform, it was too cat-like to interest her. She has a great +antipathy to anything feline. When the performance was finished, the +Imperial party left in the same state in which it had arrived, Their +Majesties accompanied to the launch by the Princes and high Officials, +the music of the two bands playing simultaneously. The Ladies of the +Palace and Their Majesties, themselves, have so little novelty in +their lives, I think, on the whole, the innovation of the circus was +generally appreciated.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">185</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII"> + CHAPTER XXII + <span class="small-text"> + PALACE CUSTOMS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Empress Dowager is an early riser, but the joint Audiences which +Their Majesties now hold are never at the extraordinary hours in vogue +when His Majesty ruled alone. When there is a press of business, and +many heads of departments to be seen, the Audiences begin very early, +but they rarely extend past eleven o’clock—the usual hours being from +half-past seven to eleven.</p> + +<p>When the Empress Dowager sleeps, a maid watches in her room, two +eunuchs stand on guard in the ante-chamber to the room, four watch +at the door of the ante-chamber, and her body-guard of eunuchs fill +the building where her private apartments are situated. The maid and +eunuchs who watch in the night are changed every second day. Only the +High Eunuchs are intrusted with the duty of guarding her bed-chamber +and Throne-room. At the Summer Palace, Her Majesty’s bedroom is not +more than fifteen feet square; the bed, like all in North China, is +built into an alcove in the room. Shelves run around the three +inclosed sides of the alcove, and on these are placed Her Majesty’s +favorite ornaments—small jade curios, books, and, of course, clocks. +In this bedroom I + +<span class="pagenum">186</span> + +counted fifteen timepieces on the bed shelves, and all running. Their +ticking and striking, not at all simultaneous, was enough to run a +nervous European woman wild; but Her Majesty takes so much outdoor +exercise, she seemed to have no nerves. There were no flowers in her +bedroom, but the ante-chamber, leading into it, was always full of +flowers, pyramids of apples, and “Buddha’s hands.” +<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> + +The bed-alcove is separated from the room by satin curtains, suspended +from a handsomely embroidered valance, with two long embroidered bands +to loop them back.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty is a light and irregular sleeper. When she wakes and +finds it impossible to go to sleep again, she rises, is dressed, and +often goes for a walk in the grounds, at what we would call the most +unseasonable of hours. She says Nature is beautiful at every hour +of the twenty-four, with a different charm for each moment. As she +loves it in all its phases, she likes to see it at every hour of the +twenty-four, at least once a year! When she wakes and goes for a walk +at night, the eunuchs who are on duty in her Palace accompany her with +lanterns, but she never takes these night walks, except by moonlight, +and when the night is beautiful.</p> + +<p>Whether she has slept well or ill, she rises at six o’clock; for the +morning is devoted to business, and she never misses an Audience. On +rising, she takes a bowl of hot milk, or lotus-root porridge; then her +maids and tiring-women begin her toilet for the Audience. This is the +“grande toilette” for the day, for full dress is worn by the Chinese in +the morning, and in the evening they wear simple gowns. When her toilet +is finished, + +<span class="pagenum">187</span> + +the young Empress and Ladies, having “assisted” (from without) at +her “lever,” she comes out into the Throne-room and receives their +morning greeting. The Emperor then comes to pay his respects to the +Great Ancestress, and together they go in State, accompanied by all +the Ladies of the Court, to the Great Audience Hall. The Ladies of the +Court remain outside the Great Hall until the Audience is finished, +when they accompany Her Majesty to her Throne-room. The business of the +day is then over. Her Majesty lays aside her robes of State and gives +herself up to duties connected with the Palace.</p> + +<p>While I was painting the portraits, she would pose on returning from +the Audience; or, if the Audience had been too tiring, she would first +go for a walk. Then would begin her various self-imposed household +duties. She would overlook the baskets of flowers and fruits sent +into the Palace daily, select some to be sent as presents, and send +others to the eunuchs of the kitchen to be cooked. Then she would +look at new rolls of silk, just arrived from the Imperial looms, or +examine new articles of toilet, fresh from the workshops of the Palace +tailors. Sometimes she would play a game, of which she seemed very +fond, and of which I know no counterpart. It was played on a large +square board, covered with white silk and painted in fantastic designs, +representing the Earth and Fairyland. The object of the game was to get +an ivory chessman, representing “man,” into Fairyland. The length of +the move was decided by throwing dice. There was no box for throwing +the dice: they were taken in the hands and thrown into a jade bowl. The +numbers + +<span class="pagenum">188</span> + +uppermost were then counted and the move made. She would play this +game with the Princesses; and sometimes two of the High Eunuchs, who +were proficient, would be called in to make out the number. The game +was played for money, but, if Her Majesty won, the others did not pay. +If, however, they won, she paid, and at once. She was ever a cheerful +giver. She had wonderful luck, and it was a rare occurrence for the +others to win. I only happened to see it three times. The Princesses +were always pleased to play this game, for they had a chance of winning +and they never lost. One day I saw her get quite angry with one of the +Ladies playing. This Lady could not bear to lose, and would get sulky +and cross if she did. This annoyed Her Majesty, until finally she +reproved her sharply. She asked her why she played a game if she were +not willing to take her chances as they came, and meet loss or gain +with equal equanimity.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo" src="images/188a.jpg" width="899" height="1200" + alt="Princesses of the Court" id="188a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + PRINCESSES OF THE COURT</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager only eats two solid meals a day—luncheon and +dinner. These were exactly similar. The dishes, so far as I could see, +were identical; but they were so numerous, and of such variety, one +could make a change of menu by eating different dishes. The hours of +these two meals were very irregular; in fact, Her Majesty had no fixed +hour for anything except rising and attendance at the Audience Hall. +“Early rice,” as the Chinese call luncheon, was served the Empress +Dowager at any time between half-past ten and half-past twelve. She was +likely to order it at any hour after she returned from the Audience. +“Late rice,” or dinner, was ordered with the same irregularity. She was +very fond of nuts and + +<span class="pagenum">189</span> + +fruits, and ate them between meals, when she drank tea, hot milk, and +certain fruit juices.</p> + +<p>The young Empress and Ladies of the Court were not bound to these +irregular hours. They ordered their meals in their own pavilions at +the hours they wished. Sometimes they had but just finished their own +meals, when the Empress Dowager would order hers, and, when she had +finished, invite them to eat at her table. Then it would be a matter +of etiquette to eat with, at least apparent, relish. At this meal at +Her Majesty’s table, her place remained vacant. When I was in the +Palace and we were invited to eat at her table, the Ladies sat; but +when I was not there, the Ladies stood to eat, if she were still in the +building, thus observing a very old convention. The Empress Dowager +was very rigid about the observance of all traditional customs, and a +stickler for Court etiquette, but she was also very considerate of the +Ladies. When she had eaten, she would leave her Throne-room, or would +conceal herself behind some screen, so that they might sit and eat in +peace. I have seen her return to the Throne-room while the Ladies were +eating, but she would do it stealthily, not allowing the eunuchs to +precede her, so that the Ladies might not be obliged to rise on her +entrance.</p> + +<p>When the Empress Dowager dined, she sat at the head of a long table +absolutely groaning under the many dishes placed thereon. Huge silver +platters stood on side tables with sucking-pig, steamed goose, whole +fowls, etc. Before serving the latter, they were brought to her to look +at, just as the butler, in Europe, shows the pheasant and set dishes to +the mistress + +<span class="pagenum">190</span> + +of the house. Her dishes were of yellow porcelain, with curiously +chased silver covers of pyramidal shape and quaint design. When she +arose to go to the table, a eunuch standing near would shout, “Remove +the covers,” the word would be repeated along the line of waiting +eunuchs, who would spring forward and whip off the covers of the many +dishes on the table as if by magic. At Her Majesty’s place were two +spoons, a saucer and bowl, a pair of chop-sticks, and a small folded +square of soft cloth, corresponding to our napkin. When she sat down, +she attached to the front of her dress, by a quaint, golden pin, a +large silken napkin,—for she was immaculately neat and had a horror of +a spot on her clothes. She was an epicure and thoroughly appreciated +any new dish the Palace cooks sent forth, and, like all epicures, she +ate very slowly and seemed to enjoy her food. She never drank wine or +anything else at meals. I only saw her drink wine on two occasions, +when some new vintages had been received at the Palace, and then it +seemed more to judge of their merits, as a connoisseur, than anything +else. When she finished her meal and left the table, the eunuchs +brought hot cloths for her hands and a golden “rince-bouche.” After +this, one of the maids would bring her a silver basin, soap, and +towels, and she would indulge in an elaborate hand-washing.</p> + +<p>After “Early rice” came the hour of her siesta. She would retire to +her bedroom, and her reader, bringing several volumes from which to +choose, would come to read to her. She would remain in her room for an +hour and a half, whether sleeping or being + +<span class="pagenum">191</span> + +read to. When she awoke, she would make another careful toilet, the +Ladies would join her, and she would go for a long walk before taking +“Late rice.”</p> + +<p>On the first and fifteenth of the month, the Imperial players were +at the Theater. On these days, the Emperor, instead of returning to +his own Palace, would accompany the Empress Dowager and the Ladies +from the Audience Hall to the Theater. The Imperial Hymn was played on +Their Majesties’ entrance into the court of the Theater, and when they +had entered the Imperial loge, the players would come in a body on the +stage and “kow-tow.” Then the actors, splendidly gowned, would make the +customary wishes for the Imperial Peace, Prosperity, Longevity, after +which there would be a posture-play in costume, and then the plays for +the day would begin. On Theater days Their Majesties would lunch and +dine together in the Imperial loge. They did not sit at the ends of +the great table, but at right angles to each other—the Emperor at the +head of the table, and the Empress Dowager at his left. His Majesty was +not much of an epicure. He ate fast, and apparently did not care what +it was. When he finished, he would stand up near Her Majesty, or walk +around the Throne-room until she had finished.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager was very rigorous in the observance of all +fasts, as well as feasts, prescribed by the rites. On fast-days, no +meat nor fish was eaten at her table. The meals consisted entirely of +vegetables, bread, and rice; but there was always a great variety of +these dishes, and they were temptingly prepared. Meat dishes and fish +were always prepared <span class="pagenum">192</span> for me when I was +invited to eat at the Imperial table on fast-days, until I learned that +the Empress Dowager and the Ladies were fasting, when I asked to eat +only what was prepared for them when I dined with them at Her Majesty’s +table.</p> + +<p>On Festivals and Theater days, Princesses of the Imperial Family, +wives of Manchu Nobles, and high Officials were invited to spend the +day at the Palace. Sometimes their children would accompany them, +little girls and boys under twelve. I never saw a boy over seventeen +in the Palace; and only once, one sixteen years old. This was a son of +Prince Ching. When these young people came to the Court, they observed +the same rules of etiquette as their elders, and behaved with great +decorum. Her Majesty is very fond of children, but very particular as +to their manners. When a little girl did not make a graceful bow, Her +Majesty would not correct her, but would ask the young Empress, an +authority on etiquette and very graceful, to bow. Her Majesty would +then tell the little girl to notice how the Empress bowed and try to do +it in that manner. The child, or her parents, generally followed this +suggestion, and the grace of the bow was improved on the next visit to +Court!</p> + +<p>On one occasion, a lady of high rank, married to a kinsman of the +Empress Dowager, was invited to the Palace with her family. She had +two little girls, and when the family went up to bow and repeat the +salutation to Her Majesty, the younger daughter, only five years old, +refused either to make the bow or repeat the salutation, but sat down +on the floor and + +<span class="pagenum">193</span> + +cried! The Empress Dowager waited patiently for the mother to correct +the little girl, for she is very fond of children and disposed to +condone their faults. The little girl would not, however, listen to +reason and continued to show temper. Her Majesty could not allow such a +breach of the “Proprieties,” even in a child of this age, and the high +rank of the family of the little girl made it the more imperative that +she should conform to the rules of Propriety and observe the etiquette +of the Court. When Her Majesty saw that all efforts at bringing her +to reason were fruitless, she ordered the child to be taken away. +Whereupon the mother began crying, and begged her not to be offended +with the little girl. She replied, “Do you think a person of superior +intelligence could be offended with a baby? I send you out of the +Palace to teach you a lesson, which you must teach your child. I do +not blame her; I blame you and pity her; but she must suffer as well +as yourself. You must teach your child that ‘it is by the rules of +propriety that the character is established’ (Confucius)”; and she was +inexorable. The family left the Palace and was not invited again for +some time.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">194</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"> + CHAPTER XXIII + <span class="small-text"> + HER MAJESTY’S ANXIETY—HER BIRTHDAY + </span> +</h2> + +<p>Her Majesty was looking tired and anxious these days; the Audiences +were unusually long, and despatches were arriving all during the day. +She would often go to the Gardens immediately after her Audience for +solitary walks, unattended by the Ladies, and when she went out for +the walk, accompanied by the Empress and Princesses, she would sit +distraught and abstracted before the finest views and those she loved +most. She seemed absent-minded, and when some eunuch with the official +message would kneel before her, awaiting her order to deliver his +message, she would recall herself with an effort. One day when we were +out, after days of this anxiety, and she was sitting alone in front of +the “Peony Mountain,” the Empress and Princesses standing in a group at +a little distance, she looked a pathetic figure. Her strong face looked +tired and worn. Her arms hung listlessly by her sides and she seemed +almost to have given up, and I saw her, furtively, brush a tear away. +The days were so like each other at the Palace, the Chinese dates being +different from ours, I lost my reckoning until I had a Tientsin paper, +and I saw that the date on which the Russians had promised to evacuate + +<span class="pagenum">195</span> + +Manchuria had passed and they were making no move toward doing so; +and that there were rumors of war between Japan and Russia. This, +then, must be what was weighing upon the mind of the Empress Dowager. +A few days later a telegram was handed her in the Throne-room while +she was posing, that seemed to greatly agitate her. It was from Kwang +Hsi, and reported the ineffectual attempts of the authorities to put +down a serious rebellion there. Thus, there were interior as well as +exterior troubles to make her anxious. She seemed to take these State +troubles to heart; and it was touching to see her anxiety, which she +made but little effort to conceal when surrounded only by the Ladies. +The Emperor, on the contrary, preserved his usual calm exterior, and +if he was racked by anxiety, showed no evidence of it. This may have +been because he had schooled himself to hide his feelings. Be that as +it may, his face had always that enigmatic smile lurking around the +corners of his mouth. I fancied, though, his eyes looked more resigned +and sadder than usual.</p> + +<p>The date of the Empress Dowager’s Birthday (November 16) was +approaching, and preparations to celebrate it were beginning. She +was determined to keep this celebration very simple. She issued +edicts prohibiting the high Officials and Viceroys from sending the +extravagant presents which always pour in at the celebration of the +birthday of any one of her age in China. She recommended great economy +in expenditures for the celebration, saying it would be improper and +unworthy at this time of National distress, when the Foreign Indemnity +was not yet paid, to make a + +<span class="pagenum">196</span> + +large outlay for her Birthday. The celebration of a birthday in China +is a great event, almost a religious ceremony, and is observed with +great rejoicings by all classes. The poorest in the land, if they are +not able to keep any other festival, always celebrate with as much pomp +as possible the birthdays of their parents. This is one of the duties +enjoined by the Book of Rites, and, in spite of Her Majesty’s expressed +wishes on the subject, the Emperor could not allow her Birthday to pass +without a fitting celebration.</p> + +<p>The Emperor beseeched Her Majesty “on bended knee” to allow him to +have her Birthday celebrated with the same pomp as usual—to permit him +to add another honorific title to the sixteen she already possessed—but +though she was very proud of her titles, which the Ministers and +Emperor had conferred upon her at different times, she was inexorable +on this point, for the adding of a new title would necessitate an +annual grant of twelve thousand dollars in gold. She also insisted that +everything must be on a smaller scale than usual. She was, one could +well see, in no happy frame of mind. There was none of the enthusiasm +she had shown over the preparations for the Emperor’s Birthday. Then +she was in gay good humor. She then evidently fully believed that +things were going well for the State, that China would soon obtain +her full rights in Manchuria again; then everything seemed brighter +for the Nation’s outlook than now. It was her duty, however, to go +through these Birthday celebrations, which, curtail as she would, must, +nevertheless, be very elaborate, owing to her age as well as to her +high rank. The Empress Dowager’s + +<span class="pagenum">197</span> + +wishes as to the adding of a new title were observed, and it was +not conferred, but the preparations for the Birthday went on, on a +magnificent scale. Presents came pouring into the Palace, and even +more elaborate festive decorations than those used for the Emperor’s +Birthday were being put in place.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty was to receive the prostrations of the Emperor and +Empress,<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +Princesses, and members of the Imperial Family, on a Throne in the +Palace, that was built half-way up the terraced hill crowned by the +Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas. She did not receive these prostrations +in the Great Audience Hall: this was set aside, by tradition, for the +Emperor, alone. Had she been reigning for him, she would have received +them there, but as she was reigning with him, she received them in +the other Palace. The elevation of this Palace permitted all who were +allowed to enter the Precincts to offer their congratulations, to get +a glimpse of Her Majesty. As the weather was getting cold, the marble +steps leading up to this Palace, the courts, and even a large part of +the terrace over the lake, were covered with carpets of gala red.</p> + +<p>The congratulations and prostrations were to begin at 2 A.M., the +hour of her birth. There were three pairs of huge silver candelabra +standing at either side of the Throne to hold the enormous wax candles +of Imperial yellow, entwined with golden dragons, which weighed +fifty pounds each. They stood five feet high. Lanterns with the +ever-present character “Sho” and others inscribed “Wan-Sho-Wu-Chiang” +(no limit to Imperial longevity) stood on each step of the long flight +leading up to the Palace. The whole terrace below, all the <span +class="pagenum">198</span> temples and buildings in the grounds, were +brilliantly illuminated with splendid lanterns, elaborately ornamented +with tassels of red silk, with the characters for longevity emblazoned +thereon in vermilion.</p> + +<p>With the few changes necessitated by the different season of the +year of the Empress Dowager’s Birthday, everything was carried out as +for the Emperor’s except on a larger scale, as she was celebrating +more years than His Majesty. The Palace was filled to overflowing with +the many ladies invited to be present. Some came from the heart of +distant Manchuria, the cradle of the Dynasty. The winter Court dress of +the ladies, worn for Her Majesty’s Birthday, was of satin, lined and +trimmed with fur, with sable collars. Like the summer Court dress, the +winter gown was elaborately embroidered in the golden double dragon. +The picturesque summer coiffure had also been replaced by winter hats +of fur with jewels across the front and an elaborate crown, studded +with precious stones. Brilliant bunches of flowers were worn on either +side of the coiffure, in winter as in summer.</p> + +<p>The celebration of birthday festivities in China is always +accompanied by rites and worship of the ancestral tablets, and Her +Majesty was obliged to go into Peking several times during the +celebration. The ceremonies, themselves, were also very tiring. All +this effort to keep up, and to properly carry out her part of the +ceremonies, added to her real anxiety, made the forced celebration +of her sixty-ninth Birthday far from a happy event to the Empress +Dowager of China, who found the Empire she was trying to guide, +in so perilous a position—war threatening on its confines, <span +class="pagenum">199</span> foreign complications of all kinds to deal +with, and rebellion within.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">200</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"> + CHAPTER XXIV + <span class="small-text"> + THE WINTER PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Summer Palace was always the Empress Dowager’s favorite Palace, +but after the Boxer rising and the subsequent occupation of Peking +by the Allies, when foreign troops were stationed in both the Peking +Palaces, and so much damage done them, she would have preferred to have +lived the whole year round at the Summer Palace. As it is, she occupies +it from eight to nine months of the year, going out to it at the first +opportunity in the spring, and leaving it only when it is so cold as +to make it impracticable. There is a system of heating it by furnaces +beneath the floors, but Her Majesty never used these, and the small +Chinese porcelain stoves, sorts of braziers, were quite insufficient +for heating the immense halls. This, however, would not have influenced +her, as she never minded the cold, but it was very difficult for the +officials to take the long trip to the Summer Palace during the winter, +and this consideration alone caused her to move into the Winter Palace +when the weather became very cold. The members of the Cabinet and the +Princes had summer homes in the immediate vicinity of the Palace, but +there were thousands of officials who were obliged to come out every +day from Peking.</p> + +<span class="pagenum">201</span> + +<p>The time had now come for the Court to move in definitively to +the Winter Palace, and shortly after the Birthday festivities, Their +Majesties took up their residence in the Capital. Before I left the +Summer Palace, the young Empress suggested that I should go to the +Winter Palace the next day in time to assist in receiving Her Majesty +on her arrival there, for, as usual, I left the Summer Palace the +day before the Court, and went in to the United States Legation. At +every change of residence of the Empress Dowager, the young Empress, +Princesses, and Ladies of the Court precede her by a few hours, and +stand upon the threshold of her own dwelling Palace to receive her when +she arrives. Full Court dress is worn for this reception, and it is, as +is everything touching Her Majesty, a ceremony!</p> + +<p>The day of the Empress Dowager’s entrance into her loyal City of +Peking for the winter, in December, 1903, was a +typical Peking winter day; the air was crisp and clear, the atmosphere +positively sparkling, and like champagne. One seemed to breathe an +elixir. For her “progresses” from one Palace to another the Empress +Dowager always had, what they call in England, “Queen’s weather.”</p> + +<p>The City of Peking is composed of three walled towns—the Chinese, +the Tartar, and the Imperial City. Within the Imperial City lies the +Winter Palace, its battlemented, turreted walls surrounded by a moat. +After passing through one of the great gates, in the wall surrounding +the Imperial City, and crossing the stone bridge that spans “the +Grain-bearing Canal,” we soon came in sight of the splendid walls and +lofty + +<span class="pagenum">202</span> + +gates of the Palace inclosure. The red outer walls of the Palace, faded +by Time and weather to a charming gray-pink, with their beautiful +corner constructions of airy-looking turrets reflected in the still +waters of the moat beneath, were most picturesque. We were carried +along the raised road beyond the moat until we came to a marble bridge +(formerly a portcullis), that leads into the gate of the Palace in +front of the Manchu Banner quarters, at the foot of the Coal Hill. Our +chairs, by special arrangement, were allowed to enter the inclosure +proper, of the Winter Palace; but even after entering the exterior +gates, one winds in and out between high walls, through massive gates +and heavy wooden doors studded with huge iron nails and ornamental +copper balls. Against the high wall on either side of this approach, +wooden sheds were built as sleeping-places for the guards and soldiers. +Each shed had a front of lattice-work, with paper pasted over the +interstices. Within was a cemented platform, which the Northern Chinese +use as beds. These have a place underneath for building a fire, for +they keep warm at night by sleeping on hot beds and use very little +cover.</p> + +<p>Just beyond the last of these guard-houses, our official “green +chairs” were put down between two high walls, with forbidding gates in +front of us. Here we took the red Palace chairs which were awaiting +us. We were swiftly carried through still other gates and past a very +labyrinth of walls. The courts were all paved in large flagstones of +white marble, and surrounded by high walls with heavy doors. We finally +reached a charming court, where, standing under + +<span class="pagenum">203</span> + +the overhanging branches of a beautiful cedar, we found the young +Empress and Princesses, in full Court dress, already awaiting the +coming of Her Majesty. It was a pretty group that stood there, gowned +in their splendid Court costumes, the sunlight glinting upon the +jeweled crowns of their fur caps, and giving a touch of nature to the +brilliant flowers in their hair. My plain, foreign, tailor-made gown +was the only dark spot in this bright group of gorgeously attired +ladies.</p> + +<p>Presently the cymbals and flutes sounded the weird notes of the +“Imperial Hymn.” The great wooden doors of the court were thrown open +and the Imperial procession came in sight. Splendidly gowned eunuchs +advanced in two lines, walking with rigid bodies and stately step. +At a sign from the young Empress, a hush fell upon the chattering +group of Princesses and each took her proper place. Then the Imperial +chair-bearers crossed the threshold, with Her Majesty sitting erect +in one of her “open chairs,” for as soon as she gets into the Palace +grounds she leaves the closed palanquin, in which she is obliged to +travel abroad and which she very much dislikes on account of its +stuffiness. The Ladies, as if moved by one impulse, made the formal +bow at her approach, and repeated the usual Imperial salutation +“Lao-tzu-tzung-chee-siang,” which I repeated with the others. Her +Majesty had her chair stopped in the center of the Court and got out, +and I went up to salute her. She shook hands, and said she hoped I +would be happy in the Winter Palace, but that it was a dull, depressing +sort of a place, with too many walls and gates, after the + +<span class="pagenum">204</span> + +open brightness, of the Summer Palace. After a few minutes’ +conversation she went into the Throne-room, followed by the Empress and +Ladies.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty’s Throne-room at the Winter Palace fronted on a court +which was surrounded by well-built walls with curiously shaped doors +and windows and ornamental yellow and green tiled designs at intervals. +In the center of the wall in front was the immense gateway, with wooden +folding-doors, which had just opened for her passage. The verandah +of the Throne-room had two rooms projecting upon it, making of it a +rectangular space with walls around three of its sides. This verandah +was quite different from any at the Summer Palace, where they run the +whole length of the buildings, back and front.</p> + +<p>Entering, I was struck by the beauty of the great central hall—the +harmony of its proportions, the somber splendor of its color. It seemed +to me the most satisfying, the most picturesque of all the restful, +harmonious Chinese interiors I had seen. Its dull red walls, splendid +coffered ceiling glowing in color and glinting in gold, its central +dome, with elaborately carved <a href="#a204" +id="b204">pendentives</a>, was painted in brilliant primary colors, +subdued into a rich harmony by the demi-obscurity, for it had no +“lantern” and received its light from the windows below.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/204a.jpg" width="1200" + height="709" alt="In the Winter Palace" id="204a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + COURT IN THE WINTER PALACE—“HER MAJESTY COMES”</p> + +<p>The curious feature of the domes in several of the palaces in the +Violet City, so effective from within, giving elevation and space to +the interiors, is that they are not visible from the outside of the +edifice. The beautiful straight line of the roof, with its upturned + +<span class="pagenum">205</span> + +corners, remains intact in its purity and retains its restful +simplicity.</p> + +<p>The hall was paved with great blocks of highly polished black +marble, which dimly reflected the glowing splendor of the walls and +ceiling. In the center of one side was a low dais, richly carpeted, on +which stood a great antique throne and footstool of red lacquer, framed +in ebony and inlaid with cloisonné—the three-leaved screen behind +was of bronze, with landscapes in low relief. On each leaf a poem in +golden characters gave the needed touch of brilliancy to the somber +massiveness of the dull bronze.</p> + +<p>Great wooden doors, with huge gilded dragons in high relief, opened +into apartments on the right and left of this splendid hall. These +portals were always thrown wide, and heavily padded satin portières +hung from the lintels. The front and rear of the hall was almost +entirely of glass, with the pillars that supported the roof standing +clear between the windows—the lower half of plate-glass, the upper, of +transparent Corean paper.</p> + +<p>The apartments to the right, where, at a sign from Her Majesty, I +followed the Ladies, were her day-rooms. Her sitting-room, projecting +on the verandah, brilliantly lighted by two sides of windows, was in +dazzling contrast to the somber splendor of the Throne-room. The sun +pouring through the windows, the gay flowers and growing plants, the +fruits piled high in great painted bowls, the divans, beneath the +windows, with satin cushions, the touches of femininity, the subtle +perfume, even the small shrine to Buddha—everything bespoke the +characteristics of + +<span class="pagenum">206</span> + +its august mistress, who, in her hours of ease, loved sunshine and +flowers, and reveled in beauty and perfume.</p> + +<p>On entering, Her Majesty approached the small shrine, lighted +three slender tapers of fragrant incense, and placed them upright in +the perfumed ashes of the golden censer at the feet of Buddha. She +rearranged the offerings, placed a picture of the Mother of Buddha +behind the Image, and then stood in reverent attitude a few seconds +before turning to her waiting tirewomen to have her outer garments +removed.</p> + +<p>As I had now learned that my interest in her surroundings +pleased her, I looked around the room. It was as lofty as the Great +Throne-room, but the rear wall was divided into two stories, and a +hidden stairway led to the upper rooms. In an alcove, under the second +floor, was built the bed where she took her siesta in the afternoon, +screened from the sitting-room by beautifully embroidered satin +curtains. The walls of carved teakwood had a rare frieze of panels of +flying birds and bats in mother-of-pearl. There were scrolls bearing +quotations from the classics; and, of course, many beautiful and +curious clocks adorned the dragon tables, the window-seats, and carved +chests!</p> + +<p>In prominent places, each flanked by good-luck pennants, hung two +steel-engravings: the first representing Queen Victoria in regal array; +the second, the Queen and Prince Consort, surrounded by their children +and grandchildren. I was surprised to see them here in Her Majesty’s +living-room, though I had heard + +<span class="pagenum">207</span> + +that the Empress Dowager had a great admiration for the Queen, and that +she thought there were many points of similarity in their reigns. They +had each been widows the greater part of their lives, and had each +ruled over great empires. She said she noticed in the Queen’s face the +same lines of longevity that she, herself, had. She probably dreams of +as long a life as the great Queen of England had.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager was astonished that I had seen so many members +of the English Royal family, and the Queen herself, when I had never +had an “Audience,” and was still more so when she learned that the +Great English Empress took her daily promenade outside her Palace Walls +in “an open chair,” and could be seen by any one who happened to pass +that way.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty told me I might go up the hidden stairway, leading from +her bed-alcove to the floor above, where was her private chapel. Here, +on special occasions, services were held by lama priests. It was a +beautiful haven, in whose dim, religious light one might meditate or +pray.</p> + +<p>Its high altar, with a great golden Buddha of fine design, had +tall, golden candlesticks, shining with pearls and rubies. Richly +wrought and enameled vases held bouquets of jeweled flowers, and +censers, damascened with gold, sent up spirals of perfumed smoke. The +floor was covered with a splendid silken rug of Imperial yellow, and +small, exquisitely executed, paintings of the saints and personified +attributes formed a dado around the walls.</p> + +<p>Curiously shaped windows, with bits of translucent + +<span class="pagenum">208</span> + +shell set into the elaborate lattice-work, shed but a dim light, +and out of mysterious depths shone the splendid jewels of the altar +ornaments, the dull gold of the Great Buddha, and the gleaming dado of +red-and-gold clothed saints! This was Her Majesty’s favorite chapel. +She had followed me up and showed it with pride. She appreciated its +perfect artistic quality as much, I am sure, as she loved its religious +element.</p> + +<p>Here she could come, from the privacy of her bed-alcove, mount the +hidden stairs when she willed, unnoticed and unattended, and here seek +that peace which seemed so far away those troubled days of January, +1904, when all looked so dark for her country.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty’s Throne-room is in the first of three large halls in +the northeastern corner of the inclosure, which, with their courts, +extend to the exterior walls of the Palace. The buildings are raised +about eight feet above the marble-paved court and are approached +by handsome, white marble steps. Leading up to the second, for the +first time I saw a “spirit-stairway” used in secular architecture. +This “spirit-stairway” consists of a block of marble placed in the +center and reaching from the top to the bottom of the stairway. This +block, instead of being cut into steps, is elaborately carved with the +double dragon. It lies in the middle of the stairway like a beautiful +heavy carpet thrown over it, too stiff to take the form of steps. The +“spirit-stairway,” not to be touched by mortal feet, is used in the +approaches to all the fine temples; and when, as in the case of the +Temple of Heaven at Peking, the stairs are high, the effect is as +beautiful as it is original and unique.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/208a.jpg" width="1200" + height="888" alt="A Confucian Temple" id="208a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + CONFUCIAN TEMPLE—SPIRIT-STAIRWAY IN CENTRAL FLIGHT OF STEPS</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">209</span> +The hall with the “spirit-stairway” is the handsomest of the three +in the Empress Dowager’s inclosure. Its interior, a height of fifty +feet, has a splendid coffered ceiling, and its walls are of wonderfully +carved wood, with cloisonné medallions, which give great richness and +splendor. A balcony surrounds this lofty hall, with openings from it +into rooms over the side apartments, which are of but the usual height. +This great front hall, with a dais and throne, screen and ceremonial +fans, showed it was for more formal receptions than the beautiful domed +room we had first entered. Opposite the Throne dais stood a “cistern” +of splendidly carved jade to hold water for cooling the temperature +in summer. A handsome music-box, which had been sent as a present to +the Dowager Empress by Queen Victoria, and several other presents from +European Royalties, stood around. The apartments on the right were for +His Majesty’s use when he came to the Theater, which was near. On the +left were Her Majesty’s night apartments. Two doors led through the +open-work screen which separated the hall from the entrance at the rear. +Here there was another magnificent block of jade, about five feet high, +elaborately carved in designs representing the manner in which the jade +is mined and taken from its native mountains.</p> + +<p>From the central hall, a raised marble platform led into the +third of the buildings. Here, again, the central hall occupied +the entire height, while the sides were divided into two stories. +This was one of the Emperor’s Throne-rooms, and he had graciously +given it for my use while painting the Empress Dowager’s portraits. +<span class="pagenum">210</span> I had been +told I was to have a “magnificent place for working” in the Winter +Palace, and so far as magnificence went, I had it here. But, lofty +and spacious as the hall was, it was very dark, and there was also a +disagreeable reflection from the shining, yellow-tiled roof of the +Palace in front. The court was very small, and the reflection from the +roof was consequently unavoidable. My heart fell. It was a dreadful +disappointment to find that my “studio,” to which I had so looked +forward, was so unsatisfactory as to light!</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager’s quarters at the Winter Palace are separated by +high walls and guarded gates from the Emperor’s. The pavilions of the +Emperor’s inclosure are on a more magnificent scale even than those of +the Empress Dowager. The Audience Hall of the Winter Palace is in the +Emperor’s inclosure. In Her Majesty’s inclosure, there is a Theater, +but the Imperial “loge” is small, indeed, when compared with the +splendid hall at the Summer Palace. Tradition seemed to be more rigidly +observed here than at the Summer Palace, and everything seemed to be +referred to the Emperor; whereas Her Majesty seemed to be the first +figure at the Summer Palace, and there, traditional laws were often in +abeyance.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">211</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXV"> + CHAPTER XXV + <span class="small-text"> + PEKING—BEGINNING THE PORTRAIT FOR ST. LOUIS + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Legation quarter of Peking lies in the Tartar City, just under +the walls of the Imperial City. The United States Legation, in 1904, +occupied a Chinese Temple on the canal, at the left of the “Water +Gate,” the opening of which was exacted by the Allies in 1900. Before +this time, there was no gate between the Chien-Mên and the Hata-Mên.</p> + +<p>It was a picturesque jaunt in the early morning that I had from +the United States Legation to the Palace. My cart rattled down the +road, running parallel to the canal, past the splendid inclosure of +the English Legation to the “Glacis,” and across the Marble Bridge, +that traverses it, to the narrow street under the great red walls of +the Imperial City. The walls all over China are wonderful feats of +architecture, the culminating point of the science of the Chinese +builder. The “Great Wall,” long counted one of the wonders of the +world, is one of many in China, and only remarkable on account of its +size and great length. Nearly every town and city in China has massive, +well-constructed walls, which, with their splendid gate-towers, make +them really remarkable works of architecture. Even the palaces and +parks of the rich have fine walls, + +<span class="pagenum">212</span> + +the monotony of their line varied by the turreted summer-houses which +surmount their angles. These walls, quite overtopping the cities and +houses they inclose, with their watch-towers permitting their defenders +to see at great distances, must, in medieval times, have been a +splendid protection against the attacks of enemies or the inroads of +barbarians.</p> + +<p>The main thoroughfares of the Tartar City are very wide, with +a raised causeway, about two feet high, in the center. When Their +Majesties go abroad, this is covered with yellow sand and is used as +an Imperial roadway. Ordinarily any cart or chair, irrespective of +the rank of the occupant, may use it. It is always kept in excellent +condition, and seems to be a survival of the raised roads that Marco +Polo speaks of in describing the grounds of the Palace of Kublai-Kahn. +The lower roads on either side of this raised causeway are generally in +a lamentable state. Itinerant cooks ply their odorous trade of frying +grease-balls, etc.; barbers shave their clients and act as manicures +and chiropodists, in full view of the passer-by; venders of old iron, +clothes, vegetables, etc, spread out their wares in the middle of the +road, in reckless disregard of the wandering fowls, dogs, and even +pigs, which roam about. Pools of stagnant water and piles of refuse +add their quota to the malodorous confusion. Still the streets are not +unpicturesque. The elaborately carved fronts of the shops, the graceful +signs, with their red pennants, the gaily colored lanterns swinging to +and fro, the great umbrellas unfurled here and there over the itinerant +venders, all have a certain sort of charm.</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">213</span> +After entering the gate of the Imperial City, the roads are gay with +carts, official chairs, and handsomely caparisoned horses. We sometimes +met attachés of the “Wai-Wu-Pu” and different Yamens hurrying to and +fro with despatches, or caught a glimpse, in the depths of his green +chair, of one of the great ministers, the thin white-bearded face of +Prince Ching, or the heavy Jewish-looking physiognomy of Na-Tung, +the new minister, who seems likely to grow in favor. Sometimes we +passed a bridal procession, with its gay, red-embroidered chairs, +or some splendid funeral, with the great red catafalque, covered +with magnificent embroideries (for red is used alike for wedding +chairs and for funeral decorations)—its massive, long poles held by +hundreds of red-gowned bearers and accompanied by the motley crew of +figurants, who are always hired for funeral celebrations in China; the +catafalque, followed by white-covered carts, carrying the mourning +white-garbed women of the family. Sometimes we passed a crowd of +yellow-gowned lama priests and monks returning from some celebration +in the Palace—sometimes, great droves of camels laden with coal from +the mountains or produce from afar. During the annual visit of the +Mongolian Princes to Peking we met them with their fur-dressed and +leather-booted followers, their quaintly caparisoned horses, and +splendidly bedecked camels, for they were domiciled in Palaces, within +the Imperial City.</p> + +<p>All this we could see as we went on our way to the Great Gate of +the Palace, itself. Within the walls and at the gate of the Empress +Dowager’s Palace, with + +<span class="pagenum">214</span> + +the usual Chinese tolerance, the consideration of the great for the +poor, beggars are allowed to come at certain times each day, to receive +remnants from the Imperial kitchen. The poor are also permitted to +examine the garbage of the Palace, before it is carted away. There was +always a motley crew of ragged beggars around this gate, who received, +apparently, kind consideration from the soldiers and guards. At least, +they were allowed to ply their trade and to follow their avocations in +peace.</p> + +<p>I found the light, in the magnificent hall which had now become my +studio, so obscure, even in front of the great plate-glass doors, that +it was almost useless to attempt to work. After trying to do so for two +or three days, I told the head eunuch it was impossible. I did not wish +to trouble Her Majesty with my annoyances, for she had enough of her +own cares, and seemed to grow daily more and more anxious and depressed +over the constantly growing rumors of war in Manchuria; but it was +impossible to work longer where I was, and I decided I would have one +of the ends of the hall, which projected beyond the overhanging eaves +of the verandah, fitted up for my work, and in order to have sufficient +light, even here, it was necessary to have the upper paper windows +replaced by plate-glass. The eunuchs demurred. They said this would +necessitate great changes, with heavy expense, besides establishing a +precedent, as no other part of the Palace had plate-glass windows at +the top! The next time the Empress Dowager came in, I told her it was +impossible to work as it was. She, herself, remarked how dark it was, +and noticed the reflection + +<span class="pagenum">215</span> + +from the yellow roof opposite. And when she heard what I wished, she +ordered it to be done at once, saying she would “speak to the Emperor” +about it. An order of Her Majesty’s was always promptly carried out, +and two days after, to my astonishment, the plate-glass windows were +placed as I wished. I had the divan that was built under the windows +removed, and all the furniture taken out of this end of the hall. The +eunuchs hesitated about removing an immense elephant clock of wonderful +mechanism, as it had not been moved for a hundred and fifty years, but +I finally accomplished even this! Even without the furniture, this end +of the hall was but a small space in which to work; but I had a fairly +good light, and a quiet place to paint in, for the first time since I +began painting the Empress Dowager. Here I was sufficiently far away +from Her Majesty’s apartments, as well as from those of the Princesses +and Ladies, to be able to work in quiet, without interruptions. A +set of European furniture had been placed in the great hall, when +it was decided to give it to me, and though this did not please me, +in an artistic sense, it being absolutely out of keeping with its +environment, I found the well-cushioned easy-chairs a real comfort when +I wanted to rest.</p> + +<p>As soon as I was comfortably settled in my new studio, the Empress +Dowager began to talk of having another large portrait begun—large +enough to represent her with all the paraphernalia of Royalty (the +ceremonial fans, the three-fold screen, the nine phenix, plants of +heavenly bamboo) and pyramids of apples—all emblematic, or symbolic. I +told Her Majesty it + +<span class="pagenum">216</span> + +would be best to make a small study for this picture, and that the size +of the portrait could be determined on after this was finished. She +readily assented, and I began the small study. There were a number of +beautiful thrones in the Palace, any one of which would have suited +the lines of the composition. I selected one of the superb, antique +thrones of red lacquer, a magnificent work of art, but the Empress +Dowager did not care for this throne. It was not a matter of whether +the lines or color suited the picture, the point was to have everything +“Ho-shih” (proper), as the Chinese say. With the Chinese, propriety is +a religion, and a thing that is “proper” must conform to tradition, for +tradition and propriety are synonymous. The question of the throne was +left in abeyance for the moment, as Her Majesty said there was one she +would like to have painted, which she would have found before I began +the big picture.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo" src="images/216a.jpg" width="930" height="1200" + alt="Prince Ching" id="216a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> +PRINCE CHING</p> + +<p>I finally began the sketch. Her Majesty was dressed in one of her +official winter gowns. Its fur lining rendered the already heavily +embroidered satin stiffer than ever, and any stray folds that might +perchance have appeared, were pulled out by a heavy fringe of pearls +around the hem. She had on her famous pearl mantle over an official +jacket. In her coiffure she wore her long tassel of pearls, and many +curious ceremonial jewels. She had on fur-lined undersleeves, which +hid half her beautiful hands. The effect of her tiny finger-tips, with +their long curving nails and jeweled shields, the palms not being +visible, was most unfortunate. Added to this, she held them + +<span class="pagenum">217</span> + +tightly together in her lap, and the lines were obscured by a large, +pale-blue handkerchief in one hand.</p> + +<p>My heart fell. Thus I would lose one of her chief beauties. I begged +Lady Yu-Keng to ask her to pose her hands differently. She said she +could not do such a thing; so, in my inelegant Chinese, I told Her +Majesty I did not like her hands as they were. “But I like them like +that,” she said, looking at me with a charming expression of amused +astonishment, amazed that it was possible for any one not to like what +she liked; and she kept her hands as they were, and I was obliged to +begin the picture with the hands in that position.</p> + +<p>The first sketch was quickly made, and Her Majesty expressed +herself as pleased with it. Then came the discussion as to the size +of the portrait. I made my measurements, and thought five feet by +eight was large enough, but when she saw what size it was going to be, +she thought six feet by ten would be better. The Palace carpenters +were accordingly called in, and I gave them as accurate directions +as I could, for making a stretcher. The Chinese workmen are clever, +patient, and apt at carrying out suggestions, and the stretcher was +satisfactorily made. But the canvas was to be put on this stretcher, +and this they seemed to have no idea of, so I was obliged to try to do +it myself. Owing to the size of the canvas, I was compelled to stand on +a stool six feet high (they had no ladders), with the huge stretcher +before me. An army of eunuchs stood around to assist me, presided +over by a head eunuch. I used the iron pincers and pulled the canvas, +myself. It + +<span class="pagenum">218</span> + +was held at the corners by eunuchs, also on stools; one eunuch held +the tacks, another the hammer, etc. Each order I gave was repeated in +a loud voice by the head eunuch, and at every failure to comprehend +my directions, the working eunuchs were rebuked and threatened with +the “bamboo.” Finally, I accomplished the difficult task, and the +great canvas was stretched. Her Majesty was greatly exercised when she +learned I had done it myself. She said that I should have made the +eunuchs “stretch four or five,” until they learned to do one properly. +But I hadn’t sufficient canvas for such experiments, and could get no +more in China.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">219</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"> + CHAPTER XXVI + <span class="small-text"> + SOME SOCIAL CUSTOMS—MANCHU AND CHINESE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>I met the wives and families of all the Princes, nobles, and high +Manchu officials in Peking, for they came to the Court at stated +intervals, besides on many special occasions, when they were invited +by Her Majesty. The most frequent of these visitors to the Palace +were Prince Ching’s wives and daughters, the wives of the Emperor’s +brothers, his father’s secondary wives and their daughters, and the +sisters of the young Empress, one of whom is the clever Princess Schun. +The widow of the Grand Secretary Yung Lu, who lost, in one year, her +husband and a promising son, and who was nearly crazed by grief, also +came often. She was not very brilliant, nor the kind of woman to appeal +to Her Majesty; but her grief seemed to touch the Empress Dowager, +and she received special marks of favor when in the Palace, and came +and went as she willed. A step-daughter, whom she had herself brought +up through a very delicate childhood, was the wife of the Emperor’s +brother, Prince C’hun. Should they have a son he will probably be the +next heir to the Throne.</p> + +<p>On their marriage the brides of nobles of a certain rank go to +the Palace to be presented to the Empress + +<span class="pagenum">220</span> + +Dowager. This ceremony corresponds to the presentation, on their +marriage, of ladies at the English Court. These brides are always +magnificently dressed in embroidered gowns of rich colors, and wear, +for the first time, the Court coiffure of the married ladies, the +magnificent golden filigree, jeweled construction, which I have already +described, and for this occasion they wear a profusion of jewels. The +Manchu ladies use much more discretion in wearing jewels than the +Chinese ladies. The latter will sometimes wear as many as fifteen +bracelets on each arm, and the number of jewels they put in their +coiffure seems to be limited only by the space they have at their +disposal.</p> + +<p>The brides come to the Palace in red satin bridal chairs, +accompanied by their husband’s mother and his married sisters, if he +has any; if not, by his nearest women relations. On their arrival in +the Precincts they first go to the Throne-room and make their bows and +prostrations before the Empress Dowager, to thank her for the gifts she +has sent. Sometimes Her Majesty would speak to them at some length, +seeming to give them advice. After making their obeisances to her, they +then make their salutations to the young Empress. They spend the day +at the Palace, take luncheon with the young Empress and Princesses, +and leave about three o’clock. These brides were generally very young +girls, though sometimes I was surprised to see that they had well +passed the first bloom of youth, for I had thought that all Oriental +women were married very young. The young Empress was always charming to +the brides, and seemed to watch over their pleasure, and try to make +them enjoy this + +<span class="pagenum">221</span> + +rather trying day, when they were the observed of all observers. Among +these brides, the winter I was in Peking, was the wife of the Emperor’s +youngest brother, a charming young girl with sweet manners, far more +attractive in every way than Yung Lu’s daughter, the wife of Prince +C’hun.</p> + +<p>The Chinese look upon a daughter, at her birth, as a misfortune, one +of the ills that must be endured, and while loving her individually, +a daughter is not welcomed into the family nor allowed the privileges +of a son. It is, however, quite different with the Manchus. A daughter +not being able to sacrifice to the ancestors, even Manchus prefer a +son; but a daughter is a welcome member of the family, and she has +a distinct and independent position of her own. One of the Chinese +ministers to Washington once told me that the only unmarried woman in +the world whose position is analogous to that of the “American Girl,” +in her own family, is the Manchu girl.</p> + +<p>As long as the Manchu girl remains unmarried, she is a veritable +power in the household. She ranks as high as her brother, and always +takes precedence of her brother’s wife, even if that wife be double her +age and married before she was born. She precedes her mother even, as +she is of the Blood and her mother of “another family.” Not only has +she these social privileges, but she has well-defined legal rights. Her +father cannot make a disposition of his property without his eldest +daughter’s consent. She can go into her brother’s house, dismiss his +servants, and generally direct his affairs. Her word has more weight as +to the bringing up of her brother’s children than + +<span class="pagenum">222</span> + +his wife’s, as she is a sister, a born relation, and the wife is only +an acquired relation. When she marries, however, she becomes a member +of the family into which she marries; but even then, such is the +ascendancy of the girl in the Manchu family, even after her marriage +into another family, she often goes on dictating to her brother’s +family and her own as before, if she does not find her own household +duties and her own family sufficient occupation to keep her from doing +so. Such is the force of consanguinity among the Manchus, and the +position of the daughter in the family.</p> + +<p>The unmarried Manchu girl has not only this liberty in her family, +but she has more liberty in the outside world than any other Oriental +woman.</p> + +<p>They are not so restricted in their social intercourse as any other +Oriental women, and while they are not so literary as the Chinese, they +have more social qualities and are brighter conversationalists, being +both witty and gay.</p> + +<p>They are not forced to marry against their inclinations and some +remain single to the end of their days, or marry late in life if +they so desire. These unmarried ladies are not only looked up to by +their own families, but they are not regarded as being objects of +commiseration by the world at large. On the contrary, they are rewarded +with triumphal arches and splendid monuments if they have passed a long +and exemplary life of maidenhood. Although the brides that came into +the Palace were generally young, one who came to make her bow to the +Empress Dowager, while I was there, was a lady of forty-two summers. + +<span class="pagenum">223</span> + +She had brought up two or three families of brothers’ children and +directed their households; but she finally succumbed to the charms of a +wealthy official, who had lost his wife two years before and who had a +number of children on which she could continue to practise her theories +as to their bringing up. Had she held out longer and died a maiden, she +might have had an arch built to her memory after death and gone down to +posterity.</p> + +<p>Only ladies, young girls and boys under seventeen were ever guests +of the Empress Dowager in her Palace. The Manchu nobles and high +officials were invited on certain days to the Theater, but there was +always the high intervening screen between them and Her Majesty’s and +the Ladies’ loges. The Princes and nobles who have official positions, +see the Empress Dowager in the Audience Hall, and she is now over +sixty. She has more liberty than before, but generally their Audiences +are with the Emperor alone, and they never come into the Ladies’ +Precincts. At the performance of the European circus in the Palace +grounds I saw, for the first time, nearly all the Princes and Manchu +officials.</p> + +<p>The Manchus are a taller race than the Chinese and more +athletic-looking. They are fond of exercise, indulge in archery, +riding, etc, and do not look down upon a military career, as do the +Chinese. It is said that polo playing, which the English got from +India, originated among the Tartars, and that it is still played in +Manchuria. I never saw polo played by the Manchus, but I have seen some +daring riding done by the young nobles that would seem to show they +could + +<span class="pagenum">224</span> + +play polo if they would. The Manchu nobles have an inherited military +rank, and they also receive military advancement for proficiency in +archery and riding. The warlike spirit that prompted the Manchus +and their progenitors, the Nu-Chih Tartars, who not only conquered +China, but, as “the Huns,” almost overran Europe itself, is no longer +so militant as it was. The modern Manchu is becoming almost as +peace-loving as the Chinese themselves, but there are still qualities +which show their descent from a race of warriors.</p> + +<p>They wear the ordinary Chinese costume, and though it is said “the +shaven head and wearing of the queue” were instituted as marks of +degradation for the Chinese when they were conquered by the Manchus, +the Emperor himself and all the Manchu nobles shave their heads and +wear the queue! They wear satin boots with white kid soles. Their hats, +in summer of finely woven straw, and of fur in winter, have the crown +covered with a tassel of red silk, surmounted by the jeweled button +denoting their ranks. From this button stands out, almost at right +angles, a jade-mounted aigret, mixed with the peafowl feathers, if they +have attained that rank. In winter, they wear splendid sable short +coats. Except these sable topcoats, fur is never worn on the outside of +a garment in China, but is used only as a lining.</p> + +<p>When I saw the Manchu nobles at the circus at the Summer Palace, +they wore the splendid summer Court costume, embroidered in the double +dragon, reaching below the knee. They were tightly belted in around the +waist, and very full and ample across the shoulders, giving the men the +appearance, at least, of broad shoulders, + +<span class="pagenum">225</span> + +and enhancing their already fine figures. One could see that the +Emperor was the “glass of fashion and mold of form” of the young +nobles; for they all aimed, as much as possible, at his slenderness of +figure and even imitated his carriage. The young dandies, however, wore +a much greater profusion of ornaments than His Majesty ever indulged +in. The belt buckle, the handsomest ornament worn, was of carved jade, +ruby quartz, or of beautifully chased gold set with precious stones. +They were then wearing a profusion of ornaments dangling from their +belts—embroidered cases for fans, chop-sticks and knives, and many +other ornaments besides the watch, an indispensable adjunct to every +Chinese gentleman’s costume. This is worn hanging from the belt in a +handsome, embroidered case with an open front, so that the elaborate +case, generally studded with jewels, beautifully enameled, or curiously +incised, could be seen. This case had a sort of fob attachment made of +silken cord, woven into quaint designs and finished generally with a +wonderfully carved piece of jade, ruby quartz, or some other curious +stone.</p> + +<p>Manchu ladies wear their gowns long and loose, hanging from the +shoulders, and never show the line of the waist, nor the outline of the +figure; but the men belt in their gowns tightly, and are very proud of +a small waist.</p> + +<p>Among the social customs in China, which obtain also among the +Manchus, is “concubinage.” But it exists in such a form that in its +actual state, it might more properly be called “plurality of wives.” +The concubine, or secondary wife, as I will call her, is + +<span class="pagenum">226</span> + +taken from the bosom of her family, and her position in her husband’s +family is considered as secure as that of the first wife. Though the +first wife only has a legal standing, custom gives the secondary wife +equal rights, and she is no more likely to be put aside than the first +wife. There are, I suppose, men in China who put away a secondary wife, +if they are wealthy enough to have taken one or several, but they would +be socially and generally ostracized.</p> + +<p>The man marries in China as soon as he reaches manhood. Some young +girl who is of the same social standing and has the requisite qualities +for his wife is chosen for him by his parents. This is the legitimate +wife. She is the first and remains first always, taking precedence of +any and all others that may be chosen. The secondary wife is often of +the same class as the first wife. She is generally chosen by the man +himself, and is taken from some good family who may be poor, and she is +an honest young girl.</p> + +<p>She is received, on her entrance into the household, by the wife +and the man’s mother, if she be alive, and her position in the family +is assigned to her. While she must pay court and due respect to the +first wife, she has her own servants and her own rights, and leads her +own independent life. The first wife has entire authority, in certain +matters, over the secondary ones, but they generally live amicably +together. As the first wife is married several years before any second +wife is taken, and as she is also generally their superior in age, this +entitles her to their respect, aside from her legal standing and her +position as first in the household. The secondary wives stand in + +<span class="pagenum">227</span> + +the presence of the first wife until she asks them to sit. Should they +have any children, the latter call the first wife “mother,” and though +the mother has her part in bringing up the child, it calls her, if she +be a secondary wife, by her first name, and, in important matters, her +authority over the child must give way to that of the first wife. But +the first wife rarely abuses her authority over the children any more +than over the other wives, and does not interfere except for, what she +thinks is, the child’s good.</p> + +<p>In theory, according to our ideas, and with American or European +women, this would be a sad state of affairs, but practically, as it +exists in China and with Chinese women, it seems to work well. The +arrangement of the houses in China is also well adapted for this kind +of life. There are a number of courts surrounded by pavilions, each +court and its pavilions forming a unit—a separate dwelling-place—this +unit being a part of a great whole.</p> + +<p>The wives live in harmony together, and seem like a family of +sisters. The first wife apparently takes pride in the good conduct and +handsome appearance of the others, and there seems to be very little +jealousy among them.</p> + +<p>If this be the position of the secondary wife in the families of the +gentry and nobility, one may imagine how much more exalted it is in +the Imperial family and how the secondary wife of an Emperor would be +considered. To have their daughter chosen as the secondary wife of an +Emperor is looked upon as an honor in the highest Manchu families. Of +course, + +<span class="pagenum">228</span> + +they would prefer to have her the first wife, for she has more power, +but none of them would demur at an alliance of the secondary kind for +their daughter, for she may thus become the mother of an Emperor, and +she does become, by this marriage, a member of the Imperial family, +and is treated as such. She ranks higher than any of the Princesses or +Ladies of the Court, and takes precedence of all except the first wife, +or a secondary wife, of the Emperor, who may have been married before +she was. Her place is at the side of the first wife, the Empress. In +the Palace she is called by the same title as the first wife, a Manchu +word meaning “Mistress.” She cannot wear the Imperial yellow, it is +true, but she does wear the Imperial orange, which no other Lady at +Court can wear.</p> + +<p>These secondary wives are not taken for some physical quality from +among the masses; they are not in the Palace as the result of a caprice +of the Emperor. They are from the highest families in the land. They +are generally chosen by the Emperor’s mother, if she be alive, with as +much care as the first wife, and her position is inferior, only from +an official standpoint, to that of the Empress. She may even become +Empress herself on the death of the first wife and those who precede +her. The Emperor of China has no “harem,” but he may have as many +wives as he wishes. His wives never live together in the promiscuity +of a harem, where all individuality is lost. Each wife has her own +establishment and her own position, and is not dependent on her +physical charms for her maintenance in that position, any more than is +the first wife. Should she be the mother of children, she may advance + +<span class="pagenum">229</span> + +beyond the others who have none, excepting always the first wife; +and even should she have no children, she has always her separate +establishment and is considered a member of the family. The Emperor +Kwang-Hsu has two wives, both designated by the same title in the +Palace. In this account of my experiences I only allude to the first +wife, because it would be confusing to speak of two Empresses where +there is also an Empress Dowager, and also because the first wife, +in this instance, is so much the stronger character and the more +interesting personality.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">230</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"> + CHAPTER XXVII + <span class="small-text"> + PRESENT-GIVING IN CHINA + </span> +</h2> + +<p>Present-giving is really carried to great excess all over China, +and whatever obtains in China obtains at the Palace. The Palace is +spoken of in Peking as the “Inside,” that is, the heart of the Empire. +From this “Inside,” customs and habits flow and pulse over the rest +of China, as the blood does from the heart, by a thousand arteries +reaching to the very confines of the Empire, and it also receives the +impress of what passes on outside among the people. Whether it be, +in the instance of present-giving, that the custom has grown from +the “Inside” to the “Outside” or vice versa, I know not, but it is +universal in China. However, it probably reaches its greatest excess in +the Palace.</p> + +<p>Births, marriages, and deaths are all marked by presents, and +there is a very riot of present-giving at the New Year! Every one +then exchanges them, from the lowest to the highest. Next comes the +anniversary of the birth. This is celebrated with an unheard-of pomp +in China. The more exalted the rank and the greater the age, the more +splendid is the celebration and the more magnificent the presents. The +Emperor’s Birthday was the first I saw celebrated, and I + +<span class="pagenum">231</span> + +was astonished at the number and elegance of the presents that flowed +into the Palace on this occasion. But at the Empress Dowager’s Birthday +all this was far surpassed; and her presents exceeded in number and +elegance His Majesty’s, for she was celebrating more years than the +Emperor, and the number and value of birthday presents increase in +proportion to the years. Their elegance and number are also regulated +by the rank. The presents the Grand Secretary and the Prime Minister +receive on such occasions would quite astonish a Westerner, and, of +course, far surpass in number and magnificence what would be offered to +the president of a department, as his would exceed, in elegance, those +offered to secretaries of the Board.</p> + +<p>Every festival, every ceremony, and all anniversaries are marked by +presents, in the Palace. There is scarcely a day that presents are not +sent into the Palace, that some are not sent out, and rarely a day when +some presents are not exchanged by those “Inside.” The Empress Dowager +and the Emperor receive the greatest number, and, of course, they +give the greatest number. This seemed to me the greatest extravagance +of the Empress Dowager. At every change of season, she presents the +young Empress, the Princesses, and Ladies, without reference to her +favorites, with silks, dresses, shoes, and ornaments appropriate to the +season, and not only do the Ladies receive these articles of wearing +apparel at the changes of the season: she gives them many presents at +each festival. Besides this, she gives nearly all the expensive Court +dresses that are worn at the Palace, which cost, with + +<span class="pagenum">232</span> + +their embroideries, from three to six hundred dollars each. She +presents the Ladies with coiffures and many jeweled ornaments as well. +On the occasion of a wedding among the Manchu nobility, which must be +announced to the Court before it takes place, Her Majesty presents +the bride handsome rolls of silk, embroideries, and jewels. On the +occasion of births among the courtiers, she sends handsome ornaments +to be worn by the new-born child. Even on the death of certain people, +she sends handsome presents to the family, or something to be worn by +the departed, if it should be a widow, who had led a long and exemplary +life of widowhood, and had devoted herself to charity and good +works.</p> + +<p>When the ladies of the Legation were first received at the Palace, +the Empress Dowager naturally followed the Chinese Imperial custom of +giving each lady a present. This precedent having been established +and seeming to have given pleasure, when the ladies were received +the next time, which was after the Boxer rebellion, she gave them +presents again. Unfortunately, this act was construed into a desire +on her part to wheedle the foreigners, and curry favor, so that she +might receive better treatment at the hands of the Powers. The truth +is, she loves to play the Lady Bountiful, and she never mixes up the +social with the political, and I am sure she had no “arrière-pensée” +but was simply indulging her usual bent. After the first few Audiences +(when the presents were really of value), Her Majesty gave small and +unimportant presents at the garden parties, which were made the subject +of ridicule. Her Majesty had heard that the ladies did + +<span class="pagenum">233</span> + +not wish to receive such handsome presents as she had first given, and +she hence gave inexpensive souvenirs. Finally, the Ministers asked the +Chinese Foreign Office to request the Empress Dowager to give no more +presents at the Audiences, and the custom was abolished; though Her +Majesty continued to give presents in private, and she still sends, on +the four great Chinese festivals, flowers, fruits, and confectionery +to all the ladies of the Legation, as well as to every lady who has +ever been received at the garden parties, and on the departure of any +Minister from Peking, she sends his wife some parting presents.</p> + +<p>But though present-giving has been stopped at the Audiences of the +foreign ladies, it goes on with the same excess in the Palace and among +officials in China. At each of Their Majesties’ Birthdays, in spite of +their protests and edicts to prevent it, presents pour into the Palace! +Every official who has ever been presented in Audience, or who has the +right, by his official position, to send anything, does so. Edicts +from the Throne to prevent it will remain as ineffectual as those with +reference to the binding of the feet of the Chinese women (which Her +Majesty has for years been “recommending” in edicts to be abolished), +for it has become so thoroughly a part of Chinese life as to be almost +indispensable. Present-giving in China is one of those “unwritten +laws” whose tyranny is hardest to break away from. Though the system +of present-giving is a great tax on the officials, as well as their +subordinates, in this instance the change must come from the people.</p> + +<p>As I was an inmate of the Palace for so long, of + +<span class="pagenum">234</span> + +course I came in for my share of presents from the Empress Dowager. +At every festival I was remembered, as well as the Princesses and +Ladies of the Court, and when presents were sent to the ladies of +the Legation, she sent similar ones to me. Many of the presents she +made me showed a real consideration for my comfort and displayed much +forethought. When the weather became cool, and the Ladies of the +Court put on wadded dresses, Her Majesty sent one of her maids to my +apartments to get one of my tailor-made dresses. She had the Palace +tailors copy this in wadded silk. It was wonderful how well they did +it, too, for, as I knew nothing about it, I could give no advice. She +ordered a few changes made in the severity of the tailor-costume, +thinking it was too hard in its lines. She had a long, soft sash to +tie at the side, which, she decided, made it look more graceful. When +the Princesses put on furs, Her Majesty, herself, designed for me +a long fur-lined garment which she thought would be comfortable to +paint in. She had some trouble in arriving at a result which pleased +her, which would be warm enough, and which, at the same time, would +not interfere with the freedom of movement necessary for me to work +with ease. At the time of the Chinese New Year, she sent me two +curiously fashioned fur-lined dresses. She had the skirts copied +from old pictures. They were not unlike our pleated skirts, with an +embroidered panel down the center of the front. The jackets were a sort +of compromise between European and Chinese, and the costumes were not +only pretty but very comfortable.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" +class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<img class="portrait wo x-ebookmaker" src="images/234a.jpg" width="789" + height="1200" alt="The Author in Chinese Costume" id="234a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + THE AUTHOR IN CHINESE COSTUME</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">235</span> +For wearing with these she ordered a sable hat, for the Chinese +ladies wear some sort of coiffure on the head, winter and summer. +This had an embroidered crown of pale lavender satin, with long satin +streamers embroidered in gold with good-luck emblems. The brim could +be worn either turned off the face or pulled over the ears and tied +under the chin with lavender strings. She said she had some trouble +in finding a design which she thought would suit me. This hat she had +also had copied from old prints. I learned later she had tried three +sorts of sables before she got a color which she thought would be +becoming to my unfortunate blonde hair! On the front of the brim she +placed a Princess Button. This is worn only by Ladies of the Court, and +represents the Flaming Pearl of the Dynasty. It was established by the +founders of the Dynasty and is the distinguishing jewel of the members +of the Imperial family. It consists of a large pearl, surrounded by +three alternating rows of seed-pearls and corals, which are supposed to +represent flames! This Flaming Pearl, symbol of the “Unattainable,” is +the eternal quest of the double dragon!</p> + +<p>Her Majesty also presented me with a number of other charming things +that I shall always treasure as coming from her, and as evidence of her +consideration for “the stranger within her gates,” or as spontaneous +offerings from her naturally generous nature—ever desirous of giving +pleasure. I wish I might have preserved the flowers and curious grasses +which she, herself, gathered and gave me on our many promenades + +<span class="pagenum">236</span> + +around the beautiful grounds of the Summer Palace, but which, alas! are +withered and gone!</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">237</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"> + CHAPTER XXVIII + <span class="small-text"> + SOME WINTER DAYS AT THE PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The big, official portrait for St. Louis was advancing. I was able +to accomplish much more now that I had a place where I could work +uninterruptedly, and quietly study the painting when I was not working. +Her Majesty came, with her usual retinue, to pose, but it was not at +fixed times, and was often when I did not expect her. She was looking +more and more anxious these days; but she came to pose whenever it +was necessary, and was very particular as to all the details in the +portrait. She often had the jewels and ornaments changed, and her pearl +mantle was made over, after she saw it in the first sketch, as she did +not like its form.</p> + +<p>The throne, about which there had been a question when I began the +portrait, and which had been a present to Her Majesty from the late +Emperor Tong Chih, her son, had been “lost” during the Boxer troubles, +but Her Majesty thought it might be reproduced from descriptions and +from sketches by the Palace painters who had seen it; but I could not +consent to work either from memory or other painters’ sketches, and +I was finally obliged to paint, “faute de mieux,” one of the carved +teakwood thrones of which + +<span class="pagenum">238</span> + +Her Majesty is so fond. This throne did not suit the straight lines of +the composition so well as almost any other in the Palace would have +done, but Her Majesty wished it.</p> + +<p>I found the representation of the nine life-size phenix, in vigorous +colors, on a blue cloisonné screen placed almost touching the throne, +very difficult to represent, so that they did not seem to be real birds +flying around her head. The vases of flowers and ornaments were also +placed at exactly equal distances on either side of the throne, but it +was necessary to paint them this way. It would not have been “proper” +otherwise. The figure was in the exact center of the three-fold screen, +and so near it, it was impossible to <a href="#a238" id="b238">get</a> +any atmosphere in the background. There was not a fold in either gown +or sleeves; but I had now resigned myself to convention and tradition, +and I copied mechanically what was placed before me, and made no +more efforts at artistic arrangements, nor tried any experiments in +execution. I worked like a good artisan, finishing so many inches a +day.</p> + +<p>The weather was now too cold for anything but the short +constitutional, and, besides, there was no place in the Winter Palace +to tempt one to promenades—only the walled-in courts and the shut-in +walks, between high walls. Even Her Majesty’s promenades were confined +to going to the Audience Hall in the morning, and walking through the +courts, from one Throne-room to another.</p> + +<p>Every day we saw the Empress Dowager for some moments in +her Throne-room before I went to my work. On Theater days, +I made her my morning salutation + +<span class="pagenum">239</span> + +in her loge at the Theater, and when the light faded and I could paint +no more, I would go into the young Empress’s and the Ladies’ loge +for the last play and the spectacular finale, when there were always +some good illuminations and pretty effects. Her Majesty and the young +Empress seemed now to perfectly understand that I wanted to work, and +must work, in order to finish the large portrait for the St. Louis +Exposition. They saw I appreciated the amusements and ceremonies, etc, +but that I did not wish them to interfere with my work. When there was +a special festival, or some fine ceremony, I was always called in, but +otherwise I might go or not, as I wished.</p> + +<p>I lunched generally with the Ladies, with the charming young Empress +as gracious hostess, and dined at night at Her Majesty’s table. Two +huge copper braziers had now been placed in the Throne-room, and though +so picturesque with the blue flames curling above their openings in the +top, they made but little impression upon the temperature of this lofty +room. The curtains over the immense doors that opened on the courts +were constantly being raised for the passage of some eunuch, and it was +very drafty. But one could at least warm one’s hands by the braziers, +and they were so beautiful and picturesque, I was reconciled to being a +little cold; besides, I soon became accustomed to the temperature. The +Chinese Ladies wear heavy fur-lined dresses in the house, and cannot +stand the rooms very warm.</p> + +<p>At dinner, a large carpet was now placed under the table, which +was an improvement over the cold marble floors. This was done for my +comfort, for + +<span class="pagenum">240</span> + +the Chinese Ladies wear two-inch-thick cork soles to their fur-lined +shoes. Down the center of the table, during the winter, there were +several silver chafing-dishes, with burning charcoal beneath their +steaming contents. Soups, vegetables, and meat stews were thus kept +boiling hot on the table. One night I suggested to one of the eunuchs +to place the claret-bottle near the fire before serving it, that the +chill might be taken off. One very cold day, soon after, the eunuch +brought in a large teapot, and began pouring the boiling claret out +of this! The Chinese drink their wines hot, and he thought he would +improve on my suggestion of “taking off the chill,” and he naïvely +remarked “it was better for me to drink it thus on such a cold day!”</p> + +<p>When there was no Theater, and it became too dark to paint, I would +join the young Empress and Ladies in their sitting-room at the left of +Her Majesty’s Throne-room and there await dinner. The young Empress +would then teach me Chinese. She was very particular about my accent +and seemed to take a real interest in my progress. The Chinese language +is very difficult for a beginner, even for one who has a good ear, for +the “tone” or inflection with which you pronounce the word may change +its meaning. Sometimes one after the other of the Princesses would +repeat the same word in different tones and make me repeat it and then +give the meaning of each tone. They would sometimes make puns on words, +or give me a string of difficult words for the accent and to improve my +enunciation, as the French teach the children, “Trois gros rats dans +trois gros trous.” When + +<span class="pagenum">241</span> + +I would finally get quite tangled up with these words I would retaliate +with “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” This would end +the lesson for that day, for they would all try to say it and get so +hilarious that there was no effort at further study, and dinner would +be announced in the midst of the fun.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the young Empress and the Ladies would play cards in the +evenings. Her Majesty seemed only to like her fairy game! The cards +were narrow slips of pasteboard with curious devices on each, but +little more than an inch wide, and there were one hundred and fifty +in a pack. I never succeeded in getting into the merits of the game. +Sometimes when the Ladies felt industriously inclined, they would weave +a kind of braid. The threads, gold, silver, or silk, were attached to +the center of a wooden table and were weighted at the ends. They would +weave these in and out into cunningly fashioned braids and ribbons. +The Princesses did a great deal of beautiful embroidery, making their +own shoes, which are of exquisitely embroidered satin, but they could +not do this at night, for only candles are used in the two Peking +Palaces, the Summer Palace being the only one in China lighted by +electricity.</p> + +<p>One night at dinner the young Empress asked me to come earlier than +usual the next morning, as there was something she wished me to see. +Several eunuchs were waiting at the gate of the Palace to conduct us +to the young Empress when we arrived at nine o’clock the next morning, +and I then learned this was her Birthday. I hurried in and found the +Imperial Princess and all the Ladies of the Palace, besides a number of +visitors, + +<span class="pagenum">242</span> + +standing in front of the young Empress’s pavilion. They told me she +had asked them to wait to present their congratulations until I +came, and said that I was to go in first. I did so, and there, on a +throne, sat the young Empress in full Court dress, wearing the Court +coiffure, with its veil of pearls, which was most becoming to her +narrow patrician face. She was looking very sweet and gracious and +held out her tiny hand to me on my entrance. I bowed low over it and +kissed it, and wished her from the bottom of my heart “ten thousand” +years of happiness and all kinds of “felicitous omens.” I then started +to move out, but she told me to remain in the room at one side and +watch the Princesses and Ladies as they came in. Each made the +prostrations before her and presented a jade “ruyie,”<a id="FNanchor_8" +href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> which she received with due +ceremony—the same ceremony as for the Emperor’s and Empress Dowager’s +Birthday!</p> + +<p>But these winter days were not all given up to the Theater and +festivals. There were some days of sadder import. Days of mourning +were often celebrated at the Palace. The anniversary of the deaths +of some Emperor or Ancestor was of frequent occurrence. It seemed to +me they celebrated the anniversary of the death of every Emperor of +the Dynasty! On these days there would be sacrifices at the ancestral +tablets and religious ceremonies early in the mornings. The Empress +Dowager and the whole Court would wear mourning for the day and there +was never any sort of amusement. White, which is full mourning, is +not worn on these anniversaries after the third, but violet and +blue (second mourning) is put on. The flowers worn in the + +<span class="pagenum">243</span> + +coiffure were also in violet, white or blue, the mourning colors. +One night at dinner the young Empress, who acts as Mistress of +Ceremonies in the Palace, told me the following was a day of mourning. +She asked me if I would wear one of the mourning colors, as it was +the anniversary of the death of the Emperor Tung-Chih (the Empress +Dowager’s son).</p> + +<p>The next day I put on a black dress, our mourning, and wore violet +flowers in my hair. When we entered, Her Majesty was sacrificing at +the small shrine in her sitting-room. She was dressed in dark violet, +heavily trimmed with black, and had not a flower of any kind in her +hair—only a few pearls. She looked very sad and was more earnest and +reverent at the sacrifice than usual, but when she had finished her +sacrifice, she bade us “Good morning” and inquired after our health, +with her usual consideration. We soon left the Throne-room for my +working-hall, and I did not see her again until after our dinner with +the Empress and Ladies, when we went into the Throne-room to make our +adieus. As I had not been wearing black for some time (as Her Majesty +said she didn’t like it), she now noticed that I had it on and she +asked Lady Yu-Keng, in an aside, “why.” She was told that when I knew +what anniversary it was, I had put it on on that account. She seemed +much touched, took my hand in both hers, and said, “You have a good +heart to think of my grief and to have wished to sympathize,” and tears +fell from her eyes on my hand, which she held in hers.</p> + +<p>Poor lady! Private sorrows and sad memories were not all she had to +grieve her now. I had noticed + +<span class="pagenum">244</span> + +her growing anxiety for many days! She seemed to feel all the gravity +of the political situation of China. As the rumors of war between +Russia and Japan grew, her anxiety increased and she was looking sad +and careworn. She seemed to be full of doubt and fear, and quite +unlike her usual self. I fancy she thought of the unprepared state +of her country and feared that it might be drawn into this struggle. +She seemed to be in doubt as to the course that was best to be taken. +Even should the Empire not be drawn into the conflict, two hostile +nations were to meet within its borders. The struggle was to take +place in Manchuria, the cradle of the Dynasty. That beautiful, smiling +country would be ravished by war, and the awful possibility of the +ancestral tombs being desecrated, loomed up before her. The desecration +of the tombs of one’s ancestors in China is supposed to bring dire +consequences upon the family, and a pious Chinaman would face any +material loss rather than run the risk of these tombs being desecrated. +She felt it all, and was sad indeed.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">245</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"> + CHAPTER XXIX + <span class="small-text"> + RELIGIOUS RITES IN CHINA + </span> +</h2> + +<p>There are three great religions in China—Buddhism, Taoism, and the +worship of Nature. The worship of Nature, in which is embodied their +highest idea of an Invisible Deity, is the purest form of religion in +China. Its Temples are situated in a magnificent Park in the Chinese +City of Peking. The Temple of Heaven, the most imposing of the group, +spherical and triple-domed, rears its proud height here and is visible +from afar. Its triple dome tiled, without, in the sacred green of +Nature and vaulted within in Heaven’s own blue, is surrounded by groves +of century-old arbor-vitæ. In other parts of the great Park are the +scarcely less splendid Temples to the Earth, to the Sun and Moon and to +Agriculture, and grandest, most unique of these Temples, is that to the +Invisible Deity. Its foundations are the Earth, its walls are limitless +Ether, its dome Heaven’s own vault! On its great open altar this +Nature worship has its culmination and reaches its highest fulfilment. +This altar is the Holy of Holies, the tabernacle of the group of +Temples consecrated to the worship of Nature.</p> + +<p>It is built in the center of a great marble-paved <span +class="pagenum">246</span> space with the +secular arbor-vitæ radiating therefrom in long concentric avenues. It +is of pure white marble, round as is the Earth. The Trinity in Nature +and its Infinity are symbolized in its three superposed circles. Each +of the circular platforms is surrounded by an exquisitely carved +balustrade and approached by flights of nine steps each, to the north, +south, east, and west. The central point of the great upper circle thus +represents the center of the Universe, accessible from every point of +the compass.</p> + +<p>Here in this symbolic center of the world, in this great Temple, +whose walls are Space, whose towers are Infinity, on this great +triple altar, canopied with Heaven itself, the Emperor of China, “Son +of Heaven,” glorifies the Invisible Deity and sacrifices for the +prosperity of “the Great, Pure Kingdom” and his people. This worship +of the Invisible Deity has no Priestly Hierarchy. The Emperor of China +is its one High Priest. He alone is worthy, as the Son of Heaven, to +perform its unique ceremonies, on its one great Altar, in its single +great Temple of China.</p> + +<p>The Emperor prepares himself for the great ceremony of the +semi-annual celebration on this altar by a rigorous fast of three days, +spending the final night before the celebration in a vigil in the Great +Park of the Nature Temples, where there is a Purifying Palace set aside +for his use. This glorification of the Invisible Deity at the summer +and winter solstices is the most solemn act performed by the Emperor in +his quality of Son of Heaven.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/246a.jpg" width="1200" + height="913" alt="The Temple of Heaven in Peking" id="246a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> +TEMPLE OF HEAVEN—PEKING</p> + +<p>The Emperor is not only the one High Priest worthy to sacrifice on +the great altars to the Invisible <span class="pagenum">247</span> +Deity, the Priestly <a href="#a247" id="b247">Hierarchy</a> of the +whole of this Cult of Nature is vested in his Sacred Person. He alone +offers sacrifices in the Temples of Heaven and the other Great Temples, +at times set aside in the Book of Rites, and on special occasions. +When famine devastates the land, when drought or any other National +Calamity is visited upon the Empire, the Emperor prays in these Temples +for its cessation, for he is not only the High Priest, but as “Son of +Heaven” is the expiator for the afflictions visited upon his people by +Heaven, and he publicly holds himself responsible for the misfortunes +of the Empire. According to the Book of Rites, he says in time of +trouble, “I will purify myself by sacrifice that these calamities may +be lifted from the Empire and the people. I alone am responsible.”</p> + +<p>The great semi-annual celebration to the Invisible Deity is not only +the most solemn of the religious rites the Emperor performs; it is at +the same time the most formal of his official acts as ruler of the +Great Empire. He prepares himself, by fasting and subduing the body, +for the religious rite; for the official ceremony as Emperor of China, +he is accompanied by all his ministers and the highest nobles of the +land and surrounded by splendid pomp and Imperial pageantry.</p> + +<p>Though in his triple quality of Emperor, High Priest, and Expiator, +he personally sacrifices only in the great Temples to Nature the +Emperor has all the religions of his Empire under his protection and is +their nominal Head. He assists indiscriminately at Buddhist or Taoist +ceremonies, and encourages with + +<span class="pagenum">248</span> + +impartiality both cults. But these religions have priestly hierarchies, +and complicated Rituals, and the Emperor is only the “Ex-officio” Head +and High Priest. All the festivals and fasts of both are celebrated in +the Palace.</p> + +<p>The Chinese are not a religious people, though so moral a race. +They are rather followers of a philosophy than members of religious +bodies. The two most popular religions of China, Buddhism and Taoism, +have become more or less outward forms. They are empty shells which may +once have contained the Spirit, but have now become mere conventional +representations of ancient rites. The Chinese people are really +Confucians, and Confucianism is a system of ethics, a philosophy +rather than a religion. Whether they be Buddhists or Taoists, they are +all followers of Confucius, and live by the rules the Great Sage has +laid down for them. The doctrines of Buddha and Laotze have become so +incrusted with error in China as to afford no moral or ideal help to +their followers. The Chinese participate indiscriminately in either +of these religious rites, many of which have become mere outward +spectacular ceremonies, where there is a great deal of display and much +form, but very little real worship. They get all their moral support +from the writings of Confucius and all their ideals from communion with +Nature. They are really philosophers and worshipers of Nature, and the +Emperor’s semi-annual sacrifice on the altar of Heaven and those at the +Temples of Nature typify the real worship of the people.</p> + +<p>All the religious rites in China have their origin in, or are in +celebration of, some natural phenomenon + +<span class="pagenum">249</span> + +or some periodical event in Nature. They celebrate the summer and +winter solstices, the equinoxes, the New Year, the awakening of spring, +when the sap (life-giving element) begins to mount. The Harvest Moon +is the time of the going to rest of this life-giving element. Their +complicated ceremonial is but the crystallization of some simple +observance of Nature’s fundamental laws. This ceremonial has been kept +alive all these centuries, because of the vivifying spark of Nature +which enkindled them. These rites are now observed without a thought of +their origin, but Nature still remains their creative force. In spite +of their conventions, the Chinese have kept very near to Nature, and I +believe this is the secret of their wonderful vitality. They have been +overrun and conquered by many different races, and their assimilation +of these conquerors is one of the most astonishing things in the ethnic +study of this wonderful race.</p> + +<p>No conquering race has ever changed the Chinese. Tartars, Mongols, +Manchus have all passed and become amalgamated with them. Their +conquerors have adopted the Chinese philosophy and religion, their +customs and habits, and even their system of government. And they have +never been able to impose any really new system of government upon the +Chinese.</p> + +<p>These founders of Dynasties in China have all been “warriors bold” +and reckless marauders with little philosophy and no literature to +speak of. When the Manchus, the last of these conquerors, founders of +the present Dynasty, established themselves in Peking, in 1646, they +were a wild and warlike race. They, like all the other conquerors of +China, conciliated their + +<span class="pagenum">250</span> + +vanquished foes by all sorts of concessions, and they now rule by +Chinese laws, and to-day are hardly distinguishable from the Chinese. +They have never made, any more than the other conquerors, the slightest +impress upon this calm and passive race; and they have become Chinese. +“To-day the Emperor Kwang-Hsu is recognized as one of the best Chinamen +in China.” The Manchu men to-day wear Chinese dress. The Emperor, +himself, shaves his head and wears the queue, the one visible sign of +degradation that is said to have been imposed upon the Chinese at the +time of the conquest. Oh! Irony of fate!</p> + +<p>The Manchus are now as quiet and peaceful a race as the Chinese +themselves. They dread war. They live by the laws of Confucius. Though +not a race of thinkers or philosophers, they have come to have the +same ideals as the Chinese, and this, without the natural amalgamation +brought about by inter-marriage, for it is only within the last few +years that the Throne has issued an edict, allowing inter-marriage +between the Chinese and Manchu, and even, with this edict, up to this +time there has been very little mixture, by marriage, of the races. The +Chinese seem easily led and conquered, but their national vitality is +very vigorous, and has kept them pure in racial characteristics after +their thousands of years of national existence.</p> + +<img class="landscape border x-ebookmaker" src="images/250a.jpg" width="1200" + height="904" alt="The Altar to the Invisible Deity" id="250a"> + +<div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4">ALTAR TO THE INVISIBLE DEITY</p> + <p class="capt5">In the Park of the Temple of Heaven</p> +</div> + +<p>The Festival of the Harvest Moon, which typifies the season when +the life-giving element in Nature goes to rest for the Winter, I have +already described. It is intermixed with legends and practices that +destroy its original meaning; but the ceremony to the awakening + +<span class="pagenum">251</span> + +of Spring has not departed from its original intention, and is simpler +and nearer Nature. The awakening of Spring, the day when the sap is +supposed to stir from its long sleep and to feel the first throes of +renewed life, is commemorated in a pretty, homely ceremony at the +Palace. The radish and young shoots of lettuce, the first vegetables +to receive the benefit of the rising sap, are presented on a silver +salver to Her Majesty by a kneeling eunuch. She partakes of them, and +then gives them to the young Empress and Ladies to taste of. When +Her Majesty raises the first radish to her lips, the young Empress, +Princesses, and Ladies assembled in her Throne-room, repeat the wish +for Imperial happiness, synonymous with “National prosperity.” This +wish is echoed by the high attendants in the ante-chamber, and reëchoed +by the eunuchs kneeling in the courts without, and still echoed and +reëchoed by every inmate of the Palace, until the waves of sound reach +to the outer walls. Then Her Majesty makes a wish that the sap may rise +in such abundance as to produce a fruitful season, that all the people +of the Great Empire may enjoy peace and plenty.</p> + +<p>Thus are these first fruits of the awakening Spring partaken of with +a simple ceremony of praise and thanksgiving. Thus are these homely +plants consecrated with wishes made for the good of the country and the +happiness of its rulers. It was to me a beautiful ceremony, so simple +that it brought these people with all their conventions and all their +forms very near the heart itself of Nature.</p> + +<p>The annual plowing of a furrow and sowing of the + +<span class="pagenum">252</span> + +first seeds of the year by the Emperor, the planting of a mulberry +tree (to nourish the silkworms) by the Empress, are other touches of +Nature which show how near the Chinese are to the heart of things. One +of the honorary offices which is considered a great mark of Imperial +favor, and which the highest ladies of the land receive with reverent +gratitude, is to be appointed “Guardian of the Cocoons”; for the silk +industry is one of the great sources of National prosperity in China. +These ladies of high degree, guardians of the cocoons, go in annual +pilgrimage to the mulberry groves, where the cocoons flourish, to +make sacrifices and prayers for the health and growth of the cocoon. +Being so near to Nature, the Chinese are naturally a pastoral people, +a race of agriculturists; and agriculture, being thus honored by the +Sacred Persons of Their Majesties, becomes a lofty ideal. Labor, which +the Emperor publicly performs, loses all taint and grows into an +Inspiration.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">253</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXX"> + CHAPTER XXX + <span class="small-text"> + HER MAJESTY THE EMPRESS DOWAGER + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The current story that the Empress Dowager was a slave-girl and is +of low origin is absolutely false. Her Majesty is the daughter of a +Lieutenant-General of the Manchu forces, a position only attainable by +members of the highest Manchu nobility. She belongs to the family of +the White Banner, second only to that of the Yellow Banner, of which +the Emperor of China, himself, is the head. At the time of the conquest +of China by the Manchus, there was a fierce struggle between these two +powerful families for the supremacy, and the Yellow Banner finally +carried the day. The Empress Dowager was brought up with great care and +highly educated by her father, a noble of great acquirements.</p> + +<p>Like all young Manchu ladies of rank, she went to the Palace for +presentation to the then Empress and Empress Dowager between the +ages of seventeen and twenty. She immediately attracted them by her +cleverness and wit, as well as by her charm and beauty, and, being +of an honorable and high Manchu family, was at once considered as a +possible wife for the Emperor. On presentation to the Emperor, she met +also with his approval and was then chosen as one + +<span class="pagenum">254</span> + +of the wives and given her establishment at Court. She was the fifth +chosen, and hence ranked fifth on her marriage and was taken precedence +of by the four others who were married before she was.</p> + +<p>She became at once a favorite, both with the Dowager Empress +and Empress, the first wife, as well as with the Emperor. She soon +took precedence over the wife just over her and became fourth wife, +for secondary wives can mount in degree. A brilliant woman, with +exceptional qualities, takes her place in a Chinese family, as in the +world, above that of her less endowed sister, unless this latter should +be the first wife. Her place can never be taken, except in case of +her death. The first wife of the Emperor Hsien-Feng died two months +before he came to the Throne and was never Empress. There were two +years of mourning, prescribed by the rites, during which time there was +no official Empress. Then the first of his secondary wives was made +Empress, and she it was who was the first wife when the present Empress +Dowager went into the Palace as fifth wife.</p> + +<p>Two years after her marriage, she gave birth to a son, and five +years later, on the death of his father, this son became the Emperor +Tung-Chih; the young mother, together with the Empress, the first wife, +who had adopted him, were given the title of “Dowager Empress.” They +were appointed Co-Regents for the boy Emperor, and bore, respectively, +the titles of Empress of the Eastern Palace and Empress of the Western +Palace, with equal rank and power. She of the Eastern Palace was a +woman of quiet tastes, given to literary pursuits, with none of the +remarkable + +<span class="pagenum">255</span> + +executive ability of her Co-Regent, the Empress of the Western Palace, +the great Tze-Hsi, who still rules the destiny of China. Though so +different, they lived amicably together, thoroughly appreciated each +other’s qualities, and are said to have had a sincere affection for +each other, which never weakened during the whole of their long +association, first as wives of the Emperor Hsien-Feng, then as +Regents for his son, and afterward as Regents for the present Emperor +Kwang-Hsu. The amicable relations of these two Empresses were only +severed by the death of the Empress of the Eastern Palace in 1881, +when posthumous honors were lavished upon her by the present Empress +Dowager.</p> + +<p>China was passing through troublous times when the young Tung-Chih, +son of the Empress Dowager, came to the Throne. His father, the Emperor +Hsien-Feng died at Jehol, far from Peking, where the Court had gone at +the approach of the foreigners, who were aiding in quelling the Taiping +rebellion. The times were critical. The integrity of China, the future, +even, of the Empire, depended upon the action of its ministers and +its rulers at this crisis. In the absence of the Court from Peking, +some reactionary ministers, strongly anti-foreign, claimed they had +been appointed by the late Emperor as Regents for young Tung-Chih. Had +his mother and adopted mother, the two Empress Dowagers, joined them, +anarchy might have followed; and, at least, there would have been +serious foreign complications, for this anti-foreign party would never +have come to terms with the foreigners, who were then in Peking. It was + +<span class="pagenum">256</span> + +most important for the ruling Power, that is, the party which should +become Regents, to have the support of the Empresses who held the +Sacred Person of the young Emperor, under their care. They were +approached by both parties. The young Empress of the Western Palace, +absolutely unversed in Statecraft, and, up to that time, ignorant +of all that was passing outside the Palace walls, showed wonderful +perspicacity and rare judgment in her keen grasp of the situation at +this time. She repudiated the anti-foreign party and joined forces +with Prince Kung, whose name was then synonymous with Progress in +China—an enlightened Prince and the most pro-foreign of all the +Imperial Family—and she and the first Empress were appointed Regents +for the young Emperor. Prince Kung was the Minister who, thanks to +this coöperation of the Empress of the Western Palace, carried the +negotiations with France and England to a successful conclusion.</p> + +<p>This first political act of the young Empress of the Western Palace +brought her into immediate notice, and showed the progressive statesmen +of China that they had an intelligent aid in her. The Grand Council +and the Princes of the Imperial Family at once recognized her superior +ability and they have always stanchly supported her throughout her +career and remained true to her in all vicissitudes. In fact, she has +known how to inspire loyalty and great devotion in all by whom she has +been surrounded.</p> + +<p>It was through her wonderful grasp of the situation at this +time and the great executive ability she showed later, that the +two Empresses brought the Emperor + +<span class="pagenum">257</span> + +Tung-Chih through his minority, and when he began to reign in his +eighteenth year, internal troubles had been quelled and foreign +complications avoided, and China was in a much more settled and +prosperous condition than when he came to the Throne, twelve years +before.</p> + +<p>There was an interval of but two years in their long Regency for the +two Emperors, when the Emperor Tung-Chih, having reached his majority, +reigned. The death of her son, the Emperor, at the early age of twenty, +after only two years of actual reigning, was a dreadful blow to the +Empress of the Western Palace. She had, however, but a short time for +grief. With heart bleeding and sore, she was obliged almost immediately +to again assume the duties of Co-Regent with the Empress of the Eastern +Palace, for her nephew and adopted son, the young Emperor Kwang-Hsu. +The two Empresses had then another boy Emperor only five years old, to +protect, prepare for reigning, and to govern for.</p> + +<p>One has only to be cognizant of events in China since the Dowager +Empress Tze-Hsi has ruled, to know the facts of her government. When +she took up the Regency, China was seething with rebellion and there +were foreign complications, requiring great tact and keen intelligence. +She has steered the ship of State between the two extremes, though she +has sometimes run it against the rocks of Scylla in trying to avoid the +whirlpool of Charybdis, and she has always been a “moderate” in her +political course. China having, for so many centuries, had no relations +with foreign powers, her statesmen being so absolutely unversed in +modern + +<span class="pagenum">258</span> + +methods of diplomacy, has not made a brilliant record in her foreign +relations, and she has so frequently been made the dupe of European +diplomacy, it is not wonderful China has tried to defend herself by +duplicity: using what she thought the same methods she saw were so +efficacious in the hands of Europeans.</p> + +<p>When the Empress Dowager gave up the reins of government to the +Emperor Kwang-Hsu, in the year 1889, after +twenty-eight years of Regency, the Great Empire was at that time in a +prosperous condition. Its ports had been opened to foreign trade, a +fine Customs organization had been established upon a firm basis, and +China was at peace with the world.</p> + +<p>The first part of the young Emperor’s reign was uneventful. He was +directed in most things by his ministers, and followed the moderate +policy laid down by the Empress Dowager. He seemed to have no special +views of his own and no designs of progress for China. Until the war +with Japan with reference to the suzerainty of Corea, in 1894, he +was a passive figurehead. The Japanese victories changed all this. +Their victory gave China one of her most humiliating lessons; for the +Chinese, who had given Japan the nucleus of its literature, its art and +architecture, looked down upon the Japanese as a race of imitators and +had a deep-seated contempt for them as a nation. This victory almost +awoke the passive leviathan—that is, China—from its long sleep of +national self-content. The young Emperor, smarting under this galling +defeat, felt that China had only been conquered by Japan’s use of +modern methods of warfare and determined on sweeping reforms in the +government. Full of youthful enthusiasm, + +<span class="pagenum">259</span> + +he felt he could put the Great Empire on the road to progress and +wished to institute sweeping reforms in all departments. He immediately +abandoned the moderate policy of the Regency and surrounded himself by +a number of hot-headed, self-seeking reformers, each pushing some new +method of reform. The reformers wished, at one fell swoop, to change +the system of education, the system of government—in fact to make +such sweeping changes that this conservative nation would have risen +in a mass had they been carried out. Besides the Radicals, who were +the reform party, there were also a number of discontents among the +ultra-Conservatives, who, seeing the Emperor’s anxiety and desire for +change, began to push forward certain schemes of their own. Finally, +the ultra-conservatives and reactionaries decided they would join +forces with the Radicals, hoping by so doing to change the National +policy and the then existing state of government. In the turmoil that +would follow this upheaval, each hoped to carry out his own designs, +quite different in scope. Each party made the Emperor believe that +progress was its aim. The coalition of these two diametrically opposed +parties was for the purpose of persuading the Emperor to depart from +the moderate opportunist policy which had been the motive power of +the Empress Dowager’s régime. The adherents of the Reform party were +opposed to this moderate policy because it was too conservative. Those +of the Reactionaries objected to it because it was too progressive. +The power of the central government vested in the young Emperor seemed +likely to be crushed between these two self-seeking factions. + +<span class="pagenum">260</span> + +China’s wisest statesmen saw the peril, sought the Empress Dowager, +beseeched her to return from her retirement and, for the salvation +of China, to give the Empire again the benefit of her wise counsels. +When she realized the danger she returned. Such is the ascendancy of +the “ancestor” in China, the Emperor could not refuse to accept the +counsel of his August Ancestress, thus forced upon him. He issued an +edict in which he recalled “that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has +on two occasions taken the reins of government, with great success, at +most critical times. In all she has done, Her Majesty has been moved +by a deep regard for the welfare of the Empire. I have implored Her +Majesty to be graciously pleased to advise me in government, and I have +received her assent.” The Emperor’s authority was not wrested from +him—he was not deposed. He still remained the Emperor of China; but +the Empress Dowager’s counsels were forced upon him, he could not but +accept them, and she became once more the real Ruler of China. This was +what foreigners call the “coup d’état” of 1898.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty’s keenness of insight and fine judgment (as far as +Chinese questions are concerned), served her well again in this crisis. +She dismissed not only the self-seeking Radicals, but the self-seeking +ultra-Conservatives. Such of the Reformers as were caught were tried, +convicted of treason, summarily and cruelly punished. Those who +escaped, among them Kang-Yu-Wei, the ringleader of the Reformers, +were outlawed. The leader of the ultra-Conservatives, the Emperor’s +tutor, was not beheaded, but was sent into exile; for a tutor in China +occupies almost the + +<span class="pagenum">261</span> + +position of a parent to his pupil, and this position exempted him +from more cruel punishment. These summary proceedings on the part of +the Moderates, led by Her Majesty, were considered by the foreigners, +who were altogether in sympathy with the Reformers, as a reversion +to anti-progress ideas, and hence were considered anti-foreign. It +certainly was an “anti-reform” movement that caused the “coup d’état” +of 1898, but had the adherents of the so-called reformer Kang-Yu-Wei, +whose subsequent career has proven how self-seeking he was, carried +the day; had his sweeping measures been inaugurated, it might have +brought China into a state of anarchy and would certainly have been +most pernicious to the Nation, for she was not ready for the drastic +measures the Reformers advocated, and the great mass of the people +would have rebelled against them.</p> + +<p>The “coup d’état” and the consequent check upon the Emperor’s +dreams of progress was a great blow to him. He was not only chagrined +at the failure of his efforts for reform, by which he hoped to show +the world that China still counted as a power and to retaliate upon +Japan, but he was also profoundly discouraged when he discovered the +real nature and designs of his chosen instruments. He saw that he had +been over-sanguine in hoping to realize at once his enthusiastic dreams +for the immediate rehabilitation of China’s prestige; he saw that his +ardent desire for progress was not enough, and that to hope to reform +in a few years the century-old traditions of his most conservative +people was but the wild irrealizable dream of youth, and absolutely +impracticable. Though he + +<span class="pagenum">262</span> + +knew he had been led away by his wishes for reform to expect the +impossible, the disappointment was none the less severe and was most +depressing to his sensitive nature. The reaction took place. His +never-too-strong constitution broke down under the strain, and this +breaking down of his health lent color to the reports, which were +immediately circulated among Her Majesty’s enemies as well as among the +foreigners, that the Empress Dowager was trying to kill the Emperor! +She was reported to have imprisoned him, was said to be trying to +poison him at one time and at another to starve him to death—the nephew +she had brought up through a delicate boyhood and whom she cherished as +her own son! Time has shown the truth of these reports, for, had she so +desired, she would have had no difficulty in accomplishing his death. +She had any number of instruments at her hand, fanatically loyal to her +and ready to carry out any of her wishes.</p> + +<p>She still “assists” the Emperor in ruling; and, according to Chinese +tradition, she, being his “ancestor,” must always take the first +place. She sits upon the Throne, he upon a chair at her side. It would +be improper, according to all Chinese law, were it otherwise. The +foreigners speak of the Empress Dowager forcing the Emperor to stand +in her presence and to sit upon a stool while she occupies the Throne. +It is not Her Majesty who forces him to do this, it is an immutable +thousand-year-old tradition in China that a son must take a lower place +than his parent in his presence, be he Emperor or peasant. The Empress +Dowager still reigns. The times are still too troublous + +<span class="pagenum">263</span> + +for her to withdraw her experience from the councils of State, and +though longing for the quiet and rest so necessary to a woman of her +age, and though really anxious to retire, she feels the time has not +yet come.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager, having crushed the Reformers, and reseated +herself upon the Throne, was, from the time of the “coup d’état,” +considered to be anti-foreign and responsible for all the attacks +upon foreigners by ignorant Chinese that took place after that event. +When, only two years after the “coup d’état,” the secret society of +the Boxers began their sanguinary attacks upon the foreigners, Her +Majesty was considered responsible for them, was looked upon as aiding +and abetting the Boxers; and, by the foreigners at least, she was +considered to be the high priestess if not the originator of the order. +But the Boxer movement had no such high origin. It started among the +people, the humble people, in the Northern provinces of China, far from +the Capital, and had been in existence for a number of years before the +attack upon the Legations in 1900.</p> + +<p>The open contempt of many of the foreigners living in China, not +only for the Chinese as a race, but for their most cherished customs +and traditions; the fact that the Chinese converts of the foreign +missionaries may break Chinese laws and still not be amenable to +Chinese punishment; the constantly renewed demands of the foreign +powers for territory, for the punishment of high Chinese officials and +hundreds of other acts that no body of foreigners in any country but +China would dare to try to force upon the people, + +<span class="pagenum">264</span> + +finally aroused even this peaceable, long-suffering Nation.<a +id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> + +The worm turned. The secret society of the Boxers took “China for the +Chinese” as its motto, and to “drive out the foreigner,” or, at least, +curtail his rapidly growing power, became its object. This society +gained in force and grew in volume until it reached the Capital. Here, +from the obscure classes among which it had its origin, it spread +to the upper stratum of society and had followers among the highest +in the land. Certain Princes of the Imperial Family even joined the +ranks—among these latter the father of the next heir to the Throne, the +Prince Tuan. These gave the movement an added force and made of it a +patriotic effort.</p> + +<p>Then from smoldering discontent, it burst into open acts of violence +against the foreigners. The final spark which caused the outbreak in +the Capital and the attack upon the Legations is said to have been +the report, which gained immediate credence among the discontents, +that the Foreign Ministers were going to interfere with the Government +itself, and ask for a change in it; that they were to insist upon the +Empress Dowager’s retiring from the management of State affairs. This +interference, by the foreigners, with the sacred prerogatives of China, +as a Nation; this attempt at the removal of the Person of one of its +Sacred Rulers, aroused the people to a wild fury. Without waiting +to find out the truth of this report, and thinking, in their blind +ignorance, that by getting rid of the representatives of the Foreign +Powers, they might then be left in peace, the mob first attacked and +killed the German + +<span class="pagenum">265</span> + +Minister, the Baron von Ketteler, as he was on his way to the Tsung +Li Yamen, which the Wai-Wu-Pu now replaces. Then followed the general +attack on the Legations.</p> + +<p>The movement then became a veritable torrent, rushing madly along, +dashing aside all opposition and overwhelming right and reason.</p> + +<p>The Emperor and Empress Dowager, powerful and autocratic as they +are, could not stem the current, and only by going with it could they +ever hope to bring judgment and reason to the surface again. No ruler +in the world can or ever has been able to stop an uprising of his +people when the latter felt they had right on their side or had been +downtrodden or oppressed. Their Celestial Majesties were obliged to +wait until the popular fury had somewhat abated before they could even +attempt it. No sane person could believe that the Empress Dowager, +with her natural intelligence and after thirty years of government and +knowledge of foreign methods, did not know that this attack on the +foreign representatives by the Chinese people would bring on severe +reprisals. But she was powerless to do more than she did at the time. +Their Majesties could not go against the people in their maddened +state of mind. They hoped by joining the Imperial forces to the wild +insurgents that these seething masses might be brought to reason. The +mob was given a semblance of right by a declaration of war on the part +of the government after the forts of Taku were taken by the foreign +war-ships (which was really the first act of war of this unfortunate +episode).</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum">266</span> +When I saw the position of the Legation quarter and especially +that of the British Legation, where all the foreigners finally +congregated—open to attack on every side, lying under the very walls of +the Palace and the Imperial City—I felt convinced that had there not +been some restraining force within their own ranks, the Chinese could +have wiped out the foreigners in less than a week. Bad firing on their +part could only have averted, for a short space, the inevitable result +to the Legations. Had there not been some power that was acting as a +check upon the Chinese, no European would have been left to tell the +tale; and this restraining force I feel confident came from the Emperor +and the Empress Dowager themselves.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager (with the Emperor) was at the Summer Palace, +as usual, during the summer of 1900. Though +urged by her ministers and the Princes to remain there, where she was +out of danger or could easily escape at its approach, she insisted +on returning to the Capital and went into the Winter Palace a week +before the Allies reached the city. She hoped as a “dernier resort” +that the presence of the Sacred Persons, Their Majesties, in the city +might serve as a check upon the soldiers and people, now maddened +by their own fury; for the Imperial troops, instead of checking the +insurgents and leavening the masses by their right and reason, had, +instead, become imbued with the same spirit as the Boxers themselves! +But the Empress Dowager, on this occasion, counted too strongly on her +popularity and upon the respect that the people felt for + +<span class="pagenum">267</span> + +the “Sacred Persons,” for even after their return to the Capital, even +Their Majesties’ presence—even the issuing of Imperial edicts posted +all over the city for the people to protect, or at least cease their +attacks on the Legations—were powerless to do more than intermittently +check the attacks.</p> + +<p>Finally the Allies reached and entered the city! The Empress +Dowager, discouraged and finding herself powerless, finally succumbed +to the fears of her entourage for her Person. She, herself, became +almost panic-stricken at the thought of falling into the hands of the +foreigners, whose depredations and cruelty to the Chinese on that +memorable march from Tientsin had all been reported to her with the +usual exaggerations. Her indomitable spirit was broken. She consented, +in an agony of womanly fear, to fly. She was disguised as a common +woman, her long finger nails, which would have revealed her exalted +rank, were cut off, and, in a common cart, she made her escape from +the city. As she had refused to go until the last moment, everything +at the Palace was left in the wildest confusion. Neither her jewelry, +nor hardly sufficient clothing, was taken. She did not leave the Palace +until several hours after the foreign troops had passed the Water Gate +and were already within the walls of the English Legation. She had held +out as long as possible.</p> + +<p>The memorable flight to Singan Fu began that night. The Court was +accompanied by a regiment of Imperial troops, but such was their +demoralized condition, so many Boxers were among the soldiers, that +rank insubordination prevailed. Neither the officers, + +<span class="pagenum">268</span> + +nor even the presence in their midst of the Sacred Persons, served as +any check upon the soldiers. The greatest confusion prevailed. The +maddest of the insurgents had begun to look forward to retribution and +to realize that punishment would be inevitably visited upon them either +by the foreigners or by the Chinese Government when things calmed down, +and this thought seemed but to madden them further.</p> + +<p>As the flight led the Imperial party through the section of country +where the society of Boxers had the greatest number of adherents, the +people, in many instances, refused food and shelter to the Imperial +fugitives. They felt the Court had been against them and for the +foreigners. Prince Su, in his account of the journey to Singan Fu, +relates that neither Her Majesty nor the Emperor had enough to eat; +that the soldiers stole the food that was prepared for Their Majesties. +I heard at the Palace that it was only His Majesty who suffered the +pangs of hunger. He, as well as all in the great company that formed +the Court party, deprived himself rather than see the Empress Dowager +suffer. I heard Her Majesty say that the Emperor’s food was stolen, +and she did not know for several days that he was depriving himself +for her. She thought all the Imperial party had her own, meager enough +allowance.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager saw and heard many new and strange things on +that memorable journey, but she bore it all bravely. After the first +panic of fear, her indomitable spirit resumed its natural poise. Her +capacity for seeing the humorous side of things also helped her to bear +it, and furnished her with a fund + +<span class="pagenum">269</span> + +of witty anecdotes later, though she once remarked that, at the time, +she did not appreciate the humorous side to its full extent. Their +experiences at this time were often the theme of conversation among the +Ladies at the Palace. While I was there they were constantly referred +to by the Princesses and even by the eunuchs of the Court. These +pampered individuals had then their first experience with the hardships +of the outer world, though, to do them justice, they rarely referred +to their own hardships, which must have been severe, only speaking of +what Their Majesties and the Ladies had to endure. This flight from +Peking to Singan Fu marks an epoch in the Palace. Everything is dated +as before or after that time. After Her Majesty had accomplished this +perilous journey and borne it so bravely, she was given a new title, a +dearer, higher one. She was called Lao-Tzu-Tzung (the Great Ancestress) +by her enthusiastic admirers.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">270</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"> + CHAPTER XXXI + <span class="small-text"> + THE EMPRESS DOWAGER’S CHARITIES, SENSE OF JUSTICE, EXTRAVAGANCE, + AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Empress Dowager’s charities are extensive; she feeds the poor +and succors the unfortunate. When her sympathies are aroused, she gives +freely and generously. Her edicts are constantly ordering sacks of rice +and food to be distributed among the poor and sent to districts where +famine reigns. There is a great refuge in Peking, which she supports, +where ten thousand poor are succored and fed during the year. During +the winter, edicts are constantly appearing similar to this—commanding +“The distribution from the Imperial granaries of fifteen hundred piculs +(133-1/3 pounds to the picul) of rice for refuges and gruel stations +for the poor in North Tung Chow.” Edict of November 6, 1904.</p> + +<p>She also sympathizes with misfortune, tries to right the wrongs she +knows of, and correct the abuses that come to her ears. From the “North +China + +Herald” of November 19, 1904, I copy the following, and this paper +cannot be accused of viewing any of Her Majesty’s acts with a partial +spirit (much to the contrary):</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“During the Boxer troubles a bad character, by the name of Wang, +owed money to a certain Chinese Mohammedan. Wang + +<span class="pagenum">271</span> + +had been frequently dunned, and was finally condemned by the courts to +pay the debt; he was, besides, ordered to be beaten, as he had been +insolent to the Mandarin trying the case. This incensed Wang, and he +swore vengeance. When the Boxer troubles were in full swing in Peking, +he became the leader of a band of insurgents and led his band to the +house of the Mohammedan whom he had been forced by the courts to pay. +Wang and his band massacred not only his old enemy, but eleven members +of his family; leaving only a young daughter-in-law who had hidden in a +loft and saw the whole tragedy; she also saw them march off, carrying, +on spears, the heads of the old man and four of his sons.</p> + +<p>The poor daughter-in-law escaped from Peking soon after, and was not +able to return there until a few months since, in 1904. She discovered +the dwelling of the murderer of her husband’s family, and had a +petition drawn up on the subject.</p> + +<p>One day when Her Majesty was proceeding from one Palace to another, +the young widow threw herself before the Empress Dowager’s cortège. +Her Majesty saw the prostrate girl (only nineteen years of age), and +commanded her guards to ask what she wanted. The girl, dressed in +deep mourning, held above her head her petition, calling for justice +against her husband’s murderers. Her Majesty read the petition, and +her brow became black as night. She called to a eunuch in her train +and commanded him to take the young petitioner and her petition to the +‘Board of Punishments,’ and deliver the Imperial Commands that no time +be lost in arresting the murderers; that they should be tried, and the +result reported to Her Majesty. This was done, and on the first of +November, 1904, the chief murderer Wang, his two sons and a nephew were +decapitated to expiate their cruel crimes.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The Empress Dowager is said to be recklessly extravagant in her +own habits as well as in the management of Palace affairs. As for +extravagance in the Palace, bad management doubtless exists, and +extravagance does prevail. Abuses always creep in where the management +of great establishments is intrusted to + +<span class="pagenum">272</span> + +money-seeking officials, and to eunuchs, as is the case in the Palace +at Peking.</p> + +<p>Extravagance in the Palace has been the theme of Chinese economists +for many generations, for hundreds of years before the Manchu Dynasty +came to the Throne. Several of the Emperors have themselves attempted +to stem this extravagance by personal efforts and private economy, but +to no avail. It is related of one Emperor that the sleeve of his State +robe being a little worn, he called up his Master of the Household +to ask what a new robe would cost. He found that it would cost three +thousand taels, and as only the right sleeve of this gown was worn (as +he used his arm a great deal in writing), he decided, in order that +he might himself show a good example, and inaugurate economy, to have +a new sleeve made, instead of ordering an entire gown. He gave his +commands, in consequence, and the gown was taken out of the Palace and +remained several months. When it was returned, what was His Majesty’s +astonishment and chagrin to find that the cost of the new sleeve had +exceeded that of a new gown!</p> + +<p>In his walks outside of the Palace, another Emperor bought an +article of food for a few pence. The next time he had it in the Palace +he asked what the dish cost and was told it was “four taels.” When he +remonstrated, saying what he had paid for it outside of the Palace, his +Master of the Household told him it was impossible to have it “inside” +the Palace or on His Majesty’s table at any less than the sum of four +taels. If His Majesty wished it for a few pence, His Majesty might buy +it outside the Palace and bring + +<span class="pagenum">273</span> + +it in himself for that sum, but no one else could bring it inside for +the price it could be bought outside, as it had to go through so many +official hands before it reached His Majesty’s table, that it actually +cost the sum of four taels.</p> + +<p>After several efforts of this kind at reducing the Palace expenses, +even these wise and economical Emperors were obliged to give it up. If +these Emperors of ancient times, when the Palace was conducted on more +simple lines than it is to-day, were powerless to check extravagance +in the Imperial household, how much more difficult must it be to do so +now that the system has become petrified with age—especially for the +Empress Dowager, who can never go outside and see things for herself! +It is said that each egg at Their Majesties’ table costs three taels, +but Palace reform, necessary as it is, must come from without, from +the officials, and no private effort of Their Majesties can change +things.</p> + +<p>As for the Empress Dowager’s personal extravagance, aside from +present-giving, I saw no evidence of it. Her wardrobe, in point of +actual cost, aside from her jewels, would not be superior in price to +that of the wives of some of our American millionaires; for the styles +do not change in China, and furs and embroideries are handed down from +generation to generation. Her jewels, even, are not more gorgeous +or more numerous, though they are more unique, than those of any of +the European sovereigns. She has an immense number of pearls—for the +pearl is her favorite precious stone, besides being the jewel of the +Dynasty—but she has no diamonds, no emeralds, and very few European + +<span class="pagenum">274</span> + +precious stones. She has a quantity of fine jade jewels, but these, as +well as pearls, are cheaper in China than elsewhere.</p> + +<p>I saw several incidents which seemed to point rather to personal +economy on Her Majesty’s part than to extravagance. While I was +painting one of the portraits, she decided that the trimming on the +gown must be changed. She had bolts of different kinds of ribbon +brought in to select from and finally decided upon a certain piece. +She called a maid to sew some around the neck. When I wanted to have +this piece cut off, so that some might be sewed around the hem where +it was also visible, she said the ribbon had better not be cut, for +it was a “handsome piece,” and, if cut, it might spoil it for use in +“trimming another gown.” These pieces of ribbon and embroidery come in +lengths for one dress only. One day when she was drinking some fruit +juice, her hand slipped on the polished jade bowl and some of it fell +upon the front of her jacket. She was most annoyed, and after several +ineffectual attempts of her own and the attendants to remove the spot, +she said she had heard that the foreigners had some wonderful processes +of cleaning and she must have them investigated, for it was too bad to +have a thing spoiled by an accident of that kind when a good garment +was rendered useless for any one!</p> + +<p>She had the good of China at heart and was really a patriot; in +fact, I observed more patriotism, more National pride among the +people I saw at Court, than I ever noticed elsewhere in China. I feel +convinced the Empress Dowager has strong National feeling and + +<span class="pagenum">275</span> + +really loves her country, and is as patriotic a Chinese as there is in +China. When there were internal troubles, or exterior complications, +she seemed to be really worried and to grieve, as if it were a personal +thing. She made mistakes, of course, and grave ones, but when it is +remembered that her knowledge of what takes place “outside,” comes +entirely from the reports made to her, that she has no opportunity +of seeing things for herself, it seems wonderful she does not make +more.</p> + +<p>Last winter a new scheme of taxation, by which the revenue would +be largely increased and which taxation would be scarcely felt by +the people, was presented to Their Majesties for consideration. Her +Majesty soon grasped the entire scope of the scheme and thought it good +and feasible; but though the payment of the foreign indemnity made +it imperative to increase the revenue by every means possible, she +hesitated over the inauguration of this new scheme, fearing it might +give the officials a new opportunity to oppress the common people, +for it is not the laws that oppress the people in China. This is done +by the officials who enforce them. She evidently realized this power +that the officials have of “squeezing” the people, and she wished to +be assured of the manner in which this taxation would be enforced +before she gave her consent to the scheme. At the first presentation to +her of this plan of taxation, she repeated several times, “I fear it +may harass the people; we cannot harass the people; they have enough +burdens to bear.” She was not so particular about not harassing the +Officials, for they were called upon all + +<span class="pagenum">276</span> + +over China to make great contributions to the Imperial Treasury for the +purpose of assisting in paying the foreign indemnity.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding her penetration of character, her naturally good +judgment, she made mistakes in her appreciation of those who surrounded +her; but this was not strange, for she had almost no opportunity of +seeing them in their true light. She was a good physiognomist, but one +cannot always trust to physiognomy. She was in the habit of giving all +who surrounded her a certain amount of latitude, until they came to +rely on her favor and revealed themselves in their true light to her. +Then she would quickly suppress them or cast them aside. This often +seemed cruel and heartless. She sometimes would take another’s estimate +of a character which she had favorably judged, for, of course, there +is a great deal of jealousy and intrigue among her entourage, and she +was influenced by reports that she heard; for she was obliged, in order +to form an opinion, to listen to the gossip of the Palace. Her own +penetration, however, would generally come to her aid and, in the end, +her judgment would right itself.</p> + +<p>She had strong prejudices, and often allowed herself to be deceived +by the favorites to whom she had given her confidence. After several +preliminary trials of their character, and when she thought she had +arrived at a proper estimate of it, she was an easy victim. These +favorites could then act with impunity, and she was sometimes made +the dupe of their schemes. Thus Ministers, courtiers, friends, and +attendants, who had once thoroughly established their positions with +her, + +<span class="pagenum">277</span> + +could often get the advantage of her and impose upon her natural +acumen.</p> + +<p>She could be most sarcastic, sometimes cruelly so, but I generally +found there was some reason for her sarcasm. She was very impulsive and +had her share of temper, but there was never any unladylike display of +it. When she was angry her voice was never raised; it simply lost its +silvery sweetness and took the quality of some ordinary metal, and she +was always quiet and well-bred.</p> + +<p>From what I saw of the Empress Dowager, it seemed to me she would +not brook interference in the accomplishment of a design she had +set her heart upon—that she would not hesitate even at crushing an +individual who stood in the way of the realization of some plan she had +fixed upon. But her judgment was so good, she did not decide upon a +thing unless she felt it was absolutely imperative to carry it out.</p> + +<p>As for tact and social savoir, she is remarkable. I never knew +any one to possess these qualities to a greater degree. At her first +Audience to foreigners, Sir Claude MacDonald, in reporting it, spoke +of the Empress Dowager as “a kind and courteous hostess, who displayed +both the tact and softness of a womanly disposition.” Lady Susan +Townley says of her: “Where has she learned the ease and dignity with +which she receives her European guests?” These opinions of her social +tact, so far as I could learn, are held by all the members of the +Foreign Legations in Peking.</p> + +<p>When the young Prince Adalbert of Prussia was received in special +Audience by Their Majesties, on his visit to Peking, he was accompanied +not only by the + +<span class="pagenum">278</span> + +German Minister and his staff, but by a number of officers as his +personal escort. This made an unusually large number of presentations +necessary. I have been told that at the Audiences of the Diplomatic +Corps, where only gentlemen were present, the Empress Dowager had a +sort of shyness and did not show the same ease of manner as when she +received the ladies. But at this Audience of the young Prince she +became interested in talking with him, and I heard one of the gentlemen +who was present say it was the first time he had seen Her Majesty +thoroughly at ease at one of the Audiences to the Diplomatic Corps, +and that on that day she was perfectly charming, seeming to take the +liveliest interest in questioning the young Prince and conversing with +him in a motherly way, and that he then realized to its full extent her +wonderful charm and her great social instinct.</p> + +<p>I have heard it said that the Empress Dowager puts all this charm +on for these occasions; that she is a consummate actress, but during +the whole time I was in the Palace I never saw her other than the +charming hostess, considerate of the comfort of those who surround her +and readily sympathizing with sorrow, and I have seen her under all +circumstances, at Audiences and in private, in anxiety and sorrow and +in joy. She was too great a lover of Nature in all its phases to be +cruel and heartless, and I am convinced she is really genuinely kind. +She apparently greatly admired intelligence, and goodness always seemed +to appeal to her. She was ever a fascinating study, and her magnetic +personality full of charm. I found her thoroughly human and perfectly +womanly.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">279</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"> + CHAPTER XXXII + <span class="small-text"> + THE CHINESE NEW YEAR—OFFICIAL AUDIENCE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The Chinese New Year, the greatest of the popular festivals, is, +of course, celebrated with much pomp and enthusiasm at the Palace. +Splendid decorations, hundreds of beautiful horn lanterns, with their +long, red silk tassels, the great red “Sho” emblazoned on their +sides, made the courts and verandahs gay with color. Painted figures +of red-clothed gods regarded one at every turn. Hideous monsters +with vermilion faces, painted on the outside doors, brandished +spears to frighten away the bad spirits. There were the usual gala +representations at the Theater; and the Palace, as at all festivals, +was filled with visitors.</p> + +<p>The Chinese pay all their debts at the New Year. If they have not +the ready money to do so, they will dispose of anything valuable they +have, in order to begin the New Year free from debt. It is considered +tempting Heaven to begin it otherwise. A great deal of silver imitation +money is exchanged at this season. This is an old custom and supposed +to bring abundance during the year. At the New Year, present-giving +reaches its culminating point in China. Every one, rich and poor, high +and low, gives presents then.</p> + +<p>Their Majesties not only gave to all the Ladies and + +<span class="pagenum">280</span> + +Princesses, but to every inmate of the Palace, and even the beggar at +the gate was not forgotten; but the presents exchanged at the New Year +are never so handsome as those given for a birthday. The presents the +Empress Dowager received on this occasion were principally flowers (her +Throne-room was full of them, as well as her private apartments)—dwarf +fruit trees twisted into fantastic shapes, laden with fragrant blossoms +and splendid plants of peonies in full flower, and countless vases of +the Chinese Lily, as they call the Narcissus in China. The Empress +Dowager tried to be cheerful and not dampen the gaiety of the Festival +by her alarm, but the long-looked-for and much-dreaded war between +Russia and Japan had then actually begun, and she was mortally anxious! +The Japanese were already in Manchuria, and no one knew how it might +affect China!</p> + +<img class="landscape wo" src="images/280a.jpg" width="1200" height="830" + alt="Slave Girls" id="280a"> + +<p class="caption capt4"> + SLAVE GIRLS</p> + +<p>Though I did not work on the portrait during the New Year’s +festivities, it was now really advancing. When Her Majesty saw how +the hands looked when they were drawn in, with the palms of the hands +hidden by the long fur undersleeves, in the position I had dared to +find fault with at the first sitting, she at once suggested having the +fur undersleeves taken off, but she still said nothing about changing +the position of the hands, though I saw she had her doubts about them, +and I felt confident her good taste would finally prevail and she would +want them changed. I painted them in with a thin wash of color, knowing +they would be changed later. A few days after this, she remarked that +my “idea about the position of the hands was not bad,” and suggested +that the left hand “would look well on a + +<span class="pagenum">281</span> + +cushion.” I made this change in the small study, much to her +satisfaction, and then did the hands likewise in the large portrait.</p> + +<p>The New Year festivities were hardly over before the Empress Dowager +decided to move the Court to the Sea Palace. This Palace, though not +so much a favorite with her as the Summer Palace, she liked better +than the Winter Palace; the latter’s small, shut-in courts, walled-in +walks, and rigid traditions seemed to depress her. At the Sea Palace +she had gardens for her promenades and there was a lake. It was not so +beautiful as the Summer Palace, but was an improvement over the Winter +Palace.</p> + +<p>This move to the Sea Palace necessitated another change of studio +for me, just as I was comfortably installed in my quarters in the +Winter Palace, and had begun to progress with my work. I knew I should +be obliged to have the new place arranged with upper glass windows +and that I would again lose time, and the date of the opening of the +St. Louis Exposition was approaching! But there was no help for it; I +must go with the Court to the Sea Palace. I was told that there I was +to have a magnificent pavilion on the lake, with a perfect light for +painting. As to the pavilion’s being magnificent, I had no doubt, but I +did doubt, from past experiences, whether the light would be all that +could be desired.</p> + +<p>One morning our chairs carried us to the Sea Palace instead of to +the Winter Palace. All my painting things, materials, canvases, as well +as Her Majesty’s Throne, on which she was seated for the portrait, had +been moved. Not the smallest piece of paper, nor + +<span class="pagenum">282</span> + +even a bit of charcoal was missing. I had painted until the last moment +at the Winter Palace, the day before; and early the next morning my +things were in perfect order—the portrait on the easel, and the Throne +in the proper position in my quarters at the Sea Palace. It was an +“Aladdin’s-Lamp” move.</p> + +<p>The group of buildings that had been set aside for my painting +fronted on the lake, and were really charming, but the overhanging +verandahs to each pavilion forced me again to have the upper windows +put in. After this was accomplished, it was the best working-room I had +ever had at any of the Palaces. The days were getting longer and the +light better, and I hoped now to soon finish the portrait.</p> + +<p>A few days after the Court moved to the Sea Palace, the members +of the Corps Diplomatique were received in Audience to present their +congratulations to the Emperor and Empress Dowager on the occasion +of the Chinese New Year. They were received in the Great Audience +Hall; but the ladies of the Legation, whose reception took place the +following day, were received in Her Majesty’s Throne-room opening on +the Court of the large Theater at the Sea Palace. As it was cold, +the Theater and its court were entirely inclosed and roofed over +in glass, in panes of about a foot and a half square. On each pane +was painted, in red, the ever-present character “Sho” (longevity), +surrounded by five bats. The marble pavement of the court and the +steps leading up to the Throne-room were carpeted in red; and when the +great doors were thrown wide, there was a good effect of size given, + +<span class="pagenum">283</span> +although this Throne-room was one of the smallest in the Sea Palace.</p> + +<p>As this was to be a formal reception, several members of the +Wai-Wu-Pu were present as interpreters. The ladies of the Legation were +presented by the Baron Czikan, the Austrian Minister, Doyen of the +Corps. He made a graceful address in French, wishing Their Majesties +a Happy New Year, and China much prosperity. This was translated into +Chinese by one of the Secretaries of the Wai-Wu-Pu. The Empress Dowager +replied for herself and the Emperor, in Chinese. Her Majesty’s words +were interpreted by His Excellency Liang Fang, a good French scholar. +Then the Doyen presented the ladies individually, and the usual order +of ceremonies followed. When the presentations were over, the Doyen, +foreign attachés and interpreters, with the Chinese officials, repaired +to the hall which had been set aside for their luncheon, while the +ladies, accompanied by the Princesses, went to their repast in another +part of the Palace!</p> + +<p>Only a few days after this, came the lantern festival; but this was +not an interruption to my work, for I painted all day, and only went to +the Theater for the final piece and the spectacular tableau. We dined +in the Imperial loge, and after dinner there were beautiful lantern +and torch-light processions. In the court opposite the Throne-room +where we dined, there was a beautiful pai-lou of transparent gauze, +painted in charming designs, illuminated from within, and hung with +luminous flowers and quaint lanterns. Tall eunuchs, in gala red, stood +around the courts, holding great lanterns aloft, like huge caryatides + +<span class="pagenum">284</span> + +with luminous burdens. Others with fanciful vermilion lanterns wound in +and out through corridors and courts. When they reached the court of +the softly glowing pai-lou, they manœuvered and made intricate designs +and luminous tableaux, holding aloft their red-globed lanterns to form +characters and phrases of “felicitous omen.” These huge, luminous +characters were wonderfully accurate.</p> + +<p>After the torch- and lantern-lit processions, and the glowing +tableaux, a pair of illuminated dragons writhed into the court and +struggled for the “flaming pearl,” which flitted around with elusive +fantastic movements, ever beyond their grasp. I was not able to find +out the origin of the Imperial legend of the Double Dragon and the +Flaming Pearl, representations of which appear everywhere at the Palace +on whatever is meant for Imperial use, or for any official function +over which the Emperor is supposed to preside. It is on all the Thrones +of the Dynasty; it adorns the Imperial pennant; it is cut into stone, +carved into wood, and painted in pictures. It decorates the gowns of +the higher officials, and is embroidered upon the Court dresses of the +Ladies of the Palace. At the Birthdays of the Emperor and Empress, +and at all Dynastic celebrations there are realistic representations +of the immortal struggle where the Double Dragon strives to absorb +the “flaming pearl.” The significance of the legend seems to be: The +Double Dragon represents the Powers of Earth or Evil which try ever to +absorb the Flaming Pearl, Emblem of the Dynasty, symbol of Heaven or +Perfection. The Flaming Pearl, the Unattainable, keeps ever beyond + +<span class="pagenum">285</span> + +and above their grasp, seeming to serve always as an incentive for +further effort.</p> + +<p>For a fortnight after the lantern festival, there were fireworks +every night on the banks of the lake. We would dine in the Throne-room, +and then Her Majesty and the Emperor, accompanied by the Ladies, and +attended by the usual number of eunuchs (each bearing transparent horn +lanterns), would go through the courts and paths of the garden to the +lake, on the banks of which the fireworks were sent up. Here, in full +view of the set pieces, stood four large, roomy sleds. When the lake +was frozen, these sleds were used to push Their Majesties and the +ladies over its glassy surface. They had not been used as sleds this +winter, for the ice had not been sufficiently firm, the winter having +been comparatively mild. But when the lake was well frozen, as is usual +at this season in Peking, Their Majesties viewed the fireworks from +these sleds as they skimmed along over its smooth surface. There was a +sled for each of them—one for the Empress and second wife, and one for +the Princesses. They were cloth-covered, lined with fur, and had great +fur rugs. There were seats around the three sides; the wadded curtain, +with its large square of plate-glass that hung down over the front, was +taken off for the fireworks. Their Majesties occupied each of theirs +alone, but the Empress had several of the Ladies in hers.</p> + +<p>The fireworks were superb. There were beautiful set pieces, pagodas, +with ladies on balconies, pavilions with grapevines, wistaria arbors, +and beds of flowers so lifelike they seemed to grow at the side of the + +<span class="pagenum">286</span> + +luminous cascades, and many other effects I had never seen before in +fireworks. One day, during the time of the lantern festival, we had +fireworks in the brilliant sunshine. When these day rockets exploded, +all sorts of curious paper devices fell to the ground—fish dragons +and animals, as well as flags and baskets. When anything interesting +was revealed, Her Majesty would send the eunuchs to pick it up as it +fell and bring it to her that she might examine it. Many fell outside +the Palace walls, and she said these would give pleasure to the “poor +people outside.”</p> + +<p>Formerly, at these fireworks in the Palace to celebrate the lantern +festival, the public was admitted into the Inclosure, but this practice +stopped when the two Empresses were Co-Regents for the first boy +Emperor, Tung-Chih. As this was coincident with the establishment of +the first Foreign Legations in Peking, the latter fact may have had +some influence in changing the custom. The Chinese people were shut +out because it was feared that the foreigners might also come into +the Precincts. These beautiful fireworks I could enjoy without any +qualms of conscience, for I could not paint at night, and they were +consequently no interruption to my work.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">287</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"> + CHAPTER XXXIII + <span class="small-text"> + CONTINUATION OF THE ST. LOUIS PORTRAIT—SPRING DAYS AT THE SEA + PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>There began now to be some discussion as to what would be the most +propitious date for finishing the portrait. I had thought I might +finish when I could, but this was not to be the case. The almanacs +were consulted, and it was decided that the nineteenth day of April +would be an auspicious time to finish and before four o’clock! The +Empress Dowager informed me of the “happy augury” of this date and +asked me if I thought it possible to finish then. Not only had the date +for beginning the portrait been carefully chosen, but there was much +deliberation as to the proper time for finishing! Her Majesty seemed +very anxious until she received my reply as to whether it would be +possible to finish at this happy date, for I could not say at first, +as I had never thought of finishing at any particular moment! When I +finally told her I could finish it before four o’clock, April 19th, +she was delighted. She said “How good” and asked me to please “not +disappoint her.” As the portrait neared completion she came very often +to the studio and watched over the painting-in of all the accessories, +which she seemed to consider quite as important as + +<span class="pagenum">288</span> + +the likeness itself. As she was tired after the Audiences, she gave +me two or three sittings at this time before she went to the Audience +Hall, and I painted from half-past six to eight A.M. for two or three +days. The jewels in the head-dress, all official, were the subject of +much deliberation. After a jewel was painted in, she would decide she +didn’t like it and that something else would be better. She seemed to +think it was as easy to take it from the picture as to remove it from +her person. All these requests for changes were so graciously made, I +never complained. She would sometimes say, “I am giving you a great +deal of trouble, and you are very kind.” I didn’t mind the trouble, +only these changes took away the freshness of the painting and did not +add to the artistic effect of the picture.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty ordered a magnificent frame for the portrait. She, +herself, made the design. The Double Dragon at the top struggled for +the “flaming pearl” with the character “Sho” on it. The sides were +elaborately carved in designs representing the symbol of “ten thousand” +years with the characters for longevity. The frame was to be set in +a superbly carved stand, as the Chinese do their mirrors. The whole, +of rare camphor-wood, was made by Her Majesty’s own artisans at the +Palace—the most expert workmen in China.</p> + +<p>The days were lengthening now, the trees beginning to bud and +the flowers in the courts to bloom. The icy fetters that had locked +the lake were broken; the boats again glided over its bosom. In the +mornings we no longer had to take the winter “chairs” + +<span class="pagenum">289</span> + +and be carried the long distance from the gates to the Throne-room. +The comfortable boats once more lay moored at the foot of the +landing-steps, just within the gates, and we enjoyed again those ideal +trips across the lake.</p> + +<p>The Empress Dowager began to take long promenades now and was much +out-of-doors. Sometimes in the mornings, on our arrival, she would +already be in the gardens. One day we met her on the banks of the +lake and made our morning salutations there. Another day, she and the +Emperor were inspecting the new buildings which were being erected to +replace those burned during the occupation of Peking by the Allies, +when Count von Waldersee had his headquarters in the Sea Palace. +Splendid buildings were being erected on the site of those burned. The +Emperor and Empress Dowager, each with his own suite, carefully visited +every part of these new constructions and seemed much interested in +their progress. Of course, the workmen were banished during the visit +of Their Majesties. One of these new halls was to be used for the +entertainment of foreigners, when they are invited to the Palace, and +many concessions had been made to foreign ideas in its construction. +Let us hope it may not lose its Chinese character! I am sure the +foreigners will regret this innovation and would prefer the typical +Chinese interior, even though it be less suited to the exigencies of a +modern reception.</p> + +<p>Sometimes we would see the Empress Dowager in her Japanese +“jinricksha.” This was a beautiful, gold-lacquered affair in dragon +form, the two dragons’ heads in front. It had splendid gold-lacquered +shafts + +<span class="pagenum">290</span> + +and wheels—the latter with rubber tires. It was pulled by one eunuch +and pushed by another, and Her Majesty seemed greatly to enjoy this +novelty for a while, but she said she preferred to walk or to be +carried in her open chair, as a usual thing.</p> + +<p>Two other modern and novel methods of locomotion had been installed +in the grounds of the Sea Palace. There was a small railway, which ran +from the outer gates to the dwelling Palaces, which had its engine and +complete running outfit. This had been constructed by some progressive +Mandarins, who wished to get the Empress Dowager’s support for some +railway scheme, but though she often spoke of how much she had enjoyed +her one trip on a real railway, her spirit was too utilitarian to care +for toy pleasures. She couldn’t stand the puffing of the engine, the +tiny cars, and all this trouble for so short and useless a jaunt.</p> + +<p>There was also in the Sea Palace, as well as at the Summer Palace, +a number of automobiles, which had been presented to Their Majesties +by Chinese nobles and officials who had been abroad, as examples of +the curiosities of European civilization. One of these was gorgeously +fitted up in the Imperial yellow and gold lacquer, with the Double +Dragon. The body was inclosed in glass and there was a throne-like +seat within for the Empress Dowager. The question of how the chauffeur +should run the machine standing, as he would be obliged to do if Her +Majesty were inside, had not then been solved. She was, however, +willing to throw tradition to the winds in this instance, and was +most anxious to try one of these motor-cars. Her entourage was, +however, bitterly opposed to it, even for + +<span class="pagenum">291</span> + +a short distance in the grounds. They were afraid of an accident. +She never tried one while I was there, but I am confident that her +venturesome spirit will not rest content until she has had a ride in +one of these modern carriages.</p> + +<p>In April, kite-flying time begins in China. High Officials and +dignified literati indulge in the pastime as well as children and young +people. The popular pastimes of the people, as well as their serious +occupations, being always honored in the Palace, kites were, of course, +sent off by the Empress Dowager and the Ladies. The first day the kites +were to be flown Her Majesty sent for me to come into the garden, where +the kite-flying was to take place. The kites were of paper, wonderfully +fashioned, representing birds, fish, bats, and even personages. The +strings were wound on curiously shaped reels and the cleverness with +which Her Majesty let out the string and manipulated the kites was +wonderful. After she had let one go, she graciously handed me her own +reel and told me she would teach me to fly a kite. I was hard at work +at my painting when I was called out into the garden and I wished to +return to it as soon as possible; and as I knew I would not be very +clever at kite-flying, I begged her to allow me to watch her instead. +The young Empress and Princesses were also very proficient in flying +them, and Her Majesty flew hers as she did everything else, with +unusual grace.</p> + +<p>One of these beautiful spring mornings as we were softly gliding +across the lake, propelled by the graceful Palace boatmen, I lay back +on my cushions reveling in the scene of quiet loveliness before me and + +<span class="pagenum">292</span> + +drinking in the ineffable perfume of the spring, when my glance, +roaming lazily around in perfect content, caught sight of a group of +gentlemen on the bank of the lake beyond. The rays of the morning sun, +glinting upon the gold of their embroidered costumes and touching, with +iridescent rays, the peacock’s feathers upon their hats, revealed their +rank and official standing.</p> + +<p>As it was a most unusual thing to see gentlemen in the Palace +Inclosure, I was at once all attention, knowing there must be some +important event on hand, especially as, on looking closer, I saw one +small figure in their midst more plainly dressed than the others, +whom I at once recognized as His Majesty the Emperor. As we slowly +approached I saw the Emperor go over to a plow to which was hitched +an ox, and which stood at a little distance off in the field. Fortune +favored me! I was to see the Emperor plow the first furrow of the year! +For it was only on the morrow that the official public ceremony was to +take place at the Temple of Agriculture, near the great triple altar of +Heaven. I was to see the private plowing, done in the Palace grounds +and viewed only by the Princes of the Imperial Family and the highest +Manchu nobles.</p> + +<p>When all was ready the Emperor took the handles of the plow and +guided it down a furrow marked off the ground, and when the furrow was +upturned, the seed was dropped in. The ox for this ceremony, which I +had heard was white, was (at the Palace function) of a soft doe color. +He seemed to have been trained for the purpose and performed his part +with a dignity in + +<span class="pagenum">293</span> + +harmony with the attitude of all the assistants and in keeping with the +solemnity of the occasion.</p> + +<p>I was rejoiced to have an opportunity of seeing this interesting +ceremony and to learn that even this great rite, which I had thought, +like the sacrifice to the Invisible Deity on the triple altar, was only +performed in the grounds of the Temple to Heaven; and to learn that +every custom dear to the people, or incorporated in the National life, +is observed in the Palace by the Emperor and Empress—that His Majesty +really plants the first furrow of the year and gathers the first +sheaves of ripened wheat, and that the Ladies of the Palace really spin +the first silk and pull the first fruits.</p> + +<p>The slow movement of the Palace boats was never so appreciated by +me as on this morning, for I was thus enabled to see well this curious +National ceremony, which I would never have seen but for the accident +of the hour of my crossing the lake and the time it took to do so; for, +as at all ceremonies where men are present, there were, of course, +no members of Her Majesty’s entourage, and none of the Ladies or +Princesses had ever seen this ceremony!</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">294</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"> + CHAPTER XXXIV + <span class="small-text"> + FINISHING AND SENDING OFF THE PORTRAIT + </span> +</h2> + +<p>The nineteenth day of April was approaching, and the portrait +steadily advancing. As it neared completion Her Majesty’s interest +in it seemed to grow. She spent a great deal of time in my pavilion +watching its progress, and expressed herself as much delighted with +it. A few days before the nineteenth, I asked Her Majesty to allow +Mrs. Conger to come and see it on that day. She immediately consented, +and invitations were sent through the Foreign Office, not only to Mrs. +Conger, but to the wives of the Ministers and First Secretaries of +Legations to come to the Palace on the nineteenth day of April, for the +purpose of “seeing the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress +Dowager, painted by the American artist.”</p> + +<p>The ladies of the Legation, of course, responded to the invitation, +and on the morning of the nineteenth the portrait was placed in the +splendid frame. Her Majesty decided she would receive the ladies first +in her Throne-room, after which they were to come to my studio to see +the portrait. As I was still working until the “fateful hour,” I did +not go up to the Throne-room but awaited the ladies in my own place. Her + +<span class="pagenum">295</span> + +Majesty did not accompany the ladies when they came to see the +portrait, but she sent the young Empress and Princesses to my pavilion +to assist me in receiving and to lend a proper dignity to the occasion. +The portrait, in a Chinese milieu, and seen in the light in which +it was painted, made a better effect than it could in any other +surroundings. The ladies were, of course, much interested in seeing +this long-talked-of picture—the first ever painted of Her Majesty—and +the novelty of the precedent, as well as the interest of a visit to the +Palace, favorably predisposed them, and they expressed themselves as +most interested in the work, finding it a good likeness. The admiration +it received from the young Empress and the Ladies of the Court was +almost embarrassing, and the eunuchs said it was so lifelike when they +passed the windows that it inspired the same awe Her Majesty’s own +presence did.</p> + +<p>After the ladies had duly looked at and commented upon the portrait, +they repaired to one of the halls in connection with my studio, where +a repast had been prepared by the orders of Her Majesty. Here, for the +first and only time, while I was in the Palace, the young Empress sat +down at the table with the foreign ladies, and acted as hostess, and +very gracefully she filled her rôle.</p> + +<p>After the visit of the ladies of the Legation, Her Majesty informed +me that the Princes and nobles, whose rank entitled them to enter the +Palace Inclosure, were to come to see it the following day. As it would +not have been “according to the Proprieties” for gentlemen to enter the +quarters reserved for ladies, + +<span class="pagenum">296</span> + +or the buildings where even a foreign lady worked, the portrait was, +for their visit, carried out into the open court of my pavilion.</p> + +<p>To place the portrait in its carved pedestal, it was necessary to +erect a scaffolding by which the framed picture was raised into the +air, and then lowered into its stand. When all was finally arranged, +the scaffolding was removed, the debris cleared away, and the Princes +and nobles, in full dress, came into the court to see the portrait. +Each one approached the picture and closely examined it, even touching +the canvas. Unfortunately, I could not hear their comments, as I only +saw the ceremony discreetly ensconced behind a curtain, but I could +watch their faces and study their expressions, though I must confess +that they revealed very little.</p> + +<p>A young Manchu, who had been attached to a Legation abroad and had +learned photography in an amateur way, had been ordered by Her Majesty +to make a photograph of the portrait. This was done while the Princes +and nobles were still in the court. When it was photographed, and the +Princes had retired, the scaffolding was again put up, the picture was +raised out of its carved wood pedestal and was replaced in my studio. +All this took the greater part of the day.</p> + +<p>Her Majesty was so pleased with the comments she heard upon the +portrait (of course no unfavorable ones were made to her), that she +decided to accede to the prayers of several of the high officials, +and allow the Sacred Picture to be viewed by a number of other high +functionaries. For this purpose, the portrait + +<span class="pagenum">297</span> + +was removed to the Wai-Wu-Pu (Foreign Office); for many of the highest +Officials are not permitted to enter the Palace Inclosure.</p> + +<p>At the Foreign Office, not only the high Chinese Officials, but the +foreign Ministers and their staffs were invited to see it. Many of the +foreigners went in full dress uniform for this visit, in deference to +Chinese prejudices. After it had been duly viewed by all in Peking of +sufficient rank to have that honor, it was inclosed in a satin-lined +camphor-wood box, covered with satin of Imperial yellow, and the box +was closed with great solemnity. The pedestal was placed in a similar +box. Each had splendid bronze handles and huge circular locks. These +boxes were inclosed in others, also lined with the Imperial color, and +were finally ready for shipment. The packing-cases, containing the +framed picture and its carved pedestal, were placed upon a flat freight +car, which had been elaborately decorated with red and yellow festoons +of silk. The boxes were covered with yellow cloth, painted with the +Double Dragon. A special railway had been laid from the Wai-Wu-Pu to +the station outside the Chien-Mên, for it was not considered fitting +that ordinary bearers transport the picture of Her Majesty.</p> + +<p>The Officials of the Wai-Wu-Pu, as well as many other of the high +Officials in Peking, dressed in full dress, accompanied it to the +station, and stood to watch the Sacred Picture start off on its long +journey to St. Louis. The special train carrying it was met at Tientsin +by the Viceroy of the Province, surrounded by all his official staff. +It was there placed with great + +<span class="pagenum">298</span> + +ceremony upon the steamer on which it was to make the journey to +Shanghai, and was accompanied from Peking to Shanghai by an official +specially appointed for the purpose.</p> + +<p>At Shanghai it was received in the same formal state and with the +same official pomp as at Tientsin. It was met at the steamer by the +Governor of the Province and all his staff and transhipped with great +ceremony to one of the Pacific Mail Steamers for San Francisco. The +Sacred Picture was accompanied on its journey from Shanghai to St. +Louis by a high Official and his suite. A special car conveyed it from +San Francisco to St. Louis.</p> + +<p>His Imperial Highness Prince Pu L’un, Imperial Commissioner and +personal representative of Their Majesties at the Exposition of +St. Louis, awaited the arrival of the portrait there, delaying his +departure for several days in order to be able himself to assist at the +reception and placing of the portrait. At four o’clock on the afternoon +of the 19th of June, His Imperial Highness and the Imperial Chinese +Commission repaired to the Art Gallery, where the cases containing the +portrait and pedestal were awaiting their presence to be opened. The +Director of the Art Gallery, the Assistant Director, and several other +members of the Board of Fine Arts, were also present.</p> + +<p>The cases containing the portrait, one within the other, were +opened, and finally within the last, lined with yellow silk, lay the +“Sacred Picture,” covered with a screen of brocaded satin of Imperial +hue. This satin cover was ceremoniously removed, and the picture was +“unveiled.” The Prince proposed the health of Her Majesty and the +Prosperity of China, which + +<span class="pagenum">299</span> + +the assistants drank in sparkling champagne. This opening of the cases +and unveiling of the picture lasted from four o’clock to nine P.M. +A few days later, when the Gallery where it was placed was opened +to the public, it lost, for the first time since its inception, its +semi-sacred qualities. Only then did it stand upon its own merits and +become as other portraits. Then, for the first time, it could be seen +by the ordinary individual—then only it became the subject of comment +as any other picture at the Fair. Then it was open to the gaze of the +vulgar and the comment of the scoffer.</p> + +<p>At the close of the Exposition, a delegate was sent from the Chinese +Legation in Washington to arrange for the transportation of the +picture to the latter place. The portrait and its carved support were +again placed in their satin-lined cases, and it began the journey to +Washington. Her Majesty had decided when the portrait was completed to +her satisfaction that it would be a suitable present for her to make to +the United States. She thought this would be particularly appropriate, +as the painting of the portrait for the St. Louis Exposition had been +thought of by the wife of the American Minister to Peking, and as +it had been executed by an American artist. Thus the United States +received the gift of the first portrait ever painted of a Chinese +Ruler.</p> + +<p>When the portrait arrived in Washington, His Excellency Sir +Chentung Liang Cheng, the Chinese Minister to Washington, attended by +his Secretaries, made a formal presentation of the portrait to the +President, which Mr. Roosevelt received on behalf of the United States +Government.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + <span class="pagenum">300</span> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"> + CHAPTER XXXV + <span class="small-text"> + RETURN TO THE SUMMER PALACE + </span> +</h2> + +<p>Sending off the picture to St. Louis did not sever my connection +with the Palace, for I had still other work to finish! At the end of +April, a month later than usual, the Court moved out to the Summer +Palace for the rest of the year. The country was beautiful, the +trees were almost in full leaf, and lilacs, blue and white, bloomed +everywhere. My garden in the Park of the Palace of the Emperor’s +Father was full of them, and over my entrance gate clambered a +beautiful yellow rose-bush laden with masses of blooms. Wild flowers +were springing up at every turn, and my dog “Me-lah” in his wild races +through the park, when we were out for our walks, would often start up +coveys of birds; or rabbits would scurry away at his approach. I went +back to my favorite haunts in the park, to the summer-house, where upon +the threshold, cut in stone, lay the plaint of the Seventh Prince! It +was a delightful change to be in this beautiful spot after the four +months in Peking, and to see Nature everywhere budding into perfection. +The grounds of the Summer Palace were one maze of delight. The peonies +in all their royal splendor, the fragrant lilac, the stately magnolia, +and the budding + +<span class="pagenum">301</span> + +elms, each added their charm to this beautiful spot, where everything +was lovely. I could not wonder at the Empress Dowager’s desire to come +back again to all this beauty.</p> + +<p>A charming studio was fitted up for me at the Summer Palace on +our return. Her Majesty saw how much more satisfactory it was for me +to have a proper place to work in, where I would be undisturbed, and +even had she not seen the utility of a studio, I think she would have +granted my request for one, for she was always kind and considerate. +Upper windows of plate-glass were put into the north side of one of +His Majesty’s Throne-rooms, behind the Imperial loge. It looked over +a charming terrace of the garden. The days were long, and it was a +delight to live and breathe, and the quiet of the studio, where I could +work at leisure, made me resume my work with renewed vigor.</p> + +<p>I began at once to finish up the small sketch of the St. Louis +portrait, which Her Majesty wished to keep, and then to put the +final touches on the two portraits begun at the Summer Palace. The +Throne-room that was now my studio had only one disadvantage. It was so +near the Theater that on theater days I could hear the music and the +voices of the actors. And on those days, the court outside my windows +was filled all day with eunuchs and Their Majesties’ attendants, moving +to and fro. I decided if it was necessary for me to go into Peking at +any time, to take a “Theater day” to do so.</p> + +<p>One Theater day I did go into Peking, and on my return to the +Summer Palace the next day I found + +<span class="pagenum">302</span> + +that His Majesty the Emperor had taken advantage of my absence to +occupy his Throne-room the day before, for I found his Theater program, +distinguishable by being written on Imperial yellow paper, and he had +also left a few papers scattered around with characters and phrases +written with the “Vermilion Pencil,” which may only be used by His +Majesty. On one paper he had evidently been trying to draw a plan of +the part of Manchuria where the war operations were then being carried +on. He had also drawn a part of the Great Wall of China, and the +dividing line between China and Manchuria.</p> + +<p>So the Emperor, notwithstanding his stoical smile, his apparent +unconcern, was not indifferent to affairs in Manchuria. He was watching +the course of events there, and he probably worried and grieved as much +as even the Empress Dowager, about what might be the result for China. +He had probably schooled himself to appear indifferent. The ceremonies +and festivals at the Palace had been going on as usual, but the two +central figures of all these functions had their own secret anxieties +and cares. The Emperor was following the campaign in Manchuria, and the +Empress Dowager was probably planning and thinking of the best course +for China to follow.</p> + +<p>In May, the Empress Dowager had another Garden Party for the ladies +of the Legation, at which she, as usual, asked me to assist. When I +went into the Audience Hall for this reception, a few moments before +the ladies were to arrive, Her Majesty, after greeting me and scanning +my toilet, which was all in gray without any color, took a pink peony +from a vase at + +<span class="pagenum">303</span> + +hand, and pinned it on my dress, saying I needed a little color. I had +just finished the largest of the other three portraits I had painted +at the Summer Palace, and Her Majesty told me she liked it so much +that she had decided to show it to the foreign ladies at this Garden +Party. As I had heard nothing of this plan before leaving my studio +that morning, I had made no preparations for it. The picture was on my +easel, unframed, and I told her I would prefer it to be placed in its +frame, before it was shown. This frame, designed also by the Empress +Dowager, and made by the Palace workmen, was a magnificent piece of +work, elaborately carved and beautiful in form. It was in the natural +color of teakwood, and this quiet tone admirably set off the vivid +color of the gown and accessories, and was a great improvement to the +picture. When she heard what were my wishes on the subject, Her Majesty +said she would see that the picture was placed in the frame, and it was +arranged that as soon as I had finished my luncheon, I would return to +the studio and overlook things myself, and arrange the portrait as I +wished.</p> + +<p>The Audience passed off as usual. Immediately after luncheon the +ladies were invited to go to the studio to see the portrait. The +Empress Dowager had evidently forgotten about my wish to go there +first, and as she herself, contrary to all precedent, led the way, +followed by the ladies, I could not, of course, precede her. I had +not thought that she would make such an innovation as to, herself, +accompany the ladies to the studio. I felt greatly honored, but I +feared the eunuchs had not arranged things as they + +<span class="pagenum">304</span> + +should be, and knew I could do nothing with Her Majesty present, and +what was my chagrin on reaching the hall in the wake of the Empress +Dowager and the ladies, to find that the portrait, though placed in +the frame as I had desired, was in the center of the narrow hall, and +every window on both sides had been opened to its widest extent, and +the light came in from all sides! I had shut off all the lights of +this hall, except the double windows to the north, where I had the +upper glasses put in, and this is where the picture should have been +placed, but as Her Majesty’s Throne always occupies the center of +the Throne-rooms, the eunuchs evidently thought that was the proper +place for her portrait when on exhibition. As the halls are narrow in +proportion to their length, no one could get further off than four +feet from this life-size portrait. This, added to the cross-lights, +was heartrending. I was in despair. Her Majesty’s presence prevented +my ordering the eunuchs to change the position of the portrait, and, +besides, every one had already seen it! The ladies, who could not do +otherwise than express their admiration in the presence of both the +August Subject and the artist, duly praised the portrait. Her Majesty, +who knew how it looked in its proper light, and who only glanced at +it here, did not realize at what a disadvantage it appeared, and was +perfectly satisfied with the effect.</p> + +<img class="portrait wo" src="images/304a.jpg" width="678" height="1200" + alt="The Portrait of the Empress Dowager" id="304a"> + +<div class="caption"> + <p class="capt4"> + THE PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER IN ITS FRAME</p> + <p class="capt5"> + This Frame is Made of Camphor-wood Carved in the Palace after the + Empress’s own Designs and under Her Direction</p> +</div> + +<p>An amusing little incident took place while the ladies were looking +at it. The Empress Dowager, in her cursory examination in this light, +noticed a part of the trimming of the gown where the design was not + +<span class="pagenum">305</span> + +well worked out. She came up to me, as I stood in a group of ladies, +and pointed out the defect. She took my hand in hers, and said in an +almost pleading way, “There is a bit of trimming that is not well +finished. You will arrange it for me, will you not, Ker-Gunia?” She did +not believe in leaving anything to the imagination, and wished every +detail fully worked out!</p> + +<p>This portrait was very successfully photographed, and Her Majesty +concluded she liked it much better than the one which had been sent +to St. Louis. She said it would make me “famous.” But when I thought +of how I might have painted this wonderfully interesting woman in the +unique setting in which she was placed, I realized that “it might have +been” are really the “saddest words of tongue or pen.”</p> + +<p>The precedent having been established, the idea of a representation +of the Sacred Person of a Chinese Majesty being seen by the world +having been accepted, the painting of Her Majesty’s first portrait +not having been followed by the dire results that the Chinese had +prophesied, the traditional prejudice was overcome, and when she +saw how quickly the photograph was made of the portrait, and how +satisfactory it was, she decided she would have the photographer try +one of herself, and she was not one to stop at a single trial. After +waiting sixty-eight years to see a counterfeit presentment of herself, +I know she will now indulge this new fantasy of hers to its fullest +extent, and perhaps some other artist may at some time paint her +according to western ideas, and represent her attractive personality in +its best setting. But there must always be a pioneer, and he it is who + +<span class="pagenum">306</span> + +suffers the hardships and makes the way clear for others, which must be +my solace and consolation for not being able to paint her as I should +have liked. The Empress Dowager “consented” to have a portrait of +herself painted. Before I finished the first one she told me she wanted +“many,” and suggested my passing the rest of my life out in Peking. I +painted four. Who will do the others?</p> + +<p>I felt I could not go on forever painting portraits, according to +Chinese traditions, of the Empress Dowager. I could not spend my life +in this dalliance with Oriental splendor. The world beyond the Palace +gates called me. I hurried to finish my task. The last portrait was +nearing completion. My sojourn at the Palace was drawing to a close. +Though I longed to be where I might paint in a freer way, I looked +forward with real regret to leaving the Palace, and especially to +leaving the Empress Dowager and the young Empress, for I had come to +really love them. I found Her Majesty by far the most fascinating +personality it had ever been my good fortune to study at such close +range. The young Empress was a sweet, kind nature, full of dignity +and pathos, for whom I prayed there might be greater happiness in +store than had yet fallen to her lot. My sojourn at the Palaces of Her +Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager of China, my association with +herself and the Ladies of her Court, I shall always remember as one of +the most charming experiences of my life.</p> +</div> + +<!-- FOOTNOTES --> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_1" class="label" href="#FNanchor_1">[1]</a> +<div class="poetry"> +In the firmament of the Son of Heaven<br> +A brilliant new star has risen!—<br> +Supple as the neck of the swan<br> +Is the charm of her graceful form.<br> +<br> +From the firm contour of charming chin<br> +Springs the faultless oval of her fair face,<br> +Crowned by the harmonious arch<br> +Of a broad and noble brow.<br> +<br> +The stately profile, chiseled clear,<br> +Is dominated by the pure line of noble nose<br> +Straight and slender and singularly mobile,<br> +Sensitive to all the impressions of the soul.<br> +<br> +Dewy lips with gracious curves<br> +Are the portals of a dainty mouth<br> +Where often blooms the sweet flower<br> +Of a most alluring smile.<br> +<br> +Her face is lit by black and sparkling eyes,<br> +Whose flames, in hours of ease,<br> +With oblique caress, envelop and thrill<br> +That happy mortal allowed to see.<br> +<br> +When stern circumstance demands,<br> +Her graceful form an attitude of firmness takes,<br> +The soft glow of her brilliant eyes<br> +Grows penetrating and holds one with proud authority.<br> +<br> +O beauty Supreme! O brilliant Star<br> +Shining but for the Son of Heaven!<br> +From thy glowing soul radiate<br> +Love, daring, hope, intellect, ambition, power!<br> +</div> + +<p class="right s5"><i>From a Chinese poet—written when Her Majesty<br> +was twenty-five years old.</i><br> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_2" class="label" href="#FNanchor_2">[2]</a> +Confucius says “Purity is the Essence of Heaven.” Did the Manchus call +theirs the “Dynasty of the Great Purity” with a knowledge of Confucian +teaching, that the descendants of the Dynasty of the Great Purity +(Essence of Heaven) might become literally the “Sons of Heaven,” the +appellation borne by the Emperors of China? +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_3" class="label" href="#FNanchor_3">[3]</a> +Generally written “jui,” but pronounced as I have written it. +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_4" class="label" href="#FNanchor_4">[4]</a> +My Chinese name. +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_5" class="label" href="#FNanchor_5">[5]</a> +“Buddha’s hand,” a very fragrant fruit of the family of lemons, which +is shaped like a hand, with long, curving fingers. Pyramids of this +fruit are used for their perfume. +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_6" class="label" href="#FNanchor_6">[6]</a> +It has been said by foreigners, that Her Majesty the Empress Dowager +obliges the Emperor and Empress to make the prostrations before her +on her Birthday as an indignity to them and to show her authority. +The truth is, that every son in China kneels before his parents on +their birthdays, and should the Emperor fail to do so, the whole of +China would be horrified and cry out against his unfilial conduct. Her +Majesty is not only the wife of his uncle, the Emperor Hsien-Feng, but +the sister of his mother, and, more than all else, the Empress Dowager +is the Emperor’s adopted mother. The duties of an adopted child to his +adopted parents are the same, in China, as to his own parents. In the +Viceroy Chang-Chih-Tung’s famous ode to the Emperor, he speaks of this +filial piety as one of the Emperor’s greatest qualities: “Who does not +admire the filial reverence and piety with which he waits upon his +august mother? Setting a brilliant example to all, he inquires early +and late after her well-being and watches over her meals in person. Let +us now add a new ode, extolling to the skies our Emperor’s fidelity to +his Imperial mother.” +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> +Her Majesty said my individuality was not lost in these costumes, and +that I was clothed in attire suitable to the Chinese interior. She +had now devised a costume for me which was really in harmony with my +new environment. Our rough tweeds and somber garments, outlining and +defining the figure, looked mesquin and out of place in these great +halls. The bright colors and simple lines of the gowns of the Chinese +ladies are much more in keeping with their interiors. Her Majesty’s +artistic taste had divined this, and she had made several attempts to +devise something for me that was in harmony with the Chinese “milieu” +and at the same time comfortable. +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> +Also spelled jiu. +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> <a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" +class="label">[9]</a> Since the above was in type I find the following +in F. Laur’s “<span lang="fr">Siège de Péking</span>.” In speaking of +the cause of the Boxer rising, he quotes Dr. Matignon as saying: + +<p class="poetry" lang="fr">“C’est l’Europe tout entière qu’il faut mettre en cause. +C’est parce qu’elle n’a pas compris les Chinois, c’est parce qu’elle +a cru que ce peuple doux, somnolent, passif, pouvait, sans regimber, +accepter toutes les innovations, toutes les humiliations, que l’Europe +s’est laissée entrainer, et par ses missionnaires, et par ses +ingénieurs....</p> + +<p class="poetry" lang="fr">Voilà pourquoi le mouvement Boxeur s’est produit. +Ce mouvement, c’est l’éveil du patriotisme chinois, avec toute +l’intransigeance d’un <i>nationalisme</i> aveugle, ignorant, mais +légitime.”</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr> +<!-- TRANSCRIBERS’ NOTES --> +<div class="transnote p2"> + +<h3>TRANSCRIBERS’ NOTES</h3> + +<p>The following changes have been applied to the text:</p> +<ul> + <li> + Page <span id="a30">30</span>: “transcience” changed to “<a href="#b30" + class="return">transience</a>”: <i>It was a plaint on the transience + of worldly glory</i> + </li> + <li> + Page <span id="a94">94</span>: a period was added to the end of: + <i>reaches a high state of cultivation with <a href="#b94" + class="return">them.</a></i> + </li> + <li> + Page <span id="a95">95</span>: “pendative” changed to “<a href="#b95" + class="return">pendentive</a>”: <i>The carved wood ceilings were in + pendentive designs</i> + </li> + <li> + Page <span id="a125">125</span>: “Macchiavellian” changed to “<a + href="#b125" class="return">Machiavellian</a>”: <i>no Machiavellian + schemes would be forwarded</i> + </li> + <li> + Page <span id="a204">204</span>: “pendatives” changed to + “<a href="#b204" class="return">pendentives</a>”: + <i>dome, with elaborately carved pendentives, was painted in</i> + </li> + <li> + Page <span id="a238">238</span>: “ge” changed to “<a href="#b238" + class="return">get</a>”: <i>it was impossible to get any atmosphere + in the background</i> + </li> + <li> + Page <span id="a247">247</span>: “Hierachy” changed to + “<a href="#b247" class="return">Hierarchy</a>”: <i>the Priestly + Hierarchy of the whole</i> + </li> +</ul> + +<p> + All inconsistencies in the hyphenation of words and the spelling of + names have been standardized. +</p> + +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75210 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/75210-h/images/104a.jpg b/75210-h/images/104a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..06ef57e --- /dev/null +++ b/75210-h/images/104a.jpg diff --git a/75210-h/images/112a.jpg b/75210-h/images/112a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eade885 --- /dev/null +++ b/75210-h/images/112a.jpg diff --git a/75210-h/images/136a.jpg b/75210-h/images/136a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bdfb206 --- /dev/null +++ b/75210-h/images/136a.jpg diff --git a/75210-h/images/140a.jpg 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