 CHAPTER XV On the fifteenth day of the Eighth Moon came the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, sometimes called the Moon Festival. This name is derived from the belief which the Chinese hold that the moon is not permanently round when fall, but that on this particular day it is a perfect circle. The ceremony which is gone through is conducted entirely by the court-ladies, and consists of worshipping the moon as soon as it appears in the sky. In other respects the celebrations are exactly the same as in the Dragon Boat Festival. Countries were exchanged between Her Majesty and the court officials. The festival concluded with a theatrical performance which describes a scene in the moon. The belief is that a beautiful maiden lives in the moon, her only companion being a white rabbit called a jade rabbit. According to the play this rabbit escapes from the moon to the earth and becomes a young and beautiful girl. A golden rooster which lives in the sun, becoming aware of the rabbit's descent to the earth himself descends from the sun and changes into a handsome prince. Of course they very naturally meet and immediately fall in love. Now on the earth left another rabbit, a red one, who, on finding out what was going on, changed himself into a prince also, and set about making love to the beautiful maiden with the object of cutting out the rooster. However, he was seriously handicapped in as much as he was unable to change the color of his face, which remained red. Therefore, his love-making met with no success and the rooster prince had it all his own way. At this point the beautiful maiden in the moon, on discovering her loss, sent the soldiers of heaven to recapture her rabbit with the result that she was taken back to the moon, and the rooster being left alone, had no alternative but to reluctantly return to his home in the sun. During this performance the head eunuch brought a young man into the courtyard who co-toed to her majesty. This was such an unusual occurrence that everybody noticed it. I could see that he was a stranger and did not belong to the court, and I wondered who he could be. At the other end of the veranda I saw two or three of the court ladies whispering together and smiling. They finally came over to me and asked if I knew who he was. I told them that he was a stranger to me, and the ought to know better than I did as they had been at the court much longer. Anyhow I give it as my opinion that he was decidedly ugly. That same evening her majesty asked me whether I had noticed this young man, and told me that he was the son of a very high man true official, that his father was dead, and that he had succeeded to the title and to a large amount of money. I was surprised that her majesty should give such a lenty explanation about this young man, but I told her that I did not think him very handsome. Her majesty was talking in a very serious manner, but I did not think anything of the occurrence at the time, but a few days later, while I was posing for the portrait, I heard her majesty whispering to my mother at the other end of the room. I saw that her majesty was holding a photograph in her hands which she showed to my mother. At the same time asking whether my mother considered him good looking. My mother answered, not very. On her majesty replying that beauty was not everything, I began to suspect that there was something going on which directly concerns me. I began to think of some excuse in order to get out of what I could plainly see was a proposed marriage between myself and this gentle man. I knew that if her majesty had made up her mind that I was to marry him, I could not help myself, but at the same time I made up my own mind that rather than marrying anyone whom I did not like, especially one I had never seen before, I would leave the court altogether. When her majesty retired for her usual afternoon rest, she told me she wanted to see me for a moment. After beating about the bush for some time, she asked me whether I would like to stay with her always, or whether I would like to go away again on some foreign country. I at once answered that I was quite satisfied to stay with her as long as she cared to have me, but that when she was tired of me she couldn't send me away. Her majesty informed me that it had been her intention to marry me to this young gentle man and asked my opinion. I told her that I did not want to get married at all, especially seeing that my father was sick at this time, and leaving home to go to live apart from my family would break his heart and perhaps be the cause of his premature death. Her majesty said that was no excuse, as I should not have to go out of China, but she would be able to see my father and family any time I wished. I told her majesty that I would much rather stay with her altogether, and that I did not want to marry anybody. Her majesty then said, I won't listen to any excuse, I have already explained everything to your mother, but much to my surprise she said it would be better to mention it to you first, on account of your having been brought up differently from the rest of the court ladies. Had it not been this fact, I would simply have arranged everything with your mother, and the matter would have been settled so far as you were concerned. I could not say anything in answer to this, so I commenced to cry. I told her majesty that I was not like the rest of the court ladies who pretended they did not want to marry, when all the time they were simply looking forward to getting married. If only for the change from the monotony of court life. I promised that I would stay with her forever, and that I had no desire to go away from China again. I explained that I should not have gone at all, had it not been that my father was transferred to Paris. Her majesty said, Oh well, I am very glad that you did go away, as you are more useful to me than you would have been had you stayed in China all your life. After a lot more discussion her majesty said, Well, I will leave you to think the matter over. If you don't like the young man I have chosen there are plenty of others. Which remark did not help me very much as I could say that she meant to marry me off anyway. However, I had managed to get out of it this time, and thought I would be able to arrange matters satisfactorily should the question come up again. Nothing further was said about the matter until nearly a month later when I heard that a marriage had been arranged between this gentleman and the daughter of one of the princes. So everything ended very satisfactorily from my point of view. The twenty-sixth day of the Eighth Moon was the occasion of another celebration. At the time the Manchu dynasty began, Emperor Shunzi, who had fought very hard to gain the throne, found himself on the twenty-sixth day of the Eighth Moon absolutely out of provisions of every kind, and it was necessary for him and his army to live on the leaves of trees which was the only form of food obtainable at the time. Thus the anniversary of this day, even up to the present time, is always celebrated by the Manchu people, who deny themselves all luxuries, especially at the court. We did not eat any meat on that day, but only rice wrapped in lettuce leaves. Chopsticks were also discarded, and the food was conveyed to the mouth by the hands alone. Even the Empress Dowager was no exception to this rule. This is done in order to remind the present generation of the privations suffered by their ancestors, who established the Manchu dynasty. Towards the close of the Eighth Moon, Her Majesty's gourd plants, which had been planted early in the spring, were ripening, and each day she would take us all to see what progress they were making. She would pick out those which she considered to be the most perfect inform, i.e. those with the smallest waist and tie ribbons around them, so as not to lose sight of them. She pointed to one of these plants one day, and said to me, This reminds me of yourself, when dressed in foreign clothes. Surely you feel more comfortable in the clothes you are now wearing. When these gourds were quite ripe, they were cut down, and Her Majesty would scrape the outer skin with a bamboo knife, afterwards wiping the fruit with a wet cloth. They were then allowed to dry, and after a few days they would assume a brownish color, when they were ready for hanging as ornaments in the summer palace. In one rim alone there were over ten thousand of these gourds of different shapes. It was the duty of the court ladies to periodically wipe these gourds with a cloth, in order to give them a shiny appearance, and also to scrape any new ones which were pulled and prepared them for the palace. None of us cared very much about this work excepting Her Majesty. One day whilst attending to these gourds, I happened to knock the top off one of the old ones, which was Her Majesty's particular favorite. I dared not go and tell Her Majesty what had happened, and one of the court ladies suggested throwing the thing away altogether and saying nothing about it, as Her Majesty would not be likely to find it out, having so many of them. However, I finally decided to go and tell Her Majesty about it, and take punishment if necessary. For a wonder, Her Majesty did not make much bother about it. He said, Well, it was quite an old one, in any case, and the top was already to drop off at any minute. So it happens that you were the one to wipe it, and of course it came off. It can't be helped. I told Her Majesty that I was very much ashamed at being so careless, especially as I knew it was one of her favorites, and there the matter ended. All the rest of the court ladies were in the waiting room, and were anxious to know how I would get out of it, and when I told them they said that had it been any of them there would have been a fine row. They laughed and said it must be nice to be a favorite which made me feel very uncomfortable. I told the young Empress exactly what had happened, and she said I was quite right to tell Her Majesty the truth, and she told me to be very careful, as there was much jealousy going on. At the beginning of the ninth moon the chrysanthemums commenced to bed, and it was the duty of the ladies of the court to go and trim them each day by cutting away all the buds, except one on each stalk. This trimming gives the flower a better chance of developing, a much larger blossom being the result. Then Her Majesty would help with this work. She was very particular about these plants, and would not allow any of us to meddle with them if our hands were not perfectly cool, as to touch them with hot hands would cause the leaves to shrivel up. These flowers are generally in full blossom about the end of the ninth moon, or beginning of the tenth moon. Her Majesty had a wonderful gift of being able to tell what kind of flower would bloom from each separate plant even before the buds appeared. She would say, This is going to be a red flower. And we would place a bamboo stick in the flower pot with the name written on it. Then another Her Majesty would declare to be a white one, and we would place a similar bamboo stick in the flower pot with the description, and so on. Her Majesty said, This is your first year at the palace, and no doubt you are surprised at what you have just seen and heard me say. But I have never yet made a mistake, for you will see when the flowers commence to bloom. It was a fact, as everything turned out exactly as she had predicted. None of us ever knew how she was able to distinguish one from the other, but she was always right. I did once ask her to explain how she was able to tell, but she answered that it was a secret. All this time the portrait was proceeding very slowly, and one day Her Majesty asked me how long I thought it would be before it was finished, and what the custom in Europe was as regards renumeration for such a portrait. I replied that it was customary to pay very handsomely, but she would not hear of such a suggestion, saying that in China it was not the custom, and that it would be regarded as an insult to offer money for such a service. She suggested decorating Miss Carl as a reward for her services, which she considered would be appreciated far more than a money present. There was nothing more for me to say at this time, but I determined to mention the matter again when a favourable opportunity occurred. During the ninth moon a Russian circus visited Beijing, and of course everybody talked of little else. Her Majesty, hearing so much talk about this circus, asked what it was like, and after we had explained to her, she became very interested and said that she would like to see it. My mother thought it would be a good idea to have the circus brought up to the summer palace, where they could perform, so she asked Her Majesty whether this might be done. Her Majesty was delighted with the idea, and arrangements were accordingly made for the performance. While everything was being fixed, the people belonging to the circus and the animals were quartered near our own house, and we had to feed them at our own expense. However, we wanted to show Her Majesty what the circus was like, so the expense did not matter. It took them two days to erect the tent and make all necessary preparations, and during this time Her Majesty received reports as to what was being done, and the progress they were making. The day before the performance we noticed that Her Majesty, oncoming from her audience, looked very angry, and on our enquiring what was the matter, she informed my mother and myself that some senses had raised objections against having the circus in the palace grounds, as there had never been anything of this kind allowed before, and they had begged Her Majesty to give up the idea. Her Majesty was very angry, and said, You see, how much power I have here. I cannot even have a circus without somebody raising objections. I think we had better pay them something and let them go away. Of course, we agreed to anything she thought best. After considering for a time, Her Majesty jumped up and said, They have the tent up already. They will talk just the same whether we have the circus or not. I will have it anyway. So the performance duly took place, and Her Majesty and all the court were delighted. One item consisted of a young girl walking and dancing on a large globe. This especially pleased Her Majesty, and she insisted on the performance being repeated several times. Another item of interest was the trapeze act. Of course, nobody present, with the exception of my mother, sister, and myself, had ever seen a circus performance before, and Her Majesty was very much afraid that the man would fall from the trapeze and kill himself. Another thing which interested Her Majesty was the bareback riding, which she thought simply wonderful. The only objection to the whole show which she raised was when it was suggested to bring in the lions and tigers, etc. She said it was not safe to bring wild beasts into the palace, and that she would rather not see this part of the performance. The proprietor of the circus, however, brought in a small baby elephant which performed several clever tricks. She was delighted Her Majesty more than anything else, and when the proprietor saw how pleased she was, he offered the elephants as a present, which she accepted. However, after the performance was over, we tried to make him go through his tricks again, but he would not budge an inch, so we had to give it up as a bad job and sent him away to be placed along the other elephants belonging to the palace. Altogether there were three performances given by the circus, and before the final performance the circus manager told me that he would very much like to show the lions and tigers. There was no chance of any accident, and it really would be worth seeing. So after a lot of discussion Her Majesty finally consented to allow them to be brought in, but under distinct understanding that they should not be let out of their cages. When they were brought in the ring, all the eunuchs gathered around Her Majesty, and after remaining in the ring for a few minutes, Her Majesty ordered them to be taken away again. She said, I am not afraid for myself, but they might get loose and hurt some of the people. This item finished the whole of the performance, and the circus departed richer by some tales ten thousand, which Her Majesty had ordered to be given to them. For the next couple of days we discussed the merits of the circus, but afterwards Her Majesty, when referring to the subject, expressed great disappointment with the whole thing. She said she had expected something entirely different and far more wonderful. This was another characteristic of Her Majesty. Nothing pleased her for more than five minutes at a time. She said to me, I don't see anything at all wonderful in foreign accomplishments. Take for instance this portrait, which this lady is painting. I don't think it is going to be at all a good picture. It seems so rough. Her Majesty did not understand oil painting. Then again, why should she always want to have the things before her while painting them? An ordinary Chinese artist could paint my dress, shoes, etc., after seeing the things once. It cannot be very much of an artist, in my opinion, though you need not tell her that I said so. Continuing, Her Majesty said, By the way, what do you talk about when you are posing for this portrait of mine? Although I don't understand what she is saying, still I can see she has a lot to say. Be sure not to tell her anything connected with the court life and to do not teach her any Chinese. I hear that she often asks what different things are called in Chinese, but don't tell her. The less she knows the better for us. I can see that she has seen nothing of our ordinary court life as yet. I wonder what she would say if she were to see one of the eunuchs being punished, or anything like that. She would think that we were savages, I suppose. I noticed the other day, when I was angry, that you took this lady artist away. This was very wise of you. It is better that she should not see me in a temper. She might talk about it afterwards. I wish this portrait was finished. The cold weather is coming on, and we have to open up the boxes and get our winter clothes ready. You girls need winter clothes, I know, as you have none but foreign dresses. Then again, my birthday is next month, and there will be the usual celebrations. After that, we return to the sea palace. Then what can we do with this artist? I suppose she will have to go back and stay at the American legation, and come to the sea palace each day until the work is finished. This will be a lot of trouble, as it is not ten minutes drive as at present, but nearer an hour's drive. And even if this can be satisfactorily arranged, what about the winter palace in the Forbidden City? Try and get to know how long she expects to be before it is finished. This gave me an opportunity to tell Her Majesty that Miss Carl was just as anxious to get the work finished as she was to have it finished. But explained that Miss Carl had very little time to paint as Her Majesty could spare very little time to give personal sittings. And again, when Her Majesty went to lie down each afternoon, Miss Carl had to stop painting as she was working in the next room to Her Majesty's bedroom. Her Majesty replied, Well, if she expects me to sit for all day long I will give up the whole thing at once. And then added, I think you yourself are getting tired of sitting, and want me to take it up again, but I have already had quite enough of it. Of course I told her that instead of being tired of it I enjoyed sitting on her throne, which I regarded as a great honor. I explained to Her Majesty that Miss Carl did not like me to pose in her place, as she could not get along so quickly, as if she were to sit herself, but she simply said that I was acting under her commands, and that should be sufficient for me. For the next ten days we were kept very busy selecting materials for winter clothing, and also official robes for my sister and myself to be worn during the forthcoming birthday celebrations. These dresses were full winter-court dresses of red satin embroidered with golden dragons and blue clouds, and were trimmed with gold braids and lined with gray scroll. The cuffs and collars, which were turned down, were of sable. While Her Majesty was giving one of the eunuchs instructions as to how these were to be made, the young Empress beckoned to me, and I went out. She said, You go and co-tow to Her Majesty, as it is a great favor for her to give you a dress trimmed with sable. This is usually worn by a princess. So when I returned to the room, I availed myself of the first opportunity to co-tow and thank Her Majesty for the great favor she had granted me. She answered, You deserve it, and I see no reason why you should not be treated as a princess anyway. Many of the princesses are not of the Imperial family. Any title may be bestowed for special services rendered to the country, and you have been of more help to me than any other court lady I have ever had, and I can see that you are faithful in the discharge of your duties. You may think I do not notice these things, but I do. You are certainly entitled to be ranked as a princess, and in fact I never treat you differently from the princesses, but rather better in many ways. According to a eunuch, she said, Bring me my fur cap here. This cap was made of sable, trimmed with pearls and jade, and Her Majesty explained that our caps would be something after the same style, except that the crown, instead of being yellow, as in the case of Her Majesty's cap, would be red. I was naturally delighted. In addition to the cap and full-court dress, Her Majesty had two ordinary dresses made for everyday wear. One lined with sheepskin, and the other lined with grey squirrel. Then she gave us four other dresses, of finer material, lined with black-and-white fox skin, and all trimmed with gold braid and embroidered ribbons. In addition, there were two other dresses, one of a pale pink color embroidered with one hundred butterflies, and the other of a reddish color embroidered with green bamboo leaves. Several short jackets, also lined with fur, were also included in Her Majesty's present, and several sleeveless jackets went to complete the lot. On coming out of the room, one of the court ladies remarked that I was very lucky to receive so many clothes from Her Majesty, and said that she had never received so many during the whole time she had been at the palace, nearly ten years. I could see she was jealous. The young Empress, overhearing this conversation, joined us, and told her that when I arrived at the palace I had nothing but foreign clothes, and how was I to manage if Her Majesty did not get me the proper dresses. This incident was the beginning of another unpleasant time for me with the ladies of the court. At first I took no notice, until one day one of the girls attached to the palace joined in the unkind remarks. She said that before my arrival she had been Her Majesty's particular favorite, but I gave her to understand that she had no right to discuss me in any way whatsoever. The young Empress, who was present, spoke to them about their treatment of me, and said that some fine day I would be telling Her Majesty about it. This seemed to have a good effect, for they never troubled me much afterwards with their talk. End of CHAPTER XIV THE SUMMER PALLACE Just about the end of the ninth moon Her Majesty began to tire of doing nothing day after day, and said, What is the use of waiting until the first of the month to have the theatrical performance? Let us have a performance to-morrow. So she gave instructions for the eunuchs to prepare for the play, which should be staged without the assistance of any outside actors. I might here mention that certain of the eunuchs were specially trained as actors, and used to study their parts every day. Indeed they were far cleverer than the professionals from outside. Her Majesty gave the head eunuch the list of the place she wished to be performed, which were for the most part dramatized fairytales, and we had a performance the next day. After Her Majesty had gone to rest in the afternoon, during the theatrical performance, I met the Emperor returning to his own palace. I was surprised to see only one eunuch in attendance. This was the Emperor's own private eunuch, and he trusted him implicitly. He asked me where I was going, and I told him I was going to my room to rest awhile. He remarked that he had not seen me for quite a long time, which made me laugh as I saw him every morning at the audience. He said, I don't get as much chance of chatting with you as formerly, since this portrait painting began. I am afraid I am not making much progress with my English, as I have nobody to help me now that your time is occupied with this lady artist. You appear to enjoy her company very much. All the same, I suppose, it is very monotonous. Has she found out yet that you are there simply to keep an eye upon her? I told him that I was very careful not to betray myself in any way, and that I did not think she suspected she was being watched. The Emperor then said, I understand there is a rumour to the effect that when this lady has finished her Majesty's portrait she is going to paint mine. I should very much like to know who says so. I told him this was the first I had heard about it, so could not say. I asked him whether he would like to have his portrait painted, but he only answered. That is rather a difficult question for me to answer. You know best whether I ought to have it painted or not. I see her Majesty having so many photographs taken, and even the eunuchs are in the picture. I understood at once what he meant, so I asked him if he wished me to take him with my little Kodak. He looked surprised and asked, Can you take pictures too? If it is not too risky for us we might try it some day when we have an opportunity. Don't forget, but I think we must be very careful. He then changed the conversation by saying, Well, now that we have time to talk I want to ask you a question, and I expect you to answer me truly. What is the general opinion amongst the foreigners regarding myself? Do they consider me a man of character? And do they think me clever? I am very anxious to know. Before I could say anything in answer to this question. He continued, I know very well that they regard me as nothing more than a boy, and as being of no consequence at all. Tell me, is not this so? I replied that many foreigners had asked me about him, as to what kind of man he was, but that they had never expressed any opinion of their own regarding him, excepting that they understood he was in the best of hells. If any wrong impression does exist regarding myself ends my position at the court, continued the emperor, it is owing to the very conservative customs of the Chinese court. I am not expected to either say or do anything on my own initiative. Consequently, outsiders never hear much about me, and I am regarded as being nothing more than a figurehead. I know this is so. Whenever they ask you about me in the future, just explain to them exactly what my position here is. I have plenty of ideas regarding the development of this country. But you know, I am not able to carry them out as I am not my own master. I don't think the Empress Dowager herself has sufficient power to alter the state of things existing in China at present. And even if she has, she is not willing to. I am afraid it will be a long time before anything can be done towards reform. The emperor went on to say how nice it would be if he were allowed to travel about from place to place, the same as the European monarchs. But of course such a thing was out of the question for him. I told him that several princesses had expressed a wish to visit the St. Louis exposition, and said I thought it would be a good thing if that could be arranged, as they would see for themselves the difference between their own country and customs, and foreign countries and customs. The emperor expressed doubts as to this permission being granted as such a thing had never been heard of before. We talked for quite a long time, mostly about foreign customs, and the emperor remarked that he would very much like to visit Europe and see for himself how things were carried on there. Just then one of my eunuchs came and said that her majesty was awake, so I had to hurry up to her room. We now arrive at the 10th moon. The first day it's node, and the head eunuchs inquired of her majesty whether it was her intention to celebrate her birthday at the summer palace as usual. As previously explained, the summer palace was her majesty's favorite place of abode, so she replied in the affirmative, and arrangements were accordingly made for the celebration to be held there as usual. The head eunuch then brought her majesty a list giving the names and ranks of all the princesses and the names of the wives and daughters of the men she officials, and she selected those whom she wished to be present at the celebrations. On this occasion she selected forty-five ladies who were duly informed that she desired their presence at the palace. I was standing behind her majesty's chair all this time, and she turned and said, usually I do not ask many people to my birthday celebrations, but on this occasion I have made an exception, as I want you to see the way they dress and how ignorant they are of court etiquette. The celebrations commenced on the sixth day of the 10th moon. Miss Carl, having returned to the American legation in Beijing for the time being, my mother, my sister, and myself went back to the palace again. Early on the morning of the sixth the eunuchs decorated the verandas with different colored silks and hung lanterns all over the place and amongst the trees. At about seven o'clock in the morning the visitors began to arrive, and I quite agreed with what her majesty had told me about them. The eunuchs introduced them to all the court ladies, but they seemed to have very little to say, appearing very shy. They were then conducted to the waiting room, but there were so many of them that we court ladies had to stand outside on the veranda. Some of them were very expensively dressed, but their colors were, for the most part, very old-fashioned, and their manners very awkward. We watched them for quite a while, and then went off to report to her majesty. On such occasions as this her majesty was generally in pretty good spirits. She commenced asking us a lot of questions. Amongst other things she asked whether we had noticed an elderly lady among the visitors dressed as a bride. She explained that this lady was the only Manchu lady present who was married to a Chinese official, and had been invited because of her previous connection with the court. Her majesty said she had never seen her herself, but understood that she was a very clever woman. We had not noticed such a person, and suggested that perhaps she had not yet arrived. Her majesty dressed very quickly, and as soon as she was ready she came into the hall where the head eunuch brought in the visitors and presented them to her majesty. We court ladies were all standing in a row behind the throne. As they came in, some co-toed, others curtsied, while others did not do anything at all. In fact nobody appeared to know what to do with herself. Her majesty spoke a few words of welcome, and thanked them for the present they had sent her. I would like to say here that contrary to the general idea which exists, her majesty always expressed her thanks for any present or service rendered, no matter how insignificant. Her majesty could see plainly that everybody was embarrassed, and ordered the head eunuch to show them to their respective rooms, and told them to make themselves at home and go and take a rest. The hesitated moment, not knowing whether to go or not, until her majesty said to us, take them and present them to the young empress. And we arrived at the palace of the young empress. They were duly presented, and were not nearly so shy as before. The young empress informed them that in case they desired to know anything, or to be put right on any point of court etiquette, the court ladies would be pleased to give them all necessary information. And she decided that the best way would be for each court lady to have a charge of so many of the visitors, as it would not be nice to have any mistakes occur during the ceremony, on the tent. So we each were allotted so many guests, and had to look after them, and instruct them how to act on the different occasions. During her majesty's afternoon rest, I paid a visit to the guests I was to take charge of. Among them was the bride referred to by her majesty. So I went and made myself agreeable to her, and found her very interesting. She had evidently received a good education, unlike the majority of Manchu ladies, as I found she could read and write Chinese exceptionally well. I then explained to all of them what they would have to do, and how to address her majesty. Should it be necessary to do so? I don't know whether I have mentioned it previously, but whenever anybody spoke to her majesty, they always addressed her as great ancestor, and when referring to themselves, instead of the pronoun I, they would say, your slave. In all Manchu families, a similar rule is observed. The pronouns you and I, being dispensed with, and the title's mother, and father, and the son's or daughter's first name, being substituted. Her majesty was very particular about this world being strictly observed. For the next four days, until the day of the ceremony, these visitors passed their time in learning the court etiquette and going to the theater. Every morning, as usual, we waited on her majesty and reported anything of interest which had occurred during the previous day. Then we all preceded her majesty to the theater, where we awaited her arrival standing in the courtyard. On her majesty approaching, we would all kneel down until she had passed into the building opposite the stage, kneeling in rows. First the emperor, behind him the young empress, next the secondary wife, then the princesses and court ladies, and last of all the visitors. The first two days everything went off all right, but on the third morning the emperor, from whom we received the signal, suddenly turned and said, her majesty is coming. Down we all went on our knees. The emperor alone, remaining standing and laughing at us. Of course, there was no sign of her majesty, and everybody joined in the laugh. He was never so happy as when he could work off a joke like this. On the evening of the ninth, none of the court ladies went to bed, as we all had to be up at times on the morning of the tent. The visitors were told to proceed by chair to her majesty's special audience hall on the top of the hill, where they were to await our arrival. They arrived at the audience hall at three o'clock in the morning, and we followed soon afterwards, arriving there about daybreak. By and by her majesty arrived, and the ceremony commenced. The ceremony in no way differed from the one previously described in connection with the emperor's birthday, so there is no need to give particulars, except one thing. Very early on the morning of the tenth, we had to bring another present to her, and each of us brought a hundred birds of various kinds. Each year, on her birthday, her majesty did a very peculiar thing. She would buy ten thousand birds with her own money, from her private purse, and set them free. It was a very pretty sight to see those huge cages hung in the courtyard of the audience hall. Her majesty would select the most lucky hour, and order the eunuchs to carry the cages and to follow her. The hour selected was four o'clock in the afternoon. Her majesty took the whole court with her to the top of the hill, where there was a temple. First, she burnt sandalwood and offered up prayers to the gods. Then the eunuchs, each with a cage of birds, knelt in front of her majesty, and she opened each cage one after another and watched the birds fly away, and prayed to the gods that these birds should not be caught again. Her majesty did this very seriously, and we asked each other in whispers which bird we thought was the prettiest and would like to keep it for ourselves. Among this lot there were a few parrots. Some were pink, others were red and green. All were chained on stands, and when the eunuchs broke the chains the parrots would not move. Her majesty said, How funny! Each year a few parrots will not go away at all, and I have kept them until they died. Look at them now, they won't go away. By this time the head eunuch arrived. Her majesty taught him what had happened, and he immediately knelt down and said, Your majesty's great luck. These parrots understand your majesty's kindness, and would rather stay here and serve your majesty. This ceremony is called Fangsheng. It is considered a very meritorious action, and will not fail a reward in heaven. One of the court ladies asked me what I thought of the parrots that would not fly away, and I told her that it was really very strange. She said, It is very simple, and not strange at all. These eunuchs, ordered by the head one, have bought these parrots long ago, and trained them. During her majesty's afternoon rest, these parrots were brought to the top of the very same hill every day to accustom them to the place. The object of this is just to please and otherwise fall her majesty, to make her feel happy, and believe that she is so merciful that even such dumb things would rather stay with her. Continuing, she said, The huge joke is this. While her majesty is letting the birds free, there are a few eunuchs waiting at the rear of the hill to capture them and sell them again. And so, no matter how her majesty prays for their freedom, they will be caught at once. The celebrations were continued until the thirteenth day. She did any work, and all was gaiety and enjoyment, the seardre being open every day. Towards the close of the thirteenth day, the visitors were informed that the celebrations were at an end, and they made arrangements to leave early the next morning. They all bade her majesty good-bye that evening, and departed early the following day. For the next few days, we were all busy preparing for removing to the sea palace. Her majesty consulted her book and finally selected the twenty seconds as being the most favorable day for this removal. So at six o'clock on the morning of the twenty second, the whole court left the summer palace. It was snowing very heavily, and the journey was only accomplished with great difficulty. Of course, we were all in chairs as usual, and the eunuchs who were not employed as chair-bearers wrote horse-back. Many of the horses fell on the slippery stones, and one of her majesty's chair-bearers also slept and brought her majesty to the ground. All of a sudden, I thought something dreadful had happened. Horses galloping and eunuchs howling, stop, stop. I heard someone saying, say if she is still alive. The whole procession stopped and blocked the way. This happened on the stone road just before entering the western gate. Finally we saw that her majesty's chair was resting on the ground, so we all alighted, and went forward to see what had happened. A great many people were talking excitedly all at the same time, and for a moment I was rather frightened. For just about that time we heard a rumor that some of the revolutionists were going to take the life of the whole court, and although we heard that, we did not dare tell her majesty. So I immediately went to her chair and found her sitting there composately, giving orders to the chief eunuch not to punish this chair-bearer, for he was not to blame the stones being wet and very slippery. Li Lianying said that would never do, for this chair-bearer must have been careless, and how dare he carry the old Buddha in this careless way. After saying this, he turned his head to the beaters. These beaters, carrying bamboo sticks, went everywhere with the court for such occasions as this, and said, Give him eighty blows on his back. The poor victim, who was kneeling on the muddy ground, heard the order. The beaters took him about a hundred yards away from us, pushed him down, and started to do their duty. It did not take very long to give the eighty blows, and much to my surprise, this man got up after receiving the punishment, as if nothing had happened to him. He looked just as calm as could be. While we were waiting, a eunuch handed me a cup of tea, which I presented to her majesty, and asked her if she was hurt. She smiled and said it was nothing, ordering us to proceed on our journey. I must explain about this tea. The eunuch had it prepared all the time, and always carried a little stove along with hot water. Although this went every time when the court moved, it was seldom used. As usual, all the court ladies take a short cut to the palace, so as to be ready to receive her majesty when she arrived. After waiting in the courtyard for quite a long time, during which we were nearly frozen, her majesty arrived, and we all knelt until she had passed, and then followed her into the palace. Her majesty also complained of the cold, and ordered that fires should be brought into the hall. These fires were built in brass portable stoves lined with clay, and were lighted outside and brought into the hall after the smoke had passed off somewhat. There were four stoves in all. All the windows and doors were closed, there being no ventilation of any description, and very soon I began to feel sick. However, I went on with my work getting her majesty's things in order, until I must have fainted, for the next thing I remembered was waking up in a strange bed and inquiring where I was. But on hearing her majesty giving orders in the next room, I knew it was all right. One of the court ladies brought me a cup of turnip juice, which her majesty said I was to drink. I drank it, and felt much better. I was informed that her majesty had gone to rest, and so I went off to sleep again myself. When I awoke, her majesty was standing by my bedside. I tried to get up, but found that I was too weak. So her majesty told me to lie still, and keep quiet, and I would soon be all right again. She said that I had better have a room close to her bedroom, and gave instructions to the eunuchs to remove me there as soon as it was prepared. Every few minutes her majesty would send to inquire how I was progressing, and whether I wanted anything to eat. It was the custom to stand up whenever receiving a message from her majesty, but it was out of the question for me to do so, although I tried, with the result that I made myself worse than ever. Towards evening the head eunuch came to see me, and brought several plates of sweet-meats. He was very nice, and told me that I was very fortunate, as her majesty very rarely bothered herself about any of the court ladies, and that evidently she had taken a fancy to me. He sat talking for some time, and taught me to eat some of the sweet-meats. Of course I was not able to eat anything at all, let alone sweet-meats, so I taught him to leave them, and I would eat them later. Before leaving, he said that in case I wanted anything, I was to let him know. This visit was a great surprise to me. As usually he took very little notice of any of us, but I was told afterwards that the reason he was so nice was because her majesty showed such an interest in me. The next morning I was able to get up and resume my duties. I went in to see her majesty, and co-told to her, thanking her for her kindness during my disposition. Her majesty said that the head eunuch had told her the previous evening that I was much better, and that she was glad I was up and about again. She said it was nothing serious, simply that I was unaccustomed to the fumes from the fires which had gone to my head. As the snow had stopped falling, her majesty decided that the next day we would go and choose a place for Miss Carl to continue the painting. I suggested that perhaps it would be better if we waited until Miss Carl arrived herself so that she could choose a suitable place for her work, but her majesty said that would not do at all, because if it were left to Miss Carl, doubtless she would choose some impossible place. Of course there were many parts of the palace which were kept quite private, and Miss Carl would not be allowed to go there. So the next day her majesty and myself set out to find a place. After visiting many different rooms, all of which were too dark, we finally fixed on a room on the lakeside of the palace. Her majesty said, this is very convenient, as you can go to and throw either by chair or by water. I found that it took about three quarters of an hour by chair to get to the palace gate, and rather less than that by boat. I was expecting to return to stay at the palace with her majesty, but it was finally decided that this would not do, as it would not be policy to allow Miss Carl, who was staying at the American Legation, to go in and out of the palace gate alone. So her majesty said it would be better for me to stay at my father's place in the city, and bring Miss Carl to the palace each morning, returning with her in the evening. This was anything but pleasant, but I had no other alternative than to obey her majesty's instructions. When Miss Carl arrived at the palace the next day, and saw the room which had been selected for her to work in, she was not at all pleased. In the first place she said it was too dark, so her majesty ordered the paper windows to be replaced by glass. Miss Carl made the room too bright, and Miss Carl asked for some curtains, so as to focus the light on the picture. When I informed her majesty of this request, she said, Well, this is the first time I have ever changed anything in the palace, except to suit myself. First, I alter the windows, and she is not satisfied, but must have curtains. I think we had better take the roof off than perhaps she may be suited. However, we fixed up the curtains to Miss Carl's satisfaction. When her majesty examined the portrait to see how it was progressing, she said to me, After all the trouble we have had over this picture, I am afraid it is not going to be anything very wonderful. I notice that the pearls in my cape are painted in different colors. Some look white, some pink, while others are green. You tell her about it. I tried to explain to her majesty that Miss Carl had simply painted the pearls as she saw them, according to the different shades of light. But her majesty could not understand that at all, and asked if I could see anything green about them, or pink either. I again explained that this was simply the tints caused by the light falling on the pearls. But she replied that she could not see any shade except white. However, after a while, she did not seem to trouble any further about the matter. Situated in a room near her majesty's bedroom in the sea palace was a pagoda, about ten feet in height, made of carved sandalwood. This contained various images of Buddha, which her majesty used to worship every morning. The ceremony consisted of her majesty burning incense before the pagoda, while a court lady was told off each day to coat her before the images. Her majesty told me that this pagoda had been in the palace for more than a hundred years. Among the different images was one representing the goddess of mercy. This image was only about five inches in height, and was made of pure gold. The inside was hollow, and contained all the principle anatomical parts of the human body, made out of jade and pearls. This goddess of mercy was supposed to possess wonderful powers, and her majesty often worshipped before it when in any trouble, and maintained that on many occasions her prayers had been answered. She said, Of course, when I pray to the image, I pray earnestly, not the same as you girls, who simply coat her because it is your duty, and then get away as quickly as possible. Her majesty went on to say that she was quite aware that many of the people in China were discarding the religion of their ancestors in favor of Christianity, and that she was very much grieved that this was so. Her majesty was a firm believer in the old Chinese superstitions connected with the Sea Palace, and during one of our conversations she told me I was not to be surprised at anything I saw. She said it was quite a common occurrence for a person walking beside you to suddenly disappear altogether, and explained that they were simply foxes who took human shape to suit their purpose. They had probably lived in the Sea Palace for thousands of years, and possessed this power of changing their form at will. She said that no doubt the eunuchs would tell me they were spirits or ghosts, but that was not true. They were sacred foxes, and would harm nobody. As if to confirm this superstition, one evening, a few days later, my fire having gone out, I sent my eunuch to see if any of the other court ladies were awake, and if so, to try to get me some hot water. He went out, taking his lantern along with him, but he returned almost immediately with a face as white as chalk. Uninquiring what was the matter, he replied, I have seen a ghost of a woman who came up to me, blew the light out, and disappeared. I told him that, perhaps, it was one of the servant girls, but he said no. He knew all the women attached to the palace, and he had never seen this one before. He stuck to it that it was a ghost. I told him that Her Majesty said there were no ghosts, but that it might be a fox which had taken human shape. He replied it was not a fox. Her Majesty calls them foxes because she is afraid to call them ghosts. He went on to tell me that many years previously, the head eunuch Li Lianying, whilst walking in the courtyard back of Her Majesty's palace, saw a young servant girl sitting on the edge of the well. He went over to ask her what she was doing there. But getting closer, he found that there were several other girls there also, and on seeing him approach, they all deliberately jumped down the well. He immediately raised the alarm, and on one of the attendants coming forward with the lantern, he explained what had occurred. The attendant showed him that it was impossible for anybody to jump into the well, as it was covered with a large stone. My eunuch said that a long time before this several girls did actually commit suicide by jumping down the well, and that what Li Lianying had seen were the ghosts of these girls, and nothing more. It is believed, by the Chinese, that when a person commits suicide their spirit remains in the neighborhood until such time as they can entice somebody else to commit suicide when they are free to go to another world and not before. I told him that I did not believe such things, and that I would very much like to see for myself. He replied, You will only want to see it once. That would be sufficient. Things went along in the usual way, until the first day of the 11th moon, when Her Majesty issued orders to the court that, as the 11th moon contains so many anniversaries of deaths of previous rulers of China, the usual theatrical performance would be eliminated, and the court dress would, in addition, be modified to suit the occasion. On the ninth day, the emperor was to go and worship at the Temple of Heaven. So, as was customary on all these occasions, he confined himself to his own private apartments for three days before the ninth, during which time he held no communication whatsoever with anybody except in his private unix. Not even the young empress, his wife, was allowed to see him during these three days. This ceremony did not differ very materially from the other sacrifices, except that pigs were killed and placed on the numerous altars of the Temple, where they remained for a time after which they were distributed among the different officials. The eating of the flesh of these pigs, which had been blessed, was believed to bring good luck and prosperity, and the officials who were presented with them considered themselves greatly favored by Her Majesty. Another difference was that the emperor could not appoint a substitute to officiate for him, but must attend in person, no matter what the circumstances might be. The reason for this was that according to the ancient law, the emperor signs the death warrant of every person sentenced to death, record of which is kept in the Board of Punishment. At the end of the year the name of each person executed is written on a piece of yellow paper, and sent to the emperor. When the time for worshiping at the Temple arrives, he takes this yellow paper, and burns it in order that the ashes may go up to heaven, and his ancestors know that he had been fearless and faithful, and has done his duty according to the law. As this ceremony of worshiping at the Temple of Heaven was to take place in the Forbidden City, in spite of Her Majesty's dislike to the place, she commanded that the whole of the court be transferred there, her reason for this being that she did not wish to be away from the emperor's side even for an hour. So we all moved to Palace in the Forbidden City. After the ceremony was over, the court was to return to the Sea Palace. But as the 13th day was the anniversary of the death of the Emperor Kang Xi, it was decided that we should remain in the Forbidden City, where the ceremony was to be held. The Emperor Kang Xi rode over the Chinese Empire for 61 years, the longest reign of any Chinese ruler up to the present time. And Her Majesty told us that he was the most wonderful Emperor China had ever had, and that we must respect his memory accordingly. End of CHAPTER XVI. On the 14th day of the 11th moon, after the morning audience, Her Majesty informed us that there was a likelihood of war breaking out between Russia and Japan, and that she was very much troubled, as although it actually had nothing whatever to do with China, she was afraid they would fight on Chinese territory, and that in the long run China would suffer in some way or other. Of course we did not bother ourselves about it much at the moment, but the next morning the head eunuch reported to Her Majesty that fifty eunuchs were missing. As there was no apparent reason for this, everybody was much excited. There was no rule against any of the eunuchs going into the city after their duties were ended, providing they returned before the palace gate was closed. But when on the following morning it was reported that another hundred eunuchs had also disappeared, Her Majesty at once said, I know now what the trouble is. They must have heard what I said about this war coming on, and are afraid there may be a repetition of the boxer trouble, and so they have cleared out. It was the custom, whenever a eunuch was missing, to send out search parties and have him brought back and punished. But in the present instance, Her Majesty gave instructions that nothing was to be done about recapturing them. One morning, however, one of Her Majesty's personal attendants was missing, which made her furious. She said that she had been very kind to this particular eunuch in many ways, and this was all the thanks she got. He ran away at the first sign of trouble. I myself had noticed how good she had been to this eunuch, but I was not really sorry that he had left, as he used to take advantage of every opportunity of getting some of the court-ladies into trouble. These disappearances continued from day to day, until Her Majesty decided that it would be safer for us to remain in the Forbidden City until the following spring at any rate. Unenquiring for my eunuch the cause of these disappearances, he said that it was just as Her Majesty suspected. They were afraid of getting mixed up in another such affair as the boxer trouble, and added that he was not a bit surprised at Her Majesty's favorite eunuch going along with the rest. He further told me that even Liliang Ying himself was not to be absolutely relied upon, as at the time of Her Majesty's leaving Beijing for Xi'an during the boxer movement he had feigned sickness and followed a little later, so that in the event of anything happening he would be able to return and make his escape. While talking about Liliang Ying, my eunuch told me in confidence that he was responsible for the death of many innocent people, mostly eunuchs. He had unlimited power at the court, and it was very easy for him to get anybody put away who offended him, or to whom, for some reason or another, he took a dislike. Furthermore, the eunuch informed me that although not generally known, Liliang Ying was addicted to opium smoking, which habit he indulged in freely. Even Her Majesty was unaware of this, as opium smoking was strictly forbidden in the palace. Each morning there was fresh news regarding the trouble between Russia and Japan, and of course everybody gradually became very much excited at the palace. One day Her Majesty summoned the whole of the court to a special audience, and there informed us that there was no need for us to get excited at all, that if any trouble did occur, it was none of our business, and we should not be interfered with, as the spirits of our ancestors were watching over us, and she did not want to hear any more talk and gossip on the subject. However, she summoned all of the court ladies to her apartment, and there commended us to pray to the spirits of our ancestors to protect us, which plainly showed that she was just as much worried as we were ourselves. In spite of what she had said with reference to gossiping about this trouble, Her Majesty often spoke about it herself, and during one of our conversations she said she wished she could get information each day as to what was actually occurring. So I suggested that it would be very easy to get all the latest news by taking the foreign papers and also Reuters specials. Her Majesty jumped at the suggestion and told me to have these sent each day to my father's house in his name, and have them brought to the palace, where I could translate them for her. I told her that my father received all these papers as they were published, so I arranged that they should be brought along as directed by Her Majesty. Each morning, during the audience, I translated into Chinese all the war news, but the telegrams began to arrive so rapidly that it soon became quite impossible for me to write them all out in Chinese. So I told Her Majesty that I would read and translate them into Chinese as they arrived. This was much quicker and interested Her Majesty so much that she insisted on my not only translating the war news but everything else of interest in the papers. Especially she was interested in all news appertaining to the movements, et cetera, of the crowned heads of Europe, and was very plainly astonished when she learned that there every movement was known. She said, here at any rate it is more private, for nobody outside the palace ever knows what is going on inside, not even my own people. It would be a good thing if they didn't know a little more, then perhaps all these rumors about the palace would stop. Of course, during our stay in the Forbidden City, Miss Carl attended each morning to work on the portrait. We had given her a nice room, which seemed to suit her very well, and Her Majesty had instructed me to let her have every convenience possible to assist her, as she was getting tired of the business and would like to see it finished quickly. Her Majesty hardly ever went near the place herself, but when she did go she would be most affable, and really one would think that it was the greatest pleasure of her life to go and inspect the portrait. Things went very slowly during this 11th moon, an account of the court being in mourning, so one day Her Majesty suggested that she should show us round the Forbidden City. First, we proceeded to the audience hall. This differs somewhat from the audience hall of the Summit Palace. To enter one must mount some twenty-odd steps of white marble, with rails on either side of the steps made of the same material. At the top of the steps a large veranda, supported by huge pillars of wood, painted red, surrounded the building. The windows along this veranda were of marvelously carved trellis work designed to represent the character's show, arranged in different positions. Then we entered the hall itself. The floor is a brick, and Her Majesty told us that all these bricks were of solid gold and had been there for centuries. They were of a peculiar black color, doubtless painted over, and were so slippery that it was most difficult to keep on one's feet. The furnishing was similar to that in the audience halls, in the Summit Palace, and in the Sea Palace, with the exception that the throne was made of dark brown wood inlaid with jade of different colors. The hall was only used for audience on very rare occasions, such as the birthday of the Empress Dowager and the New Year's Day, and no foreigner has ever entered this building. All the usual audiences were held in a smaller building in the Forbidden City. After spending some little time in the audience hall, we next visited the Emperor's Quarters. These were much smaller than those occupied by Her Majesty, but were very elaborately furnished. There were thirty-two rooms, many of which were never used, but all were furnished in the same expensive style. In the rear of this building was the Palace of the Young Empress, which was small as still, having about twenty-four rooms in all, and in the same building, three rooms were set apart for the use of the secondary wife of the Emperor. Although close together, the palaces of the Emperor and his wife were not connected by any entrance, but both buildings were surrounded by verandas, connecting with Her Majesty's apartments, which were quite a distance away. There were several other buildings which were used as waiting rooms for visitors. In addition to the above, there were several buildings which were not used at all. These were sealed, and nobody seemed to know what they contained, or whether they contained anything at all. Even Her Majesty said she had never been inside these buildings, as they had been sealed for many years. Even the entrance to the enclosure containing these buildings was always closed, and this was the only occasion that any of us ever even passed through. There were quite different in appearance from any other buildings in the Palace, being very dirty and evidently of great age. We were commanded not to talk about the place at all. The servants' quarters were at the end of our apartments, but there was no entrance, and they could only be reached by passing along our veranda, while the only entrance we ourselves had to our rooms was by passing along Her Majesty's veranda. This was Her Majesty's own idea, in order that she could keep an eye on all of us, and could see when we either went out or came in. Her Majesty now conducted us to her own palace, and pausing a little, said, I will now show you something which will be quite new to you. We entered a room adjoining her bedroom, which was connected by a narrow passage some fifteen feet in length. On either side the walls were painted, and decorated very beautifully. Her Majesty spoke to one of the eunuch attendants who stooped down and removed from the ground at each end of this passage two wooden plugs which were fitted into holes in the basement. Then I began to realize that what I had hitherto regarded as solid walls were in reality sliding panels of wood. These panels, when opened, revealed a kind of grotto. There were no windows, but in the roof was a skylight. At one end of this room, or a grotto, was a large rock, on the top of which was a seat with a yellow cushion, and beside the cushion an incense burner. Everything had the appearance of being very old. The room contained no furniture of any description. One end of this room led into another passage, similar to the one already described, having sliding panels which led into another grotto, and so on. In fact, the whole of the palace walls were intersected by these secret passages, each concealing an inner room. Her Majesty told us that during the Ming dynasty these rooms had been used for various purposes, principally by the Emperor when he wished to be alone. One of these secret rooms was used by Her Majesty as a treasure room where she kept her valuables. During the time of the boxer trouble she hid all her valuables here before she fled. When she returned and opened this secret room she found everything intact. Not one of the vandals who ransacked the palace even suspected there was such a place. We returned to our veranda, and on looking around for the rooms we had just vacated could see nothing except black stone walls, so well they were hidden. One of the principal reasons for Her Majesty's dislike to the forbidden city was the mysteries which it contained, so many of which she did not know of herself. She said, I don't even talk about these places at all, as people might think that they were used for all kinds of purposes. While at the palace in the forbidden city I met the three secondary wives of the previous Emperor Tongzhi, son of the Emperor's Dauldr, who, since the death of the Emperor, had resided in the forbidden city and spent their time in doing needlework, etc., for Her Majesty. When I got to know them I found that they were highly educated, one of them, Yufei, being exceptionally clever. She could write poetry and play many musical instruments and was considered to be the best educated lady in the Empire of China. Her knowledge of western countries and their customs surprised me very much. She seemed to know a little bit of everything. I asked how it was that I had never seen them before, and was informed that they never visited Her Majesty unless commanded by her to do so. But that when Her Majesty stayed in the forbidden city, of course they had to call and pay their respects each day. One day I received an invitation to visit them in their palace. This was separated from all the other buildings in the city. It was rather a small building, and very simply finished, with just a few eunuchs and servant girls to wait upon them. They said they preferred this simple life, as they never received any visitors, and had nobody to please but themselves. Yufei's room was literally packed with literature of all descriptions. She showed me several poems which she had written, but they were of a melancholy character, plainly showing the trend of her thoughts. She was in favour of establishing schools for the education of young girls, as only very few could even read or write their own language, and she suggested that I should speak to Her Majesty about it at the first opportunity. In spite of her desire to see Western reforms introduced into China, however, she was not in favour of employing missionary teachers. All these peoples always taught their religion at the expense of other subjects, which she feared would set the Chinese against the movement. Toward the end of the eleventh moon, Her Majesty granted an audience to the visceral of Chili, Yuan Shikai, and as this particular day was a holiday, and Miss Carl was absent, I was able to attend. Her Majesty asked him for his opinion on the trouble between Russia and Japan. He said that although these two countries might make war against each other, China would not be implicated in any way, but that after the world was over, there was sure to be trouble over Manchuria. Her Majesty said she was quite aware of that, as they were fighting on Chinese territory, and that the best thing for China to do would be to keep absolutely neutral in the matter, as she had quite an off of war during the China-Japan war. She said it would be best to issue orders to all the officials to see that the Chinese did not interfere in any way, so as not to give any excuse for bringing brat into the trouble. She then asked his opinion as to what would be the result in the event of war, who would win. He said that it was very hard to say, but he thought Japan would win. Her Majesty thought that if Japan were victorious, she would not have so much trouble over the matter. Although she expressed doubts as to the outcome, saying that Russia was a large country, and had many soldiers, and that the result was far from certain. Her Majesty then spoke about the condition of things in China. She said that in case China were forced into war with another nation, we should be nowhere. We had nothing already, no navy, and no trained army, in fact nothing to enable us to protect ourselves. Yuan Shukai, however, assured her that there was no need to anticipate any trouble at present so far as China was concerned. Her Majesty replied that in any event it was time China began to wake up and endaver to straighten things out in some way or other. But she did not know where to begin, that it was her ambition to see China holding a permanent position among the nations of the world, and that she was constantly receiving memorials suggesting this reform and that reform, but that we never seemed to get any further. After this audience was over, Her Majesty held an audience with the Grand Council. She told them what had been said during her interview with Yuan Shukai, and of course they all agreed that something should be done. Several suggestions were discussed with regard to national defence, etc., but a certain prince said that although he was in perfect sympathy with reform generally, he was very much against the adoption of foreign closing, foreign modes of living, and the doing away with the cure. Her Majesty quite agreed with these remarks and said that it would not be wise to change any Chinese custom for one which was less civilized. As usual, nothing definite was decided upon when the audience was over. For the next few days nothing was talked of but the war, and many Chinese generals were received in audience by Her Majesty. These audiences were sometimes very amusing, as these soldiers were quite unaccustomed to the rules of the court, and did not know the mode of procedure when in the presence of Her Majesty. Many foolish suggestions were made by these generals. During one of the conversations Her Majesty remarked on the inefficiency of the navy and referred to the fact that we had no trained naval officers. One of the generals replied that we had more men in China than in any other country, and as for ships, why, we had dozens of riverboats and China merchant boats, which could be used in case of war. Her Majesty ordered him to retire, saying that it was perfectly true that we had plenty of men in China, but that the majority of them were like himself, of very little use to the country. After he had retired, everybody commenced to laugh, but Her Majesty stopped us, saying that she did not feel at all like laughing. She was too angry to think that such men held positions as officers in the army and navy. One of the court ladies asked me why Her Majesty was so angry with the man for mentioning the riverboats, and was very much surprised when I informed her that the whole of them would be worse than useless against a single-war vessel. Just about the end of the 11th moon, Zhang Zhidong, Viceroy of Wuchang, arrived and was received in audience. Her Majesty said to him, now you are one of the oldest officials in the country, and I want you to give me your unbiased opinion as to what effect this war is going to have on China. Do not be afraid to give me your firm opinion as I want to be prepared for anything which is likely to happen. He answered that no matter what the result of the war might be, China would in all probability have to make certain concessions to the powers with regard to Manchuria for trade purposes, but that we should not otherwise be interfered with. Her Majesty repeated what had been discussed at the previous audiences on this subject, and also regarding reform in China. Zhang Zhidong replied that we had plenty of time for reform, and that if we were into a greater hurry we should not accomplish anything at all. He suggested that the matter be discussed at length before deciding upon anything definite. In his opinion it would be foolish to go to extremes in the matter of reform. He said that ten or fifteen years ago he would have been very much against any reform whatsoever, but that he now saw the need for it to a certain extent as circumstances had changed very much. He said that we should adhere strictly to our own mode of living and not abandon the traditions of our ancestors. In other words he simply advised the adoption of western civilization where it was an improvement on our own and nothing more. Her Majesty was delighted with the interview for Zhang Zhidong's opinions coincided exactly with her own. During the whole of these audiences, the emperor, although present each time, never opened his lips to say a word, but sat listening all the time. As a role Her Majesty would ask his opinion, just as a matter of form, but he invariably replied that he was quite in accord with what Her Majesty had said or decided upon. Of the many religious ceremonies in connection with the Buddhist religion, the La Patra was the most important. This was held on the eighth day of the 12th moon each year. According to the common belief, on this eighth day of the 12th moon, many centuries ago, a certain Buddhist priest Rulai set out to beg for food, and after receiving a good supply of rice and beans from the people, he returned and divided it with his brother-priest, giving each an equal share, and he became celebrated for his great charity. This day was therefore set apart as an anniversary to commemorate the event. The idea was that by practicing self-denial on this day, one would gain favour in the sight of this Buddha Rulai. Therefore the only food eaten was rice, grain, and beans, all mixed together in a sort of porridge, but without any salt or other flavouring. It was not at all pleasant to eat, being absolutely tasteless. CHAPTER 18 THE NEW YEAR FESTIVALS We now reached the time set apart for cleaning the palace in preparation for the New Year festivals. Everything had to be taken down and thoroughly overhauled, and all the images, pictures, furniture, and everything else were subjected to a thorough scrubbing. Her Majesty again consulted her book in order to choose a lucky day on which to commence these operations, finally choosing the 12th day as being most favourable. As we all had received our orders previously, we commenced early on the morning of the 12th. All of the court-ladies were told off to take down and clean the images of Buddha and prepare new curtains for them. The rest of the cleaning was done by the eunuchs. I asked Her Majesty whether I was to clean her jewelry, but she answered that as nobody but herself ever wore it, it didn't need cleaning. After everything had been cleaned to Her Majesty's satisfaction, she prepared a list of names of the people she desired to attend the ceremony of Zhu Shui. The ceremony was held on the last day of each year, and was something like the Midnight Services, usually held in Europe, on the last night of each old year, just a farewell ceremony to bid the old year adieu. The guests were invited about a fortnight ahead, so as to give them plenty of time to get ready. Her Majesty also ordered new winter clothing for the court-ladies. The only difference between these new garments and those we were then wearing was that they were trimmed with the fur of the Silver Fox instead of the gray squirrel. The next thing was to prepare cakes, which were to be placed before the Buddhas and ancestors during the new year. It was necessary that Her Majesty should make the first one herself. So when Her Majesty decided that it was time to prepare these cakes, the whole court went into a room specially prepared for the purpose, and the eunuchs brought in the ingredients, ground rice, sugar, and yeast. These were mixed together into a sort of dough, and then steamed instead of baked, which cost it to rise just like ordinary bread. It's being believed that the higher the cake rises, the better pleased are the gods and the more fortunate the maker. The first cake turned out fine, and we all congratulated Her Majesty, who was evidently much-placed herself at the result. Then she ordered each of the court-ladies to make one, which we did, with disastrous results, not one turning out as it should. This being my first year, there was some excuse for my failure, but I was surprised that none of the older court-ladies feared any better, and uninquiring from one of them the reason. She replied, Why, I did it purposely, of course, so as to flatter Her Majesty's vanity. Certainly I could make them just as well as she, if not better, but it would not be good policy. After we had all finished making our cakes, the eunuchs were ordered to make the rest, and needless to say they were perfect in every way. The next thing was to prepare small plates of dates and fresh fruits of every kind. Eunuchs were decorated with evergreens, etc., and placed before the images of Buddha. Then we prepared glass dishes of candy, which were to be offered to the God of the Kitchen. On the twenty-third day of the last moon, the God of the Kitchen left this earth to go on a visit to the King of Heavens, to whom he reported all that we had been doing during the past year, returning to earth again on the last day of the year. The idea of offering him these sweets was in order that they should stick to his mouth and prevent him from telling too much. When these candies were prepared, we all adjourned to the Kitchen, and placed the offering on a table specially placed for the purpose. Turning to the head-cook, she said, You had better look out now. The God of the Kitchen will tell how much you have stolen during the past year, and you will be punished. The following day another ceremony had to be gone through, that of writing out the New Year greetings for the guests and court. So in the morning we all went with Her Majesty to the audience hall, where the Eunuchs had prepared large sheets of yellow, red, and pale green paper. Her Majesty took up a large brush and commenced to write. On some of these sheets she wrote the character Sho, Long Life, and on others, Fu, Prosperity. By and by, when she began to feel tired, she would get either one of the court ladies or one of the official writers to finish them for her. When finished they were distributed to the guests and different officials, the ones Her Majesty had written herself being reserved for her special favorites. These were given out a few days before the New Year. Her Majesty received New Year presents from all the Viceroy's and principal officials. She would examine each present as it was received, and if it found favor in her eyes she would use it, but if not she would have it locked away in one of the storerooms and probably never see it again. These presents consisted of small pieces of furniture, curios, jewelry, silks, in fact everything, even clothing. The present, sent by Viceroy Yuan Shikai, was a yellow satin robe, embroidered with different colored precious stones and pearls, designed to represent the peony flower. The leaves were of green jade. It was really a magnificent thing, and must have cost a fortune. The only drawback was its weight. It was too heavy to wear comfortably. Her Majesty appeared delighted with his gown, and wore it the first day, after which it was discarded altogether, although I often suggested that she should wear it, as it was the most magnificent gown I ever saw. Once, when Her Majesty was granting an audience to the diplomatic corp, I suggested that she should wear this dress, but she refused, giving no reason, so nobody outside the court has ever seen this wonderful garment. The new costly present was received from the Viceroy of Canton, and consisted of four bags of pearls, each bag containing several thousands. They were all perfect in shape and color, and would have brought fabulous prices in Europe or America. However, Her Majesty had so many jewels, especially pearls, that she hardly paid any attention to them, beyond remarking that they were very nice. The young emperors and the court ladies were also expected to give presents to Her Majesty each new year. These were for the most part, articles that we had made ourselves, such as shoes, handkerchiefs, collars, bags, etc. My mother, my sister, and myself made presents of mirrors, perfumes, soaps, and similar toilet accessories which we had brought with us from Paris. This Her Majesty appreciated very much. She was very vain. The eunuchs and servant girls gave fancy cakes and other foodstuffs. The presents were soon numerous, that they filled several rooms, but we were not allowed to remove them until Her Majesty gave orders to do so. The court ladies also exchanged presents among themselves, which often led to confusion and amusement. On this occasion, I had received some ten or a dozen different presents, and when it came my turn to give something, I decided to use up some of the presents I had received from my companions. To my surprise, the next day, I received from one of the court ladies an embroidered handkerchief, which I immediately recognized as the identical handkerchief I had myself sent her as my new year's present. When mentioning the fact, this lady turned and said, Well, that is rather funny. I was just wondering what had made you return the shoes I sent you. Of course, everybody laughed very heartily, and still further merriment was caused when, on comparing all the presents, it was found that quite half of us had received back our own presents. In order to settle the matter, we threw them all into a heap and divided them as evenly as possible, everybody being satisfied with the results. About a week before New Year's Day, all audiences seized and the seals were put away until after the holidays. During this time, no business was transacted by Her Majesty. Everything was much more comfortable, as we could see that Her Majesty also appreciated the change from bustle to quietness. We had nothing whatever to do but to take things easy until the last day of the year. Early on the morning of the thirtieth, Her Majesty went to worship before the Buddhas and ancestral tablets. After the ceremony was finished, the guests began to arrive until by midday, all the guests, numbering about fifty, were present. The principal guests were the Imperial Princess, Empress Dowager's adopted daughter, Princess Zhong, wife of Emperor Guangxu's brother, Princess Shun, and Tao, wives of the emperor's younger brothers, Princess Hong, wife of the nephew of the Imperial Princess, and Prince Qing's family. All these ladies were frequent visitors to the court. Next day, many other princesses, not of the Imperial family but whose titles were honorary titles bestowed by previous rulers, came. Next, the daughters of the high-manchu officials and many other people whom I had never seen before. By midday, all the guests had arrived, and after being presented to Her Majesty, were taken to their different apartments and told to rest awhile. At two o'clock in the afternoon, everybody assembled in the audience hall, lined up according to their different ranks, and, led by the young Empress, co-towed to Her Majesty. This was the ceremony Chuzhui already referred to, and was simply a last goodbye to Her Majesty before the new year set in. When it was all over, Her Majesty gave each of us a small purse made of red satin, embroidered with gold, containing a sum of money. This is to enable each one to commence the new year with a kind of reserve fund for a rainy day, when they would have this money to fold back upon. It is an old man's true custom, and is still kept up. The evening was spent in music and enjoyment, and was carried on right through the night, none of us going to bed. At Her Majesty's suggestion, we commenced gambling with dice. Her Majesty providing each of us with money, sometimes as much as two hundred dollars. She told us to be serious about it, and to try to win. But of course we took good care not to win from Her Majesty. When Her Majesty began to tire, she stopped the game and said, Now, all this money I have won, I am going to throw on the floor, and new girls can scramble for it. We knew that she wanted to see some fun, so we fought for it as hard as we could. At midnight the eunuchs brought into the room a large brass brass ear containing life charcoal. Her Majesty pulled a leaf from a large evergreen tree, which had been placed there for the purpose, and threw it into the fire. We each followed her example, adding large pieces of resin, which perfumed the whole atmosphere. This ceremony was supposed to bring good luck during the coming year. The next item was making cakes, or pies, for the New Year's Day. On the first of the New Year nobody is allowed to eat rice. These cakes taking its place. They were made of flour paste, with minced meat inside. While some of us were preparing these cakes, others were peeling lotus seeds for Her Majesty's breakfast. It was now well into the morning hours, and Her Majesty said that she was tired and would go and rest a while. She was not going to sleep, however, so we could carry on our noise as much as we liked. This we did for some time, and on visiting Her Majesty's bedroom, we found that she was fast asleep. We then all repaired to our various rooms, and commenced to make ourselves tidy for the day. As soon as Her Majesty was awake, we all proceeded to her bedroom, taking with us plates of apples, representing peas, olives, long life, lotus seeds, blessing. She suitably acknowledged these gifts, and wished us all good luck in return. She inquired whether we had been to bed, and on learning that we had been up all night, she said that was right. She herself had not meant to sleep, only to rest a little. But somehow she had not been able to keep awake, and gave us a reason that she was an old woman. We waited on her until she had finished her toilet, and then wished her a happy new year. We then proceeded to pay our respects to the Emperor, and to the young Empress. There was nothing further to be done in the way of ceremonies, and we therefore all accompanied Her Majesty to the theatre. The performance took place on a stage erected in the courtyard, and Her Majesty closed in one part of her veranda for the use of the guests and court-ladies. During the performance I began to feel very drowsy, and eventually fell fast asleep, leaning against one of the pillars. I awoke rather suddenly to find that something had been dropped into my mouth, but on investigation I found it was nothing worse than a piece of candy, which I immediately proceeded to eat. On approaching Her Majesty, she asked me how I had enjoyed the candy, and told me not to sleep, but to have a good time like the rest. I never saw Her Majesty in better humour. She played with us just like a young girl, and one could hardly recognise in her the severe Empress Dowager we knew her to be. The guests also all seemed to be enjoying themselves very much. In the evening, after the theatrical performance was over, Her Majesty ordered the eunuchs to bring in their instruments, and give us some music. She herself sang several songs, and we all sang at intervals. Then Her Majesty ordered the eunuchs to sing. Some were trained singers, and sang very nicely, but others could not sing at all, and caused quite a lot of amusement by their efforts to place Her Majesty. The Emperor appeared to be the only one present who was not having a good time. He never smiled once. On meeting him outside, I asked him why he looked so sad, but he only answered, a happy new year, in English, and smiled once, and walked away. Her Majesty rose very early next morning, and proceeded to the audience hall to worship the God of Wells. We all accompanied her, and took part in the ceremony. During the next few days, we did nothing but gamble, and scramble for Her Majesty's winnings. This was all very nice in its way, but one day one of the court ladies began to cry, and accused me of stepping on her toes in the scramble. This made Her Majesty angry, and she ordered the offender to go to her room and stay there for three days, saying that she did not deserve to be enjoying herself if she could not stand a little thing like that. The tenth of the first moon was the birthday of the young Empress, and we asked Her Majesty whether we would be allowed to give presents. She gave us permission to give whatever presents we might wish to. However, we submitted all our presents to Her Majesty for her approval, before giving them to the young Empress. And we had to be very discreet, and not choose anything which Her Majesty might think was too good. It was very difficult to tell what to send, as Her Majesty might take a fancy to any of the presents herself, even though they might not be of much value intrinsically. In such a case, Her Majesty would tell us that she would keep it, and to give the young Empress something else. The celebration was very similar to that of the Empress' birthday, but not on such an elaborate scale. We presented the Ruyi to the young Empress and co-towed to her. She was supposed to receive these tokens of respect sitting on her throne, but out of deference to Her Majesty, we were Her Majesty's court-lady. She stood up. She always was very polite to us under all circumstances. On this day, as on the Empress' birthday, the Emperor, young Empress and secondary wife, dined together. These were the only two occasions when they did so, always dining separately at other times. Her Majesty sent two of her court-ladies to wait upon the Empress, I myself being one of them. I was very pleased, as I wanted to see for myself how they conducted themselves when together. I went into the young Empress' room, and informed her that Her Majesty had ordered us to wait upon them, to which she simply answered, very well. So we went to the dining-room and set the table, placing the chairs into position. The meal was much different from what I had expected. Instead of being stiff and serious like Her Majesty went dining, they were quite free and easy, and we were allowed to join in the conversation and partake of some of the food and wine. A very pretty ceremony was gone through at the commencement of the meal. The Emperor and young Empress seated themselves, and the secondary wife filled their cups with wine and presented it to them in turn as a sign of respect. The Emperor first. When the meal was over, we returned to Her Majesty's apartment and told her that everything had passed off nicely. We knew very well that we had been sent simply to act as spies, but we had nothing interesting to tell Her Majesty. She asked if the Emperor had been very serious, and we answered, Yes. The New Year celebrations terminated with the Festival of Lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first moon. These lanterns were of different shapes, representing animals, flowers, fruits, etc., etc. They were made of white gauze, painted in different colors. One lantern, representing a dragon about fifteen feet long, was fastened to ten poles, and ten eunuchs were required to hold it in position. In front of this dragon, a eunuch was holding a lantern, representing a large pearl, which the dragon was posed to the Vowler. This ceremony was gone through to the accompaniment of music. After the lanterns came a fireworks display. These fireworks represented different scenes from the history of China. Grape wines, wisteria blossoms, and many other flowers. It was a very imposing sight. Portable wooden houses had been placed near the fireworks from which Her Majesty and the rest of the court could see them without being out in the cold air. This display lasted for several hours without a stop, and thousands of firecrackers were set off during the time. Her Majesty seemed to enjoy the noise very much. Altogether it was a good finish to the celebrations, and we all enjoyed it very much. The next morning all the guests departed from the palace, and we recommended our everyday life. As usual, after the guests had departed, Her Majesty began to criticize their mood of dressing, their ignorance of court etiquette, etc., but added that she was very glad, as she didn't want them to know anything about court life. As spring soon arrived, it was time for the farmers to commence selling seed for the rice crops, and of course there was another ceremony. The emperor visited the temple of agriculture, where he prayed for a good harvest. Then he proceeded to a small plot of ground situated in the temple, and after turning the earth over with a hand-plow, he sowed the first seeds of the season. This was to show the farmers that their labors were not despised, and that even the emperor was not ashamed to engage in this work. Everybody could attend this ceremony. It being quite a public affair, and many farmers were present. About this time the young emperors went to see the silkworms, and watched for the eggs to be hatched. As soon as they were out, the young emperors gathered mulberry leaves for the worms to feed upon, and watched them until they were big enough to commence spinning. Each day a fresh supply of leaves were gathered, and they were fed four or five times daily. Several of the court ladies were told off to feed the worms during the night, and say that they did not escape. These silkworms grow very rapidly, and we could see the difference each day. Of course, when they became full-grown, they required more food, and we were kept busy constantly feeding them. The young emperors was able to tell by holding them up to the light when they were ready to spin. If they were transparent, then they were ready, and replaced on paper, and left there. When spinning, the silkworm does not eat, therefore all we had to do was to watch that they did not get away. After spinning for four or five days, the supply of silk becomes exhausted, and they shrivel up and apparently die. These apparently dead worms were collected by the young emperors, and placed in a box where they were kept until they developed into moths. They were then placed on thick paper, and left there to lay their eggs. If left to themselves, the silkworms, when ready for spinning, will spin the silk around their bodies until they are completely covered up, gradually forming a cocoon. In order to determine when they have finished spinning, it was customary to take a cocoon and rattle it near the ear. If the worm was exhausted, you could plainly hear the body rattle inside the cocoon. The cocoon is then placed in boiling water until it becomes soft. This of course kills the worm. In order to separate the silk, a needle is used to pick up the end of the thread, which is then wound onto a spool and is ready for weaving. A few of the cocoons were kept until the worms had turned into moths, which soon ate their way out of the cocoons when they were placed on sheets of paper and left to lay their eggs, which are taken away and kept in equal place until the following spring, when the eggs are hatched and become worms. When the silk had all been separated, we took it to Her Majesty for inspection and approval. On this particular occasion, Her Majesty ordered one of the eunuchs to bring in some silk which she herself had woven when a young girl in the palace, and on comparing it with the new silk, it was found to be just as good in every way, although many years had passed since it was made. All this was done with the same object as the emperor sowing the seeds, viz, to set the people a good example and to encourage them in their work.