 CHAPTER 19 This year, we had a very hot spring, and Her Majesty was desirous of getting back again to the Sea Palace. However, as war had already been declared between Russia and Japan, it was thought's best to remain in the Forbidden City until things were more settled. Her Majesty was very much worried over this war, and spent most of her time in offering prayers to the different divinities for the welfare of China, and we, of course, were expected to join her. Things were very monotonous about this time, and nothing particular occurred until the beginning of the Second Moon. By this time, Her Majesty was quite sick of staying in the Forbidden City, and said that no matter what happened, she would remove the court to the Sea Palace, where Miss Carl could get along and finish the portrait which had been hanging on for nearly a year. So on the sixth day of the Second Moon, we moved back to the Sea Palace. Everything looked fresh and green, and many of the trees had commenced to bloom. Her Majesty took us around the lake, and we were in such good spirits that Her Majesty remarked that we acted more like a lot of wild animals escaped from a menagerie than human beings. She was much brighter now, but said that she would be happier still to get to the Summer Palace. Miss Carl was summoned to the palace, and Her Majesty visited her and asked to see the portrait. She again asked me how long it would be before it was finished, and I told her that unless she gave a little more of her time to posing, it might not be finished for quite a long time. After a lot of consideration, Her Majesty finally agreed to give Miss Carl five minutes each day after the morning audience, but that she desired it to be distinctly understood that she did not intend to pose for anything but the face. She accordingly sat for two mornings, but on the third morning she made an excuse saying that she was not feeling well. I told her that Miss Carl could not proceed further unless she sat for the face, so although she was very angry, she gave Miss Carl a few more sittings until the face was finished. She absolutely refused to sit again, whether it was finished or not, saying that she would have nothing more to do with the portrait. I myself sat for the remainder of the portrait, vis, for Her Majesty's dress, jewels, etc. and so by degrees the portrait was completed. When Her Majesty learned that the portrait was nearing completion, she was very much pleased, and I thought it a good opportunity to again broach the subject of payment. Her Majesty asked me whether I really thought it necessary to pay cash for the portrait and how much. I told her that as painting was Miss Carl's profession, if she had not been engaged on painting Her Majesty's portrait, she would most probably have been engaged on other similar work for which she would have received compensation, and that therefore she would naturally expect to be paid even more handsomely in the instance. It was difficult to make Her Majesty understand this, and she asked if I was quite certain that Miss Carl would not be offended by an offer of money. Also Miss Conner, who had presented her. I explained that in America and Europe it was quite customary for ladies to earn their own living either by painting, teaching, or in some other similar manner, and that it was no disgrace but rather the opposite. Her Majesty seemed very much surprised to learn this, and asked why Miss Carl's brother did not support her himself. I told Her Majesty that Miss Carl did not desire him to provide for her, besides which he was married and had a family to support. Her Majesty gave it as her opinion that this was a funny kind of civilization. In China when the parents were dead it was the duty of the sons to provide for their unmarried sisters until such time as they married. She also said that if Chinese ladies were to work for their living it would only set people talking about them. However, she promised to speak with her ministers about paying Miss Carl, and I felt somewhat relieved as there seemed to be a probability of something satisfactory being arranged after all. The twelfth day of the second moon was the anniversary of another interesting ceremony, viz the birthday of flowers and trees. After the morning audience we all went into the palace grounds where the eunuchs were waiting with huge rolls of red silk. These were all commenced to cut into narrow strips about two inches wide and three feet long. When we had cut sufficient, Her Majesty took a strip of red silk and another of yellow silk which she tied round the stem of one of the puny trees. In China the puny is considered to be the queen of flowers. Then all the court ladies, eunuchs and servant girls set to work to decorate every single tree and plant in the grounds with red silk ribbons in the same manner as Her Majesty had done. This took up nearly the entire morning and it made a very pretty picture with the bright costumes of the court ladies, green trees and beautiful flowers. We then went to a theatrical performance. This represented all the tree fairies and flower fairies celebrating their birthday. The Chinese believed that all the trees and flowers have their own particular fairies, the tree fairies being men and the flower fairies being women. The costumes were very pretty and were chosen to blend with the green trees and flowers which were on the stage. One of the costumes worn by a lotus fairy was made of pink silk, worked as to represent the petals of the flower, the skirt being of green silk to represent the lotus leaves. Whenever this fairy moved about the petals would move just as they were wafted by the breeze, like a natural flower. Several other costumes representing different flowers were made in the same manner. The scene was a woodland dell surrounded with huge rocks perforated with caves out of which came innumerable small fairies bearing decanters of wine. These small fairies represented the smaller flowers, daisies, pomegranate blossoms, etc. The result can be better imagined than described. All the fairies gathered together and drank the wine, after which they commenced to sing, accompanied by stringed instruments, played very softly. The final scene was a very fitting ending to the performance. It represented a small rainbow which gradually descended until it rested on the rocks. Then each fairy in turn would sit upon the rainbow which rose again and conveyed them through the clouds into heaven. This completed the celebration, and we all retired to our rooms. On the fourteenth day of the second moon, March 2, 1904, I completed my first year at court. I had quite forgotten this fact until her majesty reminded me of it. She asked whether I was comfortable and happy where I was, or did I long to return to Paris? I answered truly that although I had enjoyed myself while in France, still I preferred the life of the court. It was so interesting. Besides which I was in my own native land, and among all my friends and relations, and naturally I preferred that to living in a strange land. Her majesty smiled and said she was afraid that sooner or later I would tire of the life in the palace and fly away again across the ocean. She said that the only way to make sure of me was to marry me off. She again asked me what was my objection to getting married? Was I afraid of having a mother-in-law, or what was it? If that was all, I need not worry. For so long as she was alive there was nothing to be afraid of. Her majesty said that even if I were married it would not be necessary for me to stay at home all the time, but that I would be able to spend my time in the palace as usual. Continuing she said, last year when this marriage question came up I was willing to make allowances as you had been brought up somewhat differently from the rest of my court ladies, but do not run away with the idea that I have forgotten all about it. I am still on the lookout for a suitable husband for you. I simply answered as before that I had absolutely no desire to marry, but that I wanted to stay where I was and live at the court so long as her majesty was willing to have me there. She made some remark about my being stubborn and said that I should probably change my mind before long. During the latter part of the second moon Miss Carl worked very hard to get the portrait finished, and her majesty again consulted her book in order to select a lucky day on which to put the final touches to the picture. The nineteenth of April, 1904, was chosen by her majesty as the best time, and Miss Carl was duly notified. Miss Carl most emphatically stated that it was quite impossible to finish the portrait properly by the time named, and I told her majesty what Miss Carl said, explaining that there were many small finishing touches to be added, and I suggested it would be better to give Miss Carl a few days longer if possible. However, her majesty said that it must be finished by four o'clock on the nineteenth day of April, and therefore there was nothing further to be said. Not a week before the time fixed for the completion, her majesty paid a visit to the studio to finally inspect the picture. She seemed very much pleased with it, but still objected to her face being painted dark on one side and light on the other. As I have said before, I had explained that this was the shading, but her majesty insisted on my telling Miss Carl to make both sides of her face alike. This led to a pretty hot discussion between Miss Carl and myself, but she finally saw that it was no use going against her majesty's wishes in the matter. So consented to make some slight alteration. Happening to catch sight of some foreign characters at the foot of the painting, her majesty inquired what they were, and on being informed that they were simply the artist's name, said, Well, I know foreigners do some funny things, but I think this is about the funniest I ever heard of, fancy putting her own name on my picture. This will naturally convey the impression that it is the portrait of Miss Carl, and not a portrait of myself at all. I again had to explain the reason for this, saying that it was always customary for foreign artists to write their names at the foot of any picture they painted, whether portrait or otherwise. So her majesty said she suppose it was all right, and would have to remain, but she looked anything but satisfied with it. By working practically all night and all day, Miss Carl managed to get the portrait finished by the time stipulated, and her majesty arranged that Miss Conjure and the other ladies of the diplomatic corps should come to the palace and see the portrait. This was quite the private audience, and her majesty received them in one of the small audience halls. After the usual greetings, her majesty ordered us to conduct the ladies to the studio, which we did, her majesty bidding them goodbye and remaining in her own apartments. The young empress, in accordance with instructions from her majesty, accompanied us to the studio, and acted as hostess. Everybody expressed great admiration for the portrait, and it was voted a marvellous likeness. After inspecting the picture, we all adjourned for refreshments. The young empress sat at the head of the table and asked me to sit next to her. Shortly after everybody was seated, a eunuch came and asked the young empress to inform these ladies that the emperor was slightly indisposed and was unable to be present. I interpreted this, and everybody appeared satisfied. As a matter of fact, the emperor was quite well, but we had forgotten all about him, and so the guests departed without seeing him on this occasion. On reporting everything to her majesty as usual, she asked what they thought of the portrait, and we told her that they had admired it very much. Her majesty said, of course they did. It was painted by a foreign artist. She didn't appear to be very much interested, and was quite cross about something which caused me great disappointment after all the trouble Miss Carl had taken to finish the portrait. Her majesty then remarked that Miss Carl had taken a long time to get the portrait finished, and asked why nobody had reminded her to inform the emperor about the audience, being particularly angry with the head eunuch on this occasion. Her majesty said that as soon as she remembered, she immediately sent a eunuch to make excuses, as the ladies might very well think that something had happened to the emperor, and it might cause talk. I told her that I explained to them that the emperor was not well, and they evidently thought nothing further of his absence. By the next day the carpenters in the palace had finished the frame for the portrait, and when it had been properly fitted, her majesty ordered my brother to take a photograph of it. This photograph turned out so well that her majesty said it was better than the portrait itself. The picture being now quite finished, Miss Carl prepared to take her leave, which she did a few days later, having received a handsome present in cash from her majesty in addition to a decoration, and many other presents as a remuneration for her services. For quite a long time after Miss Carl had left the palace, I felt very lonely. As during her stay I had found her a genial companion, and we had many things in common to talk about. Her majesty noticed that I was rather quiet and asked me the cause. She said, I suppose you are beginning to miss your friend, the lady artist. I did not care to admit that this was so, for fear she might think me ungrateful to herself, besides which I knew she did not like the idea of my being too friendly with foreigners. So I explained to her majesty that I always did regret losing old friends, but that I would get used to the change very soon. Her majesty was very nice about it, and said she wished that she was a little more sentimental over such small things, but that when I got to her age I should be able to take things more philosophically. After Miss Carl had left the court, her majesty asked me one day. Did she ever ask you much about the Boxer Movement of 1900? I told her that I knew very little of the Boxer Movement myself, as I was in Paris at the time, and I could not say very much. I assured her that the lady artist never mentioned the subject to me. Her majesty said, I hate to mention about that affair, and I would not like to have foreigners ask my people questions on that subject. Do you know? I have often thought that I am the most clever woman that ever lived, and others cannot compare with me. Although I have heard much about Queen Victoria and read a part of her life which someone has translated into Chinese, still I don't think her life was half so interesting and eventful as mine. My life is not finished yet, and no one knows what is going to happen in the future. I may surprise the foreigners some day with something extraordinary, and do something quite contrary to anything I have yet done. England is one of great powers of the world, but this has not been brought about by Queen Victoria's absolute role. She had the able men of parliament back of her at all times, and of course they discussed everything until the best result was obtained. Then she would sign the necessary documents and really had nothing to say about the policy of the country. Now look at me. I have 400 million people, all dependent on my judgment. Although I have the grants counsel to consult with, they only look after the different appointments, but anything of important nature I must decide myself. What does the emperor know? I have been very successful so far, but I never dreamt that the boxer movement would end with such serious results for China. That is the only mistake I have made in my life. I should have issued an edict at once to stop the boxers practicing their belief, but both Prince Tuan and Duke Lan told me that they firmly believed the boxers were sent by heaven to enable China to get rid of all the undesirable and hated foreigners. Of course they meant mostly missionaries, and you know how I hate them and how very religious I always am, so I thought I would not see anything then, but would wait and see what would happen. I felt sure they were going too far as one day Prince Tuan brought the boxer leader to the summer palace and summoned all the eunuchs into the courtyard of the audience hall and examined each eunuch on the head to see if there was a cross. He said, this cross is not visible to you, but I can identify a Christian by finding a cross on their head. Prince Tuan then came to my private palace and told me that the boxer leader was at the palace gate and had found two eunuchs who were Christians and asked me what was to be done. I immediately became very angry and told him that he had no right to bring any boxers to the palace without my permission, but he said this leader was so powerful that he was able to kill all the foreigners and was not afraid of the foreign guns as all the guards were protecting him. Prince Tuan told me that he had witnessed this himself. A boxer shot another with a revolver and the bullet hit him, but did not harm him in the least. Then Prince Tuan suggested that I hand these two eunuchs supposed to be Christians to the boxer leader, which I did. I heard afterwards that these two eunuchs were beheaded rights in the country somewhere near here. These chief boxer came to the palace the next day, accompanied by Prince Tuan and Yuklan, to make all the eunuchs burn incense sticks to prove that they were not Christians. After that Prince Tuan also suggested that we had better let the chief boxer come every day and teach the eunuchs their belief that nearly all of Beijing was studying with the boxers. The next day I was very much surprised to see all my eunuchs dressed as boxers. They wore red jackets, red turbans, and yellow trousers. I was sorry to see all my attendants discard their official robes and wear a funny costume like that. Duke Lan presented me with a suit of boxer clothes. At that time Yong Lu, who was the head of the Grand Council, was ill and asked leave of absence for a month. While he was sick, I used to send one of the eunuchs to see him every day, and that day the eunuch returned and informed me that Yong Lu was quite well and would come to the palace the next day, although he still had fifteen days more leave. I was puzzled to know why he should give up the balance of his leave. However, I was very anxious to see him as I wished to consult him about this chief boxer. Yong Lu looked grieved when he learned what had taken place at the palace and said that these boxes were nothing but revolutionaries and agitators. They were trying to get the people to help them to kill the foreigners, but he was very much afraid the resort would be against the government. I told him that probably he was right and asked him what should be done. He told me that he would talk to Prince Tuan, but the next day Prince Tuan told me that he had had a fight with Yong Lu about the boxer question, and said that all of Beijing had become boxers, and if we tried to turn them, they would do all they could to kill everyone in Beijing, including the court, that they, the boxer party, had the day selected to kill all the foreign representatives, that Tong Fuxiang, a very conservative general and one of the boxers, had promised to bring his troops out to help the boxers to fire on the legations. When I heard this, I was very much worried and anticipated serious trouble, so I sent for Yong Lu at once and kept Prince Tuan with me. Yong Lu came, looking very much worried, and he was more so after I had told him what the boxers were going to do. He immediately suggested that I should issue an edict, saying that these boxes were a secret society and that no one should believe their teaching, and to instruct the general of the nine gates to drive all the boxers out of the city at once. When Prince Tuan heard this, he was very angry and told Yong Lu that if such an edict was issued, the boxers would come to the court and kill everybody. When Prince Tuan told me this, I thought I had better leave everything to him. After he left the palace, Yong Lu said that Prince Tuan was absolutely crazy, and that he was sure these boxes would be the cause of a great deal of trouble. Yong Lu also said that Prince Tuan must be insane to be helping the boxers to destroy the legations, that these boxes were a very common lot without education, and they imagined the few foreigners in China were the only ones on the earth, and if they were killed, it would be the end of them. They forgot how very strong these foreign countries are, and that if the foreigners in China were all killed, thousands would come to avenge their death. Yong Lu assured me that one foreign soldier could kill 100 boxes without the slightest trouble, and begged me to give him instructions to order General Nie, who was afterwards killed by the boxers, to bring his troops to protect legations. Of course, I gave him this instruction at once, and also told him that he must see Prince Tuan at once, and Juklán, to tell them that this was a very serious affair, and that they had better not interfere with Yong Lu's plans. Matters became worse day by day, and Yong Lu was the only one against the boxers. But what could one man accomplish against so many? One day Prince Tuan and Juklán came and asked me to issue an edict ordering the boxes to kill all the legation people first, and then all remaining foreigners. I was very angry, and refused to issue the edict. After we had talked a very long time, Prince Tuan said that this must be done without delay, for the boxes were getting ready to fire on delegations and would do so the very next day. I was furious, and ordered several of the eunuchs to drive him out, and he said as he was going out, if you refuse to issue that edict, I will do it for you whether you are willing or not. And he did. After that you know what had happened. He issued these edicts unknown to me, and was responsible for a great many deaths. He found that he could not carry his plans through, and heard that the foreign troops were not very far from Beijing. He was so frightened that he made us all leave Beijing. When she finished saying this, she started to cry, and I told her that I felt very sorry for her. She said, You need not feel sorry for me for what I have gone through, but you must feel sorry for that my fair name is ruined. That is the only mistake I have made in my whole life, and it was done in a moment of weakness. Before, I was just like a piece of pure jade. And admired me for what I have done for my country. But the jade has a flaw in it since this boxer movement, and it will remain there to the end of my life. I have regretted many, many times that I had such confidence in, and believed that wicked Prince Tuan, he was responsible for everything. By the end of the third moon, Her Majesty had had enough of the Sea Palace, and the court moved into the Summer Palace. This time we travelled by boat, as it was very beautiful weather. Unweaching the water-gates of the palace, we found everything just lovely, and the peach blossoms were in full bloom. Her Majesty plainly showed how glad she was to be back once more, and for the time being seemed to have forgotten everything else. End of CHAPTER XIX My second year at the palace was very much the same as the first. We celebrated each anniversary and festival in the same way as before. The usual audience was held each morning by Her Majesty, after which the day was given up to enjoyment. Among other things, Her Majesty took great interest in her vegetable gardens, and superintended the planting of the different seeds. When vegetables were ready for pulling, from time to time, all the court ladies were supplied with a kind of small pruning fork and gathered into crop. Her Majesty seemed to enjoy seeing us work in the fields, and when the fit seized her, she would come along and help. In order to encourage us in this work, Her Majesty would give a small present to the one who showed the best results, so we naturally did our best in order to place her. As much as for the reward. Another hobby of Her Majesty's was the rearing of chickens, and a certain number of birds were allotted to each of the court ladies. We were supposed to look after these ourselves and the eggs had to be taken to Her Majesty every morning. I could not understand why it was that my chickens gave less eggs than any of the others. Until one day my eunuch informed me that he had seen one of the other eunuchs stealing the eggs from my henhouse and transferring them to another, in order to keep his mistress to head the list. Her Majesty was very particular not to encourage untidiness or extravagance among the court ladies. On one occasion she told me to open a parcel which was lying in her room. I was about to cut the string when Her Majesty stopped me and told me to untie it. This I managed to do after a lot of trouble and opened the parcel. Her Majesty next made me fold the paper neatly and place it in a drawer along with the string so that I would know where to find it should it be wanted again. From time to time Her Majesty would give each of us money for our own private use and whenever we wanted to buy anything, say flowers, handkerchiefs, shoes, ribbons, etc., these could be bought from the servant girls who used to make them in the palace and we would enter each item in a small notebook supplied by Her Majesty for the purpose. At the end of each month Her Majesty examined our accounts and in case she considered that we had been extravagant, she would give us a good scolding. While on the other hand if we managed to show a good balance she would compliment us on our good management. Thus under Her Majesty's tuition we learned to be careful and tidy against such time as we might be called upon to look after homes of our own. About this time my father began to show signs of breaking down and asked for permission to withdraw from public life. However Her Majesty would not hear of this and decided to give him another six months vacation instead. It was his intention to go to Shanghai and see the family physician but Her Majesty did not approve of this, maintaining that her own doctors were quite as good as any foreign doctor. These doctors therefore attended him for some time prescribing all kinds of different concoctions daily. After a while he seemed to pick up a little but was still unable to get about an account of having chronic rheumatism. We therefore again suggested that it would be better for him to see his own doctor in Shanghai who understood my father thoroughly but Her Majesty could not be made to see it in that light. She said that what we wanted was a little patience that the Chinese doctors might be slow but they were sure and she was convinced they would completely care my father very soon. The fact of the matter was she was afraid that if my father went to stay in Shanghai the rest of the family would want to be there with him which was not in her program at all. So we decided to remain in Beijing unless my father showed signs of getting worse. In Dukos the time arrived on which it had been arranged to hold the spring garden party for the diplomatic corps and as usual one day was set apart for the ministers, secretaries and members of the various legations and the following day for their wives etc. This year very few guests attended the garden party but among those who did come were several strangers. About half a dozen ladies from the Japanese legation came with Madame Uchida, wife of the Japanese minister. Her Majesty was always very pleased to see this lady whom she very much admired, an account of her extreme politeness. After the usual presentation we conducted the ladies to luncheon showed them over the palace grounds after which we wished them good bye and they took their leave. We reported everything to Her Majesty and as usual were asked many questions. Among the guests there was one lady, English so far as I could make out, dressed in a heavy tweed traveling costume, having enormous pockets into which she thrust her hands as though it were extremely cold. She wore a cap of the same material. Her Majesty asked if I had noticed this lady with the clothes made out of rice bags and wasn't it rather unusual to be presented at court in such a dress. Her Majesty wanted to know who she was and where she came from. I replied that she certainly did not belong to any of the legations as I was acquainted with everybody there. Her Majesty said that whoever she was she certainly was not accustomed to moving in decent society as she, Her Majesty, was quite certain that it was not the thing to appear at a European court in such a costume. I can tell in a moment, Her Majesty added, whether any of these people are desirous of showing proper respect to me or whether they consider that I am not entitled to it. These foreigners seem to have the idea that the Chinese are ignorant and that therefore they need not be so particular as in European society. I think it would be best to let it be understood for the future what stress should be worn at the different court functions and at the same time use a certain amount of discretion in issuing invitations. In that way I can also keep the missionary element out as well as other undesirables. I like to meet any distinguished foreigners who may be visiting in China but I do not want any common people at my court. I suggested that the Japanese custom could be followed, vis to issue proper invitation cards stipulating at the foot the dress to be worn on each particular occasion. Her Majesty thought this would meet the case and it was decided to introduce a similar rule in China. Whenever the weather permitted her Majesty would pass quite a lot of her time in the open air watching the eunuchs at work in the gardens. During the early spring the lotus plants were transplanted and she would take keen interest in this work. All the old roots had to be cut away and the new bulbs planted in fresh soil. Although the lotus grew in the shallowest part of the lake, the west side, it was necessary for the eunuchs to wade into the water sometimes up to their waist in order to weed out the old plants and set the young ones. Her Majesty would sit for hours on her favorite bridge, the Jade Girdle Bridge, and super intend the eunuchs at their work suggesting from time to time as to how the bulbs were to be planted. This work generally took three or four days and the court ladies in attendance would stand beside Her Majesty and pass the time making fancy tassels for Her Majesty's discussions, in fact doing anything so long as we did not idle. It was during the spring that Yuan Shikai paid another visit to the palace and among other subjects discussed was the Russo-Japan War. He told Her Majesty that it was developing into a very serious affair and that he feared China would be the principal sufferer in the long run. Her Majesty was very much upset by this news and mentioned that she had been advised by one of the censors to make a present to the Japanese of a large quantity of rice, but had decided to take no action whatever in the matter, which resolved Yuan Shikai strongly supported. I was still working each day translating the various newspaper reports and telegrams relating to the war and one morning seeing a paragraph to the effect that Kang Yuwei, leader of the reform movement in China in 1898, had arrived at Singapore from Batavia. I thought it might interest Her Majesty and so translated it along with the rest. Her Majesty immediately became very much excited, which made me feel frightened as I did not know what could be the matter. However, she explained to me that this man had caused all kinds of trouble in China, that before meeting Kang Yuwei the Emperor had been a zealous adherent to the traditions of his ancestors, but since then had plainly showed his desire to introduce reforms and even Christianity into the country. On one occasion continued Her Majesty. He caused the Emperor to issue instructions for the summer palace to be surrounded by soldiers, so as to keep me prisoner until these reforms could be put into effect. But through the faithfulness of Yonglu, a member of the Grand Council, and Yuan Shikai, Vesroy of Zhili, I was able to frustrate the plot. I immediately proceeded to the Forbidden City, where the Emperor was then staying, and after discussing the question with him, he replied that he realized his mistake and asked me to take over the reins of government and act in his stead. The result of this was, of course, the edict of 1898 appointing the Emperor's Dowager as Regent of China. Her Majesty had immediately ordered the capture of Kang Yuwei and his followers, but he had managed to effect his escape, and she had heard nothing further about him until I translated this report in the newspaper. She seemed relieved, however, to know where he was, and seemed anxious to hear what he was doing. She suddenly became very angry again, and asked why it was that the foreign governments offered protection to Chinese political agitators and criminals. Why couldn't they leave China to deal with her own subjects and mind their own business a little more? She gave me instructions to keep a lookout for any further news of this gentleman and report to her immediately, but I made up my mind that in any case I would not mention anything about him again, and so the matter gradually died away. During one of our visits to the Sea Palace, Her Majesty drew attention to a large piece of vacant ground, and said that it had formerly been the site of the audience hall, which had been destroyed by fire during the Boxer Trouble. Her Majesty explained that this had been purely an accident, and was not deliberately destroyed by the foreign troops. She said that it had long been an eyesore to her, as it was so ugly, and that she had now determined to build another audience hall on the same site, as the present audience hall was too small to accommodate the foreign guests when they paid their respects at New Year. She therefore commended the Board of Works to prepare a model of the new building in accordance with her own ideas, and submitted for her approval. Up to that time all the buildings in the palace grounds were typically Chinese, but this new audience hall was to be more or less on the foreign plan, and up to date in every respect. This model was accordingly prepared and submitted to Her Majesty. It was only a small wooden model, but was complete in every detail, even to the pattern of the windows and the carving on the ceilings and panels. However, I never knew anything to quite come up to Her Majesty's ideas, and this was no exception. She criticized the model from every standpoint, ordering this room to be enlarged, and that room to be made smaller, this window to be moved to another place, etc., etc. So the model went back for reconstruction. When it was again brought for Her Majesty's inspection, everybody agreed that it was an improvement on the first one, and even Her Majesty expressed great satisfaction. The next thing was to find a name for the new building, and after serious and mature consideration, it was decided to name it Hai Yan Tang, Sea Coast Audience Hall. Building operations were commenced immediately, and Her Majesty took great interest in the progress of the work. It had already been decided that this audience hall was to be furnished throughout in foreign style, with the exception of the throne, which of course retained its mantra appearance. Her Majesty compared the different styles of furniture with the catalogues we had brought with us from France, and finally decided on the Louis XV style, but everything was to be covered with imperial yellow, with curtains, and carpets to match. When everything had been selected to Her Majesty's satisfaction, my mother asked permission to defray the expanse herself and make a presence of this furniture. This Her Majesty agreed to, and the order was accordingly placed with a well-known Paris firm from whom we had purchased furniture when in France. By the time the building was completed, the furniture had arrived, and it was quickly installed. Her Majesty went to inspect it, and of course had to find faults as usual. She didn't seem at all pleased with the result of the experiment, and said that after all, a Chinese building would have been the best, as it would have had a more dignified appearance. However, the thing was finished, and it was no use finding fault now, as it could not be changed. During the summer months, I had plenty of leisure time and devoted about an hour each day to helping the Emperor with his English. He was a most intelligent man with a wonderful memory, and learned very quickly. His pronunciation, however, was not good. In a very short time, he was able to read short stories out of an ordinary school reader and could write from dictation fairly well. His handwriting was exceptionally fine, while in copying old English and ornamental characters, he was an expert. Her Majesty seemed pleased that the Emperor had taken up this study, and said she thought of taking that up herself, as she was quite sure she would learn it very quickly if she tried. After two lessons, she lost patience and did not mention the matter again. Of course, these lessons gave me plenty of opportunity to talk with His Majesty, and on one occasion he ventured to remark that I didn't seem to have made much progress with Her Majesty in the matter of reform. I told him that many things had been accomplished since my arrival at court, and mentioned the new audience hall as an instance. He didn't appear to think that anything was talking about, and advised me to give up the matter altogether. He said, when the proper time arrived, if it ever did arrive, then I might be of use. But expressed great doubts on the subject. He also inquired about my father, and I told him that unless his health improved very soon, it would be necessary for us to leave the court for a while at any rate. He replied that although he should very much regret such a necessity, he really believed that it would be for the best. He said he felt certain that I should never be able to settle down permanently to court life after spending so many years abroad, and for his part would put no obstacles in the way of my leaving the court if I desired to do so. Her Majesty had given me permission to visit my father twice every month, and everything appeared to be going along nicely, until one day one of Her Majesty's seven girls told me that Her Majesty was trying to arrange another marriage for me. At first I did not take any notice of this, but shortly afterwards Her Majesty informed me that everything was arranged, and that I was to be married to a certain prince whom she had chosen. I could say that Her Majesty was waiting for me to say something, so I told her that I was very much worried at that time about my father, and begged her to allow the matter to stand over for the time being at any rate. This made Her Majesty very angry, and she told me that she considered me very ungrateful after all she had done for me. I didn't reply, and as Her Majesty did not say anything more at the time, I tried to forget about it. However, on my next visit home I told my father all about it, and as before he was strongly opposed to such a marriage. He suggested that on my return to the palace I should lay the whole matter before Lilian Ying, the head eunuch, and explain my position, for if anybody could influence Her Majesty, he was the one. I therefore took the first opportunity of speaking to him. At first he appeared very reluctant to interfere in the matter, and said, he thought, I ought to do as Her Majesty wished, but on my stating that I had no desire to marry at all, but was quite willing to remain at court in my present position, he promised to do his best for me. I never heard anything further about my marriage, either from Her Majesty or Lilian Ying, and therefore concluded that he had been able to arrange the matter satisfactorily. The summer passed without anything further important occurring. During the eighth moon the bamboos were cut down and here again the court ladies were called upon to assist, our work being to carve designs and characters on the cut trees, Her Majesty assisting. These were afterwards made into chairs, tables, and other useful articles for Her Majesty's tea house. During the long autumn evenings Her Majesty would teach us Chinese history and poetry, and every tense day would put us through an examination in order to find out how much we had learned, prizes being awarded for proficiency. The younger eunuchs also took part in these lessons and some of their answers to Her Majesty's questions were very amusing. If Her Majesty were in a good humour she would laugh with the rest of us, but sometimes she would order them to be punished for their ignorance and stupidity. However, as they were quite accustomed to being punished, they did not seem to mind very much and forgot all about it in the next minute. As Her Majesty's 70th birthday was approaching, the emperor proposed to celebrate this event on an unusually grand scale, but Her Majesty would not give her consent to this proposal on account of the war trouble, for fear people might comment on it. The only difference therefore between this birthday and the former ones was that Her Majesty gave presents to the court in addition to receiving them. These included the bestowal of titles, promotions, and increases in salary. Among the titles conferred by Her Majesty, my sister and myself received the title Chuan Shuxian, Princess. These titles, however, were confined to members of the court and were granted specially by the emperor's dowager. Similar promotions to outside officials were always conferred by the emperor. It was proposed to hold the celebrations in the Forbidden City, as it was more suited for such an important event. However, Her Majesty did not like this idea at all, and gave instructions that the court should not be moved until three days before the tenth of the tenth moon, the date of her birthday. This entailed a lot of unnecessary work, as it necessitated decorating both the summer palace and the Forbidden City. Everything was hurry and bustle. To add to this, it snowed very heavily during the few days previous to the tenth. Her Majesty was in a very good mood. She was very fond of being out in the snow, and expressed a wish to have some photographs taken of herself on the hillside. So my brother was commanded to bring his camera, and took several very good pictures of Her Majesty. On the seventh day, the court moved into the Forbidden City, and the celebrations commenced. The decorations were beautiful. The courtyards being covered with glass roofs to keep out the snow. The theaters were in full swing each day. The actual ceremony, which took place on the tenth, did not differ in any respect from previous ones. Everything passed off smoothly, and the court removed again into the sea palace. While at the sea palace, we received news that my father's condition was becoming serious, and he again tendered his resignation to Her Majesty. She sent her eunuchs to find out exactly what the matter was, and on learning that he was really very ill, accepted his resignation. Her Majesty agreed that it might be better for him to go to Shanghai and see if the foreign physicians could do him any good. She said, she suppose it would be necessary for my mother to accompany him to Shanghai, but did not consider it serious enough to send my sister and myself along also. I tried to explain that it was my duty to go along with him, as he might be taken worse and die before I could get down to see him again, and I begged Her Majesty to allow me to go. She offered all kinds of objections, but eventually seeing that I was bent on going, she said, well, he is your father, and I suppose you want to be with him, so you may go, on the understanding that you return to court as soon as ever possible. We did not get away until the middle of the 11th moon, as Her Majesty insisted on making clothes for us, and on preparations for our journey. Of course, we could do nothing but await Her Majesty's pleasure. When everything was ready, Her Majesty referred to her book to choose a suitable day for our departure, and fixed on the 13th as being the best. We therefore left the palace for our own house on the 12th. We co-toed and said goodbye to Her Majesty, thanking her for her many kindnesses during our stay with her. Everybody cried, even Her Majesty. We then went to say goodbye to the Emperor and young Empress. The Emperor simply shook hands and wished us good luck in English. Everybody appeared sorry to see us leave. After standing about for a long time, Her Majesty said it was no use wasting any more time and that we had better start. At the gate the head eunuch bade us goodbye, and we entered our carriage and drove to my father's house, our own eunuchs accompanying us to the door. We found everything prepared for our journey, and early the next morning we took train to Tianjin, where we just managed to catch the last streamer of the season leaving for Shanghai. As it was, the water was so shallow that we ran aground on the Taekwubar. On arrival in Shanghai, my father immediately consulted his physician, who examined him and prescribed medicine. The trip itself seemed to have done him a lot of good. I very soon began to miss my life at court, and although I had many friends in Shanghai, and was invited to dinner parties and dances, still I did not seem to be able to enjoy myself. Everything seemed different to what I had been accustomed to in Beijing, and I simply longed for the time when I should be able to return to Her Majesty. About two weeks after our arrival, Her Majesty sent a special messenger down to Shanghai to see how we were getting along. He brought us many beautiful presents, and also a lot of medicine for my father. We were very glad to see him. He informed us that we were missed very much at court, and advised us to return as soon as it was possible for us to do so. As my father began to show signs of improvement, he suggested that there was no further need for me to stay in Shanghai, and thought it better that I should return to Beijing and resume my duties at court. I therefore returned early in the new year. The river was frozen, and I had to travel by boat to Qin Wang Dao, from Denz by rail to Beijing. It was the most miserable journey, and I was very glad when it was over. Her Majesty has sent my eunuchs to the station to meet me, and I at once proceeded to the palace. On meeting Her Majesty, we both cried again by way of expressing our happiness. I informed her that my father was progressing favorably, and that I hoped to be able to remain with her permanently. I resumed my previous duties, but this time I had neither my sister for a companion, nor my mother to chat with, and everything appeared changed. Her Majesty was just the same, however, and treated me most kindly. Still, I was not comfortable, and hardly wished myself back again in Shanghai. I stayed at the court, going through pretty much the same daily routine as before, until the second moon, March 1905, when I received a telegram summoning me to Shanghai, as my father had become worse and was in a critical condition and wished to see me. I showed Her Majesty the telegram and waited for her decision. She commenced by telling me that my father was a very old man, and, therefore, his chances of recovery were not so great as if he were younger. Finally winding up by telling me that I could go to him at once, I again wished everybody good-bye, fully expecting to return very soon, but this was not to be. I found my father in a very dangerous condition, and after a lingering illness he died on the 18th of December 1905. Of course we went into mourning for one hundred days, which in itself prevented my returning to the court. While in Shanghai I made many friends and acquaintances, and gradually began to realize that after all the attractions of court life had not been able to eradicate the influences which had been brought to bear upon me while in Europe. At heart I was a foreigner, educated in a foreign country, and having already met my husband the matter was soon settled, and I became an American citizen. However, I often look back to the two years I spent at the court of Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager of China, the most eventful and happiest days of my childhood. Although I was not able to do much towards influencing Her Majesty in the matter of reform, I still hoped to live to see the day when China shall wake up and take her proper place among the nations of the world.