Two Years in the Forbidden City
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The Princess Der Ling >> Two Years in the Forbidden City
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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 caused it to rise just
like ordinary bread, it 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 pleased 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 fared any
better, and on inquiring 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. These 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 Heaven, 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 "Shou"
(Long Life) and on others "Fu" (Prosperity). By and bye, 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 Viceroys 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 Shih
Kai 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 this 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 Corps, 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.
Another 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 Empress 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. These Her
Majesty appreciated very much; she was very vain. The eunuchs and
servant girls gave fancy cakes and other food stuffs.
The presents were so 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. On
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 result.
About a week before New Year's day all audiences ceased 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 and 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 this 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 Chung (wife of Emperor Kwang Hsu's brother), Princesses
Shun and Tao (wives of the Emperor's younger brothers), Princess
hung (wife of the nephew of the Imperial Princess), and Prince
Ching'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 a while.
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, kowtowed to Her Majesty. This was the
ceremony Tzu Sui 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 fall back
upon. It is an old Manchu 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 $200. She told us to
be serious about it, and to try and 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 you 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
brazier containing live 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 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 on 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 "Peace"),
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 as 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 humor. She played with us just
like a young girl, and one could hardly recognize 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
please 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, smiled once, and walked
away.
Her Majesty rose very early next morning and proceeded to the
Audience Hall to worship the God of Wealth. 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, until 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 Emperor's
birthday, but not on such an elaborate scale. We presented the Ru
Yee to the Young Empress and kowtowed 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 ladies) she
stood up. She always was very polite to us under all
circumstances.
On this day, as on the Emperor's 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 expected. Instead of being stiff and serious
like Her Majesty when 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 supposed to
devour. This ceremony was gone through to the accompaniment of
music.
After the lanterns came a firework display. These fireworks
represented different scenes in the history of China, grape vines,
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
re-commenced our everyday life.
As usual after the guests had departed Her Majesty began to
criticise their mode of dressing, their ignorance of Court
etiquette, etc., but added that she was rather 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
sowing seed for the rice crop, 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. Anybody
could attend this ceremony, it being quite a public affair, and
many farmers were present.
About this same time the Young Empress went to see the silkworms
and watch for the eggs to be hatched. As soon as they were out,
the Young Empress 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 see 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 Empress 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 were placed 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 their supply of silk becomes exhausted and they shrivel
up and apparently die. These apparently dead worms were collected
by the Young Empress 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 the 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 on to 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 a cool 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.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE SEA PALACE
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 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
blossom. 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, viz.:--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 this
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 Mrs. Conger 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 the 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 we 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 peony trees (in China the
peony 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.
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