Two Years in the Forbidden City
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The Princess Der Ling >> Two Years in the Forbidden City
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We then went to a theatrical performance. This represented all the
tree fairies and flower fairies celebrating their birthday. The
Chinese believe 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 so 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 though 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 19th 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 19th
day of April, and therefore there was nothing further to be said.
About a week before the time fixed for 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
about the funniest I ever heard of. Fancy putting her own name on
my picture. This will naturally convey the impression that it is a
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 supposed 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 Mrs. Conger and the other ladies of the Diplomatic
Corps should come to the Palace and see the portrait. This was
quite a 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 good-bye 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 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 rule. 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 400,000,000 people, all dependent on my
judgment. Although I have the Grand Council to consult with, they
only look after the different appointments, but anything of an
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 practising 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 say 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 the 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 gods 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 right in the country somewhere near here. This chief
Boxer came to the Palace the next day, accompanied by Prince Tuan
and Duke Lan, 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 Peking 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 Yung 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 Yung 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. Yung Lu
looked grieved when he learned what had taken place at the Palace,
and said that these Boxers 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 result 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 Yung Lu about the Boxer question, and said that all
of Peking had become Boxers, and if we tried to turn them, they
would do all they could to kill everyone in Peking, including the
Court; that they (the Boxer party) had the day selected to kill
all the foreign representatives; that Tung Fou Hsiang, 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 Yung Lu at once and kept Prince Tuan with
me. Yung 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 Boxers were a secret society and that no one should believe
their teaching, and to instruct the Generals 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 Yung 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, Yung Lu said
that Prince Tuan was absolutely crazy and that he was sure these
Boxers would be the cause of a great deal of trouble. Yung Lu also
said that Prince Tuan must be insane to be helping the Boxers to
destroy the Legations; that these Boxers 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. Yung Lu
assured me that one foreign soldier could kill one hundred Boxers
without the slightest trouble, and begged me to give him
instructions to order General Nieh, who was afterwards killed by
the Boxers, to bring his troops to protect the Legations. Of
course I gave him this instruction at once, and also told him that
he must see Prince Tuan at once and Duke Lan to tell them that
this was a very serious affair and that they had better not
interfere with Yung Lu's plans. Matters became worse day by day
and Yung Lu was the only one against the Boxers, but what could
one man accomplish against so many? One day Prince Tuan and Duke
Lan came and asked me to issue an Edict ordering the Boxers to
kill all the Legation people first and then all remaining
foreigners. I was very angry and refused to issue this Edict.
After we had talked a very long time, Prince Tuan said that this
must be done without delay, for the Boxers were getting ready to
fire on the Legations 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 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 Peking. He was so frightened that he
made us all leave Peking." As 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 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; everyone 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. On reaching
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, even the war.
CHAPTER TWENTY
CONCLUSION
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. Amongst 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 in the 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 please 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 hen house and
transferring them to another, in order to help his mistress to
head the list.
Her Majesty was very particular not to encourage untidyness 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 note book 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 on 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 cure 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 programme at all. So we decided to remain in Peking unless my
father showed signs of getting worse.
In due course 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 on 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 travelling 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 dress 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, viz.: 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 waists 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 superintend
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 cushions, in fact doing anything so long as we did not
idle.
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