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 morning Her Majesty got up very early and ordered me not
to bring any jewels for her. She dressed herself in great haste.
Her breakfast was very simple that day, just milk and steamed
bread. Our own breakfast was cabbage and rice cooked together,
with a little salt. It was tasteless. Her Majesty did not talk to
us at all, except when giving orders, and so, of course, we kept
silent. Her Majesty wore a pale gray gown, made very plain, with
no embroidery or trimmings of any kind. She wore gray shoes to
match, not to mention her gray handkerchief. We followed her into
the hall where a eunuch knelt with a large branch of willow tree.
Her Majesty picked a little bunch of leaves and stuck it on her
head. The Young Empress did the same, and told us to follow her
example. Emperor Kwang Hsu took a branch and stuck it on his hat.
After that Her Majesty ordered the eunuchs and the servant girls
to do the same thing. It was a funny sight, and everyone did look
queer with a bunch of leaves on the head. The head eunuch came and
knelt in front of Her Majesty and said that everything was
prepared for the ceremony in the little pavilion in front of her
own palace. She told us that she preferred to walk, as she was
going to pray. It took us only a few minutes to cross the
courtyard. When we arrived at this pavilion I noticed a large
square table was placed in the center of the room. A few large
sheets of yellow paper and a jade slab, containing some vermilion
powder instead of ink, with two little brushes to write with. At
each side of the table stood a pair of large porcelain vases, with
two large branches of willow. Of course no one was allowed to
speak, but I was curious and wanted to find out why everyone had
to wear the willow leaves on the head. Her Majesty's yellow satin
cushion was placed in front of this table. She stood there and
took a piece of sandalwood and placed it in the incense burner
filled with live charcoal. The Young Empress whispered to me to go
over and help Her Majesty to burn them. I placed several pieces in
until she told me that was enough. Then Her Majesty knelt on her
cushion, the Young Empress knelt behind her, and we all knelt in a
row behind the Young Empress, and commenced to pray. The Young
Empress taught us that very morning how to say the prayer: "We
worship the Heavens, and beg all the Buddhas to take pity on us
and save the poor farmers from starving. We are willing to
sacrifice for them. Pray Heaven send us rain." We repeated the
same prayer three times, and bowed three times--nine times in all.
After that Her Majesty went to her usual morning audience. It was
much earlier than usual that morning for the Court was returning
to the Forbidden City at noon. His Majesty, the Emperor Kwang Hsu,
was to pray at the Forbidden City and Her Majesty always wanted to
accompany him wherever he went. It was nine o'clock in the morning
when the audience was over. She ordered me not to bring any jewels
for her to the Forbidden City this time, for she would not need
them at all. I went to the jewel-room and locked everything up,
and placed the keys in a yellow envelope, sealed it, and placed
the envelope among the others, and gave them to a eunuch who takes
care of these things. We packed all her favorite things. Her gowns
were the most important things to pack, she had so many and it was
impossible to take all. I noticed that the Court lady who was
looking after her gowns was the busiest amongst us. She had to
select gowns enough to last four or five days. She told me that
she had selected about fifty different ones. I told her that Lao
Tsu Tsung might stay at the Forbidden City four or five days, and
that she would not need so many gowns. She said it was safer to
bring many, for one was not sure what would be Her Majesty's idea
for the day. Packing at the Court was very simple. Eunuchs brought
many yellow trays, which are made of wood, painted yellow, about
five feet by four feet and one foot deep. We placed a large yellow
silk scarf in the tray, then the gowns, and covered them with a
thick yellow cloth. Everything was packed the same way. It took us
about two hours to pack fifty-six trays. These things always
started off first, carried by the eunuchs. His Majesty, the
Emperor Kwang Hsu, the Young Empress and all the Court ladies, had
to kneel on the ground for Her Majesty's sedan chair to pass the
Palace Gate, then we went in search of our own chairs. The
procession as usual was pretty, soldiers marching in front of her
chair, four young Princes riding on horseback on each side of her,
and from forty to fifty eunuchs also on horseback behind her, all
dressed in their official robes. The Emperor's chair and the Young
Empress' chair were of the same color as Her Majesty's. The
Secondary wife of the Emperor had a deep yellow chair. The chairs
of the Court ladies were red, and were carried by four chair
bearers, instead of eight like their Majesties. Our own eunuchs
also rode on horseback, behind us. We rode a long time, it seemed
to me, before I noticed the Emperor's chair begin to descend from
the stone-paved road, and we all followed him. I could see that
Her Majesty's chair was still going straight on, and we took a
nearer route to reach Wan Shou Si (The long life temple), to await
Her Majesty's arrival. We alighted from our chairs and started at
once to prepare Her Majesty's tea and her little dishes. I went to
help her to alight, and supported her right arm to mount the
steps. Her Majesty sat on Her Throne, and we placed a table in
front of her and my sister brought her tea. (The custom was, that
if she went anywhere, or during the festivals, we must bring to
her everything, instead of the eunuchs.) We placed all the
dainties in front of her, and then we went to rest. Her Majesty
always stopped at this temple on the way from the Summer Palace to
the Forbidden City.
CHAPTER TEN
THE YOUNG EMPRESS
I THOUGHT of so many things while I was riding in my chair. It
was a glorious day. I felt sorry for Her Majesty, for she was very
quiet that day. Generally she was happy, and made everyone laugh
with her. I thought about the branches of willow, too, but could
not understand the meaning. I came out of the hall while Her
Majesty was dining with the Emperor, and found the Young Empress
sitting in a small room on the left side of the courtyard, with
several Court ladies. When they saw me they made signs for me to
go there. I found them all drinking tea, and the Young Empress
said to me, "I am sure you must be tired and hungry. Come and sit
near me and have a cup of tea." I thanked her and sat down beside
her and we talked of what we saw on the roads and how we had
enjoyed our long ride. She said: "We have still an hour's ride
before we reach the Forbidden City." She also talked about the
ceremony we had performed that morning and said that we must all
pray earnestly for rain. I could not wait any longer, so I asked
her what those branches of willow meant. She smiled and told me
that willow could bring water, as the Buddhist religion believes,
and that it was an old custom of the Court wearing willow leaves,
when praying for rain. She also told me that we must perform the
same ceremony every morning until the rain came.
We heard Her Majesty talking in the courtyard, and knew that she
had finished her luncheon, so we went in with the Young Empress,
and ate what was left, as usual. I found the food very nice
indeed, although it seemed rather funny without having meat. We
came out into the courtyard and saw that Her Majesty was walking
up and down. She said to us: "My legs are so stiff, riding in the
chair. I must walk a little before we leave here. Are you all
tired?" We told her that we were not tired, so she ordered us to
walk with her. It looked very funny to see us walking round and
round, Her Majesty in front, and we following her. Her Majesty
turned and smiled at us, and said: "We are just like horses taking
their rounds at a stable." It reminded me of a circus. Li Lien
Ying came and knelt down, and said that it was time for Her
Majesty to depart, in order to reach the Forbidden City at the
lucky hour she had selected, so we left Wan Shou Si. All the
chairs went very fast, and after an hour's ride we came near the
Palace Gate. We followed the Emperor's chair, taking a shorter
route, and noticed the gate was wide open. His Majesty, the
Emperor, and the Young Empress' chairs went in, but we had to
alight and walk in. There were small chairs waiting for us. (As I
explained before these little chairs were carried by eunuchs, with
a rope across their shoulders.) We came to the courtyard of the
Audience Hall where the Emperor and the Empress were waiting for
us. As usual His Majesty knelt in front. Behind him was the Young
Empress, and we knelt in a row behind her, waiting to welcome Her
Majesty to her Palace. She went to her room where the eunuchs had
placed everything in order long before her arrival. We held the
ceremony that afternoon and evening. After Her Majesty had retired
we came back to our rooms and found that everything was in order,
our eunuchs had made up our beds already. It was very nice to have
them, for we could not do our own work at all. I was so tired and
my limbs were stiff. I immediately went to sleep and did not
realize how long I had slept until I heard someone knocking at my
window. I got up and pulled the blind away. I noticed that the sky
looked dull and thought it was clouded. I felt happy, and thought
it might rain, and so relieve Her Majesty. I got dressed in great
haste, but much to my disappointment I saw the sunshine on the
opposite windows.
The Palace in the Forbidden City was so old, and built in such a
queer way. The courtyards were small, and the verandas very broad.
All the rooms were dark. No electric light. We had to use candle
light. One could not see the sky except by going into the
courtyard and looking up. I found that I had risen before the sun
was up, and I was not quite awake yet, and thought the sky was
clouded. I went to Her Majesty's own Palace and found the Young
Empress already there. She was always the first and always looked
so tidy I often wondered how early she had to get up. She told me
that I was not late, although Her Majesty was awake but not up
yet. I went into her bedroom and made my usual morning courtesy to
her. The first thing she asked me was about the weather. I had to
tell her the truth--that there was no sign of rain. Her Majesty
got up, dressed, and had her breakfast as usual, and told us there
would be no audience that morning. The Emperor went to the Temple,
sacrificing, and there was nothing important to attend to. We
prayed for three days in succession, but no rain came. I found
that Her Majesty was truly discouraged, and ordered each of us to
pray twenty times a day. We marked a spot with vermilion powder
and a little water on big yellow sheets of paper each time we
prayed.
On the sixth day of the fourth moon the sky was clouded. I ran to
Her Majesty's bedroom that morning to tell her the news, but found
that someone had told her already. She smiled, and said to me:
"You are not the first one to give me the good news. I know
everyone of you wanted to be the first to tell me. I feel very
tired today, and wish to lie down a little longer. You can go, and
I will send for you when I am ready to get up." When I went to
search for the Young Empress I found all the Court ladies there
also. They all asked me if I had noticed the rain. We came out of
the waiting room and found that the courtyard was wet, and after a
while it rained very fast. Her Majesty got up, and we prayed as
usual. Fortunately the rain did not stop, but came pouring down
all that day.
Her Majesty played solitaire with the dominoes, and I stood at the
back of her chair watching her. I saw that the Young Empress and
all the girls were standing on the veranda. Her Majesty saw them,
too, and said to me: "Go and tell them to wait in the waiting
room. Can't they see that the veranda is wet?" I went to them, but
before I had the opportunity of telling them anything the Young
Empress told me that the waiting room was wet, and that the water
had gone in. As I said before, this building was very old, and
there were no drains at all. Her Majesty's own Palace was high; it
had twelve steps, while our waiting room, which was on the left
side of her Palace, was built right on the ground, with no raised
foundation at all. While I was talking on the veranda just for a
few minutes, I got quite wet. Her Majesty knocked at her glass
window and told us to go in. Now I must explain that none of us,
not even the Young Empress could enter Her Majesty's Palace
without her orders except we had work to do there, or were on
duty. Her Majesty was very happy that day. She laughed and said
that we looked as if we had just been pulled out of the lake. The
Young Empress had on a pale blue gown, and the red tassel on her
headdress was dripping red water all over her gown. She smiled and
said to us: "Look at those girls; their gowns are all spoiled."
While we were talking, Her Majesty gave us orders for us to change
our clothes.
After they had gone, I went back to Her Majesty. She looked at me
and said: "You are wet also, only your clothes do not show." I had
on a cashmere dress which was made very plain. She touched my arm
and said: "How wet you are. You had better change, and put on a
thick dress. I think foreign clothes must be very uncomfortable;
the waist is too small and it seems to me out of proportion to the
rest of the body. I am sure that you will look much prettier in
our Manchu gown. I want you to change and put your Parisian
clothes away as souvenirs. I only wanted to know how foreign
ladies dressed and now I have seen enough. The Dragon Boat
Festival will be here next month and I will make some pretty gowns
for you." I thanked her by kowtowing to the ground and told her
that I would be only too pleased to change into Manchu clothes,
but having lived so many years abroad, and having always worn
foreign clothes, I had not had any made. We were planning to
change into Manchu gowns before coming to the Court, but we had
received orders that Lao Tsu Tsung wished to see us in foreign
clothes. I was very glad when I received that order as there were
several reasons why I wanted to wear Manchu gowns. First, the
Court ladies at the beginning treated us as outsiders. Secondly, I
knew that Her Majesty did not like them, and besides, we were very
uncomfortable living at the Palace in Peking, and made up our
minds that we must wear Manchu clothes, which were made for it. We
had so much work to do, and having to stand most of the time one
absolutely needed loose garments. Her Majesty ordered one of the
eunuchs to bring one of her dresses for me to try on, so I went
back to my own room, and took off my wet clothes and changed. I
tried on her gown, but it was too loose for me. The length was
quite all right and so were the sleeves. Her Majesty told one of
the eunuch writers to write down my measurements in order to have
a gown made for me, and said she was sure it would fit me. She did
the same thing for my mother and sister, and ordered our gowns to
be made at once. I knew she was pleased, as she told me what color
would suit me the best. She said that I should always wear pink
and pale blue, for they suited, and were her favorite colors, too.
She also talked about our headdress, and ordered some made the
same as worn by the other Court ladies. She said to me: "I know
you can wear my shoes, for I tried yours on the first day you
came, don't you remember? I must select a lucky day for you to
become a Manchu once more," she said this with a smile, "and no
more foreign clothes after that." She took her special book for
lucky days and hours, and studied it a little while, then she said
the eighteenth of that month was the best. Li Lien Ying, the head
eunuch knew how to please Her Majesty, and said he would give
orders to have everything ready for us at that time. Her Majesty
told us the way we must have our hair dressed, and what kind of
flowers we should wear, in fact she was very happy arranging to
make us into Manchus. A short while after she dismissed us for the
day. It rained for three days without stopping. The last day the
Emperor came back, and all ceremonies ceased. Her Majesty never
liked to stay in the Forbidden City, and I was not a bit
surprised, as I hated the place. We had to use candles to dress
by, in the morning, as the rooms were in absolute darkness even in
the middle of the afternoon. It rained so much that finally Her
Majesty said she would return to the Summer Palace the next day,
whether it was raining or not, and we were all very glad to go.
We returned to the Summer Palace on the seventh. It was a dull
day, but no rain. We packed everything in just the same way we had
done when we came, and stopped at Wan Shou Si and had our
luncheon. That day we commenced to eat meat again. I noticed that
Her Majesty enjoyed her meal very much. She asked me if I liked
the food without meat, and I told her that everything was nicely
done and that I enjoyed the food very much, although without meat.
She told me that she could not eat that kind of food and enjoy it,
and that if it were not necessary to make sacrifice she would not
have abstained.
The first garden party of the year was given by the Empress
Dowager to the ladies of the Diplomatic Corps, in the fourth moon.
This year Her Majesty desired to deviate a little from previous
custom, and issued orders that stalls should be arranged in the
garden, on a similar principal to a bazaar, on which were to be
displayed curios, embroidered work, flowers, etc., etc. These were
to be given as presents to the guests. The guests were: Mrs.
Conger, wife of the American Minister, Mrs. Williams, wife of
Chinese Secretary of the American Legation, Madame and
Mademoiselle de Carcer, wife and daughter of the Spanish Minister,
Madame Uchida, wife of the Japanese Minister, and a few ladies of
the Japanese Legation, Madame Almeida, wife of the Portuguese
Charge d' Affaires, Madame Cannes, wife of the Secretary of the
French Legation, the wives of several French Officers, Lady Susan
Townley, wife of the First Secretary of the British Legation, two
ladies from the German Legation, wives of German Officers, and
wives of a few Customs Officials. On this occasion Her Majesty
selected a most beautiful gown of peacock blue, embroidered all
over with phoenix. The embroidery was raised and each phoenix had
a string of pearls two inches long sewed into its mouth. Whenever
Her Majesty stirred, these strings of tiny pearls moved forwards
and backwards and it made a very pretty effect. Of course, she
wore her jade phoenix on her hair as usual and shoes and
handkerchief embroidered with the same pattern. My mother wore a
lavender silk gown, trimmed with silver braid, her hat was of the
same shade with plumes to match. My sister and myself wore pale
blue Chinese silk gowns with insertion and medallions of Irish
crochet and trimmed with tiny velvet bands. We wore blue hats with
large pink roses. All the Court ladies dressed in their most
picturesque gowns and it was a very pretty sight to see the
procession walking to the Audience Hall.
Her Majesty was in her happiest mood that morning and said to us:
"I wonder how I would look in foreign clothes; my waist is very
small, but wearing this kind of loose gown it would not show. I
don't think I would need to squeeze myself so tight, either, but I
don't think there is anything in the world prettier than our
Manchu gowns."
First the guests were received in audience by Their Majesties.
They were accompanied by the Doyen, Baron Czikann, Minister for
Austria, and an interpreter from each Legation. On entering the
Audience Hall all the guests stood in line and the Doyen presented
a short address to Their Majesties. This was translated to Prince
Ching, who, in turn, communicated it to the Emperor. The Emperor
made a suitable reply in Chinese which was translated by the
Doyen's interpreter. Then the Doyen mounted the steps of the dais
and shook hands with Their Majesties, the rest of the guests being
presented in turn. I was standing at the right hand of the Empress
Dowager and as each guest came forward, called out their names,
and the Legation which they represented. Her Majesty had a few
words for everyone, and when she saw a new face she would ask how
long they had been in China; whether they liked it, etc., etc. All
these conversations I interpreted for Her Majesty. As the guests
finished paying their respects they passed along and remained
standing in the Hall until everybody had been presented.
The interpreters, who did not take part in this ceremony but had
remained standing in the Hall until it was over, were then
conducted by Prince Ching to another part of the Palace, where
refreshments were provided for them. After they had gone out Their
Majesties descended from the dais and mixed with the guests.
The formal ceremony now being concluded, chairs were brought in
and everybody made themselves comfortable. Tea was brought in by
the eunuchs and after a few minutes' conversation, we all
adjourned to the refreshment room, with the exception of the
Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Young Empress and the Secondary
wife. In the absence of Her Majesty, the Imperial Princess (The
Empress Dowager's adopted daughter) officiated as hostess, Mrs.
Conger sitting at her right and Madame de Carcer, wife of the
Spanish Minister, on her left. The food was all Chinese, but
knives and forks were provided for the use of the guests. During
the luncheon the Imperial Princess stood up and spoke a few words
of welcome, which I translated into English and French. After the
luncheon was over we adjourned to the garden where Their Majesties
were awaiting us. A brass band was playing European airs.
Her Majesty led the way around the gardens, passing the various
stalls on the way, where the ladies would stop and admire the
different articles, which were later presented to them as
souvenirs of the occasion. On arriving at a teahouse which had
been erected in the gardens, everybody rested and partook of tea.
Their Majesties then wished everybody good-bye and the guests were
then conducted to their chairs and took their departure.
As usual, we reported to Her Majesty everything that had taken
place and how the guests had enjoyed themselves. She said: "How is
it that these foreign ladies have such large feet? Their shoes are
like boats and the funny way they walk I cannot say I admire. I
haven't yet seen one foreigner with pretty hands. Although they
have white skins, their faces are covered with white hair. Do you
think they are beautiful?" I replied that I had seen some American
beauties when I was abroad. Her Majesty said: "No matter how
beautiful they are they have ugly eyes. I can't bear that blue
color, they remind me of a cat." After a few more remarks, she
ordered us to retire, saying that we must be tired. We were rather
used up and glad of an opportunity to rest, so made our courtesies
and retired.
We had been at the Palace more than two months, and I had had no
opportunity to see my father at all, who was quite ill at that
time. We did not know whether we could ask leave of absence from
the Court. I received letters from my father every day, telling me
to have courage, and to do my duty. My mother asked the Young
Empress if it would be correct to ask Her Majesty for permission
to go home for a day or two. The Young Empress told us that it
would be quite all right to do that, but she thought it would be
better if we could wait until after the eighth, for there would be
a feast on that day. The eighth day of the fourth moon every year
is the ceremony of eating green peas. According to the Buddhist
religion there is a hereafter which divides or grades, according
to the life that is lived on earth, that is to say, those who live
good lives go to Heaven when they die and those who are bad go to
a bad place to suffer. On this occasion Her Majesty sent to the
people she liked, each a plate containing eight peas, and we had
to eat them. The Young Empress told me that if I presented a plate
of peas to Her Majesty it would please her, which I did. This
meant: "May we meet in the hereafter" (Chi Yuen Dou). Her Majesty
was very happy that day. We went to the west side of the lake and
had our luncheon there. Her Majesty talked to us about the first
day we came to the Court, and then said to mother: "I wonder if Yu
Keng is any better. When will he be able to come to the Court? I
haven't seen him since he returned from France." (My father had
asked three months leave of absence from the Court on account of
his poor health.) My mother answered and said that he was feeling
better, but that his legs were still very weak, and he could not
walk much. Her Majesty then said to us: "Oh, I have forgotten to
tell you that if you wish to go home, you can ask permission. I
have been so busy lately, and forgot to remind you." We thanked
her and told her that we would like to go home and see how my
father was, so she gave orders that we should leave the Court the
next day. Then she asked me how long I would like to stay at home,
and of course I knew the custom, and told her that I was waiting
for her orders: "Would two or three days be enough?" We told her
that it suited us beautifully. I was so surprised when she
mentioned it to us, and wondered if anyone had told her of our
intentions, or if Her Majesty was a mind reader.
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