Chinese Sketches | Page 4

the dignities of a sensual,
dissipated father, attracted but little attention either in China or
elsewhere; and from that date up to the year 1872, all we heard about
His Majesty was, that he was making good progress in Manchu, or had
hit the target three times out of ten shots at a distance of about
twenty-five yards. He was taught to ride on horseback, though up to the
day of his death he never took part in any great hunting expeditions,
such as were frequently indulged in by earlier emperors of the present
dynasty. He learnt to read and write Chinese, though what progress he
had made in the study of the Classics was of course only known to his
teachers. Painting may or may not have been an Imperial hobby; but it
is quite certain that the drama received more perhaps than its full share
of patronage. The ladies and eunuchs of the palace are notoriously fond
of whiling away much of their monotonous existence in watching the
grave antics of professional tragedians and laughing at the broad jokes
of the low-comedy man, with his comic voice and funnily-painted face.
Listening to the tunes prescribed by the Book of Ceremonies, and
dining in solemn solitary grandeur off the eight[*] precious kinds of
food set apart for the sovereign, his late Majesty passed his boyhood,
until in 1872 he married the fair A-lu-te, and practically ascended the
dragon throne of his ancestors. Up to that time the Empresses-Dowager,
hidden behind a bamboo screen, had transacted business with the
members of the Privy Council, signing all documents of State with the
vermilion pencil for and on behalf of the young Emperor, but probably
without even going through the formality of asking his assent. The
marriage of the Emperor of China seemed to wake people up from their
normal apathy, so that for a few months European eyes were actually
directed towards the Flowery Land, and the /Illustrated London News/,
with praiseworthy zeal, sent out a special correspondent, whose
valuable contributions to that journal will be a record for ever. The
ceremony, however, was hardly over before a bitter drop rose in the
Imperial cup. Barbarians from beyond the sea came forward to claim
the right of personal interview with the sovereign of all under Heaven.
The story of the first audience is still fresh in our memories; the trivial

difficulties introduced by obstructive statesmen at every stage of the
proceedings, questions of etiquette and precedence raised at every turn,
until finally the /kotow/ was triumphantly rejected and five bows
substituted in its stead. Every one saw the curt paragraph in the /Peking
Gazette/, which notified that on such a day and at such an hour the
foreign envoys had been admitted to an interview with the Emperor.
We all laughed over the silly story so sedulously spread by the Chinese
to every corner of the Empire, that our Minister's knees had knocked
together from terror when Phaeton-like he had obtained his dangerous
request; that he fell down flat in the very presence, breaking all over
into a profuse perspiration, and that the haughty prince who had acted
as his conductor chid him for his want of course, bestowing upon him
the contemptuous nickname of "chicken-feather."
[*] These are--bears' paws, deers' tail, ducks' tongues, torpedos' roe,
camels' humps, monkeys' lips, carps' tails, and beef-marrow.
Subsequently, in the spring of 1874, the late Emperor made his great
pilgrimage to worship at the tombs of his ancestors. He had previous to
his marriage performed this filial duty once, but the mausoleum
containing his father's bones was not then completed, and the whole
thing was conducted in a private, unostentatious manner. But on the
last occasion great preparations were made and vast sums spent (on
paper), that nothing might be wanting to render the spectacle as
imposing as money could make it. Royalty was to be seen humbly
performing the same hallowed rites which are demanded of every child,
and which can under no circumstances be delegated to any other person
as long as there is a son or a daughter living. The route along which His
Majesty was to proceed was lined with closely-packed crowds of loyal
subjects, eager to set eyes for once in their lives upon a being they are
taught to regard as the incarnation of divinity; and when the Sacred
Person really burst upon their view, the excitement was beyond
description. Young and old, women and children, fell simultaneously
upon their knees, and tears and sobs mingled with the blessings
showered upon His Majesty by thousands of his simple-minded,
affectionate people.

The next epoch in the life of this youthful monarch occurred a few
months ago. The Son of Heaven[*] had not availed himself of western
science to secure immunity from