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 n.o.body 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 a.s.sured 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 doc.u.ments 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 G.o.ds 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 antic.i.p.ated 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 a.s.sured 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 j.a.panese Legation came with Madame Uchida, wife of the j.a.panese 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 ent.i.tled 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 j.a.panese 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s the time making fancy ta.s.sels for Her Majesty"s cushions, in fact doing anything so long as we did not idle.
It was during the Spring that Yuan Shih Kai paid another visit to the Palace, and among other subjects discussed was the Russo-j.a.pan war. He told Her Majesty that it was developing into a very serious affair and that he feared China would be the princ.i.p.al 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 j.a.panese of a large quant.i.ty of rice, but had decided to take no action whatever in the matter, which resolve Yuan Shih Kai 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 Yu Wei (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 Yu Wei the Emperor had been a zealous adherent to the traditions of his ancestors but since then had plainly shown 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 Yung Lu, a member of the Grand Council, and Yuan Shill Kai, Viceroy of Chihli, 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 Empress Dowager as Regent of China.)
Her Majesty had immediately ordered the capture of Kang Yu Wei 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 commanded the Board of Works to prepare a model of the new building in accordance with her own ideas, and submit it 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 criticised 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 Yen 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 Manchu 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 Fifteenth 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 expense herself and make a present 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 fault 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 p.r.o.nunciation, 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 it 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 the 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 worth 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 grave doubts on the subject. He also enquired 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 servant 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 see 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 Li Lien 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 Li Lien Ying, and therefore concluded that he had been able to arrange the matter satisfactorily.
The Summer pa.s.sed without anything further important occurring. During the eighth moon the bamboos were cut down and here again the Court ladies were called upon to a.s.sist, our work being to carve designs and characters on the cut trees, Her Majesty a.s.sisting. These were afterwards made into chairs, tables and other useful articles for Her Majesty"s teahouse. During the long Autumn evenings Her Majesty would teach us Chinese history and poetry and every tenth 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 humor 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 the next minute.
As Her Majesty"s seventieth 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 former ones was that Her Majesty gave presents to the Court, in addition to receiving them. These included the bestowal of t.i.tles, promotions and increases in salary.
Among the t.i.tles conferred by Her Majesty, my sister and myself received the t.i.tle of Chun Chu Hsien (Princess). These t.i.tles, however, were confined to members of the Court, and were granted specially by the Empress 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 10th 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 gla.s.s roofs to keep out the snow. The theatres 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 pa.s.sed 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 supposed 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 eleventh moon, as Her Majesty insisted on making clothes for us and other 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 thirteenth as being the best. We therefore left the Palace for our own house on the twelfth.
We kowtowed and said good-bye to Her Majesty, thanking her for her many kindnesses during our stay with her. Everybody cried, even Her Majesty.
We then went to say good-bye 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 good-bye 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 Tientsin where we just managed to catch the last steamer of the season leaving for Shanghai. As it was, the water was so shallow that we ran aground on the Taku bar.
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 Peking 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 Peking 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 Chinwantao, from thence by rail to Peking. It was a most miserable journey and I was very glad when it was over. Her Majesty had 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 heartily 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 new 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 girlhood.
Although I was not able to do much towards influencing Her Majesty in the matter of reform, I still hope to live to see the day when China shall wake up and take her proper place among the nations of the world.