THE GREAT AUDIENCE HALL--SOME OFFICIAL
CUSTOMS
When His Majesty the Emperor reigned alone, he was in the habit of
holding his Audiences as early as three o’clock A.M. It is said,
however, that this custom was owing as much to his personal shyness as
to his love of early rising, for at these Audiences he would allow but
two candles on the Throne-table in front of him, and the Great Hall
was lighted elsewhere only by the beautiful Chinese lanterns, which
shine with but a dim brilliancy and are not very effective as lights.
Thus his face could not be seen if an official should so forget the
Proprieties as to raise his eyes to the Imperial Person.
Their Majesties’ Audiences are held in the Great Audience Hall, a
detached building apart and quite distinct from all the other buildings
of the Palace inclosure. The inscription over its great doors points
out that it is the “Hall where Industry is to be applied to State
Affairs.” In all the Palaces the Audience Hall is nearest the outside
walls and entrances, so that the officials who are privileged to
have Audiences must only pass through the outer courts to reach the
hall--Their Majesties’ Palaces with their private apartments being at
some distance beyond. At the Winter Palace, where there are so many
walls within walls, each of Their Majesties’ Palaces is surrounded with
walls, and the Audience Hall is also in a walled-in inclosure near one
of the Great Gates, but at the Summer Palace there are no walls except
the exterior ones!
The interior of the Audience Hall, at the Summer Palace, is not by
any means bare or austere. It is furnished in the same style as the
Throne-rooms, with splendid ornaments, curios, tea-tables and chairs,
and, curious anachronism, there are here three pianos! The walls are
hung with ornamental scrolls, as well as with those bearing some
gigantic character traced by an Emperor’s hand or some condensed bit of
philosophy of the Sages. One of these scrolls has an admonition to the
Emperor to remember that “he is responsible to Heaven for the happiness
and prosperity of his people.”
There is a great dais in the center of the hall, on which stands
the Throne, with its table, behind which is the three-, five-, or
seven-leaved screen. The ancient dais was lower than those now used,
and the antique Throne, with its capacious size and cushions, was more
like a lounge than the modern Throne. This seems to indicate that the
administration of justice by the Emperor was in ancient times less
formal and more patriarchal than to-day. In former times the Emperor
could lounge upon his Throne at his ease when seeing his Ministers, and
they could approach nearer the Sacred Person, as the dais was not so
large nor so high as that in use to-day.
Heads of departments and Princes with honorary official positions
have Audiences on certain days of the month, to report upon affairs of
their Boards or to pay their respects to His Majesty. Every day Their
Majesties hold Audience and see the Prime Minister and Grand Secretary,
and there are frequent meetings of the Grand Council. The Prime
Minister, Prince Ching, has the last Audience of the day, and business
reported on during the other Audiences is then discussed.
All telegrams and despatches go to their respective Boards, and are,
except in cases of extreme gravity, only reported to Their Majesties
at the Audiences. After eleven all State business is supposed to be
finished by Their Majesties. They are then free from State worries
and cares until the following day. During the times of the rebellion
in the Province of Kwang-Si, when the Russian evacuation of Manchuria
was expected, and at the time of outbreak of hostilities in Manchuria
(the three grave events occurring during my stay in the Palace),
telegrams and despatches were constantly being sent to Her Majesty out
of Audience hours. They were brought to her Throne-room, and sometimes
even during her walks in the gardens they would be handed her. These
despatches were sent over to the Palace from the Wai-Wu-Pu on their
arrival. Of course, it was by Her Majesty’s express command that her
privacy was thus infringed upon. No official would otherwise have
dared transgress the prescribed rules. The despatches were received
at the entrance of the Palace by the eunuch whose province it was. He
placed them in the yellow-covered, silken-lined box, in which they were
presented to Her Majesty on bended knees.
In front of the Throne dais, during the hours of Audience, there are
five cushions placed on the floor for the members of the Grand Council
to kneel upon when they are memorializing Their Majesties. The Prime
Minister’s cushion is nearest the Throne. A cushion to kneel upon
is a privilege only granted members of the Grand Council. Any other
official, when making communications to Their Majesties, must kneel
upon the bare marble floor, and must kneel beyond the space occupied by
these five cushions. He is thus placed at a disadvantage. The distance
at which he is from Their Majesties may prevent his hearing some of
their words, especially the Emperor’s, whose voice is very low and
without any carrying quality. The official may overcome this difficulty
and shorten the distance by paying the eunuch who conducts him to the
Audience Hall, to remove some of the cushions, so that he may kneel
nearer the dais. The Prime Minister’s and Grand Secretary’s cushions
may on no condition be removed, but the other three are subject to the
will of the introducing eunuch. If this latter be sufficiently paid,
and there is a fixed price for each cushion, he will remove the three
of the lower members of the Cabinet.
When the official who has been granted an Audience is conducted to
the Audience Hall by the eunuch appointed for the purpose, the latter
throws open the great doors, falls upon his knees at the threshold,
and announces the name and position of the official, gives the hour
and minute of his arrival at the Palace, and, before he rises, he has
deftly removed the cushions for which he has received the required
sum. After his name has been announced, the official enters and kneels
as near the dais as is consistent with his rank and the sum paid the
eunuch. When the eunuch has introduced the official, he turns from
the door and must run away as fast as he can. Officials and eunuchs
stationed at some distance watch his departure. Should he linger or
transgress this law, capital punishment is the result. This is to avoid
eavesdropping and the possible transmission of State secrets.
When the official granted an Audience hears the last echo of the
steps of the departing eunuch, he falls upon his knees and begins the
relation of his business. Their Majesties question him, if necessary,
to elicit further explanations. When the Audience is finished, the
official rises and walks out. The Chinese never back out of the
Presence, and it is not considered a breach of etiquette to turn their
backs upon Royalty!
The officials who are obliged to go often to Audiences resort to an
amusing subterfuge to protect their knees from the marble floor. They
strap heavily wadded cushions around their knees before they go in, and
they can thus kneel in comfort. The long Chinese gown worn by the men,
of course, hides these knee cushions.
[Illustration: THE OFFICIAL AUDIENCE OF THEIR MAJESTIES]
His Majesty assumed the cares of State at an early age, when he was
still filled with boyish spirit. Many of the heads of departments are
old men, and some of them doubtless most tiresome in reiterating facts
and dwelling upon details. When the young Emperor first took over
the direction of affairs and held his Audiences alone, he would get
very impatient at hearing several of these old men go over tiresome
details. As it is not “according to the laws of propriety” for the
official to raise his eyes to the Sacred Person, while the old man
rambled on, with prosy detail, the young Emperor would slip off the
Throne and quietly descend from the dais, and when the poor official
raised his eyes to make his obeisance to the Emperor, he would see only
the vacant Throne! His Majesty had been in the rear of the hall behind
the screen for perhaps five minutes smoking a cigarette or otherwise
diverting himself!
I noticed a curious fact as to the quality of the sacredness of the
persons of Their Celestial Majesties. This sacredness seems to belong
to them as rulers and not as individuals. In the Audience Hall when
administering justice, they are not approached nor addressed, except
upon bended knee. In the Palace, in their own privacy, when they give
an order or any command touching upon official affairs, this order
is received by the attendant, be he courtier, high official or great
prince, on his knees. When any official communication is made to Their
Majesties, in private or elsewhere, it is made kneeling, but when Their
Majesties are in their private capacity and spoken to on ordinary
affairs, they are addressed almost familiarly, and the courtier or
simple attendant stands while speaking to them. If, however, in the
midst of a familiar conversation an order is given, the attendant
immediately drops upon his knees to receive it.
The kow-tow (pronounced ker-toe and meaning literally to bow the head)
is used as a form of thanks, and is not a manner of greeting. The
actors kow-tow to Their Majesties at the beginning and end of each
performance at the Theater, first to thank for the honor they are to
receive in being allowed to act before them, and at the end to thank
for the privilege granted. The officials “bow the head” to thank for
an Audience or any favor or gift they have received or are to receive
from Their Majesties. The kow-tow is not only made by people at the
Palace and at Imperial Audiences: it is sometimes used by equals to
each other as a proper manner of thanking for some great favor. To make
the kow-tow, the person kneels three times and each time bows his head
three times, touching the ground with it. The kow-tow could not be made
by a foreigner without looking most awkward and appearing most servile,
but the Chinese do it with dignity, and it is neither ungraceful nor
degrading-looking. It is a time-honored manner of giving thanks,
a Chinese tradition surviving from a time when the courtiers were
perhaps like slaves, but at present it does not imply any slave-like
inferiority on the part of him who performs it.