MY father and mother, Lord and Lady Yu Keng, and family, together with
our suite consisting of the First Secretary, Second Secretary, Naval
and Military Attaches, Chancellors, their families, servants,
etc.,--altogether fifty-five people,--arrived in Shanghai on January 2,
1903, on the S.S. "Annam" from Paris, where for four years my father
had been Chinese Minister. Our arrival was anything but pleasant, as the
rain came down in torrents, and we had the greatest difficulty getting
our numerous retinue landed and safely housed, not to mention the tons
of baggage that had to be looked after. We had found from previous
experience that none of our Legation people or servants could be
depended upon to do anything when travelling, in consequence of which
the entire charge devolved upon my mother, who was without doubt
the genius of the party in arranging matters and straightening out
difficulties.
When the launch from the steamer arrived at the jetty off the French
Bund, we were met by the Shanghai Taotai (the highest official in the
city), the Shanghai Magistrate and numerous other officials, all dressed
in their official robes. The Taotai told my father that he had prepared
the Tien Ho Gung (Temple of the Queen of Heaven) for us to reside in
during our stay in Shanghai, but my father refused the offer, saying
that he had telegraphed from Hong Kong and made all arrangements to go
to the Hotel des Colonies in the French Concession. We had had previous
experience staying in this temple while on our way to Japan, where my
father went as Minister in 1895, and did not care to try it a second
time. The building is very old and very much out of repair. It was a
beautiful place in its prime, but had been allowed to go to rack and
ruin. The custom is that the magistrate has to find a place and supply
the food, etc., for high officials when passing through, and it is not
exactly the thing to refuse their kind offer, but my father was always
very independent and politely declined all proffers of assistance.
At last we did safely arrive in the Hotel des Colonies, where my
father found awaiting him two telegrams from the Imperial Palace. These
telegrams ordered my father to go to Peking at once, but, as the river
to Tientsin was frozen, it was out of the question for us to go by that
route, and as my father was very old and quite ill at that time, in
fact constantly under the doctor's care, the only accessible way, via
Chinwangtao, was equally out of the question, as it was a long and most
tedious journey and quite beyond his strength. In view of all these
difficulties, he telegraphed that, after the ice had broken up in the
Peiho River, we would come by the first steamer leaving Shanghai for
Tientsin.
We left Shanghai on the 22d of February and arrived at Tientsin on the
26th, and, as before, were met by the Customs Taotai of the port and
numerous other officials (the same as when we arrived at Shanghai).
There is a very curious custom of reverence, which must be performed by
all high officials on their return from abroad. Immediately upon landing
on the shores of China, arrangements are made with the nearest Viceroy
or Governor to receive their obeisance to Ching Sheng An (to worship the
Emperor of Peace), a Taotai being considered of too low a rank for such
an honor. As soon as we arrived, Yuan Shih Kai, who was then Viceroy of
Chihli Province at Tientsin, sent an official to my father to prepare
the time and place for this function, which is an extremely pretty
one. When arrangements had been made, both my father and Yuan Shih Kai
dressed in their full ceremonial robes, which is the dragon long robe,
with a reddish black three-quarter length coat over it, chao chu (amber
beads), hat with peacock feather and red coral button, and repaired at
once to the Wan Shou Kung (10,000 years palace), which is especially
built for functions of this kind, where they were met by a large number
of officials of the lower grades. At the back centre of this Temple, or
Palace, stands a very long narrow table on which are placed the tablets
of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, on which is written, "Wan sway, wan
sway, wan wan sway" (10,000 years times 10,000 years times 10,000
10,000 years). The Viceroy, or in this case Yuan Shih Kai, and the other
officials arrived first. Yuan stood at the left side of this table and
the others arranged themselves in two diminishing lines starting from
the front corners of the table. Soon afterward my father came and knelt
directly in front of the centre of the table and said, "Ah ha Ching
Sheng An" (Your servant gives you greeting). After this ceremony was
over my father immediately arose and inquired after Their Majesties'
health, and Yuan replied that they were quite well. This closed the
function.
We stayed in Tientsin for three days, arriving in Peking on the
twenty-ninth. My father's condition was much worse and he begged for
four months' leave of absence, in which to recuperate, which was granted
by Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager. As our beautiful mansion, which we
had built and furnished just before leaving for Paris, was burned during
the Boxer Rising of 1900, entailing a loss of over taels 100,000, we
rented and moved into a Chinese house. Our old house was not entirely
new. When we bought the place there was a very fine but old Chinese
house, the palace of a Duke, standing on the ground, and by some clever
re-arrangement and building on, it was transformed into a beautiful
foreign style house with all the fine hardwood carving of the old house
worked into it. By using the words "foreign style," it is meant that, in
so far as the Chinese house could be made to look like a foreign house,
without tearing it down entirely, it was changed, that is the doors
and windows, passageways, furnishings, etc., were foreign, but the
arrangement of the house itself and courtyard was Chinese. This, like
all Chinese houses in Peking, was built in a very rambling fashion,
and with the gardens, covered about ten acres of ground. We had just
finished furnishing it and moved in only four days when we left for
Paris; and it has always been a great sorrow to my family that we should
lose this magnificent place, after having spent so much time and money
in building and beautifying it. However, this is only one of the many
trials that a high official in China is called upon to bear.
The houses in Peking are built in a very rambling fashion, covering a
large amount of ground, and our former house was no exception to the
rule. It had sixteen small houses, one story high, containing about 175
rooms, arranged in quadrangles facing the courtyard, which went to make
up the whole; and so placed, that without having to actually go out of
doors, you could go from one to the other by verandas built along the
front and enclosed in glass. My reader will wonder what possible use
we could make of all of these rooms; but what with our large family,
numerous secretaries, Chinese writers, messengers, servants, mafoos
(coachmen), and chair coolies, it was not a difficult task to use them.
The gardens surrounding the houses were arranged in the Chinese way,
with small lakes, stocked with gold fish, and in which the beautiful
lotus flower grew; crossed by bridges; large weeping willows along the
banks; and many different varieties of flowers in prettily arranged
flower beds, running along winding paths, which wound in and out between
the lakes. At the time we left for Paris, in the month of June, 1899,
the gardens were a solid mass of flowers and foliage, and much admired
by all who saw them.
As we now had no place of our own in Peking we did not know where to
go, so, while we were at Tientsin, my father telegraphed to one of his
friends to find him a house. After some little trouble one was secured,
and it turned out to be a very famous place indeed. It was the house
where Li Hung Chang signed the treaties with the Foreign Powers after
the Boxer Rising and also where he died. We were the first people to
live there since the death of Li Hung Chang, as the Chinese people were
very superstitious and were afraid that, if they went there to live,
something dreadful would happen to them. We soon made ourselves very
comfortable, and while we lived there, none of the dreadful things
happened to us that all of our good friends told us would be visited
upon us if we dared to take this place. However, in view of our having
lost our place by fire, I am inclined to think that their fears were
well founded.
The loss sustained by having this house burned we never recovered, as my
father, being an official of the Government, it would have been very
bad form to have tried to recover this money, besides a possible loss
of standing, as Government officials are supposed never to consider
themselves or families in the service of their country, and any private
losses in the service must be borne without complaint.
On the first of March, 1903, Prince Ching and his son, Prince Tsai Chen,
came to see us and told us that Her Majesty wished to see my mother, my
sister, and myself at once; that we should be at the Summer Palace (Wan
Shou Shan) at six o'clock the following morning. My mother told Prince
Ching that we had been wearing foreign clothes all these years, while
abroad, and had no suitable Manchu clothes to wear. He replied that he
had told Her Majesty all about us and also mentioned that he had seen us
in European attire and she had said that it would not be necessary for
us to wear Manchu costume to go to the Palace, that she would be glad
to have us wear foreign clothes, as it would give her an opportunity to
study the foreign way of dressing. Both my sister and myself had a
very difficult time deciding what we should wear for this occasion;
she wished to wear her pale blue velvet gown, as she thought that color
suited her the best. My mother had always made us dress exactly alike,
ever since we were little girls. I said that I preferred to wear my red
velvet gown, as I had the idea it might please Her Majesty. After a long
discussion I had my way. We had lovely red hats trimmed with plumes and
the same color shoes, and stockings to match. My mother wore a lovely
gown of sea green chiffon cloth embroidered with pale mauve iris and
trimmed with mauve velvet; she wore her large black velvet hat with long
white plumes.
As we lived in the central part of the city and the only means of travel
was by sedan chair and the distance from our house to the Palace was
about thirty-six Chinese li (a three-hour ride), we had to start at
three o'clock in the morning, in order to be there at six. As this was
our first visit to the Palace, Prince Ching's message threw us into a
great state of excitement, and we were naturally anxious to look our
best and to be there on time. It had been the dream of my life to go to
the Palace and see what it was like, and up to this time I had never
had an opportunity, as most of my life had been spent out of Peking,--in
fact, out of China. Another reason why this chance had never come
before was, that my father had never registered our names (my sister and
myself) in the Government book for the registration of births of Manchu
children, in consequence of which the Empress Dowager did not know until
we came back from Paris that Lord Yu Keng had any daughters. My father
told me the reason why he did not put our names in this book was, that
he wished to give us the best education obtainable, and the only way
he could do it was not to let the Empress Dowager know. Besides this,
according to the Manchu custom, the daughters of all Manchu officials
of the second rank and above, after reaching the age of fourteen years,
should go to the Palace, in order that the Emperor may select them for
secondary wives if he so desires, and my father had other plans and
ambitions for us. It was in this way that the late Empress Dowager was
selected by the Emperor Hsien Feng.
(comment: li is 1/3 mile or 1/2 km)
We started at three o'clock that morning in total darkness riding in
four coolie sedan chairs, one on each side of the chair. In going such a
long distance it was necessary to have two relays of chair coolies. This
meant twenty-four coolies for the three chairs, not counting an extra
coolie for each chair who acted as a sort of head chair bearer. Besides
this there were three military officers on horses, one for each chair
and two servants riding at the back of each chair. In addition there
were three big Chinese carts following behind for the chair coolies to
ride in and rest. This made a cavalcade consisting of forty-five men,
nine horses and three carts.
I had a rather nervous feeling riding along in the chair surrounded by
inky blackness, with nothing to relieve the stillness of the night but
the rough voices of the chair bearers calling back and forth to each
other to be careful of stones and holes in the road, which was very
uneven, and the clump, clump of the horses. To my readers who have never
had the experience of riding a long distance in a sedan chair I would
say that it is a most uncomfortable conveyance, as you have to sit
perfectly still and absolutely straight, otherwise the chair is liable
to upset. This ride was a very long one and I felt quite stiff and tired
by the time I reached the Palace gates.