No one informed us the day before that there was to be an audience
to receive the Russian Minister's wife on that very day. We told Her
Majesty that we must go and change our clothes in order to receive this
lady. The dresses we wore that day were very simply made and short. The
reason we wore this kind of costume was that there was no carpet and
the bare brick floor had ruined our beautiful red velvet gowns, also the
clumsy eunuchs had kept stepping on our trains all the time. We had made
up our minds that short dresses for general wear every day would be more
practical. Her Majesty said: "Why must you change your clothes? I see
you look much better without that tail dragging behind you on the floor.
I laughed at the idea of having a tail on one's dresses. I noticed that
the first day when you came to the Court." Before we had time to
explain to her, she said: "I see, dresses with tails behind must be more
dignified than short ones, am I right?" We told her it was so. Then she
said: "Go and put on your most beautiful gowns at once." We immediately
went and changed. My sister and myself wore our pink crepe de chine
gowns, trimmed with Brussels lace and transparent yokes of the same
color chiffon. My mother wore her gray crepe de chine embroidered with
black roses and a little touch of pale blue satin on her collar and
belt. We dressed in a great hurry, as Her Majesty had sent eunuchs to
see if we were ready. When she saw us she exclaimed: "Here are three
fairies with long tails." Then she asked us: "Is it very tiring to hold
half of your dress in your hand when you are walking? The costume is
pretty, but I do dislike the tail, there is no sense having a thing like
that. I wonder what these foreigners will think of me having you dressed
in their costume. I am sure they won't like the idea. My reason is
this: I want them to see you in foreign clothes in order to let them
understand I know something about the way they dress. I must say that
no foreign ladies have yet been presented to me dressed in such lovely
gowns as you three have. I don't believe foreigners are as wealthy as
the Chinese. I also notice they wear very little jewelry. I was told
that I have more jewelry than any sovereign in the world and yet I am
getting more all the time."
We were very busy getting ready to receive Mdme. Plancon, who arrived
about eleven o'clock and was received in the waiting room of the first
courtyard by my sister and from there conducted to the audience hall,
Ren Shou Dien, where she was received by Her Majesty, who was sitting on
her big throne on the raised dais. The Emperor was present, sitting on
Her Majesty's left hand and I stood on her right to interpret for her.
Her Majesty was dressed in a yellow transparent satin brocade gown,
embroidered with hollyhocks and the Chinese character "Shou" (Long Life)
and trimmed with gold braid. She wore her big pearl, which is about the
size and shape of an egg, suspended from the button of her dress, also
numerous bracelets and rings and gold finger nail protectors. Her hair
was dressed in the same style as usual.
When Mdme. Plancon entered the hall, my sister brought her to the steps
of the dais and she courtesied to Her Majesty. I then went forward and
brought her up onto the dais and Her Majesty shook hands with her and
she presented the photograph which she had brought to Her Majesty.
Her Majesty made a very pretty speech of acceptance, expressing her
appreciation of the gift of their Majesties, the Czar and Czarina. I
interpreted this speech in French to Mdme. Plancon, as she could not
speak English. After this, Her Majesty told me to take Mdme. Plancon to
the Emperor, which I did. He stood up when she came near and shook hands
with her and asked after their Majesties' health. This over, Her Majesty
stepped down from her throne and took Mdme. Plancon to her own Palace,
the one with so many bedrooms, and when they arrived, Her Majesty asked
her to sit down, and they talked together for about ten minutes, I
interpreting for them, after which I took her to see the Young Empress.
The Manchu law is very strict as regards the mother-in-law and the
daughter-in-law, and the Young Empress had been sitting behind the
screen at the back of the throne during the audience, and it was there
that I found her. From there we went to the banquet hall, where luncheon
was served in Manchu style.
Here I must explain the difference between the Chinese way of eating and
the Manchu. The Chinese place the bowls of food, one at a time, in the
center of the table and everyone eats out of these bowls, sticking their
chopsticks in and helping themselves to what they want. The Manchus eat
quite differently and are served with individual bowls and dishes, the
same as in any other country. Her Majesty was very proud of this and
said that it saved time, not to mention being cleaner. The food in the
Palace was always very good and clean, especially when we had foreign
guests, and of course we had a variety of dishes for such occasions,
such as sharkfins, birds' nest pudding, not to mention a great quantity
of other things.
Her Majesty had given me the order that morning to have the tables
nicely decorated and they did look very nice when we sat down.
Besides the usual tableware, we had gold dragon menu holders, little
peach-shaped silver saucers filled with almonds and dried watermelon
seeds, and knives and forks in addition to chopsticks.
Her Majesty and the Emperor never ate with guests, so Mdme. Plancon was
entertained by the Imperial Princess and the Court ladies. When luncheon
was half over a eunuch came and told me that Her Majesty wanted to see
me at once. The thought flashed through my head that something had gone
wrong, or that some of the eunuchs had been making false reports, a bad
habit of the Court; and I was much surprised to find her all smiles. She
told me what a nice, polite lady Mdme. Plancon was, that she had seen
many ladies who had come to the Court, but none with manners like this
one, that she was sorry to say that some of the ladies who came did not
behave very well. She said: "They seem to think we are only Chinese and
do not know anything, and look down upon us. I notice these things very
quickly and am surprised to see people who claim to be well educated and
civilized acting the way they do. I think we whom they call barbarians
are much more civilized and have better manners." She was always very
polite to the foreign ladies, no matter how badly they behaved, but
after they had gone, she would tell us who was nice and who was not.
After she had finished saying this, she gave me a beautiful piece of
green jade to give to Madame Plancon. When I gave it to her, she said
she wished to thank Her Majesty, and I took her to the Palace again.
When we had finished luncheon, she told me how pleased she was with her
reception and the kindness that Her Majesty had shown her, and took her
departure, we accompanying her to the courtyard of the Audience Hall,
where her chair was waiting.
Her Majesty had made a rule or custom that after all guests had
departed, we must go to her and report everything. I suppose she was
like all women, a bit of a gossip as well as the rest; it appeared so at
any rate. She wanted to know what Mdme. Plancon said, whether she liked
the jade and whether she enjoyed her luncheon, etc.
Her Majesty was very well pleased that I had interpreted so well for her
and said: "I have never had anyone to interpret for me this way before.
Although I don't understand the language, I can see that you speak it
fluently. How did you learn? I will never let you go away from me any
more. Sometimes the foreign ladies bring their own interpreters, but
I can't understand their Chinese and have to guess at what they are
saying, especially some of the missionaries Mrs. Conger brings with her.
I am very happy to have you and want you to stay with me as long as
I live and I will arrange a marriage for you, but won't tell you just
now."
I felt very happy at what Her Majesty had said and thought I had made my
debut under very favorable auspices, and was very glad that Her Majesty
liked me; but this marriage question worried me, for nothing was farther
from my mind than this. I afterwards told my mother about it and she
told me not to worry, as I could always refuse when the time came.
When we had told Her Majesty all that Mdme. Plancon had said, she told
us we could go to our rooms, that as we had risen early that morning and
had worked very hard, we must be tired and needed rest, that she would
not need us any more that day. We courtesied to her according to the
custom when saying good night, and retired.