ON the twenty-sixth day of the fifth moon, during the morning audience,
Prince Ching told Her Majesty that Mrs. Conger, the wife of the American
Minister to Peking, had asked for a private audience, and would Her
Majesty please mention a day. She told him not to give any answer until
the next day, just to give her time to think it over. I was sitting
behind the large screen, listening, but the other Court ladies made
too much noise, so Her Majesty ordered them not to say a word during
audience. I was very glad myself, because I could listen to some of the
interesting conversations between the Empress Dowager and her Ministers.
After the audience, Her Majesty ordered her lunch to be served on the
top of the hill at Pai Yuen Dien (Spreading Cloud Pavilion). She said
that she preferred to walk, so we followed her very slowly. To get to
this place we had to mount two hundred and seventy-two steps, besides
ten minutes' climbing over rough stones. She did not seem to mind
the climbing part at all. It was the funniest thing to see two little
eunuchs on either side, to support her arms, trying to keep pace with
her. I noticed that she was very much preoccupied, and did not speak
to any of us. When we arrived at our destination we were very tired and
quite exhausted. Her Majesty, who was a good walker herself, laughed at
us. She was always very much pleased when she excelled in games of skill
or endurance. She said: "You see I am old, and can walk much faster than
you young people. You are all no use. What is the matter with you?" Her
Majesty was very fond of receiving compliments. I had been there long
enough to know and had learned to say things which would please her. She
also hated anyone to pay her compliments at the wrong moment, so one had
to be very careful even in paying her compliments.
This "spreading cloud" pavilion was a beautiful Palace. It had an open
space in front of the building, just like one of the courtyards, with
pink and white oleanders all over the place. There was a porcelain table
and several porcelain stools. Her Majesty sat on her own yellow satin
stool and was drinking her tea in silence. It was very windy that day,
although the sky was blue with warm sunshine. Her Majesty sat there
just for a few minutes, and then said it was too windy and went into the
building. I was more than glad to go in, too, and whispered to the Young
Empress that I thought the wind might blow off my headdress. The eunuchs
brought the luncheon and placed everything upon the table. The Young
Empress made a sign for us to follow her, which we did. When we came to
the back veranda we sat down on the window seats. I will explain about
these seats. All the windows were built low at the Palace, and on the
veranda there was something like a bench built along the window, about
a foot wide. There were no chairs to be seen excepting Her Majesty's
thrones. The Young Empress asked me whether I had noticed that Her
Majesty had something on her mind. I told her that perhaps she was
thinking about the private audience which Prince Ching had mentioned
that morning. She said that I had guessed right, and asked: "Do you know
anything about this audience? When will it take place?" I said that Her
Majesty had not yet given her answer.
By this time Her Majesty had finished eating and was walking up and down
the room, watching us eating. She came over to my mother and said: "I am
just wondering why Mrs. Conger asks for a private audience. Perhaps she
has something to say to me. I would like to know just what it is so I
can prepare an answer." My mother said that probably Mrs. Conger had
someone visiting her who wished to be presented to Her Majesty. "No,
it can't be that, because they must give the list of names of those who
wish to come to the Palace. I don't mind the formal audiences, but I
don't think that I should have private ones at all. I don't like to be
questioned, as you all know. The foreigners are, of course, very nice
and polite, according to their own way, but they cannot compare with us,
so far as etiquette is concerned. I may be conservative in saying that I
admire our custom and will not change it as long as I live. You see our
people are taught to be polite from their earliest childhood, and just
look back at the oldest teachings and compare them with the new. People
seem to like the latter the best. I mean that the new idea is to be
Christians, to chop up their Ancestral Tablets and burn them. I know
many families here who have broken up because of the missionaries, who
are always influencing the young people to believe their religion. Now
I tell you why I feel uneasy about this audience is because we are too
polite to refuse anyone who asks any favors in person. The foreigners
don't seem to understand that. I'll tell you what I will do. Whenever
they ask me anything, I'll simply tell them that I am not my own boss,
but have to consult with my Ministers; that although I am the Empress
Dowager of China, I must also obey the law. To tell the truth, I like
Madame Uchida (wife of the Japanese Minister to Peking) very much. She
is always very nice and doesn't ask any silly questions. Of course the
Japanese are very much like ourselves, not at all forward. Last year,
before you came to the Court, a missionary lady came with Mrs. Conger,
and suggested that I should establish a school for girls at the Palace.
I did not like to offend her, and said that I would take it into
consideration. Now, just imagine it for a moment. Wouldn't it be foolish
to have a school at the Palace; besides, where am I going to get so
many girls to study? I have enough to do as it is. I don't want all the
children of the Imperial family studying at my Palace."
Her Majesty laughed while she was telling us this, and everyone else
laughed, too. She said: "I am sure you will laugh. Mrs. Conger is a
very nice lady. America is always very friendly towards China, and I
appreciate their nice behavior at the Palace during the twenty-sixth
year of Kwang Hsu (1900), but I cannot say that I love the missionaries,
too. Li Lien Ying told me that these missionaries here give the Chinese
a certain medicine, and that after that they wish to become Christians,
and then they would pretend to tell the Chinese to think it over very
carefully, for they would never force anyone to believe their religion
against their own will. Missionaries also take the poor Chinese children
and gouge their eyes out, and use them as a kind of medicine." I told
her that that was not true; that I had met a great many missionaries,
and that they were very kind-hearted and willing to do anything to
help the poor Chinese. I also told her what they had done for the poor
orphans--given them a home, food and clothing; that sometimes they went
into the interior and found the blind children who might be useless to
their parents, and when they get them they have to support them. I
know several cases like that. These country people offer their deformed
children to the missionaries, as they are too poor to feed and take care
of them. I told her about their schools, and how they helped the poor
people. Her Majesty then laughed, and said: "Of course I believe what
you say, but why don't these missionaries stay in their own country and
be useful to their own people?" I thought it would be of no use for me
to talk too much, but at the same time I would like her to know of the
dreadful times some of the missionaries had in China. Some time ago,
two of them were murdered at Wu Shuih, in June, 1892 (a little below
Hankow), the church being burnt down by the mob. My father was appointed
by Viceroy Chang Chih Tung to investigate the matter. After much trouble
he caught three of the murderers and, according to the Chinese law, they
were put to death by hanging in wooden cages, and the Government paid an
indemnity to the families of the murdered missionaries. The year after,
1893, a Catholic church was burnt down at Mar Cheng, on the Yangtse,
near Ichang. The mob said they saw many blind children at the church,
who were made to work after having their eyes gouged out. The Prefect of
Ichang Province said it was true that missionaries did get the Chinese
childrens' eyes for making medicine, so my father suggested having those
blind children brought into the Yamen and ask them. The Prefect was
a most wicked man, and was very anti-foreign also. He gave the poor
children plenty of food, and taught them to say that the missionaries
did gouge their eyes out, but when they were brought in the next day
they said that the missionaries treated them very kindly and gave them a
nice home, good food and clothing. They said they were blind long before
they became Catholics, and also said that the Prefect had taught them
to say that the missionaries were cruel to them, which was not true. The
blind children begged to go back to the school and said that they were
very happy there.
Her Majesty said: "That may be all right for them to help the poor and
relieve their suffering. For instance, like our great Buddha Ju Lai, who
fed the hungry birds with his own flesh. I would love them if they would
leave my people alone. Let us believe our own religion. Do you know how
the Boxer rising began? Why, the Chinese Christians were to blame. The
Boxers were treated badly by them, and wanted revenge. Of course that is
always the trouble with the low class of people. They went too far,
and at the same time thought to make themselves rich by setting fire to
every house in Peking. It made no difference whose house. They wanted to
burn so long as they could get money. These Chinese Christians are the
worst people in China. They rob the poor country people of their land
and property, and the missionaries, of course, always protect them, in
order to get a share themselves. Whenever a Chinese Christian is taken
to the Magistrate's Yamen, he is not supposed to kneel down on the
ground and obey the Chinese law, as others do, and is always very rude
to his own Government Officials. Then these missionaries do the best
they can to protect him, whether he is wrong or not, and believe
everything he says and make the magistrate set the prisoner free. Do you
remember that your father established rules in the twenty-fourth year of
Kwang Hsu, how the Chinese officials should treat the Bishops whenever
they had dealings with each other? I know the common class of people
become Christians--also those who are in trouble--but I don't believe
that any of the high officials are Christians." Her Majesty looked
around and whispered: "Kang Yue Wai (the reformer in 1898) tried to make
the Emperor believe that religion. No one shall believe as long as
I live. I must say that I admire the foreigners in some ways. For
instance, their navies and armies, and engineers, but as regards
civilization I should say that China is the first country by all means.
I know that many people believe that the Government had connections with
the Boxers, but that is not true. As soon as we found out the trouble we
issued several Edicts, and ordered the soldiers to drive them out, but
they had gone too far already. I made up my mind not to go out of the
Palace at all. I am an old woman, and did not care whether I died or
not, but Prince Tuang and Duke Lan suggested that we should go at once.
They also suggested that we should go in disguise, which made me very
angry, and I refused. After the return of the Court to Peking, I was
told that many people believed that I did go in disguise, and said that
I was dressed in one of my servant's clothes, and rode in a broken cart
drawn by a mule, and that this old woman servant of mine was dressed as
the Empress Dowager, and rode in my sedan chair. I wonder who made that
story up? Of course everyone believed it, and such a story would get to
the foreigners in Peking without any trouble.
"Now to come back to the question of the Boxer Rising. How badly I was
treated by my own servants. No one seemed anxious to go with me, and a
great many ran away before the Court had any idea of leaving the Capital
at all, and those who stayed would not work, but stood around and waited
to see what was going to happen. I made up my mind to ask and see how
many would be willing to go, so I said to everyone: 'If you servants are
willing to go with me, you can do so, and those who are not willing, can
leave me.' I was very much surprised to find that there were very
few standing around listening. Only seventeen eunuchs, two old women
servants and one servant girl, that was Sho Chu. Those people said they
would go with me, no matter what happened. I had 3,000 eunuchs, but they
were nearly all gone before I had the chance of counting them. Some of
the wicked ones were even rude to me, and threw my valuable vases on the
stone floor, and smashed them. They knew that I could not punish them at
that important moment, for we were leaving. I cried very much and prayed
for our Great Ancestors' Souls to protect us. Everyone knelt with me and
prayed. The Young Empress was the only one of my family who went with
me. A certain relative of mine, whom I was very fond of, and gave her
everything she asked, refused to go with me. I knew that the reason she
would not go was because she thought the foreign soldiers would catch up
the runaway Court, and kill everyone.
"After we had been gone about seven days, I sent one eunuch back, to
find out who was still in Peking. She asked this eunuch whether there
were any foreign soldiers chasing us, and whether I was killed. Soon
after the Japanese soldiers took her Palace, and drove her out. She
thought she was going to die anyway, and as I was not yet assassinated,
she might catch up with the Court, and go with us. I could not
understand how she traveled so fast. One evening we were staying at a
little country house, when she came in with her husband, a nice man. She
was telling me how much she had missed me, and how very anxious she
had been all that time to know whether I was safe or not, and cried. I
refused to listen to what she was saying and told her plainly that I did
not believe a word. From that time she was finished for me. I had a very
hard time, traveling in a sedan chair, from early morning, before the
sun rose, until dark and in the evening had to stop at some country
place. I am sure you would pity me, old as I am, that I should have had
to suffer in that way.
"The Emperor went all the way in a cart, drawn by a mule, also the
Empress. I went along, and was praying to our Great Ancestors for
protection, but the Emperor was very quiet, and never opened his mouth.
One day something happened. It rained so much and some of the chair
carriers ran away. Some of the mules died suddenly. It was very hot,
and the rain was pouring down on our heads. Five small eunuchs ran away
also, because we were obliged to punish them the night before on account
of their bad behavior to the Magistrate, who did all he could to make
me comfortable, but of course food was scarce. I heard these eunuchs
quarreling with the Magistrate, who bowed to the ground, begging them
to keep quiet, and promised them everything. I was of course very angry.
Traveling under such circumstances one ought to be satisfied that one
was provided for.
"It took us more than a month before we reached Shi An. I cannot tell
you how fatigued I was, and was of course worrying very much, which made
me quite ill for almost three months. So long as I live I cannot forget
it.
"We returned to Peking early in the twenty-eighth year of Kwang Hsu and
I had another dreadful feeling when I saw my own Palace again. Oh! it
was quite changed; a great many valuable ornaments broken or stolen. All
the valuable things at the Sea Palace had been taken away, and someone
had broken the fingers of my white jade Buddha, to whom I used to
worship every day. Several foreigners sat on my throne and had their
photos taken. When I was at the Shi An I was just like being sent
into exile, although the Viceroy's Yamen was prepared for us, but the
building was very old, damp and unhealthy. The Emperor became ill. It
would take a long time to tell you everything; I thought I had enough
trouble, but this last was the worst. When I have time, I will tell you
more about it. I want you to know the absolute truth.
"Now let us come back to the question of Mrs. Conger's private audience.
There must be something special, but I hope that she will not ask for
anything, for I hate to refuse her. Can you guess what it is?" I told
Her Majesty that there could not be anything special; besides, Mrs.
Conger considered herself to be a person who knew Chinese etiquette
very well, and I didn't believe she would ask for anything at all. Her
Majesty said: "The only objection I have is that Mrs. Conger always
brings one of the missionaries as her interpreter, when I have your
mother, your sister and yourself, which I think should be sufficient. I
don't think it is right for her to do that; besides, I cannot understand
their Chinese very well. I like to see the ladies of the Diplomatic
body sometimes, but not the missionaries. I will stop that when the
opportunity comes."
The next morning Prince Ching told Her Majesty that the American
Admiral, and Mrs. Evans, and suite wished to be presented to her. The
American Minister asked two private audiences. He said he had made
a mistake by telling her that Mrs. Conger had asked an audience for
herself, the day before.
After the regular morning audience was over Her Majesty laughed and
said: "Didn't I tell you yesterday that there must be a reason for
asking an audience? I rather would like to meet the American Admiral
and his wife." Turning to us she said: "Be sure and fix everything up
pretty, change everything in my bedroom, so as not to show them our
daily life." We all said "Jur" (yes), but we knew it was going to be a
hard task to turn the Palace upside down.
It was just the night before the appointed audience. We started to work
taking off the pink silk curtains from every window, and changing them
for sky blue (the color she hated); then we changed the cushions on the
chairs to the same color. While we were watching the eunuchs doing the
work, several of them came into the room, carrying a large tray full of
clocks. By this time her Majesty had come into the room, and ordered us
to remove all her white and green jade Buddhas and take some of the jade
ornaments away, for those things were sacred, and no foreigners should
see them, so we replaced them with these clocks, instead. We also took
away the three embroidered door curtains, and changed them for ordinary
blue satin ones. I must explain that these three curtains were sacred,
too. They were embroidered to represent five hundred Buddhist deities,
on old gold satin, and had been used by Emperor Tou Kwang. Her Majesty
believed that by hanging these curtains at her door they would guard
against evil spirits entering her room. The order was that one of us
should remember to place them back again when the audience was over. We
fixed every piece of furniture in her bedroom. Her toilet table was the
most important thing. She would not let anyone see it-not even the wives
of the Officials who came in, so of course we had to put it in a safe
place, and lock it up. We changed her bed from pink color into blue.
All her furniture was made of sandalwood, also carvings on her bed. This
sandalwood, before it was made into furniture, was placed in different
temples, to be sanctified, so of course no foreigner could see it. As
we could not take this carving from her bed, we covered it up with
embroidered hangings. While we were working Her Majesty came in and told
us not to hurry in her bedroom, because the audience the next day would
only be for Admiral Robley Evans and his staff, and they would not visit
the private rooms. The audience for Mrs. Evans and the other ladies
would be the day after. She said it was important to see that the
Audience Hall was fixed up properly. She said: "Place the only carpet
we have here in the hall. I don't like carpets anyway, but it cannot be
helped."
After we had finished, Her Majesty started to tell us what to wear for
the ladies' audience. She said to me: "You need not come to the throne
to-morrow, there will only be gentlemen. I will get one of the Ministers
from Wai-Wu-Pu (Bureau of Foreign Affairs). I don't want you to talk to
so many strange men. It is not the Manchu custom. These people are all
strangers. They might go back to America and tell everybody what you
look like." At the same time Her Majesty gave orders for the Imperial
Yellow Gown to be brought in next day, for the gentleman's audience. She
said that she must dress in her official robe for this occasion. This
robe was made of yellow satin, embroidered with gold dragons. She wore a
necklace composed of one hundred and eight pearls, which formed part of
this official dress. She said: "I don't like to wear this official robe.
It is not pretty, but I am afraid I will have to." She said to all of
us: "You need not dress especially."
The next morning Her Majesty got up early, and was busier than ever.
It seemed to me that whenever we had an audience we always had so much
trouble. Something was sure to go wrong and make Her Majesty angry. She
said: "I want to look nice, and be amiable, but these people always make
me angry. I know the American Admiral will go home and tell his people
about me, and I don't want him to have a wrong impression." It took her
almost two hours to dress her hair, and by that time it was too late
for her usual morning audience, so she proposed holding that after the
foreigners had gone away. She looked at herself in the looking-glass,
with her Imperial robe on, and told me that she did not like it, and
asked me whether I thought the foreigners would know that it was an
official robe. "I look too ugly in yellow. It makes my face look the
same color as my robe," she said. I suggested that as it was only a
private audience, if she wished to dress differently, it would not
matter at all. She seemed delighted, and I was afraid lest I had not
made a proper suggestion, but anyway I was too busy to worry. Her
Majesty ordered that her different gowns should be brought in, and
after looking them over she selected one embroidered all over with the
character "Shou" (long life), covered with precious stones and pearls,
on pale green satin. She tried it on, and said that it was becoming to
her, so she ordered me to go to the jewel-room and get flowers to match
for her hair. On one side of the headdress was the character (shou)
and on the other side was a bat (the bat in China is considered to be
lucky). Of course her shoes, handkerchiefs and everything else were
embroidered in the same way. After she was dressed, she smiled and said:
"I look all right now. We had better go to the audience hall and wait
for them, and at the same time we can play a game of dice." Then to us
all she said: "All of you will stay at the back of the screen during
the audience. You can see all right, but I don't wish that you should
be seen." The eunuchs had laid the map down on the table and were just
going to commence playing dice, when one of the high rank eunuchs came
into the Hall and, kneeling down, said that the American Admiral had
arrived at the Palace Gate, together with the American Minister--ten or
twelve people altogether. Her Majesty smiled and said to me: "I thought
it was just going to be the American Minister and the Admiral, and one
or two of his staff. Who can the rest of the people be? However, never
mind, I will receive them anyway." We helped her to mount her throne
upon the dais, fixed her clothes, and handed her the paper containing
the speech she was to give. Then we went back of the screen, with the
Young Empress. It was so very quiet, not a sound anywhere, that we could
hear the boots of the visitors as they walked over the stones in the
courtyard. We were peeping from behind the screen, and could see several
of the Princes mounting the steps, conducting these people to the Hall.
The Admiral and the American Minister came in, and stood in a line. They
bowed three times to the Empress Dowager. The Emperor was also on his
throne, sitting at her left hand. His throne was very small, just
like an ordinary chair. Her Majesty's speech was simply to welcome the
Admiral to China. They then came up to the dais and shook hands with
their Majesties, ascending on one side, and retiring down the other.
Prince Ching took them into another Palace building, where they had
lunch, and the audience was over. It was very simple and formal.
After the audience was over Her Majesty said that she could hear us
laughing behind the screen, and that maybe the people would talk about
it, and did not like it at all. I told her that it was not myself who
laughed. She said: "The next time when I have men in audience you need
not come into the Audience Hall at all. Of course it is different when I
have my own people at the morning audiences."
Her Majesty did not go to her bedroom that afternoon. She said she
wanted to wait until these people had gone and hear what they had to
say. After a couple of hours Prince Ching came in and reported that they
had lunched, and that they were very pleased to have seen Her Majesty,
and had gone away. I must here explain that the Admiral had entered by
the left gate of the Palace. The middle gate was only used for Their
Majesties, with one exception, viz.: in the case of anyone presenting
credentials. Then they entered by the center gate. The Admiral left by
the same gate he had entered. Her Majesty asked Prince Ching whether
he had showed them around the Palace buildings or not (this was in
the Summer Palace), and what they had thought about it. Did they say
anything, and were they pleased or not. She said to Prince Ching: "You
can go now, and make the necessary preparations for the ladies' audience
next day." That same evening Her Majesty said to us: "You must all dress
alike to-morrow, and wear your prettiest clothes. These foreign ladies
who are coming to the Palace may never see us again, and if we don't
show them what we have now, we will not have another opportunity." She
ordered us all, including the Young Empress, to wear pale blue, also the
Secondary wife of the Emperor. She said to me: "If the ladies ask who
the Secondary wife is, you can tell them; but if they don't ask, I don't
want you to introduce her to them at all. I have to be very careful.
These people at the Palace here are not used to seeing so many people
and they might not have nice manners, and the foreigners will laugh at
them." Then she said to us again: "I always give presents when ladies
come to the Court, but don't know whether I will give this time or not,
for at the last audience I did not give anything at all." Addressing me,
she said: "You can prepare some pieces of jade, in case I need them. Put
them in a nice box and have them all ready. Don't bring them to me until
I ask for them." She said: "We have talked enough now, and you can all
go to rest." We courtesied good night. I was only too glad to go to my
own room.
The next morning everything went on very nicely and there was no trouble
at all. Her Majesty was well satisfied, for we had all taken great care
in fixing ourselves up. She said to me: "You never put enough paint on
your face. People might take you for a widow. You will have to paint
your lips, as that is the custom. I don't need you yet, so go back and
put some more paint on." So I went back to my room and painted myself
just like the rest of them, but I could not help laughing at seeing
myself so changed. By the time I got to her room again, she said: "Now
you look all right. If you think that powder is expensive, I will buy
some for you." She said that with a laugh, for she always liked to tease
me.
By the time Her Majesty had finished her toilet, one of the ladies
brought a number of gowns for her to select one from. She said she would
wear pale blue that day. She looked over twenty or thirty gowns, but
found nothing which suited her, so she gave orders for some more to be
brought in. Finally she chose a blue gown embroidered with one hundred
butterflies, and wore a purple sleeveless jacket, which was also
embroidered with butterflies. At the bottom of this gown were pearl
tassels. She wore her largest pearls, one of which was almost as large
as an egg, and was her favorite jewel. She only wore this on special
occasions. She wore two jade butterflies on each side of her headdress.
Her bracelets and rings were also all designed in butterflies, in fact
everything matched. Among her beautiful jewels, she always wore some
kind of fresh flowers. White jessamine was her favorite flower. The
Young Empress and the Court ladies were not allowed to wear fresh
flowers at all unless given to them by Her Majesty as a special favor.
We could wear pearls and jade, etc., but she said that the fresh flowers
were for her, her idea being that we were too young, and might spoil
fresh flowers if we wore them. After she was dressed we went into the
Audience Hall. She ordered her cards to be brought in as she wanted to
play solitaire. She talked all the time she was playing, and said that
we must all be very nice and polite to the American ladies, and
show them everywhere. She said: "It doesn't matter now, for we have
everything changed." She said: "I want to laugh myself. What is the use
of changing everything? They will imagine we are always like this. By
and bye, if they question you about anything, just tell them that it
is not so, and that we change everything at each audience, just to give
them a bit of surprise. You must tell it some day, otherwise no one will
know it at all, and the trouble would not be worth the while." It was a
private audience for ladies, and Her Majesty did not use the big throne,
but was sitting on her little throne at the left side of the Audience
Hall, where she received her own Ministers every morning; the Emperor
was standing. A eunuch came in, the same as the day before, and
announced that the ladies had arrived at the Palace Gate, nine in all.
Her Majesty sent some of the Court ladies to meet them in the courtyard,
and bring them to the Audience Hall, which they did. I was standing at
the right side of Her Majesty's chair, and could see them mounting
the steps. Her Majesty whispered to me, and asked: "Which one is Mrs.
Evans?" As I had never seen the lady, I answered that I could not
tell, but when they got nearer I saw a lady walking with the American
Minister's wife, and concluded that she must be Mrs. Evans, and told Her
Majesty. As they got nearer, Her Majesty said: "Again that missionary
lady with Mrs. Conger. I think she must like to see me. She comes every
time. I will tell her I am very glad to see her always, and see if she
understands what I mean."
Mrs. Conger shook hands with Her Majesty and presented Mrs. Evans and
also the wives of the American officers. I was watching Her Majesty and
saw that she was very nice and amiable, with such a pleasant smile--so
different from her everyday manner. She told them she was delighted to
see them. Her Majesty ordered the eunuchs to have chairs brought in
for the ladies, and at the same time other eunuchs brought in tea. Her
Majesty asked Mrs. Evans whether she liked China; what she thought of
Peking; how long she had been there; how long she was going to stay, and
where she was staying. I was so accustomed to Her Majesty's questions
that I knew exactly what she would ask. Mrs. Conger told her interpreter
to tell Her Majesty that she had not seen her for such a long time, and
enquired about Her Majesty's health. Her Majesty said to me: "You tell
Mrs. Conger that I am in good health and that I am delighted to see her.
It is a pity that I cannot hold an audience more frequently, otherwise
I could see more of her." She continued: "The Imperial Princess (her
adopted daughter-daughter of Prince Kung) will accompany them to lunch."
This ended the audience.
Lunch was served at the back of her own Palace building (Yang Yuen
Hsuen--the place where the clouds gather to rest). This room was
specially furnished as a banqueting room where refreshments could be
served. All the Court ladies went to the lunch, except Her Majesty, the
Young Empress and the Secondary wife. It had taken me two hours to fix
the table for the luncheon. Her Majesty ordered that a white foreign
tablecloth should be used, as it looked cleaner. The eunuch gardeners
had decorated the table with fresh flowers, and Her Majesty gave
instructions as to how the seats were to be placed. She said: "Mrs.
Evans is the guest of honor. Although Mrs. Conger is the wife of the
American Minister, she is more of a resident, so Mrs. Evans must have
the principal seat." She also told me to arrange to seat everybody
according to their respective ranks. The Imperial Princess and Princess
Shun (Her Majesty's niece, sister of the Young Empress) were hostesses,
and were to sit opposite each other. We placed golden menu holders and
little gold plates for almonds and watermelon seeds; the rest all silver
ware, including chopsticks. Her Majesty ordered that foreign knives and
forks should be provided also. The food was served in Manchu style, and
was composed of twenty-four courses, besides sweetmeats--candies and
fruits. Her Majesty instructed us that only the best champagne was to be
served. She said: "I know that foreign ladies love to drink."
I think I was the only one who was really happy to meet these ladies,
more so than the rest of the Court ladies, the reason being that Her
Majesty lectured them too severely, telling them how to behave, so that
they had grown to hate the very mention of a foreign audience. While we
were eating, a eunuch came in and told me that Her Majesty was waiting
at her private Palace, and that I should bring these ladies there after
the lunch was over. So when we had finished we entered her own Palace
and found her waiting there for us. She got up and told me to ask Mrs.
Evans whether she had had anything to eat--that the food was not very
good. (This is a custom with the Chinese when entertaining, always to
underrate the food.) She said that she would like to show Mrs. Evans
her private apartments, so that she could form some idea of the way we
lived, so she took Mrs. Evans to one of her bedrooms. She invited Mrs.
Evans and Mrs. Conger to sit down, and the eunuchs brought in tea, as
usual. Her Majesty asked Mrs. Evans to stay a little while in Peking,
and to visit the different temples. She said: "Our country, although
very old, has not such fine buildings as there are in America. I
suppose you will find everything very strange. I am rather too old now,
otherwise I would like to travel around the world. I have read much
about different countries, but of course there is nothing like visiting
the different places and seeing them yourself. However, one cannot tell.
I may be able to go after all, by and bye, but I am afraid to leave
my own country. By the time I returned I should not know the place any
more, I'm afraid. Here everything seems to depend on me. Our Emperor is
quite young."
She then turned and ordered us to take these ladies to visit the
different buildings of the Palace, also the famous temple of the King
of Dragons. This is on a little island in the center of the lake of
the Summer Palace. Mrs. Conger said that she had something to ask Her
Majesty, and told the Missionary lady to proceed. While Mrs. Conger was
speaking to this lady Her Majesty became rather impatient as she wanted
to know what they were talking about, so she asked me. It was very hard
for me to listen to both of the ladies and to Her Majesty at the same
time. The only words I heard were: "The portrait," so I guessed the
rest. Before I had a chance to tell Her Majesty this Missionary lady
said: "Mrs. Conger has come with the special object of asking permission
to have Her Majesty's portrait painted by an American lady artist, Miss
Carl, as she is desirous of sending it to the St. Louis Exhibition, in
order that the American people may form some idea of what a beautiful
lady the Empress Dowager of China is." Miss Carl is the sister of Mr. F.
Carl who was for so many years Commissioner of Customs in Chefoo.
Her Majesty looked surprised, for she had been listening very carefully
whilst this lady was talking. She did not like to say that she did
not quite understand, so she turned to me, as had been previously
arranged,--a sign for me to interpret. I did not, however, do so
immediately, so Mrs. Conger told her missionary friend to repeat the
request in case Her Majesty had not quite understood it. Her Majesty
then said to me: "I cannot quite understand what this lady says. I think
perhaps you can tell me better." So I explained everything, but I knew
that Her Majesty did not know what a portrait was like, as, up to that
time she had never even had a photograph taken of herself.
I must here explain that in China a portrait is only painted after
death, in memorium of the deceased, in order that the following
generations may worship the deceased. I noticed that Her Majesty was
somewhat shocked when the request was made known to her. I did not want
Her Majesty to appear ignorant before these foreign ladies, so I pulled
her sleeve and told her that I would explain everything to her later.
She replied: "Explain a little to me now." This was spoken in the
Court language, which the visitors were unable to understand, it being
somewhat different from the ordinary Chinese language. This enabled
Her Majesty to form some idea of the conversation, so she thanked Mrs.
Conger for her kind thought, and promised to give her answer later. She
said to me: "Tell Mrs. Conger that I cannot decide anything alone, as
she is probably aware that I have to consult with my Ministers before
deciding anything of an important character. Tell her that I have to
be very careful not to do anything which would give my people an
opportunity to criticize my actions. I have to adhere to the rules
and customs of my ancestors." I noticed that Her Majesty did not seem
inclined to discuss the subject further at the moment.
Just then the head eunuch came in and, kneeling down, informed Her
Majesty that the boats for the ladies were ready to take them across the
lake, to see the temple. This action on the part of the eunuch was owing
to his having received a signal from one of the Court ladies, which
implied that Her Majesty was getting tired of the conversation, and
wished to change the subject. I must explain that on every occasion when
a foreign audience was taking place, one of the Court ladies was
always told off to watch Her Majesty, and whenever she appeared to be
displeased or tired of any particular subject under discussion, she, the
Court lady, would give the signal to the head eunuch, who would break in
upon the conversation in the above manner, and thus save the situation
from becoming embarrassing. So Her Majesty said good-bye to the ladies,
as she thought it would be too late for them to have to return to say
good-bye, besides which it would give them more time to see the various
sights.
The ladies then proceeded to the island in the Empress Dowager's
pleasure boat known as the Imperial barge, previously described, and
visited the temple. This temple is built on top of a small rock, in the
center of which is a natural cave, and it was generally supposed that
no human being had ever been inside of this cave. The Empress Dowager
believed the popular superstition that this hole was the home of the
King of Dragons--from which the temple derives its name.