AFTER staying a little while at the temple, we returned to the Palace,
and the ladies said goodbye and took chairs to the Palace gate, where
their own chairs were waiting for them. I then went to report to Her
Majesty in the usual way what had been said by the visitors; whether
they had expressed themselves as being pleased with the reception they
had received. Her Majesty said: "I like Mrs. Evans. I think she is a
very good woman. It seems to me that her manners are quite different
from those of the other American ladies whom I have met. I like to meet
people who are polite." Then, referring to the subject of the portrait
Her Majesty said: "I wonder why Mrs. Conger has this idea. Now please
explain to me what painting a portrait really is." When I explained that
it would be necessary for her to sit for several hours each day she was
excited, and afraid she would never have the patience to see it through.
She asked me what she must do during the sitting, so I explained that
she would simply have to pose for the portrait, sitting in one position
all the time She said: "I shall be an old woman by the time the portrait
is finished." I told her that I had had my own portrait painted during
my stay in Paris, by the same artist Mrs. Conger had proposed should
paint her own portrait (Miss Carl). She immediately told me to fetch
the portrait of myself so that she could examine it and see what it was
like, so I gave the order right away to a eunuch who was standing by to
go to my house and bring it. Her Majesty said: "I do not understand
why I must sit for the portrait Couldn't someone else do it for me."
I explained to her that as it was her own portrait, and not that of
somebody else, they wished to paint, it would be necessary for her to
sit herself. She then enquired whether it would be necessary for her to
wear the same dress at each sitting, also the same jewels and ornaments.
I replied that it would be necessary to do so on each occasion. Her
Majesty then explained that in China it was only necessary for an artist
to see his subject once, after which he could start right away and
finish the portrait in a very short time, and thought that a really
first-class foreign artist should be able to do the same. Of course I
explained the difference between foreign portrait painting and Chinese,
and told her that when she had seen it she would see the difference and
understand the reason for so many sittings. She said: "I wonder what
kind of a person this lady artist is. Does she speak Chinese?" I said
that I knew Miss Carl very well, and that she was a very nice lady, but
that she didn't speak Chinese. She said: "If her brother has been in the
Customs service for so long, how is it that she doesn't speak Chinese
also?" I told her that Miss Carl had been away from China for a long
time; that in fact she had only been in China for a very short time
altogether, most of her work being in Europe and America. Her Majesty
said: "I am glad she doesn't understand Chinese. The only objection
about this portrait painting is that I have to have a foreigner at the
Palace all the time. With my own people gossiping they might tell her
things which I don't want anyone to know." I told her that would be
impossible as Miss Carl did not understand Chinese at all, neither did
any of the people at Court understand English, with the exception of
ourselves (my mother, sister and myself). Her Majesty answered: "You
must not rely too much on that, as after spending a short time at the
Court they will soon learn to understand each other." Continuing,
she said: "By the way, how long will it take before this portrait is
finished?" I told her that it depended entirely upon how often she sat,
and how long each time. I didn't like to tell her exactly how long it
would take, as I was afraid she might consider it too much bother, so
I said that when the artist arrived I would tell her to get along and
finish the portrait as quickly as possible.
Her Majesty said: "I don't see how I can very well refuse Mrs. Conger's
request. Of course I told her, as you know, that I would have to consult
with my Ministers, just to give me time to think the matter over. If
you know all about this artist lady, and think she is quite all right to
come here to the Palace, of course she may come, and I will tell Prince
Ching to reply to Mrs. Conger to that effect. First of all we must talk
over what we are going to do, for to have a foreign lady staying in the
Palace is out of the question altogether. As a rule I always spend the
summer at my Summer Palace, and it is so far from the city that I
don't think she will be able to go to and from the Palace every day, on
account of the distance. Now, where can we put her? Someone will have
to watch her all the time. This is such a difficult matter that I hardly
know what to decide upon. How would you like to look after her? Do you
think you could manage it in such a way that no one at the Palace will
have a chance to talk with her during the daytime, but who is going to
stay and watch her during the night?" Her Majesty walked up and down the
room thinking it over for quite a while. Finally she smiled and said: "I
have it. We can treat her as a prisoner without her knowing it, but it
will all depend on your mother, your sister and yourself to act for me
in this matter. Each of you will have to play your part very carefully,
and I mine also. I will give orders to have the Palace Garden of Prince
Chung (the Emperor Kwang Hsu's father) fixed up for Miss Carl during her
stay here."
This Palace garden is quite close to Her Majesty's own Palace, about ten
minutes' drive. It is not in the Palace ground, but is quite a separate
Palace outside the Summer Palace.
Continuing, Her Majesty said: "Now, you will have to come with her every
morning and return to stay with her every night. I think this is the
safest way out of the difficulty, but be careful with regard to all
correspondence which she may either receive or send away. The only thing
about it is that it will give you a lot of extra work, but you know
how particular I am over things of this kind, and it will save a lot
of trouble in the end. There is another thing you will have to be very
careful about, and that is to watch that Miss Carl has no chance to talk
with the Emperor. The reason why I say this is because, as you know,
the Emperor is of a shy disposition, and might say something which would
offend her. I will appoint four extra eunuchs to be in attendance during
the sittings for the portrait, so that they will be on hand in case
anything is wanted." Her Majesty then said: "I noticed that Mrs. Conger
was watching you when you pulled my sleeve. I wonder what she thought
of it. You needn't care, anyway. Let her think anything she likes. I
understood what you meant if Mrs. Conger didn't, and that is all that
is necessary." I told her that perhaps Mrs. Conger thought I wanted to
advise her to refuse this request, but Her Majesty said: "What does that
matter? If it hadn't been that you know the artist yourself I would not
have consented in any case. It is not the painting of the portrait that
I mind, but it might give rise to serious results."
The next morning I received a letter from Mrs. Conger begging me not to
prejudice Her Majesty against Miss Carl in any way. I translated this to
Her Majesty, and it made her furious. She said: "No one has any right
to write to you in such a way. How dare she suggest that you would say
anything against Miss Carl? Didn't I tell you she was watching you when
you pulled my sleeve? When you reply to that letter tell her whatever
you like, but answer in the same way she writes herself, or, better
still, you write and inform her that it is not customary for any Court
lady to try and influence Her Majesty in this country, and that in
addition, you are not so mean as to say anything against anybody. If you
don't like to say that, just say that as Miss Carl is a personal friend
of yours you certainly would never think of saying anything against
her."
I therefore replied to Mrs. Conger's letter in the ordinary way, making
it as formal as possible.
Her Majesty then talked of nothing but the portrait during the whole of
that afternoon. By and bye she said: "I hope that Mrs. Conger will not
send a missionary lady with Miss Carl to keep her company during her
stay at the Palace. If she does I will certainly refuse to sit." The next
morning the eunuch arrived with my portrait, and everyone at the Court
had a good look at it before I took it to show to Her Majesty. Some of
them were of the opinion that it was very much like me, while the others
thought the painting a very poor one. When I informed Her Majesty of the
arrival of the portrait she ordered that it should be brought into her
bedroom immediately. She scrutinized it very carefully for a while, even
touching the painting in her curiosity. Finally she burst out laughing
and said: "What a funny painting this is, it looks as though it had been
painted with oil." (Of course it was an oil painting.) "Such rough work
I never saw in all my life. The picture itself is marvellously like you,
and I do not hesitate to say that none of our Chinese painters could get
the expression which appears on this picture. What a funny dress you
are wearing in this picture. Why are your arms and neck all bare? I have
heard that foreign ladies wear their dresses without sleeves and without
collars, but I had no idea that it was so bad and ugly as the dress you
are wearing here. I cannot imagine how you could do it. I should have
thought you would have been ashamed to expose yourself in that manner.
Don't wear any more such dresses, please. It has quite shocked me. What
a funny kind of civilization this is to be sure. Is this dress only worn
on certain occasions, or is it worn any time, even when gentlemen are
present?" I explained to her that it was the usual evening dress for
ladies and was worn at dinners, balls, receptions, etc. Her Majesty
laughed and exclaimed: "This is getting worse and worse. Everything
seems to go backwards in foreign countries. Here we don't even expose
our wrists when in the company of gentlemen, but foreigners seem to
have quite different ideas on the subject. The Emperor is always talking
about reform, but if this is a sample we had much better remain as we
are. Tell me, have you yet changed your opinion with regard to foreign
customs? Don't you think that our own customs are much nicer?" Of course
I was obliged to say "yes" seeing that she herself was so prejudiced.
She again examined the portrait and said: "Why is it that one side
of your face is painted white and the other black? This is not
natural--your face is not black. Half of your neck is painted black,
too. How is it?" I explained that it was simply the shading and was
painted exactly as the artist saw me from the position in which she was
sitting. Her Majesty then enquired: "Do you think that this Artist lady
will paint my picture to look black also? It is going to America, and
I don't want the people over there to imagine that half of my face is
white and half black." I didn't like to tell her the truth, that her
portrait would in all probability be painted the same as mine, so I
promised Her Majesty that I would tell the artist exactly how she wished
to be painted. She then asked me if I knew when the artist proposed
commencing the portrait. I told her that the artist was still in
Shanghai, but that Mrs. Conger had already written to her to come up to
Peking, to make the necessary preparations. One week later I received a
letter from Miss Carl informing me that she proposed coming up to Peking
at once, and that she would be delighted if Her Majesty would allow
her to paint this portrait. I translated the letter to Her Majesty, who
said: "I am very glad that you know this lady personally. It will make
it much easier for me. You know there may be some things which I may
want to tell Miss Carl, but which I don't want Mrs. Conger to know. I
mean that there might be certain things which I shall have to say to
Miss Carl, which, if Mrs. Conger heard of them, would give her the
impression that I was very difficult to please. You understand what I
mean. As this lady is a friend of yours, you will of course be able to
tell her things in such a manner as not to offend her, and I may tell
you again that if it were not that she is a personal friend of your
own I would not have her here at all, as it is quite contrary to our
custom."
On the third day of the second-fifth moon Prince Ching informed Her
Majesty that the artist had arrived at Peking and was staying with Mrs.
Conger and wished to know Her Majesty's pleasure in regard to commencing
the portrait. Now I must explain that the Chinese year varies as to the
number of moons it contains. For example, one year contains the ordinary
twelve months or moons. The following year may contain thirteen moons.
Then the two years following that may contain twelve moons only, and
thirteen moons the next year, and so on. At the time of the proposed
visit of the artist the Chinese year contained thirteen moons, there
being two fifth moons in that year. When Prince Ching asked Her Majesty
to name the day on which Miss Carl should commence her work, she
replied: "I will give her my answer to-morrow. I must first consult my
book, as I don't want to start this portrait on an unlucky day." So the
next day, after her usual morning audience Her Majesty consulted this
book for quite a time. Finally she said to me: "According to my book the
next lucky day will not occur for another ten days or so," and handed me
the book to look myself. Eventually she picked out the twentieth day of
the second-fifth moon as the most lucky day for beginning the work. Next
she had to consult the book again in order to fix on the exact hour,
finally fixing on 7 o'clock in the evening. I was very much worried when
she told me that, as by that time it would be quite dark, so I explained
to Her Majesty as nicely as I could that it would be impossible for Miss
Carl to work at that hour of the day. Her Majesty replied: "Well, we
have electric lights here. Surely that would be sufficient light for
her." Then I had to explain that it would not be possible to get such
good results by means of artificial light as if it were painted during
the daytime. You see I was anxious to get her to change the hour, as
I was sure that Miss Carl would refuse to paint by means of electric
light. Her Majesty replied: "What a bother. I can paint pictures myself
in any kind of light, and she ought to be able to do the same." After
much discussion it was finally settled that 10 o'clock on the morning of
the twentieth day of the second-fifth moon should be the time for Miss
Carl to commence to paint this portrait, and I can assure you that I
felt very much relieved when it was all settled. When the eunuch brought
in my portrait, he also brought in several photographs which I had had
taken during my stay in Paris, but I decided not to show them to Her
Majesty in case she should decide to have a photograph taken instead of
having this portrait painted, as it would be much quicker and save her
the trouble of sitting each day. However, as Her Majesty was passing on
the veranda in front of my bedroom the next morning she stepped into
the room just to have a look around and, as she put it, to see whether
I kept everything clean, and in good order. This was the first time
she had visited me in my own room, and I was naturally very much
embarrassed, as she very rarely visited the rooms of her Court ladies. I
could not keep her standing, and I could not ask her to sit down in
any of my own chairs, as it is the Chinese custom that the Emperor and
Empress should only sit down in their own special chairs, which are
usually carried by an attendant wherever they go. I therefore was on the
point of giving an order for her own stool to be brought in, when Her
Majesty stopped me and said that she would sit on one of the chairs in
the room, and so bring me good luck. So she sat down in an easy chair.
A eunuch brought in her tea, which I handed to her myself instead of
letting the eunuch wait upon her. This of course was Court etiquette,
and was also a sign of respect
After she had finished her tea, she got up and went around the room,
examining everything, opening up all my bureau drawers and boxes in
order to see whether I kept my things in proper order. Happening to
glance into one corner of the room she exclaimed: "What are those
pictures on the table over there," and walked across to examine them. As
soon as she picked them up, she exclaimed in much surprise: "Why, they
are all photographs of yourself, and are very much better than the
picture you had painted. They are more like you. Why didn't you show
them to me before?" I hardly knew what to answer, and when she saw that
I was very much embarrassed by her question, she immediately started
talking about something else. She often acted in this manner when she
saw that any of us were not quite prepared for any of her questions,
but she would be sure to reopen the subject at some future time, when we
were expected to give a direct answer.
After examining the photographs for sometime, which by the way, were
all taken in European dress, Her Majesty said: "Now these are good
photographs; much better than the portrait you had painted. Still I have
given my promise, and I suppose I shall have to keep it. However, if
I do have my photograph taken, it will not interfere at all with the
painting of the portrait. The only trouble is I cannot ask an ordinary
professional photographer to the Palace. It would hardly be the thing."
My mother thereupon explained to Her Majesty that if she desired to have
her photograph taken, one of my brothers, who had studied photography
for some considerable time, would be able to do all that was necessary.
I would like to explain that I had two brothers at Court at that time,
who held appointments under the Empress Dowager. One was in charge of
all the electrical installation at the Summer Palace, and the other, her
private steam launch. It was the custom for all the sons of the Manchu
officials to hold certain positions at the Court for two or three years.
They were perfectly free to walk about the grounds of the Palace, and
saw Her Majesty daily. Her Majesty was always very kind to these young
men, and chatted with them in quite a motherly way. These young fellows
had to come to the Palace each morning very early, but as no man was
allowed to stay all night in the Palace they of course had to leave when
they had finished their duties for the day.
When Her Majesty heard what my mother said, she was very much surprised,
and asked why she had never been told that my brother was learned in
photography. My mother replied that she had no idea that Her Majesty
wished to have a photograph taken, and had not dared to suggest such a
thing herself. Her Majesty laughed, and said: "You may suggest anything
you like, as I want to try anything that is new to me, especially as
outsiders can know nothing about it." She gave orders to send for my
brother at once. On his arrival Her Majesty said to him: "I hear that
you are a photographer. I am going to give you something to do." My
brother was kneeling, as was the custom of the Court, whilst Her Majesty
was addressing him. Everybody, with the exception of the Court ladies,
had to kneel when she was speaking to them. Even the Emperor himself was
no exception to this rule. Of course the Court ladies, being constantly
in attendance, were allowed not to kneel, as Her Majesty was talking to
us all the time, and it was her orders that we should not do so, as it
would be wasting a lot of time.
Her Majesty asked my brother when he would be able to come and take her
photograph, and what kind of weather was necessary. My brother said that
he would go back to Peking that night, to fetch his camera, and that he
could take the photograph at any time she desired, as the weather would
not affect the work. So Her Majesty decided to have her photograph taken
the next morning. She said: "I want to have one taken first of all in
my chair, when going to the audience, and you can take some others
afterwards." She also asked my brother how long she would have to sit,
and was surprised to learn that only a few seconds would suffice. Next
she enquired how long it would be before it was finished, so that she
could see it. My brother answered that if it were taken in the morning
it could be finished late the same afternoon. Her Majesty said that was
delightful, and expressed a wish to watch him do the work. She told
my brother that he might select any room in the Palace to work in, and
ordered a eunuch to make the necessary preparations.
The next day was a beautiful day, and at eight o'clock my brother was
waiting in the courtyard with several cameras. Her Majesty went to the
courtyard and examined each of them. She said: "How funny it is that you
can take a person's picture with a thing like that." After the method of
taking the photograph had been fully explained to her, she commanded one
of the eunuchs to stand in front of the camera so that she might
look through the focusing glass, to see what it was like. Her Majesty
exclaimed: "Why is it your head is upside down? Are you standing on your
head or feet?" So we explained when the photo was taken it would not
look that way. She was delighted with the result of her observations,
and said that it was marvellous. Finally she told me to go and stand
there, as she wanted to have a look at me through this glass also. She
then exchanged places with me, and desired that I should look through
the glass and see if I could make out what she was doing. She waved
her hand in front of the camera, and on my telling her of it, she was
pleased.
She then entered her chair, and ordered the bearers to proceed. My
brother took another photograph of Her Majesty in the procession as she
passed the camera. After she had passed the camera she turned and asked
my brother: "Did you take a picture?" and on my brother answering that
he had, Her Majesty said: "Why didn't you tell me? I was looking too
serious. Next time when you are going to take one, let me know so that I
may try and look pleasant."
I knew that Her Majesty was very much pleased. While we were at the back
of the screen during the audience, I noticed that she seemed anxious to
get it over, in order to have some more photographs taken. It only took
about twenty minutes to get that particular audience over, which was
very rare.
After the people had gone, we came from behind the screen and Her
Majesty said: "Let us go and have some more pictures taken while the
weather is fine." So she walked the courtyard of the Audience Hall,
where my brother had a camera ready, and had another photograph taken.
She said that she would like to have some taken sitting on her throne,
exactly as though she were holding an audience. It took us only a few
minutes to have everything prepared in the courtyard. The screen was
placed behind the throne, and her footstool was also placed ready for
her, and she ordered one of the Court ladies to go and bring several
gowns for her to select from. At the same time I went and brought some
of her favorite jewelry. She ordered the two gowns which she had worn
at the audiences when she received Admiral Evans and Mrs. Evans, to be
brought in, and also the same jewels as she had worn on those respective
occasions. She had two photographs taken in these costumes, one in
each dress. Next she wanted one taken in a plain gown, without any
embroidery. She then ordered my brother to go and finish the pictures
which had already been taken, as she was anxious to see what they were
like. She said to my brother: "You wait a minute, I want to go with
you and see how you work on them." Of course, I had not considered
it necessary to explain to Her Majesty the process of developing the
pictures, the dark room, etc., so I explained to her as well as I could
the whole thing. Her Majesty replied: "It doesn't matter. I want to
go and see the room, no matter what kind of a room it is." So we all
adjourned to the dark room in order to see my brother work on the
photographs. We placed a chair so that Her Majesty could sit down. She
said to my brother: "You must forget that I am here, and go along with
your work just as usual." She watched for a while, and was very pleased
when she saw that the plates were developing so quickly. My brother held
up the plate to the red light, to enable her to see more distinctly.
Her Majesty said: "It is not very clear. I can see that it is myself all
right, but why is it that my face and hands are dark?" We explained to
her that when the picture was printed on paper, these dark spots would
show white, and the white parts would be dark. She said: "Well, one is
never too old to learn. This is something really new to me. I am not
sorry that I suggested having my photograph taken, and only hope that
I shall like the portrait painting as well." She said to my brother:
"Don't finish these photographs until after I have had my afternoon
rest. I want to see you do it." When she got up at about half-past
three, it did not take her long to dress herself, as was her usual
custom, and she went immediately to where my brother had the papers and
everything prepared. He then showed Her Majesty how the printing was
done. There was plenty of light, as it was summer time, and as it was
only four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was still high. Her Majesty
watched for two hours while my brother was printing, and was delighted
to see each picture come out quite plainly. She held the first one in
her hands so long while examining the others, that when she came to look
at it again, she found that it had turned quite black. She could not
understand this at all, and exclaimed: "Why has this gone black? Is it
bad luck?" We explained to her that it must be washed after printing,
otherwise a strong light would cause the picture to fade, as this one
had done. She said: "How very interesting, and what a lot of work there
is."
After the printing process had been finished, my brother placed the
pictures in a chemical bath, as usual, finally washing them in clean
water. This caused Her Majesty even more surprise when she saw how clear
the pictures came out, and caused her to exclaim: "How extraordinary.
Everything is quite true to life." When they were finally completed,
she took the whole of them to her own room and sat down on her little
throne, and gazed at them for a long time. She even took her mirror in
order to compare her reflection with the photographs just taken.
All this time my brother was standing in the courtyard awaiting Her
Majesty's further commands. Suddenly she recollected this fact, and
said: "Why, I had forgotten all about your brother. The poor fellow
must be still standing waiting to know what I want next. You go and tell
him--no, I had better go and speak to him myself. He has worked so hard
all the day, that I want to say something to make him feel happy." She
ordered my brother to print ten copies of each of the photographs, and
to leave all his cameras at the Palace, in order that he could proceed
with the work the next day.
The following ten days it rained continually, which made Her Majesty
very impatient, as it was impossible to take any more photographs until
the weather improved. Her Majesty wanted to have some taken in the
Throne Room, but this room was too dark, the upper windows being pasted
over with thick paper, only the lower windows allowing the light to
enter. My brother tried several times, but failed to get a good picture.
During this rainy period the Court was moved to the Sea Palace, as
the Emperor was to sacrifice at the Temple of Earth. This was a yearly
ceremony and was carried out on similar lines to all other annual
ceremonies. On account of the rain Her Majesty ordered that boats should
be brought alongside the west shore of the Summer Palace. On entering
the boats, Her Majesty, accompanied by the Court, proceeded to
the Western Gate of the city, and on arrival at the last bridge,
disembarked. Chairs were awaiting us and we rode to the gate of the Sea
Palace. There we again entered the boats and proceeded across the lake,
a distance of about a mile. While crossing the lake Her Majesty noticed
a lot of lotus plants which were in full bloom. She said: "We are going
to stay at least three days here. I hope the weather will be fine, as
I should like to have some photographs taken in the open boats on the
lake. I have also another; good idea, and that is, I want to have one
taken as 'Kuan Yin' (Goddess of Mersy). The two chief eunuchs will be
dressed as attendants. The necessary gowns were made some time ago, and
I occasionally put them on. Whenever I have been angry, or worried over
anything, by dressing up as the Goddess of Mercy it helps me to calm
myself, and so play the part I represent. I can assure you that it does
help me a great deal, as it makes me remember that I am looked upon as
being all-merciful. By having a photograph taken of myself dressed in
this costume, I shall be able to see myself as I ought to be at all
times."
When we arrived at the private Palace the rain ceased. We walked to
her bedroom, although the ground was still in bad condition. One of
Her Majesty's peculiarities was a desire to go out in the rain and walk
about. She would not even use an umbrella unless it was raining very
heavily. The eunuchs always carried our umbrellas, but if Her Majesty
did not use her umbrella, of course we could not very well use ours. The
same thing applied in everything. If Her Majesty wanted to walk, we had
to walk also, and if she decided to ride in her chair, we had to get
into our chairs and ride as well. The only exception to this rule was
when Her Majesty, being tired walking, ordered her stool to rest on. We
were not allowed to sit in her presence, but had to stand all the time.
Her Majesty liked her Sea Palace better than her Palace in the Forbidden
City. It was far prettier, and had the effect of making her good
tempered.
Her Majesty ordered us to retire early that day, as we were all very
tired after the trip, and said that in the event of it being fine the
next day, she would have the proposed photographs taken. However, much
to Her Majesty's disappointment, it rained incessantly for the next
three days, so it was decided to stay a few days longer. On the last day
of our stay it cleared up sufficiently to enable the photographs to be
taken, after which we all returned to the Summer Palace.
The day after our arrival at the Summer Palace Her Majesty said that
we had better prepare everything for the audience to receive the lady
artist (Miss Carl). She told the chief eunuch to issue orders to all
the other eunuchs not to speak to Miss Carl, but simply be polite as
occasion required. We Court ladies received similar orders. Also, that
we were not to address Her Majesty while Miss Carl was present. The
Emperor received similar instructions. Her Majesty gave orders to have
the Gardens of Prince Chung's Palace ready. She then said to us: "I
trust you three to look after this lady artist. I have already given
orders for food to be supplied by the Wai Wu Pu. The only thing that
I have been worried about is that I have no foreign food here for Miss
Carl." She ordered us to have our stove taken over to Prince Chung's
Palace in case Miss Carl desired something cooked. She said: "I know
it will be very hard for you to take her to the Palace each morning and
return with her at night, besides having to watch her all day long, but
I know you do not mind. You are doing all this for me." After a while
she smiled, and said: "How selfish of me. I order you to bring all your
things to this place, but what is your father going to do? The best
thing will be to ask your father to come and live in the same place. The
country air might benefit him." We kowtowed and thanked Her Majesty,
as this was a special favor, no official nor anyone else having been
allowed to live in Prince Chung's Palace previously. We all were very
pleased--I could now see my father every day. Hitherto we had only been
able to see him about once a month, and then only by asking special
leave.
The next day Her Majesty sent us to Prince Chung's Palace to make all
necessary arrangements for Miss Carl's stay.
This Palace of Prince Chung's was a magnificent place. All the smaller
dwellings were quite separate from each other, not in one large
building, as was the custom. There was a small lake in the grounds, and
lovely little paths to walk along, exactly like the Empress Dowager's
Summer Palace, but, of course, on a much smaller scale. We selected one
of these small dwellings, or summer houses, for the use of Miss Carl
during her stay, and had it fitted up nicely, to make her as comfortable
as possible. We ourselves were to occupy the next house to Miss Carl, in
order that we might always be on hand, and at the same time keep a good
eye on her. We returned to the Summer Palace the same evening, and told
Her Majesty just how everything had been arranged. She said: "I want you
all to be very careful not to let this lady know that you are watching
her." She seemed very anxious about this, repeating these instructions
for several days prior to Miss Carl's arrival.
I felt very much relieved when the day before the audience arrived, and
everything was finally fixed to Her Majesty's satisfaction. She ordered
us to retire early that evening, as she wanted to rest and look well
the next morning. When morning came we hurried over everything, even
the usual morning audience, so that we could be ready when Miss Carl
arrived.
While I was standing behind the screen, as usual, a eunuch came and told
me that Mrs. Conger, the artist, and another lady had arrived, and that
they were now in the waiting room. By that time the audience was about
finished. The chief eunuch came in and told Her Majesty that the foreign
ladies had arrived and were waiting in another room. Her Majesty said to
us: "I think I will go to the courtyard and meet them there." Of course,
at all private audiences Her Majesty received the people in the Throne
Room, but as Miss Carl was more of a guest, she did not think it
necessary to go through the usual formal reception.
While we were descending the steps we saw the ladies entering the gate
of the courtyard. I pointed out Miss Carl to Her Majesty, and noticed
that she eyed Miss Carl very keenly. When we arrived in the courtyard,
Mrs. Conger came forward and greeted Her Majesty and then presented Miss
Carl. Her Majesty's first impression of Miss Carl was a good one, as
Miss Carl was smiling very pleasantly, and Her Majesty, who always liked
to see a pleasant smile, exclaimed to me in an undertone: "She seems to
be a very pleasant person," to which I replied that I was very glad she
thought so, as I was very anxious about the impression Miss Carl would
make on Her Majesty. Her Majesty watched Miss Carl and myself as we
greeted each other, and I could see that she was satisfied. She told me
afterwards that she had noticed Miss Carl appeared very glad to see
me again, and said: "We will handle her pretty easily, I think." Her
Majesty then went to her own private Palace, and we all followed. On our
arrival, Miss Carl told me that she had brought her own canvas. This
was a piece about six feet by four feet. I had told Miss Carl a little
previously that Her Majesty refused to sit for a very small portrait and
that she would like a life-size one. When Her Majesty saw the canvas she
appeared to be very much disappointed, as in her opinion even that was
not large enough. We placed the tables ready for Miss Carl, and Her
Majesty asked her to choose the position in which she wished to paint.
I knew that Miss Carl would have great difficulty in choosing a good
position on account of the windows being built so low, there being very
little light except low down near the ground. However, Miss Carl finally
placed the canvas near the door of the room. Her Majesty told Mrs.
Conger and the rest to sit down for a while as she wanted to change into
another gown. I followed her into her bedroom. The first question Her
Majesty asked was how old I thought Miss Carl was, as she herself could
not guess her age, her hair being extremely light, in fact almost white.
I could hardly refrain from laughing outright on hearing this, and told
Her Majesty that Miss Carl's hair was naturally of a light color. Her
Majesty said that she had often seen ladies with golden hair, but never
one with white hair, excepting old ladies. She said: "I think that she
is very nice, however, and hope she will paint a good portrait."
Turning to one of the Court ladies, she ordered her to fetch a yellow
gown as although, as she put it, she did not like yellow, she thought it
would be the best color for a portrait. She selected one from a number
which the Court lady brought, embroidered all over with purple wisteria.
Her shoes and handkerchiefs matched. She also wore a blue silk scarf,
embroidered with the character "Shou" (long life). Each character had
a pearl in the center. She wore a pair of jade bracelets and also jade
nail protectors. In addition she wore jade butterflies and a tassel on
one side of her headdress, and, as usual, fresh flowers on the other
side. Her Majesty certainly did look beautiful on that occasion.
By the time she came out from her room Miss Carl had everything
prepared. When she saw how Her Majesty was dressed, she exclaimed: "How
beautiful Her Majesty looks in this dress," which remark I interpreted
to Her Majesty, and it pleased her very much.
She seated herself on her throne, ready to pose for the picture. She
just sat down in an ordinary easy position, placing one hand on a
cushion. Miss Carl explained: "That is an excellent position, as it is
so natural. Please do not move." I told Her Majesty what Miss Carl said,
and she asked me whether she looked all right, or not. If not, she would
change her position. I assured her that she looked very grand in that
position. However, she asked the opinion of the Young Empress and some
of the Court ladies, who all agreed that she could not look better. I
could see that they never looked at Her Majesty at all, they were too
much interested in what Miss Carl was doing.
When Miss Carl commenced to make the rough sketch of Her Majesty
everyone watched with open mouth, as they had never seen anything done
so easily and so naturally. The Young Empress whispered to me: "Although
I don't know anything about portrait painting, still I can see that she
is a good artist. She has never seen any of our clothes and headdresses,
and she has copied them exactly. Just imagine one of our Chinese artists
trying to paint a foreign lady, what a mess he would make of it."
After the sketch was finished Her Majesty was delighted and thought
it was wonderful for Miss Carl to have made it so quickly and so
accurately. I explained that this was a rough sketch and that when Miss
Carl commenced painting, she would soon see the difference. Her Majesty
told me to ask Miss Carl whether she was tired and would like to rest;
also to tell her that she was very busy all the day, and would only be
able to give her a few minutes' sitting each day. We then took Miss
Carl to luncheon, together with Mrs. Conger, and after luncheon we
accompanied Her Majesty to the theatre.
After Mrs. Conger had departed I took Miss Carl to my room to rest. As
soon as we arrived there, Her Majesty sent a eunuch to call me to her
bedroom. Her Majesty said: "I don't want this lady to paint during my
afternoon rest. She can rest at the same time. As soon as I am up you
can bring her here to paint. I am glad that it looks like turning out
better than I had anticipated." I therefore told Miss Carl Her Majesty's
wishes in this respect and that she could paint for a little while,
if she chose to, after Her Majesty had had her rest. Miss Carl was so
interested in Her Majesty, she told me she didn't want to rest at
all, but that she would like to go on with the painting right away. Of
course, I did not like to tell her anything the first day, as it might
upset her, and did not say that this was a command from Her Majesty.
After a lot of maneuvering I got her to give up the idea of continuing
straight off, without offending her. I took her out on the veranda as
the eunuch was preparing the table for Her Majesty's dinner in the room
we were then occupying. The Young Empress kept Miss Carl busy talking, I
acting as interpreter. Soon one of the eunuchs came and informed us that
Her Majesty had finished dinner, and would we please come and take ours.
On entering the room I was very much surprised to see that chairs had
been placed there, as this had never been done previously, everybody,
with the exception of Her Majesty, taking their meals standing. The
Young Empress was also very much surprised and asked me whether I knew
anything about it. I said that perhaps it was on account of Miss Carl
being there. The Young Empress told me to go over and ask Her Majesty,
as she was afraid to sit down without receiving orders to do so.
Her Majesty whispered to me: "I don't want Miss Carl to think we are
barbarians, and treat the Young Empress and the Court ladies in that
manner. Of course, she does not understand our Court etiquette and might
form a wrong impression, so you can all sit down without coming over to
thank me, but be natural, as though you were accustomed to sitting down
to dinner every day."
After Her Majesty had washed her hands she came over to our table. Of
course we all stood up. Her Majesty told me to ask Miss Carl whether she
liked the food, and was pleased when Miss Carl answered that she liked
the food better than her own kind. That relieved Her Majesty.
After dinner was over I told Miss Carl to say good-bye to Her Majesty.
We courtesied to her, also to the Young Empress, and said good night to
the Court ladies. We then took Miss Carl to the Palace of Prince Chung.
It took us about ten minutes' ride in the carts. We showed Miss Carl her
bedroom, and were pleased to leave her and get to our own rooms, for a
good night's rest.
The next morning we took Miss Carl to the Palace, and arrived there
during the morning audience. Of course Miss Carl, being a foreigner,
could not enter the Throne Room, so we sat down on the back veranda
of the Audience Hall and waited until it was over. This, of course,
prevented my being in attendance each morning, as usual, and was a great
disappointment to me, as I was unable to keep in touch with what was
taking place. Moreover, during the time I had been at Court, my one
object had been to endeavor to interest Her Majesty in Western customs
and civilization. I believed that to a great extent Her Majesty was
becoming interested in these things, and would refer the subjects of our
conversations to her Ministers, for their opinions. For instance, I had
shown her photographs taken of a Naval Review at which I was present
in France. Her Majesty seemed to be impressed, and said that she would
certainly like to be able to make a similar display in China. This
matter she consulted with her Ministers, but they gave the usual evasive
answer, viz.: "There is plenty of time for that." From this you will see
that Her Majesty was not able to introduce reforms entirely alone, even
though she might desire to do so, but had to consult the Ministers, who
would always agree with Her Majesty, but would suggest that the matter
be put off for a time.
My experience while at the Palace was that everybody seemed to be afraid
to suggest anything new for fear they might get themselves into trouble.
When Her Majesty came out from the Audience Hall, Miss Carl went up
to her and kissed Her Majesty's hand, which caused her great surprise,
although she did not show it at the time. Afterwards, however, when we
were alone, she asked me why Miss Carl had done this, as it was not a
Chinese custom. She naturally thought that it must be a foreign custom,
and therefore said nothing about it.
Her Majesty then proceeded on foot to her own Palace, to change her
dress for the portrait. It was a beautiful morning, and when she had
posed for about ten minutes, she told me that she felt too tired to
proceed, and asked if it would be all right to ask Miss Carl to postpone
it. I explained that as Miss Carl was going to be at the Palace for
some time, the postponement of one day's sitting would not make much
difference at that time, although I knew that Miss Carl would naturally
be disappointed. Still, I had to humor Her Majesty as much as possible,
otherwise she might have thrown up the whole thing. Miss Carl said that
if Her Majesty wished to go to rest, she could be working painting the
screen and the throne, and Her Majesty could pose again later on if she
felt like it. This pleased Her Majesty, and she said that she would try
to sit again after taking her afternoon's rest. Her Majesty ordered me
to give Miss Carl her lunch in my own room at twelve o'clock each day,
my mother, my sister and myself keeping her company. Dinner at the
Palace was usually taken about six o'clock, and it was arranged that
Miss Carl should take dinner with the Young Empress and the Court ladies
at that hour, after Her Majesty had finished dining. Her Majesty also
ordered that champagne or any other wine which Miss Carl preferred,
should be served, as she said she knew it was the custom for all foreign
ladies to take wine with their meals. Where she got hold of this
idea, nobody knew. I was sure that Her Majesty had been misinformed by
somebody, but it would have been bad policy to have tried to tell her
different at the moment. She disliked very much to be told that she was
wrong in any of these things, and it could only be done by waiting and
casually introducing the subject at some other time.
After Miss Carl had gone to rest during the afternoon, Her Majesty
sent for me and asked the usual question, viz.: What had Miss Carl been
saying? etc., etc. She seemed particularly anxious to know what Miss
Carl thought of her, and when I told her that Miss Carl had said that
she was very beautiful and quite young looking, she said: "Oh! well,
of course Miss Carl would say that to you." However, on my assuring her
that Miss Carl had given this opinion without being asked for it,
she showed very plainly that she was not at all displeased with the
compliment.
Suddenly Her Majesty said: "I have been thinking that if Miss Carl can
paint the screen and the throne, surely she ought to be able to paint
my clothes and jewels, without it being necessary for me to pose all the
time." I told her that would be quite impossible, as nobody could hold
the things for Miss Carl to get the proper effect. To my surprise she
answered: "Well, that is easily gotten over. You wear them in my place."
I hardly knew what to say, but thought I would get out of the
difficulty by telling her that perhaps Miss Carl would not like such an
arrangement. Her Majesty, however, could see no possible objection
on Miss Carl's part, as she herself could pose when the time came for
painting her face. So I put the matter as nicely as possible to Miss
Carl, and it was finally arranged that I should dress in Her Majesty's
robes and jewels whenever Her Majesty felt too tired to do the posing
herself. In this manner the portrait of the Empress Dowager was painted,
and with the exception of just a few hours to enable Miss Carl to
get Her Majesty's facial expression, I had to sit for two hours each
morning, and for another two hours each afternoon until the portrait was
finished.