MY second year at the Palace was very much the same as the first. We
celebrated each anniversary and festival in the same way as before: the
usual audience was held each morning by Her Majesty, after which the day
was given up to enjoyment. Amongst other things Her Majesty took great
interest in her vegetable gardens, and superintended the planting of the
different seeds. When vegetables were ready for pulling, from time to
time, all the Court ladies were supplied with a kind of small pruning
fork and gathered in the crop. Her Majesty seemed to enjoy seeing us
work in the fields, and when the fit seized her she would come along and
help. In order to encourage us in this work, Her Majesty would give a
small present to the one who showed the best results so we naturally
did our best in order to please her, as much as for the reward. Another
hobby of Her Majesty's was the rearing of chickens, and a certain number
of birds were allotted to each of the Court ladies. We were supposed to
look after these ourselves and the eggs had to be taken to Her Majesty
every morning. I could not understand why it was that my chickens gave
less eggs than any of the others until one day my eunuch informed me
that he had seen one of the other eunuchs stealing the eggs from my hen
house and transferring them to another, in order to help his mistress to
head the list.
Her Majesty was very particular not to encourage untidyness or
extravagance among the Court ladies. On one occasion she told me to open
a parcel which was lying in her room. I was about to cut the string when
Her Majesty stopped me and told me to untie it. This I managed to do
after a lot of trouble, and opened the parcel. Her Majesty next made me
fold the paper neatly and place it in a drawer along with the string so
that I would know where to find it should it be wanted again. From time
to time Her Majesty would give each of us money for our own private
use and whenever we wanted to buy anything, say flowers, handkerchiefs,
shoes, ribbons, etc., these could be bought from the servant girls who
used to make them in the Palace and we would enter each item in a small
note book supplied by Her Majesty for the purpose. At the end of each
month Her Majesty examined our accounts and in case she considered that
we had been extravagant she would give us a good scolding, while on the
other hand, if we managed to show a good balance she would compliment us
on our good management. Thus under Her Majesty's tuition we learned to
be careful and tidy against such time as we might be called upon to look
after homes of our own.
About this time my father began to show signs of breaking down and asked
for permission to withdraw from public life. However, Her Majesty would
not hear of this and decided to give him another six months vacation
instead. It was his intention to go to Shanghai and see the family
physician, but Her Majesty did not approve of this, maintaining that
her own doctors were quite as good as any foreign doctor. These doctors
therefore attended him for some time, prescribing all kinds of different
concoctions daily. After a while he seemed to pick up a little but was
still unable to get about on account of having chronic rheumatism. We
therefore again suggested that it would be better for him to see his own
doctor in Shanghai, who understood my father thoroughly, but Her Majesty
could not be made to see it in that light. She said that what we wanted
was a little patience, that the Chinese doctors might be slow, but they
were sure, and she was convinced they would completely cure my father
very soon. The fact of the matter was she was afraid that if my father
went to stay in Shanghai the rest of the family would want to be there
with him, which was not in her programme at all. So we decided to remain
in Peking unless my father showed signs of getting worse.
In due course the time arrived on which it had been arranged to hold the
Spring Garden Party for the Diplomatic Corps, and as usual one day was
set apart for the Ministers, Secretaries and members of the various
Legations, and the following day for their wives, etc. This year very
few guests attended the Garden Party but among those who did come were
several strangers. About half a dozen ladies from the Japanese Legation
came with Madame Uchida, wife of the Japanese Minister. Her Majesty
was always very pleased to see this lady whom she very much admired
on account of her extreme politeness. After the usual presentation we
conducted the ladies to luncheon, showed them over the Palace grounds,
after which we wished them good-bye and they took their leave. We
reported everything to Her Majesty, and as usual were asked many
questions. Among the guests there was one lady (English so far as I
could make out) dressed in a heavy tweed travelling costume, having
enormous pockets, into which she thrust her hands as though it were
extremely cold. She wore a cap of the same material. Her Majesty asked
if I had noticed this lady with the clothes made out of "rice bags," and
wasn't it rather unusual to be presented at Court in such a dress. Her
Majesty wanted to know who she was and where she came from. I replied
that she certainly did not belong to any of the Legations as I was
acquainted with everybody there. Her Majesty said that whoever she was
she certainly was not accustomed to moving in decent society as she
(Her Majesty) was quite certain that it was not the thing to appear at a
European Court in such a costume. "I can tell in a moment," Her Majesty
added, "whether any of these people are desirous of showing proper
respect to me, or whether they consider that I am not entitled to it.
These foreigners seem to have the idea that the Chinese are ignorant and
that therefore they need not be so particular as in European Society. I
think it would be best to let it be understood for the future what dress
should be worn at the different Court Functions, and at the same time
use a certain amount of discretion in issuing invitations. In that way I
can also keep the missionary element out, as well as other undesirables.
I like to meet any distinguished foreigners who may be visiting in
China, but I do not want any common people at my Court." I suggested
that the Japanese custom could be followed, viz.: to issue proper
invitation cards, stipulating at the foot the dress to be worn on each
particular occasion. Her Majesty thought this would meet the case and it
was decided to introduce a similar rule in China.
Whenever the weather permitted, Her Majesty would pass quite a lot of
her time in the open air watching the eunuchs at work in the gardens.
During the early Spring the lotus plants were transplanted and she would
take keen interest in this work. All the old roots had to be cut away
and the new bulbs planted in fresh soil. Although the lotus grew in the
shallowest part of the lake (the West side) it was necessary for the
eunuchs to wade into the water sometimes up to their waists in order to
weed out the old plants and set the young ones. Her Majesty would
sit for hours on her favorite bridge (The Jade Girdle Bridge) and
superintend the eunuchs at their work, suggesting from time to time as
to how the bulbs were to be planted. This work generally took three or
four days, and the Court ladies in attendance would stand beside
Her Majesty and pass the time making fancy tassels for Her Majesty's
cushions, in fact doing anything so long as we did not idle.
It was during the Spring that Yuan Shih Kai paid another visit to the
Palace, and among other subjects discussed was the Russo-Japan war. He
told Her Majesty that it was developing into a very serious affair and
that he feared China would be the principal sufferer in the long run.
Her Majesty was very much upset by this news, and mentioned that she had
been advised by one of the censors to make a present to the Japanese of
a large quantity of rice, but had decided to take no action whatever in
the matter, which resolve Yuan Shih Kai strongly supported.
I was still working each day translating the various newspaper reports
and telegrams relating to the war and one morning, seeing a paragraph to
the effect that Kang Yu Wei (Leader of the Reform Movement in China in
1898) had arrived at Singapore from Batavia, I thought it might interest
Her Majesty and so translated it along with the rest. Her Majesty
immediately became very much excited which made me feel frightened as I
did not know what could be the matter. However, she explained to me that
this man had caused all kinds of trouble in China, that before meeting
Kang Yu Wei the Emperor had been a zealous adherent to the traditions of
his ancestors but since then had plainly shown his desire to introduce
reforms and even Christianity into the country. "On one occasion,"
continued Her Majesty, "he caused the Emperor to issue instructions for
the Summer Palace to be surrounded by soldiers so as to keep me
prisoner until these reforms could be put into effect, but through the
faithfulness of Yung Lu, a member of the Grand Council, and Yuan Shill
Kai, Viceroy of Chihli, I was able to frustrate the plot. I immediately
proceeded to the Forbidden City, where the Emperor was then staying and
after discussing the question with him he replied that he realized his
mistake and asked me to take over the reins of government and act in his
stead."
(The result of this was, of course, the Edict of 1898
appointing the Empress Dowager as Regent of China.)
Her Majesty had immediately ordered the capture of Kang Yu Wei and his
followers, but he had managed to effect his escape and she had heard
nothing further about him until I translated this report in the
newspaper. She seemed relieved, however, to know where he was, and
seemed anxious to hear what he was doing. She suddenly became very
angry again and asked why it was that the foreign governments offered
protection to Chinese political agitators and criminals. Why couldn't
they leave China to deal with her own subjects and mind their own
business a little more? She gave me instructions to keep a lookout for
any further news of this gentleman and report to her immediately, but I
made up my mind that in any case, I would not mention anything about him
again and so the matter gradually died away.
During one of our visits to the Sea Palace Her Majesty drew attention
to a large piece of vacant ground and said that it had formerly been the
site of the Audience Hall which had been destroyed by fire during
the Boxer trouble. Her Majesty explained that this had been purely an
accident and was not deliberately destroyed by the foreign troops. She
said that it had long been an eyesore to her as it was so ugly, and that
she had now determined to build another Audience Hall on the same site,
as the present Audience Hall was too small to accommodate the foreign
guests when they paid their respects at New Year. She therefore
commanded the Board of Works to prepare a model of the new building in
accordance with her own ideas, and submit it for her approval. Up to
that time all the buildings in the Palace Grounds were typically Chinese
but this new Audience Hall was to be more or less on the foreign plan
and up to date in every respect. This model was accordingly prepared
and submitted to Her Majesty. It was only a small wooden model but was
complete in every detail, even to the pattern of the windows and the
carving on the ceilings and panels. However, I never knew anything to
quite come up to Her Majesty's ideas, and this was no exception. She
criticised the model from every standpoint, ordering this room to be
enlarged and that room to be made smaller: this window to be moved to
another place, etc., etc. So the model went back for reconstruction.
When it was again brought for Her Majesty's inspection everybody agreed
that it was an improvement on the first one, and even Her Majesty
expressed great satisfaction. The next thing was to find a name for the
new building and after serious and mature consideration it was decided
to name it Hai Yen Tang (Sea Coast Audience Hall). Building operations
were commenced immediately and Her Majesty took great interest in the
progress of the work. It had already been decided that this Audience
Hall was to be furnished throughout in foreign style, with the exception
of the throne, which, of course, retained its Manchu appearance. Her
Majesty compared the different styles of furniture with the catalogues
we had brought with us from France and finally decided on the Louis
Fifteenth style, but everything was to be covered with Imperial Yellow,
with curtains and carpets to match. When everything had been selected
to Her Majesty's satisfaction, my mother asked permission to defray the
expense herself and make a present of this furniture. This Her Majesty
agreed to and the order was accordingly placed with a well-known Paris
firm from whom we had purchased furniture when in France. By the time
the building was completed the furniture had arrived, and it was quickly
installed. Her Majesty went to inspect it and, of course, had to find
fault as usual. She didn't seem at all pleased with the result of the
experiment and said that after all a Chinese building would have been
the best as it would have had a more dignified appearance. However, the
thing was finished and it was no use finding fault now, as it could not
be changed.
During the Summer months I had plenty of leisure time and devoted about
an hour each day to helping the Emperor with his English. He was a most
intelligent man with a wonderful memory and learned very quickly. His
pronunciation, however, was not good. In a very short time he was able
to read short stories out of an ordinary school reader and could write
from dictation fairly well. His handwriting was exceptionally fine,
while in copying old English and ornamental characters, he was an
expert. Her Majesty seemed pleased that the Emperor had taken up this
study, and said she thought of taking it up herself as she was quite
sure she would learn it very quickly if she tried. After two lessons she
lost patience, and did not mention the matter again.
Of course these lessons gave me plenty of opportunity to talk with His
Majesty, and on one occasion he ventured the remark that I didn't seem
to have made much progress with Her Majesty in the matter of reform.
I told him that many things had been accomplished since my arrival at
Court, and mentioned the new Audience Hall as an instance. He didn't
appear to think that anything worth talking about, and advised me to
give up the matter altogether. He said when the proper time arrived--if
it ever did arrive--then I might be of use, but expressed grave doubts
on the subject. He also enquired about my father and I told him that
unless his health improved very soon it would be necessary for us to
leave the Court for a while at any rate. He replied that although he
should very much regret such a necessity, he really believed that it
would be for the best. He said he felt certain that I should never be
able to settle down permanently to Court life after spending so many
years abroad, and for his part would put no obstacles in the way of my
leaving the Court if I desired to do so.
Her Majesty had given me permission to visit my father twice every
month, and everything appeared to be going along nicely until one day
one of Her Majesty's servant girls told me that Her Majesty was trying
to arrange another marriage for me. At first I did not take any notice
of this, but shortly afterwards Her Majesty informed me that everything
was arranged and that I was to be married to a certain Prince whom
she had chosen. I could see that Her Majesty was waiting for me to say
something, so I told her that I was very much worried at that time about
my father and begged her to allow the matter to stand over for the time
being at any rate. This made Her Majesty very angry, and she told me
that she considered me very ungrateful after all she had done for me. I
didn't reply, and as her Majesty did not say anything more at the time,
I tried to forget about it. However, on my next visit home, I told my
father all about it, and as before he was strongly opposed to such a
marriage. He suggested that on my return to the Palace I should lay
the whole matter before Li Lien Ying, the head eunuch, and explain my
position, for if anybody could influence Her Majesty, he was the one.
I, therefore, took the first opportunity of speaking to him. At first he
appeared very reluctant to interfere in the matter, and said he thought
I ought to do as Her Majesty wished, but on my stating that I had no
desire to marry at all, but was quite willing to remain at Court in
my present position, he promised to do his best for me. I never heard
anything further about my marriage, either from Her Majesty or Li Lien
Ying, and therefore concluded that he had been able to arrange the
matter satisfactorily.
The Summer passed without anything further important occurring. During
the eighth moon the bamboos were cut down and here again the Court
ladies were called upon to assist, our work being to carve designs
and characters on the cut trees, Her Majesty assisting. These were
afterwards made into chairs, tables and other useful articles for Her
Majesty's teahouse. During the long Autumn evenings Her Majesty would
teach us Chinese history and poetry and every tenth day would put us
through an examination in order to find out how much we had learned,
prizes being awarded for proficiency. The younger eunuchs also took part
in these lessons and some of their answers to Her Majesty's questions
were very amusing. If Her Majesty were in a good humor she would laugh
with the rest of us, but sometimes she would order them to be punished
for their ignorance and stupidity. However, as they were quite
accustomed to being punished they did not seem to mind very much and
forgot all about it the next minute.
As Her Majesty's seventieth birthday was approaching the Emperor
proposed to celebrate this event on an unusually grand scale, but Her
Majesty would not give her consent to this proposal on account of the
war trouble, for fear people might comment on it. The only difference,
therefore, between this birthday and former ones was that Her Majesty
gave presents to the Court, in addition to receiving them. These
included the bestowal of titles, promotions and increases in salary.
Among the titles conferred by Her Majesty, my sister and myself received
the title of Chun Chu Hsien (Princess). These titles, however, were
confined to members of the Court, and were granted specially by the
Empress Dowager. Similar promotions to outside officials were always
conferred by the Emperor. It was proposed to hold the celebrations in
the Forbidden City as it was more suited for such an important
event. However, Her Majesty did not like this idea at all, and gave
instructions that the Court should not be moved until three days before
the 10th of the tenth moon, the date of her birthday. This entailed a
lot of unnecessary work as it necessitated decorating both the Summer
Palace and the Forbidden City. Everything was hurry and bustle. To add
to this, it snowed very heavily during the few days previous to the
tenth. Her Majesty was in a very good mood. She was very fond of being
out in the snow and expressed a wish to have some photographs taken
of herself on the hillside. So my brother was commanded to bring his
camera, and took several very good pictures of Her Majesty.
On the seventh day the Court moved into the Forbidden City and the
celebrations commenced. The decorations were beautiful; the Courtyards
being covered with glass roofs to keep out the snow. The theatres were
in full swing each day. The actual ceremony, which took place on the
tenth, did not differ in any respect from previous ones. Everything
passed off smoothly, and the Court removed again into the Sea Palace.
While at the Sea Palace we received news that my father's condition was
becoming serious, and he again tendered his resignation to Her Majesty.
She sent her eunuchs to find out exactly what the matter was, and on
learning that he was really very ill, accepted his resignation. Her
Majesty agreed that it might be better for him to go to Shanghai and see
if the foreign physicians could do him any good. She said she supposed
it would be necessary for my mother to accompany him to Shanghai, but
did not consider it serious enough to send my sister and myself along
also. I tried to explain that it was my duty to go along with him as he
might be taken worse and die before I could get down to see him again,
and I begged Her Majesty to allow me to go. She offered all kinds of
objections but eventually, seeing that I was bent on going, she said:
"Well, he is your father, and I suppose you want to be with him, so you
may go on the understanding that you return to Court as soon as ever
possible." We did not get away until the middle of the eleventh moon, as
Her Majesty insisted on making clothes for us and other preparations
for our journey. Of course we could do nothing but await Her Majesty's
pleasure.
When everything was ready Her Majesty referred to her book to choose a
suitable day for our departure, and fixed on the thirteenth as being the
best. We therefore left the Palace for our own house on the twelfth.
We kowtowed and said good-bye to Her Majesty, thanking her for her many
kindnesses during our stay with her. Everybody cried, even Her Majesty.
We then went to say good-bye to the Emperor and Young Empress. The
Emperor simply shook hands and wished us "Good Luck" in English.
Everybody appeared sorry to see us leave. After standing about for a
long time Her Majesty said it was no use wasting any more time and that
we had better start. At the gate the head eunuch bade us good-bye and
we entered our carriage and drove to my father's house, our own eunuchs
accompanying us to the door. We found everything prepared for our
journey, and early the next morning we took train to Tientsin where
we just managed to catch the last steamer of the season leaving for
Shanghai. As it was, the water was so shallow that we ran aground on the
Taku bar.
On arrival in Shanghai my father immediately consulted his physician
who examined him and prescribed medicine. The trip itself seemed to have
done him a lot of good. I very soon began to miss my life at Court,
and, although I had many friends in Shanghai and was invited to dinner
parties and dances; still I did not seem to be able to enjoy myself.
Everything seemed different to what I had been accustomed to in Peking
and I simply longed for the time when I should be able to return to Her
Majesty. About two weeks after our arrival, Her Majesty sent a special
messenger down to Shanghai to see how we were getting along. He brought
us many beautiful presents and also a lot of medicine for my father. We
were very glad to see him. He informed us that we were missed very much
at Court and advised us to return as soon as it was possible for us to
do so. As my father began to show signs of improvement he suggested that
there was no further need for me to stay in Shanghai, and thought it
better that I should return to Peking and resume my duties at Court. I
therefore returned early in the New Year. The river was frozen and I had
to travel by boat to Chinwantao, from thence by rail to Peking. It was a
most miserable journey and I was very glad when it was over. Her Majesty
had sent my eunuchs to the station to meet me and I at once proceeded
to the Palace. On meeting Her Majesty we both cried again by way of
expressing our happiness. I informed her that my father was progressing
favorably and that I hoped to be able to remain with her permanently.
I resumed my previous duties, but this time I had neither my sister for
a companion nor my mother to chat with and everything appeared changed.
Her Majesty was just the same, however, and treated me most kindly.
Still, I was not comfortable, and heartily wished myself back again
in Shanghai. I stayed at the Court, going through pretty much the same
daily routine as before until the second moon (March 1905), when I
received a telegram summoning me to Shanghai as my father had become
worse, and was in a critical condition and wished to see me. I showed
Her Majesty the telegram and waited for her decision. She commenced by
telling me that my father was a very old man, and therefore his chances
of recovery were not so great as if he were younger, finally winding up
by telling me that I could go to him at once. I again wished everybody
good-bye, fully expecting to return very soon; but this was not to be.
I found my father in a very dangerous condition, and after a lingering
illness, he died on the 18th of December, 1905. Of course we went into
mourning for one hundred days which in itself prevented my returning to
the Court.
While in Shanghai I made many new friends and acquaintances and
gradually began to realize that after all, the attractions of Court life
had not been able to eradicate the influences which had been brought to
bear upon me while in Europe. At heart I was a foreigner, educated in a
foreign country, and, having already met my husband the matter was soon
settled and I became an American citizen. However, I often look back to
the two years I spent at the Court of Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager
of China, the most eventful and happiest days of my girlhood.
Although I was not able to do much towards influencing Her Majesty in
the matter of reform, I still hope to live to see the day when China
shall wake up and take her proper place among the nations of the world.