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AMN ALS Er mnnoiRS
OF TME,
COURT or PEKING
E.BACKHOU5E & J.O.P. BLAND
ANNALS ^ MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF PEKING
ANNALS & MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF PEKING
(FROM THE 16th TO THE 2(mi CENTURY)
BY
E. BACKHOUSE and J. O. P. BLAND
AUTHOKS OP "CHINA UNDER THE BUPKESS DOWAGER," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1914
Printed in En^and
NOTE
The thanks of the authors are hereby grateiully expressed to Mr. Charles L. Freer, of Detroit, U.S.A., for photographs of four masterpieces in his unrivalled collection of Chinese paintings ; to Mr. I^aurence Binyon and to the Trustees of the British Museum for permission to reproduce several pictures from the Museum collection ; and to Dr. Perceval Yetts for his interesting photograph of the Mummy-Priest of the temple at T'ien T'ai-ssti.
London, Dtcember 191S.
CONTENTS
ALPHABETICAL LIST OP THS PBINCIPAL PEBSOHS HBRKINAPTBB NAMED . 1
iBTBODUcnoir 9
Part I THE MING DYNASTY
CHAPTER I
A CHISB8B HABOUN AL BASCHID 23
CHAPTEE II
AH ISPAMOUS BCKDCH 46
CHAPTER III
U TZO-CH'eHo's BEBBLLION and THE FALL OP PEKING ... 86
CHAPTER IV wu ban-kubi 118
CHAPTER V
THE HANCHU DTNASTT ESTABLUHED 138
CHAPTER VI
TBE MINOS AT NANKING 166
CHAPTER Vn
THE SACK or TANO CBOU-FO 166
CHAPTER Vni
TIE LAffT OP THE MINOS 213
vii
CONTENTS
Pabt II THE MANCHU DYNASTY
CHAFTEn IX
THE EMPKBOR BHUN CHIH 229
CHAPTER X k'ano nsi as a fatheb 239
CHAPTER XI
TOE TRIBULATIONS Or TUNG CHENG 269
CHAPTER XII
TUNG CHENG DISPENSES JUSTICE 289
CHAPTER XIII
HIS HAJESTT CH'IBN LUNG 310
CHAPTER Xrv
THE DOWNFALL OP HO SHEN 347
CHAPTER XV cniA cn'iNO : tbb beginning or the bnd 373
CHAPTER XVI
TAO KUANO. THE IMPACT OF THE WEST 390
CHAPTER XVII
H8IEN rENO AND ^UNG CHIH : THE PACILE DESCENT .... 406
CHAPTER XVIII
THE SOBBOWS Or HIS MAJESTY KUANO HSG 429
CHAPTER XIX
MEMOIRS or THE BOXEB YEAB (1900) , 442
CHAPTER XX
CONCERNING THE OLD BUDDHA 466
CHAPTER XXI
THB COURT UNDER THE LAST BEQBNOT 493
CONCLUSION 513
INDBX 623
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
To fact pagt HOHlCr-STATUI AT t'iEN-t'aI SSO, OOMMONLT HELD TO BB THAT OP THB
BMPBROR SHUN CHIH FrotU%«piec«
POBTRAIT OF A OHINBSB OPSICIAL. BY WU TAO-TZ0 (UOUTH OINTCBT) 24
KUINB OP THB *' 8HRINB OP THB HOST HIOH " AT THB SHBKO WD OATB, NBAR
THB OOAL HILL 44
•OKSBS OP OOUBT LIP£ : PBBPARtNO TBI POR HIS HAJBSTY ... 60
0OSNB8 OP COUBT UPB. BT OQIU TINO (PIPTBBNTH CBMTURT) 84
1HB IHPXSXAL PAVILION NBAB THB OOAL HILL, WHBRB THK LAST MIHO
EMPSROB HAHOBD HIHSBLP 104
BOBNB FROM THB UPB OP THB OOUBT 120
•CBNBS OP OODBT UFB : LADIEa OF THB PALACE 150
A BANQUBT OITBN TO THB OPPIOBRS OP THE ARMY AT THB " HAIX OP PURPLE
UGHT" in THB LAKE PALAOB ENCLOSURE 170
KUtfO SHUN, A MANDARIN OF THB HAN DYNASTY 190
A WAR JUNK AT TBB TIUK OP LORD JIAOABTNBY's MISSION 210
AH IMPERIAL JOURNKY UNDER TUB 8DNQ DYNASTY .... 230
KCMG KWANO, ORANDSON OP KUNO SHUN 260
PAHOBAHIO riBW OF THB POBBIDDEN CITY AND THE IMPBRIAL CITY FBOM
THB OOAL aiLL 286
KMTBAIT OP HIS MAJESTY OH'iBN LUNO 310
LORD MAOABTNBY's BMBAMSY AT A HAUL-OVER ON THE TUNOOHOU CANAL 334
IDBM188ION OF THB TUNOU8 TRIBRB 376
THB CAMP AT ALCHUB 392
TBB BCTUKN FBOM THB WILDERNB83. THE PRINCBSa IMPERIAL'S SEDAN 420
ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
To Jhet po^ THSBBTURN FROM THX VILDERNE8S. IN8IQNIA BKABXR8 FOLLOWING THE
REAROOABD. PEKING, JANUABY 7, 1902 444
I.APIB8 OF THE COURT WORKING AT BHBROIDBRT 470
THE BBTURN OF THE OOURT FR(JH EXILE. BEAD OF THE IMPERIAL
PROOEBBlOIf. PEKING, JANUARY 7, 1902 486
THE RETURN FROM THE WILDERNESS. THE SEDAN CHAIR OF HIS MAJESTY
KUAHO HStJ. PEKING^ JANUARY 7, 1902 502
MARBLE BRIDGE IN THE IMPERIAL PALACE, AT THE TIME OF THB OCCUPATION
BT THB ALUK8 IN 1900 filO
THE EASTERN BHTRANCX TO THB LAKE PALACE, AFTER THE PUGHT OF THE
COURT IN 1900 620
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PERSONS HEREINAFTER NAMED
Abtai, cider brother of Emperor T'ai Tsiing.
An Te-uai, TzO llsi*s fuvourito cnnuch during the first llogenoy.
Ao Pai, regent diiring K'ang Hsi's minority.
Ao Pao, Grand Secretary under Ch'ien Lung.
BoHjixiN, Mongol consort of Shuuctiih and Empre&s Dowager of K'ang irsi.
Chang Ciiih-tung, scliolar and statesman of Kimng lUii's reign. CuANO Cmii-WA\. Grand Councillor in Kiianjj Hsli's reign, Ch'ang Fu, son of Emperor Wim Li ; Prince of Kueiyang. CiiANG HsiEN-CHUNO, Li Tzu-ch'cng's chief rebel colleague. Ch*ang IlsuN', Prince Fu, son of Wan Li, slain by Li Tzu-ch*cng. Chang Kuo-chi, adopted father of iisi Tsung's Empress. Ch'ano Lo, or KuANG Tsung, son of ^Van Li, reigned one month. Coaxg Pei-lux, one of the " Puritans," under Tzti Hst; son-in-law to
Li Hung-chang. CuANG T'iNG-vt% 1670-1756, great scholar under Ch'icn Limg. Chang Yin-huan, friend of Kuang Hsu, banished by Tzu Hsi in
1808, and executed by Prince Tuan's order in 1000. Chano Yt'AN-FU, eunuch favourite of Lung YU, commonly called Hsiao
Chang. He is believed to have stolen her j>earl shoes before the
breath was out of her body. Chao Ch'i-lin, a famous censor under TzG ILsi. Chao Shu-ch'iao, allowed to commit Nuicide in 1900 for supposed
anti-foreign proclivities. CuAO Erh-hsln, cx-XIccroy of Manchuria and opponent of the
Republic. Chao Hui, a Manehu General of Ch'icn Lung. Cii'kn. Lady, the mistress of \Vu San-kuei. Cheng, Ladv, favourite concubine of Wan Li and mother of ]?rinoe Fn.
B 1
1 ^
K*ang Usi.
Chang Cuih-tun'g, scholar and statesman of Kuang Hsii's reign. Chang Ciiih-wav, Grand Councillor in Kiiang H*ii*s rei|^. Cu'ano Fu, sou of Emperor Wan Li; Prince of Kueiyang, CuANO HsiEN-CHUNC, Li Tzu-ch'cng's chief rebel colleague. Ch'ang HsrN, Prince Fii, son of Wan Li, slain by Li Tzii-ch*cng. Chang Kuo-ciu, adopted father of Ilsi Tsunjj's Empress. Ch'ang Lo, or Kl'ang Tsuno, son of Wan Li, reigned one month. CuANo Pei-li-n, one of the " Puritans." under Tzfi Hsi; son-in-law to
Li Himg-chan<T. Chang T'ino-yI', 1070-1750, great :>tlioIar under Ch'icn Lung. CiiANO Yin-hcan» friend of Kuang Hsii, banished by Tzft Msi in
1898, and executed by Prince Tuan's order in lUOO. CiiANG Yl'AN-Fi', eunuch favourite of Lung Yti, commonly ciUcd Hsiao
Chang. He is believed to Ixave stolen her [Kurl shoes before the
breath was out of her body, CiiAO Ch'i-i.in, a famous censor under Tzft Hsi. Chao Shu-ch'lio, allowed to commit suicide in
anti-foreign procUvities. Chad Erh-hsun, cx- Viceroy of Manchuria and
Republic.
CilAO Hul, u Mnnehu General of Ch'icn Lung. Cu'es', Ladv, the mistress of \Vu San-knei. Cheng, Ladv, favourite concubine of Wan Li and mother of Prince Fu.
B 1
1000 for supposed opponent of the
PRINCIPAL PERSONS NAMED
CiiENG, Pkince, one of the couspiiing Hegrnts. 1861.
CiiENO Tfi, reign title of AVii Tsung, Emperor from 1506 to 15'22.
Cu'exg Tfe, a Mauchii who attempted to slay the Emperor Chia Ch'ing.
Chen IIsiN-cniA, Ch'ung Chen's Minister of War.
Ch'en Pi, corrupt Minister under IlsUan T'ung, now adviser to the
President, Yuan Shih-k'ai. Chen Pao-chex, one of the *' Puritan " party, later tutor to Emperor
HsQan T'ung. Chia Ch'ino, reign title of Jen Tsung, who succeeded Ch'ien Lung. Cii'i Chun-tsao, Grand Councillor under Tao Kuang. Ch'i Hsiu, Boxer leader, decapitated in 1901. CiiiNG Lix, decapitated by Old Buddha for cowardice. Ch'in, Madame, Li Tzu-ch'eng's personal attendant. Crtn, Prikce, a descendant of Yung JU). Cu'iNO Yi-k'i'anc, Pkince, Prime Minister under Tzft Hsi for six
years, and later under the Regent. Chin Kuei, a traitor famous in liistory. Cii'i Siiak, or Kisuan, Viceroy of Canton in 1841. Cifou, Empiiess, wife of Ch'ung Chen. Ciioij Ki'Ei, a statesman in the last days of the Mings. Ciiu Ciim-FENO, Governor of Ilsiian liua under Ch'ung Chen. Chu Hhien. leader of Wliitc Lily sect. ChO IIiNCi-ciii, rival to Prince Ch'ing from 1903 to 1907, enemy of
Yuan Shih-k'ai and ally of Ts'en Ch'un-hsiian. Cnu KuEi. tutor and valued servant of Chia Ch'ing. Ch'un, Princess, mother of Kuang Ilsti and sister of TzQ Hsi. Ch'ung Cuen, last of the Ming Emperors at Peking. Cn'iTNG Ch'i, father of A Lti-tc, consort of Emiseror T'ung Chih, friend
of Jimg Lu, slew himself in Paotingfu. Cu'uNC Hou, signed the Treaty of Livadia in 1878. Ch'ung IIi'A, Manchu olTtcial in Formosa in 1812. Ch'ung Li, Commander of Peking gendarmerie in 1900 and pro-Boxer. Cnu Shiu, Grand Secretary of Ch'icn Lung. Chu Yuan-chang, canonised as T'ai Tsu or the Exalted Ancestor,
founder of the Ming dynasty.
Deportment Concubine, one of Hsi Tsimg's consorts, a tool of Madame
K'o. DoROUN, Prince Jui, brother of Manehu dynasty's founder and Regent
to Shun Chih.
Fan Ching-wen, Ch'\ing Chen's Grand Secretary. Fan Wen-cheno, high oHicial imdcr T'ai Tsung. Fano Ts'Lxa-cuE, Grand Secretary of Wan Li.
2
PRINCIPAL PERSONS NAMED
*
Feng Hsiu, friend of Jung Lu and father of the Yti Fci, or "G«in "
Concubine, at first known as Hui Fei. Fu Cii'ano-av, protrgi of Ho Shen, Vv K'ano-an, a prominent General under Ch*ien Lung and rival of
iio Shen.
Ho Lin, brother of Grand Secretary Ho Shen, under Ch'ien Lung. Ho Shen, or Ho K'un, the all-powerful Minister of Ch*ien Lung, put
to deatli by his suecessor CWa Ch'ing. Ho Shih-tai, official deputed to receive the Amherst Mission. Hsiao Cuem, TzC Ak, Tzfi Hsi's colleague. Empress of the Eastern
Palace. Hsiao Te, Esjpress, wife of Hsicn Feng, who died before he became
Emperor; canonised as his chief Consort. Use Ch'eng-yC, son of Hsii T'ung, decapitated by the Allies in 1901. Hst) Shih-cu'ang, Viceroy and Grand Councillor, formerly Yuan Shih-
k'ai's proUg^. \\'hen his patron was dismissed, HsU character- istically did nothing to help him. Hsu Suu-min'O, a partisan of the Old Buddha in 1898. Hsu T'ukg, Boxer leader, enemy of Kuang Hsti, slew himself in 1900
on fall of Peking. HuAi T'a-pu, kinsman of Old Buddha and of Jung Lu. Hung Kcanc nominated successor to the last Ming Emperor Ch'ung
Chen at Nanking in 16W. Huang Sou-lan, Vice-President of Board of War in 1900, Huang T'ien-pa, a well-known theatrical hero. Hung Hsiu-ch'Uan, the " heavenly king,'* a Tai Ping leader. Hi* VO-FES, high oflicial in Peking under Kuang Hsii, and friendly
to foreigners.
I-Chiang-a» Governor of Shantung and protfg^ of Ho Shen.
JtRHALANG, or Chiebhalano, flist cousin of T'ai Tsung, Prince
Cheng. Jul Ch*evg, Viceroy of Wuchang in 1911, grandson of Ch'i Shan. Juno Lu, kinsman of Xza Hsi, devoted adherent and patriotic Manchu.
K*ang, Prince, cousin to K'ang Hsi.
K'ano Yu-wei, reformer, loathed by Tzfl Hsi.
Kao T'ien-te. and Kou Wen-mino, leaders of the White Lily
rebels in Ch'ien Lung's and Chia Ch'ing's reigns. K*0, Madame, Hsi Tsung's wet nurse, the '* Lady of Divine WoRhip,"
who resided in what is now the Naitztt-fu, or ** Foster-mother's
Palace."
PRIXCIPAL PERSONS NAMED
K'o, Prince, dc&cciiUed (rum Ntnhuclii'b second mjii.
K*ou Lien-ts'ai, a eunuch decapitated by the Old Buddha.
Kt'ANo Hui, official deputed to receive the ,\inh(Tst Mission.
K'uEi ChOx, a clianiberlaiii to the Court under Tzfl Hsi and Lung Yti.
KuEi UsiAXG, father of Lung Yd and younger brother of Tzti Hsi.
KuNo, Prince, senior, died 1898.
KuNO, Prinxe, junior; P*u Wei, Iiaughty and hostile to House of Ch*uii, Opix)scd the abdication ; thought he shoiUd have suc- ceeded KuangHsU. Recently Uvcd in Tsingtau, leading the Tsung- shctang or Restoration Society.
Lai Pao, commander of Peking gendarmerie under Ciricn Lung.
Li, Concubine, favourite Consort of Kuang Tsung.
Li Ciiia-ciiu, Manehu bannermau of Canton, sometime Speaker of the
Senate. Li Crih, personal name of Kao Tsung, Emj>eror of T'ang dynasty,
a.d. 655. Li Ciiien-t'at, Grand Secretary under Ch*ung Chen; the richest man
in Peking of that time. Li Cuing-shu, eldest sou of Li Hung-ehang. Li Hsi-ciiang, Prefect of Peking under Id Tzu-ch'cng. Li Hsiu-cu'eng, the leader of the Taiping rebellion. Li Huno-chang, the famous Viceroy of Chilili. Li K'o-yuno, a General at close of T'aug dynasty, who afterwards
usurped the Throne. Li Kuo-p'u, a Grand Secretary of Hsi Tsung. I^i LiEN-YiNO, Ame Hamn^e and Chief Eunueh of Tzft Ilsi. Li Pino-ueng, anti-foreign and Boxer leader. Li Suiu-MiN, the ideal nUcr, second Emperor of the T'ang dynasty,
seventh century a.d. Li TiNG-KL'O, brigand chief, .supporter of Yung Li, fugitive Ming
Sovereign. Li Tzu-ch'eno, rebel leader and usurping Emperor, Li Yen, one of Li Tztl-eh'eng's Generals.
Li Yu-UKNG, Commander-in-chief of Szechuan under TzU Hsi. Liang Ch'i-cu'ao, one of the leading reformers in 1898; sutKequently
a refugee in Japan. Appointed to the Cabinet by Yuan Shih-k'ai. Liang K'uei, adopted son and heir of Jung Lu. LiAO Suou-heng, Minister on Grand Council under T/ft Hsi, and anti- Boxer. Lien Wen-chung, clerk in Grand Council who drafted decree of 20th
June 1900 declaring war against the Powers. Lien YOan, Manehu and anli-lioxcr. decapitated in 1900.
PRINCIPAL PERSONS NAMED
I,1S II&u, ivformcr under Kuaiif; IIsU, put to death by Tzfi Hsi.
Lin Tse-hsu, Viceroy of Canton, who bunied the opium and defied
Great Britain, thus precipitating the first China AVar. hiv CirCAN-ciim, Chia Ch'ing's Grand Secretary. Liu Cnu-BSUAX, Prefect of Peking under Hsi Tsung. Lio Kl'ang-fv, Censor under Wan Li. Liu K'l'N-yi, Viceroy of Nanking under T/A list. Liu Lis, alioji Liir Cn'iso. leader of Palace conspiracy in 1813, Liu Te-ts'ai, eunuch implicated in Chia Ch*ing's Palace consi>irucy. Liu Tsi NG-MiN', a rebel General under Li Tzft-chVng. Ix) Pao, Manchu General under Chia Ch'ing. Lu, Prinxe, cousin of Yung Li, the last of the flings. Lu Ch*uan-ijn, a patriotic statesman at the close of the Manchu
regime. Lung K'o-to, maternal uncle of Emi>cror Yung Cheng, Lung Wu, successor to Hung Kuang, slain at FoocJiow. Lu Yuan-ting, taotai of Shanghai under Kuang Hsfk.
Ma Skao-yL\ Ming Peace Commissioner to Manehus. Meng Cn*UAN-CHix, a censor who impeached Po Sni, MiEX En*, Prince Ting, nephew of Cliia Ch'ing. Mien K'ai, tlurd son of Chia Ch'ing. Mc Ch'ang-a, Chief Minister under Tao Kuang.
NiEH Ch'i-kuei, Provincial Judge under Tzu Hsi.
NiEN Keng-yao, ;i fumous General, ordered to cumnitt suicide
Yung Cheng. Niso, PRISCE, rcbelicd against the Ming EiniK-ror Cheng T6. NURHACHl, foimder of the Manchu dvnastv.
bv
Pan Suiii-Tsu, Grand Councillor under Tao Kuang.
Pao Xing, Governor-General of Hi.
Pao Tai, Resident at Lhasa under Ch'ien Lung.
Pao YDn, Grand Secretary under Tzfl Hsi.
Po Sn, Grand Sccretar}', executed by Hsien Feng.
P'u Ax, father of Na T'ung, decapitated for improper conduct whilst
serving on an examination commission. P'u Shan, an Imperial Duke, flogged by Lung YQ"s eunuchs.
San Kuniang, Ch'ien Lung's literary courtesan. Sues Kuei-fen, Grand Councillor during Kvmng Hsu's minority. Sur.N I/TI'-t'ing, one of Limg VO's mniiehs.
5
PRINCIPAL PERSONS NA»IED
Shih HsC, Grand Councillor under Tzfl Hsi. afterwards chief guardian
to Emperor on Manchu downfall. Shih K'o-fa, patriotic Grand Secretary of the Ming Emperor Hung
Kuang. Siiou Fu, an Imperial Clansman of Kuang Hsti's party, son-in-law of
Lien Yuan. Shun Chih, first Manchu Emperor, said to have taken vows as a bonze
and to have lived to extreme old age. SuLiNOA» father-in-law of Ho Lin, Grand Secretar>' under Ch'ien Lung. Sun Chia-nai, Kuang Hsti's tutor. Sung Yun, resident at Lhasa under Ch'ien Lung. Sun Skiu-yi, Envoy to Burmah under Ch'ien Lung. Sun Ti-a, poet of the T'ang dynasty. StJN Tzu-SHOU, one of Kuang Hsti*s tutors. Sun YC-wen, Grand Coimcillor under Tzft Hsi. Su, Phince, an anti -republican Manchu. Su Shun, President of Board of Revenue and Grand Councillor, Imperial
Clansman and boon companion of Ilsien Feng, put to death by the
two Empress-Regents for treason, in 1861.
Tai Huno-tzC, first Cantonese to enter Grand Council, died 1910. T'an Chiao-t'if.n-erh, the most famous actor in China under TzG Hsi. Tag Kitano, reign title of Mien Ning, canonised as Ilsiiun Tsung, or
Distinguished Ancestor. Teng Ch'eng-hsiu, a Puritan party man of the Reformers of 1898. T'lEH Pao, famous scholar under Ch'ien Lung. Tien Wen-cuing, favourite Minister of Yung Clicng. TsAi Chen, son of Prince Ch'ing, and Envoy to the Coronation of
George V; he complained at not being given a higher precedence,
and had photographs published of himself as Crown Prince, which
he was not, and could not be. TsAi Feng, Prince Ch'un, the ex-Regent. TsAi HsOn, Prince Chuang, Boxer leader. TsAi Lan, Boxer leader and brother of Prince Tuan. TsAi Lien, son of Prince Tun, implicated in the Boxer rising, Ts'ai Mou-te, defender of the city of Tai Yuan against Li Tzu-ch'eng, TsAi YiNG, son of Prince Ktmg, implicated in Boxer movement. TsAl Yuan, one of the conspiring Regents, 1861. Ts'ao Pin-chou, tutor to Hsien Feng.
Tseng Kuo-fan, statesman and soldier who overcame tlie Taipings, Tso Tsuno-t'ano, General and statesman under TzQ Hsi. TuAN CR'i-Jfi, a favourite and protCgi of Yuan Shih-k*ai.
PRINCIPAL PERSONS NAJIED
ruAN Fako, Viceroy and amateur in curios, decapitated in Szcchuan
by his troops. Tu Hst}N, eunuch who betrayed Pekinjj to Li Tzu-ch'eng. Tun, Princk, fifth son of Tao Kuang {vide Manchu genealogical tree). Tunc Chia, Empress, mother of K'ang Hsi. Tung Fu-iisian'G. Boxer leader, who falsely claimed until his death
that he was obeying Jung Lu's orders in nttacking the legations. Tunc T'u-lai, prominent Cliinese supporter of Manchu Emperor T*ai
Tsung. Tu Shou-t'iev, tutor of Tao Kuang. TzO Hsi, the Empress Dowager, Okl Bviddlia, or Western Empress.
Wanc Cii'eng-en, eunuch Commander-in-chief of Peking, who died
with his master, the Emperor Ch'ung Chen. Waxg P'eno-yCn, a censor under Kuang Hsu. Wang Wen-shao, favourite of Tzfl Hsi and somttinic Viceroy of ChitUi.
Grand Councillor under Tzd Hsi. Was Li, reign title of Shcn Tsung, died 1620. Wei Chitjo-hsizn, originally called Wei Chin-chung, an infamous
eunuch under the late Mings. Weng T'unq-ho, famous scholar and tutor to Kuang Hsii, who was
dismissed by Tzii Hsi in 1898 for alleged hostility to herself. Wxj Chao-pinc, a Canton merchant who traded with the barbarians
mider Ch'ien Lung. Wu HsiANG, father of Wu San-kuci.
Wu HsiUNO-KL'ASG, promotcd to be Grand Councillor by Ch'ien Lung. Wu San-kl'EI, made a Prince by the Manchus, afterwards adopted
reign title of liis own and rel3elled against them.
Vakg Hsiao-lou. palace actor under Limg V0.
Yang Hsiu-ciriNC, famous General of the Taiping rebellion.
Yang Jui-uex, a famous scholar mider Yung Cheng and Ch'ien Lung.
Yang Lien, loyal official who impeached the eunuch Wei Chung-hsien.
Yen Hsiu, Manchu President of Boanl of Ceremonies in 1880.
Yl YuAN-LU, high ofTicor who slew himself at the fall of Peking in 16tk
Yuan Chia-san, grandfather of ^'uiui Shih-k'ai.
Yuan Ch'i:ng-huan, patriotic Ming General, and anrcstor of Yuan
Shih-k'ai. Yuan Siini-K'Ai, born in I85D of old ofiicial family. Viceroy of Chihli,
now President of the Hepublic. YO Hsien, Manchu Governor of Sbansi who massacred the missionaries. Yd, Prinxe (son of T'ai Tsung), Manchu Commander-in-chief at siege
of Vang Chou-fu in IGiS.
7
PRINCIPAL PERSONS NAMED
Yu Te, Grand Secretary under the Old Buddha.
YD Lu, Viceroy of Tientsin in 1900.
YUN Chih, eldest son of K'ang Hsi by a lower concubine.
Yung Cheno, son of K*ang Hsi and successor to that Monarch.
Yung Kuei, Grand Secretary under Ch'ien Lung.
Yung Li, reign title of last Ming Prince, grandson of Wan Li, who
reigned in the south from 1645 to 1659. Yung Lo, fourth son of first Ming Kmperor, who usurped the throne
from his nephew.
INTRODUCTION
The enduring interest displayed by many readers in the cliaracter of China's great Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi, and the generous appreciation accorded to our work on lier life and reign/ have prompted the belief that tlie present work, covering a wider stretch of space and time, should prove interesting, and of some value, to those who desire to study the causes, immediate and remote, of recent and current events in the Far East. Until we undei*stand something of the main- springs of thought and action which determine the governance and daily Ufe of a people — something of their atavistic memories and instincts, of their social, religious and economic systems, it is not possible to sympathise with them in their perils and crises of change, or to render them the assistance wliich appreciation of their motives and intelligent anticipation of their needs might supply. And to see the Chinese world steadily and see it whole, to trace cause and effect back to the deeply buried founda- tions of their philosophy and civilisation, it is necessary to look at things from their point of view, to hear them speaking, amongst themselves, of many things which the West has forgotten, but which are still part of the very soul of the East. It is for this reason that, in the present work, as in the hfe of Tzu Hsi, we have thought it best to reproduce the actual form and substance of the words in which Ciiina's Sovereigns, annalists, com- mentators and despolch-writers have recorded the events
* Cbi»a under tfte Empress Dtncager, mid. (llfinciuann.)
9
INTRODUCTION
of contemporary history, hoping thus to create in the mind of the European reader something of the atmosphere in which tliey lived and moved.
The purpose of the present work is to present a faitli- fui picture of hfe at the Court of Peking, beginning with the period at whicli the dechne of the Ming dynasty had definitely set in and the rise of the Manchu power had begun—that is to say, from the middle of the sixteenth century down to the passing of the Manchus, to the chaos of degeneration and disruption, which obtains in China to-day under tlie name of a Republic. We have not attempted to construct a consecutive chronological record of the Empire's internal history or foreign relations, but only to present a series of impressions, taken from hfe, serving to illustrate the personal and domestic rela- tions of China's rulers with their Court, and of the Court itself with the government of the country ; to trace in these relations (vitally important under China's patriarchal system) alternating causes of national growth and decay; to watch, during the space of a few genera- tions, the sowing of the seeds, and the reaping of the harvests, of good and evil.
Our object being to reproduce as fully and as truthfully as possible the atmosphere of the Court of Peking, through- out the period wliich has culminated in the present paroxysm of demoralisation, we have allowed the narra- tives of Chinese writers to stand, as a rule, without attempting to amend or curtail them to meet the con- ventions of reticence imposed, in certain directions, upon European writers. Here and there (notably in the narrative of the sack of Yang Chou-fu) we have thought it advisable to omit some of the worst details of horrors inseparable from the orgies of bloodshed and lust which mark the rise and fall of power in China. As a whole, however, we have assumed that the student of history prefers to see things as they ai-e, rather than as
10
INTRODUCTION
the moralist would prefer them to be ; that he can, aad will, approach this study of Eastern life, described by Orientals, in the same spirit of detachment, with the same recognition of fundamental humanities and moralities, as that with which we approach the bmUil frankness of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel — things written for our learning.
There exists a small and happily diminishing class of moralists who would rather not look upon the mirror of history, or face the unpleasant realities of life, lest perchance they be disturbed from their comfortable fireside conceptions of the universe. One such there was — ^the manager of an American agency for supplying improving literature for the home circle — who recently asked us for a series of articles on China and the Chinese ; but lie stipulated, amongst other conditions calculated to preserve the moral dignity of his subscribers, that " they should contain no reference to concubines, secon- dary wives or other forms of immoraUty." The present Annals and Memoirs of the Chinese Court are no more suitable to the libraries of these dwellers in the walled I garden of cherished illusions than Job, fresh from his place amongst the ashes and scraping himself with a potsherd, would be fit company for their drawing-rooms. Nevertheless, Job, his afflictions and philosophy, remain to this day commonplaces of existence in the Far East, and he who would truthfully depict the life of tliis people must take them into account. As it was in the beginning, so it is now; while men speak glibly of parliaments and representative institutions, the *' stupid people " arc " born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward," because of an ancient social system not to be uprooted by any philanthropic devices of the West. Within the last few months, many a walled city of China has known once more the abomination of desolation, has heard again the familiar voice of Rachel mourning for her children.
11
INTHODUCTIOX
Railways, telephones, forts and ships— all the parapher- naUa of Europe's material civilisation, have availed nothing to save the citizens of Nanking from the hand of the destroyers, men of their own race. As it was in the time of the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, so it remains to-day in the Kast; the sons of Han "are far from safety; they arc crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them : whose harvest tlie hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thonis. and the robber swalloweth up their substance." To these hereditary victims of an outworn patriarchal system, the words of Job are everyday truths. " Terrors make them afraid on every side. Their strength is hunger-bitten, and destruction stands ever ready at their side. The king of terrors dwells in tlicir tabernacles and brimstone is scattered upon tlicir habitations."
The annals and memoirs used in compiling the present work have been selected as typically representative of the Oriental outlook on life and dcatli, and the business of government. We have not sought by any means to emphasise the brutaUties, debaucheries and cruelties of the Forbidden City; we have not looked for horrors, nor reproduced anytliing whieli the Chinese themselves would consider to be outside the range of common experi- ence. We have aimed simply at reproducing from Chinese sources a series of impressions true to life — not life as the sentimental humanitarian prefers to imagine it, but life as it was yesterday, and will be to-morrow, in the light that beat upon the Dragon Throne, and in the dark shadows behind it. To do this, we have endeavoured to steer a middle course between the Scylla of the Chinese chroniclers' brutal realism and the Charybdis of our conventional and often prurient reticences.
The reader will best appreciate the historical value and the significance of these Chinese records, who, in studying them, is able to detach himself for u while from
12
INTUODUCTIOX
Western modes of tliought and standards of actions ; wlio, clearing his mind of conventions and cant, endeavours to understand the fundamental differences between the moralities of East and West, and to weigh their results without prejudice or passion. It is impossible, for instance, for any one who regards polygamy as a form of " immorality " to study Chinese history with inteUi- gent sympathy; or even to appreciate the motives which chiefly influence individuals and determine policies amongst the ruling class at this moment. To get the correct point of view, wc must, in fact, assume for the study of China*s institutions and history the frame of mind in which we approach the lives of the Hebraic patriarchs and rulers; cheerfully accepting for them customs which we, the heirs of all the ages, liavc decided to modify or to reject. Better still if, in adopting this attitude of detachment, we can bring ourselves to recog- nition of the truth that the \Vestern World's convictions and conventions concerning the moralities are neither final nor necessarily superior, as a whole, to those of tlie East. Beneath the cruelties and rapacities of life, the brooding soul of the Kast preserves, with its infinite capacity for suffering, the dignity of a philosophy and the beauty of ideals which the West has never equalled, and from which it has derived many of its noblest inspira- tions and religions. Inferior to the European in many things that make for intellectual and material progress, the Oriental in general, and the Chinese in particular, can eiaini superiority in this, that in remaining nearer to nature, he has escaped the shameful hypocrisies and con- ventional falsehoods, which play so large a part in the social systems of the Western World. Admitted, that the East's immemorial acceptance of polygamy, with all its multitudinous paternity and chaotic domesticity, repre- sents a lower ideal than that which finds expression in the monogamous West; admitted, that, as practised by the
18
INTRODUCTION
rulers of China, it has been the cause of many and great evils; yet, so soon as we regard the question dispassion- ately and without reference to our own standard of con- duct, we are compelled to admit that polygamy, with all its evils, has preserved the Chinese from many things which they justly condemn and despise in our social system — from the terrible human traffic of our streets, from tiic unsexed or superfluous woman and the militant Suffra- gette, from the network of sordid sex problems and intrigues which honeycomb European society and reflect themselves in its literature and drama. The East is by tradition and temperament tolerant, reluctant to discuss the im- mortal Gods, and, for the rest, judging the tree by its fruits ; willing to see good in every creed which preaches benevolence and gentleness ; yet even the Chinese cannot avoid comparing some of the results of Christianity's civilisation with their own, and realising with satisfaction that the daily records of our divorce and police courts have no parallels in the East. And again, although we may disagree with the principles and practice of ancestor worship, we cannot deny that it has inculcated reverence for parents, with definite ideals of duty, and produced a race of women which instinctively prefers death to dishonour. The Chinese, with no desire to argue about worlds unseen or the road thereto, would be more than human if they took no comfort from comparing these results of the Confucian philosophy with those of our European systems; if they failed to perceive the un- deniable fact that (as de Tocqueville observed in America) democracy affords neither time nor place for that profit- able meditation which makes for the peace of a man's, or a nation's, soul. In studying Chinese history it is well to remember these things.
One of the most conspicuous results of the Chinese educational and philosophical systems confronts us in the family likeness impressed by classical traditions upon
14
INTRODUCTION
the seven ages of their literature. All the annalists of] the Mings, like their forbears under the Sung d}T»asty, and their descendants under the Manchus, use the same stock phrases, metaphors and arguments, derived one and all from the classical authors of antiquity. Age can never wither, nor custom stale, the perennial \'1tality of their venerable quotations. The more remote their ancientry, the better do they become in the eyes of a race of scholars who :
•'Tbotitth they wrote in all by rote, Could never write it right.
All Chinese literature is sicklied o'er by the pale cast of the Confucian tradition; therefore it is, that in the Ming chroniclers of the sixteenth century, as in those of the T'ang dynasty, we And the same set phrases, the same artificial gestures and ready-made emotions, as we find in the presidential mandates of Yuan Shih-k'ai to-day. Throughout the whole course of Chinese history, events, as recorded by the Hanlin annalist, become stereotyped in fixed groves and rigid patterns. The Confucian scholar sees and interprets the whole human comedy in rigid terms of classical allusions. For him there is, indeed, no new thing under the sun; nothing in heaven or earth, concerning which the Four Books and the Five Classics have not said the first and last word. In the ftfteenth century, a somewhat similar attitude obtained amongst the rank and file of European scholars; indeed there is reason to believe that it survives, to this day, in certain slumbering backwaters of our univei-sities. The mind which lives for and by Latin odes or Greek elegiacs at Oxford is surely the same, in its causes and effects, as that which rejoices in the production of antithetical couplets at Peking; fortunately for itself, however, it has to deal with a different public. The absence of a healthy spirit of criticism, due to the Middle Kingdom's splendid
15
LNTHODUCTION
isolation and sflf-sufticiency, gradnally evolved a typt^ of scholariihip amongst the Chinese which displays all tlic erudition of a Montaigne, a Bacon or a Burton, but lacks their saving graces of huinour and humanity. Thus it is that the mandarin scholar, century after centtiry, has seen and describetl men and events in a dull monotone of conventional platitudes. Borne down by the weight of the classical tradition, all things in heaven and earth are associated in his mind with the odes of Confucius, the stilted periods of some Sung philosopher, or the poems of Li Tai-po. It is not surprising, therefoi'e, that wc find official annalists of the present day using precisely the same expressions as those whicli were in vogue amongst the writers of the Ming period ; or that, through- out the dynastic annals, we find evidence of a tendency, on the part of the chroniclers, to make history conform, as far as possible, to the precedents established by the old times before them.
Judged in tlic light of its aciiievements, and even of its avowed aims, Young China stands at present condemned of futility. With a fair field and much favour, it has failed to seize its splendid opportunities; it has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. But even whilst we recognise that its shrill- voiced iconoclasm and loud beating of imported drums present but little justification for optimism, yet this, at least, must be placed to its credit, that its fervour of zeal for Western learning has been, and is, au intelligent protest— a conscious reaction^ against the petrefaction of the Confucian system, against ** the letter which killeth " ; a wholesome breeze of dawn, stirring the dead bones in the dark valleys of Chinese tradition. The lamp which they have lighted can never again be extinguished; the old order must pass, giving place to the new. It will be well for China and for the world if, in destroying the fetters of the past, tlie leaders of the people find grace and wisdom to seek once
19
INTRODUCTION
more the pure well of moral philosophy from which the early sages drew their sweetness and their light.
Amongst such morals and conclusions as the reader may draw from study of these three centuries of Chinese history, one of the most obvious is to be found in the persistent coincidence of periods of demoralisation in the State with the ascendancy of eunuchs at Court. The Chinese have always realised the truth of this matter; scholars, historians and moralists never fail to declare that the Empire's crisis of private corruption and public disorder, the decline and fall of dynasties, liave been caused or greatly hastened by the interference and intrigues of these Court menials in affairs of State. The first Manchu rulers perceived clearly the evils of a eunuch-ridden Court, and took wise precautions against them. In the fate of the Mings, the lesson was writ plain for them to learn, adding one more to the many warnings of history against the insidious dangers of the Court's excessive polygamy and the atmosphere of debauchery and enerva- tion thereby created. They could see for themselves to what a pitiful state the Throne and Court had been brought by the tyrannous cruelty, treachery and greed of the eunuchs who infested the Forbidden City and projected the " poisonous miasma " of their influence to the farthest frontiers of the Empire. It is noteworthy that, amongst the many emasculated Palace officials who rose to place and power under the Mings and again under the latter Manchus, few displayed the fidelity and the civic virtues which seem to have distinguished those of the Court of Babylon, or those which Herodotus attributes to the eunuch magnates of Persia. Fidelity to the person of the Emperor we find, indeed (though none too fre- quently), combined with literary and histrionic talents of a high order and great intellectual vigour; but the history of China, during the period with which we are dealing, produces no eunuch general or statesman com- c 17
parable to that Ilerniias, Governor of Atarnea, to whose nmiies Aristotle offered sacrifice and sincere reverence.
If we compare the condition of China's civil service and military organisation of to-day with that which obtained in the reign of Ch'ien Lung, we are compelled to seek for specific causes to account for so complete a demoralisa- tion of the riding caste and so swift decay of the nation's civic and patriotic instincts. A century and a half ago, Chinese armies, organised under the rigorous military system of the Manchus, were steadily figliting one success- ful war after another, thereby extending the frontiers of the Empire and the benefits of its well-ordered adminis- tration to independent Tartary, Thibet, Nepal, Burmah and Sungaria. Studying the history of this great Monarch's long reign, and that of his immediate successors, we per- ceive that the chief cause of the swift decline and fall of the Mancliu power, and of the consequent demoralisation of the whole system of government, lay (as Tzu Hsi admitted on her deatlibed) in the corruption of public and private morals which set in, so soon as the " rats and foxes " of the Court were permitted to interfere in affairs of State. So long as the Palace eunuchs were kept in the place wisely assigned to them by Shun Chih. and de- barred from all high offices, the Court retained its virile dignity and the public service its efficiency. The luxury, nepotism and venality introduced during the regime of Ch'ien Lunges favourite, the Grand Secretary, Ho Shen, restored to the Palace eunuchs opportunities which they had not enjoyed since the overthrow of the Ming dynasty. Fifty years later, their ascendancy at Court was com- pletely estabhshed. Henceforward, they were able to exercise once more their traditional functions as the tempters of youth, the debauchers of age, in the profound seclusion of the Forbidden City, until gradually the Son of Heaven on his Throne became a defenceless puppet in their supple bloodstained hands. Steep is the ascent
18
INTRODUCTION
of Olympus, rapid the descent to Avemus ; the structural character of a people moves onward and upward only by slow processes of evolution, but its destruction is often brought about by swift and direct factors of demoralisa- tion. Seldom is this truth thrown into relief so clear as that in which we see it against the background of China's history, during the periods immediately preceding the downfall of the Ming and Manchu dynasties.
10
PART I THE MING DYNASTY
CHAPTER 1
A CHINESE HAROUN AL RASCHID
When, in 1868, Chu Yiian-chang, Buddhist priest, administrator and ligliter, established the Ming dynasty by lus successful rebellion against the degenerate descend- ants of Kublai Khan, and thus shattered the last remnants of the great Mongol Empire, he laid down certain principles for the government of China which proved him to be a statesman of the first order. He realised clearly that the rulers of tlic Celestial Empire must govern rather by moral than material force, and that the consent of the governed will always be withdrawn from those who lack the moral qualities which the people reverence and expect in their rulers. During his reign and that of his illustrious _nephew, Yung I-o, literature, education, arts, industries and commerce were systematically encouraged, with results that conferred great glory on the dynasty and prosperity on the people. The founder of the great Ming dynasty, whose throne was established by the sword, knew that the pen is a mightier weapon against the vicissitudes of Time— by its aid he hoped to revive a patriotic spirit and the instincts of nationahsm, long dor- mant in the Chinese people. He therefore reorganised the whole system of the public service and competitive exami- nations, revised the penal code, regulated taxation, and introduced a national currency. More important than all, as has since been repeatedly proved, he forbade the official employment of eunuchs at the capital.
28
ANNALS AND MEMOIRS OF
In subsequent chapters, dealing with the decline and fall of the Sling dynasty, the rebellion of Li Tzii-ch*eng, and the establishment of the Manchu power, the reader will perceive that the Ming rulers' failure to observe this fundamental principle of government (upon which the great Tzu Hsi insisted as she lay dying in 1908) was the chief cause of their final overthrow and of countless calamities to the nation at large. It was in the year 1430, that the Emperor Hsiian Tsung, grandson of Yung Lo, adopted the well-meant but disastrous course of raising the status of the Palace menials, and giving them the advantages of a first-class literary education. During the reign of his successor, the power of the eunuchs and their interference in affairs of State steadily increased, and from this time the decline of the great Ming dynasty may be said to have commenced.
Before proceeding to describe, from contemporary annals and State papers, the dark days of anarchy and bloodshed which preceded the subjugation of China by the Manchus, let us narrate the following episodes from the life of the Ming Emperor Chang Te, who reigned from 1506 to 1522. The story is taken from a contemporary memoir, now very scarce; it throws instructive liglit on the life and manners of the Court of those days, before the energies of the Mings had been sapped to the extent of making the Emperor little better than a puppet in his gilded prison of the Forbidden City.
The Emperor Chang Te (a reign title, meaning ** Ortho- dox Virtue ") is described by Chinese historians as a sensual and thriftless monarch. He may have been ; but he would seem at least to have been superior to many of his successors in possessing a will of his own, a sense of humour, a taste for adventure, and other redeeming quahties, as shown by the following incidents of his reign.
In the year 1508, the graduate-doctors of the lowest degree, or Hanlin bachelors, were undergoing a test exami-
24
Portrait of \ lhinksk Opficlau Bv Wu T.kq-tlO [Eighth CenxuryI. IFrpm (Jb cttUiUm of Ckvtts L. Fnsr, Bt^. at Dtinil.]
{
THE COURT OF PEKING
nation before a Commission in the Palace to qualify for metropolitan or provincial posts. The Emperor him- self was present and took an active part in the examination.
One of the candidates, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, named Lin Chi-shih, a native of Fuhkien Province, was addicted to the use of arbitrary or archaic forms in the ^vriting of charactei's. A\Tien the essays were handed in. His Majesty objected to Lin's style of writing and asked what was his a\ithority for such affectations. Lin replied that they were archaisms. At this, the Emperor wrote out a spurious character of his own invention and asked him to give it a name. Lin said he did not know it, whereupon His Majesty obser\'ed : " If one character may be written topsy-turvy, why not another ? You are evidently not a scholar of the standard required in the Hanlin Academy, I order that you return to your native place to study for three years, at the end of which time you may come to Peking and compete again at the examinations."
Lin thanked the Emperor and withdrew. His friends and relations all looked upon him as a victim of Imperial displeasure, and refused to have any further dealings with him. Being very poor, he could not afford to pay the cost of the journey back to Fulikien, and no official in Peking would give him employment as tutor, owing to his having incurred Imperial censure. He therefore pro- ceeded to earn his livelihood by writing scrolls at a stand in the street just outside the Ch'ien Men, the main gate of the Tartar city, leading to the Palace.
As his writing was admirable, he attracted much atten- tion from literary men. One day, about a year later, the Emperor, walking about as he loved to do, incognito, was passing the scribe's stand, when his curiosity was aroused by the large crowd of scholars, who were pressing round and uttering admiring comments.
Anxious to learn the cause of the commotion, the
25
M
ANNALS AND MEMOIRS OF
Emperor made his way tlirough the crowd and observed a young man wielding his pen with extraordinary rapidity and skill. His caligraphy and the style of his composition showed plainly that lie was a master of the literary language, and the Emperor (no bad judge) was dehghted witli liis work. He had forgotten the man's face, being at that time completely absorbed in the charms of the latest favourite in his harem.
So, coming nearer, he said to the writer : '* I perceive that your caligraphy and composition are alike excellent; why do you not compete at the examinations, instead of wasting your talents in this humble occupation?" lin looked up and failed to recognise His Majesty, but perceived at once that it was no common person who thus addressed him; so, rising from his place, he bowed low and invited him to be seated. " My name," said he, " is Lin : I, all unworthy, passed for the Hanlin Bachelor- ship." The Emperor replied : " It is not fitting that a member of so honourable a body as the Hanlin Academy should engage in what is really a form of street hawking,*' " At the Court examination held last year for conferring official appointments upon Hanlin bachelors," said Lin, "I failed to recognise a character written by His Majesty, and was by him commanded to return home to Fuhkien and study." " Why, then, have you disobeyed the order and remained in the capital ? " " Because," said Lin, " I come of a very poor family and could not afford to pay for my joiimey home. My present employ- ment was the only livelihood left to me." The Emperor asked why he did not seek a position as tutor. Lin answered : " All the world knows that I am in disgrace, and so no one dares engage my services." The Emperor then said : " I will recommend you for a post as secretary in a neighbouring province, which will at least be an improvement on your present vocation."
Lin gratefully bowed his thanks and asked the Emperor's
26
THE COURT OF PEKING
title and address, in order that he might call and return thanks for his kindness. " Never mind that," said His Majesty, " wait here to-morrow for a messenger from me," With that he turned away. None of the spectators had recognised him, though all were surprised at his kindness to Lin. Next day, a eunuch from the Palace arrived bearing a sealed yellow envelope and a hundred taels. These he handed to Lin, saying : " Yesterday an official personage told me to hand these to you, sir, and to direct you to follow the instructions written on this envelope. On no account are you to open it, lest evil befall you. Tliis money is for your travelling expenses." The eunuch then took his departure, leaving no name. Lin examined the envelope and read the inscription writ large : " To be delivered in person to the Governor of Shantung and to be opened by him."
Lin joyfully closed his stand, hired a cart and proceeded rith liis former servant to Chi-nan fu. At that time the substantive post of Governor was vacant, and was tem- porarily filled by the Treasurer. Arrived at the provincial capital, Lin took up his quarters at an inn, changed his clothes and proceeded with his servant to the Governor's yamen. The Acting Governor had a high reputation as an honest official and a strict disciplinarian; his under- lings dared not accept bribes, so it was no easy matter to gain access to his presence. For three days in succession Lin tried unsuccessfully to send in his card, and at last said reproachfully to one of the gate-keepers : " I have a secret message from Peking wliich I must deliver in person. Why do you obstruct me like this?" The underling then informed the official in charge of the gate, who ordered Lin to approach, but, on observing his somewhat common raiment, came to the conclusion that he was merely a suppHant for favour. Therefore he shook his head contemptuously, saying : " My master is Acting Governor of this proN-ince and far too busy to sec any
27
M
ANNALS AND MEMOIRS OF
former friend of his less prosperous days. Any letter you may have for him I will deliver; meanwhile, get you to your lodging and wait until you hear from me." Lin was obliged to hand him tiie yellow envelope and went sorrowfully back to the inn.
Scarcely had he reached liis room, when the landlord came rushing in and made obeisance before him. " I did not recognise Your Excellency," he said, " and have failed in respect to yoiu: attendants. I deserve to die a thousand deaths." Indignantly Lin answered : " Why do you mock my poverty?" The landlord was about to explain, when a great commotion was heard outside the inn; gongs were beaten and crackers fired. An aide- de-camp from the Governor had arrived, attended by a large retinue, and was kneeling reverently at the inn door. Wlien the ceremony was completed, he rose and addressed Lin : " The provincial Treasurer bids us invite Your Excellency the Imperial Commissioner to proceed to his office."
Lin, completely dumbfoundered, felt as if he were walking on air. However, he was assisted, almost by force, into a sedan-chair borne by eight men. Preceded by a long line of insignia bearers and followed by troops of horsemen, he was carried into the yamen, just outside the main hall of audience. Here, the provincial Treasurer (that was Acting Governor) was awaiting him in ftdl dress. Alighting from the sedan he observed an altar upon which incense was burning ; on it lay the yellow envelope which had been entrusted to him for delivery. The Treasurer knelt before the altar and saluted His Sacred Majesty's communication ; then, bowing to Lin, he said : " Will Your Excellency the Imperial Commissioner be pleased to read aloud the sacred decree ? " Lin opened the envelope and read : " The Govemoi-ship of Shantimg is at present vacant. W^E command Lin Chi-shih to act as Governor." Realising that it was the Emperor himself who had befriended him, he kotowed nine times in the
28
THE COURT OF PEKING
direction of the Forbidden City. Tlie Treasurer then" came forward with liis congratulations, apologising for not having met him at some distance from the city. So Lin became Governor of Shantung and, as in duty bound, drafted a memorial of thanks to His Majesty and requested an audience. Not long after he received the Imperial rescript : '* We saw tliat you possessed capacity and we therefore conferred tins appointment upon you. Do your duty diligently in all things, so as to do credit to Our choice. In three years' time return to Peking and give an account of your Governorship."
At the expiry of the appointed time Lin returned to the capital and had audience with the Emperor, who said ; ** You have now acquired a literary efficiency : we appoint you Hanlin compiler. Study three yeai-s more at the Academy, and we shall then see what higlier appointment you may deserve."
On another occasion, the Emperor entered the quarters in the Palace where the Grand Secretaries were wont to transact business after audience, and foimd all the officials there assembled at breakfast. They rose at his entrance, and the Emperor said : " Come all of you to my private apartments, after you have finished, that we may talk." In due course they joined His Majesty, who bade them be seated. " You have all been eating rice," said he ; " do you know anytliing about the method of its cultivation and the difficulty of producing a crop ? Before I succeeded to the Throne, 1 used to fancy that cereals were produced like weeds, that they grew of themselves without any trouble being bestowed on them. However, now that I often roam about the country and have seen with my own eyes the hardships which the peasants endure, I realise the truth of the old saying : * Every grain of the rice on your plate is won by the sweat of the brow.' You, ray ministers, come from various parts of the Empire,
29
—I
J
ANNALS AND ^iEMOIRS OF
txnd the customs of North and South differ greatly. I desire now to extend my knowledge, and I tlierefore request that each of you will state fully for my information the methods of sowing, weeding and har\^esting rice in your respective parts of the Empire." It so happened that most of the Ministers of the day had begun life as farmers* sons and peasants, so they were able to supply the Emperor with the information he desired. But there was one president of a Board, by name Chang Cliin, of an ancient and aristocratic family, who was quite ignorant of the subject. To him His Majesty scornfully said ; " How can you perform the functions of your office if you are so grossly ignorant aboiit the production of the very food you eat? Can you possibly attend to the daily business of your Board without committing some serious blunder or dereliction of duty ? "
The President was so much alarmed that he could only kotow, and then in his confusion he mumbled : " I am Chief of the Ministry of Civil Appointments ; this morning I attended office, and the last business we dealt with was the filling of a vacancy in Kiangsu Province for the post of Deputy Assistant District Magistrate {the lowest post in the Empire carrying official rank). My ministry has the right to nominate for this post on this occasion, as on the last occasion the Governor of the Province conferred the appointment." *
His Majesty roared with laughter : " Is this wretched piece of routine business all you can cite in answer to my question?" With that he shook his sleeve, dismissing the ministers. The President's colleagues asked him why he had made such a stupid reply. " I was so greatly bewildered." said he, " that my mind refused to think of anything else."
* Posts below a ccrtoin rank in the provinces are filled alternately on the invitation of the Peking Ministry and of the provincial authorities.
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A few days later a decree was issued : ** The post of Deputy Assistant District Magistrate at T*ai-hu in Kiangsu is hereby given to President Chang Chin ! " On reading the decree he was greatly distressed. Turning to his colleagues, he said : " Wliat can it mean and what shall I do? The lowest post in the official list is given me; naturally 1 must proceed to take up my new duties, but would it be right for me to ask for a farewell audience before leaving Peking? " His colleagues, greatly tickled at the Imperial jest, repUed : " Wliat right has an official of the lowest rank to demand an audience? All you can do is to prostrate yourself at the Gate of Mid-day,* and thank His Majesty. There they will give you the warrant authorising you to take over the post. But as the decree says nothing about your being cashiered or reduced in rank, you will have to go on wearing your first-class button and official robes."
On arrival at the provincial capital, he found the Gover- nor and all the local oilicials awaiting to greet him in the suburbs as a mark of respect. But he begged tliem to desist and go home, while he proceeded on foot to pay his respects to the various officials, presenting to each his visiting card, drawn up in the humblest form like that of a petitioner. This made all the officials rather uncomfort- able, as he was superior in rank to them all, so they begged him to remain in residence at the provincial capital and not to trouble about taking up his post. He replied : *' How dare I disobey the Imperial mandate ? I shall proceed thither on the first auspicious day." Thereupon the Prefeet and Magistrate of T'ai-hu decided in all haste to decorate and alter his official residence, so as to make it resemble as closely as possible, and so far as size would allow, the yamen of a governor. Outside they mustered a great number of lictors and rumiers, Avith a forest of
^ The southern gate of the Forbidden City, 81
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insignia and bands of musicians, and they placed chevatix de jrise in front of the main entrance.
On his arrival, the President-Magistrate observed that his new residence was surrounded on three sides by rice- Helds, and thus it came to him that His Majesty desired him to leam by practical experience the hardships of a farmer's life. So he dismissed all his underlings and retinue, and thereafter made it his daily business to go, simply dressed, amongst the people, visiting the adjoining villages and chatting with the elders concerning the condition of the peasantry. He made careful study of their grievances, and took note of wrongs that might be put right. Five years he lived amongst them, acting as mediator and arbitrator in their disputes, so that he earned the respect of all men and their goodwill.
When, in 1519, Prince Ning, a kinsman of the Emperor, rebelled, His Majesty came South in person to chastise him, and arrived in due course at Soochow, the provincial capital of Kiangsu Province. The ex-President, hearing of his impending arrival, hurried to Soochow and said to the Governor : " I who have held one of the highest posts in the Empire am in duty bound to wait upon His Majesty when he arrives here, but ofiicial etiquette forbids that one who holds so humble a post as that of Deputy Assist- ant District Magistrate should proceed to the provincial capital and absent himself from his duties. What do you advise me to do? "
The Governor and his colleagues replied : " As regards official duties you are, it is true, our suboi*dinate, but in rank you are our superior. You should, therefore, go to meet His Majesty, wearing your robes and insignia of the highest rank, but you should take up a position in our rear." To this the President agreed. As the Imperial cortege drew near. His Majesty, who was on horseback, recognised him from a distance, and bade him approach. " Do you now understand," said he, ** the hardships of a
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farmer's life ? " The President kotowed and thanked the Emperor for the lesson he had given him. His Majesty bade him join the Imperial party at the travelling lodge, and there questioned him concerning the fulfilment of his charge. The President gave him full details of the various reforms he had initiated, which so pleased His Majesty that he promoted him to a rank even higher tlian that which he had previously enjoyed, namely, to be Assistant Grand Secretary.
During this same expedition against Prince Ning, while the Imperial barge was moored one day at Ch'ing-ho on the Grand Canal, in Kiangsu, His Majesty went incognito and afoot to an adjacent teashop, desiring to hear some- tliing of the local gossip. As he sat there, he heard many grievous complaints concerning the squeezing and bare- faced robbery which travellers were suffering at the hands of certain military officers and their underlings. Every boat passing up and down the canal at this point, whether laden with merchandise or personal baggage, was liable to detention imtil it paid their extortionate charges, and if the " squeeze " was not promptly forthcoming, all the
(contents of the boat were confiscated and the boat itself often smashed to pieces. Travellers and traders were loud in their helpless wrath at this state of affairs, and many expressed their hope that the rebel prince would
'defeat the Imperialist forces, for any change must be for the better.
The Emperor made up his mind to look into these matters for himself, so he bought a small boat, dressed himself as a trader, and with only one body-servant and a young eunuch, proceeded down the canal. On reaching the Customs station which hes outside the important city of Yang Chou-fu, close to the Yangtsze, the Emperor saw hundreds of boats drawn up in rows, which were being searched by the river poUce and petty Customs officers, o 88
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Targe Customs barge was moored to the bank where the tolls were fixed and protests heard. From each boat heavy payment was being exacted in the name of the Fjinperor and ostensibly for the purpose of providing funds to suppress the rebellion. All the merchants meekly paid "squeeze" to the underlings, who were rapidly making their fortunes. When the time came for the Emperor's boat to be searched, His Majesty lay prone in the stern and when summoned to rise paid no attention. The runners, therefore, seized him roughly and brought him to the Customs barge, where he saw an official in full robes surrounded by lictors and seated at a table, as if he were presiding at a court. As the Emperor approached, this official began angrily to upbraid him : " What manner of man are you who dare interfere with His Majesty's ser- vants in the execution of their duty ? Has the law no terrors for you ? do you not fear the heavier bamboo? " At this the Emperor smiled contemptuously, so the official bade his lictors strip him and apply the hca\^ bamboo to his person. Happily His Majesty's body-servant was a particularly lusty fellow, and he succeeded in putting fear into the myrmidons for the time being, so that the Emperor suffered no insult. But the official grew angrier than ever. He shouted : " This is evidently some notori- ous river pirate or cut-throat. Go and arrest his boatman." They did so, and flogged him cnielly to make him confess that he knew the Emperor to be a robber.
Meanwhile, His Majesty had drawn fmm his breast a tablet of jade and told the eunuch to take it to the Lieu- tenant-Governor of the province (who at that time resided at Yang Chou) and bid him come quickly. Very soon, in obedience to the Imperial command, the Governor came hurrying up in a panic of nervous fear. On seeing him approach, the Customs official knelt at the gangway to receive him, and was just beginning to tell him how he had captured a notorious pirate, when the Governor perceived
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the Emperor standing near the main mast. Reverently he fell upon his knees, and prostrated himself in the dust, imploring forgiveness.
The Emperor remained silent, but made signs to his body-servant to remove the offending official's hat and button. These he presented to the boatman, who thus attained to official rank. Said he : *' This hat is to com- pensate you for the pain you Iiave suffered." Next he ordered that the official be arrested and made to disgorge his ill-gotten gains, after which he was duly decapitated. All the higher officials of the town were punished for liaving failed to put a stop to these exactions, and from this time forward the boats of travellers were allowed to pass in peace.
On the last night of the year after the Emperor's return to Peking from the expedition against Prince Ning, he left the Forbidden City to make a round of the various government offices, for he knew that they would then be practically deserted, as the officials would be seeing the old year out at their own homes. But when he reached the Board of Appointments (Li pu) he heard sounds of cheerful song proceeding from the main hall, as if a large party of revellers were gathered together. The song was of the South.
The Emperor entered and, to his tistonishment, found only one petty official, who was singing to himself, with a plate of meat before him and a wine-kettle. This man rose as the visitor entered, and politely offering him a seat, proffered a cup of wine. The Emperor asked him : "â– AVhat is your official rank and why are you here all alone? " He replied : " I am a native of Chekiang and am on duty at this Board as a clerk. The seals being locked up for the New Year holiday, all the officials are away at their homes, drinking and feasting with their famihes. 1 thought it wrong and dangerous that such a mass of official documents and archives should remain
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unguarded, so I have remained here on watch and will not desert my post." The Monarch said : " Very good. I shall see you to-morrow." With that he departed, the clerk attended him to the door, and then resumed his solitary vigil.
Next morning, when the whole Court and tlie chief metropolitan ofiicials proceeded to the main Palace hall to offer their New Year congratulations, the Emperor turned to the President of the Board of Appointments (the same man who had just returned from learning the hardships of a farmer's life in the T'ai hu magistracy), and asked : " What is the name of the clerk who was on watch at your Board last night? Let him attend our audience at once."
The President promptly dispatched a Board secretary to command the clerk's presence. So he came to the Throne Hall, and after making the nine obeisances, looked up and perceived in the Emperor his guest of the previous evening. He trembled all over, but His Majesty reassured him. ** Be not alarmed. Your diligent performance of duty and faithfulness to the trust imposed upon you, are worthy of the highest praise. What is the highest pro- motion to which you would be entitled at the end of your present term of office ? " The clerk answered : " If my conduct has been blameless for five years and no black marks are recorded against me, the most I could expect would be to be eligible for selection as an official of the secondary ninth rank." ^ His Majesty said : " What post do you covet ? " ** What your unworthy servant covets is the post of Deputy Assistant District Magistrate at T'ai hu in Kiangsu, because it has been temporarily held of late by the President of my Board. It would be an extraordinary honour to obtain it, because recent events have caused it to loom large in the public eye. But as my
^ This is the lowest rank entitling the holder to be classed as an " official."
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time of duty at my present post is still unexpired, it would be contraTy to precedent."
His Majesty smiled : " If we command you to proceed, what has precedent to do with the case ? " The clerk, overcome with joy, exclaimed : " Wan Sui I " (Ten thousand years) " May Your Majesty live for ever ! " So the Emperor bade the President prepare the necessary papers and arrange for the clerk's immediate departure to take up his new post.
In 1517, the Emperor, whose eccentricities and excur- sions were the despair of the Court, took it upon himself to proceed incognito to Hsiian-Hua fu (about 120 miles north of Peking). The fairest damsel in that city was "Sister Phcenix," then in her seventeenth year; she was the daughter of a wine-distiller named Li, and she kept his shop. One day, when her father was out, the Emperor, passing by on one of his walks, observed her dazzling and queenly beauty. At the charm of a glance, sufficient of itself to overthrow a kingdom, His Majesty felt as if he were losing control of his senses. He entered and called for wine. The maiden brought it, and the Emperor, supposing her to be an ordinary courtesan, seized her in his arms and bore her to the inner chamber. She was shouting for help, when His Majesty placed his hand over her mouth and said : ** We are the Son of Heaven. Trust yourself to Us, and wealth and power are yours from this day forward."
Now it so happened that Sister Phanix had recently dreamed more than once that she was changed into a white pearl and carried off by a divine dragon. But there the dream had always stopped. She now under- stood its meaning, and believing the Emperor's word, suhmitted to his august wishes. His Majesty was en- raptured to know that she was no courtesan, but a pure maiden.
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c
len, in response to her first cry for help, her father liad come upon the scene, he found the door fast bolted, and as her cries had ceased he believed that his beloved daughter had been tlie victim of a cruel outrage. He ran, therefore, to summon the guard; but as they came rushing up the Kmperor opened the door and came out. He revealed his identity to the excited Li, whereupon all present made humble obeisance. His Majesty then bade tliem conduct Sister Phcenix to the quarters occupied by his concubines. To her father he gave a thousand ounces of gold and raised him to the rank of a high official. It was his wish to bestow upon Sister Phcenix the rank of an Imperial Concubine of the second grade, were she so inclined. Humbly she declined the honour. " Your maidservant," said she, " has but a little measure of good fortune to expect : she is not long for this world. Were I to accept the rank which Your Majesty's divine goodness w^ould bestow upon me, it would hasten my death. Have I not had the im- measurable honour of finding favour in the sight of the * World Honoured One ' ? Is not that a sufficient reward for my humble merits? In all humility I would beseech Your Majesty to consider your duty to your people and to return speedily to the capital. By so doing you will give me far greater happiness than by conferring honours upon me."
The Emperor realised that her simple peasant*s attire served only to enhance her radiant beauty, and so he did not urge her to exchange it for the robes of a concubine. She was ever at his side in those days, serving him at table and sharing his couch. But she never ceased to beg him to return to Peking, and at last, won by her gentle entreaties, he consented to fix the day for his departure.
Sister Phcenix travelled by his side until the cortege reached the Great Wall (forty miles from Peking), Here a terrible storm broke upon tliem, and the party took
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shelter at a house just inside the gate of Chii-Yung kuan. Suddenly Sister Phoenix saw that the images of the Four Heavenly Kings, or Defenders of Buddhism, which stand guarding the entrance, seemed to be endowed witli Hfe, and that they turned angry glances in her direction. At the sight she fainted and fell to the ground. Gently the Emperor raised her and had her borne to a temple outside the barrier. He watched by her bedside until she re- covered consciousness, when she said : " Your handmaid knew full well that she was not destined long to enjoy the sweets of life, or to wait upon Your Majesty in the For- bidden City. Let me now leave you and return to my home." The Emperor answered : " I cannot grant that prayer, for I would rather abandon my Empire than be deprived of your sweet and gracious person." Sadly she gazed at him, and then, with a deep sigh, expired.
His Majesty mourned long and deeply over the death of his favourite, and conmianded that she be buried with Imperial honours at the summit of the pass. So they built a huge mound of yellow earth over her tomb, but, to the amazement of all, in one night the yellow earth became white; so powerful her virtuous will, even after death. The Emperor pondered long over her advice concerning his duty to attend to State affairs. Said he : " If even a maiden could realise the responsibility of the head of the State towards his people, surely I should profit by her advice." With that he returned straightway to Peking. The historians record tliat the Emperor had paid no heed to the repeated entreaties of liis officials, that he should be pleased t* lca\'e Hsiian-Hua and resume his place at the capital : how strange, they say, that a humble peasant girl should have been able to persuade him to return to the fjath of duty ! Is it not an example of what the Canon of History calls " The softness of the feminine nature overcoming a strong man's will " ?
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In the year 1508 the triennial autumn examination took place in Peking for the Masters' degree. As usual, thousands of scholars from all parts of the provinces had assembled in the metropolis. The soothsayers and fortune- tellers were all busily plying their trade in booths just outside the Ch'ien Men ; one of them attracted particular attention by proclaiming, in a well- written notice exhibited outside his booth, that he challenged comparison with the most famous magicians known to history. He boasted that he could tell at once the rank and antecedents of any official who might come to him incognito, and that he had never made a mistake. As the days went by his fame increased, and there was always a crowd around his booth. Soon His Majesty came to hear of him, and passing by his booth one day, joined the crowd and watched him at his trade. The time was 11 a.m. on the 8th day of the 8th moon. Suddenly there was noise and com- motion. The crowd swayed and parted, and through it there came rushing a scholar who seized hold of the fortune- teller and shouted : '* You have ruined my career for good and all. Either you or I shall die for it." The spectators tried to separate the combatants, but without success. The Emperor motioned to his attendant, a man of power- ful physique, to separate them, and proceeded to inquire what all the excitement was about.
The soothsayer replied : " A few days ago this man came here to consult me with regard to his prospects in the impending examination, and I promised that he would win the first place. Now, having failed to take his place in the examination hall, he comes here forsooth and blames me for his own unpunetuality. Much learning has made him mad."
At this, the scholar broke in and said : " Because you foretold that I should come out at the head of the list, my friends gave me a banquet, at which I became very drunk. When at last my servant managed to arouse me, I got up
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nd hurried to the examination hall, but the gates were^ already barred.* Did you ever hear of a non-competitor coming out at the head of the list ? Are you not, then, the sole cause of my undoing ? "
The two men continued loudly disputing, until the Emperor said to the soothsayer : " Cease your brawUng ! Supposing I get this scholar admitted to the examination hall and he fails to come out at the head of the hst, to what punishment will you submit ? "
The soothsayer replied : " You may gouge out one eye." "All right," said the Emperor, "that's a bargain." He then took up pen and paper from the table, wrote a few words, and sealed the document with a small seal which he wore at his girdle. He then bade his attendant go with the scholar and deliver the paper. To the sooth- sayer he said, " Farewell : I shall return in a fortnight to prove your words ." The soothsayer guessed that it was the Emperor, and promptly folded his tent and departed.
Meantinie, the attendant and the scholar proceeded to the examination hall, some two miles away. The Im- perial messenger then commanded the drums to be beaten, as a signal that he was the bearer of a decree from His Sacred Majesty. The seals upon the gates were speedily removed and the locks opened, whereupon the officials on duty outside the hall sounded a gong. This brought an usher from within, wlio escorted the attendant and the scholar up to the main hall, where the Imperial examiners were seated. As the Imperial messenger approached they all knelt : he strode to the dais and there, facing South, read the decree. Having done so he left to report the fulfilment of liis mission.
A censor and an inspector then conducted the scholar
' A competitor was excluded from participation once the gates had been closed, as they could not be rcKipencd until after the exnmination.
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to one of the vacant cells. Examiners and candidates alike marvelled that the Emperor should thus send a proUge of his to take part in the examination. Naturally, the chief examiners paid particular attention to his papers, and finding that his composition was quite good and his principles sound, they said one to another : " This candi- date having been specially recommended by the present occupant of the Throne, it would be disrespectful to His Majesty if we were to place any other name ahead of his on the class lists." So they passed him at the top of his year, and in reporting the fact to the Emperor, warmly praised the excellence of his style and his exceptional gifts. They seized the occasion to congratulate the Emperor on being so good a judge of talent.
The Emperor laughed loudly : " Tliis is surely Fate," said he. As a matter of fact he had originally intended that the scholar should be ploughed, in order that he might triumph over the soothsayer, but, as luck would have it, he had been so much engrossed in dalliance with the latest favourite of his hareraj that the whole tiling had escaped his memor\% and he had forgotten to send word to the chief examiner. Now that tlie scholar had come out at the head of the list, he was deeply impressed with tlie soothsayer's prophetic skill and desired to engage his services for the Court. So, after sending messengers in vain, he set out in state, at the head of a large retinue, to look for him ; but the soothsayer had vanished and was never seen again.
Early one spring morning, the Emperor had just left the harem, and was taking a drive in the city before holding his daily audience in the Palace, when he met a bridal procession on its Avay to the bridegroom's house. The insignia were borne by an army of attendants, and the magnificence of the equipages and of the escort showed that the bridegroom was of a distinguished family. Much
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impressed, the Emperor stopped his cart and, standing by the roadside, watched the long cavalcade go by. Just as the bride*s chair drew near, he saw a black giant, twenty feet high, standing in front of it as if to bar her way. His features were cruel and repulsive in the extreme; he was clad in armour and wielded a huge club. Insolently he stood there, until suddenly he perceived the Emperor, when he seemed to hesitate, and finally hurried away to the head of the cortege. The Emperor's cart-driver had seen nothing of this monstrous apparition. Greatly wondering. His Majesty bade the man drive on, following in rear of the procession, until they came to the bride-
>om's house, which he perceived to be the stately mansion of some ancient and respected family. The Emperor alighted and went in towards the main hall. The black giant had preceded the bride's chair and was standing in the courtyard, but when he saw the Son of Heaven approach, he covered his face and vanished. His Majesty then remembered that this particular day was unlucky, owing to the power therein of the Spirit of Disaster; no doubt it was this spirit which had so strangely crossed his path. He thought tliat wlioever had chosen such an unlucky day for a marriage was greatly to blame, and determined to find out who was responsible for so disastrous a selection.
So he waited, while the bride descended from her chair and the newly wedded pair made obeisance to heaven and earth in the inner chamber. After the bride had been duly conducted to the nuptial apartment the banquet was served, and the host came forward to invite the wedding guests to take their seats. In all sixteen tables were prepared, and the guests sat down in their order of seniority and precedence. The host could see that the Emperor was no ordinary visitor, so invited him to the seat of honour at the central table, and himself came and sat beside him. As he did so, his hmbs trembled as if he were in the
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presence of some divine being; he dared not even ask his guest's honourable name.
The Emperor asked him who the person was who had selected this day for the w^edding. The host pointed to a venerable man at the second table, and said : " He was formerly a director at the Court, of Astronomy, now retired. He is a past master of his art ; any family wishing to fix a date for an auspicious event invarialily secures his services. He has never yet been known to fail.'*
" Ask him to come here," said the Emperor, who thus addressed the astrologer : " I am told that you are an expert in selecting auspicious days. What made you invoke disaster to-day by your cabalistic arts?" The old man repHed : *' Not so : it is quite true that between the liours of three and five this morning the black Spirit of Disaster, the so-called * Ruler of the Evil Stars,' was due to descend into the world, but at the same hour the Fortunate Star of Good Omen was also destined to appear among mortals. His benign influence routed the forces of evil, and has made the occasion auspicious in the extreme. So far from portending ruin, the event is the harbinger of much future prosperity."
The Emperor could tliink of no way of refuting his words, so he said : '* I have just composed the first verse of an antithetical couplet; if you can supply me with the second half, matching mine exactly, I will forgive you the punishment which you deserve, if only for bandying words so plausibly. Here is my verse :
"The ruler of the evil stars hath encounlercd the ruler oC all mortal men."
The old man asked to be excused on the plea of his great age and failing faculties. " Will you permit the bride- groom to try his skill in my stead ? " The Emperor agreed, so the bridegroom was summoned. On hearing the first verse, he replied without a moment's hesitation :
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•• The bright Star of Good Omen * has shone upon the fortunate bride- groom ! "
The Emperor was delighted at the prompt and fitting antithesis and said to the assembled company : *' Some day he will become a doctor of the HanHn Academy." The old man then bade the bridegroom prostrate himself on the ground and thank His Majesty, who, seeing that his identity had been discovered, mounted his carriage and departed.
The bridegroom had already attained his Master's degree; after passing the next year for the doctorate, he attended at Court, together with the other successful competitors, to be presented. The Emperor recognised him, and appointed him to be a HanUn compiler, saying : '* We were an intruder at your wedding banquet : this, though belated, is Our wedding present."
' The star thus named is often used as a figurative appellation of the Son of Heaven,
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CHAPTER II AN INFAMOUS EUNUCH
Readers of China under the Empress Dowager may remember how, when the great Tzu Hsi lay dying, the watchers by her bedside asked her, in accordance with ancient custom, to pronounce her last words. " Never again," she said, " allow any woman to hold the supreme power in the State. It is against the house-law of our dynasty and should be strictly forbidden. Be careful not to allow eunuchs to meddle in Government matters. The Ming dynasty was brought to ruin by eunuchs, and its fate should be a warning to my people."
Tzu Hsi knew well the law, though she observed it not herself. She was deeply read in the history of China, but in the matter of the eunuchs' power at Court, she failed to benefit by its teaching. Although her edicts fre- quently denounced the corrupt and demoralising influence of the " rats and foxes '* wlio infested her Palace, de- scribing them as " fawning sycophants " and " artful minions," against whom the Throne must ever be sternly vigilant, she nevertheless allowed her favourites, An Te-hai and Li Lien-ying, to wield an authority only little inferior to her own. She knew that, not only under the Mings but under the Han and Tang dynasties, the authority of the Sovereign had been usurped and degraded by these myrmidons, to the ruin of tlie State. Yet she took no steps to rid her own Court of evils which all her best advisers denounced and which, under her successor, Lung
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Yii, became no small factor in the final decline and fall] of the Manchu power.
\Vhcn Tzu Ilsi spoke of the ruin of the Ming dynasty by the eunuchs, she had in mind the history of the Emperor Wan Li and his three successors, the last of the Mings, and that of the infamous Chief Eunuch Wei Chung-hsien, whose memory is universally execrated to this day by the Chinese people. The tale of this foul creature's evil deeds and of the calamities which he brought upon the Tlirone and people of China, slieds no little light on the dark places of life in the Forbidden City, where, beneath the dignities and splendours prescribed by venerable tradition, lie grim shadows of death-dealing intrigue, of cold-blooded cruelty and lust and greed; where, close to the polished surface of Sacred Edicts and Confucian philosophy, lurk tlie elemental passions and insatiable ambitions of Oriental despotism. The life story of Wei Chung-hsien reveals the seamy side of China's imperial tapestry of state-craft. It serves to remind us, firstly, that it is the human equation, the impulses and instincts of dominant individuals which, far more than any theories of government, shape the destinies of peoples; secondly, that the human equation, predetermined in its essentials by climatic and economic environment, remains unchanged, and to a great extent unchangeable, beneath the surface of national life.
The Emperor Wan Li ascended the Throne in 1578 as a child, and being educated under the influence of the women and eunuchs of the Palace, remained under that influence all his days. During the last twenty years of his reign he refused to transact affairs of State through the proper officials, conducting all the business of Govern- ment through his principal eunuchs, and through the Imperial Concubine Cheng, who was the mother of his favourite son. Prince Fu.
Wan Li*s eldest son, Ch'ang Lo, was a Prince of high
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L
promise, of strong and virtuous disposition, but the evil influence of Lady Cheng and the eunuchs poisoned the Emperor's mind against him, so tliat the two rarely saw each other. Eventually, in 1615, when Ch'ang Lo was thirty-four years of age, the Lady Cheng, desiring to secure the succession for her dissolute son. Prince Fu, conspired with her brother Cheng Kuo-tai and two eunuchs, named Pang Pao and Liu Ch'eng, to have the Heir Apparent murdered. Their plans were laid with great care and subtlety, but they failed, owing to the stupidity of their hired assassins and to the courage of Ch'ang Lo's personal attendants. This attempt on the life of the Heir Apparent created a profound impression on the public mind, not only at Peking but in the pro- vinces; it revealed to the nation the true state of affairs in the Palace, and laid the foundations of that distrust and disrespect for the dynasty which were subsequently manifested in Li Tzu-ch'eng's rebellion. Shortly before sunset of an evening in June 1615, a man, armed with a stout cudgel of jujube wood, forced his way into the residence of the Heir Apparent, the Palace of Benevolent Blessings, and having felled the eunuch on guard at the outer door, made his way to Ch*ang Lo's private apart- ments; but there, hesitating, he was overpowered and disarmed. Cast into prison, at first he feigned madness, but subsequently attempted to explain his action. His name, he said, was Chang Ch'ai, and he lived in a small village not far from the Imperial Eastern Mausolea. The Lady Cheng had sent some of her eunuchs to build a shrine near to the tombs, and these men had made a brick kiln there, close by a pile of brushwood which he had collected for fuel. Some one had set fire to the brushwood. En- raged at the loss, he had come to Peking to lodge a com- plaint at the Palace, and on entering the Forbidden City had met a man who told him that he must carry a cudgel as a sign that he was bearing a petition. On reaching
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the Heir Apparent's residence he had been angered by the eunuch, but meant no harm to the Prince.
Complying with the Heir Apparent's request, the Emperor ordered a formal inquiry into the case. The officials entrusted with the examination of the prisoner, shrewdly suspecting that the Lady Cheng and her brother were at the bottom of the affair, endeavoured to hush it up and to treat it as the work of a lunatic. One member of the Court of Inquiry refused, however, to agree with the rest, who wished to have Chang Ch'ai beheaded with- out further ado. He insisted on a thorough investigation, and examined the prisoner in private. Eventually a con- fession was extracted; the attempt at murder had been instigated by one of the eunuchs, with promise of rich reward.
This evidence being reported to the Court, a new Commission was appointed, which, after applying torture, elicited a further confession. The instigators of the crime were declared to be the eunuch Pang Pao and another named Liu Cli^eng, both henchmen of the Lady Cheng. Chang admitted that he had been in their pay for three years, and that they liad told him if he succeeded in killing the Prince he should never want for meat and drink.
At this stage of the case public indignation began to be displayed in the capital, and a Censor was emboldened to accuse the Lady Cheng's brother of connivance in the crinie. In a plain-spoken memorial he urged that the Emperor should order the immediate arrest of the two men named by the prisoner and, if implicated, the Imperial Concubine's brother; and it would be her duty to request the Emperor to have him decapitated. If the prisoner Chang were now put out of the way, and the case hushed up, the world would know that the Lady Cheng and her brother were guilty.
The Emperor was greatly disturbed by this memorial. Being himself of a lazily gentle disposition, he had no £ 49
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conception of the depths of cruelty and villainy about him, and would have wished to avoid the further inquiries that threatened to involve the good name of his favourite consort. But the officials and Censorate continued to urge that the case must be thoroughly investigated; the city was in a ferment of excitement, and the Palace gates were closed. A Censor now asked that the market days of the Forbidden City should be temporarily suspended, and that a strict watch of police be maintained at the Palace gates, to guard against further attacks. The Court declined to close the market, but ordered that for the time being no metal utensils or weapons be sold therein.^
At this jimcture, the Grand Secretary Fang Tsung-clie intervened, and bluntly warned the Emperor that any further hesitation in regard to the open trial of Chang Ch'ai could not fail to produce a bad impression and probably dangerous consequences. He reminded the Sovereign that one of the conspirators, Liu Ch'eng, had already been accused of witchcraft against His Majesty. Wan Li was so greatly impressed by this, that he turned against his favourite concubine and angrily bade her *' look out for herself." Terrified at the turn affairs were taking, the Lady Cheng sought out the Heir Apparent and begged his forgiveness and help. The Prince magnani- mously forgave her.
On the following morning, His Majesty went to the Heir Apparent's Palace and held an audience of the entire Court. Li the presence of all, he took his son by the hand and said : " You all see this dutiful son of mine. Know that 1 love him dearly. Had I intended to kill him, I should have done so long ago. Why do you all try to create discord between father and son? " Then
* Under the Ming dynably, Uie gates of the Palace were always opened on these bo-called niarket-days, to allow of the removal of refuse acLiuuiulatcU la the Furbiddeo City.
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lie called the Chamberlain to summon the Heir Apparent's three sons, who were conducted to the dais by the Eniperor*s side. He bade the Court look well at them. " These three grandsons of mine are now grown lads," he exclaimed; "what nonsense is this that you talk?" He asked Ch'ang Lo whether there was anything he wished to say : '* Tell me the whole truth and conceal nought.*' The Heir replied : " This wretched lunatic Chang Ch'ai ought to be put to death at once, and so let the matter end." Then, turning to the Court, the Prince went on : '* All of you can see the affection wliich exists between my father and me. These nonsensical rumours which you have been spreading make you to appear as disloyal Ministers and me as an unfeeling son." Wan Li called out : ** Do you hear what the Prince has said? " He repeated these words thrice, and the whole Court made obeisance.
Next day the wretched Chang Ch'ai was decapitated ind, at the intercession of Ch*ang Lo, the instigators of lis crime were pardoned. Dearly was the magnanimous [Prince to pay for this act of short-sighted clemency. For le time being, the eunuchs conspired no more against his 'life, content with the power they enjoyed under his father; but their enmity against him brooded, biding its time, in the daik places of the Forbidden City.
In 1620, Wan Li lay upon his death-bed, but by order lof the Lady Cheng his Ministers of State and the Heir [Apparent were not permitted to enter the Presence. Once pmore rumour Hew, trumpet-tongued, through Peking, and a brave Censor, named Yang Lien, urged the Grand Secretaries to do their duty and to insist upon admission. The Grand Secretary Fang, after much persuasion, pro- ceeded, at tlie head of his colleagues, to the Emperor's bedchamber. His Majesty was evidently moribund. I Yang Lien and another honest Censor, Tso Kuang-tou, [seeing this, insisted that the Heir Apparent, who was [aaxiously waiting without, should be summoned to re-
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ceive his father's last commands, to tend him at the last, and to " taste his medicine." He was brought in just as Wan Li expired.
Ch'ang Lo, known in history by the dynastic title of Kuang Tsung (Glorious Ancestor), might have saved the dynasty had he been able to protect himself against the murderous hatred of tlie Lady Cheng and her eunuch confederates, but his life lasted less than two months from the date of his accession. He died of slow poison- ing by arsenic, undoubtedly administered by his eunuch attendants.
The Lady Cheng, as usual, played craftily for safety, whilst steadily pursuing her ambitious designs. Shortly after the new Emperor's accession, she sent him gifts of great price, jade and pearls and eight beautiful maidens; at the same time she made friends ^vith his favourite concu- bine, the Lady Li, and urged her to persuade the Emperor to confer upon herself tlie title of Empress Dowager, a suggestion which evoked immediate and unanimous opposition from the Boai'd of Ceremonies,
The Emperor's illness rapidly increased ; it was aggra- vated shortly before his death by one of the eunuchs (Tsui ^^'en-slleng) administering an extremely violent purgative. The Court became seriously alarmed, whilst in the city the repoii; was spread that the Son of Heaven was being done to death by the Imperial Concubines. Once more the brave Censors Yang Lien and Tso Kuang- tou came forward, demanding that, in conformity with inviolable tradition, tlie Lady Cheng be compelled to depart from the Palace of Celestial Purity (in which Wan Li had died) where no female is allowed to sleep. The Lady Cheng at first refused to move, but eventually, fearful of popular clamour, she complied.
Yang Lien next proceeded to impeach the eunuch who had administered the purgative to His Majesty. ** This villain is no physician," he said, " and ought not to be
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allowed to conduct his wanton experiments upon the divine person. If he knew anything about medicine, he must be aware that tonics, and not purgatives, are needed in a weakening complaint. What the Emperor requires is strengthening physic, at a time when he is naturally suffering from the shock of his sire's deatli and is also overworked vsnth State affairs. It is at such a time tliat. the eunuch gives an aperient. Rumours declare that the Emperor is not in good hands, and that there are designs against his life. Tsui Wen-sheng excuses himself on the ground that the Emperor's weakness is due to debauchery, but the truth is that he calumniates His Majesty's morals as well as increasing his sickness. Such a man deserves to he eaten. Why does Your Majesty allow such traitors at your elbows ? " Another Censor urged the Grand Secretary to take more care of the Emperor's sacred person, and added that a wrong prescription had evidently been given.
The Court officials were all summoned to the Imperial bedchamber, a side apartment in the Palace of Celestial Purity. A special decree had previously ordered Yang Lien to repair thither for audience. The courtiers grouped themselves about the Emperor's bedside. The dying Monarch looked closely at Yang Lien as if he meant to consign his sons to his protection. He then addressed the Court : " I am glad to see you all," he said. The Grand Secretary replied : " Pray, Sire, be more careful about the medicine you are receiving." The Monarch rejoined : " I have taken none for ten days." He then appointed the concubine Li to be secondary Consort. The lady there- upon sent for the Heir Apparent, and in the presence of the Court asked liim to demand for her the title of Empress. He did so, but his father refused to grant the request and dosed the audience. The Court was greatly astonished at her audacity. The Emperor lingered on, growing daily worse. Five
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days later the last agony had begun, and once more he summoned his Ministers to a farewell audience. As they pressed him to nominate his successor, lie pointed to his eldest son, and said : " Help him to be a good man.'* Then he spoke of the Imperial tomb. The courtiers pre- tended to misunderstand, and asked if he referred to his father's tomb north of Peking. " No, I mean my own." They answered : " May Your Majesty live for ever; why speak of this now ? " The Emperor then asked : ** Where is the official from the Court of Banquets who was to give me some medicine? *' The Grand Secretary replied : " The Secretary Li K*o-shao claims that he possesses a marvellous remedy, but we dare not recommend it." The Emperor bade him be sent for, to feel his pulse. He was ushered in, gave a very fluent diagnosis of the disease, and suggested his remedy. The Emperor was pleased, and agreed to take the drug. Li was told to discuss the matter with the doctors and the Ministers, but tliey came to no decision. The Grand Secretary Liu Yi-ching re- marked that this particular remedy had been taken by two men in his native place : one had recovered and the other had died, so it could not be called an infallible prescription. The Board of Rites thought it would be dangerous to ad- minister it, but while tliey were still discussing they were again summoned to the Emperor*s presence. Li K'o-shao then hastily compounded the medicine, the famous red pill, and gave it to the Emperor, who swallowed it. He gasped slightly and exclaimed : " My loyal servants ! "
After taking the medicine, the Emperor dismissed his Ministers, who waited in an ante-chamber. In a short time a decree was brought out to them, which said : " Our person is much better." At sunset Li K'o-shao was permitted to administer another red pill, and at da\Mi next day the Monarch *' ascended on the dragon," aged thirty-nine.
Upon the Emperor's death, his would-be Empress, the
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concubine Li. threw off all disguise and came boldly to the front with her chief henchman, the eunuch Wei Chin- shaiig (who subsequently received from the new Emperor the name of Wei Chung-hsien, meaning, Wei. the loyal and good). These two and their troop of eunuchs now held the Palace against all comers, kept close watch on the Heir to the Throne, and issued orders forbidding the usual mourning of Ministers at the deceased Sovereign's bier. Once more the Censor Yang Lien braved the powers of darkness in high places. Forcing his way through the eunuchs, he demanded to see the Heir Apparent. The concubine I-i sent word that the young Emperor had left the Palace, but that he would soon return. She then actually endeavoured to smuggle him out of the For- bidden City, but his movements were discovered, and he was conducted back to his Palace. Under the direction of Yang Lien he ascended the palanquin and received the obeisances of the Court. It was proposed that he should formally ascend the Throne without delay, but Yang Lien deprecated imceremonious haste, since the succession was not contested. At the same time he took vigorous steps to preserve law and order in Peking.
The young Emperor T'ien Ch'i (known in histor\' as Hsi Tsung) was but fifteen years of age when called to ascend the Dragon Throne; a weakly lad, of small stature, and utterly lacking in strength of character. From the date of his accession, the power of the eunuclis, hitherto kept in check by the fimmess and moral dignity which his grandfather. Wan Li. had always displayed at critical moments, increased beyond all bounds, until their leader, Wei Chimg-hsien, became the autoci'atic ruler of the Empire. With the death of Kuang Tsung, the Lady Cheng could no longer hope to secure the Throne for her son, the dissolute Prince Fu, so that gradually her influence and her interest in Palace politics became less personal and less aggressive.
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Immediately upon the death of Kuang Tsung, a struggle for supreme power began between the concubine Li and the new Emperor's foster-mother, the fascinating and notoriously wicked woman known to histor>' as Madame K'o. The Emperor's mother having died years before, it was the ambition of Lady Li, through her influence over him and by the power of the cunuclis, to arrogate to lierself tlie position of an Empress Dowager, and to rule the Empire. To this end she began by ignoring the dynastic law whicli required her to remove from the Palace of her late lord, announcing her intention of re- siding there with the young Emperor, and she was able to enlist on her side the sympathies of the Grand Secretary Fang Tsung-clie. But the Censor Yang Lien and his colleague Tso Kuang-tou, backed by an honest eunuch named Wang An, were not disposed to acquiesce in such iiTCgularities. They protested most energetically, and put in a joint memorial demanding that the concubine Li should forthwith take her departure from the Central Palace to that of the ^^^urring Phoenixes. Tso pointed out that an Emperor of fifteen required no mother to attend him, and that if such a breacli of custom were permitted. China might be afflicted by another usurpation of power like that of the Empress Wu in the T'ang dynasty.
At this the Lady Li was very wroth, and sent a eunuch to summon Tso to her presence ; but he declined, saying : " I am the servant of the Son of Heaven; his orders only will I obey." Yang Lien, discussing the matter angrily with the Grand Secretary, observed : " Even if the Emperor's own mother were alive, l»c must take pre- cedence over her. \Vhat manner of woman is the concu- bine Li that she dares thus insult the dignity of the Throne?'*
As some of the eunuchs showed signs of a desire to support Lady Li's action, Yang announced his intention of re-
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maining in the Palace until slie had moved out. To tliose who sided with tlie Grand Secretary he said : '' Let the woman Li go to the Temple of Ancestors and state her demands before the sacred shrines. Are you all in her pay ? Let her kill me if she can, I will not move until she does.''
Faced with this crisis, on a clear issue where public opinion and the law were all against her, the Lady Li made a virtue of necessity and evacuated the Palace, but not before her retainers had looted much of its store of gold ingots. The chroniclers report that Yang's hair and moustache turned completely white during these days of danger. But he had won the day, and from this point the influence and activities of Lady Li waned rapidly at Court. Certain of tlie eunuchs of her immediate following en- deavoured to enlist for her the sympathies of the high officials of the Court, by spreading rumours that it was her intention to commit suicide in order to escape further persecution. Hereupon a Censor demanded that the Emperor should definitely communicate to the Grand Secretariat his decision in regard to her, in order to allay these unseemly rumours of the eunuchs. There is every reason to believe that this action of tlie Censor's was in- spired not, like Yang Lien's, by pure motives of loyalty to the Throne, but by the party of the eimuch Wei Chung- hsien, who now abandoned the cause of Lady Li and became the close confederate of ^ladame K*o, the foster- mother. Beyond all doubt feminine jealousy and the hand of Madame K'o were behind the decree which the boy Emperor proceeded to issue in reply to the Censor's memorial. It said :
" When I was a boy the Lady Iji used so to bully my sacred mother that she fell sick and died. To the end of my days I shall bear her ill-will for this. Also, when my father lay dying, she laid violent hands on my person and demanded to be made Empress Consort. At that time I
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was living in the Palace of Benevolent Blessings; every day she would send her two Chief Eunuchs to compel me to submit all State papers for her perusal. I have now transferred her to the Palace of Wliirring Phoenixes, in filial remembrance of the love my father bore to iier. I do not propose to involve her in the punishment wliich will be meted out to her satellites for stealing valuables from the Palace."
A little later and the Lady Li's downfall was complete. Another decree of the Emperor deprived her of her rank as concubine, " in order to comfort his mother in heaven," while continuing her maintenance grant, " in order to show honour to his father,'* a typical Cliinese *' face- saving " solution. From this moment Wei Chung-hsien and his confederate Madame K'o stand forth in absolute and almost undisputed authority. Under Wan Li, the Chief Eunuch had ruled the capital and chastised the Court with whips; he now proceeded to chastise it with scorpions.
The first noteworthy indication of their vengeful and bloodthirsty power was given when they did to death the loyal eunuch Wang An, who had dared to support the Censor Yang Lien in his tight for clean government. Wei Chung-hsien forged and uttered an Imperial decree con- demning Wang to death, and in order to prevent any chance of his being reprieved, had him murdered in prison. Yang Lien, who might have saved this honest man, had already left Peking, and gone into retirement at his home. In applying for permission to resign, he had boldly told the young Emperor that, having done his duty in cleansing the Palace of the usurping concubine, he desired only to leave the capital, for his straightforward nature could not brook the sycophants and traitors who surrounded the Throne. He was to pay dearly for his courage.
The young Emperor was only too willing to allow all
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the business of the State to pass into the hands of the masterful eunuch and of the woman K'o, who exercised so baneful an influence over him. He devoted himself continually to his hobby of carpentry, wliich Wei Chung- hsien encouraged. The eunuch would wait until he was busy with plane and saw and then ffo to him asking for instructions concerning some routine question of govern- ment or one of the day's memorials. Hsi Tsung, hating to be disturbed, would tell him to settle the business as he thought fit; and thus, little by little, the eunuch usurped all the functions of the Sovereign. The Emperor Ch*ien Lung, commenting on the causes of the Ming dynasty's ruin, ascribed it partly to " Hsi Tsung's infatuate interest in mean and cunning handicrafts, which brought him into competition with workmen. Eunuchs," he wrote, " have always tried to engage their Sovereign's attention in ignoble pursuits, so that they might freely pursue their ambitious designs. In all ages, bad men are the same in their ways ; the pity is that Sovereigns should be so blind as to fall into the snares prepared for them,"
During the seven years of his calamitous reign, one good influence, and one only, saved the young Emperor from utter degradation, and led good men occasionally to hope that he might in time east off his bondage and assert the Imperial dignity of his Throne. This was the influence of his consort, the '' Precious Pearl," in whom dignity, virtue and high courage were combined to a degree which make her one of the most admirable women in China's history, and indeed in the history of the world. Her [gentle and steadfast character sliines brightly to this day against the dark backgroimd of those evil times, her lofty ideals, patience and loyalty smell sweet and blossom, even now, amidst the dust and ruins of a degenerate age. Seldom indeed has history recorded a nobler life, or a more pathetic death. We make no apology for digressing at this point, to tell the romantic story of her youth and
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of her selection to be the Empress Consort of China*s weak and dissolute Monarch.
In the winter of the year 1612, a student of K'ai Feng-fu, named Chang Kuo-chi, found lying by the roadside a Httle girl, aged six, and taking her to his home, adopted lier as his daughter, by the name of Chang Yen. Her " style " was " Precious Pearl." He attended carefully to her education and she proved remarkably inteUigent and dili- gent in study. Cliang Kuo-elii had intended lier to marry liis son, but was dissuaded from this course by a Buddhist priest who, after casting her horoscope, foretold for her a far more exalted position. In 1620, the year of the death of Wan Li, the dissolute Prince Fu (son of Lady Cheng) came to take up his fief of Honan, and forthwith sent eunuchs to search through the city of Kaifeng for damsels worthy to enter his harem. One of the eimuchs came to Changes house, and seeing *' Precious Pearl," then aged fourteen, bade her accompany him to the Prince's Palace, but the girl indignantly repelled him, threatening that if he laid a hand upon her she would commit suicide.
In the year (1621) following the death of the Emperor Wan Li and his unfortunate son, the Emperor Kuang Tsimg, the young Emperor Hsi Tsung, then aged sixteen, proclaimed his intention of solemnising his marriage. The whole Empire was notified that comely maidens between the ages of thirteen and sixteen were eligible ; after which the eunuchs made an eliminating inspection. Those whose height or figiire failed to reacli the required standard were weeded out, imtil the number was reduced to 4000. On the following day a much more careful scrutiny was conducted by the two head eunuchs, who made copious notes of each damsel's features, size of nose, colour of hair, shape of waist and length of foot. Each maiden was required to state clearly her name, lineage and age ; if the timbre of the voice did not satisfy the eunuchs, she was at once rejected. Stammering or thickness of speech was regarded as an
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insuperable defect. As a result of this scrutiny, only 2000 remained eligible, and on the following day further physical measurements were made, in addition to which each candidate was required to walk a hundred paces, in order that her deportment might be observed. Any slovenliness of gait or lack of dignity disqualified the candidate; after this test only 1000 remained. These were then taken into the Inner Palace where they were subjected to a searching scrutiny by discreet and elderly women of the Palace, who compelled them to strip so that their pei*sons might be scanned from head to foot. Three hundred were ultimately chosen to undergo a month's probation as Palace handmaidens. Those amongst them who showed signs of stubbornness or of frivolous dis- position were ^veeded out, until at the end of the month only fifty remained, all of whom were appointed to be Imperial concubines.
The Cliief Eunuch in charge of the Ceremonial Depart- ment was greatly impressed by " Precious Pearl's " beauty, and placed her at the head of the list to be presented to the Senior Concubine, Lady Chao, who had been one of tlic Emperor Wan Li's chief wives, and was at present acting as Empress Dowager. This lady, an accomplished scholar, tested each candidate in caligraphy and other accomplish- ments. Finally three were chosen as candidates for the position of Empress, of whom *' Precious Pearl " was one ; the other two young ladies were named Wang and Tuan.
In accordance with ancient custom, the Lady Chao enveloped the heads of the three chosen ones in turbans of black crape, and fastened the arms of each with a bracelet of jade and gold. They were then taken into an inner chamber for a final examination by the women of the Palace, to make sure that they were without spot or blemish.
In due course their report Avas submitted. The official chronicler gives from it a detailed list of the future
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Empress's charms, some of which is unprintable. Her complexion was as the dawn, her eyes Uke autumn waves, her lips like cherries; her teeth, numbering thirty-eight in all, were perfect, her chin ample, and she was free of birthmarks.
Lady Chao hastened to report to His Majesty, and con- ducted the three maidens to his apartments, where his foster-mother, the evil Madame K'o, was waiting to help the Emperor to make a final choice. At this time, K'o was about thirty-three, a woman of great physical beauty and charm. The Emperor had already bestowed upon her the title of the " Holy Lady of Ch'in." *
Madame K'o took an immediate and instinctive dislike to *' Precious Pearl " and began to criticise her. *' For a gu'l of fifteen," she said, '* her figui*e is too stout; she won't improve as she gets older. She is good-looking after a fashion, but quite unworthy to be your Consort." Point- ing to >Iiss Wang, she exclaimed, " That's the wife for you." The Emperor, however, was evidently attracted by ** Precious Pearl," but following the prescribed custom, he asked the Lady Chao's advice. She replied : " All three are exceptionally comely, but Miss Chang ('Precious Pearl') surpasses the others in dignity of demeanour."
Thereupon, nothing loth, His Majesty chose ** Precious Pearl " for liis Consort. Miss Wang was given the title of " Virtuous Concubine " and Miss Tuan that of " Pure Concubine," The eighth day of the fourtli Moon follow- ing was fixed by the astronomers as auspicious for the Emperor to ascend his nuptial couch; and three weeks later the new Empress received her patents. The Emperor asked her many questions about her family and past Ufe. Her replies greatly pleased him, and she speedily acquired
^ ChMn, the classical imme of the province of Shciisi, of which she was a native. The ruins of Madame K'o's private residence arc still visible just outside the Tung An Gate of Peking, and the &it« is popularly known as the ** Foster-Mother's Palace.
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over him tliat influetice for good which became the one redeeming feature of his weak nature. Her father (by adoption), Chang Kuo-chi, was ennobled as an '' Earl of exalted strength," and other members of her family received suitable honoui*s.
A few days after the marriage, Hsi Tsung and his Consort proceeded to the Ancestral Temple, where Her Majesty performed obeisance before the Imperial shrine. Hsi Tsung was at this time only sixteen and of very diminutive stature; his Consort towered above him. As the Empress's influence increased, Madame K*o showed unmistakable signs of jealousy and wrath; nevertheless, she continued to visit His Majesty daily in the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
In spite of the Emperor*8 devotion to his beautiful bride, it was evident to all the Court that he was becoming more and more subject to the influence of the Chief Eunuch, Wei Chung-hsien, who had attended him since early infancy. This man and Madame K'o graduaUy estab- lished their authority as the i-eal rulers of China, and maintained it throughout his reign. Completely domin- ated in regard to affairs of State by the e\much, Hsi Tsung bliowered honours upon liim; meritorious officials were tortured and executed to gratify his lightest whim. Wholesale proscriptions were made by Wei against those who had criticised him, so that it came to pass that even the great Viceroys vied with each other in currying favour with the ail-powerful eunuch. In nearly every province shrines were erected to him during his lifetime and he was worshipped as a deity. In Kiangsi a temple which had been built centuries before, in honour of one of the most eminent disciples of Confucius, was dismantled, and I Wei Chung-hsien's tablet was set up in its central hall. He was likened to the Sage for virtue and learning : nay, his merits were even exalted beyond those of the Sage, and he was accorded the highest place in the national
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Pantheon. The Governor of Shantung gravely informed the Throne that a ckilin ^ had been captured in Confucius' native province, near to the Sage's grave, an auspicious event which he attributed to the fact that near to the Throne there stood a person of Wei Chung-hsien*s con- summate virtue. (The chilin^s rare appearances, like angels* visits, only occur when the Empire is governed by a perfect ruler.) The eunuch was called Lord of 9000 yeai's, and the Emperor's decrees, which Wei in- variably drafted, began with the words : " We and Our eunuch Minister, decree as follows . . ."
In all things the infatuated Monarch submitted to the will of Wei Chung-hsien, except only when the eunuch and Madame K'o endeavoured to poison his mind against his beloved Consort, to whom he remained devotedly faithfid all his life. Whenever the Emperor, under Iier good influence, showed signs of wishing to devote himself to study or serious pursuits, K'o and Wei would lure him back into paths of sensual dissipation. The Empress feared and disliked them both, but she could not persuade Hsi Tsung to free himself from their control.
Shortly after Ilis Majesty's marriage, certain Censors began to send in outspoken memorials against Madame K*o, urging tliat she should not be pennitted to spend so much of her time in the Forbidden City in close attendance upon the Sovereign ; it being contrary to etiquette that a woman should be allowed to enter the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Emperor, in reply to these memorials, de- clared that his wife's extreme youth required the guiding hand of a foster-mother. The Censors retm-ned to tlie charge, pointing out that a woman of K'o's low ante- cedents was unlit to minister to a person so virtuous a^ the Empress. " How," said one of them, " can this woman be permitted to usurp the authority which belongs
^ A fabulouti ammal, of origin probaUy similar to our unicoru.
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of right to Your Majesty's Consort ? " K'o was eventually compelled to leave the Palace, and for a time she remained at her own residence, but the weakling Emperor felt her absence so deeply that he lost liis appetite and became greatly dejected. In spite of the remonstrances of the Censors, he soon recalled her, and thereafter her influence grew greater than before. Waxing proud, she began openly to ill-treat those of the concubines who were not on her side, and supported by Wei Chung-hsien, dared to show open contempt for the Empress. Shortly after her return, the Emperor celebrated her birthday with royal splendour. Proceeding in person to her residence, he burned incense before her tablet and offered up prayers for her long life. All the eunuchs and concubines of the Court were ordered to prostrate themselves in obeisance before her. Sump- tuous theatricals were held in her honour for three days, and the best musicians in the capital were specially engaged. In the following month the Empress's birth- day occurred, but no entertainments were given in the Palace, nor were any promotions conferred. Even in the tea-liouses, men knew where lay the power behind the Throne.
Thus things went on, from bad to worse. K'o and Wei were served with the richest viands from the Imperial kitchens, while the Empress was frequently kept waiting for her simple meals. She fully realised the dangers that threatened the decadent dynasty at the hands of these evil-doers, and frequently remonstrated with the Emperor against his flagrant violation of the dynastic laws. K'o and Wei now tried to lay snares for the Empress, and set one of their eunuch minions, Ch'en Ti-jun, to spy upon her in her Palace of Feminine Tranquillity, endeavouring all the time to turn the Emperor against her. But she, blameless and pure of heart, paid no heed. She spent most of her time in reading and in penmanship, wherein she was liighly expert; to the more intelligent of the F 66
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Palace concubines^she gave lessons in history and philo- sophy. A devout Buddliist, she spent many hours in prayer before the altar of the Goddess of Mercy. Fre- quently she attired herself as a nun and gave herself over to pious meditation. She knew full well that her enemies were plotting against her, but she relied upon her gentle influence over the Emperor, which never failed to hold him, although she used no feminine arts to win his favour. Her Lord the Emperor being ^^^thout an heir, she would recommend various concubines to his notice, but usually excused herself from receiving his conjugal attentions on the plea of ill-health. The Emperor was wont to say to her : " Your influence over me is wonderful : you are so brave, so good. If I but look at you I feel a different man. Your face seems to say that you should easily be won. How comes it, then, that I find it so difficult to woo you?"
At times he would invite her to a boating excursion upon the lake adjoining the Forbidden City; His Majesty himself rowing and endeavouring to please her by good- humoured badinage. But she would use these occasions to remonstrate with liim for his wild life, urging him to study State papers and to give daily audiences to his Ministers. " You ought to make friends with scholars and attend lectures on the classics," she would way, " in- stead of dallying with these sycophants." For a time the Emperor would obey her advice, but he speedily re- lapsed into evil ways. Madame K'o suppUed him with drugs to stimulate his passions; whilst *' Precious Pearl " warned him against all forms of indulgence, and would throw the drugs down the well. Wei Chung-hsien arranged lewd theatrical performances for His Majesty's amusement, but whenever the play was indelicate, the Empress would rise from her place and leave the theatre in disgust.
In the hope of securing her deposition, Wei and K*o bribed a man named Sun-erh, a lionanese, who was lying
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under sentence of death in the Board of Punishments, to say that the Empress was his child and that he had given her to her father by adoption, Chang Kuo-chi. To the Emperor they said that a criminars daughter ought not to be his Consort and that she should be deposed, Chang- Kuo-chi receiving the punishment he merited. The Emperor was impressed by the story, and went straight to his Consort's apartment to ask her about it. But at sight of her tranquil beauty he was abashed, and could only say in an embarrassed way : " Are you really the daughter of that wretched villain Sun-erh?" The Empress blushed sUghtly and paused before replying. Then she said : " If Your Majesty believes such foolish rumours, why should I continue to defile the Palace with my presence? Pray let me be deposed and make room lor another more worthy." The Emperor thereupon hurriedly apologised and made amends, all doubt having been dispelled from his mind. That night he supped with the Empress and next day warned Wei Chung-hsien against uttering idle reports.
Many were the wiles and stratagems by which these two evil conspirators endeavoured to injure the Empress in the eyes of her lord, and at times — so weak a nature was Hsi Tsung's— they seemed to be on the verge of success. On one occasion, the Chief Eunuch devised a crafty plot, supported by lying witnesses, against Her Majesty's adopted father, and induced the Emperor to issue a decree reprimanding him and ordering the Empress to meditate for three days on his conduct. Later, Madame K*o introduced into the harem a creature of her own, named Jen, of bad cliaraeter but pleasing appearance, and persuaded the Emperor to grant her high rank amongst the Imperial concubines. Here again they were nearly successful, for Hsi Tsung became infatuated with the woman; yet she did not succeed in completely supplanting '* Precious Pearl" hi liis affections.
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In 1624, the Chief Eunuch was at the height of his insolence; none were safe from his rapacious and vindic- tive power. It was at this time that he took a fearful revenge upon the Censor Yang Lien and the others who liad denounced him and his former confederate, the concubine Li.
Yang Lien, it will be remembered, had retired from the Court to his native place in 1622, shortly after the death of Wan Li. In 1624 he returned to Peking and, moved to righteous indignation by the evil deeds of Wei and his accomphces, he handed in the denunciatory memorial wliich eventually cost him his life. Tliis famous impeach- ment of the notorious eunuch is too long to quote in full, but it reveals so clearly the condition of the Court, and the power wielded by these ** rats and foxes,** and their effect on the government of the country, that we must reproduce its most important clauses.
The memorial begins thus : " The founder of our dynasty desired that eunuchs should not interfere in governmental affairs, and that evil-doing should not be condoned. But the eunuch Comptroller General of the Eastern Court ^ behaves with overweaning arrogance, and treats the dynastic ordinances with contempt. I venture to set forth his cliief crimes as follows :
** 1, He is a lewd fellow of common extraction who, after being emasculated in middle life, won a position in the Palace by sheer intrigue. He wheedled liis way into Imperial favour by displaying zeal in trivial matters, and thereafter developed into a most consummate traitor and villain, until he has become practically a dictator, even issuing his own decrees, whereby the Government has often been thrown into utter confusion. Ancestral tra- dition requires that the Grand Secretaries shall issue all
* A bureau under eunuchs which had become virtually the Supreme Court of the Empire, wliich drew up decrees, and completely superseded
the Grand Secretariat,
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decrees; but since Wei Ch«ng-hsien*s assumption of dictatorship, he has either issued Imperial edicts verbally or has himself appended the vermihon rescript. Thus are the traditions of two centuries defied.
" 2. When His late Majesty lay dying, Liu Yi-ching and Chou Chia-mo were the recipients of his last testament, but Wei wa-s able to secure their abrupt dismissal, be- cause he feared that they might clip his power. In this way Your Majesty was made to act undutifully in the removal of your august predecessor's faithful servants.
" 3. Wei dismissed Sun Shen-hsing and Tsou Yuan-piao, honest patriots both, who had drawn public attention to the poisoning of the late Emperor by eunuchs. He bestowed a dragon robe on the henchman of the concu- bine Li, the man who administered the dose of red pills which killed His Majesty. He is a friend to traitors, and the foe of good and loyal men.
" 4. He has removed all honest officials from your Court, until not a soul is left who dares to warn Your Majesty. He has prevented you from employing worthy men lest they frustrate liis schemes.
" 5. It is a common saying in Peking that Your Majesty, the Son of Heaven, can be easily appeased, but that the wrath of Wei CImng-hsien cannot be placated. At a word from him you dismiss every one who incurs his displeasure.
*' 6. Thus far I have referred only to officials. Last year it was stated that one of the lower concubines ('honourable persons') had won your favour by her purity and virtue. Wei became jealous and fearful that she should undermine his influence and expose his in- famies; she died, therefore, of a sudden and mysterious sickness. Your Majesty is unable to protect even your cherished favourites.
â– * 7. Thus far I have spoken only of concubines of lowly rank. Lately the senior concubine ' Abundant ' was
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expecting her confinement, and every one hoped that
Your Majesty was about to be blessed with an heir. "Wei hated her because she was not of his party. He issued a forged decree which brought about her suicide. Your Majesty is powerless to protect even ladies of exalted position in your Palace.
" 8. Thus far I have referred to consorts, but there are worse crimes. Your Empress had given birth to a son, but it died straightway, as the result of Wei's plottings. It is common knowledge that Wei and Madame K'o brought about this death. You cannot even protect your own son.
'* 9. During the forty years in wliich your father was Heir Apparent his position was one of grave peril, but he had one faithful henchman, the eunuch Wang An. When your father died mysteriously of the fatal red pills it was Wang An who saw to your protection and helped to secure your safe succession to the Throne. This man deserved well of Your Majesty, but Wei issued a forged decree and had him beheaded in the Hunting Park. And not only did Wang An suffer, but hundreds of your father's attendants have been slain or banished.
" 10. Each day sees him rejoicing in fresh honours : slirines are built in his honour at which he, a living man, is to be worshipped. There is no limit to his evil influence with Your Majesty. In conferring distinctions on such a man the words of the Emperor are defiled. At his native place of Ho Chien-fu he has erected triumphal arches in his own honour, on which are carved Im{>erial dragons and heaven-soaring phoenixes. His sepulchre in the Western hills is built on the scale of an Imperial mauso- leum and covered with a yellow roof.
" 11. He fills official posts with youths still smelUng of their mothers' milk, or with illiterate members of his own family, like Wei Liang-pi, Wei Liang-tsai and Wei Liang- cihng.'
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12. He has inflicted humiliating punishment on the fatliers of Imperial concubines and beheaded their servants by scores. He lias done his best to ruin the Empresses father and to shake even Her Majesty's position. Had it not been for the courageous opposition of one of the Grand Secretaries, Her Majesty's father would have perished on the scaffold.
" 13, The ' Eastern Court ' was established for the purpose of protecting the Throne from treason, but in Wei Chung-hsien's hands it has become a deadly machine for the removal of rivals by general proscription. He keeps a box there into which anonymous accusations may be dropped, and traps are set night and day to betray those who oppose him. Let but a word be whispered against liis doings and forthwith a warrant is issued and the offender is dragged to trial at the T'ung ^Ven-kuan.
" 14. Dynastic ordinance forbids that eunuchs should form bands of soldiers as bodyguards to the Sovereign. For this enactment there are urgent reasons, but Wei has got together a troop of his own creatures, who are drilled in the Palace. To this band drift naturally all dangerous and desperate characters ; what is to prevent an assassin being foimd amongst them who would attempt Your Majesty's life?
" 15. AVhen Wei was sent to perform sacrifice at Chochin, the road was cleared for him, as for an Imperial progress. Heralds announced his advance and yellow earth was spread upon the highway, so that the people believed that he was the Emperor himself. On his Eastern journey he was borne in a chariot drawn by four horses, Imperial banners and insignia were carried in the pro- cession. His bodyguard surrounded him on both sides to screen his sacred person from tlie vulgar gaze. In every respect his passing resembled a progress of Your Majesty ! Numbers of persons offered their petitions to him or made offerings of tribute, prostrating themselves
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r
Th the dust. What manner of man does this Wei fancy himself to be?
" 16, It is well known that, if too much royal favour be shown, conceit is thereby engendered, and that excess of Imperial grace usually breeds resentment in its recipient against the giver. Thus it came to pass that this spring Wei dared to ride on horseback in front of Your Majesty, Amazed at his effrontery. Your Majesty shot the horse dead; Wei's offence was speedily pardoned- He showed no contrition, but carried himself the more haughtily in your presence and, outside the Palace, spoke despisingly of you. He has now surrounded himself with armed men, prepared to resist in ease of his arrest. Traitors and rebels desire only to attain the goal of their nefarious ambitions, and nothing stops them until they have gained it. Way should you nourish a tiger to work his evil will at your very elbows ? Even if Wei's carcase were hacked into mincemeat, his sins would remain \mexpiated.
" The tale of liis crimes and treasonable designs is blazoned abroad in all men's eyes; yet none of your courtiers dare speak against him, lest they incur doom. Their tongues arc tied ; not one dare memorialise you. Should, perchance, any have the courage to reveal Wei's treasons, the ' Lady of Divine Worship.' Madame K'o, stands at Your Majesty's side to gloss over his guilt. These two are sworn allies; each aids and abets the other, if one calls, the other comes to the rescue.
" Humbly I implore Your Majesty now to display the might of your high displeasure and to appoint a commis- sion of the ablest nobles and highest officials, with power to subject Wei to relentless examination, in order that the law of the land may be vindicated. Also, 1 beg you to have the ' Lady of Divine Worsliip ' removed from out the precincts of the Forbidden City, in order to guard you from further danger. Then, though your servant die, yet shall he live."
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Wei was greatly alarmed at the revelations of this bold memorial and begged the Grand Secretary Han K'uang to defend him. Han refused, so Wei hurried to the Emperor's presence and abjectly asked to be allowed to resign the Comptrollership of the Eastern Court. Madame K*o then used all her wiles, imploring the Emperor not to give his ear to calumny, while one of the Grand Secretaries was found to intercede for the eimuch. For a moment Wei's fate hung in the balance, b\xt in the end the unfortunate Emperor, in his purblind folly, listened to Madame K'o, and issued a complimentary decree retaining Wei at his post. On the following morning he issued another edict sternly rebuking Yang Lien for his temerity. It had been the latter*s intention to see the Emperor at the morning audience and to recount the eunuch*s crimes in the Monarch's presence, but Wei induced his master to suspend the Court for that day. Baulked of this oppor- tunity, and realising the danger of further delay, Yang handed in a second memorial at the Gate of Supreme Unity. This Wei suppressed, and though Yang sent in a third memorial it never reached the Throne. For three days no audiences were held, and when finally the Monarch emerged he was surrounded by a guard of several hundred eunuchs, all of whom had weapons concealed on their persons. Orders were issued that no memorials would be received from Yang, who was compelled to desist.
Nevertheless, other memorials of impeachment poured in; the Censor Huang Tsun-su asked : " Can a Govern- ment he pure with eunuchs at its head, who usurp the authority of the Throne? Can Your Majesty employ as your right-hand man a creature whose flesh the whole Empire desires to eat? You think him loyal, but you stand alone and in a perilous position. All upright men have left your side, while you lean upon this eunuch as on a pillar. Unless you now act swiftly, Wei Chung- hsien will never cleanse liis heart. He began by destroy-
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ing officials and scholars, but now he aims at higher quarrj'. If his position is allowed to become stronger not even anned force will dislodge him."
Next, Wei Ta-chung put in a pregnant memorial : " >Vhen honest men advise the Throne at risk of their lives and their words remain unheeded the situation is parlous indeed. Yang Lien has not shrunk from the peril of dismemberment, concerned only with the dangers that threaten the State, and hoping to arouse Your Majesty to a knowledge of the truth. Your Majesty has just issued a decree assuming to yourself all the misdeeds with which he is charged, but I fear the author of this laudatory edict is not Your Majesty but Wei himself. It has come to this, that you, the Son of Heaven, have snn*endered yourself and your consorts to the keeping of Wei and K'o. The peril of our State makes my blood run cold. Those who surround the Throne are tools and creatures of Wei and K'o and no tnie servants of Your Majesty. You are become like unto an orphan in a friendless world."
Another imp>eachment, endorsed by over a thousand academy students, accused Wei of suppressing all attacks upon himself, of inducing the Emperor to ignore the word of the officials who, kneeUng at the gate, had begged for Wei's dismissal, and of designs on the Throne itself. Finally, a Board Secretary named Wan Ching denounced the Chief Eunuch fiercely. This official had charge of the building and equipment of the late Emperor's mauso- leum; a large amount of copper was needed for its sacri- ficial vessels, and as there were vast supplies of tiie metal lying imused in the Imperial precincts, he asked the eunuch Comptroller to issue what he needed for the tomb. This Wei not only refused to do, but he issued a forged decree concerning the application,
Hereat Wan, greatly enraged, impeached Wei. He wrote : " Sovereign power cannot be delegated, and least of all to an emasculated minion. This Wei is practically
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become Emperor and the fountain of all honour; his friends secure well-feathered nests, wliilst the bodies of his enemies are covered with boils and sores. At his asking, hereditary titles are granted; his household servants receive bribes in thousands of taels. Your Majesty favours him with unbounded confidence for that he served yoiu* father; yet he refuses to issue copper for your father's shrine. His own grave at Pi Yiin-ssii, in the Western hills, is as large as an Imperial mausoleum ; in the provinces, stately shrines have been erected in his honour, emblazoned with inscriptions and gaudy orna- ments. On liis own tomb he has spent a million taels, while His late Majesty's sepulchre is denied even the necessary fittings. Your Majesty's existence is ignored ; Wei Chung-hsien fills all men's minds,"
Wei, having recovered from his alarm and made sure that the Emperor's favour would not be taken from him, now determined to make an example of Wan, so as to put fear into his other enemies. He forged a decree sentencing him to a flogging of one hundred strokes in the Palace, but first he sent a number of eunuchs to Wan's own house and had him unmercifully beaten there. When the wretched man was brought to the Palace he was still alive, but during the official flogging he became uncon- scious. The eunuchs then kicked and trampled on him so that he died next day. A Censor had the courage to protest against this outrage antl to speak well of Wan, who ** had perished by the hands of this abominable and sharp-fanged eunuch." The incident, said he, would be recorded in history for all time, and would cover the Emperor's name with eternal discredit. Hut the besotted Monarch, having made his fatal choice of evil friends, paid no heed to these remonstrances and warnings, so that W'ci hardened his heart and became more reckless than ever in his crimes and bloodthirsty revenges. The brave Censor, Yang Lien, was now tiirown into the
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fmperial prison, and with him Tso Kuang-tou and Wei Ta-chung, who had joined him in denouncing the Cliief Eunuch. This prison was separate and distinct from the Board of Punishments; tortures were freely practised there. Wei issued a decree that these three men were to be tortured every fifth day, and not to be handed over to the Board of Punishments until all their money liad been extorted. All three were tortured most horribly, but none of them would confess to having obtained money wrongfully by taking bribes. Finally Tso Kuang-tou, unable to endure his misery, said to his fellow prisoners : ** Either they will torture us to death for not confessing, or else they will hire one of the gaolers to kill us. If now we confess, they must hand us to the Board of Punishments for formal trial, and we may then escape.'* His companions agreed, and they all confessed to false charges of having taken bribes. But the tiger would not release his prey ; Wei issued a decree that they were not yet to be taken to the public prison, and the torturing went on. Yang Lien was eventually killed under a torture wliich consisted of piling great sacks of earth upon his belly and driving nails into his ears. \Mien at last the bodies of the three victims were handed over to their relatives, they were so mutilated as to be unrecognisable. The arrest of Yang Lien created much public indignation ; thousands of scliolars and respectable people lined the road by which he had to pass, burning incense in liis honour and praying for his safe return. Wei's minions seized all his property, but it amounted to less than a thousand taels, for he was as poor as he was honest. Had not the neighbours come to their rescue, his wife and sons would have been reduced to beggary.
Let us now return to tell of the life and death of His Tsung's noble Empress. The facts recited in Yang Lien's memorial, above quoted, give some idea of the grievous wrongs and indignities which, through the miserable
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weakness of the Emperor, she suffered at the hands of the Chief Eunuch and Madame K'o.
It was in the year 1623 that the Empress became enceinte, to the great satisfaction of Hsi Tsung. But the Chief Eunuch and Madame K'o had no desire to see Her Majesty's influence over him and her authority at Court increased by the birtli of an heir to the Throne. Two of the Empress's favourite and most faithful serving-maids were, therefore, put to death by means of forged decrees on false charges, and all her other personal attendants were dismissed, except those upon whom Madame K'o could rely. Their places were taken by women selected by the Chief Eunuch, one of whom, employed as a mas- seuse, so mishandled the Empress that her child was born dead. Shortly afterwaixls, Her Majesty, goaded to desperation by the Emperor's crass folly, determined on an attempt to rid the Court at last of the woman whose deplorable influence was the chief cause of its wickedness and shame. Taking her seat on the dais of the Main Hall in the Palace of Feminine Tranquillity, with a number of ai'med retainers on either side, she summoned Madame K*o to her presence. When the woman came, suspecting nothmg serious, the Empress laiuiched straightway into a recital of all her sins and wickedness, and ended by bidding her prepare to die. K'o knelt at her feet and prayed for mercy; meanwhile a eunuch had gone swiftly to inform the Emperor, busy at liis carpentering, of what was taking place. He arrived upon the scene just in time to save his foster-mother's life. From this time forward the Cliief Eunuch and Madame K'o endeavoured by all possible means to poison the Emperor's mind against his Consort and to deprive her of his protection. She on her side sought strength and consolation in prayer, chant- ing Buddhist masses daily for the repose of the souls of the murdered Censors and her faithful attendants. She hoped thus to move her husband to remorse. Especially
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did she reproach him for allowing the murder of Yang Lien.
Wei Chung-hsien made repeated attempts to ruin the Empress in the eyes of the Court and country by securing the disgrace of her adopted father Chang Kuo-chi, against whom he brought criminal charges backed by the false e\idence of his creatures. He produced memorials accusing him of plotting against the Emperor's life, of taking bribes, and of a secret Haison with a lady of the Court, but Hsi Tsung, weak as he was in ali other matters, remained strongly attached to his beautiful and virtuous wife, and the Empress found another loyal defender in the Grand Secretary Li Kuo-p'u, who succeeded in checking some of the Chief Eunuch's bloodthirsty schemes and in frighten- ing the woman, his accomphce. Finally, in the spring of 1627, upon a false impeachment, the Emperor was in- duced to deprive the " Earl of Exalted Strength " of all his titles and emoluments and order him into retirement. This he did, weary of the importunities of Madame K'o, but still he would hear no word against his Consort. When she heard of her adopted father's disgrace, the Empress stripped off all her ornaments, and dressing lierself as a mourner, without head covering, sought the Emperor's presence, where, on her knees, she thanked him for his clemency.
Shortly after this episode, in the summer of 1627, the Emperor fell sick of an illness from which he never re- covered. As his state became worse, his affection for his loyal and devoted wife increased. At this juncture, Wei Chung-hsien had the effrontery to propose to Her Majesty tliat she should become his confederate in a scheme of treason and dishonour. This devil incarnate had no belief in the constancy of any sort of virtue — in his world all were bought and sold, loyalty being merely a question of price and opportunity. He and Madame K'o had much to fear from the death of the Emperor, the weakling whose
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name and authority were necessary to their evil purposes. Wei could not hope to ^vield the power of the Throne un- less it were filled by a puppet or by an ally. He therefore proposed to Her Majesty that, upon her husband's death, she should become Chief Regent, accepting as Regent Assessor (practically co-Regent) a creature named Wei Liang-ch'ing, one of the eunuch's adherents. At the same time he desired that the Empress should give out that she was enceinte, with the intention of passing off a son of Wei Liang-ch'ing as her own child after the Emperor's death. In this way the house of Wei would attain to the Throne.
This Wei Liang-ch'ing was merely a tool in the hands of the Chief Eunuch, without political ambition of his own. He was a wine-bibber and a profligate, whose one thought, in accepting the role assigned to him, was to obtain possession of the beautiful Empress. To his friends he declared, " I care not a jot for the Dragon Throne, but to enjoy the society of such a woman as the Goddess Chang,^ that were bliss indeed." The Empress knew that, upon Hsi Tsung's passing, it must come to a life- and-death struggle between the eunuch and herself, but she held her head high and showed no signs of fear. *' For many years," she said to him, " I have made me ready for death. If now I obey you, you will kill me sooner or later; if I refuse, you will kill me only a little sooner. But if I die resisting you to the utmost, I can face un* ashamed the souls of the departed Emperors in the other world."
As the Emperor's end approached, Her Majesty begged him to name as his successor his brother, tiie Prince Hsin. " But," said the dying Monarch, " Wei Chung-hsien assures me that two of my concubines are with child. If an heir should be born to one of theni^ he will become our son and should surely succeed to the Throne." Upon > Thus was the Kinprc&s lumiliurly luiowu in the Palace.
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tliis, the Empress spoke to him most earnestly; the attendants never knew what woitis passed between them, but the Emperor nodded consent, and summoned his brother to receive his dying behests. Prince Hsin was about to plead his incompetency, but his sister-in-law, attired as a widow, hurriedly emerged from behind an alcove and pleaded with him, saying : " My brother, do your duty, obey His Majesty. The situation is desperate, and 1 fear a rising in the Palace. Thank His Majesty and do as he desires." Prince Hsin then fell upon his knees, and the Monarch bade him govern the Empire wisely, avoiding the errors which he himself had committed. But, blind to the last, he added : " Wei Chung-hsien fully deser\'es yoiu' trust and may be given the highest office with absolute confidence." Finally, he commended the Empress to his brother's tender care. " Sec to her welfare; she has been a faithful Consort to me these seven years; much do I owe her. Often has she ad- monished me and urged me to better things. Her influence has ever been for good. She deserves all your pity; a widow, and so young. To your care I commend her." Prince Hsin left the Presence, and the Empress concealed him in an inner apartment of the Palace, for fear lest Wei should assassinate him. The Emperor passed away at 3 p.m. on the 22nd of the 8th Moon. Thereupon the Empress issued his valedictory decree, and commanded the hereditary Duke Chang Wei-hsien and other of!icials to escort the new Emperor to the Main Hall of Audience, where he should receive obeisance. Wei Chung-hsien was persuaded to bide his time and to refrain from challenging the authority of this decree by setting up a puppet of his own at once. (The eunuchs, as a body, always preferred intrigue and assassination to open defiance of dynastic law.) The dead Emperor was dressed in his robes of longevity, and his widow, weeping at his bier, so exhausted herself by excess of grief that she fainted away.
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On recovering consciousness her first thought was to warn the new Emperor against the danger of poison; she begged him to touch no food prepared in the Palace kitchen. She herself dispatclied a confidential chamber- lain to the market for victuals which she cooked with her own hands. The Emperor thanked her, and as a sign of his gratitude for her devotion, recalled her adopted father to Peking and restored all his honours. He was allowed to enter the Palace and retui'n thanks to his daughter. The Emperor conferred upon her the title of Empress Senior,^ of Feminine Virtue and Tranquillity, and gave her the Palace of Motherly Peace and of Motherly Blessings for her abode.
The new Emperor had abstained from all participation in Palace politics during his brother's occupancy of the Throne, but he soon showed himself to be a man of strong character and noble disposition. The Chief Eunuch's position now became one of great danger, for his crimes had made him many enemies, who all combined and turned against him. Also, Madame K'o had been sincerely attached to her foster son, though she had abused his confidence, and at his death, stricken with remorse, she ceased to be useful for treasonable purposes. The power of the evil confederacy which had wrought so many and great evils was now broken. Before the late Emperor's coffin, Madame K'o penitently burned pathetic reUcs of his childhood, which she had treasured— his first tooth, some locks of baby hair, a few broken toys, and the scabs which had peeled off him after smallpox. But her time had come. Shortly afterwards she was arrested, accused of countless crimes on overwhelming evidence, and sentenced to death by the slicing process, every member of her family and household being also condemned to execution. At her death the people rejoiced as at a festival. In her quarters at the Palace there were found ^ To be dibtiuguiiihcd from Empretts Dowager. e 81
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six Imperial concubines, all vrith cliild, and it was proved that she had intended to poison the new Emperor and to make one of these infants of unknown paternity heir to the Throne. All these wretched women were condemned to death, victims of another's evil ambition.
The tide had now turned strongly against Wei Chung- hsien, and realising that his position was desperate, he escaped from the Palace and fled to Shantung. Out- lawed, and abandoned by all his followers, he committed suicide near the grave of Confucius, but by order of the Throne Iiis body was subsequently dismembered and the head exliibited at his native city (Ho Chien-fu), and many scores of his adherents, especially those who had conspired against the Empress, were put to death.
Throughout the troublous reign of the new Emperor Ch*ung-chen (1627-1644) the Senior Empress lived on terms of happy intimacy and affection with him and with his Consort, respected and beloved of the populace. In 1642, upon the nmrriage of the Heir Apparent, she took up her residence, as custom prescribed, in the Palace of Benevolent Old Age.
Her death was as meritorious as her life liad been. In 1644, when Peking had fallen into the hands of the rebel Li Tzu-ch'eng and the city was being ravaged and burned by his troops, the Emperor sent her a message bidding her commit suicide, but in the tumult and confusion the messenger failed to reach her. When she lieard that Li Tzfl-ch*eng was battering at the gates of the Forbidden City, she called for a sword, but was unable to deal herself a fatal blow, and her attendants endeavoured to dissuade lier from seeking death. Failing with the sword, she hanged herself with her girdle, but was cut down by her servants and urged to seek safety in flight. Angrily she stamped her foot, saying : " You have disgraced me," and ran to a side room, where again she tried to hang herself, but some of Li TzQ-ch'eng's men arrived just m
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time to cut her down. As she came to her senses the rebels gathered around her, praising her beauty. One of them, who seemed to be a leader, exclaimed : " We are now in the Palace of the late Emperor's widow; this must be she. Never have I seen so beautiful a face. Let no one lay hands on her. She must await our Chief's orders." But some declared that this was not the Goddess Chang — that she had fled in disguise and escaped — whilst others said she was dead.
The rebels were still disputing as to her identity, wliile she sat silent, when some eunuchs entered with an elderly woman who was Li's personal attendant and wiio liad been ordered by him to arrange the Palace concubines in batches, according to their age and beauty, for his in- spection. The eimuchs ]x)inted out the Empress, saying : ** That is the Goddess Chang, wife of the late Emperor." She was placed in tlie care of attendants, who tried to console her. '* Lady Chang, do not be afraid," they said. *' You are so beautiful that when our great Prince inspects the concubines to-morrow he will surely choose you for his Empress."
In her grief and despair, the Empress felt as if her breast were being pierced by a myriad arrows, and she was wondering how she could contrive to kill herself, when a loud voice called out from the courtyard : " Where is the Empress Dowager, Goddess Chang? " This was one of the chief commanders of the rebels, named Li Yen. Before Peking had fallen, some of the eunuchs had gone over to the rebels, and had informed them of the where- abouts of the most beautiful women, whom they divided into three classes.
Li Tzfi-ch'eng had promised thirty concubines to each of his Generals, and a Ust of all the women in the Palace had been placed in Li Yen's hands. Li Yen was a licen- tiate of Honan Province who had joined the rebellion, a fluent expounder of moral philosophy. Seeing that the
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Senior Empress's name was at the head of the list of women, he sighed deeply and said : " How dai'e these wretched eunuchs desecrate Her Majesty's name in this way? She stands too high for such disgrace. I, who come from her own province, must save her from this outrage."
So he hurried into the Palace, and on finding her, bade two handmaidens lead her to one of the Throne rooms, where he assisted her to mount the dais. Li Yen then dressed himself in Court robes and made obeisance before her nine times. Placing her in the charge of attendants, he hurried away to find Li Tzu-ch*eng. That same evening she succeeded in killing herself. \Vhen they found her body, she was attired in black silk with gold embroidery and full sleeves ; her face was veiled with yellow crape and her hair neatly dressed; she looked like a woman of thirty. Those who saw the serenity of her face felt as if some heavenly visitant hovered near them, so happy was she in her death.
Li Yen buried her in the courtyard of her Palace and did homage at her obsequies. Meanwhile, Li Tzu-ch'eng had given orders that the late Emperor and his Consort- should be buried, but made no public announcement concerning tiie death of the Senior Empress. It was freely rumoured that she had been taken alive by one of the rebels. On the same day the concubine Jen ^ sur- rendered to Li Tzu-ch'eng, and to increase her own im- portance told him that she was the Senior Empress, the wife of Hsi Tsung. Li Tzu-ch'eng believed her, and later, on his retreat before the Manchus, took her >vith him. Thus it came to pass that in the Court of the fugitive Mings at Nanking calumnious tongues insulted this noble woman's memory, and it was noised abroad that she had become the mistress of the rebel Chief- There were still eunuchs and women at that Court who * Vide £upra, p. ti7, 84
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THE COURT OF PEKING
had been of the faction of Wei Chung-hsien and who were only too eager to besmirch her spotless reputation. The new Ming Emperor, Prince Fu, was in the hands of evil advisers and believed these cruel falsehoods, so that no canonisation was conferred upon her until the following year, when her death was undeniably confirmed. A eunuch eye-witness of her death described it to the Manchu Regent, Prince Jui, who gave orders that she should be buried beside her husband, at his mausoleum to the north of Peking. So came she to her honourable rest.
After the dispersion of Li Tzu-ch'eng's force by the Manchus, the Jen concubine, who had accumulated great store of treasure from the Palace, moved to Wu T*ai Mountain, west of Peking, and her abode became the resort of many lawless characters. She still claimed to be the Empress Consort of Hsi Tsung, and in that capacity extorted money from the common people. Eventually complaints were lodged at Court, and she was arrested and brought to Peking. On her arrival there she declared she was indeed the Empress, and some there were wlio believed her. But the eunuchs of the Court had no difficulty in proving her to be a base pretender. The romantic chroniclers aver that she was compelled to try on one of the Goddess Chang's tiny shoes, before which test she failed ignominiously. Be this as it may, she was allowed to commit suicide, and thereafter the memory of " Precious Pearl," the illustrious and virtuous Empress, has shone undimmed throughout the centuries.
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CHAPTER III
LI TZC-CH'ENG'S REBELLION AND THE FALL
OF PEKING
The swift decline and pitiful end of the Ming dynasty was primarily due to the corruption and incompetence of its later Monarchs and to the licentiousness of their Court, which gave high office and the direction of State affairs to eunuchs. Its doom was plain-writ upon the wall for many years before the great rebellion of Li Tzu- ch'eng ended triumphantly in the Throne Hall of the Forbidden City, because, as one liistorian has put it, " the ruling house had ceased to display those moral qualities %vithout which no power will long be tolerated by a people hke the Chinese."
There had been serious uprisings in various parts of the Empire — notably in Kueichou and Shantimg— since the beginning of the seventeenth century; in 1622 the Dutch had appeared upon the scene, seizing tlie Pes- cadores and adding new terrors to the life of Chinese officials. In 1625, the rising power of Nurhachi and his Manchu armies had been signalised by the establish- ment of ills capital at Moukden. But the position of the dynasty only became desperate when, in 1641, Li Tzu- ch'eng*s rebellion {which had been fitfully active for some ten years) assumed formidable proportions and, sweeping northwards, carried all before it.
Li Tzti-ch'eng liimself stands out as a picturesque
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iigure against the lurid background of those days, a great soldier and something of a politician. Cruel, with all the ruthless ferocity of the Oriental, unscrupulous in love and war, full of the lust of power and wealth, he possessed, nevertheless, certain redeeming qualities — courage, and a capacity for sudden impulses of gener- osity. His most notable characteristic, common amongst fighting men of humble origin who have risen to the purple, was his belief in auguries, omens and pwrtents. Many of the most momentous decisions of his career were the outcome of his superstitious beliefs and fears.
He was bom in Shensi, about the year 1606. Historians declare that in his early youth he had fore-knowledge of his great destiny. One of them narrates the following stor>'. As a young man he was addicted to hunting and hawking, and would wander far afield with congenial spirits. One day, in the depth of winter, he found him- self with two intimate friends in a remote country district. As evening fell they sat imder a tree to rest, and refreshed themselves with deep draughts of wine. A dust storm was raging. Suddenly Li turned to his friends and said : ** Listen I If the Imperial Throne is destined to be mine, a sign will be given us to-night in the shape of a heavy snowstorm." With this, he planted an arrow in the ground and added : " If Heaven is on my side let the snow^ be level with the top of this arrow." His friends replied : " If you become the Son of Heaven we are your men till death." Soon after, the sky began to darken and the wind fell. Snow began to fall gently, and gradually increased, until by midnight the top of the arrow could just be seen. Li and his friends, greatly impressed, walked home through the snow, and from that day his mind was fixed on the ambition to overturn the Ming dynasty. He turned brigand, and after eleven years of perilous adventures found himself at the head of a large army.
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To give another instance of the superstitions which continually influenced this bom leader of men : in an engagement near the strategic pass at T'ung Kuan his left eye was pierced by an arrow. An ancient prophecy had predicted that the Empire would be conquered by a one-eyed man, and Li was therefore greatly elated at receiving this auspicious wound; indeed, the incident, widely discussed, brought many new followers to his flag.
And again, after the fall of Peking in 1644. Li Tzfi-ch'eng entered the Forbidden City by the Southern, or Dynastic, Gate. On arriving at the main entrance, the " Gate of Heaven's Grace," as it was then called, he stopped and aimed an arrow at the character signifying " heaven/* painted over the gateway, the conviction having suddenly seized liim that if his shot were successful in hitting the mark, it would mean that Heaven approved of his moimting the Throne. His arrow lodged just below the character, and he and those with him took it for an omen that he had been rejected by the Most High, and that his victorious course was run.
In 1641 Li Tzu-ch'eng, victoriously advancing, laid siege to Honan-fu. When his troops had completely invested the city. Prince Fu, the Emperor's uncle, whose fief was the province of Honan, summoned his generals to a banquet at his Palace, and they arranged to raise a force of a thousand volunteers, who would let themselves down by ropes from the city wall and make a successful night sortie. Dissolute and drunken as he was, the favourite son of Wan Li made a brave defence, until Li Tzu-ch'eng delivered a surprise attack from the north, and overpowering the guards, took the city by assault. When all was confusion, Prince Fu had himself let down from the city wall and escaped in disguise to a neigh- bouring temple, but he was discovered and brought into the presence of Li Tzu-ch*eng. As he entered the camp
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he perceived the Commander of the city garrison in chains, who called to him and said : " Prince, a man in your exalted station has a duty to the State to fulfil; he must die bravely. Let not Your Highness I>end the knee in submission to these dogs of rebels." Prince Fu made no reply, but when led before Li Tzii-ch'eng, refused to speak and was promptly dispatched. After killing him^ Li mixed a cupful of his blood in a dish of hashed venison, and called it the *^ Red pottage of fortune and blessing," this being a pun on the Prince's name, which means " good fortune." He was ever a grim jester.
His chief associate and fellow-rebel, almost as famous a guerrilla leader as Li himself, was Chang Hsien-chung, a Shensi Mahomedan, also a grim jester in his way. While Li was besieging Honan-fu, Chang possessed himself of the rich city of Hsiang-Yang, in Hupei. He won it by covering a hundred miles with a small force of cavalry in twenty-four hours, and surprising the garrison, whose scouts had reported the country free of rebels. Having taken possession of the city and burned the Prefect's yamen, he seized the person of Prince Hsiang, a cousin of the Emperor, and over-lord of Hupei. He brought liim into the audience hall of his own Palace, and setting a beaker of wine before him, said : '* I have no grudge against Your Highness, and you are a harmless person enough, but I have a fierce longing to see the head of General Yang separated from his body.^ But alas, Yang is not available at the moment, being far from here ; and so I propose to make use of Your Highnesses head instead. For if I now remove it, the Emperor, wrath at the killing of one of liis own kinsmen, may see fit to order the death of Yang, who should have been able to prevent this abominable murder. Will Your Highness drink as much of the wine as you can carry ? " He then put him to
* Yang Ssu-ch'nng was the Ming Comniander-jn •chief in Hupei, wlio had defeated Cliang on more than one occasion.
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death and burned the body. The same rufRan is alleged by Chinese historians to have made a dish of a wife who iiad ceased to please him, putting into practice the proverb which says, " The favourite of to-day is served up at to-morrow's banquet."
The news of the fall of Hsiang-Yang created dismay at Court. As Chang had foreseen, the Censors, trembling at the prospect of the approaching cataclysm, ordered that General Yang be put to death for failing to stem the rebellion, but he saved them the trouble by committing suicide.
In the same year, 1641, Li Tzti-ch*eng laid siege to the great city of K'ai Feng-f u in Honan ; but its garrison made such a stout defence, and its fifty-feet wall was so im- pervious to his niining and artillery, that he was obliged to desist from the attempt. Early in 1643, having sub- jugated all the surroimding country, he made a close investment of the city, determined to take it at all costs. Tlie siege lasted until September, and the garrison, being well supplied with food, showed no signs of yielding to the rebels. When at last the city fell, it brought no rich reward of booty to the conquerors, but only a harvest of death. Enraged by its stubborn resistance, and fearing the advance of a relieving force from Shensi, Li Tzu-ch'eng determined to flood the city by cutting the banks of the Yellow River. Curiously enough, the Commander of the garrison had conceived a similar plan for flooding the rebel camp, and had begun to sap the river*s embank- ment at a spot favourable for that purpose. Li Tzu- ch'eng's spies warned him of the danger, upon which he moved his camp to higher ground and made large provision of boats and rafts for his army. Having done this, he compelled the country people for miles around to cut away the embankments at Nia Chia-k'ou. Over a hundred thousand of these unfortunates perished when the river, swollen by heavy rains, finally burst its banks, and so
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fierce was tlie flood that ten thousand of the rebels were drowned. It entered K'ai Feng-fu by the northern gate and carried swift destruction throughout the city. Of a population estimated at over a million, scarcely a tenth escaped. The Governor and some of the higher officials saved themselves in boats, and several Princes with their wives and concubines took refuge in a tower on the wall, where they nearly died of starvation before rescuing parties reached them. \Mien Li Tzu-ch*eng entered the city in a boat, he found no opportunity for phmder or reprisals.
From Honan, Li marched into Shensi, regaling his troops witli three days of looting and rapine at Hsi-an. Here, clad in Imperial dragon robes, he re\'iewed his forces, while the citizens knelt at his passing. Thence he proceeded to his native place and offered sacrifice at his ancestral tombs, which had been desecrated by the Imperial a»ithorities. On the first day of the new year (1644) he assumed the Imperial title of Yung Ch'ang, as the founder of the ** Great Obedient " dynasty ; he also canonised his ancestors for four generations as Emperors in the realms above. He would have taken this step at a much earlier date had it not been that he had doubts as to the possible rivalry of his old colleague and fellow- rebel, Chang, who was believed to cherish schemes of establishing a kingdom of his own. But Chang now sent rich gifts to Li and a letter acknowledging him as Emperor. So Li took heart of grace and proceeded to make for himself a new nobihty and a Court; he appointed six ministries, with presidents and their staffs, and created nine marquises, seventy-two earls, thirty viscounts and fifty-live barons. At this time his army consisted of 600,000 cavalry and 400,000 infantry. He sent Imperial mandates throughout the country denouncing the Ming Emperor, in these terms : " His Majesty, the present Emperor, cannot be called an utter fool. He stands
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alone, but the oppression of his officials is like unto the heat of a burning fiery furnace. His Ministers serve only their own selfish ends and form conspiracies among them- selves. Loyal men are few and far between. The prisons are full of unfortunate captives, and the officials are devoid of gratitude for favours received. The people are so oppressed by their exactions, that in their misery they abandon their homes."
New Year's Day 1644 in Peking dawned darkly under a fierce dust-storm, and an earthquake occurred at Feng Yang in Anhui, near to the birthplace of the founder of the dynasty. The Court was in despair. The Grand Secretary Li Chien-ta*i, a native of Shansi, who had made an enormous fortune as owner of the well-known Ssu Tu- heng banking-house (which still exists), came forward at audience and proposed to place his wealth at the service of the Throne and to lead an army in person against the rebels in his native province. The news of Li Tzu-ch'eng's assumption of the Imperial title had come as a great shock to the Monarch, who sorrowfully remarked to Li Chien-t'ai : " My conscience is clear. I have not deserved to forfeit the mandate of Heaven; nevertheless, ruin confronts me on all sides, and the Empire is sHpping from me. The inheritance which my ancestors won, after being ' combed by the wind and bathed in the rain,' is rapidly being lost. How can I bear to face them in the next world ? Gladly would I march to battle at the head of my army and perish on the sandy plain. How can I ever close my eyes in peaceful death while the Empire is in a fennent? " At this the Monarch burst into tears. Thereupon all the Grand Secretaries present asked to be allowed to lead the army into battle in his place (a task which they were no more fitted to undertake than the Sovereign). The Emperor refused, whereupon Li Chien- t*ai again kotowed and said : " I am ready to pay all the expenses of the army and to march on the rebels."
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Ch'ung-chen thanked him warmly-: " I mysel! shall sec you off on your journey, as ancient custom prescribes." He bestowed upon him an Imperial sword and full powers in the field.
After a few days of preparation, the Emperor repaired to the Temple of Ancestors and informed the august shades of his decision ; then he ascended to the top of the tower at the Ch*ien Men facing the Palace. The troops made a brave show, drawn up in line extending from the entrance to the Forbidden City as far as the Temple of Heaven. The whole Court was in attendance and the musicians played martial airs. His Majesty gave a banquet after the review, at which he presided, and passed the wine round seven times. Thrice he pledged the health of Li Chien-ta*i in a golden beaker, and handed to him a patent inscribed : " Acting as Generalissimo on Our Imperial behalf."
The troops then marched off, and the Emperor watched them leave the city. A little way beyond the city gates Li Chien-t'ai's sedan-chair pole broke, which was regarded as an evil omen. The expedition was a dismal failure. Long before it had reached Shansi the rebels had captured Li*s native city and had looted most of his family treasure. Many of liis troops died of starvation on the way.
Meanwhile, Li Tzu-ch'eng was marcliing northwards through Shansi, had crossed the Yellow River without opposition, and laid siege to T'ai Yuan-fu. The Governor made a gallant resistance, but the city was betrayed to the rebels by one of his staff.
Li Tzii-ch*eng entered Prince Chin's Palace and cap- tured the wretched Prince (a descendant of Yung lo). Him he slew, together with forty-six high officials. On hearing the news, the Emperor issued a pitiful decree deploring the calamities inflicted on his people by the rebellion, as well as the inefficiency of his officials and his own lack of virtue in governing. " In the watches
ANNALS AND MEMOIRS OF
of the night," he said, " I mourn over these things and my self-abasement knows no limit. From this time forth I am determined to turn over a new leaf and to avert the consequences of my errors. I mean to strengthen our resources by employing able men in office, and by adher- ence to time-honoiu-ed tradition to depart from evil. By merciful forbearance I intend to win my subjects' love, and by remitting unjust taxation to make good their lack of funds. I command tliat lists be drawn up of all worthy and honest men who m the past may have been dismissed from office, so that they may be reinstated. To any member of the local gentry wlio shall re-capture a city from the rebels I will grant hereditary rank. To all who return to their allegiance and repent thcin of their sins I promise pardon and high rank ; while any one who may capture the rebels Li Tzu-ch'eng and Cliang Hsien-chung will receive from me a niarquisate and corresponding official rank."
" The Devil was sick," but the time for issuing such decrees was past; nothing could now save the doomed dynasty. \Vi»en a iii*st detachment of rebels entered Cliihli and captured IIo Chien-fu the Court dispatclied the eunuch Tu Hsiin to the Chilili frontier at Hsiian-hua to stop their advance from that side. This was a fatal step, for Tu was a coward and a traitor. lie had already advised the Emperor to surrender, saying : ** You had better abdicate, you and I will have plenty to live upon in retirement." With this powerful eunuch at the head of military affairs, interfering in matters of which he was profoundly ignorant, tlie situation was desperate, but none dared to oppose him.
A Censor now advised him to send the Heir Apparent to Nanking, and to place his other two sons, the Princes Ting and Yung, in charge of the defence of Ning-kuo and Tai-ping in Anhui, near the birthplace of the ancestors of the dynasty. While perusing this memorial the
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Emperor walked nervously round the Palace grounds, sighing and muttering to himself. He had made up his mind to agree, when one of the Grand Secretaries told him that the scheme was bruited abroad and was creating a bad impression. The wretched Emperor again hesitated, and finally said : "It is the duty of the Sovereign and his family to die for the State. I shall order the Princes to remain in Peking," Urgent messages were sent to AVu San-kuei to defend Shan Hai-kuan and to dispatch all the troo[>s lie could spare lo the metropolis.
On arrival at Xing Wu-fu, a city of Shansi situated just inside the Great Wall, Li Tzu-ch'eng sent forward a herald to announce that all its inhabitants would be put to the sword unless the city surrendered within five days. General Chou Yii-chi, who had retreated hither from Ping Yang, made use of cannon which had been cast by the Jesuit priests, and did great execution amongst the rebels. Wlien his gunpowder was almost exhausted, and the assault continued with undiminished vigour, his men tried to persuade him to surrender. The old General angrily replied: *MVhy such cowards? If you win the day you will gain gi-eat glory, as brave and loyal men. When you find you can hold out no longer, all you have to do is to bind me and hand me over to the rebels. You can blame me for holding out so long." His troops were ashamed and proL-eeded to lay an ambush for tlje rebels by posting a few men at certain gates and then opening them to the enemy. In marched the rebels, whereupon the defenders closed the barriere at the end of certain streets, caught them in a trap, and slaughtered them in thousands. But Li Tzu-ch'eng continued to bombard the city walls with cannon ; as one portion collapsed, the breach was hurriedly repaired by the defenders. Four of Li Tzu-ch'eng*s bravest lieutenants were slain, and Li had almost made up his mind to retreat, when his aide- de-camp protested, saying : ** We outnumber them by a
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hundred to one ; if we persist, in spite of our losses, victory is certain. It would be so even if the odds were only ten to one."
Li Tzu-ch'eng was only too willing, and urged his men on. As one company was wiped out another pressed forward to take its place. When the corpses were piled ten feet high the garrison was exhausted and the city fell. General Chou Yii-chi refused to yield; he directed the street fighting until his horse was killed, whereupon he rushed headlong among the rebels, killing several before they captured him, pierced through and through with arrows as numerous as the quills on the porcupine. Still he resisted them, so Li TzG-ch'eng had him tied to a lofty beam and shot at with arrows until he died, after which his corpse was decapitated. His wife and hand- maidens fled to a small guard house on the Great Wall and from there shot arrows at the rebels, who set fire to the building. All of them perished in the flames. No one in the city surrendered : all were put to death.
When Li appeared before the gates of Ta T'ung-fu, General Chiang Hsiung and the treacherous eunuch Commander-in-chief, Tu Hsun, agreed to siurender, though the Governor, Wei Ching-yuan, and his army had taken a soleimi oatli, consecrated, in accordance with ancient custom, by the blood of a sheep smeared on the lips, that they would hold out to the death. Wien the rebels arrived, Chiang Hsiung's men, some of whom were posted at each gate, treacherously surrendered the city. Governor Wei on horseback rushed forward, but seeing that he had been betrayed allowed himself to be taken. They led him to Li Tzu-ch'eng, who offered him official rank. Wei sat down instead of kneeling in his presence, and called out : " May the Emperor live for ever ! " Then he wept. Li praised his loyalty, saying : *' I will never slay so brave a man." Governor Wei then rose and dashed his head against the stone balustrade. The blood poured forth,
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and the rebels took him away. Meeting the traitor,' General Chiang, he reviled him, saying : ** Accursed rebel, you have violated the solemn oath which yon took before the Almighty; God will reward you according to your crime." Then the rebels brouglit in his mother, who was over eighty years of age, to induce him to yield. He said : " Mother, you are very old and must do as you think best, I, your son, am a Minister of State, and death is the only way for me." His mother was led away, and he said to the bystanders : *' I will curse tlie rebels no more, in the hope that they will spare my mother's hfe." He hanged himself in a Buddhist shrine, and the rebels praised his loyal courage. They provided shelter for his wife and family and bade his mother join them. Then they put to death all of the Imperial family who were in the city.
When the news reached Peking, Li Chien-t'ai (who had returned from his inglorious expedition) advised the Emperor to flee to Nanking. Ch*ung Chen called his Ministers to an audience on the Palace terrace, and after telUng them of this advice said ; *' The Sovereign must die for the Altars of the Tutelary Deities ; whither should I flee?"
One of the most loyal and upright of his Ministers was the Grand Secretary Chiang Te-ying. In the early stages of the rebellion he had advised an active policy against Li, and had remonstrated with the Emperor for taxing the people so heavily to provide funds for a non-existent army.
At the audience on the terrace, Chiang again advised that the Heir Apparent should be sent to Nanking, and reconunendcd that a decree be issued, beginning as follows : " Of late, evil-minded persons have been collecting unjust taxes on the pretext of providing army funds, so that our subjects have been cruelly oppressed and the interests of our State have been placed in jeopardy." When the u 97
ANNALS AND MEMOIRS OF
Emperor heard this preamble, he became very angry and said : " I have only raised these taxes in order to pay my troops and not for my own benefit." Chiang replied : " I am aware of this, Your Majesty, but the taxation is very heavy, and I venture to ask you, is the proportionate number of men and horses fortheoming? The Viceroy of Chichou should have 45,000 troops; he has only 25,000. The Viceroy of Pao Ting-fu should have 30,000; he has 2,000. And so it is with the garrisons around the capital; the money has all been wasted and misap- propriated."
The Emperor was very wrath, and accused Chiang of conspiring against him, so the Minister tendered his resignation. Ch'ung chen intended to punish him, but he escaped when the city fell. Hoping against hope, the Emperor now conferred an earldom on Wu San-kuei and bade him hurry to the defence of the capital. The eunuch Wang Ch'eng-en was made Commander-in-chief of Peking and placed in charge of its defences.
The Governor of Hsiian-hua, Chu Cliih-feng, an Imperial clansman, had prepared to defend the city ; but the eunuch Tu Hsiin and General Wang Ch'eng-yun sent liim word to surrender. Tu went in person to call on Chu Chih-feng and advised liim to submit, but Chu refused to listen to him. When the rebels appeared, Tu Hsiin donned his Court robes and dragon jacket and went out to meet Li Tzu-ch'cng ten miles beyond the city. The garrison dispersed, whereupon Chu mounted the city wall, accompanied only by a few retainers. The rebels entered the gates, which had been opened by the eunuchs. Li had issued notices that no one was to be massacred, and promised remission of taxation and corv^es, so the people were in high spirits. The streets were decked with bxmting and festooned arches had been erected to welcome the conquerors. Incense was burnt as Li TzQ-ch'eng entered.
General Chu's servants endeavoured to persuade him
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to seek a place of safety, but lie upbraided them and prostrated himself in the direction of Peking in obeisance to the Emperor. Then he hastily wrote out a valedictory memorial, in which he implored His Majesty to stimulate his subjects to patriotism and loyalty; after which he hanged himself on a beam. The rebels flung his corpse into a ditch, but though the dogs devoured the other dead bodies, they left his untouched.
Six days later Chii Yen-kuan was taken by the rebels, and that long-guarded frontier was successfully passed, Li TzQ-ch'eng liad now entered the plain north of Peking, and was only tliirty miles from the capital. He proceeded to the sacred enclosure containing the ancestral mausolea, plundered their contents, and set many of the stately halls on fire. His spies were all over Peking, and many mer- cliants and officials in his pay sent him daily word of the Ming preparations. Some of Iiis confidential agents were actually serving on the Board of War, and every decision of the Throne was at once communicated to him by special courier. On the other hand, the spies sent out by the Board of War Avere captured by Li*s patrols and none returned to Peking. Thus Li's advance guard reached the central West Gate of the capital before his approach was even suspected.
The Emperor summoned his Coimcil; all were silent and some wept. The bombardment began. Three regi- ments which had been placed outside the gate fled at the rebels' approach, only a few guards remained to man the walls. Li Tzii-ch'eng moved to the Chang-yi Gate, about a mile and a half further South, and established his quarters just outside the enceinte. Here he was attended by the eunuch traitor Tu Hsiin ; tiie latter shot a message in a quill on to the city wall, where it was picked up by the guard. It was a letter to the Emperor, stating that the rebels must win, and advising His Majesty to commit suicide. This was handed to Ch'ung Chen, who tliereupon
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issued a penitential decree and again decreed that all extra taxation should cease forthwith. He then ordered his son-in-law, Kung Yung-ku, to send a body of retainers with the Heir Apparent to Nanking. Kung kotowed and said : " It is the rule that relations of the Emperor should keep no arms in their residence ; alas ! I have no retainers for the mission." The two men wept together.
The rebels scaled the wall of the Southern city with ladders, and took possession of the quarter inside the Chang-yi Gate. Other detachments bombarded the three gates of the Tartar city. The guard fled, and the eunuchs in command cravenly surrendered to the rebels. At this critical moment the folly of trusting to these myrmidons was fully proved, and the Avisdom justified of the founder of the dynasty who forbade that they should be allowed to meddle in affairs of State. There were between three and four thousand of them in the Forbidden City, osten- sibly charged with the duty of defending it and the Emperor, but of these one only, the eunuch Wang Ch'eng- en, was faithful even unto death. The rest spent the last days before the coming of the rebels either in rioting and feasting or in burying their treasiu'es and making ready for flight. On the very day that Li Tzu-ch'eng captured the first gate of the outer city, one of the Chief Eunuchs was giving a theatrical entertainment at his residence just outside the Ch*ien Men. As for tlie officials, the loyal and the good were, for the most part, so indignant at the eimuchs* supremacy in the counsels of the Emperor, and so certain of disaster, that they prepared to perish with the dynasty, as the Confucian traditions prescribe. The licentious and ignoble continued their feastings as before.
On the 4th day of the 3rd Moon, the Court of As- tronomers had handed in a memorial, saying that the Emperor's star was being displaced, and His Majesty issued one of his futile decrees, calling upon liis officials
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to repent them of evil. Yet he took not the brave and loyal into his favour and confidence, the men who later died for him at the post of duty. The spirit of his degen- erate Court was fittingly displayed in the words of a couplet which some one wrote upon the Palace wall. " If this dynasty's star has waned, let us hitch our fortunes on to its successor."
The Emperor now realised that the position was hope- less, and that it was too late to strengthen the city's defences. On the 17th of the 8rd Moon, the rebels at- tacked the North-West Gate. The Palace officials came to report to His Majesty, who summoned all the Grand Council to a secret audience at the Terrace Pavilion. The Emperor asked the advice of Wu Tsao-te, who could make no reply, but hung his head in forlorn silence. See- ing them all helpless, the Emperor, in a rage, flimg his dragon chair to the ground and left the Pavilion. He went from the Palace on to the Coal Hill. It was now evening, and the smoke of the rebels* beacon fires was visible on all sides of the city. For a long while the wretched Monarch stood there, lamenting his peoples' sufferings and his own.
Next morning, long before dawn, the rebels attacked the Western Gate of the Southern city, and the eunuch Tsao, who was in charge, surrendered it to the enemy. The rebels poured in, speedily captured the Ch'ien Men, and advanced upon the Forbidden City.
The Emperor ordered that the Heir Apparent and his younger brotiier be removed to a place of safety. When they came to take leave of their father they were dressed in their usual Court attire. Sorrowfully the Emperor regarded them : " How is it that at a time like this you are arrayed in robes of luxury ? " Then he commanded a eunucli to bring two suits of old and shabby clothes, and with his own hands assisted his sons to tie their girdles. '* To-day," said he to the elder. ** you are Heir
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to the Throne; to-morrow you will be one of the people, homeless, and a wanderer on the face of the earth. Reveal not your names and dissemble as best you may. Address your elders with respect as " good sir," and call strangers " uncle " or " kind cousin." If. perchance, your hves should be spared, remember in time to come to avenge the wrongs whicli your parents have suffered. Forget not these my words." He ended, and the lads were led away.
He then commanded them to bring wine, of which he drank a considerable quantity. Summoning his Empress Consort (who was of the Chou family) and the concubines, he addressed them, saying : '' All is over. It is time for you to die." The senior concubine, Lady Yuan, on hearing these words, rose in terror from Iier knees and tried to escape, but His Majesty pursued her with a sword. Shouting : " You too must die," he wounded her in the slioidder. She continued to run , but the Emperor thrust at her a second time, whereat she fell, weltering in blood. The Empress Consort fled to her Palace of Feminine Tranquillity, and there hanged herself.
Next, the Emperor summoned the Princess Imperial from the Palace of Peaceful Old Age. She was only just fifteen years of age. Wildly he glared at her, saying : " By what evil fortune were you born into our ill-starred house?" Seizing his sword, he hacked off her right arm, and she sank dying to the floor. He then went to the pavilion of Charity Made Manifest and there killed his second daugliter, the Princess of Feminine Propriety. Finally, he sent eunuchs to greet in his name the Empress Consort, and to the senior concubines of his late brother, Hsi Tsung, strongly advising both to commit suicide.^ Entering the Palace of Feminine Tranquillity, he saw his Consort hanging dead from the rafters, whereat he cried aloud : " Death is best, the only way for us all."
' Fide suprOt p. 82. 102
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It was now nearly 5 a.m, and the dawn was breaking. The Emperor changed his apparel and removed his long Imperial robe. The bell rang in the Palace for the morning audience, but none attended. The Emperor donned a short dragon-embroidered tunic and a robe of purple and yellow, and his left foot was bare. Accom- panied by the faithful eunuch Wang Ch'eng-en, he left the Palace by the Gate of Divine Military Prowess, and entered the Coal Hill enclosure. Gazing sorrowfully upon the city, he wrote, on the lapel of his robe, a valedictory decree : " I, feeble and of small virtue, have offended against Heaven; the rebels have seized my capital because my Ministers deceived me. Ashametl to face my ancestors, I die. Removing my Imperial cap and with my hair dishevelled about my face, I leave to the rebels the dismemberment of my body. Let them not harm my people ! " Then he strangled himself in the pavilion known as the " Imperial Hat and Girdle Department," and the faithful eunuch did likewise.'
Before the Emperor had committed suicide, most of the concubines had fled from out the Palace. One of them, the Lady Wei, on reaching the Imperial Canal, cried out : "All who are not cowards will follow my example," and jumped in. Some two hundred women of the Palace committed suicide. A certain handmaiden, named Fei, jumped into a disused well which was dry. The rebels pulled her out, and seeing that she was fair to look upon tried to take her. Haughtily she said : " I am the Princess Imperial." Awed by her words they desisted, and led her to Li Tzu-ch*eng, The latter ordered the eunuchs to identify her. As they all said that she was not the Princess, Li presented her to one of his captains, named Lo. Fei had the whip hand of him
^ The usual account that he hanged himself to a tree is certainly incorrect, though until quite recently the chain which he is supposed to have used was liuspenacd there.
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also, saying : *' Really and truly I am of Imperial lineage, and too high in rank to enter into an illegal or temporary nnion with you. Your Excellency must espouse me in lawful wedlock. I beg you to select an auspicious date for the ceremony." Lo was only too delighted, and set wine before her, of which he himself drank heartily. Fei waited until he was completely intoxicated, then took a stiletto and stabbed him fatally in the throat. As he lay dying, she cried out : " I, a weak woman, have slain a rebel leader. I am content." With that she cut her throat, and when Li heard of the deed he ordered that she should have honourable burial.
Meanwhile, Li TzQ-ch'eng had entered the Palace. By his order two door panels were brought, and the Emperor's body, with that of liis attendant, was carried to a shop inside the Tung-hua Gate. Here the remains were laid for three days, after which eunuchs were ordered to array the Emperor in Imperial robes and to dress his hair, before laying him in his coffin. The people were allowed to pay their respects, and many did so, but few of the official class ventured to do obeisance to their old master, for fear of attracting Li Tzii-ch'eng's suspicions. In fact, many made a long detour on their way to the Palace in order to avoid passing the coffin.
On the Srd of the 4th Moon, the Emperor and his Consort were temporarily buried in the grave of the T'ien concubine, but only eunuchs and peasants witnessed the burial. Later, when Li Tzu-ch'eng had been defeated and the Manchus had entered Peking, their Regent, the Prince Jui, ordered the building of an Imperial mausoleum and prescribed three days of general mourning. But, for the present, the last of the Ming Emperors went to his eternal rest unlionoured. An account of the burial ceremony was subsequently made to the Manchu Regent by the minor official who carried it out under orders from the rebel Prefect of Peking, as follows :
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e 25th of the 3rd Moon ^ I received orders Li Hsi-chang, styling himself Prefect of the city, that we were to inter their late Majesties in the grave chamber of the late concubine, the Lady T'ien, and that I was to engage labourers to open up the passage leading thereto, whose wages would be paid out of public funds. On the 1st day of the 4th Moon I therefore engaged thirty bearers for the Imperial coffin and sixteen for that of the Empress, and arranged for their conveyance to Ch*ang P'ing-chou. The preliminaiy obsequies were fixed for three days later, and the actual interment took place on the 5th. The departmental treasury was quite empty, and as the Secretary of Li Tzu-cli'eng*s Board of Ceremonies (responsible for the due performance of the ceremony) refused to provide any funds, I was obliged to collect subscriptions from charitable persons. Thanks to the generosity of two worthies, I obtained the sum of 840 tiao.^ So I set to work to open up the grave-tunnel, which was 185 feet long by 20 feet wide and 35 feet liigh. We worked for three days and nights, and early on the morning of the fourth day we came upon the stone gate opening into a grave ante-chamber. The workmen were obliged to force the lock before we could enter. Inside we found a lofty hall containing sacrificial vessels and many ornaments , In the centre was a stone vessel , whereon stood enormous candles of walrus fat.^
" Next, we opened the central tunnel gate, and found ourselves within a much larger hall, in the centre of which stood a stone couch 1 foot 5 inches high and 10 feet broad. On it lay the coffin of the Lady T*ien, covered witli silk drapery.
•' At 3 p.m., the coffins of their Majesties arrived at the entrance to the mausoleum, and were sheltered for the
' That is, seven days after the capture of Pckiim.
^ At that time about £6.
* The so-called " everlasting lamps.'*
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night in a temporary mat-shed which I had erected. We offered sacrifice of a bullock, gold and silver paper, grain and fruits. At the head of the few officials present I proceeded to pay homage to our departed Sovereign, and we wept bitterly at the foot of the Imperial biers.
" Next day, the two coffins were borne through the tunnel and into the grave chamber. We placed them on the stone couch, from which we had first removed the coffin of Lady T*ien. We then deposited the coffin of the Empress on the left of the couch, the Lady T'ien's remains were replaced on the right, and lastly, His Majesty's coffin was lifted into the central place. The Lady T'ien's death had occurred at a time of peace, and her coffin had con- sequently been provided with the customary outer shell, but there had been no means of preparing one in the present case for His Majesty. So I had the shell of the Lady T'ien's coffin removed and used to cover that of the Emperor.
"The obsequies having ended, we refilled the tunnel, banking up the earth so as to conceal the approach to the door leading into the grave chamber. On the following morning, the 6th. we offered libations of ivine, and I had a mound erected over the grave by the peasants from neighbouring hamlets, besides building a clay wall five feet high round the enclosure."
Thus passed the last >Iing Sovereign from the Dragon Throne. On the morning of hh death (the 19th), just before noon, Li Tzii-ch*eng, mounted on a piebald horse, rode in through the Gate of Obedience to Heaven, attended by his Grand Secretary, the rebel Niu Chin-hsing, and Sung Ch'i-chiao, President of the Ministry of Civil Offices. The Chief Eunuchs with a large following had met him outside the city gate and escorted him into the Palace. He took his seat on the Throne in the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, and bade search be made for their Majesties, the news of their death not having yet reached him.
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Some of the eunuchs brought forward the Heir Apparent and his two brothers, the Princes Yung and Ting, who had been found concealed with the family of the Lady T'ien. Li announced that on the 21st he would hold a Court reception, at which all the highest Ming officials must attend; on the 20th he busied himself in super- intending the provision of quarters for his troops.
At daybreak on the 21st, the Imperial Duke Chu Shun-ch'en (in whom the late Emperor had placed his trust) and the Grand Secretaries Wei Tsao-te and Ch'en Yen led a melancholy procession of officials to the space in front of the Throne Hall. All were wearing their civilian clothes, not daring to don Court dress. Li TzQ-ch'eng did not condescend even to notice their congratulations. The rebels crowded round them and jeered, some prodding them playfully in the back with swords, while others made them kneel, and kicked them in the neck or pulled off their hats. The wretched officials dared not protest or resist, and tamely submitted to these insults in silence. The Grand Secretary Ch'en Yen then sought to curry favour by inviting Li Tzfi-ch'eng to ascend the Imperial Throne'
Li proceeded without delay to establish his authority and reorganise the Government. He gave to the Heir Apparent the title of Prince Sung, released all officials who had been imprisoned by the Mings, and promulgated a new official system. He changed tlie six Boards into Ministries, altered the constitution of the Censorate, and converted the Hanlin Academy into the " Institution of Elegant Literature." The old name