The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-07 00:00:00

A " lOURNEY T. 9 THE. TOMBS."
•
The China 1114 ii of April 21 publhhes from Pekin an.
account of the preparations in progress for the imperor's
journey to the Tombs" :

"411 roads over which the Imperial procession passes
had been levelled, and for some time no conveyances
had been permitted to use them, to the ho small incon-
venience of the public. The Emperor was to leave
on this interesting ceremony on the morning of
the 9th, accompanied by the two Empressee-
Regent ; and the solemn journey is euphemistically
styled a huntiug expedition, the object of the
visit being in reality to bury the deceased
Emperor and his Empress, whose bodies have
been kept till now in the Lung-Fuh-Sze temple
near the Tombs. Most of the highest officials and a
large num oer of the celebrated bannermen and
soldiers werb to escort the Imperial party to the
so-called 'happy hunting-grounds' as well as the
governor.general and his soldiers. His Excellency Li
Hung Chang, indeed, had been in Pekin several days,
for the purpose of superintending the preparations and
seeing that the Imperial paths bad been made straight.
During the Emperor's nine days' absence the Prince of
Tan, the eldest uncle of the Emperor, with other high
officials, had been deputed to guard the palace. By an
edict just published, the land taxes for the year upon the
districts traversed by the Imperial procession have been
remitted, and this is probably the sole advantage to
the people of the immense display now in progress.
The roads along the route will be fenced in as of old, as
the Chinese have not as yet imitated the Japanese in
such matters; and the population have been ordered to
keep indoors, so that their plebeian eyes may not be
cast upon the Imperial Son of Heaven—the fact being
that the darkness of the hour when the progress is
made will doubtless; effectually secure the sacred pre-
sence from the vulgar gaze. It appears that the
inscriptions for the sacrificial tablets to be placed lin
the temple have been written by the hands of Li Hung
Chang and another high official.
Regarding these imperial tombs, it may be interes-
ting to note that the repairs of the Grand Tablet
Pavilion, which formed only part of the mausoleum
of the Emperor Shunche (the first of the Manchu
Sovereigns of China, A.D. 164(-61) were estimated to
cost over Tls, 400,000. An edict issued in 1877 showed
that these extensive alterations would 'necessitate the
employment of sixteen-wheel heavy trucks;' and the
building is described as the most glorious, as it is
also the earliest, work of the Eastern mausolea.' In
a subsequent edict the Imperial Superintendent of
the Eastern mausolea reports an official inspection
he had made of these monuments of Imperial mor-
tality, in which he states that he had 'carefully
examined the lists of the gold and silver vessels, the
ornaments, altar furniture, hangings, &c., appertaining
to each of the mausolea, and found all to be in order.'
This official report adds that the oxen and sheep kept
in the enclosures for sacrificial purposes, the moneys
and grain deposited in the Treasury, Pawnshop, and
Granary of Everlasting Supply, and the other materials
stored at the Stone Gateway by the Board of Works,
were all in agreement with the stamped vouchers.
Much greater care would appear to be bestowed upon
these seating-places of the Imperial dynasty than upon
the more utilitarian departments of the Public
Werke."

A correspondent of the Celestial Empire of April 22 :mos
an account of the ceremony of conveying the r emains of the
late Emperor of China', Tung Chih, and the late Empress to
their final resting-place at the Eastern Tombs—a distance of
about 240 11 from Pekin. The correspondent saw the pro•
cession pass by peeping through a hole about the size ot a
half-crown cut in a curtain, no foreigner being permitted to
witness the proceedings. He describes the sight as follows
When I first arrived a long string of slovenly-look-
ing baggage-waggons were jolting heavily along the
road. They came trailing after one another in most
admired disorder; now two together, now two or
three in a line, and now a long break, after which a
solitary cart would drag itself into view. Meanwhile,
a coolie stood in the road and busied himself, as best
he might, in keeping tile thoroughfare in order, Ever
and an,m a horseman in a long and flowing red robe
and yellow-tufted cap would pees across the field of
visi in, riding an ill-groomed pony. These men form
the Lwan-yi Wei, or Guard •of State; and had they
ridden in a compact phalanx they would have pre-
sented a handsome and striking appearance. But there
was no attempt at riding in ranks; the well-ordered
precision and finely-drilled horses, and perfect
combination of neatness and splendour, which charac-
terize a military procession in Europe were here all
conspicuous by their abseuce. In fact the word pro-
cession is almost a misnomer. As the minutes rolled
-slowly on, however, things began to get a little livelier,
and soon there appeared a group of Manchu archers,
armed with huge bows and well filled quivers. But
there was no uniformity of colour in their dress, any
more than order in their mode of progress. One man
would be dressed in brown or purple, another in blue,
handsomely embroidered; a third, perhaps, in bril-
liant silver grey, looking from a distance almost
white; and they all trotted or cantered or straggled
along, according to the pace each man preferred.
Then came another detachment of the Gru-d-d of State;
and then a heterogeneous collection of mandarins,
gorgeous in every variety of tint and button and pea-
cock's feather, ambling martially along on their scraggy
ill-kept ponies. This went on for some time, till at last
the appearance every now and then of yellow coverings
and badges, announced the near approach of the
Imperial party. Suddenly it.ibtust, into view. First
came a brilliant staff of princes, nobles, and high
officers of State, resplendent in yellow-silk tunics,
scarlet girdles, and glvaming silks, riding gaily along
and forming a guard of honour to the three Imperial
chairs. The order of procession from this point was as
fellows :—The Emperor, borne by eight coolies. Her
Imperial Majesty Tsze.an Tuan-s.O K'ang-yi Chao-yu
Chuang-king Huang Val Hou, Empress of the East,
commonly called the Empress-Dowager ; Her Imperial
Majesty Ti-ze ch'i Tuan-yew K'ang-ch'ing Chao-hoh
Chuang-ching Huang I"ai Hen, Empress of the West,
commonly called the Empress Mother ; the Princes
and Princesses of the Imperial Family, riding in yellow
• wooden carts, retainers, lictore apparitors, soldiers,
&c. The Empresses sat bolt upright, looking
straight before them, They are middle-aged,
well-preserved women, with hard stolid faces
and an expression which suggests the idea of cold
rigidity ot purpose. The principal features of the
little Emperor's face are a somewhat projecting fore-
head and a pointed chin. He was dressed in a sombre
colour, as half-mourning for the late Emperor, who
had adopted him as his younger brother. Prince Kung
occupied one of the yellow • covered carts. The
Imperial family are privileged to ride in carts the
wheels of which are set far back; the object of this
peculiar construction being to modify the jolting. It
is a characteristic fact that no one under the rank of
a prince of the blood is permitted to enjoy this
alleviation. The 21st day of the moon—otherwise
the 12th of April—was selected by the Astronomical
Bureau as being particularly auspicious for the
commencement of the journey. In plain fact, how-
ever' it was a fearful day; one of the very worst
sort. There was a strong wind blowing, and the sand-
storm which arose in consecinence was such as to make
the whole atmosphere a lurid, reddish yellow. The
Imperial travellers must have had a most wretched
time of it, and I certainly think the astronomers
ought to be,degraded three buttons at the very least,
It not decapitated. Judged simply as a show, the Im-
perial procession was mean and paltry. With the
solitary • exception of a few gay dresses there was ab-
solutely nothing to please the eye; and it was impos-
sible, while contemplating the undersized, ill-groomed
ponies, the straggling riders, the sorry string of bag-
gage-waggons, and the common, ugly little wooden
carts occupied by the princes and princesses as
they were dragged along the road, to avoid
exclaiming, "is this all, about which so much
fuss is made, such awe and mystery kept
up ? "fruly, indeed, did an intelligent Chinese
say to hie the day before, "The people's processions
are far finer than the one that you will see to-morrow."
Anything poorer, commoner, less imposing than the
whole turn-out would be difficult to imagine. To corn-
pare it to a Lord Mayor's Show would be simply
laughable. One might as well compare a string of
coal trucks to a Royal saloon train or a four-wheeled
London cab to a sheriff's coach. This is no exaggera-
tiou ; it is a sober statement of fact. There is probably
no travelling circus in Europe that would not present
a handsomer appearance in procession through a
country town than does the funeral cortege of an em-
ppreirooores, in
nothing of the august presence of the reigning emperor
nobles, Peking,
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