The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-01-24
A CHINESE EmpEROR,s LIFE.

the following account of the education
of the sons Of the Chinese Emperors and
of some of the domestic arrangements of
the royal family:
"The sons of the Manchu Emperors
(hwang.taz) undergo from their tenderest
youth q system of the strictest tedueation.
Rising at about3 o'clock in the morning
they first take their lesson in Chinese
literature, under the superintendent of
the only tutor who has the title Of snih-
flu or master The tutor rises from his
chair as soon as the Imperial pupils enter
and receives from the latter a courtesy
(ach'ien), which is then returned in the
same form. ... t....... g..
''The tutor takes the seat Of honor, and
when the lesson is learned the pupil
brings up his book, deposits it before his
teacher and returns to his seat to repeat
the task by heart. If the lesson is not
learned, the tutor requests a eunuch i'm
to bring the ferule (ch'ing-
PAM and makes show of administering
correction. But each Imperial pupil 81
accompanied by eight fellow-students
(pawn-tubl, known in the Mapchu
language as ha-ha-chu,, who study, the
same books as,their young master. When
it becomes necessary to ,admonish the lat
ter more seriously the ha4ha-chu are
beaten with the fsrule yicariously; but
when the Imperial pupil acquits himself
we'll they are, on the other hand, COM,
mended or rewarded. A recalcitrant an d.
obstinate Prince is as the last resort ae-
tually himself iaogsed, though probably
only nominally, by the teacher, or taken
before the Emperor, who directs eunuch
to. pinch his cheeks, (ch' III pa jou(. I'll
"The late Emperor Tung chih was fre-,
quently tweaked in this way by order Of
the Empresses. The Chinese lesson eecp-
pies two hours; after this come the Man
chu and Mongol lessons in composition,
given by the teachers who enjoy the less
honorable title Of se-fu, and who are
obliged to meet their pupil at the door
and make the first obeisance. Then
come lessons in various spoken languages,
Manchu, Mongol, Tangat and in local
Chinese dialects. After these come
courses Of instruction in foot and horse
archery (ma-pu-chien), athletics, fencing,
putting the stone, &c. (kung-tau-shih), J,
under The guidance of a class Of instruc-,
tors called anita. The whole of the young
princes day is taken up with mental or
physical exercises, and they retire to rest
at a very early hour. AT suitable inter
walls their meals are weighed out for
them, and on no account are they al
lowed to indulge in the pleasures of the
table. At the age Of fifteen they must
marry. $685. i4
'sThe Emperor sleeps with eight hand
maids (ch'ang-tsai sitting upon his bed,
and sixtsan Others (ta-ying) underneath
the bed, all.of them girls from the i'm
perial household (nei-wu-fu.) Their
function is to keep watch over His Ma
jesty, and they are not allowed tosneeze,
cough, spit, or utter any sound. The
movements of the Emperor after awakl
ing in the morning are signalized by a
clapping of hands on the part of the
eunuch on guard. Once q year-on
New Years Day--the Emperor and En-
press preside at a grand banquet, the
Empress sitting on the Emperor's left
hand. This is the only occasion during
the year on which the Emperor can see
his wives together and compare their
respective. merits. The Empress presents
articles of food (k'e-shih) to the eunuchs,
who receive it from Her Majesty on their
knees, and the Emperor performs the
same politeness to the women. toe IA
"The Emperor is spoken of and to sas
hwangchang Majesty by all but mem.
bers Of the inner banners, who use the
term 'chu-ts2-'dominus' The Empe-
ror, Empress and concubines are all
called by the eunuchs fo-ye,' or 'chu-tsz'
j. e., 'Buddha,' or 'dominus,' and the i'm
perial princes 'ye'-the latter term equiv
alent to Sire They are spoken of as
'ako.: The three inner gates Of the i'm
perial apartments are never entered even
by eunuchs, and, Of men, only eunuchs
are allowed to pass the fifth gate, which
is watched by corps Of Imperial guards
(shi-wei), who are authorized to strike
the shins Of even the highest officer who
may approach without giving the word.
If an inmate Of the female apartments
wishes to purchase anything, or to com
munieate with the cutter world, she must
send a handmaid TO sound the iron plate
(tien) or the 'clapper (pang-tsz), with
which the harem is provided, on which
the head eunueh approaches to inquire
who is in want of assistance. +.
"Having learned who calls. he de-
spatches the under eunich specially at
tached to this department, who addresses
the handmade and takes her orders, either
verbally or on a slip Of paper. The
Cabinet Ministers (chun-chi) rise every
morning at 2, present themselves at
court at 8 a. m, laRd are then received
in audience. Their meals are served up
gratis from the Emperor's pantry, and
the whole day is spentat the palace un-
til 4 p. m. on off days, and till 6 p. m.
on days when there is military business
to discuss. Thus the only time they can
call their own is from, say, 5 p. M. to
a. m. If indisposed, of course they
may obtain leaye Of absence, which
must frequently be a great boon. The
chun-chi never returns the calls of any
but the most distinguished provincial
officers, and even then this is done on the