McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1883-11-22
THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.
How the Young Ruler Of $50 900 900 Poo
pie Looks and Lives.

|
pie Looks and Lives.
| ~
The ruler of the $50, 100000 of peo-
pie of which the Chinese nation proba-
bly, consists is not wi hin five years OF
his majority, and is an occupant,
while yet a minor, of the same apart
ments in which lived the emperor who
preceded him on the dragon throne.
There, says an account translated from
the Nord Deutsche Zeitung, he eats
with gold-tipped chop sticks of ivory,
and sleeps on Ningpo bedstead, richly
carved and Ornamented with ivory and
gold, the same on which the noble
minded Emperor Khang Hsi and Chieu
Ling used to reeline after the DAVIS
fatigue in tho last century and the CEN
fury before. Like one of those living
Buddhas who may be seen on the Mon
golian plateau, he is honored as god
by his attendants, who kneel to him.
The seclusion in which he is keptis also
far more complete. The building in
which the emperor resides is called
Yang Hsin Tien, and is little to the
west of the middle of the palace. At
the back of the central gate on the
south side is the great reception hall.
When ministers of state and others en-
ter for an audience at 4, or in the
morning, according to custom, they
have to go on foot to the center of the
palace, over half mile, if they enter
| by the east or west gate; and when
they get on in years they can appre-
ciate the emperor's favor, which then,
by decree, allows them Ia be borne
in chair, instead of waikiki.
THE ROOMS OF THE EMPEROR
consist of seven divisions. They are
provided with divans covered with red
felt OF native manufacture, and the
| floor with European carpets. The
cushions have all embroidered on them
the dragon and the phoenix. Pretty
things scatter ed through the rooms are
endless in variety, and are changed in
accordance with any wish expressed by
the emperor. The rooms are in all thirty
yards long by eight to nine yards deep,
and are divided into three separate
suits, the throne room beingin the mid
die. Folding doors ten feet in height
open into these apartments to the north
and south in the center of each. The
upper part of these doors is in open
work, in which various suspicious char
acters and flowers ale carved. At the
back, paper is pasted to admit light to
the rooms. The front is ornamented
with gliding, sculpture, and varnish of
various colors. These dools remain
open in winter, because during the cold
season a thick embroidered curtain
hangs in the doorway, which, by its
weight, keeps its place close to the door
posts and prevents the cold air from en-
tering. In summer this is replaced by
a curtain of very thin strips of bamboo
to admit the breeze. The silk threads
used in sewing the strips of bamboo to-
gether are of various colors, and, pass
ing through the whole texture of the
curtains from the top to the bottom, are
very agreeable to the eye. These sum-
mer and winter curtains are rolled up to
give air to the rooms when required.
Exit and entrance are effected on each
side of these curtains by side doors.
SOME OF THE CUSTOMS.
Along the whole front of thirty yards
there is covered flight of steps fifteen
feet wide. The roof over these rests On
two rows of pillars. The pillars shine
with fresh vermilion both within the |
rooms and on the steps outside, and are
decorated with sculptured work partly |
gilt and partly vanished. The Hoppe,
who lately returned from Canton, gave
the emperor a present valued at $4,000.
1t consisted of chandeliers holding 500
wax candles each. The emperor has |
also some electrical machines, and num- !
berless foreign curiosities. He was
vaccinated when an infant, before his
high destiny was thought Of, otherwise |
it would have been difficult to vaccinate
him, for, his person being sacred when |
emperor, no lancet can touch him. His
mother, the princess of Chun, who is a
sister of the empress of the West, will !
be raised to the rank of empress dowa-
ger when he is 16, and his father will |
also be made Tai Shang Huang. At
least this is to be expected by precedent,
SC that after three years there will be
two expresses dowager, but in this case
they will be sisters.
The princess, his mother, goes in to
see him once a month, and kneels when |
she first speaks to him, but rises after
ward. His father does likewise. The
emperor studies Chinese daily for an
hour and half, and Mantchu also for
an hour and a half He spends two
hours in archery and riding, and in
winter amuses himself with sledging.
He has little brother of 5, whom his
mother takes with her when she goes to
the palace. The teachers who instruct
him kneel to him on entrance, butafter-
ward sit. The emperor has eight
eunuchs who constantly attend him, be-