The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-01-23


Of China has keen provided with What
seems TO Americans 70 Be unbounded
dome~ficisy. fo-Hif. One eonsort. Yeh-
ho-na~la. daughter Of Deputy Lieut.-
Gen. Knoi Hsianx one secondary con-
sort Of the frss rank, Ta-tA-ia. dangh-
tes Of Chang Hsis. sometime yice-pscs-
ident OF an imperial board and one
eoncabine Of the second rank, also
named Ts-ta-Ia, ard also daughter of
Chang Hsii.
its nearly fifteen years. since the
present emperor q China. Tsateen,
eacceedesi 70 the thrcne- He Was then
only = baby. He vii come into pos
session OF his royal domestic house
hold ON his 18Th birthday. He
ID not the son 81 the last
emperor. bat u one Of the
numerous princes Of the realm from
whom any one might have been ss-
lected A. the head Of the Chiaese re-
Hgioas system and nominaisy Of the
empfr<. The late emperor was q
cousin Of the present incumbent. He
died Of smallpox. and the empress
socn followed him. The father OF the
present emperor was Chan. seventh
son % the Emperor Taokwung, who
died In fa50. Chinese diplomacy, full
or intrigue and civil service reform
ideas. Is responsible for the choice Of
Tsafeen. for on account Of his extreme
youth the powers that were 1T the
time believed that they could retain
control Of the government longer IN
that way than by eIectiDg an older
prince. China, in spite OF many ideas
To the contrary, Is somewhat demo
cratic As regards the succession OF EN-
perors TO the throne. 1t would take
thousands II words 10 explain the in
fricate workings OF the Chinese sys-
tenn. There are good many mem
bers OF the imperial household in
China. and there is no parliamentary
body To appropriate funds for their
support. The result Ii rather mixed,
and IL Is we'll nigh hopeless TO attempt
to unravel the thread Of their relations
10 themselves and The commonwealth.
The interesting fact remains, which
may be explained: that Tsateen. hav-
ing arrived At his majority, so 70
speak has entered upon responsible
career, aud may find himself In the
course Of &c years the father OF fam
ily that will strain has imperial purse
10 supply with rice and birds nests.
Three wives may be very well for
lad OF Is, but they are not q marker
to what grown man must have,
especially an emperor. bat the rulers
life ii so enshrouded with mysticism
and intrigue that bone but the high
est officials Of the state have any cor
rect idea OF what IL IL like. Theoreti-
caiiy he il invisible Certainly he Is
the son Of God and the head Of the
church from the Chinese point Of
view. As such he Is held in the high
est esteem by the ropuiace. but
his temporal power is remarkably
slight.
Chinese affairs in Mr.. III. b. Nc
DowelI. now of this city. He said
.As the essential element of all
Chinese life Is religion, 1t is probable
that the einperor's career Is governed
bv much the same rule that apply TO
other men In China OF high rank.
The history Of previous empefors
iustif;es this view. Al the age OF IL
q Chinamaa energies from boyho0d
or infancy, as in our customs man
attains his majority at Il. though the
parallel Ii not exact For the Chinese
system IL closely analogous 10 the
ancient Roman progression Of the
individual. At is n young
Roman becomes sadoiescens. At
20 the young Chinaman adj
vances another step and becomes
.juyentus, according 10 the Roman
standard. From that time on his
standing In the community improves
with every decade. At 80 he Is mar
riageabie. oa. more plainly. be ought
TO be married. and after that time he
selects his wives to please himself.
When he Is 10 BE Is capable OF holding
public Office, and At 50 he can advance
step In his official position. So again
at 90 the dignity OF his relation in-
creases.
'sA lad of IS Il provided with domes-
tic heipmates by his father. From
now on until the emperor Is 20 his
wives and coneubines viii be selected
for him. After that be may choose
and bargain for himself. The three
domestic sympathizers with whom he
has already been provided represent
the nucleus OF his future harem. and
the contamination may be any num-
Der which he chooses 10 support The
imperial harem Of China l. the largest
in the world The suitan's will not
compare with ii. Many Chinese EN-
perors have had as many n GOO wives.
Ont OF ail these, however, there Is bat
one genuine wife in our understand
ine of the term, She Ii the brat, or
in this instance, yeh-ho-na-la. Nor
maliy her nrst born son will succeed
to the throne, though events may so
happen that according 10 Chinese pol
icy some other of the emperor's off
spring viii be selected The one real
wife Is al the head Of the household.
Besides her there may be any number
OF secondary wives. equally legitimate.
but of lower rank. The coneubsnes
correspond nearly 10 the tnistresses of
Europeans, but their offspring are not
socially so degraded as they would be
according to our civilization"
What are the relations OF the en-
psror s children to the community or
10 the state ~
To understand that YOU must re-
sembet that the father, until his
death, il the absolute head and ruler
Of the family. The Chinese father Is
responsible for the support OF all his
children. No exception To this rule il
made In favor of the emperor. OF
course he secures funds for his house
bold by taxation, bat the Chinese tax
alton is system Of squeezing. The
mandarin Sqaseexes the people Of his
province. aud the emperor Sqiaeexes
the tnanesarins. IL the iiaok oil Rites,
according to which sill Chinese conduct
Is regulated, did not command by re-
iigtoas Law such exacsicaS. the EN-
peroF. with his numerous family,
might end himself salty pushed IL
meet his living expenses, for he is no
absolute monarch, rs most people sup
pose. In fact. be has less political
power and Influence than Qaeen Vie
tor1a. His sacred position "a the chief
of the Ghlne,e religious system enables
him to exsort money for the maintsn.
anec OF his large household His Chi.
dren are in same senses unfortunate
There j. no recogssxesi place for them
in tho state. and though they are
highly respected because of their
hloaa they can command no
income, and in themselves have
no influence. Every one Of thetn,
however. to the son of the last coacu-
hine. j. most eligible pssS. uatri-
moniAlly considered. and q gfea;
many at them are distasca OF eonven.
ientsy by marrying heavily lowered
daughter OF an ambitious or unluskS
family II a zstass hs.a n farss.s tttsss - >