St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-24
CHINA'S BOY RULER
How He Yields the Scepter
in the Land of His An
eeStOPS.
Thousands of Court LeeeheS
Supported by Taxes on
the People.
Good Stories of the Ancient
Customs Of the Ruling
Dynasty.

A Boys Wonderful Power
Over the People Whom
He Rules.
London Times.
The recent marriage of the young EN-
peror of China has invested the subject
| of how China is governed with new III
tereSt. The new reign may be con-
sidered to have fairly begun under aus
picious circumstances. China, we must
remember, owes nothing to the West in
her political constitution, although her
vigor and vitality are unlike anything
that Asia elsewhere has produced. The
system of administration is quite origin
al, and has been devised by native wit
and ingenuity to meet Chinese require
men IS. and to stand successfully the
one unimpeachable test of time.
Whether we accept the modern scien-
| tific view that Chinese government only
acquired its present form after Confu'
cius, or about $500 years ago, or cling to
the older belief that Chinese life had
reached an advanced stage of civiliZa-
ton before the ASsyrian and Egyptian
monarchieS were in their prime, their
remains an ample margin of time to
show that the Chinese government is
not merely the oldest existing admins
tration in the world, but that at the
least it was contemporary with, and at
m +ir,on Totally inhnTnnHnnt Af
! the systems of Greece and Rome, upon
which European culture and freedom
are equally modelled.
If it has stood triumphantly the test of
| time, it has also met the requirements
| of the Chinese themselves SO admirably
| that change of dynasty, and even of
dominant race, has produced little or no
| alteration in the form of government.
| China has been conquered by the rude
| barbarianS of the desert and the mount
ain, by the Mongui and the Manchu, but
| each and all have adopted the Chinese
| system and the Confucian ethics as they
found them, and proclaimed them TO he,
by imitation, the sincerest form of fiat
terry, Super-excellent and incapable of
| Improvement.
| Such qualities of endurance command
attention, and if they do not excite envy
| they certainly stimulate curiosity TO see
| the secret springs that have keptancient
| machinery from becoming useless, and
| that have made the Chinese system not
| unsuitable to even modern eXigencies.
1t is singular, but true, that the most
| important parsonage in the Chinese con-
! StitutiOn-the man on whose will and
! superior judgment everything is sup
! posed to turn as on pivOt-the EN-
| perOr, who is popularity described as
1.-THE father and mother of his people. d"
has been a cipher for more than twenty
seven years, with one brief and unim-
| portant interval.
Since the death of the emperor, Hen
! Fung, at the end of 1861, China has been
| governed by a regency, with the eXcep-
| ton of Tungche'S brief tenure of power
in 1854, and it has only just passed
again under the personal rule of its
autocrat. the youthful Emperor Kwang-
| Su. The great energy and ability shown
by the two empreSSeS, widows of Hen
| Flung. of whom one still survives, rem
! dered it less matter of regret that the
chief parsonage in the executive system
| should so long remain unrepreSented,
but we cannot doubt that the aSSump-
ton of ruling power by Kwangsu, fol-
| lowed by his marriage, has satisfied
| many popular and national aspirations
which no female regency could meet.
and revived all the traditional majesty
of the occupant of the Dragon throne
| The power of the emperor of China is
not in any practical sense greater than
that of the ear or sultan. Its remark
able feature is that it finds expression
in the most emphatic and commanding
! terms. and that the people of all classes
are so instilled with the duty of obedi-
| ence that the beheStS of the ruler are at
once carried out with what may be truly
| termed unflinching devotion. The en-
| peror's order, written or signed with
the vermiliOn pencil, is useful for the
| necessary purposes as facilitating the
| despatch of business. and, indeed, were
there not some fOrm of compulsiOn-the
natural right of the tyrant-in every
country, whether it be our own sub
p9nas and mandamuSeS or the Chinese
emperOr's writ, there would soon be an
end to order and to law.
The idea that the emperor of China
| welded a power upon which there was
no constitutional check, was probably
derived from the style employed in i'm
perial edicts and reScriptS, wherein the
Chinese ruler is generally designated
''the son of heaven" and where special
1
| senting the celestial will.
In order to emphasize the wide gulf
which separates sovereign and people,
many articles are specially associated
with the former, and therefore, forbid
den to the latter, as, for instance, the
| color yellow. which is exclusively the
imperial emblem.
| The kotoW, or form of worship, is rem
dered not merely to the person of the
sovereign i'll Pekin. but to every form in
in which he delegates his authority to
| others. 1t is well known that the i'm
perial edict is received with nine pros
! trations and the burning of incense.
But it is not so generally understood
that an official of even superior rank has
to perform the kOtow on meeting an
other official who has recently quilted
the imperial presence. Similar obei-
sances are paid during the week con-
tanning his birthday to the en-
peror in the imperial temple to
be found in every provincial capt.
tai. The fact that the emperor's
| proper name is never mentioned
| and that to pronounce it is criminal
| offense, shows how exclusive the dynas-
| tic policy of the Chinese has ALWAYS
been. On ascending the throne the
| ruler takes what is called kWOh hao,
and by that name ne becomes known to
his people and 10 history. The present
emperOr's real or personal name is Tsai-
ten; but being placed on the throne in
1875 he was given the style of Kwangsu,
| by which he will continue to be known.
| As KwangSu means ''illustriOuS sue
cessiOn," 1t will be seen that these titles
are selected with some regard to the
circumstance of the accession of the
| particular prince to the throne, and
with a strong wish to propitiate the IN
seen overs.
So much depends in the future on the
character and capacity of the Emperor
Kwangsu that much ingenuity will be
displayed to obtain details correct OF
misleading, as to his habits and opin.
ions, and upon them will be built up
many theories and suggestions OF
change, Indicating, according to the
l.r.r,[ Of Ear 49,