The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1891-05-07
CHINESE ETIQUETTE.
Signs Of Progress in tho Flowery
Kingdom.
The Emperor Inaugurates Some New
Measures and Gives Yearly Audi
ences to the Ambassadors
of other Countries.

yearly audience to all foreign Minis
ters.
That is not much in itself, says the
New York Sun, but, taken with SINH
lar piece of news from Siam a few
months ago that the King had decreed
that his mobiles need no longer approach
him on their stomachs, it goes to indi-
cate that what we call Western civiliza-
ton is beginning to work even among
the most conservative of peoples.
The Emperor of China is the might
lest of all rulers, in his own estimation.
He is ''The Son of Heaven and Father
of His People" equal to the gods whom
he graciously consents to worship, and
quite above the necessity of being po-
lite to representatives of foreign Gov
ernments So, only occasionally, when
he feels as if he'd like to look at the
foreign DEVILS" has he ever granted
audiences to the Ambassadors and Min
listers from other countries; and his new
departure is, therefore, particularly
striking, and in it's nature very strong
precedent for his successors. In fact, ii
he really does as he says he will do, his
successors will have to follow hun; for
the customs of the Chinese are as the
laws of the Medes and Persians- they
alter not, unless the Emperor has a
mind to change them.
A feature of the so-called audiences"
which up to 1878 were granted to the
foreign Ministers, was the ceremony Of
the kowtow, insisted on by the Chinese
court tfunctionaries, generally rc5i5ted by
the foreign Ministers, occasionally, all
since 1878 always, gracionsly waived by
the son of heaven and the father OF his
people 1t was an abasement to the
ground of the body of person APP
knocking of the head of that person
upon the ground a certain number of
times to satisfy the demand of court
etiquette; and like so many other
things in China, it was founded by Con
fucius, though the sage's book, ..Li-Ki,"
doesn't say word about it.
The word kowtow Gt is spelled also
Sotow, kotou, kotoo, kootoo, kotau.
koti, and has been adopted into the En-
glish language) is derived from two
Chinese words k'ow Tow, meaning
eighth and highest grade of obeisancc,
rendered only to the Emperor and his
equals the gods, and though we speak
of it always as the kowtow, that name
is applied properly only to the fifth
grade. That consists of kneeling and
knocking the head once upon the
ground. The sixth grade is the san lao;
the performer kneels and knocks his
head three times. The seventh grade
is the luh kao; it consists in
kneeling and knocking the head
thrice, rising, kneeling again and
knocking the head three times more
The eighth grade is the san kwei kin
kao, which is the kowtow performed
three times. All the time, too, that the
san kwei kiu kao, the ''three kneelings
and nine knockings,' is going on the
imperial band plays to the tune lung
ping, "a splendid humiliation" Alto
gether, the Chinese mobiles who have
the privilege of an audience must be
devoutely grateful that the Emperor is
no higher than the immortal gods.
Now this kowtow (meaning the obei-
sance of the highest grade) is per-
formed by the Kings of Cochin China,
Korea and other tributary States when
they are confirmed by the Emperor in
their succession to their thrones and as
Sir John Francis Davis in his book on
China points out, is exactly the same as
the homage performed by tenants in
capite in the feudal times, and there
fore is an overt recognition of the EN-
peror of China as over-lord of the per-
son making the kowtow. For this
reason the Ministers and Legates of for
eign Governments have almost invaria-
blyrefused to perform the ceremony; and
though the Chinese officials have insist
ed in most instances they have had to
yield on the point, and the "audiences,"
at which a yellow curtain did duty for
the Emperor, were not enlivened bv
the spectacle of gentlemen in gold
laced uniforms or in dress suits kneel-
ing ungraciously and ruffling both shirt
fronts and tempers in acrobatic per-
formances for which their garments
were not adapted.
The Dutch Ambassadors in 1866 per-
formed the kowtow before the yellow
curtain, hoping to receive valuable con-
cessions for trade. They had been told
that the Emperor would send them
food from his own table; they got
asome sleeps trotters on dirty plate"
by way of food from the Emperor's ta-
BILE, and further received permission to
send an embassy every eight years and
four ships with it. Again in 1892 the
the Dutch Ambassador abased himself.
but Holland got no greater benefits
from the Chinese than did other
countries whose representatives had
not kowtowed. In 1893 the first
Ambassador from Great Brit
ain, Lord Mccartney, had an
audience with the yellow curtain, and
did not do either the kowtow or san
kwei kin kao; but when Lord Amherst
arrived in China in 1916 the ceremony
was demanded of him, and on his re-
fusal to perform it he failed to obtain
sight even of the yellow curtain and
left Pekin the very day he reached
there.
In 1859 the American Minister refused
10 Kowtow, but he did not get an audi
ence. Again in 1873 our Minister. r. r.
Low, refused to perform the Ixowtow.
although the Chinese FOREIGN Minister
offered TO burn incense in front Of the
President, but the Emperor settled the
matter himself Jl,ue % 1870