Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1894-10-26


ners, precedence, marriage, concuoln'
age, domestic habits and personal plety
are governed, il not absolutely control
led by statutes, which descend as far as
to detail how many bows prince shall
make to duke, and duke TO prince,
aud what topics OF conversation shall be
discussed by a taO-tai with a consul.
This vasTfield Of human relationship is
under the Jurisdiction OF the Ii Pu, or
board Of rites; one of the highest and
most honorable bureaus Of branches OF
the imperial government.
When the present emperor reached a
marriageable state the emperess .dowa-
ger picked out for him his No. l vile,
| whom he married and with whom, 10 Is
said, be has lived ever since 10 great
| happiness. The next thing TO be done
was TO select for him the secondary
/ wives or cOncubines, OF whom he Is re-
| ported 10 posses about six hundred.
An imperial concubine takes the place
OF Chinese etiquette Of gentlemen and
ladies in waiting, lords of the bed che n
/ Der, lords of the robe, lackeys, and, to
a certain extent, even servants. For
this reason IT is necessary TO keep a
! regiment OF them 10 be prep Ired for
/ any contingency that might arise.
now CoNCUBINEs ARE CHOSEN.
The applicant must be young, be-
/ tween Is and 10 years of age. She must
not be TOO short nor too tall, neither
/ too thin nor TOO stout. Her skin must
/ DC smooth, soft and free from bIemishes,
eruptiOus or birthmarks. Her mouth
must not be too large and her teeth
must be beautiful. Her hair must be
/ long, lustrous aud silky, her scalp must
| be white and like ivory, and her breath
I must be sweet. Morally, she must have
fair knowledge Of the teachings
/ Of the great writer's upon
/ ethics; intellectually she must be
/ bright aud intelligent; able 10
paint, draw, embroider, raise silk
worms, sing, play musical Instruments
aud understand domestic economy. She
must be free-bOrn, as must also be her
parents. Both she and they must be
spectacle, well-bred aud OF good
character
There cannot have been very large
supply of women in China who could
comply with all these conditions, be-
cause while any woman in the empire
would be only too happy to become a
member of the mOnarch's harem, only
about 1000 presented themselves ~ the
Office appointed by law. Here they were
subjected to a rigid examination.
BEFORE THE JUDGES.
The Judges, or censors, were very
strict, and allowed no margin in regard
TO any OF the qualifications. Where q
girl, otherwise perfect, but was a half
inch shorter than the height prescribed
by law, she was Immediately rejected;
so was very beautiful young woman
that lust exceeded the higher limit.
one was thrown back because she had
a slight mole on her back and another
because she had hair growing on the
side OF one arm. The slight defect In
a tooth, an abrasion on the foot, pro-
duced by q shoe, bad discOloratlon on
the waist, made by wearing the belt
too tight, extra heavy eyebrows, too
thick a neck, too large a hand, too
sharp an elbow, too angular knee, all
these were sufficient to render an appli-
cant Ineligible.
The phyiical examination threw out
over one-half on the list This was FOL
lowed by the mental examination. The
Judges talked with each girl separately,
so as 20 determine their general intelli-
gence. If they appeared stupid, igno'
-ent. TOO bashful, frivolous or too for
ward thew WUI0 lrNo.-i - .'~~A
This examination eliminated one-third
NJ all that remained. They were then
tried in regard TO their accomplishments
and music; they received various instru-
ments. which they were asked to play,
Tney were given songs which they were
asked to sing. They were given SILK
wberewith 10 emb.older. Nearly all
passed this examination with dying col
ors. not more than One-dfth OF those
who took part in il being disqualified.
After this came the came the exam
nation 10 morals. The girls were pied
with questions so as 10 ascertain
whether their knowledge was only
stolen from books or was the result OF
their own free thought They were
also examined as TO precedence, hilal
duties, marital relations and general
deuortment. This again debarred
third and left only about 500 eligible.
| Ont OF these the Censors took away
those who were not particularly at
trac,ive, graceful nor digni6ed, leaving
about 400, and out OF these in turn the
hest 200 were selected IS inmates OF the
monarch's seragljO. This was only
about four wears ago. Since then other
/ examinations have been had and full
number chosen 10 FIJI up the harem
ranks.
| THE GIRLS PARENTS ARE MADE RICH.
The selecting Of the consorts for the
/ emperor, v-.cl appeals to an American
woman In tho fashion Of fairy tale, Is
one OF the great events TO which every
Drettv Chinese girl looks forward. She
! well knows that II IL is her luck TO be
/ selected from the vast numbers who
are examined, that herself and her
family aud relatives will be independ-
entity rich for the remainder of their
natural lives; and II she should at any
time be raised TO the position OF hrst,
second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth
wife, they would become OF the titled
class.
Almost every family in China looks
forward to the time when II can send
the daughter Of the household Up to
Pekin. For that purpose, If for no
other, girls are carefully taught how 10
Daint, embroieer, carry themselves we'll
and recile few poems Of the great
writers. She is also taught how TO pre-
psre her toilet and how to perfume her
skip and keep herself in as perfect con-
ditjon as is possible for Chinese girl TO
do. OF course, the vicious classes are
haired from entering into the contest
and the females who are unfortunate
| --,,r.h - ha IN this list ara nothing