The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-09-01

The succession to the dragon throne
of China is hereditary, but it does not
however descend to any particular son
of the reigning emperor. The choice
usually falls on the Oldest son. but tho
emperor is supposed to carefully watch
and judge the abilities Of his different
sons and choose for the succession +I3at
one which would make the best en-
peror anu give ms people the wisest
and most peaceful rule. Shon1d +be
emperor, however, die without n9a1-i,,1r
any selection. the princes of The fa,,,
lily, being the brothers or l1pcIas -
the emperor just deceased. meet to
gether and. from the generation enc-
ceedlng that OF the late emperor. select
someone OF the FAMILY to occupy the
lnIohe' I OF lhoSe members of the
family who are not so fortunate as 70
be selected for the succession orra.e +
duCal palaces are selected and arsior,1,sd
TO them for royal residences. The for-
hidden city in the heart of the CITY Of
Pe6in is of course. the residence Of
the emperor himself. and to this citv
is brought the member of the family
who IS selected as the heir apparent.
But outside of the forbidden CITY Pal,in
is dotted with the great park or com
pound that surrounds these roval du-
cal palaces. The grounds uSualIv
range from two to five acres in area
and are surrounded by high brick walls
of great strength. cutting them off
completely from the sound and smells
of the city outside.
No Hereditary Nobility.
The Chinese have always been OBJ
posed to any hereditary nobility. and
while these ducal palaces are assigned
as imperial residences to sons of the
reigning monarch, it is always with
the provision that when the family of
the OCCUPANT has, by the operation of
Chinese law (Which provides that i'm
perial descendants lose one degree in
rank with each generation until the
third. when they have been reduced to
the level of the common people. the
palaces then revert to the crown for
reinstatement to sons of the then reign
ing monarch. 1t is on account of this
peculiar law that the palaces of Pekin
are occupied by an ever changing pop
ulation. first princes of the blood then
their children and grandchildren in
succession after them. then the vaca-
ton Of the palace and its reassignment
again 10 princes of the reigning fam
lily.
The fourth generation from the royal
family have no official title or rank.
still all persons of royal descent to
the remotest generation, are allowed to
wear the yellow girdle Indicative of
their royal descent. These yellow Cir
die men. or Huang Dallas. are one of
the features of Pekin. Many of them
have inherited wealth from their royal !
ancestors and are prominent in their /
community, but others have Jared diff |
ferently with fortune. Some hang
around the imperial offices seekinC the |
humblest employment; others are the |
scribes and teachers, and even dOmes-
tic servants may be found wearing the +
yellow girdle.
Ducal Palaces For Our ENJOYS.
The treaty which closed the French |
and English war in 1860 first granted /
TO the powers the right to maintain
their embassies in the Chinese capitol,
In the early days, before the building
of the railroad from Tien Tsin to Pc
kin, the line of travel was up the river
70 Tungchow and thence into the cap
ital through the east one Of the south
erp gates of the city. Entering Pekin
through this gate the forbidden city, (
with its imperial palaces, lay to the
west, and it was but natural that the
first ENJOYS should turn UP the first
street leading towards the palaces. 1t
so happened that this street had been
for centuries the quarter in which
lodged the ENJOYS from the tribute
paying nelgnDOrS OIL the 0nlneSe en-
Mongols, Tibetans and
Tndo- Chinese-and the street, which is
known among the foreigners as Lega-
ton street, is called by the Chinese
the street of tribute nations. The fact ;
that thu foreigners established them I
selves in this quarter has in a large !
measure influenced the Chinese in their
treatment of them, and while a mis- {
AXE was made in this respect, still !
the early ambassadors chose wisely in
for their residences the hand {
soonest OF the then unOccupied palaces I
belonging to the crown. I
The Fine English Legation.
The English selected a large palace
which lay along the west side of
anal that drains the lakes within the
orbidden city and lies just north of
legation street The quaintness ana :
oriental magnificence of these ducal c
palaces has been largely preserved by /
he legations that have occupied them. q
The massive entrances stand I'M a
hanged; the open pavilions with their
acquered pillars and rich carvings
ire used as ball rooms The courts
md arbOrs and walks, with their rock /
ries and terraces. still stand; but the I
etails of the dwelling houses have Q
,een changed to suit the requirements
# modern comfort, and there is little
between the severely SIM
,le furnishings of the former Chinese
and the luXuriously fur !,
ished salons Of the modern embas-
adors. Glass windows ana tight doorsis