The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1900-09-27
LEGATIONS IN PEKIN.
How They Were Established-Ancient Pal
aces-Life in Pekin.

How They Were Observation-Disclosures Pal
aces-Life in Pekin.
The treaty which closed the French and
English war in 1860 first granted to the
Powers the right to maintain their EN-
bassies in the Chinese Capital. In the
early days, before the building of the
railroad from Tien Tsin to Pekin, the line
of travel was up the river to Tungehow,
and thence into the Capital through the
east one of the southern gates Of the city.
Entering Pekin through this gate, the For
hidden 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 toward the palaces. 1t so
happened that this street had been for
centuries the quarter In which lodged the
ENJOYS from the tribute-payiDg neighbors
of the Chinese Empire-Coreans, Mongols,
Thibetans and Indo- Chinese-and the
street which is known among the foreign
ers as Legation street is called by the Chi
nese the street of tribute Nations. The
fact that the foreigners established them
selves in this quarter has in large meas
ure influenced the Chinese in their treat
ment of them, and while a mistake was
made in this respect, still the early Am
bassadors chose wisely in selecting for
their residences the handsomcst of the
then unoccupied palaces belonging to the
crown. ~
The English selected large palace
which lay along the west side of a canal
that drains the lakes within the Forbidden
City and lies just north of Legation street
The quaintness and oriental magnifcence
of these ducal palaces have been largely
preserved by the Legations that have oc-
cupied them The massive entrances stand
unchanged; the open pavilions, with their
lacquered pillars and rich carvings, are
used as ball rooms. The courts and ar
bors and walks, with their roolseries and
terraces still stand, but the details of the
dwelling houses have been changed to suit
the requirements OF modern comfort, and
there is little comparison between the Sc
verely simple furnishings of the former
Chinese occupants and the luxIIriously fur
nished saloons of the modern Ambassa-
doris. Glass windows and tight doors have
replaced the old Chinese fretwork and pa
per windows, while chimneys have been
built i'll every available corner. The Win
tiers in Pekin are cold, and where the Chi
ncse find comfort in wearing additional
suits of clothes, the white man insists on
his fire to keep warm, and the many chin
neys built in these old palaces have SO dis
turbed the spirits Of their former occu-
pants that they have caused more dis-us-
sion than affairs of state.
The heavy walls which surround
these Legations have proved effective
means Of defense, while the Chinese meth
cd of building houses up against each 9th
er and their numerous alleys and courts
and narrow passages and their many
back gates offer such facilities for under
ground" communications as can be found
in no other city in the world. The Brit
ish Legation, in which such a small band
of marines were able to defy Chinese
h0rdes numbering tens Of thousands, is
adjoined Oh both the north and south by
the compounds of friendly Chinese. At
4 ba RI ba Tfnnaripl
carriage yards; on the west were still 9th
er Enclosures of friendly Chinese, while
the stable gates at the southwest corner
of the Legation opened into large Chi
nese market. The walls around the Le-
CATION, almost three feet thick, have been
cut through into the compounds OF the
friendly Chinese, and through them and
from the Chinese market it was an easy
matter to smuggle supplies and provisions
and also to spy on the besiesing mobs
around them. These Legations are, in
fact, little cities within themselves. The
English Legation has on its premises no
less than eight or ten different wells and
covers an area of about six acres. There
are separate establishments for the Min
lister and for the First and Second Secre-
taries Of Legation, extensive quarters and
barracks for consular students and mill
tary escorts, private stables for the Min
lister and general stables for others of the
Legation, a DOCTORS house and hospital,
parsonage and chapel, school and
home for teachers, besides extensive quar-
terS for servants.
The other Legations, except the Ameri-
can, are maintained on the same general
plan, though none of them on so elaborate
q scale as that maintained by the Eng
lish.
The American Legation occupied the
most humble quarters OF any foreign En-
bassy. On south side Of Legation street,
just beyond an old marble bridge that
crosses the canal, it lies in the shadow
of the great wall of the Tartar city. The
Chinese cannot understand and have new
er ceased TO wonder and speculate on how
one who lives so simply as the American
Minister can exact such consideration and
respect from the Ambassadors of the 9TH
er Powers, who maintain court with orien-
tai splendor in the magnificent old palaces
Of the Manchu Princes.
Some have complained that life in Pc
kin was almost exile. For many years it
was comparatively quiet. The Ministers
had little to do looking after the interests
Of their Governments and there were few
complaints from their citizens engaged in
trade throughout the Empire. The delight
ful Summers were spent in the old tenn
pies on the famous western hills, overlook
ing the plain surrounding Pekin. EXcur-
sions and side trips to the great wall, the
Ming tombs, the Summer Palace, the
beautiful deer park or to the royal pot
teries, where the beautiful yellow, green
and blue porcelains which adorn the I'M
perial Palaces are mace, under the dirsc-
ton of descendant of the original inven-
tor, furnished about all the excitement
that was to be found. In the Winter time
the succession of state dinners and Le-
CATION balls were varied with ice carni-
walls held in the skating Kinks, which were
made by flooding the tennis courts in the
Legation grounds and housing them over
with sheds of bamboo mating.
Ever since the outbreak of the japanese
war, when the moving armies of Chinese
soldiers from Provinces where foreigners
were unknown, began to make it danger
GUS to wander about the city as the Lee
CATION people had formerly done, there
have been secret treaties, waves of reform
and great reactions, riots, beheadings, hur-
ried flights, rumors of uprising, abdica-
tons, the coming and going of Legation