The times., 1901-06-23
CHINA'S UNHAPPY CAPITAL
Changes Recently Wrought in tho
City of Pekin.
Existing in an Atmosphere OF
SquaIor and Neglect-A sense OF
Desolation Pervading All Quarters
Her Ancient Glory Passes Away.

Existing in Atmosphere OF
SquaIor and Negiect-A sense OF
Desolation Pervading All Quarters
Her Ancient Glory PASSES Away
Many and great are the outward and
visible changes which at once strike tho
eye OF anyone who knew PelSin in the old
days. but there is another and more subtis
change less easy to Gescribe. Shorn OF
all the mystery which threw weird
giamous over its hidden life, the squaio:
of Pekin seems to stand out now abso-
iutely naked and unashamed Formerly.
for instance, there was at least sus-
gestion of exotic grandeur in the stately
outline of halls and temples and the oc-
casionaI simmer of yellow tiles through
the trees, which were the only glimpse OK
the Forbidden City allowed to the 'outer
barbarian from the Tartar walls Om-
ne igEotum pro magnifeo. Now It's in
most sanctuaries have been laid bare. The
treasures OF bygone centuries which may
have helped to disguise the rayages OF
senile decay have become the spoiis of the
ceTIquerors and nothing is left to hide the
decrepitude of a slOyenly old age. The
barbaric gaudiness of the very throne
room itself is overlaid with the accumulat-
ed fifth of years, the red and gold lacquer
OF the pillars has peeled OF in great scabs,
cobwebs and birds nests defile the paint-
ed ceilings.
The same atmosphere Of dirt, diseom-
fort and neglect peryades the private
apartments of the Emperor and Empress
Dowager, and the dilapidated temples
sacred to the dynasty. The foul and
tattered robes of the few eunuchs who
still hang about the imperial palaces are
only less offensive than the oily smile to
which they train their evil ceuntenaneea
in the presence of the hated foreigner
Sturdy weeds have grown up between tina
marble flags of the spacious courts and
pools of fetid water Iurk beneath the mar
bic bridges of ornamental streams Here
and there a magnificent array OF giided
lions and bronze vases OF the Ming Dy-
nasty or the painted fretwork OF cloi-
some screen behind an ancestral shrina
serves only to heighten by force of cons
trast the general sense of desolation-
In the streets of the capital the same
sense of desolation prevails. Some OF ths
chief thoroughfares have resumed in a
measure their normal physiogno1y, va
ried only by the incongruous presence oc
the Bengal lancer or the German Uhians
the French zouave or the Italian marine.
But most of the streets are still compara--
lively deserted even In the busiest hours
of the daytime, and at night the whole
city is hUshed in unaccustOmed silence
The stiffness is no longer broken by itine-
rant hucksters and story teilers, or by
the bawIing runners of high officials pro<
ceeding long before daybreak TO the iIn-
periai audience chamber. Even the mu-
sic of the pigeons as they circled in thG
early morning among the trees with g.
sort of jewsharp strung about their necks
has ceased
No one knew exactly what the popula-
ton of Pekin was before the troubles.
and still less does anyone know what it
is today. To judge BY the appearance OF
the streets it might well have diminished
| by one-half, and women are more than
ever rarely seen. The vast majority Of
the upper classes have fed, and the once
familiar sight of high officials. with their
motley crowd of retainers. borne by swift
| bearers in their curtained chairs to and
| from their yamens, or Manchu women or
rank and fashion doing their rounds OF
| shopping in closed carts with red hang<
| ings, has entirely disappeared, In soma
! quarters almost all the houses are closely
| shut up, though many Of them are doubt
/ less not untenanted, and foreign hags
alone relieve the grey monotony OF long,
| silent streets ankle deep in the accumu-
| lated winters dust. The amount of bunt-
4 ing QlSpt4yeQ Dl tue IlilldlDAIdAkS SSSAAAS ~
| vary in inverse proportion to the conf
! lence inspired among the natives BY the
/ nationality to whose administrative mer>
| cies they have been committed.
The Germans govern, as usual, with q
somewhat heavy hand, and the streets
! in the German quarter make as brave a
| show of black, white. and red bunting az
| any German village on Sedan Day, while
| in the British quaSter, where the Chinese
| appear to be relatively friendly and con-
tented, not a single Union Jack is to be
| seen That the people of Pekin are at
| least temporarily cowed, the cringins
! attitude which has replaced the sulleu
| scovIs or open insOIence of former times
| conclusively shows. But the old spirit
still turks beneath the surface, and or
late especially the belief has been re-
| ported TO be rife among the populace
that the heroes of the Boxer movement
/ are not dead but only asleep. and viii
! wake up again to snite the foreigners as
| soon as the sap rises in the trees. IL ever
the present negotiations reach an END
and the time arrives for evacuating
Pekin. there will be an awkward period
of transition during the withdrawal OF
| the troops and the restoration of respon-
| sible Chinese authority. In the mean
time. whatever Of the glory and glamour
| of the East still cIung to Pekin has de-
| parted. probably forever; the havoc alone
| remains.-The London Times