New-York tribune., 1901-08-25
THE EXILED CHINESE COURT
LIFE OF THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS
DOWAGER AT SI-NGAN-FU.
From The London Globe.

Some months ago The Globe" gave an ac-
cOur. Of the palace at Si-N-sar- Flu which is the
ten porary home of tn Emperor of China. the
En- press DoWager and the heir apparent. The
Chinese newspaper "Sin-Wen- -Oao' gave recently
some details concerning the Emperor and the
Empress Dowager. and the following verbatim
translation of them may be of equal interest
since her arrival at Sl-NSan-Fu the widowed
/ IN l.eSs mas peeh cohtIhud!I! III 7he SuIleL7
chiefly from an oppressive feeling the chest;
she Is melancholy. and cannot sleep at night;
however, SIZE takes no medicine but she sum
/ the eunuchs frequently. and then they
have to massage the small of her back for
I hours in the Chinese method The emperor
on the other hand is relatively much better and
/ healthier than he was in Peklng; he takes part
in frequent bodily exercise with the keenest in
terest and is delighted To play games with the
eunUchs; but If anything does not happen 10
please him then he scolds the eunuchs roundly
$ If he really hated them When presents We're
coming in from every province of the empire.
the Empress Dowager ordered the chief eUnuch
TO make accurate list of them and without
showing any avarice. she had them distributed
among the officials Who mad accompanied her
from Picking. When the eunuch who drew up
the list showed the presents to the Empress
Dowager she eyinced the greatest JOY. mingled
with a certain amount OF restraint. for. although
the presents gladdened her Yet she was sad
dcned by the thought that she had been obliged
q demand them. The Emperor wept bitterly
when he the presents from the Province OF
Chill. OF late ~ has sought solitude IN the
gardens. but he sees a eunuch ne
either tries 10 hide himself behind a gat. or
runs To his rooms. No one knows how 70 explain
this curious conduct ON the Emperor's part but
il is believed that hr : suffering from the idea
T.
The daily exp, uses Of the imperial kitchen
amount 10 no more than 2oo Ian. about -
This outlay ir sanctioned by the Governor S-u
and the Empress DoWacer. When the question
Of expense was discussed the latter remarked.
When We were in Peking the cost Of our food
many times greater. but now We must
restrict our daily expenditure Every day a
cuuuch lays 4 menu before the Empress Dow Z
acor. TINS contains over a hundred dishes which
are chiefly fish ducks and Chi irkcus prepared IN
many different ways Since the presents have
cone IN from the various provinces the i'm /
I.rial table has been enriched by dishes made /
~ swallows nests and trepang Tn" Emperor /
likes vegetarian diet. and n eats meat very +
sIerinSly. As rule n orders only tWo or three
dishes a day Macaroni and verrniceiii ar" The
favorite dishes of the Empress Dowager and OF
late she has ordered that the number Of dishes
shall De- reduced. and now only ten dishes are /
prepared instead OF hundred. During the last /
summer both the Emperor and the Empress !
Dowager accustomed themselves 10 live on a |
kept in tie palace. however. with the approach /
OF spring and the drv season they ceased 10
drink milk. and the COWS have been handed !
over 70 the district authorities, who receive 3UJ
Ian monthly for their keep.
Both the Emperor and the En- press DowaCer I
left Peking SO hurrirdly that the only wardrobe 7
they could take with them was the clothes /
have been received gradually from PekinS. and
now their majestes can appear in the dress
suitable 70 their rank. and such they wore in
Il king Since their arrival at Si-Ngan- Flu /
neither the Emperor nor the Empress Dowager
nor The heir apparent has left the walls Of the
palace The heir apparent a son OF Prince
When the Emperor heard of this he commanded
that the dog should appear before him. The
heir apparent sent the dog with of the
eUnuChS. For this act of disot edience the En-
peror punished the heir apparent severely. and
the consequence is that they have become deeply
estranged.
During the journey to SiNgan-F'u the COM
mon people had opportunity Of seeing their
Emperors face. Before Si-Ngan-Fu was
reached the Empress DoWager said To the Min
lister Wan Wen Sh4O: | must the people
ana learn for myself how thev suffer and work
Thus II that the people were allowed 10
see their m2jesties when the latter passed
through towns and villages. when they spent
the night at such places During the journey
their majesties could look out from their lit
ters and their subjects work in the
fields. the people showed fear in looking at
the imperial cortege and orders were given
that they should be neither punished perse-
cdted for doing. The Emperor observed the
lie of the people with great astOnshment. for
ht mad never hitherto seen nything similar.
During The Journey the Empress DoWager
turned herself To the Emperor and said None
Of us could ever have supposed that people
are 50 poor After reaching Si-Ngan-Fu the
Empress DoWager ordered the Governor Sen
10 set on foot a charitable fund for assisting
! the poor and also 20 establish public kitchens
FOR supplying water and rice free OF cost: at
the time Sen reminded by his i'm
perial mistress that he had better devote his
/ best attention 10 her wishes in this respect.
The Empress Dowager is continually en-
deavOring To return 10 Peking. but. as she re-
ceives terrible details from the north, she can
not make up her mind to take the step. On
the tenth day of the second month that is on
March 10 she ordered imperial decree be |