The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-12-30

.HI Ea"lF I'D LiTtTH- - .sHEHF .fg.##a tsa.s
emonies were of an elaborateness
which taxed belief. :Kwang-Su's will
be more So. His wedding in 1889
cost s5,0Oo,0O0. Now that he is dead,
the Pekin Gazette will be full Of eulo-
giles; the governors and generals and
lesser officers VIII flock in from the
provinces by thousands to do homage,
and there will be ceremonies and pro-
cessions extending over aperiod of
six months, perhaps.
! The last Chinese Emperor died on
January 70, 1875. He left no direct
heir, and the two Expresses Quickly
held a family council and appointed
Tsai-Tien Emperor, with the title OF
Kwang-Su ("the .Illustrious Success
or"). THE Ilustrious Successor
was just three years old at that time,
and greatly resented being brought
in and put through the ceremonies
necessary to his proclamation: On
the following day, however, he issued
a long and high sounding decree In
the Pekin Gazette, of which one par
agraph was as follows:
For the observance of the rite Of
mourning, wehayereYerently received
a charge, by the testimony Of his Maj
esty; now departed, that in obedience
to previous usage the mourning garb
be laid aside at the end Of seven and
twenty days. To do this, our feelings,
inSyery truth, will not consent. We
shall observe, with reverence, in strict
adherence to the rule of ancient times
three years of mourning"
This was the tone Of a great guam
tity of DEGREES that were issued at
the time. Two physicians, who had
been previously honored because they
seemed to be %beneitting the Emperor,
were degraded and stripped of their
buttons and peacock feathers when.
the Emperor died. The body was
placed in a hall of the palace espe-
cially reserved for the royal dead,
the Kwan. ,Teh Tien, or Behold Virtue
Hall. Some six months later, it was
inferred in a special mausoleum
with elaborate ceremonies.
Kwang-Su was born on August g.,
1872, and was a nephew Of Hien
Fung, the Emperor, whom he sue
ceeded. He was the ninth ruler of
the Manchu dynasty of Using, which
overthrow the native dynasty of Ming
in 1914. His father, Prince Chun,
a brother Of Hien Fung, had made
himself conspicuous in the Tien-tsin
massacre as the leader of the anti
foreign party. But instead Of acquir-
ing some high official post, after his
sons elevation, Chun was compelled
to retire altogether, as it was impos-
sible, under the Chinese ideas regard
ing parents, for a. father to kotow
to his son. Chun's announcement,
which was probably written by the
Dowager Empress, was a gem. After
e%xpatiating on the devoted loyalty
which inspired him toward his late
Majesty, he went on to state that
On gazing on the Imperial
features after decease, his vitals were
rent with the agony Of grief and his
strength fed him utterly. He never
theless strove to bear up for the more
effectual discharge of his duty, when
he was suddenly overwhelmed by the
news that their Majesties, by their
benign mandate, had chosen his son
to be successor to the throne Stupe-
fed by this intelligence, he became
entirely helpless, and when carried
to his home he remained trembling
and agitated as though bereft of rea-
son or as one in a dream. The COM
under which he has hereto
fore labored have been revived in
consequence, and he is compelled to
throw himself on the merciful con
Of their Majesties, the EN-
presses, whom he entreats to grant
him the indulgence which can alone
him to prolong his days, and
allow him, wasted and useless in bis
rank though he be, to continue in ex-
istence on the face of the earth.
At fourteen, Kwang-Su had reached
his majority and nominally assumed
the government in March, 1881. One
Of the Expresses had died, but the
other kept her hand on the reins.
In 1898, when Kwang-Su showed a
tendency to encourage the, reform
movement unduly, the Empress prac-
deposed him by a coup d'etat.
She has been the man" of China
ever since. She was never really
Empress, nor even Imperial consort.
merely been the %concubine Of
Hien Fung. She took the title Of
Empress because she vas the mother
Of Hien Fung's heir.
An Englishman, VINO was once
present at an Imperial audience, thus
described the Emperor:
His air is one Of exceeding intellf-
gence and g%entleness, somewhat
and melancholy looking.
His face is pale, and, though it is dis
by refinement and quiet
it has none of the force of
his martial ancestors, nothing COM ;
handing or Imperial. 3" He
Is essentially Manchu in features, his ,
face oval shaped, with a very long, ,