The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-12-30
"SOLITARY AS A GOD"
Life Led by the Emperor of China
Facts Regarding kWang-
Su-FeebIe in Mind and Body.

narrow chin and a. sensitive mouth
with thin, nervous lips; his nose Is
we'll shaped and straight; his eye.
brows regular and very arehed, whit
the eyes are unusually large and sora
rowfu1 In expression. The forehead
is we'll shaped and broad, and the
head is large beyond the average
In no other country than China IL
there such host of traditions and
customs governing the etiquette oil
court life. The greatest pains are
taken to surround the sovereign with
special privileges and honors, in sem.
blance at least, andfto emphasize the
gulf which exists between him and
his people. Some Of these customs
are very curious. One is the setting
part of the color yellow as an I'm.
perial emblem, forbidding it's use *.
cept by members Of the Imperial fam.
lily. The yellow gird1e is worn only
by those who are descended from an
Emperor. There is one exception.
however, to this exclusively Imperial
use of the color-that Is, the Order
5of the Yellow Jacket, which may be
conferred by the Emperor for distin-
guished services. This, with the three
eyed peacock feather, is the highest
decoration of the empire. II Hung
Changes deprivation of these insignia
as a mark of disfavor brought them
into the notice of the world long ago.
The "kotow" is the form of worr
ship which must be rendered to the
sovereign, and an Imperial edict is
always received with nine prostra.
tons and the burning of incense. All
subjects who approach the presence
must do SO grovelling and knocking
their foreheads against the ground.
This humility before the Son Of
Heaven" as the Emperor is called,
is even carried SO far that one official
must @kotow' to another who has re-
Gently quilted the Imperial presence.
The Emperor is forced to rise far,
earlier than the most hard worked
laborer ever does, for Chinese ETH
quette requires that most OF the state
business shall be transacted between.
the hours OF Q and 6 in the morn
ing. The daily duties Of the monarch
are complicated and almost over
whelming in amount, as may BE real
3ized from the single fact that all sem
fences, even of the most insignificant
criminals, must be submitted to the
approval of the Emperor on his drag:
on throne.
The question of the succession to
the throne, a most important matter,
as 1T closely concerns the perpetua.
ton Of the present dynasty, has agi-
tated the Imperial family since the
autumn OF: 1907, when It was per-
iceived that the health Of the EN-
peror was seriously undermined. In,
January Of 1900 the Dowager En-
press adopted Pu Chun, son OF Prince
'Nnan, the Boxer chieftain, heir appar-:
ent, but she ~disinherited him in No.
.venber Of 1901 at the behest of the
allied Powers. Since then the matter
Of an heir apparent has been in abey-
ance.i
Both the DoWager Empress and the
Emperor are Manchus and under the
ban Of Chinese patriots and an In
creasing anti-Manchu party which has
sought the suppression of the dynasty
and the restoration of a native Chi.
nese Emperor to the throne. It has
been freely predicted that the death.
OF the Emperor would be followed by
attempted coup d'etat to this end,
but the Imperial edict mentioned In
the dispatch from Pekin appears to
have fofestalled any Immediate ac-
ton Of this kind.-New York Evening
Post.