Evening star., 1922-07-02
Sad Lot of Little Peking Emperor

broken marbles at the palace gates.
Inside the young Son of Heaven is
choosing two wives from the seasons
crop of Manchu buds.
His imperial majesty is seated on
high chair. Several officials and one
or two ladies of high rank stand close
to him. troop of little Manchu
misses. all duly certified. are led in>
4
THE girls mince before THE Lord
4 of Ten Thousand Years" They
know they are on parade. All desire
to catch and hold his majesty's eye.
which among them may become en-
press and order the others about?
Their mammas have told them all
about their great day of opportunity.
and each has been dressed up In her
best. looped into the stiff, embroidered
robes of state. scented and painted
twirled around bangle placed fiat
on the crown of each little head. and
on top of all the tall. Tapping head
dress, with its beaded rabbits ears"
His diminutive majesty looks them
over with an air of assumed boredom
but he picks out the beauties. AS
times are so hard he is limited to two.
where his ancestors have sometimes
indulged in scores. and more than one
in hundreds. He makes his choice
very carefully, mods to the chamber
lain, and the girls PROSTATE them
selves many times and back out.
Later the chosen damsels are pre-
sented to the emperor for final test.
Then the astrologers take charge.
How about the horoscope? Do the
exact hours and conditions Of birth
unite properly with the imperial
chart of fate?
The court astrolosers sit around a
table with many queer writings and
drawings in front of them. They
drink many cups of tea and continue
debates much older than Confucius.
If the old man up in the stars has
tied the boy and the girls at birth
with the red string of marriage all is
well beyond the Peiho. If not, all
must be begun over again.
was in Peking when the be-
throthal preliminaries were being ar
ranged. and was told that the court
astrolosers disagreed over the en-
peror's choice. This was given as
the cause of a terrible scene in the
palace, when the Princess Churl.
mother of Hsuan Tung, called the
Chin concubine IAN old cat" The
concubine took her revenge in the
Forbidden city way. She gave the
princess mother an overdose OF opium
and that ended the argument.
X + X
THE princess died. The emperor
suddenly discovered that he was
a little boy, robbed of his mother.
PROSTATE beside the corpse, he walled
and begged death to give her back to
him.
For a full month Peking was in
mourning. The body was removed to
the Chun Palace, near the Drum
Tower In the West city, Manchus
came from near and Tar to give rever-
ence to the imperial dead.
A month after the crime, about
o'clock in q starlit night. Mrs. Gal
lagher and I stood close to the big
red coffin as eighty stout servitors
carried 1t from the Chun courtyard.
Paper prayers futtered and glistened
like flies about the flaming torches.
Bands with ancient instruments
played an old-time Manchu dead
march that sounded very much like
the bowling Of tortured hyenas. Small
fat boys on shaggy Mongol ponies.
with harmless bows and quivers and
little wooden swords, acted the part
of the famous bannermen. Figures
Of a power that IL past. Manchus
and Chinese prostrated themselves In
the dust. Dim shadows OF = power
that may come.
And now, only q few months later
no 6risf 10 Eanchu grief-the young
endp6roT wants "a, have wsddinge ana
things, but he hasn't the price.