Evening star., 1922-12-05

FORTUNE ELAV|SHED
ON BRIDE Of CHINA
Princess Gets $4,000 Gifts
as She Weds Nations
Ex-Emperor.

By the Associated Press.
PEKING, China, December o.
Fifty thousand presents from all
parts of China were showered on
Hsuan Tung. China.s democratic ex-
emperor, and his bride. the Princess
kuo Chin-Si. whose wedding brought
forth pageant OF color and light
that revived memories Of the olden,
gorgeous Manchu regime.
NO political significance is attached
to the marriage of the deposed boy
emperor, which was carried out un-
der direction of the republicans and
with the official sanction of President
Ii Yuan Hung, who sent Fluctuations on
behalf of the nation.
owing to the youth of the couple
and the romantic nature Of their
union. crowds thronged the streets
OF the capital throughout the night
to witness the gorgeous procession
which attended the brides progress
outside the Forbidden city to the
the wife on whose face he never
had looked
The princess was carried from her
nome concealed in a curtained. golden
sedan chair. borne by twenty men
garbed In the imperial yellow livery.
Her pathway was Illuminated by yell
I! low lanterns and the five miles OF
streets through which she passed
We're strewn with fresh sand.
Bride and Groom Meet.
The gilded chair entered the Forbid
den city through the gateway formerly
USED only by the empress dowager. Only
few mandar;ns of the old order,
!; wearing the royal peacock feathers, were
present at the first meeting OF the
; bride and bridegroom. which took
place few minutes before the cere-
mony.
Complying with the Chinese Gus.
/ tom. Hsuan Tung had refrained from
meeting his bride-to-be previously,
although they had been betrothed
; Tor several months. He chose her
/ from photographs of twenty mar
riageable princesses. his only other
: knowledge of the young woman who
was to be his wife having come
=. from the newspapers.
! WhlIe the young eA-emperor waited
Just within the gates of the palace,
! the city was announced to him by the
sounding of bug1es along the route.
followed by the colorful array Of
oriental musicians. Manchurian.
princes mounted on Mongolian ponies.
; soldlers, bearers of presents and at
; tendants. with lanterns and streamers
ornamented with the imperial dragon.
Within the Forbidden city. 5000
soldiers of the republic formed a
guard Of honor.
"a1 Marr1aSe vows Given.
When the princess sedan chair
reached the palace gates, Hsuan Tuns
feH into step beside it. still, how
! ever. refraininS from lifting the cur
talns that concealed the face of his
orlus-to-be. II is ceremony was per-
formed only within the inner temple.
where the final marriage vows We're
p!Ighted III the presence of Chinese
oHclals. Foreigners invited to the
wedding, numbering about forty, re-
manned in the outer court.
The wedding was the elimination
or months OF preparation. Astrologcrs
consulted the stars and decided that
the early morning hours would be
most propitious, SO the ceremony was
set Tor that time. The brides journey
began at . o'clock and ended two
hours later in the inner temple of the
Forbidden city, when Hsuan- -Tung
drew back the curtains of the golden
chair and the youthful couple fir.1
looked into each others eyes
Although an almost fabulous sum is
represented in the $4,000 presents
shoWered on the bride. the bride
groom's. which has not been publicly
described. is said to have cost only
$4,000, for the reason that Hsuan
Iung. once ruler of 40e.0o0,O00 people.
is hard up"
Under the terms of his retirement
from the dragon throne, the republic
was to pay him s4.O0O,O0O annually
Recently his guardian called the gov
ernments attention to the fact that
: instead OF the $40.D00.00O which was
due the last ten Years only $500, 900
had been paid.