Evening star., 1923-12-24
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK H. HEDGES

the slender figure Of Hsuan Tung,
young boy emperor of China. He is
| the living symbol of a day that has
| vanished. The little court that cen
ters about him inside the purple
walls Of the Forbidden City in the
heart OF Peking is all that remainS
| OF the majesty. grandeur and i'm
perial power that captivated and
won the respectful admiration of
Marco Polo in other days. Those
who wrested the scepter from his
| baby hands eleven years ago left
him the trappings OF royalty. and he
still issues imperial DEGREES. still sits
TRANSPARENT curtain while courtiers
strike the marble pavement before
him with their heads.
Despite the belief of his princely
urcles and the other Manchu mobiles
who control his life that he should
be shielded from an unworthy world.
the events of the past two years
have partially broken down the bar
rier OF secrecy and something Of his
life Z ona and personality personality has become sn
and Europeans 1t would be con-
servative to say that he has gained
thousands of sympathetic friends
! abroad. for to the glamour that .sur-
added the srpeal of a young boy
striving to break through precedent
and fulfir ae longings of youth.
X y y y
There Is no concerted and ener-
getio plot in China to restore the
| monarchy. There are, it is true,
restoration, but they are mAking
TO efforts to bring it about, nor is
there any indication that they plan
to do so. For the time being, at
least, the republican form of gov
| ernment is not menaced from this
source-its dangers lie in it's own
inherent evils as they have been
demonstrated in concrete practice.
The cry for restoration would
| arouse no answer from the masses
of Chinese.
1t was in late September two years
ago that the first dramatic incident
took place in Peking which mark ed
the beginning of the worlds knowl-
edge Of Hsuan Tung. deposed En-
short-lived restoration OF midsum-
| NOR in 1917, scarcely a word con-
corning his imperial majesty had
crossed the lotus covered moat sur
| day that he had retired there, a
! mere youngster, driven from power
by the republican troops. In the de-
crees Of abdication. issued in his
name. IL was stipulated that he was
to retain his title. his personal es-
ton of the troops OF the republic;
that he was to be accorded the same
honors by republican China that
would be given to any Visiting SOW
ereign from another country. and
that the new government would
grant him a yearly income OF 4,000.-
600 silver dollars. Except for this
last provision, these guarantees have
been executed by the republic. which
accepted them as binding.
X X "
A quarrel within the Forbidden City
between the boy emperor's mother
and Chin Fei. head of the women of
the imperial clans. led to the death
of the mother. The quarrel may have
been concerning his marriage or it
may have been about court physi-
clan. The emperors mother retired
to her home, took an overdose Of
opium and died a few days later.
All of the ancient ritualistio pomp
of China accompanied her burial in
October, and his majesty is believed
to have left the Forbidden. City. to
have gone into the country to the
kowtoed to his mothers bier as 1t
passed along the roadway on the
journey to the imperial tombs
1t was the following March before
the world again heard Of the en-
peror, for at that time he chose, from
a set of photographs, the most beau
| tiful of the Manchu princesses to be
his bride. The plans FOR the wedding
went steadily forward. and precedent
WAS thrown to the winds when fifty
or a hundred foreigners were admit
ted to the inner courtyards Of the
Forbidden City in the early dawn of
December / to witness the procession
| of the bride to the home of her hus-
band and emperor. Even a more
startling break with the past took
place three days later when the dip
, lomatio corps and few chosen
his imperial majesty.
! The young emperor and his little
bride bowed or shook hands with
| each OF their foreign guests. after
which his majesty mounted the
, throne dais. and with a goblet OF
| champagne held in one slender hand,
| toasted his guests in few words Of
| English. A striking contrast was
presented a few moments later when
the Manchus and those Chinese still
loyal to the throne presented their
compliments, for this time a thin
4
| throne and the Manchus knelt in the
marble courtyard outside the throne
hall, touching the pavement with
their foreheads nine times as shrill
music from weird instruments rose
1 on the air.
And then those who know and
| love the beauty OF the courts and
palaces that make up the Forbidden
City were grieved when the cables
told the news of the burning of one
of the palaces. Two weeks later
came the message from across the
Pacific that his majesty had been
| forced to fee his home to escape the
wrath of palace servants. of servants
| who had stolen imperial treasures
and then fred the palace to cover
their theft. Discovering their knav-
cry, his majesty had pronounced SEN
| tence on them and they had risen in
! rebellion. Soldiers and police of the
republic entered the Forbidden City.
arrested the evil doers and the en-
perUr returned to his palace home
| that is, to him, a prison.
It is prison because It confines his
1 spirit and mind rather than his body.
| He has heard Of America and Europe
| and he longs to visit them, but court
| intrigue prevents. His only contact
| with the west is through his English
tutor r. F. Johnston, and an Am erican
| girl, Miss Isabel Ingram, who Is now
admitted to the Forbidden City as in
structor of the little princess the empe-
ror took as his bride last December.
! 1t is unlikely that Hsuan Tung de-
sires to regain his lost power, but he
| does wish very much to gain greater
6ersonal freedom. He would go out
! into the world and see the wonders OF
which ne has heard, but his wishes are
| thwaretd by those who profit from his
remaining in tho seclusion OF mystery
| and grandeur that are now his lot He
| IL only seventeen and his empress is
nearly . year younger. He is boy