“Years ago, in the first month of the present reign, the Prince put in a secret Memorial, in which, after reciting numerous precedents, he expressed a fear that the very example which has now been cited by the present Memoralist (Wu Ta-ch’eng) might be used by sycophants and other evil persons to advance improper proposals on his behalf. For this reason he handed in his secret Memorial in advance, with a request that, when the Emperor should attain his majority, no change whatsoever should be made in his own rank and titles. Never was there a more brilliant example of devoted service by a Minister of the Crown, and, while heartily praising him, I yielded reluctantly to his request. Now that I am about to hand over the reins of Government, the very thing that Prince Ch’un feared has come to pass, and I therefore feel bound to take this occasion to publish to the world his original Memorial, so that none may hope to work mischief by any further proposals of a similar kind, and that this worthy Prince’s sincerity, thus manifested, may become an example for all to follow.”
Prince Ch’un’s original Memorial, dated 1875, is of no particular interest except in that it reveals, even at that date, a sense of the dangers arising from the confusion of the Imperial succession and considerable anxiety as to the future adjustment of the situation. His own object in declining further honours was clearly stated to be that he wished to prevent sycophants and persons of doubtful loyalty from establishing claims upon him or forming a party in the Forbidden City, which (it may be observed) has actually come to pass. He deplored the possibility that when His Majesty the Emperor begins to rule in person, “officials of obscure origin may be led to think that, by artful and treasonable suggestions, they may delude His Majesty and thus rise to high office by creating opportunities of dissension.”
The rank of the Emperor’s father therefore remained that of an hereditary Prince, but there is no doubt that the matter is by no means disposed of, and may possibly be revived upon the conclusion of the present Regent’s term of office.[45]
Shortly after Tzŭ Hsi’s retirement from public affairs the Emperor’s father, Prince Ch’un, fell ill of a sickness which increased until, on 1st January 1891, he died. In 1890, the Censorate, deeply concerned for a strict observance of the laws and ceremonial etiquette of filial piety, took occasion, in a Memorial of remonstrance, to draw Her Majesty’s attention to her duty, and that of the Emperor, of visiting the invalid. Tzŭ Hsi’s reply took the form of a rebuke to the Censors, whom she bluntly directed to mind their own business, in a manner which forcibly brings to mind Queen Elizabeth’s methods of dealing with similar remonstrances. Nevertheless she took the hint and thenceforward, throughout the summer of 1890, she paid repeated visits to Prince Ch’un’s bedside.
This Prince had always been a favourite with Tzŭ Hsi, who greatly preferred him to his elder brothers; she regretted his death and felt the loss of his wise and fearless counsel, which had often guided her policy. He was a staunch Manchu, jealous of the power and privileges of the Clans, and will long be remembered in Chinese history for the remark which he made at a meeting of the Council after the campaign in Tongking. “It were better,” said he, “to hand over the Empire to the foreign devils, than to surrender it at the dictation of these Chinese rebels,” a remark which was prompted by the growing discontent of the province of Canton against the Manchus and their rule.
Interior of the Tai Ho Tien.
This Palace is used only for occasions of high ceremony, such as Imperial birthday celebrations.
Photo, Ogawa, Tokio.
In her Decree recording the Prince’s death and praising his eminent services as Chamberlain of the Palace, Head of the Navy[46] and Commander of the Manchu Field Force, Tzŭ Hsi gave detailed instructions for the mourning and funeral ceremonies, donating in her own name a Tibetan prayer coverlet for the body. She conferred upon him the somewhat obvious (but according to Chinese ideas, highly honourable) title of “deceased father of the Emperor” and ordered that the funeral should be upon a scale “which shall simultaneously display His Majesty’s favour and his sense of filial piety,” due care being taken at the same time not to outrage the deceased’s conspicuous modesty. By these means, which were in accordance with her guiding principle of the “happy mean,” she hoped to set at rest all question of “usurping tendencies” and to reassure the Aisin Gioros as to their fears of the undue ambition of the house of Ch’un. Finally, in accordance with the precedent established by the Emperor Ch’ien-Lung, she decreed that the late Prince’s residence should be divided into two portions, one to be set aside as his own ancestral Hall and the other as a shrine (it being the birthplace) of his Majesty Kuang-Hsü.