With the Empress Dowager of China

by Katharine A. Carl

A few days after the Court moved to the Sea Palace, the members of the Corps Diplomatique were received in Audience to present their congratulations to the Emperor and Empress Dowager on the occasion of the Chinese New Year. They were received in the Great Audience Hall; but the ladies of the Legation, whose reception took place the following day, were received in Her Majesty’s Throne-room opening on the Court of the large Theater at the Sea Palace. As it was cold, the Theater and its court were entirely inclosed and roofed over in glass, in panes of about a foot and a half square. On each pane was painted, in red, the ever-present character “Sho” (longevity), surrounded by five bats. The marble pavement of the court and the steps leading up to the Throne-room were carpeted in red; and when the great doors were thrown wide, there was a good effect of size given, although this Throne-room was one of the smallest in the Sea Palace.

As this was to be a formal reception, several members of the Wai-Wu-Pu were present as interpreters. The ladies of the Legation were presented by the Baron Czikan, the Austrian Minister, Doyen of the Corps. He made a graceful address in French, wishing Their Majesties a Happy New Year, and China much prosperity. This was translated into Chinese by one of the Secretaries of the Wai-Wu-Pu. The Empress Dowager replied for herself and the Emperor, in Chinese. Her Majesty’s words were interpreted by His Excellency Liang Fang, a good French scholar. Then the Doyen presented the ladies individually, and the usual order of ceremonies followed. When the presentations were over, the Doyen, foreign attachés and interpreters, with the Chinese officials, repaired to the hall which had been set aside for their luncheon, while the ladies, accompanied by the Princesses, went to their repast in another part of the Palace!

Only a few days after this, came the lantern festival; but this was not an interruption to my work, for I painted all day, and only went to the Theater for the final piece and the spectacular tableau. We dined in the Imperial loge, and after dinner there were beautiful lantern and torch-light processions. In the court opposite the Throne-room where we dined, there was a beautiful pai-lou of transparent gauze, painted in charming designs, illuminated from within, and hung with luminous flowers and quaint lanterns. Tall eunuchs, in gala red, stood around the courts, holding great lanterns aloft, like huge caryatides with luminous burdens. Others with fanciful vermilion lanterns wound in and out through corridors and courts. When they reached the court of the softly glowing pai-lou, they manœuvered and made intricate designs and luminous tableaux, holding aloft their red-globed lanterns to form characters and phrases of “felicitous omen.” These huge, luminous characters were wonderfully accurate.

After the torch- and lantern-lit processions, and the glowing tableaux, a pair of illuminated dragons writhed into the court and struggled for the “flaming pearl,” which flitted around with elusive fantastic movements, ever beyond their grasp. I was not able to find out the origin of the Imperial legend of the Double Dragon and the Flaming Pearl, representations of which appear everywhere at the Palace on whatever is meant for Imperial use, or for any official function over which the Emperor is supposed to preside. It is on all the Thrones of the Dynasty; it adorns the Imperial pennant; it is cut into stone, carved into wood, and painted in pictures. It decorates the gowns of the higher officials, and is embroidered upon the Court dresses of the Ladies of the Palace. At the Birthdays of the Emperor and Empress, and at all Dynastic celebrations there are realistic representations of the immortal struggle where the Double Dragon strives to absorb the “flaming pearl.” The significance of the legend seems to be: The Double Dragon represents the Powers of Earth or Evil which try ever to absorb the Flaming Pearl, Emblem of the Dynasty, symbol of Heaven or Perfection. The Flaming Pearl, the Unattainable, keeps ever beyond and above their grasp, seeming to serve always as an incentive for further effort.

For a fortnight after the lantern festival, there were fireworks every night on the banks of the lake. We would dine in the Throne-room, and then Her Majesty and the Emperor, accompanied by the Ladies, and attended by the usual number of eunuchs (each bearing transparent horn lanterns), would go through the courts and paths of the garden to the lake, on the banks of which the fireworks were sent up. Here, in full view of the set pieces, stood four large, roomy sleds. When the lake was frozen, these sleds were used to push Their Majesties and the ladies over its glassy surface. They had not been used as sleds this winter, for the ice had not been sufficiently firm, the winter having been comparatively mild. But when the lake was well frozen, as is usual at this season in Peking, Their Majesties viewed the fireworks from these sleds as they skimmed along over its smooth surface. There was a sled for each of them—one for the Empress and second wife, and one for the Princesses. They were cloth-covered, lined with fur, and had great fur rugs. There were seats around the three sides; the wadded curtain, with its large square of plate-glass that hung down over the front, was taken off for the fireworks. Their Majesties occupied each of theirs alone, but the Empress had several of the Ladies in hers.

The fireworks were superb. There were beautiful set pieces, pagodas, with ladies on balconies, pavilions with grapevines, wistaria arbors, and beds of flowers so lifelike they seemed to grow at the side of the luminous cascades, and many other effects I had never seen before in fireworks. One day, during the time of the lantern festival, we had fireworks in the brilliant sunshine. When these day rockets exploded, all sorts of curious paper devices fell to the ground—fish dragons and animals, as well as flags and baskets. When anything interesting was revealed, Her Majesty would send the eunuchs to pick it up as it fell and bring it to her that she might examine it. Many fell outside the Palace walls, and she said these would give pleasure to the “poor people outside.”

Formerly, at these fireworks in the Palace to celebrate the lantern festival, the public was admitted into the Inclosure, but this practice stopped when the two Empresses were Co-Regents for the first boy Emperor, Tung-Chih. As this was coincident with the establishment of the first Foreign Legations in Peking, the latter fact may have had some influence in changing the custom. The Chinese people were shut out because it was feared that the foreigners might also come into the Precincts. These beautiful fireworks I could enjoy without any qualms of conscience, for I could not paint at night, and they were consequently no interruption to my work.

CHAPTER XXXIII CONTINUATION OF THE ST. LOUIS PORTRAIT—SPRING DAYS AT THE SEA PALACE

There began now to be some discussion as to what would be the most propitious date for finishing the portrait. I had thought I might finish when I could, but this was not to be the case. The almanacs were consulted, and it was decided that the nineteenth day of April would be an auspicious time to finish and before four o’clock! The Empress Dowager informed me of the “happy augury” of this date and asked me if I thought it possible to finish then. Not only had the date for beginning the portrait been carefully chosen, but there was much deliberation as to the proper time for finishing! Her Majesty seemed very anxious until she received my reply as to whether it would be possible to finish at this happy date, for I could not say at first, as I had never thought of finishing at any particular moment! When I finally told her I could finish it before four o’clock, April 19th, she was delighted. She said “How good” and asked me to please “not disappoint her.” As the portrait neared completion she came very often to the studio and watched over the painting-in of all the accessories, which she seemed to consider quite as important as the likeness itself. As she was tired after the Audiences, she gave me two or three sittings at this time before she went to the Audience Hall, and I painted from half-past six to eight A.M. for two or three days. The jewels in the head-dress, all official, were the subject of much deliberation. After a jewel was painted in, she would decide she didn’t like it and that something else would be better. She seemed to think it was as easy to take it from the picture as to remove it from her person. All these requests for changes were so graciously made, I never complained. She would sometimes say, “I am giving you a great deal of trouble, and you are very kind.” I didn’t mind the trouble, only these changes took away the freshness of the painting and did not add to the artistic effect of the picture.

Her Majesty ordered a magnificent frame for the portrait. She, herself, made the design. The Double Dragon at the top struggled for the “flaming pearl” with the character “Sho” on it. The sides were elaborately carved in designs representing the symbol of “ten thousand” years with the characters for longevity. The frame was to be set in a superbly carved stand, as the Chinese do their mirrors. The whole, of rare camphor-wood, was made by Her Majesty’s own artisans at the Palace—the most expert workmen in China.