Part 23

The Diary was found by the translator in the private study of Ching Shan’s house on August 18th and saved, in the nick of time, from being burnt by a party of Sikhs. Many of the entries, which cover the period from January to August 1900, refer to trivial and uninteresting matters. The following passages are selected chiefly because of the light they throw on the part played by the Empress Dowager in that tragedy of midsummer madness—on the strong hand and statecraft of the woman, and on the unfathomable ignorance which characterises to-day the degenerate descendants of Nurhachu. It should be explained that Ching Shan (景善), who retired from office in 1894, must be distinguished from Ching Hsin (敬信), who died about 1904. The latter was also a Manchu and a favourite of Tzŭ Hsi, well known to foreigners at the capital. He held various high posts, rose to be a Grand Secretary, and remained in Peking after the flight of the Court, in charge of the Palace. It was he who escorted the Diplomatic Body through the deserted halls of the Forbidden City in September 1900. He was highly respected by all who knew him.

Ching Shan, though of similarly high rank, was personally quite unknown to foreigners, but a short note on his career (and another on that of Ching Hsin) will be found in the “List of the Higher Metropolitan and provincial officials” periodically compiled by the Chinese Secretariat of the British Legation; Edition of 1902, Kelly and Walsh, Shanghai.]

_25th Year of Kuang Hsü, 12th Moon, 25th Day_ (25th January, 1900).—Duke Tsai Lan came to see me, his old tutor, to-day. He has much to tell me concerning the “Patriotic Harmony” train-bands (I Ho Tuan) which have been raised in Shantung by Yü Hsien, the Governor. Later, he described yesterday’s audience at the Palace; in addition to the Grand Secretaries, the Presidents of Boards and the Ministers of the Household, the “Sacred Mother” received Prince Kung, his uncles Tsai Ying and Tsai Lien and Prince Tuan. The Old Buddha announced her intention of selecting a new Emperor. She said: “The nation has shown resentment and reproached me for putting Kuang Hsü on the Throne, he being of the wrong generation; furthermore, he himself has shown great lack of filial duty to me notwithstanding the debt of gratitude he owed me for my kindness in thus elevating him. Has he not plotted against me with traitors from the south? I now propose therefore to depose him and to place a new Emperor on the Throne, whose accession shall take place on the first day of the New Year. It should be for you Ministers now to consider what title should be given to Kuang Hsü upon his abdication. There is a precedent for his removal from the Throne in the case of the Emperor Ching T’ai of the Ming Dynasty who was reduced to the rank of Prince and whose brother was restored to the Throne after eight years of captivity among the Mongols.” There was dead silence for some time in the Hall of Audience. At last the Grand Secretary Hsü T’ung suggested as appropriate the title of “Hun-te-Kung,” which means, “The Duke of Confused Virtue”—or well-meaning bungler:—it had been given by the Mongol Dynasty to a deposed Sung Emperor. The Old Buddha approved. She then declared to the assembly that her choice of the new Emperor was already made; it had fallen upon the eldest son of Prince Tuan, whose great devotion to Her Majesty’s person was well known. Henceforward Prince Tuan should be in constant attendance at the Palace to supervise the education of his son. At this point the Grand Secretary Sun Chia-nai[68] craved permission to speak. He implored the Empress not to depose the Emperor; of a certainty there would be rebellion in the Southern provinces. The choice of a new Sovereign rested with her, but it could only be done after “ten thousand years had elapsed” (_i.e._, after the death of the present Emperor). The “Motherly Countenance” showed great wrath; turning on Sun Chia-nai, she bade him remember that this was a family council to which she only admitted Chinese as an act of grace. She had already notified the Emperor of her intention, and he had no objections to offer. The Empress then ordered all present to repair to the Hall of Diligent Government there to await her and the Emperor, and upon their coming to witness the draft of the Decree appointing the Heir Apparent. The formal announcement of his accession to the throne would be postponed until the first day of the New Year.

They proceeded therefore to the entrance of the appointed Hall, and in a few minutes the Empress’s chair appeared at the gateway, when all knelt and kowtowed three times. A number of eunuchs accompanied her, but she bade them remain without. She sent Major-domo Li Lien-ying to request the Emperor’s presence; he came in his chair, alighting at the outer gate and kowtowed to the Empress, who had taken her seat on the main throne within. She beckoned him to come to the Hall, and he knelt again, all officials still kneeling outside. “_Chin lai, pu yung kuei hsia_” (Come in, you need not kneel), called Her Majesty. She bade him sit down, and summoned next the princes and ministers—some thirty in all—to enter. Again the Old Buddha repeated her reasons for the step she was taking. The Emperor only said “What Your Majesty suggests is quite proper and in accordance with my views.” At this the Grand Secretary Jung Lu handed to the Empress the Decree which the Grand Council had drafted.[69] She read it through and forthwith ordered its promulgation. Nothing was said to “The Lord of Ten Thousand Years” as to his being deposed; only the selection of the Heir Apparent was discussed. The Grand Council then remained for further audience, but the Princes were ordered to withdraw, so that Duke Lan does not know what passed thereafter. The Emperor seemed dazed, as one in a dream.

_30th Day_ (30th January, 1900).—To-day Liu Shun shaved my head; he leaves to-night for his home at Pao-ti-hsien there to spend the new year. My eldest son, En Ch’u, is pressing me to give him fifty taels to buy an ermine cloak; he is a bad son and most undutiful. Chi Shou-ch’ing came to see me to-day; he has moved to “Kuai Pang” Lane. He tells me that his father-in-law, Yü Hsien, is to be made Governor of Shansi. The Old Buddha has received him in audience since his removal from the Governorship of Shantung on account of the murder of a French[70] missionary, and praised him for the honesty and justice of his administration. She does not approve of the Big Sword Society’s proposed extermination of foreigners, because she does not believe they can do it; Yü Hsien goes often to Prince Tuan’s palace, and they have many secret interviews. Prince Tuan declares that if he were made President of the Tsung-li Yamên he would make short work of all difficulties with foreigners. He is a violent man and lacking in refinement.

_1st Day of 26th Year of Kuang Hsü_ (31st January, 1900).—To-day I am 78 years of age and my children mock me for being deaf. They are bad sons and will never rise so high as their father has done. When I was their age, between 20 and 30, the Emperor Tao-Kuang had already praised my scholarship and presented me with a complimentary scroll bearing a quotation from the writings of the philosopher Chu.

This year will witness many strange events; the people all say so. The eighth month is intercalary which, in a year that has “Keng” for its cyclical character, has ever been an evil omen. The New Emperor was to have been proclaimed to-day under the title of “Heng-Ching”—all pervading prosperity—but my son En Lin tells me that the new year sacrifices were performed by the Ta-A-Ko (heir apparent) at the Palace of Imperial Longevity, acting only as Deputy for the Emperor Kuang Hsü. The Ta-A-Ko is a boy of fourteen; very intelligent, but violent-tempered. He walked on foot to the Palace Hall from the Coal Hill Gate.

_5th Moon, 5th Day: The Dragon Festival_ (1st June, 1900).[71]—Arose at six o’clock and was washing my face in the small inner room, when Huo Kuei, the gatekeeper, came in with the card of Kang Yi, the Grand Secretary, and a present of ten pounds of pork, with seasonable greetings. I was not aware that he had already returned from his journey to Chu Chou, whither he had gone with Chao Shu-ch’iao to examine and report on the doings of the “patriotic train bands” (_i.e._ Boxers). He sends word by the messenger that he will call upon me this morning.

My sons En Ch’u and En Shun are going to-day to a theatrical performance at Chi Shou-ch’eng’s residence. My youngest son, En Ming, is on duty at the Summer Palace, where, for the next four days, the Old Buddha will be having theatricals. I am surprised that Kang Yi is not out there also. No doubt he only returned to Peking last night, and so does not resume his place on the Council till to-morrow morning.

_The Hour of the Monkey_ (3 P.M.).—Kang Yi has been here and I persuaded him to stay for the mid-day meal. He is a worthy brother-in-law, and, though twenty years younger than I am, as wise and discreet a man as any on the Grand Council. He tells me that several hundred foreign devil troops entered the City yesterday evening. He and Chao Shu-ch’iao arrived at Peking at 4.30 P.M., and immediately set to composing their memorial to the Empress Dowager about the heaven-sent Boxers, for presentation to-morrow morning. Prince Tuan has five days’ leave of absence: Kang Yi went to see him yesterday evening. While they were discussing the situation, at the Prince’s own house, there came a Captain of Prince Ch’ing’s bodyguard with a message. Saluting Prince Tuan, he announced that about 300 foreign soldiers had left Tientsin in the afternoon as reinforcement for the Legation Guards. Prince Ch’ing implored Prince Tuan not to oppose their entry, on the ground that a few hundred foreigners, more or less, could make no difference. He trusted that Prince Tuan would give orders to his Corps (the “Celestial Tigers” Force) not to oppose the foreign devils. It was the wish of the Old Buddha that they should be permitted to guard the Legations. Prince Tuan asked for further details, and the Captain said that Prince Ch’ing had received a telegram from the Governor-General of Chihli (Yü Lu) to the effect that the detachment carried no guns. At this Prince Tuan laughed scornfully and said “How can the few resist the many? What indeed will a hundred puny hobgoblins, more or less, matter?” Kang Yi, on the contrary, tells me that he strongly urged Prince Tuan to issue orders to Chung Li, the Commandant of the city, to oppose the entry of the foreign troops, but it appears that Jung Lu had already ordered their admission. Kang Yi is much incensed with Jung Lu about this, and cannot understand his motives. It seems that towards the close of last year Prince Tuan and Jung Lu had agreed to depose the Emperor and to put the Heir Apparent on the Throne, and Tuan confesses that, were it not for Jung Lu’s great influence with the Old Buddha she would never have agreed to select his son as Heir Apparent. But now Jung Lu is for ever denouncing the Boxers and warning the Empress against encouraging and countenancing them. Prince Tuan and Kang Yi despair of ever being able to induce her to support the Boxers whole-heartedly so long as Jung Lu is against them. As an example of her present attitude, Prince Tuan told Kang Yi one day lately that his son, the Ta-a-ko, had dressed himself up as a Boxer and was going through their drill in the Summer Palace grounds with some eunuchs. The Old Buddha saw him and promptly gave orders that he be confined to his rooms. She also reprimanded the Grand Secretary, Hsü Tung, for not keeping a better watch on his pupil and for permitting such unseemly behaviour, as she called it.

After leaving Prince Tuan’s house, Kang Yi had gone out of the city by the Ch’ien Men and had seen the foreign troops pass in. The people muttered curses, he says, but no one molested them. What does it matter? None of them will ever leave the city. Kang Yi’s journey to Chu-chou has convinced him that the whole province stands together as one man; even boys in their teens are drilling. Not a doubt of it; the foreigner will be wiped out this time! At Chu-chou the Departmental Magistrate, a man named Kung, had arrested several Boxer leaders, but Kang Yi and Chao Shu-ch’iao ordered them to be released and made them go through their mystic evolutions and drill. It was a wonderful sight, scarcely to be believed; several of them were shot, some more than once, yet rose uninjured from the ground. This exhibition took place in the main courtyard of the Magistrate’s Yamên, in the presence of an enormous crowd, tight pressed, as compact as a wall. Chao Shu-ch’iao remembers having seen many years ago, in his native province of Shensi, a similar performance, and it is on record that similar marvels were seen at the close of the Han Dynasty, when Chang Chio headed the Yellow Turban insurrection against the Government and took many great cities with half a million of followers. They were said to be under the protection of the Jade Emperor[72] and quite impervious to sword-thrusts. Kang Yi and Chao Shu-Ch’iao will memorialise the Empress to-morrow, giving the results of their journey and begging her to recognise the “patriotic train-bands” as a branch of the army. But they should be placed under the supreme command of Prince Tuan and Kang Yi, as Jung Lu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern army, is so incredulous as to their efficacy against foreign troops.

Although Major Domo Li Lien-ying is a warm supporter of the Boxers, and never wearies of describing their feats to the Old Buddha, feats which he himself has witnessed, it is by no means certain that the “kindly Mother” will heed him so long as Jung Lu is opposed to any official encouragement of the movement. And, besides, the nature of the Empress is peace-loving; she has seen many springs and autumns. I myself know well her refined and gentle tastes, her love of painting, poetry, and the theatre. When in a good mood she is the most amiable and tractable of women, but at times her rage is awful to witness. My father was Comptroller-General of the Imperial Household, and it was his lot on one occasion to experience her anger. This was in the sixth year of T’ung Chih (1868), when she learned that the chief eunuch, “Hsiao An’rh,”[73] had been decapitated in Shantung by the orders of the Co-Regent, the late “Empress Dowager of the East.” She accused the Comptrollers of the Household of being leagued together in treachery against her, as they had not told her of what was going on she declared that Prince Kung was plotting against her life, and that all her attendants were associated in his treason. It was years before she forgave him. All An’s fellow-eunuchs were examined under torture by the Department responsible for the management and discipline of the Household. When the chief eunuch’s betrayer was discovered by this means, he was flogged to death by her orders in the Palace. But nowadays the Old Buddha’s heart has softened, even towards foreigners, and she will not allow any of them to be done away with. One word from her would be sufficient to bring about their immediate and complete destruction, so that neither dog nor fowl be left alive, and no trace be left of all their foreign buildings. Kang Yi stayed with me about two hours and left to go and see Prince Tuan, who was expecting Major Domo Li Lien-ying to come into the city this afternoon.

K’un Hsiu, Vice-President of the Board of Works, called to see me. He tells me that Prince Ch’ing habitually ridicules the Boxers in private conversation, declaring them to be utterly useless, and unworthy of even a smile from a wise man. In public, however, he is most cautious—last week when the Old Buddha asked his opinion of them he replied by vaguely referring to the possible value of train-bands for protection of the Empire.

9 P.M.—My son En Ch’u has returned from Chi Shou-ch’eng’s theatricals; everyone was talking, he says, of Jung Lu’s folly in allowing the foreign troops to enter the city yesterday. Chi’s father-in-law, Yü Hsien, has written to him from Shansi saying that for the present there are but few Boxers enrolled in that province, but he is doing his best to further the movement, so that Shansi may unite with the other provinces of the north “to destroy those who have aroused the Emperor’s wrath.” By common report, Yüan Shih-k’ai has now become a convert to Christianity: if he too were to suppress the movement in Shantung, not death itself could expiate his guilt.

En Chu’s wife is most undutiful; this evening she has had a quarrel with my senior concubine, and the two women almost came to blows. Women are indeed difficult to manage; as Confucius has said, “Keep them at a distance, they resent it; treat them familiarly, and they do not respect you.” I am seventy-eight years of age and sore troubled by my family; their misconduct is hard for an old man to bear.

_12th Day of the 5th Moon_ (June 8th, 1900).—My son, En Ming, came in this morning about midday; as Officer of the Bodyguard he had been in attendance on the Empress coming in from the Summer Palace. Jung Lu had been there yesterday morning and had had a long audience with Her Majesty. He gave her details of the burning of the railway by the Boxers. She was seriously alarmed and decided to return at once to the Winter Palace on the Southern Lake. It seems she cannot make up her mind as to the Boxers’ invulnerability. Jung Lu has again applied for leave. When he is absent from the Grand Council, Kang Yi and Ch’i Hsiu have the greatest influence with her. En Ming says that on the way to the city she kept urging the chair-bearers to hurry, and seemed out of sorts—nervously fanning herself all the time. At the Ying Hsiu gate of the Winter Palace the Emperor and the Heir Apparent were kneeling to receive her. No sooner had she reached the Palace than she summoned Prince Tuan to audience, which lasted a long time. It is a pity that the Old Buddha will not decide and act more promptly. The Emperor never speaks at audience nowadays, although Her Majesty often asks him for his opinion. Tung Fu-hsiang accompanied the Court into Peking; he denounced Jung Lu at audience to-day, telling the Empress that if only the Legations were attacked, he would undertake to demolish them in five days; but that Jung Lu, by failing to support the Boxers, was a traitor to the Dynasty. The Empire, said he, would be endangered unless the present opportunity were seized to wipe off old scores against the foreigner. Tung is a coarse, foul-spoken fellow, most violent in his manner towards us Manchus. Kang Yi hates him, but for the present is only too willing to make use of him.

_14th day of the 5th Moon_ (June 10th).—Grand Councillor Ch’i Hsiu called to-day—he showed me the draft of a Decree breaking off all relations with foreigners, which he had prepared for the Empress’s signature; so far, however, she has given no indication of agreeing to make war against them. In the afternoon I went to Duke Lan’s residence—to-day being his wife’s birthday. There are more than a hundred Boxers living in his outer courtyard, most of them country-folk, under the command of a Banner Captain named Wen Shun. Among them are five or six lads of thirteen or fourteen who will fall into a trance, foam at the mouth, then rise up and grasp wildly at anything that comes within their reach, uttering the while strange uncouth noises. Duke Lan believes that by their magic arts they will be able to guide him, when the time comes, to the houses of Christian converts (_lit._ Secondary Devils). He says that his wife goes often to the Palace and that she has told the Old Buddha of these things. The “Ta Kung Chu” (Princess Imperial and adopted daughter of the Empress Dowager) has over two hundred and fifty Boxers quartered at the Palace outside the Hou Men, but she has not dared to tell the Empress Dowager. Her brother, the “Prince” Tsai Ying, is also learning this drill. Truly it is a splendid society! The Kansuh braves are now entering the Chinese city, and thousands of people are preparing to leave Peking.

_16th day of the 5th Moon_ (June 12th).—Jung Lu attended the Grand Council this morning. Prince Li, the Senior Councillor, did not dare to tell the Empress that a foreign devil[74] had been killed yesterday by the Kansuh braves just outside the Yung-Ting Gate. Jung Lu was called to the audience chamber after Prince Li had retired, and Kang Yi believes that he urged her to order Tung Fu-hsiang to leave the city with his troops and at the same time to issue an Edict, bestowing posthumous honours on the murdered foreigner. None of the other Grand Councillors were summoned to audience; when Jung Lu left the presence, he returned straightway to his own house and spake no word to any of his colleagues. It is rumoured that more foreign troops are coming to Peking, and that the Empress Dowager will not permit them to enter the city. In this Jung Lu agrees with her. He has advised that all foreigners shall be allowed to leave Peking, but that it is contrary to the law of nations to attack the accredited representatives of foreign Powers.

_18th Day of the 5th Moon_ (June 14th).—Yesterday, just before nightfall, En Ch’u came in to tell me that several hundred Boxers had entered the Ha-Ta Gate. I was sorry that my lameness prevented me from going out to see them, but I sent Hao Ching-ting to report. Well indeed, is it, that I have lived to see this day; almost every foreign building except the Legations had been burnt to the ground. Throughout the night flames burst forth in every quarter of the city; a grand sight! Kang Yi has sent me a message to say that he and Duke Lan went to the Shun Chih (S.W.) Gate at about the third watch to encourage and direct the Boxers who were burning the French Church. Hundreds of converts were burnt to death, men, women and children, and so great was the stench of burning flesh that Duke Lan and Kang Yi were compelled to hold their noses. At dawn Kang Yi went to the Palace to attend the Grand Council. Major Domo Li Lien-ying told him that the Old Buddha had watched the conflagrations from the hillock to the west of the Southern Lake, and had plainly seen the destruction of the French Church at the Shun-Chih Men. Li Lien-ying had told her that the foreigners had first fired on the crowd inside the Ha-Ta Gate, and that this had enraged the patriotic braves who had retaliated by slaughtering the converts. It seems that Hsü T’ung is unable to get out of his house because the foreign devils have barricaded the street; the Old Buddha is anxious about him and has commanded Prince Ch’ing to ask the foreign Legations to let him pass out. She is amazed at the Boxers’ courage, and Kang Yi believes that she is about to give her consent to a general attack upon the Legations. Nevertheless, Li Lien-ying has warned him that exaggerated praise of the Boxers arouses her suspicions, and that, with the exception of Jung Lu, all the Grand Councillors are afraid to advise her. Her Majesty is moving into the Palace of Peaceful Longevity in the Forbidden City, as all these alarms and excursions disturb her sleep at the Lake Palace.