Part 39

The following extracts from articles published in the Shanghai press at that time, throw an instructive light on the spirit of Young China (like that of the Babu of India) as displayed in its anti-Manchu proclivities and bigoted chauvinism. One critic, taking for his text the entertainments given by Her Majesty to the Foreign Legations, wrote:—

“There can be no objection to giving a banquet to anyone who is likely to be grateful and show some return for hospitality, but what possible good purpose can be served by feasting those who treat you with suspicion? We Chinese are wont to despise our ignorant rustics when they display servility to foreigners, but what is to be said when one in the exalted position of the Empress Dowager demeans herself by being on terms of affectionate intimacy with the wives of Foreign Ministers, and even with women belonging to the commercial and lower classes? Nowadays foreign food is served at the Palace in a dining-room decked out in European style: the guests at these entertainments thank their Imperial hostess on taking leave, and the very next day their Legations will furiously rage against China at our Foreign Office. Therefore, as for moderating their barbarous ways, her food and her wines are simply wasted. As a matter of fact, these guests of hers do not scruple to compare her banquets of to-day with the melons and vegetables which she sent to the Legations during the siege, a comparison by no means flattering to Her Majesty. The thing is becoming a scandal. When Russia poured out entertainments in honour of Li Hung-chang she got something for her money; can it be that Her Majesty is looking to similar results in the present case for herself?”

Another critic, nearer the truth as we know, doubted whether the Empress Dowager was in reality enamoured of foreign ways, and whether she was not simulating good relations, while preparing some deep-laid scheme of future revenge.

“It is scarcely credible,” he observed, “that, at her time of life, she should be able to change all her habits and form ties so completely alien to her education and nature. Would not the foreigners naturally ask themselves whether she was likely to cherish any real affection for people who had plundered her palace and had forced her to hand over to the executioners her most faithful and trusted officials?”

This writer had difficulty, however, in believing that she contemplated another Boxer movement and frankly confessed himself perplexed.

“As Her Majesty’s chief occupation at the present time would appear to be to accumulate money at all costs rather than to reorganise and strengthen the resources of the Empire, her ultimate object may well be to secure that whatever happens, her old age shall be comfortably provided for.”

Nevertheless, unheeding of criticism and strong in the wisdom of her own convictions, Tzŭ Hsi continued steadily on the lines which she had laid down as necessary for the future safety of the Empire. It was not to be expected that even her strong personality could overcome in a day the entrenched forces of native prejudice and conservatism within and without the palace. At the time of her death many of the chief strongholds of the ancient system (_e.g._, the power of the eunuchs and the organised corruption of officials) remained practically uncriticised and untouched; but at her passing she had marked out a rough course by which, if faithfully followed, the ship of State might yet be safely steered through the rocks and shallows of the dangerous seas ahead.

XXV

THE VALEDICTORY MEMORIAL OF JUNG LU

The death of Jung Lu was a great grief to the Empress Dowager. In the course of her long life there was hardly any crisis or important event of her reign wherein she had not been greatly assisted by this devoted follower. Upon hearing of his death she issued a Decree from the Travelling Palace at Pao-ting-fu, praising the patriotism and clear-sighted intelligence of the deceased, who, since the beginning of his career as an honorary licentiate had risen to be Controller of the Imperial Household, Tartar General and Viceroy, in all of which capacities he had rendered signal service. At the time of his death he had attained to the highest honours open to a subject in China, namely, the position of Grand Secretary and Grand Councillor. In this Decree Her Majesty laid particular stress on his endeavours to promote a good understanding with the foreign Powers in 1900. Further, in token of her affectionate regard, she bestowed upon him a coverlet with charms worked thereon from the Dharani Sutra in Sanscrit and Thibetan, to be used as a pall for his burial, and she commanded Prince Kung to proceed to the residence of the deceased, with ten officers of the Imperial Guard, to perform a sacrifice on her behalf to the soul of the departed statesman. She granted him the posthumous designation of “learned and loyal,” together with the highest hereditary rank open to one who had not been a victorious military commander or a member of the Imperial Clan. His ancestral tablet was given a place at the Shrine of Good and Virtuous Officials, and three thousand taels (£350) were issued from the privy purse towards his funeral expenses.

Jung Lu’s valedictory Memorial has never been published in China, but those in attendance on Her Majesty reported that it affected her very deeply. On the day after it reached her, she issued the following Decree:—

“The deceased Grand Secretary, Jung Lu, was our senior Grand Councillor at a time of critical danger to the State, and his sage counsel and eminent services to the Throne have never been sufficiently appreciated either in China or abroad. He was absolutely indispensable to us, and we depended entirely upon his advice. Two months ago, owing to his ill-health, we were compelled to grant him leave of absence, but, unfortunately, all remedies have proved unavailing, and he has passed away. We have perused his valedictory Memorial, full of a deep and touching earnestness in regard to the future of our Empire and the condition of the Chinese people; and in recalling all the incidents of his distinguished career the violence of our grief can only find expression in tears. Following upon the posthumous honours already conferred upon him, we hereby decree that a second Imperial sacrifice shall be offered to his spirit on the day before his remains are removed for burial, and, furthermore, that the record of his life be transmitted to the Historiographers’ Department for inclusion in the annals of our Dynasty. All faults that may have been recorded against him shall be expunged, so that the depth of our sincere affection for this faithful servant may be made manifest.”

Jung Lu was sixty-seven years of age at the date of his death (April 11th, 1903), and it is probable that had it not been for the severe hardships and mental strain which he endured during the Boxer crisis, he would have lived much longer to serve his Imperial mistress. By his death Prince Ch’ing and his corrupt following rose to increased power (Prince Ch’ing being the only available Manchu of rank sufficient to succeed Jung Lu as head of the Grand Council), and they have retained it, in the subterranean labyrinths of Palace intrigues, ever since.

Jung Lu was essentially a middle-course man, striving earnestly for that “happy mean” which the Empress Dowager professed to desire. Had he lived, it is safe to say that he would not have approved of the haste with which she proceeded to sanction the undigested programme for constitutional government, and with his advice against it the Old Buddha would probably not have persisted in the idea. He had repeatedly urged her, before the return of the Court, to make it quite clear in her Edicts that a reform policy was necessary for the preservation of the Empire, but, like the late Prince Ito, he was all for a slow and cautious procedure, and present-day observers of events connected with the constitutional government programme can hardly doubt the wisdom of his advice.

The following is a translation of his, hitherto unpublished, valedictory Memorial, a document which throws valuable light on the _coup d’état_ and the relations between Tzŭ Hsi and the Emperor at that time. In other respects it confirms many conclusions wherein Jung Lu’s authoritative testimony was lacking to complete an otherwise satisfactory chain of evidence.

“I, your slave, Jung Lu, a Grand Councillor and Grand Secretary of the Wen Hua Throne Hall, having grievously failed to requite the favours of your Majesties, now that my breath is almost spent, respectfully upon my knees do present this my valedictory Memorial, and beg that your Majesties may be pleased to cast your divine glance upon it.

“I, all unworthy, have received no small bounty at the hands of your Majesty the Empress Dowager, and had hoped that Heaven might grant me length of days, wherein to display my utmost endeavour in your Majesty’s service. Respectfully I recall the fact that I began my career of service as an Imperial guardsman, and was on duty with H.M. Hsien-Feng in his excursion to the hunting park at Mulan (Jehol) in the tenth year of his reign. At that time the situation of the Empire was one of great danger; within there was the grave peril of the rebellion, while from without the English and French barbarians had captured our sacred capital. We witnessed the violation of the Imperial shrines and saw the sacred chariot of His Majesty leave Peking, in accordance with the principle laid down by Mencius that a sovereign should leave his capital when it is threatened by invasion of barbarians.

“After the Court’s arrival at Jehol, I had the honour of attending on your Majesty the Empress Dowager as Chamberlain, and when His Majesty Hsien-Feng lay on his deathbed, I had the honour to warn your Majesty and the Empress Consort that the Princes Cheng and Yi were conspiring against the State. After the death of His Majesty, those wicked Princes usurped the Regency and for many days your Majesty was in danger so great that it may not be spoken of by any loyal subject. Happily, your Majesty, acting on your own firm initiative and by the favour of Heaven, dealt with those abominable traitors in the twinkling of an eye and rescued the State from its dire peril. For years thereafter you carried on the Regency, rebellions were suppressed and peace reigned within the four seas.

“Your slave received many marks of the Imperial favour and rose to be Minister of the Household; I was thus constantly in attendance on your Majesty. When the late Emperor T’ung-Chih mounted the dragon and ascended on high, it was to me that your Majesty confided the duty of bringing the present Emperor Kuang-Hsü to the Palace. Favours vast as the universe have I received, and for these I have made no return.

“While acting as Captain General of the Peking Gendarmerie, I incurred your Majesty’s displeasure; thereafter for seven years I awaited, without incurring, the fitting penalty for my offence. Later, when His Majesty came to his majority and you were pleased to hand over to him the reins of government, you conferred on me the post of Tartar General at Hsi-an. Subsequently I was recalled to my former position at the capital. In the 24th year of Kuang-Hsü (1898) your Majesties determined on the introduction of European methods of government and the Emperor summoned me to audience and conferred on me the post of Viceroy of Chihli at Tientsin where I was ordered to select and introduce reforms based on foreign methods in order to remedy the weakness of China’s administration. But who could then have believed that the damnable treasons of K’ang Yu-wei should be the means of thwarting your Majesties’ great plans? His Majesty the Emperor, by giving ear to the lying inventions of that traitor and his associates, if only for a little while, undoubtedly allowed his filial piety to suffer temporary decline. This was particularly the case when he wrote with his own Imperial hand a Decree stating that his reform proposals were being blocked by your Majesty and that, as you were opposed to the spirit of progress, your interference in State affairs was a danger to the nation. Towards me also His Majesty displayed his divine wrath, so that once more had your slave deserved the penalty of ‘axes and halberds.’ But when I sought your Majesty in secret audience and laid before you the details of the plot, once more did your Majesty, without a moment’s hesitation respond to our prayer and resume the control of affairs, swiftly visiting upon evildoers of that treacherous crew the might of your august displeasure.

“In the 26th year of Kuang-Hsü, certain Princes and Ministers, statesmen deficient in virtue, gained your Majesty’s ear, and even your divine wisdom was misled to believe in the unholy arts and magic of the Boxers until the ancestral shrines were the centre of cataclysmic disaster and the destinies of the Empire trembled in the balance. Again and again I besought your Majesty to put an end to these traitors, but could not gain your consent. I incurred at that time your censure on more than one occasion, and for forty days waited in my house fully expectant of doom. But even so your Majesty repeatedly sought my advice, and though it was not always followed, I was able to avert the crowning misfortune which would have resulted from the killing of the foreign Ministers. For this service your Majesty has since deigned frequently to express gratitude.

“When your Majesties left the city on your tour of inspection to Hsi-an, you decided upon punishing those evil-minded Princes and Ministers, and thereafter to introduce a policy of gradual and effective reform in every branch of the administration. Already, during the past two years, considerable progress has been made. By your return to the capital the sun has been restored to our firmament, and even the barbarians of the east and west have acclaimed your Majesty’s benevolence and impartial solicitude for all, Chinese and foreigners alike.

“For the past year I have been continually ill, but until two months ago was able to continue in the performance of my arduous duties. Since then I have been compelled to apply for sick-leave and have sought permission to resign my offices, but your Majesty sent eunuchs to me with gracious messages and presents of ginseng[124] and commanded that I should make all haste to recover and resume my duties.

“But even the beneficent protection of your Majesty has failed to avert from me the last ravages of illness. Repeated attacks of asthma, with increasing difficulty in breathing, have now brought me to the last stage of weakness and the very point of death. With my last breath I now entreat your Majesty vigorously to continue in the introduction of reforms, so that gradually our Middle Kingdom may attain to a condition as prosperous as that of the great States of Europe and Japan. During my tenure of the office of Grand Councillor I have seen many men appointed to offices for which they were by no means fitted; herein lies a source of weakness, but above all it is necessary that a radical change should be made in the selection of District Magistrates and in the methods by which taxation is levied and collected. It were well if the good example of economy which your Majesty is setting were more generally followed. In the seclusion of the Palace it is impossible for your Majesty to know the truth as to the condition of your subjects, and were it not for the prohibitive cost of transporting your enormous retinues, I should advise that the Throne should make regular tours of inspection in various parts of the Empire. His Majesty Ch’ien-Lung made several such tours, and among the wise sovereigns of ancient times the custom was regularly observed. At this moment my mind is becoming confused; I can say no more. Humbly do I pray that your Majesty’s fame may continue to grow, and that all my good wishes on your Majesty’s behalf may be fulfilled. Then, even though I die, yet shall I live.

“I have dictated this, my valedictory Memorial, to my adopted son, Liang Ku’ei, for transmission to your Majesty, in temporary residence at Pao-ting fu. Though conscious of its numerous shortcomings, for which I beg forgiveness, I reverently entreat your Majesty to peruse it. Prostrate before the Throne, with my dying breath, I, Jung Lu, now conclude my Memorial.

“(_Dated the 10th April, 1903._)”

XXVI

HER MAJESTY’S LAST DAYS.

In the summer of 1908 Tzŭ Hsi’s generally robust health showed signs of failing, a fact which is recorded in her valedictory Decree, and one of no small importance in considering the coincident fact of the illness of the Emperor. Of the causes and manner of the latter’s death, nothing will ever be definitely known; they lie buried with many another secret of the Forbidden City, in the hearts of Li Lien-ying and his immediate satellites. Even among the higher officials, Manchu and Chinese, of the capital, opinions differ, and many conflicting theories are current to account for the remarkable coincidence of the death of Tzŭ Hsi and her unhappy nephew on successive days. For those who seek it there is no lack of circumstantial evidence to justify the conclusion that the long-threatened Emperor was “removed” by the reactionaries, headed by the chief eunuch, who had only too good cause to fear his unfettered authority on the Throne. At the same time it is conceivably possible that many of the plots and proceedings of the Summer Palace at that time might have been unknown to Tzŭ Hsi, and that she was purposely kept in ignorance by those who foresaw the possibility of her early death and took their precautions accordingly, after the Oriental manner. Indeed, in the light of much trustworthy evidence of eye-witnesses, this seems a rational explanation of events to which any solution by theories of coincidence is evidently difficult. Most of the following account of Her Majesty’s last days is derived from the statements of two high officials, one Manchu and the other Chinese, who were at that time on duty with the Court. Their testimony and their conclusions coincide, on the whole, with those of the best-informed and most reliable Chinese newspapers, whose news from the capital is also generally from official sources. We accept them, naturally, with all reserve, yet with an inclination to give the Empress Dowager, on this occasion, the benefit of their good opinions and our own doubts. The simultaneous deaths may possibly have been due to natural causes, but it is to be observed by the most sympathetic critic, that the account given by Her Majesty’s loyal servants of her behaviour immediately after the Emperor’s death, is by no means suggestive of sorrow, but rather of relief.

It was in the previous autumn that the Emperor became very ill, so much so that he was gradually compelled during the last year of his life to desist from performance of the usual sacrifices, which entail no small expenditure of physical energy through their genuflections and continual prostrations. The impression gradually gained ground that His Majesty was not likely to live much longer, and it was remarked, and remembered as a significant fact, that the Old Buddha had some time before given orders for the engagement of special wet-nurses for the infant son of Prince Ch’un, born in February, 1906. It was understood that these orders implied the selection of this infant Prince to succeed Kuang-Hsü, but although many attempts were made to induce her to declare herself on this subject, she declined to do so on the ground that her previous experience had been unlucky, that her selections had been the cause of much misunderstanding, and that, moreover, it was a house-law of the Dynasty that the heir to the throne could only be lawfully selected when the sovereign was _in extremis_, a rule which she had completely disregarded in the nomination of Prince Tuan’s son in 1900.[125]