CHAPTER XXI.
ASSEMBLY OF THE GREAT PRINCES OF THE EMPIRE.
The audience-chamber of the Emperor was a vast square hall of greatheight. The ceiling was of pale green, sculptured in devices, anddecorated with paintings, charged at intervals with the Emperor's crestin gold. The walls were smooth and without other ornament than thecarved window frame, which was set with panes of richly painted paper.The roof was supported by rows of columns, elaborately sculptured andjapanned, which rested upon a pavement of the rarest veined marble, ofso high a polish that it reflected the whole interior.
In the centre stood a lofty alcove, above which, upon a drapery ofyellow silk, were embossed in pale blue enamel the words "Ching Hoang,"(Holy Emperor). Beneath, upon a dais, ascended by a flight of broadsteps was a throne of frosted gold, surmounted and upheld by dragons ofthe same metal, but burnished, and whose claws rested upon a carpet ofblue velvet, besprinkled with the same monsters in silver.
Opposite the throne upon a raised platform, were placed several vesselsof the precious metals, filled with incense, which, as it burned, sentforth a delicious perfume, and candlesticks ingeniously wrought into theshape of animals.
From the throne to the end of the wall, ranged so as to form an alley,stood the great officers of state, attired in large flowing robes ofsilk, flounced with gold, and bearing on their breasts the insignia oftheir different dignities; those belonging to the military departmentwearing golden buttons on their caps and tigers or lions on theirbreasts, while the civil officers, who were of higher rank, wore birdsin place of beasts. At the back of these mandarins were other officers,bearing umbrellas of silk brocade, fringed with gold; there were alsomany who wore the button of an inferior rank, and who wore large fans ofsilk, embroidered with gold; others with large standards, sprinkled withgolden stars, dragons, the sun, and the moon in all its quarters, torepresent the twenty-eight mansions of the heavens, and theirconjunctions and oppositions with the sun, as they appear in theintersections of the circles, which the astronomers call the dragon'shead and tail. Near the walls stood a number of mandarins of inferiorrank, both civil and military, bearing maces, axes, hammers, and swords.Upon the steps of the throne stood the princes of the blood, attired inthe costumes of their civil or military rank, the only tokens of theirimperial blood, being the large yellow or red girdle, and the circleinstead of the square in which the bird or beast is worn upon thebreast.
The left hand being the place of honor in China, on that side of thethrone stood the imperial but unfortunate Prince, Yong-Li, a youth offifteen years of age, near to whom stood the aged Woo, whose office,that of a colao or censor, was at once the most dangerous and mostpopular in the empire, his duty being to check the great mandarins, andeven the Emperor himself, in the wrong exercise of their authority. Thisofficer may be termed the representative of that public opinion in Chinawhich moulds its irresponsible despotism somewhat to the shape of aconstitutional government. One step lower, in the full costume oftsong-tou (a great viceroy), stood the Prince Woo-san-Kwei. This princewas the son of the censor Woo, and one of the most remarkable men of histime. He was tall and stately, and, like the rest of the nobles of theMing dynasty, wore his hair in long and luxuriant tresses; moreover,like his parent Woo, he wore the circle upon his breast, and around hiswaist the girdle of red, which betokened him to be of the second rank ofthe princes of the blood. Upon the opposite side of the throne, and onestep nearer, as became his closer relationship to the monarch, stood thefirst prince of the yellow girdle, Li-Kong, a man whose influence uponthose tempestuous times was as remarkable for bad as that ofWoo-san-Kwei was for good; he was also a tang-tou.
Next this prince, in their robes of office, stood the colaos, orministers of state, and with them an officer whose bird-embroidered robeand cap betokened him a mandarin of letters of the highest rank in thegreat college of Han-Lin. This officer was tutor to the heir to thethrone, but in addition held an office so peculiar that I do not thinkyou will accuse me of tediousness if I tell you something about it. Hewas the chief historian of the empire, an appointment which, if carriedout with similar integrity, would be creditable to other empires besidesChina.
"These historians," says a writer who resided within the walls of thepalace thirty years, "consist of a certain number of men, who, for theirlearning and impartiality are purposely chosen for this office. Theirbusiness is to observe narrowly not only the actions but the words ofthe Emperor, which, without communication with the others, each mustwrite upon a loose piece of paper, and put it through a chink into anoffice set apart for the purpose.
"In these papers both the Emperor's virtues and faults are set down withthe same liberty and impartiality. 'Such a day,' say they, 'theEmperor's behavior was unseasonable and intemperate; he spoke after amanner which became not his dignity. The punishment which he inflictedon such an officer was rather the effect of his passion than the resultof his justice. In such an affair, he stopped the sword of justice, andabrogated the just sentence of the magistrate.' Or else, 'The Emperorentered courageously into a war for the defence of his people and forthe maintenance of the honor of his empire; and, notwithstanding thecommendations given him by his flatterers, he was not puffed up, butbehaved himself modestly, his words were tempered with all the sweetnessand humility possible, which made him more loved and admired by hiscourt than ever.'
"Such is the way in which they record down all that occurs; but thatneither fear on the one side, nor hope on the other, may bias men togive a partial record of the Emperor, the office wherein these papersare kept is never opened during the life of the sovereign, or while anyof his family sit upon the throne. When, however, the imperial dignitypasses into another family, all these loose memoirs are gatheredtogether, compared, and a history composed, that either hands down theEmperor as an example to posterity, or exposes him to the censure andodium of the nation, if he has been negligent of his own duty and hispeople's good. Thus is it the interest of the Emperor to be circumspect,and cautious how he behaves himself during his reign."
With reference to the history of events and the progress of the peoplegenerally, it is the custom for each city to keep an exact record ofevery memorable event as it happens, its most remarkable places andinhabitants, good or bad; moreover, of their manners and customs; andalthough there are many who, by offering bribes to the governor, obtainhonorable mention in these annals, upon the whole the accounts areconsidered to be tolerably accurate, for at the end of every forty yearsthe mandarins of every city assemble and examine the accounts, andexpunge what they deem unfit to remain recorded.
Theoretically, the will of the emperor is the only law; the lives,fortunes, and worldly happiness of his subjects depend upon its wildestcaprice; but, in reality, it is only theoretically, for in the words ofanother great authority, who not only resided at the court of Pekin somethirty years, but absolutely held office therein. "One would imaginethat this unlimited power of the Emperor would often occasion veryunfortunate events in the government, and indeed it sometimes hath, asnothing in this world is without its alloy of inconvenience, yet so manyare the provisions and so wise the precautions which the laws haveprescribed to prevent them, that a prince must be wholly insensible ofhis own reputation and even interest, as well as the public good, whocontinues long in the abuse of his authority; for if he hath any regardfor his own reputation, there are three things which will prevail withhim to govern by justice, not passion: first, the old laws, given fromthe foundation of the empire, have laid it down as a standing maxim,that kings are properly the fathers of their people, _and not mastersplaced upon the throne only to be served by slaves_. The words initalics contain a doctrine, by the way, that our first James strived sohard to inculcate, that it ultimately led to a revolution in England,not very dissimilar to that in China, of which I am now writing. Suchhaving been the teaching of those law-givers, Confucius and others, whoare to the present day venerated as deities in China, the Emperor'sproudest title of honor has been in all ages Ta-fou" (t
hat is,grandfather).
This theory of what the Emperor should be, is so deeply imprinted in theminds of the people and the mandarins, that, when they offer praises,whether deserved or not, it is based upon his presumed affection for hispeople. The teachers and philosophers continually set forth in theirbooks that the state is but a large family, and that he who knows howto govern the one is best capable of governing the other; so that, ifthe Emperor neglects, never so little, the practice of this maxim, hemay be a great warrior, an able politician, a learned man, and yet meetwith neither love nor esteem from his people. Indeed, they value himonly as they believe he is, or is not, a father to them.
Thus, as I have shown you, not only the censor, but, in a lesser degree,every mandarin may tell the Emperor of his faults, provided it be in amanner agreeable to that veneration and profound respect which is due tohis office. The manner, however, in which this is done, is somewhatroundabout. The mandarin who perceives any thing in the Emperor'sconduct contrary to the maxims laid down in the sacred books, draws up arequest, in which, after having set forth the respect which he bearstoward his majesty, he most humbly prays that he will please to reflectupon the ancient laws and good examples of his great predecessors. Thisrequest lies upon a table among many other petitions, which are dailypresented and which the Emperor is obliged to read; and if he does notchange his conduct, the petition is repeated again and again till theend has been gained, or the mandarin himself punished for hispresumption. The latter, however, never happens, except with bad andtyrannical Emperors.