LAST OF CHINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 51, 1 March 1934, Page 11

LAST OF CHINGS

EMPEEOB KANaTEE

PICTURESQUE CEREMONY.

(Received March 1, 1 p.m.) ■ SHANGHAI, This Day. Henry Pa Vi, last1 of the three hund-red-year-old Ching Dynasty, who; as a ! baby of three was called from Ms nursery to occupy China's renowned dragon throne, and who a few years later was forced to abdicate when China became a Republic, was made Emperor of the newly-established Manchurian Empire at sunrise today, when he assumed the dynastic name of Emperor Kangteh. To signalise: the enthronement a large number of political and criminal prisoners were amnestied and confiscated property was restored. .Today's ceremonies make Pu Ti not only the newest ruling sovereign in the world, but the youngest new Emperor, being only 2d, with a. salary' of five • million, dollars a year. Manehukno will hereafter be known as "The Great TVtanchu Empire." ■ '..''■;. Owing to her delicate health the Emperor's wife, whom Pu Vi married - at th& age of thirteen, did not partici-* pate in the ceremonies. ' Lasting only twenty minutes the religious ceremonies, which conferred on. the youthful Manehu nobleman the title of "God's Eegent on -Earth," were notable for their simplicity, picturesquenesS; dignity, and brevity, contrasting strikingly with the- previous enthronement rites of the old Chinese' Empire, which were long and elaborate, and marked with almost barbaric splendour. '■.■■■- CURIOUS BITUAL. Today's ritual was a curious intermingling of the ancient classical rites of the Chou Dynasty, dating back three thousand years, and modern practices in which automobiles, 'cameramen, aeroplanes, and wireless broadcasts figured conspicuously. Pu Vi, who wore gorgeous Manchij Tobes of dazzling. red and blue, embroidered with golden dragons, orchids, and Chinese ideographs, presented a remarkable appearance against a dralji background, as he proceeded to per-' form the rites which culminated in his ascension to the kingship, ■ At daybreak the slender raven-haired, bespectacled Chief Executive,, emerging from an American limousine, ascended a special" "Altar of Heaven" erected tinder a. frozen firmament ia the bleak desert far beyond the city, offering the Sun Goddess successive sacrifices and becoming the "Son o£ Heaven," the ruling sovereign of Manchuria's thirty-two millions. Most of Manchuria -was still asleep when the new Emperor was preparing to_ wear the celestial mantle of Tulership. _No mundane noises of human, activities were permitted to mar the celestial quiet and solemnity of the Imperial, ritual. All traffic and industry, communications by rail and road, wera hushed, while thousands of Manchukuo soldiers guarded the -route from the Imperial Palace to the sacrificial Altar of Heaven. : Except for a few high-ranking Japanese officials, no outsiders were permitted to gaze as Pu Vi was making hi 3 solemn ministration to heaven. Civil rites followed later at the Chief Executive's residence. A few foreigners were invited. . ■' '-