THE CHINESE COURT.

Evening Star, Issue 12764, 17 March 1906, Page 5

THE CHINESE COURT.

Mrs Carl, an American lady, who had the exceptional honor of being commissioned to paint a portrait of the DowagerEmpress \ of China, has written a book—a breach of etiquette, she admits—on her experiences at the Chinese Court. She gives a most pleasing and surprising account of the famous lady into whose society she was, in virtue of her art, so intimately brought. Among other details, she gives a full account of the Empress-Dowager's day—her rising up and lying down, her toilet, heT meals, and the etiquette which she rigorously maintains. She only took two meals' a day—"early rice," corresponding to our lunchfton, and " late rice," being our dinner She had no fixed hours for these meals, though they must have required some preparation, as geese, sucking pigs, and fowls, under which the table groaned, cannot be had at a "moment's notice. There is also a good deal about the Chinese system of marriage. There is' the primary wife; and after her, if we understand Mrs Carl, as many "secondary" wives as a man can afford. But these are all wives, not concubines, and have the same status as the primary wife. The young Empress is described as a very charming young lady, pretty and gracious, with the most winning manners. Chinese ./beauties in general are described in language very inconsistent with our preconceived ideals. 'They have long or oval faces, well-sliapen, rather-.-hirn'jtoses,' beautiful brown eyesj and silky.. hair, arid the portraits here given justify the description. Daughters, however, in China are considered "a misfortune, one of.the flls that must be endured,'' one reason-bemg that daughter* aie jaat able "to sacrifice to

the ancestors." Among the Manchus, however, though' sons are preferred, the daughters occupy a .higher position than among the Chinese, who seem to stand in the same relation t» the Manchus as the Saxon did to the Normans. The Chinese say "that the only unmarried woman in the -world whose position, is analogous to that of the American girl in her own family is the Manchu girl," who enjoys great liberty, and possesses, great authority. Old maids, however, are regarded with great reverence in China, and, if old enough at their death, have monuments greeted to their memory. All Chinese rites "and ceremonies, whether civil or religious, are described at length. The only religion in China which, according lo Mrs Carl, lias, any reality in it, is the worship of Nature, for " the glorification of the Invisible Deity," and the Emperor is the one high priest. More than this, he holds himself responsible for the misfortunes of the Empire, and, as the "Son of Heaven," one of his titles is the Expiator.