The evening world. Newspaper, August 25, 1922, Page 10

Who Will Lady Tuan and Lady Jung, Already Selected to Be His Royal Consorts in the Palace of Weeds and Cobwebs, Give the Deposed Boy Ruler His Only Relief From Monotony by Their Plotting Against Each Other and Against the Third Wife, Who Wiii Be Above Them in Rank ? By J. B. Calvo. Bret Harte said of the Chinee. @epyright, 1922 (New York By ‘by Press Publishing Comp HINA'S unhappy boy Emperor, one of the’ most pathetic figures in the world to-day, is to be married to three wives in Octo- ber. That is, he will have a triple wedding unless the curse that has darkened his days since birth does mot prevent the ceremonies for lack of money. Two beautiful, high-born girls have been selected as brides of the youthful Emperor, who is only seventeen. A third, who ts to be the principal wife (under the curious Chinese court cus- tom), is being carefully sought among the eligibles by those who still cherish the hope that Hsuan Tung, the sad- faced deposed ruler, may some day once more mount his throne and rule the destinies of ‘the Heavenly King- Bwice Hsuan Tung han been Em- ; Courtyard of the Imperial Palace, Peking, where the wedding will take place. Note, how weeds are springing up through the cracks in the pavement. peror of China, Twice he has been deposed. To-day he is a prisoner in the neglected palace of his exarred forebears, surrounded by grafting and intriguing attendants who rob him at every opportunity. These attendants spend most of their time in constant plots ta their own ends, seeking pow- e against the day when favor with Hsvan Tung may be favor with the ruler of the Celestial Kingdom. Heuan Tung (which means “Mak- ing Laws for the Universe’) was born Pu Yi, son of the youngest brother of Emperor polsoned by order of the woman who, until the creation of the first republic, was Empress Dowager and ruled’ the land The Empress Dowager died under mysterious circumstances shortly af- @er her husband was murdered, and the powers behind the throne elevated Pu Yi to the throne, chiefly because ne was but a child. It was then that he was given the name of Hsuan ‘Pung, and his father ruled for him as regent, although the real power lay in the hands of scheming politicians of the court. “Wor ways that are dark and for tricks that are vain," the court jmirigues of China are pgculian aa From his birth, Hs the centre of a hot The court was under the domination of what rightfully w Wolves and the fo) and coneubines of thi These, under pecullar Chinese cus- toms, may rise to ¢ the G ways be reckonéd with in the court be, obtained Euroy tutors for his son. His education was divided between th French and the the Occident. 7. just launched upon this study and was only six, there came the first revolution of 1911, and the boy ruler was deposed. an ‘Tung was dof intrigue, called “the the eunuchs former rulers influence in ernment and they must al- this court all the tr toms of the court obtained, ‘The boy was as much ar as befor influence and authority was tre mendously lessened. A bare handful of the faithful remained his subject of the 400,000,000 over whom he once had been supreme took up his re ace. That the Chinese, who were very j of their new-found liberty and free dom, But soon it became appa that Yuan § frustrated and Y just as he was on the point of being murdered. He had a natural der by accident death the chaos reigned. 7 m Will Fate Sel ilitlens and cus ror in his prison ible sphere of my only h Yuan Shi Kal, the first President. nee in the main pal d logical, at first, to mm nt hi Kal had ambitions, for conducted ceremonies which had been reserved only for the Emperor and a Manehu, and it began to be whispered that the President was pay ing the would ¢ Emperor and thus to found a new dynas ay for a coup d'etat that able him to proclaim himself Alas for his plans! ‘Phey all were wn Shi Kal died isc as it wel With his jovernment collapsed and kaleidoscoph The Prince Regent, perhaps out of cycle of events brought first one ely Ipful an injection of Western civi- tion into Chinese thought might n nurses and traditional thinese learning and English and arts and sciences of n, when he was In other countries the youthful monarch, descendant of a long line of sorrow for the unfortunate boy, per- ment and then another into power, haps with a vision that foresaw how GILLIAMS SERVICE Mlustrous Manchus, would have been exiled, if not killed, In gentle China his fate was to be shut up in one of the minor palaces, with a govern- mental allowance for his upbringing and provision for a retinue of servants and attendants Lefitting his rank. mn 3) Sdises and on one of these upturns the boy Emperor was restored to his throne. On that memorable night in 1919 the unhappy boy Was awakened from his sleep in the middle of the night by the leaders of the then victorious faction and carried into the throne _THE EVENING 2Oim.ee. In this historic bridal chariot the Principal Wife, clad in her robe of jewels, on her October wedding night will be borne throuogh the famous East Gate and to the Court of Hsuan Tung, while the two other wives, in less ornate chariots, will approach by other gates, J rn a ee WORLD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, palace while frankly dictat guarded the f uing marriage, or, bet the payment en few and far between and pocketed by unserupulous attendants, ay he is kept a pris- In what was once on most gorgeous palaces palace covers acres of groun fully laid out nd flowers everywhere, Glimp- Many of the buildings, ir once brightly painted roofs, funds with which to keep ne marble stal! neglected and look unt between the pleasure boat of marble that was once f the few privileged GILLIAMS SERVICE PROTO urists who were permitted to see it, @ marble bout floats tdly in the Slagnating waters of Lotus Lake. 2 froxs er dismally and the drag flies which fistle over desert od places that were sung by Chines poets even be Christian era began in the Western World, It is to this neglected palace t) the young bo: eror will bring hit three brides Government is able to supply the funds for the elab- orate marriage ceremonies Hsuan Tung ts engaged to the Lady Jung, a celebrated Chi beauty, and to the Lady Tuan, and these two selections have met with general favor because each of the fiancer represents a different and powerful family In the land and neither bride {s destined to be the important one: Three wives is the absolute mir mum to which the dome&t establls! ment of a Chinese me ch limited, but whatever the numb wives there always is one known a the p 1 wife—she who enters the palace for the wedding by th famous east gate, that is reserve! only for royalty and wears the m. vellous wedding gown of the Mar chue, which has not a piece of clotl in it, but 1s composed entirely of pre- clous gems. On the wedding night in Octoher the three brides palace by different ind she who enters by the east gate is the one who will consider the other two her Infertors, All three will be eon veyed In the famous bridal chariots of gaudy gilt and lacquer, but the one for the bride who comes throuz) the royal gate will be gaudier and more lacquered than the others. The brides’ thickly hung with costly . will be borne by espe clatly en wedding porters and preceded by prayer bringers, who will scatter the many blessings, rice paper, over the court. mperor, as his brides ar rive, will stand, while all the court hows deeply, and inasmuch as the young ruler will never have laid eyes upon any of his brides, It 1s very likely that he will be wondering what they will look like when their faces are uncovered to his view. He has not long to wait. After the profound bow of the court the Em- peror will take an echony bow and shoot a golden arrow at the curtain of each bridal chair, ‘This ts to drive away any evil spirits lurking there. Then he will step to the chair of the Brkie of the East Gate and lift up the curtain for “The First Ceremonial Look,” as it ts called, From the Principal Bride he will go to the chairs of the other two ant vepeat the ceremony of “The First Ceremonial Look.” It tm then that the Emperor may nee his brides to: the first time and It is then that the brides begin the coquetry by which each, in hor heart of hearts, hopes to become the ruler’s favorite. ‘The principal bride, by virtue of her post- , will have a head start over her two rivals, but it often has happened that minor wives, and even mere con- cubines, have gained the Emperor's favor and virtually ruled through his handa, Such 1s the prospect confronting the wistful boy Emperor—three wives in league against each other to curry his favor and win his indulgence and poison his mind against themselves in their husband's heart, all imprisoned behind the mournful walls of what was once China's gay court. The monotony imprisonment will le broken only by intrigues of the cou ‘of whom hope that some u enter the mperor may again ascend t And he may, He may Shir un, and that is why his a) proaching marriages Interest not on China but the discreetly wateli ui offices of the V/estern powe: