A CHINESE COURT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1166, 17 June 1911, Page 11

A CHINESE COURT.

At the formal recpption Leld recently by the Dowager Empress and the Emperor of China, Lady Jordan, the wife of tho doyen rf _ tho Corps Diplomatique, presented the fifteen European ladies who attended.

The Dowager Empress was seated on a throne, while tho five-year-old Emperor, who bears a striking resemblance to his uncle, tho late Emperor, occupied a smaller throne to this left of the Dowager Empress. The visitors bowed three times, and the Dowager Empress smilingly shook hands with the ladies, tho boy Emperor gravely bowing to each in turn.' Thero was a magnificent display of oxquisito yellow silk drapings in'the throneroom set off by the brilliancy of the Chinese costumes. The Government had obviously planned that the reception should be brief and formal, but while the Dowager Empress endeavoured to adhere to the procedure laid out, sho was amiably intent upon creating a favourable impression among the visitors. After a magnificent luncheon, the visitors inspected the Dowager Empress's private apartments which were a revelation of Oriental splendour.

The general impression of the visitors was that the -Dowager Empress is very well educated. According to tho statements of the Princesses at tho Court, her ability is greater, but sho is less ambitious than tho late Dowager Empress. Within tho palace she is supreme, and eign relations is receiving the serious consideration of the rival factions at Court, her desire to improve her personal for-