THE MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 38, 12 February 1873, Page 4

THE MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR OF CHINA.

(From the Pall Mall Gazette.) At an age when English boys are pursuing their studies at Eton or Harrow the Emperor of China has taken upon himself the responsibilities of matrimony. The telegram which proclaims the fact is brief in the extreme. We are merely told that " The Emperor of China was married at Peking on the 16th of October. There was no public ceremony outside the palace beyond the procession to bring the bride thither, and the whole affair passed off "very quietly.-'- The prosaic terms of ?this announcement are an accurate reflection of ) the mechanical nature of the contract.

Even the small degree of freedom which under the stringent rules of Chinese etiquette is accorded to private individuals is forbidden to. the Son of Heaven. In strict compliance with the laws laid down in the ." Rituals," tempered, it must be added, with no small amount of political jobbery, the officers appointed for the purpose select out of the email-footed inhabitants of China one io be the Empress. Her future husband's tastes are no more considered in the choice than if ha were a lay figure; and should tho laJy prove herself to be, as has sometimes been the case, tbe "better horse," he lapses into a nonentity, and takes refuge in the fascinations of- his harem from the worry of public affairs. In these fascinations lie the principal obstacles to the Emperors of China pursuing a career of usefulness aud honor, especially when, as in the present instance, tbe occupier cf the throne is but a boy. As there was no Court Newsman present oa tbe 16' th of October to chronicle all that was done and said within the palace, and as tho "Rituals" are silent as to any special form of ceremony on the occasion of an Imperial wedding, we must take it for granted that no more intricate service was then performed than that, required to unite a Squire Chang with a Miss Lew. But with regard to the constitution of tbe Imperial household the above-mentioned " Rituals" give us fuller information. The number of the wives and concubines is so arranged as to form a series in geometrical progression with 3 as its common ratio. Thus, by law — for the " Rituals " have tho force of law — the Emperor is compelled to take unto himself, besides the Empress, three ladies as pelitesfemm.es of the first degree — these have already been selected for bis Imperial Majesty — nine of the second degree, twenty-seven of the third degree, aud nine times nine concubines. Witb equal precision the various duties of these ladies are minutely laid down, and not much more latitude as to the choice of his companions appears to be allowed to the Emperor after his marriage than in the original selection of the members of his household. For instance, no matter on what terms he may happen to be with tho Empress, he is obliged in compliance with an ancient theory sanctioned by Confucius and hallowed by the approval of the wisest men of China, to seek her society alone, at the recurrence of every full moon, and only then. As the moons wax and wane, rules equally stringent meet him at every turn, and unless he be strong enough to throw aside his Ritualistic trammels, be must submit to a life of dull routine. But while the "Rituals" present such an abject picture of the Imperial life, they provide abundant and varied occupation for the inmates of the harem. The numerous sacrifices, rites, and duties connected with the internal administration of the palace, apart from all political intriguing, leave the Empress and the three principal pelites femmes little time in which to be idle. To each of the nine petites femmes of tbe second rank is told off a " squad '' of nine of the eighty-one concubines, for instruction in all tbe arts and accomplishments which adorn female life in China; in sacrificial and religious rites tbey take part, and they attend on the Empress when she receives visitors. To duties of the same kind is added, in the case of the rank below these, the superintendence of tho women servants of the palace. Prom each of the eightyone concubines is annually expected a a certain amount of plain and embroidered work. On the occasion of the funeral of the Empress they hold the wings which decorate the coffin, and on the decease of any great personage within tho palace it falls to their lot to wash the head of the corpse. One more thing is required of them, compared with which every other duty appears a&Jight as air — to their tack and pursuasive powers is entrusted the responsibility of suppressing the jealousies which not unnaturally arise in a household consisting of a hundred and twenty ladies and one lord. Of the personal character of the young Emperor little or nothing is known outside the yellow-tiled walls of the Palace, He is said to be childish in. his tastes and amusements; and if this be true, surrounded as he is by all that is calculated to foster idleness and sensuality, ..the prospect of the future before him is not encouraging. Tho stuff of which the Emperors who founded and established the present dynasty were made seems ~to have disappeared with the urgent necessity for constant and vigorous action. It is difficult to recognise in the last occupant of the throne— who before he was thirty died, it may fairly „be said, of , a too yielding obedience to the " Rituals "-—a descendant of men like Kang-he or I_i__lung, each of whom ruled the millions of China for sixty years, and, dying, left monuments of their literary and administrative ability, , which wiU last as long „as China remains an empire,; arid its language' .endures to vexvfche i-teUige'hce : '^of : -' ; '^bipße. who' attempt to pry into its mysteries. ' :