Le Roman de la Cité Interdite (Tale of the Forbidden City) by Asada Jirô

I went to visit Le Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen today to see the special exhibition for Japanese art. After the visit, I bought a novel written by a Japanese author called Asada Jirô in the gift shop. The novel `Le Roman de la Cité Interdite`(Tale of the Forbidden City) has been translated into French in 2008. It recounts the intrigues in the Qing court during the Guangxu era, roughly from 1886 to 1898, told from the perspective of an intellectual from the low class named Wen-sieou, who aided Guangxu Emperor with his reform in 1898. The novel is divided into two volumes, `Le Mandat du Ciel`(The Mandate of Heaven) and `Le Dragon à Deux Têtes` (The Dragon of two heads).

It cost me 20 Euros, however, after searching on the internet, I found that there is neither Chinese nor English version for this book, thus it`s worth the money. But later, a French friend who is learning Chinese as well as a fan of China told me that he has the book and is currently reading it. Anyway, it`s always nice to have your own, especially for one like me who needs to improve the level in French.

I browsed a few pages of the book and would like to share one exerpt.

A scene in 1889, when Cixi was about to `hand over` power to Guangxu:

(Guangxu)-Mère, j`ai maintenant dix-neuf ans, l`âge qu`avait votre fils quand il a quitté ce monde. Je vous entourerai de piété filiale, puisqu`il n`a pu le faire.

(-Mother, I'm now nineteen years old, the age when your son left the world. I will revere you with filial piety as he could no longer do it)

Quel enfant innocent, songea Cixi. Il portait à merveille son titre de 'Fils du Ciel'.

(What an innocent child, thought Cixi. He wore the title ' Son of Heaven' marvellously.)

-Quand j`étais tout petit, vous m`appeliez Zaichun. Je trouvais cela étrange. Et quand j`en ai compris la raison, j`ai décidé de devenir le sosie de mon cousin.

(-When I was very young, you used to call me Zaichun. I found it strange. However, ever since I understood the reason, I had decided to become the resemblance of your son)

(Cixi) -Pourtant, je te battais. Je t`ai traité brutalement depuis ta tendre enfance, et hier encore, avant-hier même, je t`ai frappé. Pourquoi me dis-tu cela？

(-But still, I used to beat you. I have been treating you brutally since your fagile childhood. Both yesterday and the day before yesterday, I punched you. Why do you still speak to me like this? )

-Vous me frappiez sans doute parce que je ne parvenais pas à ressembler à votre fils. Tout est de ma faute. C`est à cause de mon manque de piété filiale que vous me maltratiez.

(-Undoubtedly, you punched me because I didn't manage to resemble your son. It's all my fault. It's my lack of filial piety that led to your mistreating me. )

-Non, non. J`étais seulement énervée de te voir si bon. Hier encore, quand tu m`as apporté ces magnifiques pivoines, je te les ai arrachées des mains et je t`ai frappé...Jamais mon propre fils n`aurait fait une chose pareille. Il était stupide, grossier, chaque nuit il quittait le palais en cachette pour se rendre chez les grues des bas quartiers de la capitale, tant et si bien qu`il est mort de la vérole.

(-No, no. I was only nervous to see you looking so good. Yesterday, when you brought me those magnificent peonies, I scratched your hands and punched you...My own son would never do such a thing. He was stupid and gross. Every night he left the palace in secret for the prostitutes' in the filthy districts of the capital, that's how he died of syphilis.)

-Mère! fit l`empereur en serrant Cixi contre son coeur. Arrêtez! Je suis un disciple de Confucius, il est normal que je manifeste un dévouement filial envers vous. Si vous m`ordonniez de mourir, je le ferias avec joie. Ne pleurez plus!

(-Mother! Exclaimed the emperor while holding Cixi against his heart. Stop! I'm a disciple of Confucius, thus it's normal that I show filial loyalty towards you. If you order me to die, I would be willing to die with joy. Please do not cry!

Here is the link of the book on amazon.

http://www.amazon.fr/roman-Cit%C3%A9-interdite-Jir%C3%B4-Asada/dp/2877305805

Guangxu Emperor in 'Two Years in the Forbidden City'

'Two Years in the Forbidden City' is an authentic account of the Chinese imperial life in last several years of Qing Dynasty. It was written by Princess Der ling (1885~1943), elder daughter of the Chinese ambassador to France Yugeng. She served as private secretary of Empress Dowager Cixi for from 1903 to 1905, helping her with diplomatic affaires. Brought up in Japan and European countries, Princess Der ling and her sister Rong ling received a western education. She spoke English, French, Spanish and Japanese and used to learn western dancing from Isabella Duncan. During her two years' stay in the Imperial City, young Der ling observed the people around her as well as the customs of her age-old motherland carefully. Her writings have provided us with an interesting insight into life at the Qing Imperial Court.

Among all the people she had encountered, Der ling showed a particular empathy towards Emperor Guangxu, as she recounted the following:

I saw Emperor Kwang Hsu (Guangxu) every morning, and whenever I had the time he would always ask some words in English. I was surprised to learn that he knew quite a bit of spelling, too. I found him extremely interesting. He had very expressive eyes. He was entirely a different person when he was alone with us. He would laugh and tease, but as soon as he was in the presence of Her Majesty he would look serious, and as if he were worried to death. At times he looked stupid. I was told by a great many people who were presented to him at the different audiences that he did not look intelligent, and that he would never talk. I knew better, for I used to see him every day. I was at the Court long enough to study him, and found him to be one of the most intelligent men in China. He was a capital diplomat and had wonderful brains, only he had no opportunities. Now a great many people have asked me the same question, if our Emperor Kwang Hsu had any courage or brains. Of course outsiders have no idea how strict the law is, and the way we have to respect our parents. He was compelled to give up a great many things on account of the law. I have had many long talks with him and found him a wise man, with any amount of patience. His life was not a happy one; ever since his childhood his health was poor. He told me that he never had studied literature very much, but it came natural to him. He was a born musician and could play any instrument without studying. He loved the piano, and was always after me to teach him. There were several beautiful grand pianos at the Audience Hall. He had very good taste for foreign music, too. I taught him some easy waltzes and he kept the time beautifully. I found him a good companion and a good friend, and he confided in me and told me his troubles and sorrows. We talked a great deal about western civilization, and I was surprised to learn he was so well informed in everything. He used to tell me, time after time, his ambitions for the welfare of his country. He loved his people and would have done anything to help them whenever there was famine or flood. I noticed that he felt for them. I know that some eunuchs gave false reports about his character, -- that he was cruel, etc. I had heard the same thing before I went to the Palace. He was kind to the eunuchs, but there was always that distinction between the master and the servants. He would never allow the eunuchs to speak to him unless they were spoken to, and never listened to any kind of gossip. I lived there long enough, and I know just what kind of cruel people those eunuchs were. They had no respect for their master. They came from the lowest class of people from the country, had no education, no morals, no feeling for anything, not even between themselves. The outside world has heard so many things against His Majesty, the Emperor Kwang Hsu's character, but I assure my readers that these things were told by the eunuchs to their families, and of course they always stretched it out as far as possible in order to make the conversation interesting. The majority of the people living in Peking get all kinds of information through them. I have witnessed the same thing many a time during my stay at the Palace.

--- Chapter 9, Two Years in the Forbidden City, by Princess Der ling

Der ling finally left the imperial palace partly because Cixi wanted her to go, partly because she realized that it was impossible for her to persuade Cixi to implement real reform in China. Being a member of the Manchu noble clan, it is not hard to understand that Der ling personally regretted for the fall of Qing dynasty, as she went so far as to claim later in her life that 'If Guangxu Emperor were able to implement his reforms, I believe that China would still be a strong Empire by now'. However, history wouldn't be allowed for a second chance.

After leaving the Imperial court in 1905, Princess Der ling married an American dentist and moved to live in the US. She had two sons but they both died young. Afterwards, she might have divorced with her husband. Princess Der ling died in 1943 in Canada, after being mortally injured in a car accident.

'Two Years in the Forbidden City' is Der ling's most authentic work while the others were more or less forged.

The Tragic Life of Guangxu Emperor---Part I. From Prince to Emperor

Guangxu Emperor's calligraphic writing

The young Guangxu Emperor riding a horse, accompanied by eunuchs

Guangxu Emperor (1871.8.14~1908.11.14) was the second to last Chinese emperor. He was a handsome, intelligent and open-minded man who selflessly loved his people throughout his reign and embraced western ideologies such as that of constitutional monarchy. However, such a man was doomed to become one of the most tragic rulers in Chinese history.

Born as the eldest living son to the 1st Prince Chun and Lady Yehenara the younger , and being given the birth name Zai'tian in 1871, it seemed that the little boy would spend all his life in the quiet prince manor and devote all his heart to family affections, as his father Prince Chun never meant to pursue an ambitious political career. However, the death of the 19-year-old Tongzhi Emperor who was Zai'tian's cousin in 1875 changed the whole destiny of the 4-year-old boy. As Tongzhi Emperor died without any issue and had no brothers, the question of who would be the heir to the throne was immediately raised. Tongzhi's mother, Lady Yehenara the elder, the then Empress Dowager Cixi decided to adopt Zai'tian, son of her sister and her brother-in-law as her own son and thus make him the new emperor , by intent of her gripping the supreme power still, despite the fact that Zai'tian was not next in line of succession according to Qing rules. But as real power had always been in Cixi's hand, no one could oppose her decision effectively. It is said that when Prince Chun received the imperial edict that his son would succeed as Emperor of China, he wept so bitterly that he fainted on the floor.

That was the beginning of all tragedy. When the carriage came to the prince manor to take Zai'tian to the Forbidden City that night, the boy was sound asleep in his sweet dreams, unaware of the glory and misfortune awaiting him, of which the glory would be but a shell while the misfortune be the substantial fruit. As soon as Zai'tian arrived at the imperial palace, Empress Dowager Cixi proclaimed him to be the Guangxu Emperor (which means 'the Glorious Succession'.In fact, Cixi only meant to make him the continuation rather than the successor of her own dead son, as she ordered Guangxu Emperor to succeed the reign of her husband instead of that of her son, thus the heir to throne after Guangxu would succeed her son). Cixi also forbade Zai'tian from visiting his birth parents except on official occasions when he could see his father, but only as emperor and minister. In order to tame Guangxu and to make him obey her even after he grew up, Cixi made every effort to make herself an authoritarian father figure in front of the child emperor. She ordered Guangxu to call her 'biological father' while he would call Empress Dowager Ci'an (Empress consort of Xian'feng Emperor, to whom Cixi was only a high-rank concubine) 'mother'. Cixi treated the young emperor with harsh words and severe countenance, even whipping him on several occasions for his 'misconduct'. Guangxu would fear her throughout his life and would always submit to this 'father' in front of her, but on the other hand, a strong will of resistence and rebel to Cixi grew from the bottom of his heart. The emperor's double personality layed down the pebbles of path towards his own doom.

The young Guangxu Emperor was a sickly child, often unfit for any study or entertainment. In addition, he was afraid of the thunders and often stuttered when speaking. Yet, such a sensitive child by no means received the care he needed. The eunuchs in court often made better of him due to his youth. The food served to him was neither rotten or cold, and if the young emperor asked the imperial cooks to remake one, the eunuchs would report this to Cixi, who would in return reproach the emperor for his 'not being frugal'.

Guangxu Emperor began to receive formal education when he reached 5. The famous scholar and calligraphor Weng Tonghe was appointed as his tutor. Weng made up his mind to cultivate Guangxu into a sage and benevolent ruler who could hopefully save China from being humiliated and pillaged. He not only taught the boy Confucian classics, but also provided him with new books introducing basic knowledge about the Western world. After a difficult start, Guangxu Emperor gradually grew an

enduring interest in learning. He became proficient in calligraphy as well as in writing poems and essays. He especially enjoyed reading books about the Western way of living and thinking. Under Weng's guidance, Guangxu also formed the conception of loving his people at an early age, which can be reflected in his juvenile writings. He once pointed the character of 'wealth' to Weng, saying that he prefered 'frugality' to the former.

Without the love of parents and companionship of friends, Guangxu regarded the caring Weng Tonghe as his mentor, protector and even a loving father. During a holiday period for Weng, the young emperor stayed depressed all day long.Once Weng returned, Guangxu grabbed both of his hands and exclaimed delightfully, 'I have been missing you for such a long time!' Then the emperor returned to his study and began to work more diligently than ever before.

Another loving figure in Guangxu's childhood was Empress Dowager Ci'an, whom Guangxu addressed as 'Mother'. Affectionate, generous and benevolent, Ci'an was an entirely different woman from Cixi. She should have been a model of good mother, the only pity was that she had no child of her own. However, when Cixi's son was alive, he preferred Ci'an to his own mother, which irritated Cixi. And again, Cixi's own nephew, Guangxu, would feel closer to Ci'an than to his aunt. Unfortunately, Empress Ci'an died suddenly in 1881( many attributed her death to poisoning by Cixi, but no strong proof has been found). The sentimental emperor would weep for her even one month after her death. Indeed, Guangxu Emperor should be sad: he might only know by that time that he had lost a motherly figure, however, he might not be aware that the strongest political balance against Cixi also extinguished in the meantime. Since then, Cixi would become the absolute authoritarian ruler of the Empire without constraint.

Bound by sophiscated court rituals and courtesies, Guangxu Emperor had to attend the levee of Empress Dowager Cixi every morning and do 'Kowtow' to her. Cixi sometimes also took care of the young emperor's education. However, her focus of teaching was on the notion of being obedient to the superior and the elder, which referred to herself in front of Guangxu. Her instruction proved to be effective, Guangxu Emperor would indeed become a very filial 'son' to her and would actually remain filial to the end. However, later on, Cixi wouldn't choose to believe so.