NOTES AND QUERIES.

2. THE CHINESE IMPERIAL .

We have the pleasure to reprint here for the benefit of our subscribers a very important paper, quite out of print, by the late F. MAYERS,which was at first published as an Appendix of the of the Peking gazette (M of 4875 in the "North China Herald and Supreme Court and Con- sular Gazette" of January 4875. As a newspaper article, it has had only an ephemerical existence and the few reprints made from it and distributed by the author, to whom we have also been indebted for the copy we reproduce, are now very difficult to be obtained. G. S.

THE CHINESE IMPERIAL FAMILY

BY

W. F. MAYERS.

The following particulars respecting the Imperial family of China, in con- nection with the order of succession to the throne, may be found not without ' interest. . As is well known, the reigning Sovereign is eighth in direct line of descent from his ancestor the emperor She Tsu Chang Hwang Ti (Shun Che), who ascended the throne at the age of five in 1643, his reign being reckoned, however, according to the invariable Chinese usage, from the beginning of the following year, or Feb. 8th, 164?4. The legendary of the Manchu chieftains who advanced, by successive steps, to the assumption of the imperial crown of China, bore, according to tradition, the surname Aisin Gioro, repres- 334

ented the Chinese characters of the by §f The signification word A.isiJ1is the same as that of the Chinese kin gold (or metal), and an identification is thus suggested with the dynastic title of the reputed an- cestors of the Manchus, the Nii-chih Tartars, who reigned in northern China during the 42t.h and 43th centuries. The surname of their Imperial house was, The word Gi01'o is said to be to the however, Wan-yen ./u r equivalent Chinese J% or family-stem. It is borne as a distinctive surname by every descendant of the founder of the present Imperial line, and it serves in parti- cular as an appellation, prefixed to the personal name, for the more remote scions oi' the original stock. Actual descendants of Hien Tsu, the acknowledged founder of the family, are designated in conformity with the usage adopted by earlier Chinese dynasties. In order to make the observations which are to follow, with reference to the various branches of the imperial lineage, more easily understood, it is necessary here to explain the further system of family nomenclature which has been adopted by the existing line. The foundations of this system were laid in the reign of the second ernperor of the dynasty, Shcng Tsu Jtm (K'ang-Hi), who gave to each of lois twenty-four sons a personal name consisting of two characters, the first of which was Yin subsequently exchanged in writing, as a token of respect, for Yun and the second compounded with the radical she as and so on. His K'ien ex- throll-lioiit, )TI grandson, Lung, tended this practice into a system for perpetual application, ordaining that future generations deriving their descent from K'ang-Hi should be successively ' designated by the following four characters, viz: 1. Yung.

2. §£j Mien. _ 3. Yih. $§ 4. Tsai. !K Minute regulations were drawn up, and incorporated with the fundamental institutes of the dynasty. setting forth the manner in which both these characters and those employed for the second or individual half of each name, should be bestowed. In the 49tb year of his reign (A.D. 4784) , on the birth of a great-great-grandson, to whom the character Tsai consequently appert- ained, K'ien Lung decreed the addition of the character Feng as the next in succession; but this character was dismissed from use by order of the emperor Tao Kwang. In the sixth year of the reign of this sovereign (1826), an addition to the number of characters appears to have been thought advis- able (probably in order to avoid repetition as the list became exhausted), and ten characters were proposed for his Majesty's selection, out of which the fol- lowing four were approved for future use, viz: 335

The Emperor Ilien Feng, again, saw fit to increase the list by the addition of four more characters. The Pelcing Gazette of the 9th June, contains a copy of a decree directing the chief officers of Government to draw up a list of four characters, to be submitted, together with the six remaining on record since 1826, when they were put on one side after the four above enumerated were chosen, for approval by his Ma,jesty. A short time afterwards a further decree announced the fact that the following additional characters had been adopted from the list drawn up:

So much for the first of the two characters forming the compound name. The complementary part of the system of nomenclature is well illustrated by Dr. S. W. Williams, in his "Middle Kingdom" (vol. I, p. 310), in the following terms: "The members [of the imperial family] most nearly allied in blood, as sons, nephews, etc., are still further distinguished by having the second sylla- bles of their names written in compound Chinese characters, whose radicals are alike; thus Kia K'ing and his brothers wrote their names with Yung (the first syllable in the above list) and under the radical gem ; Tau K wang and his brothers and cousins with Mien, and under the radical lteart. This pecu- liarity is easily represented in the Chinese characters, but a comparison can be made in English with the supposed names of a family of sons, as Louis Edward. Louis Edwin, Louis Edwy, Louis and so on".

The personal names, thus compounded, will be traced in the following list of the Sovereigns who have successively occupied the throne, whose historical or titles and the titles of whose are posthumous £§t ) reigns likewise given:» 336

The characters Ti rendered Hwang fi $$* (commonly Emperor) follow, in practice, the three characters constituting the historical title, and a deceased sovereign, when not spoken of, colloquially though incorrectly, by the title of his reign, is designated by the last of the three characters in combination with the words Hwang Ti - e, g. Ch'6ng Hwang Ti for the Emperor who reigned with the designation Tao Kwang. Up to the period of the late Emperor (Hien Hwang Ti or Hien Feng), no difficulty in regard to the succession presented itself in the Imperial line. Shun Che was the ninth son of his father, K'ang Hi the third of Shun Che; Yung Ch6ng the fourth of K'ang Hi; K'ien Lung the fourth of Yung Cb6ng; Kia K'ing the fifteenth of K'ien Lung; Tao Kwang the second of Kia K'ing; and Hien Feng the fourth of the nine sons who were, in all, born to the Emperor Tao Kwang. The Emperor Hien Feng, however, was without male issue for some years after he succeeded to the throne; and it was probably with a view to securing the dynastic succession that, about five years after his accession, an adoptive heir was provided, in conformity with the national usage, to the eldest son of the late emperor, a prince who had died at an early age many years before. On the 21st January 1855 it was decreed that Tsai or member of the be Chung 41 a ?MM?-?/?/t imperial , adopted son to the Prince above-mentioned, whose personal name was 337

Yih Wei, and whose title was that of Prince of Yin Che (undeveloped wisdom). The adopted heir was a son of the tsung-shih Yih Ki, a great grandson oi the emperor K'ien Lung. By a subsequent decree, the second name of the was from to Che it into youth thus adopted changed Chung *4 bringing accord, as regards its radical (t

from the closest to a collateral degree of with the young emperor. He was given in adoption many years ago (in 1845) to his deceased uncle, the prince of Tun K'io, third son of Kia K'ing; and one of his sons, again, the prince (beilch) Tsai I, has been made into his nephew through adoption as grandson to another of the sons of K'ia K'ing (see Table). The alienation of Tsai I from the paternal stock is alleged to have been decreed as a punish- ment meted out to the Prince of Tun for a violation of self-restraint, prescribed by the ritual of mourning, at a period antecedent to the entry of the young prince into the world. As the Table shews, the offspring of Tsai Che, who was himself by the decree of 1855 indicated as a possible heir to Hien should be now the most direct claimants to the privilege of furnishing an heir by adoption to tbe reigning and childless emperor. Four sons have been born to this prince, of whom it is believed that only one, an infant, still survives. It seems possible, however, that in the deliberations of the Imperial Clan Court, the fact of Tsai Che being himself an adoptive son may milita,te, the case arising, against the eligibility of his children, and under such circumstances (provided also that the alienation of the Prince of Tun should bar the claim of his descen- dants) it appears probable that the offspring of the two uncles of his Majesty, next in order of seniority, would be the most available candidates. In any case, it is alleged by those who are versed in the principles of Chinese genealogy, the adoption of an heir not junior in the line of descent to the reigning Emperor could only be feasible by his being made heir to one of the earlier sovereigns (Hien Feng or Tao Kwang). The Prince of Tun has several sons (eight in all have been born to him), of whom the eldest is married, but the probability of their alienation from the direct line of inheritance is, as has been remarked above, at least matter for consideration. If this be the case, the possible can- didate next in order would be the elder son of the Prince of Kung, the beileh Tsai Ch'êng. This young prince is of about the same age with the emperor, and was married in the course of last year. The "seventh Prince", younger brother of the Prince of Kung, has likewise a son, a mere lad. The favour with which the "seventh Prince" has been looked upon by the Emperor might cause the choice to be directed here. The degradation of the beilêh Tsai Ch'êng, together with his father, by the decrees of the iotli and 11th Septentber last, have been matters of public notority. It may be useful to note, in conclusion, that the titles conferred on members of the present imperial house are of twelve degrees. The sons of an emperor, before receiving a special title by patent, are known simply by the designation Ako (in Manchu a-gd), with the numeral indicating their seniority by birth prefixed. The twelve degrees of rank are as follows: 4. Ts"1J1Wa7r?, Prince of the Ist order. - 2. 339

To-lo Ki.t,n Prince of the 2nd order. - 3. IB ::E. Wayag, $ - To-lo Beilêh, Prince of the 3rd order. 4. roo JlJ shccn Prince of the 4th order. - 5 to 8. £ (with distinctive qualifications). - 9 to Tsiang Kii2i (with distinctive qualifications). Imperial princes usually receive patents of the first or second order on reaching the age of manhood, and their sons are invested with the title beilêh. A beilêh's son becomes a beitsze, and rank is tlins transmitted in a climimcendo scale, until the son of a titular of the lowest degree would be no longer the inheritor of a title. (Note. - An apparent departure from the symmetry of the rule of nomen- clature may be observed in the case of the Prince Yih Wei, the eldest of the of Tao His name of Wei is written with the radical sons Kwang, *t * (Sill;), whereas Hien F?ng and his brothers are distinguished by the radical (woi'd). The discrepancy arose, it is explained, after Yih Wei's decease, when the Emperor Tao Kwang ordained the abandonment af the radical §Q silk as its substitute. It is here to dilate and chose word unnecessary upon the changes which, according to Chinese ideas of reverential duty, have been made in the form of the characters employed successively for the personal name of each emperor. An instance may, however, be given in that of the since whose accession the character Ch'un has been present sovereign, W into the form altered . The titles given to the princes of imperial descent are largely compounded of Manchu words. Thus lao shêh (originally bcr.rcner)signifies one of the four divisions of the army or State; and beil,eh has the meaning of cornrnc?nde7?or leader. The military origin of the dynasty is commemorated in these appel- lations. N.B. - The above was written before the death of his late Majesty, the Emperor Che, who died on the night of Jan. 42th, 1875. ,

The fact of adoption into one of the brauches in the above Table is indicated by a triangle substituted for a circle. Adoption from a branch is indicated by the addition of the lozenge below the circle. 342

3. THE MANDRAKE.

With regard to Prof. Veth's exhaustive account of the man- drake, it may be useful to students of folklore to call their attention to the occurrence in the chinese literature of a similar superstition, wherein Pliytolacca acinosa (Shang-luh jog takes the place of Manclragora °.1ficinarurn. Sieh Tsai-kang's Wu-tsult-tsu, written about 1610 (Jap. Ed. 1661, Tome X, p. 41) contains the following passage: The Shang-luh grows on the ground beneath which dead man lies; hence its root is mostly shaped like a man '). In a calm night, when nobody is about, the collector, offering the owl's flesh roasted with oil, propitiates the spirit of the plant until ignes fatui crowd about the latter; then the root is dug out, brought home and prepared with paper for a week; thus it is made capable of speech. This plant is surnamed "Ye-hu" i. e. Night Cry) on account of its demoniacal nature 2). There are two varieties of it: the white one is used for medicine; the red one commands evil spirits, and kills man when it is internally taken by error. KUMAGLTSUMINAKATA. Nature 25 April 1895 p. 608. ' -

1) Here the author says: It is popularly called Cla?xng-linKan = Witch-tree-root. The name shows that the root was used in witchcraft, similarly with that of the mandragora(cf. Hone, The Year-Book,sub December28). 2) Another explanationsuggested for this name is that, as long as the fruit of the Phytolacca remains unripe, the cuckoo continuesto cry every night (See Tsai-kang, 2ebi supra). However,seeing that the belief in the shrieks of the Mandragorawas once current among the Europeans (Enc. Brit. 9th ed., Vol. XV, p. 476), it would be more just to derive the Chinesename "Night Cry" from an analogousorigin.