BEHIND THE THRONE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3267, 12 July 1911, Page 7

BEHIND THE THRONE.

AFFAIRS iN CHINA. News has reached London that Li Lienymg, chief eunnch of the Imperial household at Peking, dide at his residence in that city on March 4, at the age of sixty-nine Since the passing of her Majesty the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi (November 15, 1908), lie had been slowly falling in health, his vigorous constitution enfeebled by chronio dysentery, arid his spirits depressed by the loss of the Imperial mistress, who had made of him a lifelong companion, as well as by the changes, introduced into the palace' by the new Empress Dowager, Liinig Yu. These gradually deprived him of nearly alb liis former authority and influence, leaving -him in old age little interest in' life beyond that of watching the accumulation of his wealth.'' '* • *

For forty years his name was one to conjure with, says the London "Times.” In his unscrupulous hands lay the making and marring of ChmaV dignitaries, Grand Councillors, Viceroys and Governors competing for his favor,- government contractors surrounding him with adulation and largesse. From Kal-gan to Canton men went in fear of his displeasure; the subterranean, channels of his pernicious influence reached out to every yarnen in the empire, carrying, to its remotest outposts the germs of political corruption and intrigue. So great was the power which this favorite enjoyed as confidential chamberlain and intimate adviser of the “Old Buddha,” so firmly established his impunity, despite the repeated denunciations and righteous indignation of censors and high officials, that in the latter half of his career, and especially after the Empress Dowager’s resumption of. the supreme power, in ISB, liis position behind the throne became a recognised feature in the life, of the Forbidden City. And this -man began life as a cobler’s. apprentice in the small provincial town of Ho Chien fu, becoming a eunuch at the age of sixteen for the sake of. gain and a life of ease. ' - .

i His' hopes were realised, for he attained' to the post of chief eunuch in 11869. his equally notorious predecessor, An Te-bal, having been summarily decapitated by the Governor of Shantung I for assuming ImperiaL dignities and in- : signia while engaged on a ‘ tribute-lovy-.in-g expedition in that province. Before that date, however, Li Lien-ying I had attracted the notice and won the favor of Tzu Hsi by loyal services rendered at a time when her own authority was not yet firmly established, by his reamrkable physical beauty, good manners and intelligence. He was an adept at organising and. conducting the routs, masques, theatriIcals, and 1 picnics wherein the heart of the pleasure-loving empress rejoiced. To the end of her life, his services in this capacity made him indispensable to her, and won for him a familiar camarderiq which she vouchsafed to non© other, not even to her faithful kinsman, Jung Lu. He was & good raconteur, able and willing to distract her mind in drill moments, of a nimble wit and cheerful disposition. And let it be recorded to his credit, that ignoble and vicions as he was, he served his mistress with, a life-time of dog-like devotion and.affectionate care.

The hand of Li Lien-ying was powerful, not only in the. finances and administrative. affairs „of the palace and the provinces, but in higher matters of State. He,, above all others, was instrumental in inducing the empress dowager to suppress with violence the reform movement of. 1898 and to condemn the- unfortunate Emperor Kuang Hsu to the humiliation of a gilded prison, which ended only with his life. It was he who, in -his colossal ignorance, ( persuaded her to believe in the mystic-pow-ers of the Boxers, and in their ability to "drive the-foreigner into the sea.” His blind hatred of the-reformers, and; the Europeans was, no doubt, largely due to self-interest since they had dared repeatedly to denounce . the. eunuch system and to make its abolition a nlank in their programme of reform, with the -very general support of public opinion. His faith in the-Boxers was, however, entirely genuine, and to the very last days of the siege of'the legations he continued to reassure the empress of their eventual, success: exhorting her to stand firm and doing his utmost to counteract the prudent counsels of Jung Lu. After the capture of the city by the allies and the flight of the, court, his courage forsook him, - and for many months he went in fear that- the empress dowager would he forced by the demands of the avenging. Powers to. hand him over for‘punishment with the. other, leaders of the movement. He.owed his eventual safety to the Russian Government which, with an, eye-to. past ; and ■future benefits of his good will, _at Peking intervened to. shield him and •others from their well-merited punish.ment.