Show CHINESE ETIQUETTE signs of 83 in the flowery kingdom the emperor inaugurate some new Mea and gives audience to the ambassadors of uther countries A decree has been issued at pekin announcing noun cing that the emperor will grant a yearly audience to all foreign ministers 1 that is not much in itself says the new but taken with a simi lar piece of news from siam a few months go the king had decreed that his nobles need no longer approach him on their stomachs it goes to indicate we call western civilization is beginning to work even among the of peoples the emperor of china is the mightiest of all rulers in his own estimation lie is of heaven and father of ilia people equal to fhe goda whom lie graciously consents to worship and quite above the necessity of being polite to representatives of governments ern ments so only he feels as 3 hed like to look at the foreign devils has he ever granted audiences to the ambassadors anamin and Min listers from other le is therefore particularly striking andin its nature a very strong precedent fortus successors in fact if lie really does as he says he will do his have to follow him for he customs of ithe chinese areas the laws of ahe modes and persians they mot unless the emperor has a maid tj change thorny A feature of the so called audiences which granted to the the ceremony mony af pf rie chinese the foreign ministers occasionally and since 1873 always graciously waived by the son of heaven and the father of his people it was an abasement to the ground of the body of a person approaching pro aching the majesty of china and a knocking of the head of that person upon reground he ground a certain j number of times to demand of court etiquette and like so many other things in china it was founded by con aucius the sages book ali ki say a about it the word kowtow it is spelled also kotow cotou kokoo kookoo kobau koti and has been adopted into the en glish language is derived from kwoi chinese words kow fow meanings a knocking of the head it is the eighth and highest grade of obeisance rendered only to the emperor and his 1 equals the gods and though we speak of it always that name is to the fifth gt kneeling and the I 1 his grade consists in the head th and more kwei idu kao performed three times ache time too that the san gwei ddn ka othet three and nine is going an the plays joithe tune ilung ping a splendid humiliation alto gether g ether the chinese nobles who have the privilege of an audience must be dev butel grateful that tha emperor is no higher than the immortal gods now this kowtow oi the highest grade is performed by he kings 9 cochin china korea band other tributary states when they are confirmedly confirm edby the emperor in their succession to their thrones and aa sir jphn francia dayam his book pir china points out is same as the performed by tenants in capite in the feudal fore is an overt recognition of the em of china as ove per bon mailing the kowtow for this reason the ministers and Legates eign governments have invariably refused to perform the ceremony and though the chinese have insist cd in most instances they have had to yield onlie point and the audiences at which a yellow curtain did duty for the emperor were not bv the spectacle of gentlemen ln gold laced uniforms or in dress suits kneeling ungraciously and ruffling both shirt fronts and tempers in acrobatic performances for mances for which their garments were not adapted the autch ambassadors in 1655 performed the before the yellow curtain limping to receive valuable con sessions cessions ces for trade they had been told that the emperor would send them food from his own tablet they got some cheeps dirty plate by way of food from the emperors table and further received permission to send an embassy every eight years and ait again in the the dutch ambassador abased himself but holland gogno greater benefits from the chinese than did other countries whose representatives had hot kowtowed kow towed in from i great britain lord macartney had an audience with the yellow curtain and aid abt do anther the kowtow lor san kwei kiu kao but when lord amherst arrived in china in the ceremony was demanded 01 ol him and on his re fasal to perform be failed to obtain a sih teven curtain and left pekin the everyday ver he reached there r i in 1859 refused to kowtow hut he did botet no tet an audi ence affail in 1875 our minister F F low refused to perform the kowtow chanese foreign minister off red 15 bum incense in front of the president but the emperor settled the matter himself june by receiving in person the japanese ambassador afterward receiving the i ministers of the united states great ind holland and the latest aba fhe son of te to well as merely nega lively courteous to them |