The Poor Emperor

By Lin Xi

The Poor Emperor

By Lin Xi

W ho would even want to be an emperor after visiting the Imperial Palace?1

The whole space of the place seems either too large or too small.It is too large in that the emperor has to cover a long distance from the bedroom just to meet his beloved lady.Even if the beloved one that he desires to see at the moment happens to be the queen,the palanquin has to go all the way from the Palace of Earthly Tranquility where she lives to get to the emperor’s residence. Even without delay,the trip can take a while and when the queen arrives,our emperor may have already outgrown his previous passions.

Moreover,in cases where the emperor wants to read the reports handed in by his ministers,or simply to enjoy some solitary meditation,it would take our highness more than just walking from the sitting room to his study. In fact,this shift of space may involve the distance of one palace to another,which if measured in terms of walking,would literally be exercise for his majesty.To make things even worse,all the halls and rooms in each palace were built with high thresholds, which came into being to create a sense of royal solemnity.It is said that,Emperor Kangxi(1654-1722, Qing Dynasty)once ordered to demolish the thresholds,but only ended up restoring them as a symbol of his vanity.Who knows how many people had tripped over those high thresholds over the generations.

Hanging around the palace can be pleasant,considering there are many gardens inside.The royal gardens,big in size and far in distance, may seem like a blessed offering compared with those of ordinary people’s,but sometimes what his majesty needs is nothing more than a small walk in the garden to clear his mind,while actually leaving the palace obviously can’t be part of the plan.Besides,people’s appetites tend to grow.It is good to have a Summer Palace,but anything less than a complete journey into it may lead to regrets,while finishing the whole journey can turn out to be exhausting.Moreover,the royal garden,though essentially a big private pleasure ground,is vulnerable to ambush from all sides—not necessarily by assassins,but perhaps by unfamiliar servants.Wherever the emperor roams,prying eyes keep watching in the dark.

On the other hand,the palace is deemed too small,in that all of the emperor’s activities are limited to its boundaries,including his rest, work,and entertainment.Even when the emperor gets off work,it does not feel quite like he is off work,for he is still living in the palace.No wonder Emperor Qianlong(1711-1799,Qing Dynasty), adventurous as he was,enjoyed taking regular trips to places as far as the south of the Yangtze River.Given this context,it starts to make sense why Emperor Wanli (1563-1620,Ming Dynasty)postponed court-holdings,a procedure in which the emperor goes to the court to deal with national affairs, for a dozen years:boredom.

Still,it could well be understood that Tung Chee-hwa,former Chief Executive of Hong Kong,made himself an absolute exception by choosing his old residence over the government house to live in.The reason for doing so,I assume,is that he may have felt awkward at the thought of his subordinates working so near to him,perhaps when he himself gets up late in his pajamas.

To the commoners,a big government house in Hong Kong can be detested,let alone something the size of the Imperial Palace,so teeming with masters and servants and secluded by the city moat.

Within the boundaries of the palace,nothing is private.As a good boss,the emperor should refrain from giving any particular woman more attention than he does to the other concubines.Favor of this kind may cause jealousy within the palace.In the real estate market,agents are aware of the following fact:two-story villas sell better than three-story ones—it is left to the villa owners to find out why.

In a small interconnected world, trivial matters can turn into something political.For the emperor, each and every word,act or hug should be calculated precisely,otherwise complications would certainly arise.Hence,many emperors in history have called themselves“loners.”In many TV series,it is commonplace for emperors to use such a term to describe themselves.However,who knows how sad the real emperors were.

Away from the emperors and the Forbidden City,and back to ordinary life,you will find that in real estate markets,two-story homes are roughly acceptable,but a duplex can pose much inconvenience:its residents may have to walk down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night,perhaps to fetch a cell phone left downstairs or a grab a soda from the kitchen,if they don’t want to bother servants.One or two such experiences may sound refreshing, but that flight of stairs can be a real headache in cases of exhaustion, and homes with three stories may prove to be even more heart-breaking.

A trip to the imperial palace and garden villas offered me a lesson: only by walking in others’shoes will you get to know their true feelings.

(FromWorldly Wisdom,Guangxi Normal University Press.Translation:Dong Xiaolu.)

Note:

1.The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties,known to Westerners as the Forbidden City, lies in the center of Beijing.Twenty-four emperors of the Ming (1368-1644)and Qing(1644-1911) dynasties managed government affairs and resided here.