Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/269

Rh eunuchs for taking bribes, the eunuchs increased in number and in power. They regulated his daily life, and he could scarcely escape their influence. In July 1653 their power became apparent and it may not be a coincidence that three months later Fu-lin degraded his Empress. Though he may have disliked her, his determination to degrade her was probably spurred on by the eunuchs. There are reports that the eunuchs also led him into various excesses.

In September 1656 Fu-lin announced the conferment of honors on a concubine, née Donggo, who was later canonized as Empress. A month thereafter Hsiao-hsien was made imperial consort of the first class. Fu-lin would have preferred to elevate her one grade—namely, to Empress—but he could hardly have overcome the obstacles attendant on degrading a second empress in favor of her. For four years, or until her death, he was very much devoted to her. According to some Jesuit accounts she had previously been "the wife of a young Tartar Lord" whom Fu-lin abused until, according to the story, he died of grief. In the opinion of Ch'ên Yüan (see under ) this "young Tartar Lord" was Fu-lin's youngest half-brother, Bombogor 博穆博果爾 (Prince Hsiang 襄親王, posthumous name 昭, Jan. 20, 1642–1656), who died on August 22, just a month before Hsiao-hsien entered the palace.

In 1657 Fu-lin met a Buddhist priest, Hsing-ts'ung 性聰, on a hunting trip south of Peking. The meeting was probably arranged by the eunuchs who had been befriended by the monk. Fu-lin was so charmed by the priest's conversation that he frequently summoned him to the palace to give lectures. Led to believe that in a previous incarnation he had himself been a Buddhist monk, Fu-lin became a devout believer in Ch'an Buddhism and conferred on Hsing-tsung the title, Ming-chüeh ch'an-shih 明覺禪師. Through the latter he also came to know the names of several high abbots of the Lin-chi 臨濟 Sect and their disciples, whom he expressed a desire to meet. Two of these abbots responded and went to the capital to converse with the Emperor. The first to come was T'ung-hsiu 通琇 of the monastery on Mount T'ien-mu (天目山) in Yü-ch'ien, Chekiang. He stayed in Peking from March to June 1659. The Emperor was so captivated by T'ung-hsiu's intelligence and demeanor that he professed to be his disciple, and himself received the Buddhist name, Hsing-ch'ih 行癡. He in turn conferred on T'ung-hsiu the title, Ta-chüeh p'u-chi ch'an-shih 大覺普濟禪師. After the latter returned to the south, a disciple, Hsing-sen 行森, was sent to Peking. But T'ung-hsiu himself was again summoned to Peking late in 1660, and stayed until March 1661. In the meantime, another high abbot, Tao-min 道忞, also came to the capital and stayed there from November 1659 to June of the following year. He was given the title Hung-chüeh ch'an-shih 弘覺禪師. While these priests were in Peking, each of them was honored by the emperor with presents and personal visits. Tao-min and the emperor had intimate conversations about Buddhism, calligraphy, the writing of essays, novels, drama, and other subjects. Thus from 1657 to 1661 Fu-lin associated much with Buddhist priests whom he respected and in whom he believed. At his persuasion Hsiao-hsien became a devotee of Ch'an Buddhism, as did also the Dowager Empress and a number of eunuchs.

When Hsiao-hsien died, in September 1660, elaborate Buddhist ceremonies were performed by T'ung-hsiu who lighted the pyre on which her body was cremated. Fu-lin was so grieved by her death that he at first expressed a wish to commit suicide. Later he tonsured his hair with a view to entering the priesthood. T'ung-hsiu is said, however, to have arrived in Peking just in time to prevent the Emperor from going through the complete ceremonies; urging him instead to remain on the throne and permit his tonsured hair to grow again. Tao-min is said to have exercised a soothing influence over the Emperor, particularly in 1660 when he was subject to outbursts of temper. One such violent outburst occurred in 1659 when the news of the siege of Nanking by reached Peking. The Emperor threatened to go to the front personally, and was irritated when his mother and his wet-nurse (wet-nurses were given a high status in those days) tried to dissuade him. So angered was he by the opposition that he is said to have mutilated one of his thrones with a sword, quieting down (according to Jesuit accounts) on the admonition of Adam Schall, and on the receipt of news that Nanking was saved.

Fu-lin suffered from poor health, and of this his violent temper was a symptom. During adolescence he had studied hard and was perhaps led into various excesses by the eunuchs. He was probably suffering from tuberculosis, for 257