Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/62

 CHAPTER III.

THE FIFTH PRINCE.

the three surviving brothers of the late Emperor Hsien Fêng, the one best known to foreigners is of course His Imperial Highness Kung Ch'in-wang, usually referred to in Chinese as the Sixth Prince. His younger brother Ch'un, the Seventh Prince, and father of the reigning Emperor, is less familiar to us, and for many years was credited with being the uncompromising foe of foreigners. This may have been true in a political sense, though recent events tell a far more favourable tale; and we are able to recall at least one instance in which the Seventh Prince, who happened to be staying at the same temple as a foreign gentleman intent on botanical researches, treated him with the utmost courtesy and cordiality, even going so far as to appoint an hour to receive him for a friendly conversation and the inevitable cup of tea. The position of Prince Ch'un at Court is, of course, of an exceedingly difficult and delicate nature. It is probable that when the Emperor attains his majority the Seventh Prince may be raised to the otium cum dignitate of T'ai Shang Huang-ti ("Emperor above the Emperor"), in which he would hold precisely the same position quoad his son as an Empress-Dowager towards the reigning monarch. But, as matters stand at present, it is