Page 32 - To Dragma November 1924

TO DRAGMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 27

down from the northern provinces, to the markets about Peking.

They have been doing this same thing and in the same way for

centuries. The antiquity and history of it all always appeals to
d me so much.
e Of course I saw other interesting places, the Temple of Heaven,

Forbidden City and Museum, and Winter and Summer Palaces.

s All of these places are beautiful and could be revisited indefinitely.
e Isabel Ingram, a friend of Iielen's, is tutoring the Empress.
s You know the Boy Emperor, the deposed monarch, was married
- last year. This family lives in an inner portion of the old for-
y bidden city in Peking. They are kept there and have no outside

communication with the city. They are under supervision of

- the republic now of course. The Boy Emperor is only 18 and
e his wife is 17. Isabel's father was one of the first missionaries
e in North China and much respected by the Chinese. Isabel
graduated from Wellesley College last year and was asked to

- tutor the Empress. She speaks excellent Chinese of course. I t
e is an unusual opportunity for her and she and a Mr. Johnson,
n who tutors the Emperor, are the only foreigners allowed to visit
s this portion of the Forbidden City. Helen wanted me to have
g an opportunity to meet some of the members of the old Imperial
n Family. Of course it wouldn't be possible to see either the Em-
s press or the Emperor but their immediate families who live in
t palaces of their own are not restricted in this way. So Isabel
t arranged a tea. She has met all these people at the palace and
of course they have the utmost respect for her. She asked them

. to come to Helen's house, which even for Helen and the other
s girls was quite thrilling.

s Helen had asked two or three other friends so they could enjoy
t this privilege, because these princesses live rather secluded lives
- and seldom meet foreigners. Of course they knew no English,
- but the girls can speak enough Chinese to manage. Everyone in

Peking learns Chinese; you must in order to talk to your servants,
. so, although I couldn't talk to them or understand a word they
t said I was content to be a mere spectator. I must tell you who

came. These people are Manchus and not Chinese if you know

anything about Chinese history. Of course they look the same.
, The Manchus were the ruling dynasty when China became a
s republic. First the Empress' grandmother came dressed in con-

ventional dark satins which the older women wear. Then the