Chapter XXV: The Valedictory Memorial of Jung Lu

The death of Jung Lu was a great grief to the Empress Dowager. In the course of her long life there was hardly any crisis or important event of her reign wherein she had not been greatly assisted by this devoted follower. Upon hearing of his death she issued a Decree from the Travelling Palace at Pao-ting-fu, praising the patriotism and clear-sighted intelligence of the deceased, who, since the beginning of his career as an honorary licentiate had risen to be Controller of the Imperial Household, Tartar General and Viceroy, in all of which capacities he had rendered signal service. At the time of his death he had attained to the highest honours open to a subject in China, namely, the position of Grand Secretary and Grand Councillor. In this Decree Her Majesty laid particular stress on his endeavours to promote a good understanding with the foreign Powers in 1900. Further, in token of her affectionate regard, she bestowed upon him a coverlet with charms worked thereon from the Dharani Sutra in Sanscrit and Thibetan, to be used as a pall for his burial, and she commanded Prince Kung to proceed to the residence of the deceased, with ten officers of the Imperial Guard, to perform a sacrifice on her behalf to the soul of the departed statesman. She granted him the posthumous designation of “learned and loyal,” together with the highest hereditary rank open to one who had not been a victorious military commander or a member of the Imperial Clan. His ancestral tablet was given a place at the Shrine of Good and Virtuous Officials, and three thousand taels (£350) were issued from the privy purse towards his funeral expenses.

Jung Lu’s valedictory Memorial has never been published in China, but those in attendance on Her Majesty reported that it affected her very deeply. On the day after it reached her, she issued the following Decree:—

“The deceased Grand Secretary, Jung Lu, was our senior Grand
Councillor at a time of critical danger to the State, and his
sage counsel and eminent services to the Throne have never been
sufficiently appreciated either in China or abroad. He was
absolutely indispensable to us, and we depended entirely upon
his advice. Two months ago, owing to his ill-health, we were
compelled to grant him leave of absence, but, unfortunately,
all remedies have proved unavailing, and he has passed away.
We have perused his valedictory Memorial, full of a deep and
touching earnestness in regard to the future of our Empire
and the condition of the Chinese people; and in recalling all
the incidents of his distinguished career the violence of our
grief can only find expression in tears. Following upon the
posthumous honours already conferred upon him, we hereby decree
that a second Imperial sacrifice shall be offered to his spirit
on the day before his remains are removed for burial, and,
furthermore, that the record of his life be transmitted to the
Historiographers’ Department for inclusion in the annals of our
Dynasty. All faults that may have been recorded against him
shall be expunged, so that the depth of our sincere affection
for this faithful servant may be made manifest.”

Jung Lu was sixty-seven years of age at the date of his death (April 11th, 1903), and it is probable that had it not been for the severe hardships and mental strain which he endured during the Boxer crisis, he would have lived much longer to serve his Imperial mistress. By his death Prince Ch’ing and his corrupt following rose to increased power (Prince Ch’ing being the only available Manchu of rank sufficient to succeed Jung Lu as head of the Grand Council), and they have retained it, in the subterranean labyrinths of Palace intrigues, ever since.

Jung Lu was essentially a middle-course man, striving earnestly for that “happy mean” which the Empress Dowager professed to desire. Had he lived, it is safe to say that he would not have approved of the haste with which she proceeded to sanction the undigested programme for constitutional government, and with his advice against it the Old Buddha would probably not have persisted in the idea. He had repeatedly urged her, before the return of the Court, to make it quite clear in her Edicts that a reform policy was necessary for the preservation of the Empire, but, like the late Prince Ito, he was all for a slow and cautious procedure, and present-day observers of events connected with the constitutional government programme can hardly doubt the wisdom of his advice.

The following is a translation of his, hitherto unpublished, valedictory Memorial, a document which throws valuable light on the _coup d’état_ and the relations between Tzŭ Hsi and the Emperor at that time. In other respects it confirms many conclusions wherein Jung Lu’s authoritative testimony was lacking to complete an otherwise satisfactory chain of evidence.

“I, your slave, Jung Lu, a Grand Councillor and Grand Secretary
of the Wen Hua Throne Hall, having grievously failed to
requite the favours of your Majesties, now that my breath
is almost spent, respectfully upon my knees do present this
my valedictory Memorial, and beg that your Majesties may be
pleased to cast your divine glance upon it.

“I, all unworthy, have received no small bounty at the hands
of your Majesty the Empress Dowager, and had hoped that Heaven
might grant me length of days, wherein to display my utmost
endeavour in your Majesty’s service. Respectfully I recall
the fact that I began my career of service as an Imperial
guardsman, and was on duty with H.M. Hsien-Feng in his
excursion to the hunting park at Mulan (Jehol) in the tenth
year of his reign. At that time the situation of the Empire was
one of great danger; within there was the grave peril of the
rebellion, while from without the English and French barbarians
had captured our sacred capital. We witnessed the violation of
the Imperial shrines and saw the sacred chariot of His Majesty
leave Peking, in accordance with the principle laid down by
Mencius that a sovereign should leave his capital when it is
threatened by invasion of barbarians.

“After the Court’s arrival at Jehol, I had the honour of
attending on your Majesty the Empress Dowager as Chamberlain,
and when His Majesty Hsien-Feng lay on his deathbed, I had the
honour to warn your Majesty and the Empress Consort that the
Princes Cheng and Yi were conspiring against the State. After
the death of His Majesty, those wicked Princes usurped the
Regency and for many days your Majesty was in danger so great
that it may not be spoken of by any loyal subject. Happily,
your Majesty, acting on your own firm initiative and by the
favour of Heaven, dealt with those abominable traitors in the
twinkling of an eye and rescued the State from its dire peril.
For years thereafter you carried on the Regency, rebellions
were suppressed and peace reigned within the four seas.

“Your slave received many marks of the Imperial favour and
rose to be Minister of the Household; I was thus constantly in
attendance on your Majesty. When the late Emperor T’ung-Chih
mounted the dragon and ascended on high, it was to me that
your Majesty confided the duty of bringing the present Emperor
Kuang-Hsü to the Palace. Favours vast as the universe have I
received, and for these I have made no return.

“While acting as Captain General of the Peking Gendarmerie,
I incurred your Majesty’s displeasure; thereafter for seven
years I awaited, without incurring, the fitting penalty for
my offence. Later, when His Majesty came to his majority
and you were pleased to hand over to him the reins of
government, you conferred on me the post of Tartar General
at Hsi-an. Subsequently I was recalled to my former position
at the capital. In the 24th year of Kuang-Hsü (1898) your
Majesties determined on the introduction of European methods
of government and the Emperor summoned me to audience and
conferred on me the post of Viceroy of Chihli at Tientsin
where I was ordered to select and introduce reforms based on
foreign methods in order to remedy the weakness of China’s
administration. But who could then have believed that the
damnable treasons of K’ang Yu-wei should be the means of
thwarting your Majesties’ great plans? His Majesty the
Emperor, by giving ear to the lying inventions of that traitor
and his associates, if only for a little while, undoubtedly
allowed his filial piety to suffer temporary decline. This was
particularly the case when he wrote with his own Imperial hand
a Decree stating that his reform proposals were being blocked
by your Majesty and that, as you were opposed to the spirit of
progress, your interference in State affairs was a danger to
the nation. Towards me also His Majesty displayed his divine
wrath, so that once more had your slave deserved the penalty of
‘axes and halberds.’ But when I sought your Majesty in secret
audience and laid before you the details of the plot, once more
did your Majesty, without a moment’s hesitation respond to our
prayer and resume the control of affairs, swiftly visiting upon
evildoers of that treacherous crew the might of your august
displeasure.

“In the 26th year of Kuang-Hsü, certain Princes and Ministers,
statesmen deficient in virtue, gained your Majesty’s ear, and
even your divine wisdom was misled to believe in the unholy
arts and magic of the Boxers until the ancestral shrines were
the centre of cataclysmic disaster and the destinies of the
Empire trembled in the balance. Again and again I besought your
Majesty to put an end to these traitors, but could not gain
your consent. I incurred at that time your censure on more
than one occasion, and for forty days waited in my house fully
expectant of doom. But even so your Majesty repeatedly sought
my advice, and though it was not always followed, I was able to
avert the crowning misfortune which would have resulted from
the killing of the foreign Ministers. For this service your
Majesty has since deigned frequently to express gratitude.

“When your Majesties left the city on your tour of inspection
to Hsi-an, you decided upon punishing those evil-minded Princes
and Ministers, and thereafter to introduce a policy of gradual
and effective reform in every branch of the administration.
Already, during the past two years, considerable progress has
been made. By your return to the capital the sun has been
restored to our firmament, and even the barbarians of the
east and west have acclaimed your Majesty’s benevolence and
impartial solicitude for all, Chinese and foreigners alike.

“For the past year I have been continually ill, but until
two months ago was able to continue in the performance of my
arduous duties. Since then I have been compelled to apply for
sick-leave and have sought permission to resign my offices,
but your Majesty sent eunuchs to me with gracious messages and
presents of ginseng[124] and commanded that I should make all
haste to recover and resume my duties.

“But even the beneficent protection of your Majesty has failed
to avert from me the last ravages of illness. Repeated attacks
of asthma, with increasing difficulty in breathing, have now
brought me to the last stage of weakness and the very point
of death. With my last breath I now entreat your Majesty
vigorously to continue in the introduction of reforms, so that
gradually our Middle Kingdom may attain to a condition as
prosperous as that of the great States of Europe and Japan.
During my tenure of the office of Grand Councillor I have seen
many men appointed to offices for which they were by no means
fitted; herein lies a source of weakness, but above all it is
necessary that a radical change should be made in the selection
of District Magistrates and in the methods by which taxation
is levied and collected. It were well if the good example of
economy which your Majesty is setting were more generally
followed. In the seclusion of the Palace it is impossible
for your Majesty to know the truth as to the condition of
your subjects, and were it not for the prohibitive cost of
transporting your enormous retinues, I should advise that the
Throne should make regular tours of inspection in various
parts of the Empire. His Majesty Ch’ien-Lung made several
such tours, and among the wise sovereigns of ancient times
the custom was regularly observed. At this moment my mind is
becoming confused; I can say no more. Humbly do I pray that
your Majesty’s fame may continue to grow, and that all my good
wishes on your Majesty’s behalf may be fulfilled. Then, even
though I die, yet shall I live.

“I have dictated this, my valedictory Memorial, to my
adopted son, Liang Ku’ei, for transmission to your Majesty,
in temporary residence at Pao-ting fu. Though conscious of
its numerous shortcomings, for which I beg forgiveness, I
reverently entreat your Majesty to peruse it. Prostrate before
the Throne, with my dying breath, I, Jung Lu, now conclude my
Memorial.

“(_Dated the 10th April, 1903._)”