We have seen that, up to 1892, it had been customary to receive the
representatives of foreign powers in the Tse Kung Ko, or Hall of Tributary
Nations.
Naturally, much dissatisfaction was provoked by the selection of
a place of audience which seemed to put the treaty powers on the same
footing as tributary states, and, accordingly, the foreign ministers
undertook to exact from the Tsungli Yamen, or Board for Foreign Affairs,
the designation of a more suitable locality in the imperial city for the
annual ceremony. The proposed innovation was resisted for some time; but
when Sir Nicolas O'Conor was appointed British Minister at Pekin, an
exception was made in his favor, and a place of superior importance to the
Hall of Tributary Nations was chosen for the presentation of his
credentials. The Emperor Kwangsu agreed to receive him in the Cheng Kuan
Tien Palace, or pavilion which forms part of the imperial residence of
Peace and Plenty within the Forbidden City. In pursuance of this
arrangement, the British representative, attended by his suite, proceeded
to this pavilion on December 13, 1892, and was received at the principal
entrance by the high court officials. It was also noted that the emperor
took a greater interest in the ceremony than on preceding occasions, and
followed with attention the reading of Queen Victoria's letter, by Prince
Ching, then president of the Tsungli Yamen. Thenceforth, there was
observed with every year a decided improvement in the mode of receiving
foreign diplomatists, and, eventually, the imperial audience was
supplemented with an annual dinner given by the Board for Foreign Affairs.
Through the personal reception accorded by the Emperor of China to Prince
Henry of Prussia on May 15, 1898, the audience question was finally
settled in favor of the right of foreign potentates to rank on an equality
with the so-called Son of Heaven.
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