he young prince has a residence of
his own, and it is only on his visits that he occupies his apartments in
his father's palace. There are also rooms for the Empress dowager to
occupy on her occasional visits. All of these apartments are quite close
together in one part of the palace, and are connected by halls; but the
private rooms of the court ladies are in an entirely separate place,
quite removed, and only connected with the main building by a long,
narrow passageway, running through the garden. There, in the rooms
assigned to them, each one has her own private establishment, where she
stays when she is not on duty in attendance on the Emperor and Empress.
Each lady has her own servants, and sometimes a younger sister or a
dependent may be living there with her, though they are entirely
separate from the court and the life there, and must never be seen in
any of the other parts of the building. In these rooms, which are like
little homes in themselves, cooking and housekeeping are done, entirely
independent of the other parts of the great palace; and the tradesmen
find their way through some back gate to these little establishments,
supplying them with all the necessaries of life, as well as the
luxuries.

A court lady is a personage of distinction, and lives in comparative
ease and luxury, with plenty of servants to do all the necessary work.
Besides her salary, which of course varies with the rank and the duties
performed, but is always liberal enough to cover the necessary expenses
of dress, the court lady receives many presents from the Emperor and
Empress, which make her position one of much luxury.

The etiquette of the imperial household is very complicated and very
strict, though many of the formalities of the olden times have been
given up. The court ladies are models of conservatism. In order to be
trained for the life there and its duties, they usually enter the court
while mere children of ten or eleven, and serve apprenticeship to the
older members. In the rigid seclusion of the palace they are strictly,
almost severely, brought up, and trained in all the details of court
etiquette. Cut off from all outside influences while young, the little
court maidens are taught to go through an endless round of formalities
which they are made to think indispensable. These details of etiquette
extend not only to all that concerns the imperial household, but to
curious customs among themselves, and in regard to the