They range themselves right and left of the
peristyle, in three lines, each occupying the place appertaining to his
dignity. They stand erect, grave, and silent. It is said to be a fine
and imposing spectacle, to witness all these remote monarchs, attired in
their silk robes, embroidered with gold and silver, and indicating, by
the variety of their costumes, the different countries they inhabit, and
the degrees of their dignity.

Meantime the Emperor issues in great pomp from his Yellow Town. He
traverses the deserted and silent streets of Peking; for, when the
Asiatic tyrant appears, every door must be closed, and every inhabitant
of the town must, on pain of death, remain silent within his house. As
soon as the Emperor has arrived at the temple of the ancestors, the
heralds, who precede the procession, cry out, at the moment he places his
foot on the first step of the stairs that lead to the gallery of the
tributary kings: "Let all prostrate themselves, for here is the Lord of
the earth." To this the two hundred tributary kings respond in unison:
"Ten thousand congratulations!" And, having thus wished a happy new year
to the Emperor, they all fall down with their face towards the earth.
Then passes through their ranks, the son of heaven, who enters the temple
of the ancestors, and prostrates himself, in his turn, thrice before the
tablet of his fathers. Whilst the Emperor is offering up his adoration
to the spirits of his family, the two hundred monarchs remain prostrate
on the earth, and they do not rise until the Emperor has again passed
through their ranks; after this they re-enter their litters and return to
their respective palaces.

[Picture: Grand ceremony at the Ancestral Temple]

And such is the entire and sole fruit of the long patience of these
potentates, after leaving their distant countries, and enduring fatigues
and dangers of every description, and a long journey through the desert:
they have enjoyed the happiness of prostrating themselves in the path of
the Emperor! Such a spectacle would with us Europeans be a matter of
pity and disgust, for we could not comprehend how there should be so much
humility on one side, so much arrogance on the other. Yet it is the
simplest thing in the world to Asiatic nations. The Emperor takes his
all-mightiness as a grave matter of course; and the Tartar kings think
themselves happy and honoured in paying homage to it.

The prime minister of