untries,
but the Emperor refused, and Chi Yuan thought that the country would be
taken by others in the near future. He could not influence the Emperor,
so he made up his mind to commit suicide and jumped into the river,
taking a large piece of stone with him. This happened on the fifth day
of the fifth moon, so the year afterwards, the Emperor got into a Dragon
boat to worship his soul, and throw rice cakes, called Tzu Tsi, into the
river. On that day the people have celebrated this feast ever since.
At the Palace the theatre played first this history, which was very
interesting, and also played the insects trying to hide themselves
before the most poisonous hour arrived. On that day we all wore tiger
shoes, the front part of which was made of a tiger's head, with little
tigers made of yellow silk to wear on the headdress. These tigers were
only for the children to wear, and signified that they would be as
strong as a tiger, but Her Majesty wanted us to wear them also. The
wives of the Manchu officials came to the Court, and when they saw us
they laughed at us. We told them it was by Her Majesty's orders.

A register recording the birthdays of all the Court ladies was kept by
the head eunuch, and a few days before my own birthday came around, the
tenth day of the fifth moon, he informed me that the custom of the Court
was to make a present to Her Majesty and said that the present should
take the form of fruit, cakes, etc., so I ordered eight boxes of
different kinds.

Early in the morning I put on full Court dress, and made myself look as
nice as possible and went to wish Her Majesty good morning. When she had
finished dressing, the eunuchs brought in the presents and, kneeling,
I presented them to Her Majesty, bowing to the ground nine times. She
thanked me and wished me a happy birthday. She then made me a present of
a pair of sandalwood bracelets, beautifully carved, also a few rolls of
brocade silk. She also informed me that she had ordered some macaroni
in honor of my birthday. This macaroni is called (Chang Shou Me'en) long
life macaroni. This was the custom. I again bowed and thanked her for
her kindness and thoughtfulness. After bowing to the Young Empress and
receiving in return two pairs of shoes and several embroidered neckties,
I returned to my room, where I found presents from all the Court ladies.

Altogether I had a very happy birthday.

I can never forget the fifteenth day of the fifth moon as long a