had passed seven days in public feasting to mark his good fortune, and
then devoted fourteen more days to fasting and various acts of
penance, in order to make known the regret with which he acknowledged
his entire unworthiness for the honour before him. Owing to this very
conscientious, but nevertheless somewhat short-sighted manner of
behaving, Quen found himself unable to reach Peking before the day
preceding that to which Lo Yuen had made special reference. From this
cause it came about that only sufficient time remained to perform the
various ceremonies of admission, without in any degree counselling
Quen as to his duties and procedure in the fulfilment of his really
important office.

"Among the many necessary and venerable ceremonies observed during the
changing periods of the year, none occupy a more important place than
those for which the fifteenth day of the month of Feathered Insects is
reserved, conveying as they do a respectful and delicately-fashioned
petition that the various affairs upon which persons in every
condition of life are engaged may arrive at a pleasant and
remunerative conclusion. At the earliest stroke of the gong the
versatile Emperor, accompanied by many persons of irreproachable
ancestry and certain others, very elaborately attired, proceeds to an
open space set apart for the occasion. With unassuming dexterity the
benevolent Emperor for a brief span of time engages in the menial
occupation of a person of low class, and with his own hands ploughs an
assigned portion of land in order that the enlightened spirits under
whose direct guardianship the earth is placed may not become lax in
their disinterested efforts to promote its fruitfulness. In this
charitable exertion he is followed by various other persons of
recognized position, the first being, by custom, the Guarder of the
Imperial Silkworms, while at the same time the amiably-disposed