world, taught to believe that there could be no real stability until the
scheme of government approximated to the conception long formed of
Peking absolutism, waited patiently for the rude awakening which came
with the Yuan Shih-kai _coup d'état_ of 4th November, 1913. Thus we had
this double paradox; on the one hand the Chinese people awkwardly trying
to be western in a Chinese way and failing: on the other, foreign
officials and foreign governments trying to be Chinese and making the
confusion worse confounded. It was inevitable in such circumstances
that the history of the past six years should have been the history of a
slow tragedy, and that almost every page should be written over with the
name of the man who was the selected bailiff of the Powers--Yuan
Shih-kai.

[Illustration: The Funeral of Yuan Shih-kai: The Procession passing
down the great Palace Approach, with the famous Ch'ien Men (Gate) in the
distance.]

[Illustration: The Provincial Troops of General Chang Hsun at his
Headquarters of Hsuchowfu.]

[Illustration: The Funeral of Yuan Shih-kai: The Catafalque over the
Coffin on its way to the Railway Station.]

[Illustration: The Funeral of Yuan Shih-kai: The Procession passing down
the great Palace Approach, with the famous Ch'ien Men (Gate) in the
distance.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As there is a good deal of misunderstanding on the subject of the