THE MING DYNASTY.
[To TEl EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sm—In an article in the Spectator of March 2nd, you ask whether there exists at present any scion of the Ming dynasty. It happened to me some years ago to find that a descendant of Choo Yuan Cheng, the founder of the Ming dynasty and subverter of the Mongol dynasty of Yuan, had been appointed Sub-Prefect in Feng Yang, a district in An-Hui province. Peng Yang is close to Choo-yang-fu, where Choo was born, and where he lived as a young man as a Buddhist novice in a
local monastery, circa 1328 A.D. It may not generally be known, but the present Manchoo dynasty conferred the rank of Marquis on the lineal descendants of the dynasty they overthrew. The representative of this family is allowed to this day to proceed once a year to Pekin to sacrifice to the manes of his ancestors. The same privilege has been allowed in former dynasties to the descendant of an overthrown. dynasty.—I am, Sir, &c.,
A FORMER RESIDENT IN CHINA.
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