Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-11-07
CHINA'S EMPRESS A SUICIDE.
Slapped in the Face by the Emperor, Sh'
Takes Poison and Dies.

Slapped in the Face by the Emperor, She
Takes Poison and Dies.
SHANGHAI, October 80, 1S94.-The
young Empress of China has commit
ted suicide.
She was rebuked by the Emperor,
who slapped her face, whereupon she
took poison.
CHINA'S GIRL EMPRESS AND THE STORY
OF HER UNHAPPY Welded LIFE.
The married life of the young EN-.
peror of China has not been happy
one. The outside world knows little
of what goes on inside the sacredly
guarded imperial palace at Pekin, but
enough has TRANSFERRED to show that
the Emperor, who is hot tempered and
spirited, bitterly resented the manner
in which his consoft was thrust upon
him against his inclinations by the i'm
perious and self willed Empress Dow
ager. The young Empress, Yo-Ho Ma
La, found the five years of married life
filled with discord and unhappiness
until at last, after a violent scene with
| her angry spouse, she put an end to
her earthly troubles by taking poison.
It was in 1889 that the Emperor mar
ried. He was then a youth of eigh-
IL. L
governed by the rules laid down in the
Book of Rites and is tedious aud ella
! borate process. The dynasty is Man
chu and the Emperor must marry one
| of his own race. For wear before the
marriage was celebrated hundreds OF
fair competitors, all daughters of Man
chu mandarins of not less than the
third rank, competed for the honor Of
sharing the imperial throne. After
several inspections, in which the
| beauty, family influence and intellect
ual attachments of the young ladies
were taken into grave consideration,
the list Of asnirants was reduced tC
thirty.
| The Emperor himself was deeply
smitten with the charms of the daugh
ter of a high Manchu military officer
and he expressed his intention to share
his throne with her. He also selected
another fair damsel whose beauty
/ struck his youthful heart with admir-
alton, for his second wife. But the old
lady who had so long and SO nobly
welded the sceptre during his n,inOri
| ty had no intention of allowing the
| young Emperor tn follow his bent in
this matter, and had already decided
on a match for him by which the
throne would be shared by one Of heI
own family. Accordingly, the lady Sc
lacted was her niece, who was any
thing but a beauty, from q Chinese OF
Manchu point of view, ard after 9
great many "scenes" and violent alter
cations, the Empress Dowager proved
her authority by having the marriage
with her niece celebrated. But the
unhappy bridegroom, though he
wie!ds sway over u third of the human
race, is as human and obstinate in af
fairs of this kind as any other boy oil
si-hteen; and his marriage was the
commencement Of a bitter strife be
tween himself and the old lady who
had so kindly looked after his matri
monial welfare. He never got over his
disappointment, and ever afterwarC
regarded both the Empress Consor
and her Imperial aunt with an antip
athy which daily grew stronger.
The unhappy young Empress was a.
the time of her marriage only thirteer
years old. She was the daughter Of
General Kuei hsiang, younger brother
of the Empress Dowager. A marriage
Initiated under such unhappy auspices
could scarcely prove satisfactory il
any respect, and the past five year.
have been filled with quarrels between
the Imperial couple. Now the end o
i5 has come. The girl Empress, com
pletely broken in spirit by the humili
stantly subjected, has chosen to fac'
death rather than try to bear the bur
den of her unhappiness any longer