Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-10-19

Kwang dicd Feb. "a, 1850, leaving his
country apparently open to foreign trade
and Hongkong in possession of the Eng
liSh, but irregular hostilities continued
ten years longer before treaties were CON
Guided with all the western powers, and
soon after the final settlement Tan
Kwang's successor died, leaving an infant
son as heir to the throne.
Hen ung, heiS to Tan Kwang and the
first emperor under the new system of in
tercoursc with foreigners, left his brother,
Prince Kung, and his widow, the dowager
empress, as Europeans would say, joint
regents of the kingdom and official guard
ians of his son, Tung-Chi. The latter
married quite young and soon after died
of smallpox, but it was generally believed
! in Picking that his widow promised an
/ heir to the throne She died suddenly
under circumstances not yet fully known,
| and it is believed that the dowager en-
press had her poisoned in order that she
| and Prince Kung might continue to rule
/ the empire.
The son of Prince Kung brother next
in age to Hen Flung, would have been
/ the rightful heir, but Kung was already
regent and his services could not be dis
pensed with, and Chinese law forbids that
a father should serve a son or occupy an
inferior rank in government position. So
a council of Mantchoorian princes was
called and they selected the youngest
brother of Hen Fung and Prince Kung-
namely, Prince Ch'un, as the proper chan
mel of descent, and his son was declared
heir to the throne with the title of Kwang-
Su, which means Industrious succession. -
Prince Oh 'un could hold no government
position because his son was emperor and
in tXVn X no-S
assembled the throne He is called the son
of heaven by his people, and his royal seat
is called the dragon throne. The dowagor
empress, cruel and arbitrary as she is re-
puted to be, had ruled with vigor for many
years and acquired extraordinary infiu-
ence despite the low condition usually as
signed to women in China, but kwang- Su
soon proved equally arbitrary, and after
some stormy times, of which few particu-
lars reached the outside world, he swept
aside much of the old court etiquette and
admitted foreign ambassadors to audience
on prescribed days in the first month CT
each Chinese year.
The reception is held in an outbuilding,
however, originally used for mental pur-
poses, and in the ceremonies it is still as
sumed that China holds the sovereignty OF
the world and that the foreign ministers
see him only by the grace of superior
and not of right The improvised throne
in which he sits at these receptions is an
deliberately carved chair of ebony, richly
gilded. The cushions are Of dark blue
satin, and ON either side of the throne
stands an enormous fan, carved and paint
ed to portray the wings of a brilliantly
hued bird Near by are two huge and
richly decorated cases containing the robes
of state. In the rear is magnificently
constructed SCREEN with carving and paint
ing to portray dragons and other monsters
with hideous eyes. During the reception
the emperor maintains "a stolid immobility
of countenance> and his attendants put on
a look and air of sublime liberation and
amused contempt.
Kwang Su has recently shown tend
. ency to break through this cast iron sys
TEN, to study the ways of western nations
and take hand in the government, all OF
which has excited the liveliest horror or
, the part of his great officers of state. He
censured the viceroy of Canton and hi:
brother, the all powerful LII Hung Chang
because the former was "A party TO frauC
in the examinations of applicants for office
The dowager empress favored the guilty
viceroy, but hof influence had waned
The latest indications are that Kwang-St
] VIII MAKE uSSperaGe elloIb W pIcah uoNi
, all the old restrictions and modernize anC
, rejuvenate his empire.
Everybody knows that the rulers ar
, not, strictly speaking, Chinese, but a few
historic points should be noted. Exclud
Ing mythology, the well authenticated
= history of China begins with the reign o
Yu the Great in 22O7 b, c., or 4, lOl year
, ago. There were about l, 100 years of grea
, progress and then 1913 years of horribl!
| destructive wars, after which peace and I
a united empire were restored aud continued
till A. d. goo. Then came over 900 year
l of alternating peace and war, when TIN
=. Mongolians overran Tie empire by degree
u and in Kublai Khan, the first Of the Mon
, gol dynasty, ruled at Picking from l2'
J to 1856 Most of the subsequent inteInn
u wars have been from attempts of the trn
or yellow Chinese to eXpel the Mongols.