The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-03-30

years of Europe than cycle Of Cath
ay," he meant more than would meet
an Oriental eye.
A "cycle of Ca,nd3 Is, tC speak
with prose and accuracy, sixty years,
without a second more or less. In
heriting from the prehistoric tlNhIla-
ton of Acadia in mid Asia and proof
of their inheritance from it, the
Chinese basis for the division of time
is the figure sixty. Sixty seconds
make minute, sixty minutes make
an hour, and sixty years make cycle.
To reach that number of years in hu
man life is an suspicious event.
When that event occurs to lady
who rules one fourth of mankind, it
becomes the occasion for one fourth
of the whole world to rejoice. This
point of time, in terms of our calendar,
occurred on the 9th day of Novem-
Der, 1894. On that date the Dowa-
ger Empress, who has been virtual
ruler of 'all the Chinas" for a gen.
Grafton, attained the age of sixty
years.
What wonderful life has been
that of the venerable lady, so different
from all our dreams and ideals!
Strange as it may appear, paradoxlcal
as it certainly is, China, the Oldest of
nations, is ruled by the youngest OF
dynasties. Unchangeable, incoercible,
the solvent of all alien forces and
conqueror of conquerors is the
Chinese social mot politicaD system
with it's language and culture. The
Emperor who sits upon the Dragon
Throne in Peking is of the thirty
third or thirty fourth which has
ruled the Chinese people. Today
it is an alien race of Manchu Emper-
'ors that governs the Chinese people.
Rarely if ever is there intermarriage
between Manchu and Chinese. The
Empress Dowager, the young EN-
peror and Empress, are of course all
of pure Manchu stock. Their origin
is in the far north.
Cherished legends declare that in
remote ages three heaven born virgins
dwelt beneath the shadow OF the
Ever White Mountain, which divides
Korea on the north from Manchuria,
and that while they were bathing in
the lake, which reflected in its bosom
the snow clad peaks which lowered
above it, magpie dropped blood
red fruit on the clothes of the young
est. This the maiden instinctively de-
voured. Forthwith she conceived and
bore son whose name they called
by term meaning Golden Family
Stem. He became the unifer of war
ring clans, and formed great nation
which descended south and conquer
ed China. The Manchu method of
dressing the hair was the we'll known
queue, the (ChineseO "pig tall at
which our shafts of ridicule are so
often sent. This badge of submission
they imposed upon all their subjects
in China; not, however, until many
bloody battle had been fought.
1t was hard for the cultivated peo-
pie of the Middle Kindom, teacher of
nations, to have race of 'barbarians"
sitting upon the Dragon Throne.
Nevertheless these Manchu Tartars
have proved themselves "the most
improbable race in Asia" Within
the period of this youngest of dynas-
ties have occurred some of the most
brilliant epochs in Chinese literature,
art and industrial development.
Theirs has also been the era of con-
tact with the Western world,
The Leading Figure of the Empire.
The Empress Dowager Tzu has
been for a generation the leading
figure of the empire. In some re-
spects she is one of the greatest fe-
male characters in all history. To
her powerful influence is attributed
much of the progress which China
has made in modern ideas. Hers
was one Of the very first minds to
grasp the problem of the relation of
the Middle Kingdom to foreign
powers. Statesmen living in an en-
pire which had never even suspected
that either civilization or sovereignty
existed beyond their borders, could
only see other linen as trees walking"
and outside countries as pupils and
tribute bearers. The Empress Tzu
was one of the far seeing ones. Spot
less in character, benevolent in life,
thrifty and economical with the ma
tional resources as we'll as her own,
she has been from the year 1861 I'M
til 1889 when the boy Emperor mar
ried and assumed the imperial dig
nity) virtual ruler of China. Once,