The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-07-07

among the IrSt ten OF the list OF sue
cessful candidates. She was taken t.
the palace and there installed in one
/ of the suites of rooms in the woman ;
quarter. Here began her wonderful
career of intrigue. She paid particu-
! lar attention to the empress, and at
the same time conducted herself with
such tact and wisdom as to make
| friends and few or no enemies among
! the hundreds of other women in the
! imperial household. BY degrees she
made herself Indispensable to the en-
press, and in this way was thrown
/ into the company of the emperor
After a time she won his admiration
and affection, and finally presented him
with a son. AS the empress had no
male issue and as Isl Ans son was
well loved by the emperor, she induced
him to appoint her by proclamation
the empress of the west
This action was a master-stroke of
! diplomacy. The title was an ancient
one, but had fallen into allegiance; in
fact. it was well nigh forgotten by the
great lords of the council. How she
unearthed it was at the time and has
ever since been mystery to the schol-
arS of the empire. Under the old law
it was the highest honor and position
a concubine could hold. 1t put her
almost on a par with the empress
whose legal title was the empress of
the east. From now on she rose until
she became the real power behind the
throne. Nevertheless, she never per-
mitted her ambitions to thwart the
empress proper, who was her senior
as well as her legal superior. Hen
Flung died in August, 1860. According
to some reports the cause was a broken
heart on account of the great Tai Ping
rebellion; according to others, he died
from poisoning.
He was succeeded by Isl Ans son,
who went to the throne under the
official name of Tung Chi. The real
governing was done by regency con-
SiSting of the two expresses and Prince
Kung, the boys uncle. The new gov
eminent displayed far greater ability
than its predecessor. 1t attacked the
rebels with great vigor, engaged for
eign officers, including the Americans,
Ward and Burgevine, and the more
famous Englishman, Chinese Cor
DON" 1t opened relations with the
European governments and effected
many reforms. The credit of this work
has been divided between Isl An and
Prince Kung, but it undoubtedly be-
longs to the former.
In 1874 Tung Chi. then 10 years of
age, began to display some indepen-
dence. There were many intrigues at
the imperial palace, and the great men
of the state were appointed and dis
missed, promoted and degraded in a
manner which showed that a tremen-
dous struggle for mastery was going
on. Things looked very dark when the
emperor fell sick in a mysterious man
ner, and died shortly afterward, in
January, 1875. He left a wife who was
about to become mother Soon after
her husbands death she also fell sick
and died. Her death was ascribed to a
broken heart by some, and to poison by
others. There being no legal issue the
succession now deVolved upon the Man
chu mobiles. There were several candi-
dates and much wire-pulling and in
tfigue, but the one favored by Isl An
a little boy of 4, the son of loyal
Manchurian, was selected, under the
official name of KT,an-y Su, the old re-
gency being continued at the same
time
The young Emperor LOOK more kindly
to the Empress of the East than to
Isl An. The attachment deepeaed,
causing comment at Picking. 1t ended,
of course in the death of the Empress
Dowager Tung Gung, in April, 1881.
She also is said to have been the vic
been the master of ChinA's destinies
The Emperor Kwang SUI was a doclle
and loving child who allowed himself
to be swayed by her strong nature.
Some years ago, however. a rumor ran
through the Middle Kingdom that
Kwang Su was developing independ-
ence of spirit. and predictions were
freely made that ere long he would
be deposed and die. One, if not beth.
of these predictions has already come
true. While Tsi An has been the real
monarch, she has been supported by
at least three-fifthS OF the great conn
ellis known as the Nui Ken snd The
Kun HI Chu and not the Tsung-E va
men or Foreign Office (Which is an il.
ferior Department., as is enormously
reported in the press OF the Western
world.
As the struggle progressed the I'm
peror became more and more a IRIS
oner in his own palace, his friends
were attacked and rendered powerlrss.
Those high in office were degraded. or
beheaded, and those low in Office sent To
districts where they had no following
and did not even know the local Ian
guage. The Empress Dowager with
superior acumen saw the Increasing
power of foreign nations and attampted
to utilize it on her own behalf. II was
she who insisted upon violating all the
presidents of her country by having
Kwang Su receive the ambassadors in
person at Peking. TO us the event
had little significance. In China ii