The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-23


for undisputed supremacy of power.
The various causes and events which
led up to the war OF 1850. between China
and the allied powers OF France and Eng
land. do not fall within the scope OF this
article. Suffice it to say that Europe
wished TO open China's doors to trade. and
China wished to shut all her doris in the
face OF Europe
True to his nature. Hsien- Flung. az the
first approach Of the foreign troops, fed
with his wives to the Hunting Palace al
Jehol. There, after peace had been re-
stored, great contest was waged for in
fuence over the Emperor. the Prince OF I
and Shu-Shun on the one side and the
Expresses and Prince Kung on the other.
The former party, in spite of the lesson
they had rece: ed, were unanimously in
favor of insufd3g and driving out the for
eigners; the latter party. though hating
the foreigners with equal intensity. advo-
Gated a temporizing and moderate policy
Despite their efforts, Tze-hsi and her con-
federates lost ground. and all manner OF
calamities might have fallen on China had
not Fate-whieh appears to be under State
control in the Far East-stepped in and
cut the Gordlan knot Hsien-Fung died
suddenly ''of bad chilli
A few days before his death the En-
presses and their allies had taken a mo-
mentous resolution. and being fully pre-
pared. were not at all chagrined or aston
ished when the dying Emperor published
an edict appointing the Prince OF | and his
party regents during the Crown Princes
minority. This triumph of the Prince of
was short lived; few days after the
funeral of Hsien Fung, Pekin was thrown
into state of wild excitement by the ap-
pearance of an edict, which purported TO
proceed from the Emperor twho, by the
way, was four years ODD ordering the
Prince of | and Shu-Shun to be tried for
high treason. and appointing the Dowager
Expresses Regents of the Empire. Behind
this palpably faxed" edlct was practically
the whole army, massed in large bodies In
the neighborhood of the capital Tze-hsi
never does things by halves, and when
she sees her opportunity she strikes with
ruinous force and precision. But. con-
trary TO that which is at present believed.
she is emphatically not wantonly cruel
and spiteful woman When the Prince of
Il, Shu-Shun, and Ching (another confed-
erate) had been condemned to death. she
did her best to ameliorate the sentences
which, true to Chinese custom, were in
geniously cruel. The Prince of I and
Ching were mercifully allowed, to strangle
themselves in prison. and Shu-Shun. who
had been sentenced to the so-called
Lingering death" was decapitated.
In 1872 TZe-hsi's son. Tung- Chin, had
reached the age when he should take to
himself an Empress. and when the reins
Of power should pass into his hands. From
among hundreds of Manchu maidens, TIE
hsi chose fon him Ahluta. young lady OF
great beauty and noble descent, and Tung-
Chih's marriage was celebrated with great
pomp and ceremony on the 18th of October
of that year. But as Emperor, Tung-Chih
turned out decided failure. Weak disso-
lutte, and self wilied, he vehemently resent
ed the interference of his mother and
Prince Kung. and affairs came to a crisis
when an edict appeared degrading his i'm
perial klnsman ''for language in many re-
spect unbeeoming. Tze-hsi publicly null
lifted this edict and reinstated the prince.
which shows that her power was still abb
solute, and period Of intrigue and strife
set in once more between the real and the
nominal heads of the State. II closed as
it was bound TO close. with the defeat OF
Tung- CEih, for on January II, 1875. THE
Son of Heaven" mounted the Dragons
back and became. as the saying goes, "a
guest on high"
That Tze-hsl assisted fate in removing
her son to a higher sphere OF activity 1t
would be futile to deny, though the fact
OF her completely has never been proven.
One thing is certain. Tung Chih's policy
endangered what she considered to be the
welfare of China: and if no means save
his death sufiiced to arrest that policy, die
he should were he twenty times her sou.
But an Emperor there must be, and
who was to step into Tung- Chih's shoes !?
Prince Kung's eldest son was the legal
heir. but Tze-hsi, for sundry reasons OBJ
jected to his candidature. Her nephew,
the infant son of Prince Chun, suited her
purposes better. and him she caused to be
taken one night from his nursery and
placed on the vacant throne. Those who
objected to this violation of law disap-
peared from human ken, and Tung- Chih's
widow. Ahluta, who. as Dowager Empress
might have raised difficulties. passed sud-
denly away-an obituary in eulogy of her
''chaste and virtuous and wise and filial''
character filling the pages of the "Pekiu
Gazette"
Unlike Queen Bess, who. if English his
torians speak truly, treated those who
served and saved their country with
f1agrc-. ingratitude, Tze-hsi never forgets
her dUiful servants. and is full of sym
pathy for her soldiers in war time and for
her people in hours of affection. On one
occasion when. in putting down rebellion
in the island OF Hainan, the army suffered
greatly in that malarious citrate, she de-
spatched post haste to the set of war ten
boxes OF @Pingan Tan" or pills of peace
and tranquility Could sympathy be more
touchingly expressed? In 1897 there was
dire famine in the provinces of Honan,
Sbausi. and Kansu, and Tze-hsi obtained
funds for the relief of the starving by rig
orously cutting down the palace expenses
and drawing largely from her private
purse That Tze-hsi is not violently anti
Christian is proved by her graceful accept
ance on her sixtieth birthday of New
Ties tament bound in silver covers. The
book was printed by the Presbyterian
Mission Press" at Shanghai. Though
Na,- al cha 10
most affable to those who obey her. her
greatest favorite being an adopted daugh-
TER. the quaint drawing of whose little son
(also a pet of Tzs-hsD are among the
most valuable of the accompanying illustra
tions.
The aggressions Of France In Tonking
were the most important political events
during the minority of the new Emperor.
Kwang-su, and it was these, more than
anything else. that filled Tze-hsi with
such deadly and impracticable hatred
against all Europeans. Kwang-su's mar
rage and coming of age, the Japanese war,
and the aggressions of Germany. Russia,
England and other powers, are events too
recent to need detailed recapitulation
But of the coup d'etat of 1898. when TIE
hsi deposed and imprisoned the Emperor
word must be said. Kwang-su. to put II
plainly. is somewhat of a fool. Enamored
OF European civilization, he sought to CO
the work of centuries in day: to change
over night the ancient customs of an al
most changeless people. This foolish but
weIl-meant labor was interrupted one fine
morning by the appearance of Tze-hsi with
a document in her hand which she laid
before the Emperor and babe him sign II
was practically a deed OF abdtcation. He
refused to obey her; and Gas related by
witness to the scene) she handed him the