The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-06-27

The empress, Tsi An, from earliest
childhood, has been a woman of abb
sorbing ambition. Her father was
refugee the victim of an uprising such
as threatens China today. His crops
were ruined, his house burned and his
little property confiscated. With his
wife and daughter he wandered for
weeks to the south, hoping and seek
ing for a home where he could again
restore his lost pittance and support
his family. Finally becoming desper-
ate, he stopped in little town in the
province of Honan and begged for food
for his wife and child. Then, following
the advice of his friends, he sold his
pretty daughter to the viceroy OF the
town. He adopted her as his daugh-
ter and educated her. She became
wit as we'll as a beauty. Then she was
sent to Pekin "as a present to the
emperor"
AS soon as Tsi An was presented to
the Emperor Heinfung, she conquered
him by her coquetry and cleverness OF
speech, for she was no ordinary Wo-
man. Though without early education
and brought up as a coolie, her an
| cestry was of good Manchu stock, her
grandfather being of the ruling literati.
| Thus she inherited some talents that
| she soon put to active use.
CONQUERED THE EMPEROR.
Hardly had she been in the emperor's
house a year before her power was
felt. She plotted and planned with the
| eunuchs and made herself influential
with the powerful mandarins and vice.
| nrhn tn vic oia
She practically usurped the position of
precedence held by the emperor's legal
first wife. Isl Tshi, and the favorite
of the emperor, was the recipient Of
PALACES, diamonds, pearls and precious
stones, the rarest and costliest of china,
thousand waiting women slaves, such
as she had once been, waited upon her,
and her robes We're the handsomest
that could be bought. Russian sables
and furs and Spanish and French set
jewels adorned her person. The wealth
of the empire was laid at her feet.
And all this personal achievement had
been accomplished in a dozen years,
for Tsi An was but twenty-seven years
old when the emperor died. Then came
the real struggle for mastery. Hen
| Fung, just before his death, appointed
a board of regency, guardian to his in
fant son. Tsi Ans first achievement
was to overthrow this board and usurp
the reins of government herself. She
had thoroughly familiarized herself
with the intricacies of the court and
the duties of a sovereign, and, through
her emperor husband, had really
welded the power Of ruler. She CO.
creed the rightful empress with little
difficulty, and, by joint proclamation,
abolished the, board of regency and
usurped the prerogative herself. The
government of 0OOO,0 600 of people was
thus absolutely in the hands of two
women-one not a dozen years out OF
peasants dresses, the other the widow
of the emperor and totally ignorant OF
national affairs Added to this dilemma
China was threatened with war;
1t was fortunate for China, there
fore, that there was a man equal tC
the occasion, and it is an interesting
coincidence that he, like the empress
! rose from the peasant classes. Il
Hung Chang was the foundation tC
the empire the strong pillar in the
: weak house, and he upheld the name
and preserved the unity of the en-
pire during the Taeping rebellion and
the Mohammedan insurrection of Yum.
nan.
Although the late Emperor Hen.
fung's son, Tungche, grew to man.
/. hood and married, the powerful rs
, An plotted TO deprive him of his right.
full empire. She permitted him to be
J crowned, but only four months did she
allow him to enjoy a semblance OF