Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-03-20
IMBR0GLlO OF CHINA
Young Emperor Refuses to be a
Mere Puppet.
Ito Favored Reforms In the Inort Celestial
Empire-strength of the Empress Dow
nser too Great for IIim- Accused of Put
ting to Death All Who Oppose Her.

The reported death Of the poor young
Emperor OF China. kwang Su, and the
semi-ofiicial announcement OF the speedy
inaugural; ion Of his second cousin under
the dynastic name, Chik Manga, are
matters of much graver Importance
lhin appears on the surface.
Swang Su. who was deposed in Jam
uary. was born August 15 1871. Before
MS accession to the throne his name
was iSal Tien. He succeeded his cou-
SIN 1ung Chi, when less than 4 years
oiu. Oh january II. 1875. The real mon
"ch it that time, as now, was the En-
| p.,sS Dowager. kwang Su married
iheoruary -. 1889, and is said to have
;,,u d enid born to him, which, accord :
ing 10 some accounts. died in infancy.
anu. according to others. to have becn
removed by the Empress Downper fo,.
| reasons OF state - ~
Up TO 1892 the young Emperor mani
listed f,5 '! no individuality. The only hons
an,, .s,' mat ne gave was that he read
u. III stuuied u great deal, ana of those
, who were allowed by law to come in %
nc presence he favored the more t,I.
ttu. IL not the more learned. Revopd
tmls Tic led the life of an oriental nroN
,. Inc so-called Imperial Yamen or o.-
small ni,s at Peking is practically a
~ 49,, CITY rather than a palace Hars
nS ny mau everything which conduces to
pasure. There were musicians and 10
80 Hiarionette players, embroiderars
r. ..,, a. harem supplied from the most
80 ., vi women of the empire. II IL
na.,; siat the Empress Dowager tool
p;, .icuIaf pains in the selection of bic
| wives and concubines to choose ~ -, ms ms
", ny were beautiful, sensuous and Inzy
a. me nope that they would 90 a.:
.,ucs their sovereign that he would baIo
~ ueslre 70 undertake the caras ~
SSone ,' but would leave them In
Ch;na a .ps IN 1892 "a rumor startled
III a'ia's mat the Emperor had a. will Of
ms own and IDEAS of his own II is -
ciiine Tor Chinaman to sneak diroct,,.
y, ms ruler and the phrase which co.
hheHeu me thought was that "CelestiaI
t pIslnss changed their milk teeth md
r rm.,l MIX name in fact as well as
inc imperial Council, and the ,rs,,a
- - amen, or Foreign Office. Disaffec,
.ioii began TO spread throuyhont sba
eHpire, rlofing broke out and many CO
t tL societies. such as the white IiIv .,
ne iIlad and the "Tai-Ping', began
ion,a ',nu eieir existence known by proc
| ganda propo-
| 70 tnose experienced in Oriental ar
a aaiIs tnere was the opening of a con
iiict between the conservative forces ne
inc iand, led by the Empress Down rrar
ana a. tne liberals headed by Kwang Su.
IL is an open secret that ne vas ~
posed to the Japanese war ana that AZ AZ
empress Dowager was strongly in lis
favor. She referred ALWAYS in fonos of
contempt to the little brown men Of tho
Mikado and invariably used n Dunnine
variation of their name to indicate hnr
aversion. ''e ''ci
TACT OF DOWAGER-E EMPRESS.
The collapse of the Chinese arms and
the humiliation of its Government
WOULD nave produced a revolution If the
emperor had been stronger or If the
IE1iniilpress-Dowager had been weaker.
blame upon the generals, and bv n
master stroke of policy endeared her
SER TO the masses of the Celestial
kingdom. According to law and Gus
tom every office holder and subject is
supposed to send n handsome present
~, ~ INC Empress-Dowager upon her
The sum total runs far I'D into the
millions and in her case would have
Deen ABOUT one hundred millions. She
Knew we'll the complex nature of her
subjects and the moment she realized
tfette ffcf armies were doomed to defeat
she issued proclamation thanking her
people for their goodness and their
generous Intentions, but declining to
accent any presents because of the
troubles Of the country and asking all
to help along the nations cause. The
writer was in Picking at the time and
noted the effect. even upon the high
officials. 1t bound all Cinnamon TO the
Empress Dowager wifi n tic deeper
than any heretofore between the peo-
pie and n sovereign. This meant the
remission Of n heavy tax. and In
land where full grown men work for
seven and eight cents a day, evoked
an enthusiasm difficult for an Occi-
dental not knowing the people to I'M
derstand.
On this wave Of popularity the Em-
press Dowager assumed more open
power than ever before. Members of
the council. who had manifested any
liberality in their POLITICAL opinions.
were dealt with summarily. Some were
beheaded. others degraded and IL few. II
is whispered were poisoned ut her
orders. In 1896 n conspiracy was formed
whose object was to free the Emperor
from the iron rule of the Empress
Dowager and thus to obtain a more pro-
gressive administration. The ambitious
woman declared war to the death
against everyone involved. and started