The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-09-25
MANCHUS AND
CHINESE
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The Outlook.
The Outlook.)

: Last week the Empress Dowaeer q
China-the potential ruler of that coun
try-suddenly appointed several Chi.
nese, instead of Manchu, officials a.
, heads OF three important provinces OF
the Empire This concession by the
reigning Manchu dynasty to the native
| Chinese viii naturally be coupled with
the summons to Peking last week, first
of the venerable and astute Viceroy
Chang-Chi-Tung (the author OF
"China's Only Hope" a book well
known in this country, for consulta-
ton regarding the alarming growth of
anti-Manchu sentiment, and then of
| Yuan-Shi-Kai, the first official in Chi
rese history properly to organize and
maintain native soldiery. The event
| will also be coupled with the En-
press Dowager's rumored intention to
abdicate next February, thus bringing
| again to the fore the question of the
| appointment of an heir to the throne.
The overlordship of the Manchus and
their predominarce in the central gov
eminent of China has long been a
| grievance to the Chinese of China
proper. They do not forget that the
inhabitants of Manchuria, by the bat
tie OF SndnndIhudI, three CEN
turtles ago, entered with comparatively
little effort into possession of the Chi
nese Empire, and placed their prince,
Shun-Chi, on the throne of the Mings.
But the Manchus We're not to remain
mere warriors. They became also
statesmen and men of letters. This
was particularly evident during the
reigns of the second and third Manchu
Emperors. That of Kang-Hsi was con-
temporaneous with Louis XIV.'s ca
reer. The reigns of the two monarehs
had two characteristics in common. /
Both were remarkably long, and both
were marked by notable recognitions /
of literature-indeed, such an author /!
ity as Professor Giles declares Kang- /
Hsi to have been the most success
full patron of literature the world has /
ever seen. Like him, the next Empe- t
ror reigned threescore years and was
also a statesman and man of letters /
But now the Ta-Tsing-C hao, or Great
Pure Dynasty seems to have come to /
a strange end. For the actual Empe-
ror of China is mere puppet in the
hands of the Empress Dowager. When
the late Emperor Hsien-Feng died, he t
was, by his own edict, succeeded by
Tung-Chi, the son of one of his favorite I
harem women, TZu-Hsi, who had begun
her remarkable career by winning the I
monarch's favor and then influencing
him to declare their son. his successor. 1
With Tung-Chi Emperor, she caused
herself by his proclamation to be raised /
to the rank of Empress, and another
decree made her co-regent with Hsien-
Feng's legal widow. But the young
Emperor died. The two regents there
upon chose as his successor Kuang-
Hsu, a weakling, the son of Prince
Chun, Hsien-Feng's brother. If Tzu~
Hsi could not have her son Emperor,
she would at least have her nephew
in that position, for kuang-Hsus
mother was her own sister. The legal
widow now died, leaving Tzu-Hsi sole
regent over a fifth of the human race.
When Kuang-Hsu nominally assumed
control of affairs, the Empress Dow-f
ager remained the real power behind
the throne In 1898, however, he alarm
ed the Chinese reactionaries by inde-f
pendently issuing some reform decrees,
the Empress Dowager i'm
mediately secured a transference of the
sovereign authority to herself, and two
years later she proclaimed as heir to
the throne the little Pu-Chun, son OF
Prince Tuan, the noted reactionary, and
a grandson of her own deceased lord,
Hsien- Feng. The Empress Dowager is
seventy-three years old. AS Kuang-
Hsu is childless, she would insure a
Manchu succession without revolution
en- the part of the Chinese. For the
Manchu governing classes fear the Chi
nese more than they fear any foreign
foe.