The sun., 1908-11-15
EMPEROR or CHINA IS DEAD
PuPPET MONARCH WAS RULED
BY EMPRESS DOWAGER.
End Came in Palace at Pekin at 3 p. NJ.
Yesterday-Iiis Successor O Two-
Year.Old B0y-Tsai.tlen Made Brief
struggle to he Ruler and Reformer.
Special cable Dtspatehs, 10 THH sum.

PEKIE, Nov. 1.-THE Emperor O
| China, Tsai-hsi. died at 8 O'Clock thl
afternoon. The news was confirmed OF
inquiry at the Wai-wu-pu, or Ministry o
Foreign Affairs.
II was also ON cially stated that tn,
Dowager Empress's condition was 30 Low
that no hope was entertained of he
recovery.
PARIS. Nov. I4.-Ld Liberte's Pekin cor
respondent says that the Emperor
death was announced officially this morn
ing and that announcement was alsc
made that the regency would be oonfideG
TO Prince Chun. under the supreme au,
thorty OF the Empress Dowager.
The latter's condition has become
worse since yesterday. and a crisis Is i'm.
minent which may prove fatal and &c
oomplicate the situation.
The court circle at Pelxin is anxiously
awaiting news from the provinces, espe-
cially from the south. where trouble is
feared.
WASHINGTON, Nov. Administer Rock.
bill at Pekin informed the State Depart
ment to-day that two edicts had been
issued in the name Of the Empress Dow
ager, one appointing Prince Chun Regent
and the other virtually designating Pu-yi,
his two-year- son. as heir apparent.
Mr.. Rockhill said he was unable to give
any definite information as to whether
the Emperor was alive or dead.
The report was current in Pekin, he said,
that the Empress Dowager is dangerously
i'll. The city, he said, is quiet. WI Ting
States, has received a cablsgram announc-
ing the issuance Of the two decrees mem
toned in Mr.. Rockhills despatch, but
containing no information Of the reported
death Of the Emperor.
Tsai-t'ien. the shadow Emperor of
China who ruled under the kpoh-hao.
or imperial name OF Kuang -hsu, was
the ninth in succession of the Manchu
dynasty, which has governed the SUBJ
jugated peoples OF China since 1854 under
the high sounding title Of the Great
Pure Dynasty For many generations
before the first Of the victorious Manchu
Emperors ascended the throne OF China
the strong ancestors of the late puppet
Emperor held domain over all of
Manohuria and parts of Tartary from
their seat in Mukden.
The accession of Kuang -hsu was sur
rounded by circumstances which might
have been taken as a forecast Of his un-
happy reign had the imperial managers
Of horoscopes and soothsayers been true
to their divinations, for a sudden and
mysterious death put him. a baby, in line
for the dragon throne, and from that day
his life was but a straw in the hands
of an unscrupulous woman
When the Emperor Hsien- -feng died,
in 1881 one OF his secondary wives Tzu-hsi.
had the satisfaction of seeing the success
sion pass to her son. Tung-chih. Tzu-hsi
and the Empress Of the East, the dead
Emperor's principal wife, ruled as CO.
regents during tho minority Of the young
heir. just as he reached an age to as
sumo the throne in fact he died suddenly.
Smallpox was given out at the palace
as the cause OF his death, but there was
a lasting suspicion that he had been
poisoned. Since he died without naming
his successor, according to the Manchu
laws OF succession Tzu-hsi. who now held
the reins Of power in her hands. dictated
infant son Of one Of her sisters, Tsi-an, |
and a cousin Of the Emperor Tung -ohih. |
From that day Tzu-hsi ruled, first as
Empress Dowager and coregent with |
Tsi-an. and latterly as the sole director |
OF government behind the throne Of the |
weakling Emperor.
Tsai-t'ien, or Kuang- -hsu as his imperial |
name goes, was born in Pekin, August 2.
1872. 1t was on january ~, 1875, that he |
become an emperor in name. The boy
hood OF the little ruler was spent mewed
up in the imperial palace within the For
hidden City Of Pelin with only very oc-
casional trips with the retinue of the
Dowager out to the latter's summer
palace some distance beyond the walls
Of the city. The boy was suffocated
with magnifcence and pampered with
all the slavish attentions OF swarm OF
courtiere. Imperial tutors taught him
the books Of Confucius, the sum total
to the old Chinese scheme Of learning.
and imperial nurses diverted him with
such toys aA expensive Swiss watches
the model OF \ locomotive and a minia-
ture battlestfp Of English make. It is
related OF his boyhood that he smashed
tnIee oWlbS WdUCHoo III u blnBlo morning
because he liked TO see the released springs
squirm.
The most important event in the young
Emperor's life, aside from his accession
10 the throne, was his marriage, which
iook place in February. 1880. This event.
ike all the other incidents in his life was
managed and supervised through all OF
is intricate details by the watohful En-
1ress Dowager. AS a preliminary to
he selection Of bride for Kuang- -hsu.
he regent picked out about 200 candi- !
'ates and set the members of the Board
" Rites to work inquiring into the horo- ,
cope, OF every one Of them.
When these Officers who inquire into ,
Heaven had selected about a dozen ,
likely candidates, the Empress Dowager /,
lad them all come to live at the palace !,
Until by her observation Of their char /,
lcters at first hand she could pick out the J
most fitting. The final choice fell upon
eh- -ho-na-ia, the daughter Of Tsu-hsi's
brother Kwi-siang, a Manchu general
wo subordinate wives were also ohosen
nd the marriage ceremony was per- l
ormed only after several hundred thou
ands Of dollars had been spent in cere-
nonial
In March, 1889. the boy Emperor be-
ame Of age, according TO Chinese reck-
ming and he assumed the imperial title y
nd took over the office Of Son of Heaven.
he Empress Dowager appeared to with
raw into private life, her period Of re- a
ency over and Kuang-hsu began imme- j
lately TO act as II he were 10 be Emperor a
; fact, By law he was absolute monarch, Q
,uh the power OF life and death over all n
Is subjects and restrained by no power O
n earth save the dictates OF the code OF Y