The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1908-11-21
Isl An.

Isl An.
Tsi Hsi An. Dowager Empress of
China, whose death is just announced,
was one of the most interesting and
able women of modern times. The
story of her rise from slavery to be
ruler of great empire is probably
false, though If it were true it would
not be unparalleled. Catherine 1 of
Russia was the daughter of serf and
was reared as a founding. She was
introduced to the path of ambition by
being chosen for his mistress by one
of Peter the Greats commanders.
Afterwards she found favor in the
eyes of Peter himself and SO charmed
him that he ended by marrying her
and making her his successor. Thus,
II Isl An had begun her career as a
slave history would furnish a prece-
dent for her astonishing fortunes, but
she did not. She was the daughter of
Manchurian noble, and having ap-
peared at court in her girlhood ac-
cording to the social custom in China,
she was chosen by the Emperor Hsien-
Feng as his fifth wife. This placed her
at first far from the head of affairs in
the royal family, but her extraordinary
ability and her singular charm so
wrought upon the Emperor's heart
that he soon promoted her to the sec
ond place.
The custom of having several wives
at the same time is not at all strange
III America, though we do not as a
rule acknowledge more than one of
them, but the promotion of an in
ferior wife seems completely foreign
to our ideas. So much do Chinese
practices differ from our own. Had
Isl An been barred from social emil
nence by her inferior marriage rank
history would have been the poorer
by one of the most remarkable careers
ever recorded. In the seventh year
of her married life her husband died.
leaving her the mother of a 5-year-old
son, Tung Chin. The chief wife, who
was childless, adopted little Tung
Chih, who thus became heir to the
throne and the two principal widows
OF Hsien Chung became his joint guar
dams and regents Of the realm. This
happened long time ago, back in
1861, when Tsi An was a very .young
woman. She could not haverbeen
much more than % years old. Nobody
seems to know her precise age. Even
Catherine Carl, great crony of Isl
An, who painted four pictures of her,
avoids and exact statement of how old
she was.
Tung Chin was but phantom mon
arch. At the age of 20 he persisted
with more or less mystery about his
dying bed. Among the great gifts of
Isl An appears to have been a con-
summate art in securing the conve-
niant death of anybody who stood in
her way. All through the fifteen years
Of poor Tung Chih's reign she and
her colleague ruled as regents In per-
'ect harmony. No discord could arise
because the colleague was absorbed
n literary pursuits at which she was
IN adept, while Isl An devoted herself
% the more masculine pursuit of
'eigning. At Tung Chiah's death the
.wo women adopted another infant,
Isl Ans nephew Kwang Hsu, and an
other long regency began which only
in 1889, when they deliver
ID up to him the reins of power.
Awang Hsu was not very vigorous
He is described as a meek
,reature, Oriental in his manners and
astes. The astonishing thing about
him is the fact that he had progressive
IDEAS. He realized that China was far |
'ehind the rest of the world in ciyili-
iation and her terrible defeat by the
Japanese in 1894 encouraged him to
initiate extensive reforms. One can
imagine what howl this excited In
china, the most reactionary country
n the world. Kwang Hsu wished to
introduce modern science, build rail-
Dads and establish schools as the |
Japanese had done. With shrieks of |
age the mossbacks turned to Isl An,
Who was in semi-retirment at the |
ime, and she graciously inclined her
ar to their petitions. Returning to |
he palace she skilfully showed the
laccid Kwang Hsu of the throne and
eated herself in his place. The Chi
Iese described the coup d'etat in their
'olite way by saying that Isl An had
'ielded to the opportunities OF her
lephew and consented to favor him
With her matronly counsel. She con-
inued to favor him with 1t up to the
ay Of his death. which occurred at
bout the same time as her own, no. |!