THE DOWAGER EMPRESS OF CHINA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 225, 23 September 1898, Page 5

THE DOWAGER EMPRESS OF CHINA.

HER ROMANTIC HISTORY,

FROM SLAVE GIRL TO A POSITION ALL POWERFUL.

The life story of the present Dowager Empress of China, whose word is law to the millions of the vast Chinese Empire, and whose power is even greater than that of the reigning Emperor, is one of the most romantic in the annals of history. During the turbulent reign of Emprior Heing Fung at the height of the Taiping rebellion, many of the poor were compelled to sell their children to keep body and sou) together. Such was the fate of a pretty little fourteen year old girl named Yin Ling, who, with her father, Li Tzun and her mother and brother, lived on the outskirts of Canton. She was sold to the Tartar Tidoo General, who commanded th.c troops of the province, and -svho

was related to the Emperor Hem Fung. The General was greatly pleased with the girl. So Yin Ling became an inmate of the General's household. She was appointed sewing maid to the wife of Tidoo and a year passed. Both Tidoo and his wife had become greatly attached to her, and as they had no children of their own, they adopted her. That was the beginning of the little slave girl's marvellous rise to power.

A tutor was engaged for her and she made rapid progress. In the matter of etiquette she proved a wonderfully apt pupil. At the age of seventeen she was pronounced by Celestial connoisseurs to be the most beautiful woman in the Chinest Empire.

Then Tidoo was ordered to report to the Emperor at Pekin for promotion. No .officer ever receives honours from the Emperor without bestowing costly gifts in return. Tidoo was perplexed. On previous occasions he had given great rolls of costly silk and cups of pure gold, for he was a very rich man: but now, as the service was greater, so must be the gift. It is a compulsory' Chinese custom.

What could he give that was greater than he had already given? He must not displease the Emperor by offering anything not in keeping with the honour about to be bestowed upon him. After serious- thought and consideration he decided to present Yin Ling to the Emperor. It was a great sacrifice, ajul he would rather, much rather, have declined the promotion. But there was nothing else to do. THE EMPEROR'S FAVOURITE. 'Dear father and mother,' said Yin Ling, 'my life is in your hands. I shall grieve to leave you. I know you have my future at heart, and if my going will make you happy I also shall be ! happy in the knowledge of your happiness.' When the court duties were over, and the General had received his new decorations and titles, Yin Ling was I presented to the Emperor. He was charmed and delighted. The girl's I radiant beauty hypnotized him. The I life in'the imperial palace of a thouj saud slaves exceeded the "wildest ! dreams of the little slave girl. At her : beck and call were menials who lived but, to anticipate her smallest whim. The Emperor was most attentive to his new bride. All through the palace it was whispered that the Son of Heaven had lost his heart. Before a month had passed Yin Ling had been honoured with the title Que Fay, which means exalted auxiliary.

Tsi An, principal wife and titular Empress, became very jealous of the newcomer, as did the rest of the Emperor's wives. But she won all hearts with her sweet ways and her sunny disposition, and the opposition was short lived.

Three years later, in 1854, there was great rejoicing1 in the imperial pala.ce. A son had been born to the Emperor, his first son, and Que Fay was the mother. Thus was the little slave girl further exalted. The child was named Thsi Chuen, and to his mother was o-iven the title Tsi Thsi, which carried with it the rank of Empress, second to that of Tsi An. Then the wars broke out afresh. The following- year the Emperor was stricken with fever, and giving- up all hope of straightening out the complicated affairs of his kingdom, he lost heart and died.

SHE BECOMES THE RULER

To none of his widows, nor to Prince Rung, his brother, had the Emperor Hem Fung- left any authority. There followed a period of reckless debauchery, until Tsi Thsi, with the assistance of Tsi An and Prince Kung, arranged a plan whereby the Board of Regency was overthrown and the members executed. Then the dominant spirit of the mature woman, no longer the poor slave girl, asserted itself. With her seven-year-old son she ascended the throne, claiming for him the title Tung Che, Kuler of the Celestial Kingdom. At once she assumed full charge of the affairs of state. With her newly acquired powers she did not forget her lowly parents. Emissaries were despatched to find them, but they had died. Her brother, Ko Jon, was found working for a farmer and earning nine dollars a year, He was installed in the imperial palace and given £25,000 a year for spending money. He immediately became an imbecile. _ The crowning glory m the lite 01 the slave girl who had risen _to the position of Empress came in 1873 ivhen her son ascended the throne and became in truth the Emperor of the kingdom. But her joy was turned to o-rief two years later, a grief that nearly proved fatal, when the young Emperor died. The next of kin was Kwang Suey, the son of Prince Kung and a nephew of the Emperor Hem Fung. But all China knew that he was under the

advice and counsel of Tsi Thsi and his father, and now the Empress Dowager has once more stepper!, into the arena, and at the age of sixty-four has again taken the reins of active g-overn-ment into her own hands.

Truly a remarkable woman is this, and one who deserves a prominent place in the history of nations.