CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER (SOMB PRESS OPINIONS) "Rarely is a book written round State papers which is at once so sound in learning, so informing, and so fascinating to read as this. It publishes for the first time documents which, but for the diligence of the authors, would probably never have come uhder English eyes ; it gives us an enthrallin~ narrative of the vicissitudes of feeling and policy in the Forbtdden City at the time of the Boxer rising and the attacks on the Legations in Pekin; and it comes as near as any book could to explaining the enigmatic character of the Empress Dowager. She was the Queen Elizabeth of the Chinese Throne. No one who wishes to understand the China of the last half-century­ we might say also the China of immemorial ages-should leave this book unread."-The Spectator. " For the first time this remarkable volume lifts the veil that diplomacy had allowed to fail over the share of the Empress in the yvents of r9oo. It is a document more illuminating than perhaps any that has ever come out of China. \Ve see, as in a looking~glass, the inner life of the Palace. It presents for the first time a vivid and coherent picture of the whole career and character of the masterful woman who \Vas for half~a~ cenfury a de facto ruler of the Chinese Empire. Historically this document is of the highest importance."-T/ze Times. "Of the greatest possible interest. The diary affords a panorama of Chinese Court life in its most poignant moments, such as without doubt has never before been offered to European judgment. The whole of the historical narrative is carefully wrought and closely argued; the authorities consulted are fust~hand and vaiuable ; and the picture is always full of movement and colour."-The Da-ily Telegraph. "The authors have done more than write an admirable biography. They have given a picture, authoritative, in­ structive, and absorbingly interesting, of the tangled skein of China's political vicissitudes in the last sixty years. And it is out of the China of yesterday that the China of to~morrow must emerge."-The Daily News. • " We have the Empress Dowager to the life . . .. a vital, wresting, commanding woman, whose word was law in China fOr half-a~century. It is a narrative that holds one with an intense fascination. This sober record of events surpasses in interest the wildest fancies of romantic writers." -The Daily Chronicle. THE "lloLY :vloTHER," HER :\IAJESTY Tzf: Hsr. (From a Photograph taken in 1903.) .CHINA UNDER THE DOWAGER ~MPRESS BEING THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TZU HSI COMPILED FROM STATE PAPERS AND THE PRIVATE DIARY OF THE COMPTROLLER OF HER HOUSEHOLD BY J. 0. P. BLAND AND E. BACKHOUSE ILLUSTRATED ,.. -~ '• ::l f· '. ~..,. LONDON ;,.. ~ WILLIAM HEINEMANN MCMXI 'First printed, Octobe~ 1910. New Impressions, November, 1910, December, 1910,. February, 1~h.'• S'l' • VBRF 25987'/ 8 JAN IS69 Copyrii[ltt London, 1910, by William Heinemann. NOTE THE thanks of the Authors are hereby gratefull: r expressed to Miss Katharine A. Carl, for permission to reproduce the photograph of her portrait of the Empress Dowager ; to 1\:Ir. K. Ogawa, art publisher of Tokyo, for the use of his unique pictures of the Palace at Peking ; to Mr. Geo. Bronson Rea, of the Far Eastern Review, for permission to reproduce illustrations originally published in that journal; to Messrs. Betines, of Peking, for the right to publish their views of the capital ; and · to the Editor of The Times, for his courtesy in permitting the inclusion in this volume of certain articles written for that paper. LoNDON, September lOth, 1910. ;.~~:>:t;.y .• ,, ... v CONTENTS I THE PARENTAGE AND YOUTH OF YEHONALA II THE FLIGHT TO JEHOL • III THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY IV THE FIRST REGENCY l ·' v ./ 'l'SENG KUO-FAN AND THE TAIPING REBELLION (186·:1) VI TZU HSI AND 'l'HE EUNUCHS VII A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTJ> VIII MAJORI'l'Y AND DEATH OF THE E~!PEROR T'UNG-CHIH IX 'l'HE PROTEST AND SUICIDE OF WU K'O-TU X TZU HSI BECOMES SOLE REGENT XI TZU HSI " EN RETRAITE " XII THE REFORM MOVEl\IENT OF 1898 XIII THE HUNDRED DAYS OF REFORM Vll PAOE 1 14 30 51 64 81 110 117 132 148 161 178 190 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE REPRODUCTION OF PICTURE PAINTED ON SILK BY HER MAJESTY TZU HSI 284 FACSIMILE OF A FRAGMENT OF THE DIARY 299 DAUGHTERS OF A HIGH MANCHU OFFICIAL OF THE COURT 302 MARBLE BRIDGE IN THE GROUNDS OF THE LAKE PALACE • 350 IN THE GROUNDS OF THE PALACE IN THE WESTERN PARK 350 HIS HIGHNESS PRINCE TSAI HSUN 386 VIEW, FROM THE K'UN MING LAKE, OF THE SUMMER PALACE 452 THE EMPRESS DOWAGER, WITH THE CHIEF EUNUCH, LI LIEN-YING 454 THE SON OF HEAVEN . 458 MARBLE BRIDGE OVER THE LAKE IN THE WESTERN PARK WHICH SURROUNDS THE LAKE PALACE "TI WANG MIAO " OR TEMPLE TO THE MEMORY OF VIRTUOUS EM­ PERORS OF PREVIOUS DYNASTIES PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER THE IMPERIAL DAIS IN THE CH'IEN CH'ING HALL CEILING AND PILLARS OF THE TAl HO TIEN X 1\-.,_ 474 474 482 498 510 • CONTENTS I THE PARENTAGE AND YOUTH OF YEHONALA II THE FLIGHT TO JEHOL • III THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY IV THE FIRST REGENCY I .. v /TSENG KUO-FAN AND THE TAIPING REBELLION (186J) VI TZU HSI AND THE EUNUCHS VII A QUESTION OF ETIQUET'rE VIII MAJORITY A~D DEATH OF THE EMPEROR T1UNG-CIUH IX 'l'HE PROTEST AND SUICIDE OF WU K'O-TU X TZU HSI BECOMES SOLE REGE~T XI TZU HSI " EN RE'IRAITE " XII THE REFORM MOVE)IENT OF 1898 XIII THE HUNDRED DAYS OF REFORM Vll PAOE 1 14: 30 51 64 81 110 117 132 14:8 161 178 190 CONTENTS XIV THE COUP DET.AT OF 1898 XV TZU HSI RESUMES THE REGENCY (1898) XVI THE GENESIS OF THE BOXER MOVEMENT • XVII THE DIARY OF HIS EXCELLENCY CHING SHAN • XVIII IN MEMORY OF TWO BRAVE MEN XIX SIDELIGHTS ON TZU HSI'S STATECRAFT XX THE FLIGHT FROM PEKIN AND THE COURT IN EXILE XXI HOW THE BOXER LEADERS DIED XXII THE OLD BUDDHA PENITENT • XXIII THE RETURN OF THE COURT TO PEKING . XXIV HER MAJESTY'S NEW POLICY • XXV THE VALEDICTORY MEMORIAL OF JUNG LU XXVI HER MAJESTY'S LAST DAYS XXVII TZU HSI'S DEATH AND BURIAL XXVIII CONCLUSION APPENDIX INDEX • Vlll PAGEf 201 !Ill 246 251 307 327 340 363 375 387 417 436 443 464 476 499' 517 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Frontispiece I THE "HOLY MOTHER," HER MAJESTY TZU HSI MAP OF PEKING xii, xn1 THE REGENT PRINCE CH'UN, WITH HIS TWO SONS, THE PRESENT EMPEROR (STANDING) AND PRINCE P'U CHIEH 4 THE Il\IPERIAL DAIS IN THE CHIAO-TAL HALL 18 H.I.H. P'U JU, COUSIN OF THE PRESENT EMPEROR, SON OF THE BOXER / PRINCE TSAI-YING, AND GRANDSON OF PRINCE KUNG 20 / HER MAJESTY TZU HSI IN THE YEAR 1903 36 EXTERIOR OF THE CH'IEN CH'ING PALACE 54 H.l\1. TZU HSI, WITH THE CONSORT (LUNG YU) AND PRINCIPAL CON­ CUBINE (JEN FEI) OF H.l\1. KUANG-HSU, ACCOMPANIED BY COURT LADIES AND EUNUCHS • FACSIMILE OF LETTER WRITTEN BY CHIEF EUNUCH LI LIEN-YING 90 98 INTERIOR OF THE YA:NG HSIN TIEN. (PALACE OF "MIND NURTURE.") 122 INTERIOR OF THE I KUN KUNG 148 INTERIOR OF THE TAl HO TIEN 16 6 CIRCULAR THRONE HALL IN THE GROUNDS OF THE LAKE PALACE LOOTED BY ALLIED TROOPS IN 1900 . 208 PAVILION ON LAKE TO THE WEST OF FORBIDDEN CITY 208 THE " BEILEH " TSAI YING, SON OF PRINCE KUNG (CASHIERED BY TZU HSI FOR PRO-BOXER PROCLIVITIES), AND HIS SON 252 H.M. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER AND LADIES OF HER COURT (1903) 256 THE TA-A-KO, SON OF PRINCE TUAN, THE BOXER LEADER 280 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACI!.fO PAGE REPRODUCTION OF PICTURE PAINTED ON SILK BY HER MAJESTY TZU HSI 284 FACSIMILE OF A FRAGMENT OF THE DIARY 299 DAUGHTERS OF A HIGH MANCHU OFFICIAL OF THE COURT 302 MARBLE BRIDGE IN THE GROUNDS OF THE LAKE PALACE • 350 IN THE GROUNDS OF THE PALACE IN THE WESTERN PARK 350 HIS HIGHNESS PRINCE TSAI HSUN 386 VIEW, FROM THE K'UN MING LAKE, OF THE SUMMER PALACE 452 THE EMPRESS DOWAGER, WITH THE CHIEF EUNUCH, LI LIEN-YING 454 THE SON OF HEAVEN • 458 1\IARBLE BRIDGE OVER THE LAKE IN THE WESTERN PARK WHICH SURROUNDS THE LAKE PALACE 474 "TI WANG MIAO" OR TEMPLE TO THE MEMORY OF VIRTUOUS EM­ PERORS OF PREVIOUS DYNASTIES PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER THE IMPERIAL DAIS IN THE CH'IEN CH'ING HALL CEILING AND PILLARS OF THE TAl HO TIEN X 474 482 498 510 INDEX TO NUMBERED MAP OF PEKING (1) Tung Hua Men, the East Gate Glorious. This is the usual entrance to the Forbidden City for officials attending audience when the Court is there resident. (It was here that was sus­ pended in a basket the head of the foreigner captured by the Boxers on 20th June.) (2) Huang Chi Tien, or Throne Hall of Imperial Supremacy. In this Hall the Empress Dowager, after the return of the Court from exile, was accustomed to receive her officials in audience on the rare occasions when she lived iu the Forbidden City. It was here that her remains lay for nearly a year awaiting the day of burial. (3) Ning Shou Kung, or Palace of Peaceful Longevity. Here the Old Buddha resided during the siege ; here she buried her treasure. 8he returned hither after the days of exile and lived in it pending the restoration of the Lake Palace, desecrated by the foreign occupation. (4) Chien Ching Kung, or Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Hall in which China's Emperors were accustomed to give audience to the Grand Council. After the Boxer rising, in accordance with the new ceremonial laid down by the Peace Protocol, the Diplomatic Body were received here. In this Hall the Emperor Kuang Hsii dis­ cussed and decided with K'ang Yu-wei the reform programme of 1898, and it was here that his body lay awaiting sepulture between November 1898 and February 1909. (5) Shen Wu Men, or Gate of Divine Military Genius. Through this, the Northern gate of the City, the Old Buddha fled in the dawn of the 15th August, 1900. (6) The Rock-garden in which Her Majesty used to walk during the days of the siege of the Legations and from which XI she witnessed the burning of the Hanlin Academy. (7) Yang Hsin Tien, or Throne Hall of Mental Growth. In this Palace the Emperor T'ung-Chih resided during the whole of his reign. (8) Hsi Hua Men, or vVest Gate Glorious. One of the main entrances to the Forbidden City. (9) Tai Ho Tien, Throne Hall of Exalted Peace. Used only on occasions of High ceremony, such as the accession of a new Emperor, an Imperial birthday celebration, or the New Year ceremonies. (10) Shou Huang Tien, or Throne Hall of Imperial Longevity. In this building the reigning sovereign unrolls on the day of the New Year the portraits of deceased Emperors, and pays sacrifice to them. (ll) Hsi Yiian Men, vVestern Park Gate. It is through this that the Grand Council and other high officials pass to audience when the so\·ereign is in resi­ dence at the Lake Palace. (12) At this gate the Emperor was wont to await, humbly kneeling, the arrival of the Old Buddha on her way to or from the Summer Palace. (13) The Altar of Silkworms, at which the Empress Consort must sacrifice once a year, and where the Old Buddha sacrificed on occasion. (14) A Lama Temple where the Old Buddha frequently worshipped. (15) Ta Hsi Tien. The Temple of the Great 'Vestern Heaven. A famous Buddhist shrine built in the reign of the Emperor Kang Hsi. (16) The Old Catholic Church built within the Palace precincts by permission of the Emperor Kang-Hsi. It was con· verted by the Empress Dowager into a Museum in which was kept the collection of stuffed birds made by the missionary Pere David. Eye- witnesses .... t Shih Che Men (N.W. Gate) 0 T @ ..... -+-- Peking-Hankow Railway t ~ ~ ~ 0 I·::\T E\1 I'ER<)JZ, S"' OF TilE BnXEI' 1'RI:\< E Ts.\1-YI:\<~, :\'\11 (;RA:\IhO.\ ()F PI\J\('E Kt;:'\(;, THE FLIGHT TO JEHOL alarmed, and had issued a Decree expressing regret tor his failure to commit suicide on the approach of the invaders. The Emperor is reported to be ill, and it is said that the Princes Tsai Yi'tan and Tuan Hua are trying to get themselves appointed to the Grand Council. Should the Emperor die (lit. 'when ten thousand years have passed') the Yi con­ cubine will be made Empress Dowager, but at present she is reported to be at variance with the Princes, who are endeavouring to prejudice the Emperor against her. " I learnt that all was quiet at the temple where my mother's coffin rests. Troops were passing there daily, but, so far, none had occupied it. On the 29th, my servant-boy, Yung 'Erh, came to tell me that troops from Tientsin in the pay of the barbarians had occupied the temple, but on pro­ ceeding thither I found them to be General Sheng's men. Prince Seng's troops were also near at hand, so that, if a bombardment had taken place, what could have prevented the destruction of the temple, and what would then have become of my mother's remains ? I therefore decided to engage wheelbarrows and handcarts, at six taels apiece, to take my family to Pao-ting fu, and I arranged with the undertakers to hire bearers for the coffin. " At 11 a.m. of the same day the barbarians entered the city by the Anting gate, occupying its tower and the wall adjoining. One large cannon and four small ones were placed in position on the wall, and a five-coloured flag hoisted there. ,,Vith the exception of the officials entrusted with the duty of negotiating, not one remained in the city. Two days ago the prisoner Parkes, and his companions, were sent back to the enemy with every mark of courtesy. Scarcely had they reached their camp when a special Decree, post-haste from .Jehol, ordered Prince Kung to decapitate them all forthwith as a warning to the bandits who had dared to invade the sacred precincts of the Palace. As the Yi concubine had urged their execution from the very first, it would seem as if her influence were again in the ascendant. " On the 1st of the 9th Moon, the 'Chang-yi' gate was closed, but I managed to leave the city by the Hsi-pien Men, where I was nearly crushed to death in the enormous crowd. Upon my arrival at the temple, I had a nice wadded cover 21 CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER made to put over the coffin, and then hurried back to the city to arrange for the cortege leaving next morning. The President of the Board of Finance, Liang Hai-lou, was hiding in the temple precincts with his family and chief concubine, all wearing common clothes and unshaven. This is a good example of the condition to which the very highest had been reduced. Next morning, on reaching the temple, I found the coffin-bearers and transport coolies on the spot. But, un­ fortunately, in my hurry, I failed to notice that the under­ takers had supplied the frame, on which the coffin is carried, of a size smaller than had been agreed upon, so that instead of sixteen bearers there were but eight. We started, how­ ever, and the procession's appearance of panic-stricken fugitives was most distressing to contemplate. But what could I do ? The first and only object in my mind was to protect my mother's coffin. I have omitted to state that my small servant-boy, Yung 'Erh, had started to accompany the coffin on foot. But, after they had started, it occurred to me that the lad could never stand so long a journey, and that should my mother be aware of it, she would be extremely anxious about him. Therefore, I quickly engaged another wheelbarrow for Yung 'Erh, and bade the coolies hurry after the procession. " On returning home I felt uneasy about the jolting which my mother's coffin must have experienced on the undersized frame. I went, therefore, to the undertakers and expostulated with them for having cheated me. After much altercation they agreed to change the frame, but I was to pay two taels more for the larger size. I subsequently learned that they failed to keep their promise, but there was no good to be got by suing them for breach of faith. They are sordid tricksters. Yung 'Erh wrote, however, to assure me that the party had reached Pao-ting fu in safety, and that the coffin had not been jolted in the least. On removing the wrappings the lacquer was found to be undamaged. "The barbarians were now in full possession of the city, and rumours were rife on all sides. Everyone in Peking­ there were still a good many people-was terrified, and the ~ · Manchus were sending their families from the Tartar to the 22 THE FLIGHT TO JEHOL southern (Chinese) city to save their women from being outraged by the barbarian bandits. The condition of the people was indeed deplorable in the extreme. One of the Censors had sent a Memorial to J ehol, reproaching the Emperor for the pass to which he had brought his people, and for the neglect of ancestral worship caused by his absence. He blamed His Majesty for listening to evil advisers, and besought him to return to his capital. " The minds of the people were becoming more than ever disturbed, because it was now reported that the negotiations for peace had so far failed, either because Prince Kung would not entertain the barbarians' conditions, or because the latter were too utterly preposterous. " On the 6th, a despatch arrived from the British bar­ barians, accusing China of having violated all civilised usage in torturing to death their fellow-countrymen. For this they demanded an indemnity of 500,000 taels. At the same time came a despatch from the Russian barbarians, saying that they had heard that England was demanding this indemnity, but they (the Russians) were prepared to use their influence and good offices to persuade the British to abate their claims. Prince Kung was of opinion that, even if they should be successful in this proposed mediation, China would only save some 100,000 taels, and for this she would place herself under heavy obligations to Russia. So he replied, declining the offer on the ground that the British claim had already been accepted by China, and that further discussion of the matter was therefore impossible. Thereupon the Russians wrote again, saying that if China had definitely accepted the British terms there was, of course, nothing more to be said, but they asked Prince Kung to note that they had induced England to forgo half of the indemnity of two million taels originally asked, as a set-off to China for the destruction of the Summer Palace. On the 9th, Prince Kung forwarded the 500,000 taels to the British barbarians. " The whole sixteen articles of the barbarians' demands have finally been accepted without modification. The only thing that our negotiators asked was the immediate with­ , drawal of the invading army, and to obtain this they were prepared to yield everything. Therefore, the barbarians 23 CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER openly flout China for her lack of men. Woe is me ; a pitiful tale, and one hard to tell ! When the Yi concubine heard of Prince Kung's complete surrender to the barbarians she reproached the Emperor for allowing his brother to negotiate, and she implored him to re-open hostilities. But His Majesty was dangerously ill, and refused to leave .Jehol, so that our revenge must be postponed for the time being." Bearing in mind the frequent allusions made by the Hanlin diarist to the Emperor's indecision of purpose at the time of the advance of the British and French armies on Peking, it is reasonable to assume that Y ehonala prompted, if she did not write, the following vigorous Edict, which appeared on the 8rd day of the 8th Moon in the lOth year of Hsien-Feng (6th September 1860) :- " Swaying the wide world, we are nevertheless animated by one and the same instinct of benevolence to all. We have never forbidden England and France to trade with China, and for long years there has been peace between them and us. But three years ago the English, for no good cause, invaded our city of Canton, and carried off our officials into captivity. We refrained at that time from taking any retaliatory measures, because we were comRelled to recognise that the obstinacy of the Viceroy Yeh had been in some measure a cause of the hostilities. Two years ago the barbarian Commander Elgin came north, and we then commanded the Viceroy of Chihli, T'an Ting-hsiang, to look into matters preparatory to negotiations. But the barbaria1_1 took advantage of our unreadiness, attacking the Taku forts and pressing on to Tientsin. Being anxious to spare our people the horrors of war, we again refrained from retaliation and ordered Kuei Liang to discuss terms of peace. Notwithstanding the outrageous nature of the barbarians' demands, we subsequently ordered Kuei Liang to proceed to Shanghai in connection with the proposed Treaty of Commerce, and even permitted its ratification as earnest of our good faith. " In spite of all this the barbarian leader Bruce again , displayed intractability of the most unreasonable kind and 24 THE FLIGHT TO .TEHOL once more appeared off Taku with a squadron of warships in the 8th Moon. Seng Ko Lin Ch'in thereupon attacked him fiercely and compelled him to make a hasty retreat. From all these facts it is clear that China has committed no breach of faith and that the barbarians have been in the wrong. During the present year the barbarian leaders Elgin and Gros have again appeared off our coasts, but China, un­ willing to resort to extreme measures, agreed to their landing and permitted them to come to Peking for the ratification of the Treaty. "Who could have believed that all this time these barbarians have been darkly plotting and that they had brought with them an army of soldiers and artillery, with which they attacked the Taku forts from the rear, and, having driven out our forces, advanced upon Tientsin ! Once more we ordered Kuei Liang to go to Tientsin and endeavour to reason with them, in the hope that they might not be lost to all sense of propriety, and with the full intention that their demands, if not utterly unreasonable, should be conceded. To our utter astonishment, Elgin and his colleague had the audacity to demand an indemnity from China ; they asked, too, that more Treaty ports should be opened, and that they should be allowed to occupy our capital with their army. To such lengths did their brutality and cunning lead them ! But we then commanded Prince Yi and Mu Yin, the President of the Board of War, to endeavour to induce in them a more reasonable spirit and to come to some satisfactory arrangement. But these treach­ erous barbarians dared to advance their savage soldiery towards Tungchow and to announce their intention of compelling us to receive them in audience. " Any further forbearance on our part would be a dereliction of our duty to the Empire, so that we have now commanded our armies to attack them with all possible energy and we have directed the local gentry to organise train-bands, and with them either to join in the attack or to block the barbarians' advance. Hereby we make offer of the following rewards :~For the head of a black barbarian, 50 taels, and for the head of a white barbarian, 100 taels. For the capture of a barbarian leader, alive or dead, 500 taels, and for 25 CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER the seizure or destruction of a barbarian vessel, 5,000 taels. The inhabitants of Tientsin are reputed brave. Let them now come forward and rid us of these pestilential savages, either by open attack or by artifice. We are no lovers of war, but all our people must admit that this has been forced upon us. " As to the barbarians' seizure of portions of our territory in Kuangtung and Fukhien, all our subjects are alike our children and we will issue large rewards to any of them in the south who shall present us with the head of a barbarian chief. " These barbarians live in the remote parts of the earth, whence they come to China for purposes of trade. Their outrageous proceedings have, we understand, been en­ couraged by abominable traitors among our own subjects. \V e now command that all the Treaty ports be closed and all trade with England and France stopped. Subjects of other submissive States are not to be molested, and whensoever the British and French repent them of their evil ways and return to their allegiance, we shall be pleased to permit them to trade again, as of old, so that our clemency may be made manifest. Hut should they persist in their wicked violation of every right principle, our armies must mightily smite them, and pledge themselves solemnly to destroy utterly these evil-doers. May they repent while yet there is time ! " Three days later Y ehonala was present at the morning audience, when the Emperor made the following state­ ment:- . " We learn that the barbarians continue to press upon our capital. Their demands were all complied with, yet they insist upon presenting to us in person their barbarous documents of credentials, and demand that Prince Seng shall withdraw his troops from Chang-Chia wan. Such insolence as this makes further parley impossible. Prince Seng has gained one great victory already,. and now his forces are holding the enemy in check at Palich'iao." Orders were issued that the landing of troops from 26 THE FLIGHT TO JEHOL the warships which had appeared off Kinchou should be stoutly resisted. On the 7th of the 1\Ioon His Majesty sacrificed at the Temple of Confucius, but on the next morning he was afraid to come into the city from the Summer Palace, although he wished to sacrifice to the tutelary deities and inform them of his intended departure. Early on the following day Prince Kung was appointed Plenipotentiary in the place of Prince Yi (Tsai Yuan) and the Emperor, despite the brave wording of his Decree, fled from the capital, after making obeisance to the God of War in a small temple of the Palace grounds. In the Decree announcing his departure, the flight was described as an " autumn tour of inspection." 1 The Court started in utter confusion, but proceeded only some eighteen miles on the road northwards from Peking, stopping for the first night in a small temple. Here a Decree was issued calling upon all the Manchurian troops to hasten to J ehol for the protection of the Court. On the evening of the following day a Memorial was received from Prince Kung, reporting on the latest doings of the barbarians, but His Majesty ordered him, in reply, to take whatever steps he might think fit to deal with the situation. It was out of the question, said the Rescript, for the Emperor to decide on any course of action at a distance : in other words, the Throne divested itself of further responsibility. On the 11th, the Court lay at the Imperial hunting lodge north of Mi-Yun hsien. The Chinese chronicler records that the Emperor was too sick to receive the Grand Council, and · delegated his duties to Y ehonala, who thereupon issued the following Decree :- "We are informed that the pestilent barbarians are pressing upon our capital, and our Ministers have asked us to 1 The same euphemism was employed to describe the Court's flight in . August 1900. 27 CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DO'V AGER summon reinforcements from the provinces. Now the highest form of military art is to effect sudden surprises, carefully pre-arranged. The barbarians' superiority lies in their firearms, but if we can only bring them to a hand-to­ hand engagement they will be unable to bring their artillery to bear, and thus shall our victory be assured. The Mongol and Manchu horsemen are quite useless for this kind of warfare, but the men of Hupei and Ssii-ch'uan are as agile as monkeys and adepts at the use of cover in secret approaches. Let them but surprise these bandits once, and their rout is inevitable. Therefore let Tseng Kuo-fan, the Commander­ in-chief of Hukuang forces, send up at least three thousand of his best troops to Peking, and let as many be despatched from Ssii-ch'uan. Prince Seng's troops have been defeated again and again, and the capital is in great danger. At such a crisis as this, there must be no delay ; it is our earnest hope that a sufficient force will speedily be collected, so that we may be rid of this poisonous fever-cloud. For bravery and good service, there will be great rewards. A most important Decree." At the Court's halting place at Pa-Ko shih, close to the Great 'Vall, a Memorial came in from Prince Seng Ko Lin Ch'in, stating that small scouting parties of the barbarian troops had been seen in the neighbourhood of Peking, but that as yet there had been no general bombardment. A Rescript was issued as follows :- "Inasmuch as it would appear that the pertinacity of these barbarians will only increase with opposition, it seems desirable to come to terms with them as soon as possible. With reference to the French barbarian Gros's petition to be permitted to discuss matters with Prince Kung in person, at Peking, we command the Prince to receive him. But should the bandits attempt to approach the city in force, Prince Seng should take them in the rear and cut off their retreat. If by any chance, howeYer, Peking should be already taken, let the Mongol regiments be sent up to the Great 'Vall for the protection of our person." After a leisurely journey, the Court reached Jehol on the 28 THE FLIGHT TO JEHOL 18th. On the 20th, the opinion of the advisers of the Emperor seemed to be in favour of continuing the war at all costs. A Decree was issued, referring to the fact that the foreign troops had dared to encamp near the Summer Palace, and forbidding Prince Kung to spare the lives of any captured barbarians upon any pretext whatsoever. 'l'o this Prince Kung replied stating that the prisoners had already been released and that the Anting gate had been surrendered to the foreigners. Prince Kung, in fact, was statesman enough to realise that the only chance for China lay in submission; he therefore ignored the Imperial Decrees. Before long the Emperor was persuaded to allow negotiations to be resumed, and on the 15th of the 9th .l\Ioon he confirmed the Treaty, which had been signed in Peking, in the following Edict :- " Prince Kung, duly appointed by us to be Plenipotentiary, concluded, on the 11th and 12th days of this 1\loon, Treaties of Peace with the British and the French. Hereafter amity is to exist between our nations in perpetuity, and the various conditions of the Treaty are to be strictly observed by all." 29 III THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY IT was originally intended that the Emperor Hsien-Feng should return from Jehol to Peking in the spring of 1861, and a Decree was issued to that effect. In January, however, his illness had become so serious that travelling was out of the question, and this Deeree was rescinded. At J ehol, removed from the direct influence of his brothers, and enfeebled by sickness, the Emperor had gradually fallen under the domination of the Prince Yi (Tsai YUan) with whom were associated, as Grand Councillors, the Prince 'fuan H ua and the Imperial Clansman Su Shun. These three, recognising that the Emperor's end was near and that a Regency would be necessary, determined on securing the power for themselves. Prince Yi was nominally the leader of this conspiracy, but its instigator and leading spirit was Su Shun. Tuan Hua, whose family title was Prince Cheng, was the head of one of the eight princely Manchu families, descended in the direct line from Nurhachu's brother. Su Shun was foster-brother to this Prince. In his youth he was a conspicuous figure in the capital, famous for his Mohawk tendencies, a wild blade, addicted to hawking and riotous living. He had originally been recommended to the notice of the Emperor by the two Princes and soon won his way into the dissolute monarch's confidence and goodwill. From a junior post in the Board of Revenue, he rose rapidly, becoming eventually an Assistant Grand Secretary, in which 30 THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY ' capacity he attained an unenviable reputation for avarice and cruelty. He had made himself hated and feared by persuading the Emperor to order the decapitation of his chief, the Grand Secretary Po Chun, 1 on the pretext that he had shown favouritism as Chief Examiner for the Metro­ politan Degree,-the real reason being that he had offended the two Princes by his uncompromising honesty and blunt speech. It was at this period that he first came into conflict with the young Y ehonala, who, dreading the man's growing influence with the Emperor, endeavoured to counteract it, and at the same time to save the life of the Grand Secretary ; she failed in the attempt, and Su Shun's position became the stronger for her failure. All those who opposed him were speedily banished or degraded. The Court was terrified, especially when it was realised that Y ehonala was out of favour, and Su Shun took care to give them real and frequent cause for alarm. At his instance, all the Secretaries of the Board of Revenue were cashiered on a charge of making illicit profits by cornering the cash market. The charge was possibly well-founded, since such proceed­ ings are part of a Metropolitan official's recognised means of subsistence, but coming from the notoriously corrupt Su Shun, it was purely vindictive, as was shown by his subse­ quent action ; for upon this charge he obtained the arrest of over a hundred notables and rich merchants whom he kept in custody of no gentle kind until they had ransomed themselves with enormous sums. Thus was founded the great fortune which enabled him to conspire with the Princes Yi and Cheng 2 for the supreme power, and which led him eventually to his ruin. To this day, many of his millions lie in the Palace vaults, to which they were carried after his impeachment and death-millions carefully hoarded by Tzti Hsi and buried during the Court's flight and exile in 1900. 1 Grandfather of Na T'ung, the present head of the Waiwupu. 2 Yi "and Cheng'' are honorific names, meaning respectively "harmon­ ious'' and "sedate.'' 31 CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER It was chiefly because of the advice of Su Shun that the Emperor fled his capital at the approach of the Allies, in spite of the urgent appeals of Yehonala and the Grand Council. By his advice also most of the high officials and Metropolitan Ministers were prevented from accompanying the Court, by which means the conspirators were able to exercise steadily increasing influence over the Emperor, and to prevent other advice reaching him. It was only the supreme courage and intelligent grasp of the situation shown by Y ehonala, that frustrated the conspiracy at its most critical moment. Immediately after the death of the Emperor, and while the plotters were still undecided as to their final plans, she sent an urgent message secretly to Prince Kung which brought him with all speed to J ehol, where, by the help of Jung Lu and other loyal servants, she put into execution the bold plan which defeated the conspiracy and placed her at the head of China's government. On the day when, the game hopelessly lost, the usurping Regents found themselves in Y ehonala's hands and heard her order their summary trial by the Court of the Imperial Clan, Su Shun turned to his colleagues and bitterly reproached them. "Had you but taken my advice and slain this woman," he said," we should not have been in this plight to-day." To return, however, to the beginning of the conspiracy. At the outset, the object of Prince Yi was to alienate the Emperor from the influence of his favourite concubine, Y ehonala. With this object they informed him of the intrigue which, by common report, she was carrying on with the young Officer of the Guards, Jung Lu, then a handsome athletic man of about twenty-five. The Empress Consort they regarded as a negligible factor, whose good-natured and colourless personality took little interest in the politics of the day ; but if their plot was to succeed, Y ehonala must either be dismissed from the Court for good and all, or, at the very least, she must be temporarily relegated to the" Cold Palace," as is called the place where insubordinate or disgraced 32 THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY concubines are isolated. They knew that, however successful their plans at J ehol, there must always be danger in the event of the Emperor returning to Peking, where access to his person is not possible at all times for officials (even those nearest to the Throne), whereas Y ehonala would be in a position, with the help of her eunuchs, to recover his favour and her power. Emphasising, therefore, the alleged miscon­ duct of the young concubine, they quoted the precedent of a certain Empress Consort of Ch'ien-Lung who, for less grievous disrespect (shown to the Emperor's mother), was imprisoned for life. Thus, by inventions and suggestions, they so worked on the sick man's mind that he finally consented to have Yehonala's infant son, the Heir Apparent, removed from her care, and authorised the child's being handed over to the wife of Prince Yi, who was summoned to the hunting-lodge Palace for that purpose. At the same time, the conspirators thought it well to denounce Prince Kung to the Emperor, his brother, accusing him of treachery, of conniving with the foreigners against the Throne, and of abusing his powers as Plenipotentiary. Prince Yi had been for years Prince Kung's sworn enemy. The further intentions of the conspirators, instigated by Su Shun, were to massacre all Europeans in the capital and to put to death, or at least imprison for life, the Emperor's brothers. Accordingly they drafted in advance the Decrees necessary to justify and explain these measures, intending to publish them immediately after the Emperor's death, which was now imminent. But here an unforeseen obstacle presented itself, the first of many created for them by the far-seeing intelligence of Y ehonala ; for they found that she had somehow managed to possess herself of the special seal, which inviolable custom requires to be affixed to the first Edict of a new reign, in proof of validity of succession,-a seal, in the personal custody of the Emperor, which bears the characters meaning "lawfully transmitted authority." Without this seal, any Decrees which the usurpers might 33 D CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DO\V AGER issue would lack something of legal finality and, according to Chinese ideas, their subsequent cancellation would be justifiable. But Prince Yi did not feel himself strong enough to risk a crisis by accusing her or taking overt steps to gain possession of it. Angry with his favourite concubine by reason of the reports of her intimacy with Jung Lu, and his sickness ever increasing, the Emperor lingered on in J ehol all the summer of that year, his duty in the ancestral sacrifices at Peking being taken by Prince Kung. On the 4th of the 6th Moon, the day before his thirtieth birthday, he issued the follow­ ing Decree in reply to a Memorial by the Court of Astro­ nomers, which had announced an auspicious conjunction of the stars for the occasion :- " Last month the Astronomers announced the appearance of a comet in the north-west, which intimation we received as a solemn warning of the impending wrath of Heaven. Now they memorialise saying that the stars are in favourable conjunction, which is doubtless a true statement, in no way inspired by their desire to please us. But since we came to the Throne, we have steadily refused to pay any attention to auspicious omens, and this with good reason, in view of the ever-increasing rebellions in the south and the generally pitiable condition of our people. May the present auspicious conjunction of the stars portend the dawning of a happier day, and may heaven permit a speedy end to the rebellion. In token of our sincerity, we desire that the Astronomical Court shall refrain from reporting to the Chronicler's Office the present favourable omen for inclusion in the annals of our reign, so that there may be ascribed to us the merit of a devout and sober mind." On the following morning the Emperor received the congratulations of his Court in a pavilion of the Palace grounds, but Y ehonala was excluded from this ceremony. This was His Majesty's last appearance in public; from this -1 date his illness became rapidly worse. 34 THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY On the 7th of the 7th Moon Yehonala contrived to despatch a secret courier to Prince Kung at Peking, informing him of the critical condition of his brother and urging him to send "rith all haste a detachment of the Banner Corps to which the Y ehonala clan belonged. Events now moved swiftly. On the 16th, the Grand C' uuncillors and Ministers of the Presence, all adherents of Tsai Yi.'mn's faction, entered the Emperor's bedroom and, after excluding the Empress Consort and the concubines, persuaded the Emperor to sign Decrees appointing Tsai Yuan, Tuan Hua and Su Shun to be Co-Regents upon his decease, with full powers. Yehonala was to be expressly forbidden from exercising any form of control over the Heir Apparent. As the necessary seal of State had been taken by Y ehonala and could not be found, these proceedings were irregular. At dawn on the following day the Emperor died, and forthwith appeared the usual valedictory Decree, prepared in advance by the conspirators, whereby Tsai Yuan was appointed to be Chief Regent, Prince Kung and the Empress Consort being entirely ignored. In the name of the new Emperor, then a child of five, a Decree was issued, announcing his succession, but it was observed to \riolate all constitutional precedent in that it omitted the proper laudatory references to the Imperial Consort. On the following day, however, the Regents, fearing to precipitate matters, rectified the omission in an Edict which conferred the rank of Empress Dowager both on the Empress Consort and on Y ehonala. The chroniclers aver that the reason for this step lay in the Regents' recognition of Yehonala's undoubted popularity \vith the troops (all Manchus) at Jehol, an argument that weighed more heavily with them than her rights as mother of the Heir Apparent. They hoped to rid themselves of this condition of affairs after the Court's return to Peking, but '?"' dared not risk internal dissensions by having her removed until their positions had been made secure at the capital. 85 D 2 CHINA UNDER THE RMPRESS DOWAGER That they intended to remove her was subsequently proved ; it was e\'ident that their position would never be secure so long as her ambitious and magnetic personality remained a factor of the situation : but it was necessary, in the first instance, to ascertain the effect of the Regency at Peking and in the provinces. Tsai Yuan's next move was to publish Decrees, in the names of the Joint Regents, by virtue of which they assumed charge of the Heir Apparent and by which the title of "Chien Kuo" (practically equivalent to Dictator) was conferred on the Chief Regent, a title heretofore reserved exclusively for brothers or uncles of the Emperor. When the news reached Peking, a flood of Memorials burst from the Censorate and high officials. The child Emperor was implored to confer the Regency upon the two Empresses, or, as the Chinese text has it, to " administer the Government with suspended curtain." 1 ' Prince Kung and the Emperor's other brothers were at this time in secret correspondence with Y ehonala, whom they, like the Censorate, had already recognised as the master-mind of the Forbidden City. They urged her to do all in her power to expedite the departure of the funeral cortege for the capital. To secure this end, it was necessary to proceed with the greatest caution and diplomacy, for several of the late Emperor's wives had been won over to the side of the usurpers, who could also count on a certain number· of the Manchu bodyguard, their own clansmen. The influence of Su Shun's great fortune was also no inconsiderable factor in the situation. The man was personally unpopular with the people of Peking, because of his abuse of power and too frequent connection with speculations in barik-note issues and cash, which cost the citizens dear, but his vaults were known to be full 1 The expression has reference to the fact that the Empresses Regent are ~ supposed to be concealed from the sight of Ministers at audience by a curtain suspended in front of the Throne. 36 IlER '.lAJESTY Tzf· Ihr r:--: TilE YEAR 1903 THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY to over-flowing, and there is no city in the world where money buys more political supporters than in Peking. Su Shun's career has had its counterpart, in everything except its sanguinary denouement, in the ca lital to-day. At the moment the position of th ~ Emperor's family was prejudiced, and the aims of the compirators assisted, by the political situation. With the capital occupied by foreign troops, and many of the provinces in the throes of a great rebellion, the people might be expecb~d to welcome a change of rulers, and the ripe experience of the usurping Regents in all matters of State was undeniable. But the virile and untiring energies of Yehonala, ably supported by Jung Lu and other faithful followers, soon put a new complexion on affairs, and the situation was further modified in her favour by the success of her nominee, the Commander-in-Chief, Tseng Kuo-fan, in capturing the city of An-ch'ing (in Anhui) from the rebels, a victory that was regarded as of good augury to her cause. Thereafter her courage and diplomacy enabled her to play off one opponent against another, gaining time and friends until the conspirators' chance was gone. Her own aims and ambitions, which had been voiced by her friends in the Censorate, were, however, to some extent impeded by the fact that a House-law of the Dynasty forbids the administration of the Government by an Empress Dowager, while there were quite recent precedents for a Regency by a Board, in the cases of the Emperors Shun­ Chih and K'ang-Hsi. In neither of these instances had the Empress Tai-Tsung had any voice in the Government. The precedent for Boards of official Regents had, however, come to be recognised as inauspicious, because the several Regents of K'ang-Hsi's minority had either been banished or com­ pelled to commit suicide. It is probable, too, that Prince Kung, in instigating and supporting the claims of the Empresses, failed to appreciate Y ehonala's strength of character, and believed that a women's Regency would leave the supreme power in his own hands. 37 CHINA UNDER THE EMPRESS DOWAGER A :Manchu, who accompanied the flight to J ehol, describ­ ing his experiences, lays stress upon Y ehonala's unfailing courage and personal charm of manner, to which was due her popularity with the Imperial Guards and her eventual triumph. At the most critical period of the conspiracy she was careful to avoid precipitating a conflict or arousing the suspicions of the usurpers by openly conferring with Jung Lu, and she employed as her confidential intermediary the eunuch An Te-hai (of whom more will be heard later). By means of this man daily reports were safely despatched to Prince Kung at Peking, and, in the meanwhile, Y ehonala affected an attitude of calm indifference, treating Prince Yi with a studied deference which lulled his suspicions. On the 11th of the 8th Moon, the Board of Regents, after meeting to discuss the situation, issued a Decree con­ demning in strong terms a proposal put forward in a Memorial by the Censor, Tung Yiian-ch'un, that the two Empresses should be appointed Co-Regents, and referring to the death-bed Decree of the late Emperor as their own warrant of authority. At the same time they announced, in the name of the young Emperor, that the funeral cortege would start on its journey to the capital on the second day of the next Moon. This was the step for which Y ehonala had been working and waiting. As Ministers of the Presence, the Regents were perforce obliged to accompany the coffin throughout the entire journey (some 150 miles) to the capital, and the great weight of the catafalque, borne by one hundred and twenty men, would necessarily render the rate of pro­ gress very slow through the stony defiles of the hills. Rest­ ing places would have to be provided at stages of about fifteen miles along the route to shelter the Imperial remains and the attendant officials by night, so that the Regents might count on a journey of ten days at least, and longer in the event of bad weather. T.o the Empresses, the slow progress of the cortege was a matter of vital advantage, inasmuch as they were not to take part in the procession, and, travelling 38 THE TSAI YUAN CONSPIRACY ahead of it, could reach the capital in fiye days with s·wift chair-bearers. Dynastic custom and Court etiquette prescribe that upon the departure of the funeral procession, the new Emperor and the consorts of the deceased sovereign should offer prayers and libations, and should then press on so as to be ready to perform similar acts of re-..-erence on meeting the cortege at its destination. Y ehonala thus found herself in a position of great strategic advantage, being enabled to reach the capital well in advance of her enemies, and she speedily laid her plans with Prince Kung to give them a warm reception. Tsai Yuan and his colleagues were well aware that they were placed at grave disadvantage in having to remain behind the young Empress, with every prospect of serious trouble ahead ; they, therefore, decided to have Y ehonala and the Empress Consort assassinated on the road, and to that end gave orders that they should be escorted by the Chief Regent's personal bodyguard. Had it not been for Jung Lu, who got wind of the plot, the Dowagers would assuredly never have reached the capital alive. Acting with the promptitude which Y ehonala inspired, he deserted the funeral cortege by night with a considerable following of his own men, and hastened on to the protection of the Empresses, overtaking them before they reached Ku-pei K'ou, at the end of the pass from the plains into Mongolia, which was the spot where the assassination was to have taken place. Heavy rains had fallen just after the departure of the procession from Jehol. The roads became impassable, and the Empresses were compelled to seek shelter in the Long Mountain gorge, where no sort of accommodation had been provided. The cortege was then ten miles in their rear. Y ehonala, mindful ever of the proprieties, sent back several men of her escort w