--Arthur H. Smith in "China in Convulsion."



III

THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A RULER

In considering the policy pursued by the Empress-mother after her
accession to the regency, one cannot but feel that she was fully
aware of the fact that she had been the wife of an emperor, and
was the mother of the heir, of a decaying house. Of the 218 years
that her dynasty had been in power, 120 had been occupied by the
reigns of two emperors, and only seven monarchs had sat upon the
throne, a smaller number than ever ruled during the same period
in all Chinese history. These two Emperors, Kang Hsi and Chien
Lung, the second and fourth, had each reigned for sixty years,
the most brilliant period of the "Great Pure Dynasty," unless we
except the last six years of the Empress Dowager's regency. The
other ninety-eight years saw five rulers rise and pass away,
each one becoming weaker than his predecessor both in character
and in physique, until with the death of her son, Tung Chih, the
dynasty was left without a direct heir.

The decay of the imperial house, the encroachments of the
foreigner, and the opposition of the native Chinese to the rule
of the Manchus, awoke the Empress Dowager to a realization of the
fact that a stronger hand than that of her husband must be at the
helm if the dynasty of her people were to be preserved. "It may
be said with emphasis," says Colonel Denby, who was for thirteen