Cixi Revisionist History

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The Much Maligned Empress Dowager: A Revisionist Study of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi(1835-1908)Author(s): Sue Fawn ChungReviewed work(s):Source: Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1979), pp. 177-196Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/312122.

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2/21

Modern

Asian

Studies,

13,

2

(1979),

pp.

I77-196.

Printed in Great

Britain.

The

Much

Maligned

Empress

owager:

A Revisionist

tudy f

the

Empress

Dowager

Tz'u-hsi

(1835-1908)

SUE FAWN

CHUNG

University

of

Nevada,

Las

Vegas

CLIO,

the

Muse of

History,

has not been kind to the

Empress

Dowager

Tz'u-hsi (I835-I908). Traditional Chinese historians always have been

prejudiced against

feminine

influence

in

court.

Moreover,

historians

have

long

relied

upon

the works of men

such as

K'ang

Yu-wei

(I858-

I927)

and

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao

(I873-I929),

the two leaders

of the

radical

reform

movement,

and

other

pro-Emperor

radical

reformers,

most

notably

Wang

Chao

(I859-1935),

Yiin

Yii-ting

(1863-1918),

Lo

Tun-jung (d.

I923),

and Li

Hsi-sheng,

for

their

information

about

the

workings

of the

Ch'ing

court

during

the

period

I898

to

I900.

Since

these men

were

opposed

to the

power

and conservatism

of

the

Empress

Dowager,

their prejudice is reflected in their

writings

about

the

court

at that time.

Many

historians

also have relied

upon

the

works of Western

writers

such

asJ.

O.

P.

Bland,

Sir Edmund

Backhouse,

Abbreviations

The

following

abbreviations have been

used for collections of

documents and

articles:

CKCPNS

Chung-kuo

hin-pai

nien-shih

zu-liao

[Materials

on Chinese

history

of the

last

century],

edited

by

Tso

Shun-sheng (Shanghai, 1931).

KCT

Kung-chung

ang Kuang-hsii

h'ao tsou-che

Secret palace

memorials of

the

Kuang-hsii period],

edited

by

the

Kuo-li

ku-kung po-wu yuan

(Taipei,

I973-75).

SL

Ch'ing

Te-tsung

Ching

huang-ti

shih-lu

[The

veritable records

of

the

Ch'ing

Kuang-hsii Emperor],

edited

by

Ch'en

Pao-shen

(Taipei,

I970

edition).

TH

Tung-hua

sii-lu,

Kuang-hsii

h'ao

Continuation

of the official

documents

recorded at the

Tung-hua Gate],

edited

by

Chu

Shou-p'eng (Shanghai,

I909).

WHPF

Wu-hsii

pien-fa [I898

Reform

Movement],

edited

by

Chien

Po-tsan,

et

al.,

of

the

Chung-kuo

hsin-shih-hsueh

yen-chiu

hui

(Shanghai,

I953).

Another

edition exists

under the title of Wu-hsii

pien-fa

wen-

hsien,

edited

by

Yang

Chia-lo

(Taipei, I973).

China Correspondenceespectinghe Affairsof China: (Blue Books)China,Great

Blue

Britain,

Parliamentary

Papers (London,

1899-1901).

Books

oo26-749X/79/0202-o

i

77 02.oo

?

1979 Cambridge

University

Press

I77


3/21

SUE

FAWN

CHUNG

and

Hosea

B.

Morse

for their

information about this

period.

In

fact,

Bland and

Backhouse's

China

Under

the

Empress

Dowager

is the

book

which has

shaped

many

of

our

present-day negative

images

of

Tz'u-hsi.

Recently

the

reliability

of Sir Edmund Backhouse has been

seriously

challenged by

Hugh

Trevor-Roper

in

his excellent

study,

Hermit

of

Peking.

There

can be no

doubt that Western

writers

drew

their

facts

from

exchanges

with the

writings

by

the

Chinese

radical

reformers,

from unreliable

eunuchs,

and from

highly

biased

newspapers,

such

as

the

Jorth China Herald

(a

pro-reform

Western-oriented

Shanghai

newspaper)

and the

Ch'ing-i pao

[China Discussion],

which

was

edited

by Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao

and

published

in

Yokohama. Thus

historians

have been presented with a rather one-sided view of the Ch'ing court

and have

given

undeserved

credence

to

numerous

myths

and

mis-

conceptions

about

the

Empress Dowager

Tz'u-hsi.

The

traditional

analysis

of

the

significance

of the

January

24,

I900

appointment

of

an

heir

apparent

is

an

example

of this

maligning

of

the

Empress

Dowager.

The

leaders

of the

radical reform

movement

and

their

supporters

created and

successfully

popularized

the idea that

the

establishment of

an

heir

apparent

was

evidence

of

a

plot by

Tz'u-hsi

to

depose

the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor

(r. I875-1908).

According

to

these

anti-Empress

Dowager

stories, the Kuang-hsii

Emperor

had been

imprisoned

on

the desolate

island of

Ting-t'ai

since the

September

1898

coup

d'etat.

By

circulating

these

rumors,

the radical

reformers

hoped

to

discredit the

Empress

Dowager

and

gain

support

for their

own

causes,

which

included the

restoration

to

full

power

of

the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor.'

By

suggesting

that the

Empress

Dowager

was

responsible

for the

Emperor's

imprisonment

and

that

she

had forced

him

to

sign

edicts

which

she

had

composed,

the

radical

reformers were able

to

attack the

Empress Dowager's power and assert that they were the loyal supporters

of

the

legitimate

ruler of

China.

Consequently,

the

radical

reformers,

fearful

of the

removal

of

their

symbolic

leader,

opposed any

move to

depose

the

Emperor

and

vigorously

propagandized

against

the

selection

of an

heir

apparent.

However,

there are

documents which

show that the

appointment

of

an

heir

apparent

was the

result of the

imperial

household's concern

for

the lack

of an

heir

in

the

face

of the

Emperor's

declining

health.

The

appointment

of

an

heir

apparent

also had

the

advantage

of

pre-

For

more

information,

see

Kung-ch'iian

Hsiao,

A

Modern

China and a

New

World:

K'ang

ru-wei,

Reformer

and

Utopian,

i858-I927 (Seattle

and

London,

I975),

andJoseph

W.

Esherick,

Reform

and

Revolutionn

China:

The

igr9

Revolution

n

Hunan and Hubei

(Berkeley,

1976).

I78


4/21

THE MUCH MALIGNED

EMPRESS

DOWAGER

cluding

the

unpleasant imperial

family rivalry

over the choice of a

new

ruler,

which

would

surely

occur

in

the

event of the

Emperor's

death

without

an heir.

Lastly,

the

appointment

of

an heir

apparent

would

insure a smooth transition of government in a time of internal and ex-

ternal

difficulties. Thus

the

daily

court

records,

such

as

the

Tung-hua

hsi-lu,

Kuang-hsii

ch'ao

[Continuation

of the

official

documents

recorded

at the

Tung-hua

Gate

for

the

reign

of

Kuang-hsii]

(1909),

the Ta

Ch'ing

Te-tsung

Ching

huang-ti

shih-lu

[The

veritable records

of the

Ch'ing

Kuang-hsii

Emperor]

(1939),

and

the

Kung-chung tang

Kuang-hsii

ch'ao

tsou-che

[Secret

palace

memorials of the

Kuang-hsii period]

(I973-I975),

confirmed

by

independent

accounts

of

various

officials,

offer a

radically

different

interpretation

of the

appointment

of

an

heir

apparent. Contrary

to the radical reformers' assertation

that

this

was

a

dethronement

plot,

these

documents

suggest

that this was

done

to

avoid a

succession crisis.

The

Radical

Reformers

and the Court

One

of the main

issues

involved

in

the

appointment

of the

heir

apparent

was

the

actual

political

role of

the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor

after

September

2I,

1898.

On that

day, repeating

a

request

which

he

had

made in 1887, the Kuang-hsii Emperor beseeched the Empress Dowager

to resume

the

task of

hsin-cheng

(giving

instruction

in

the

art of

govern-

ance)

and

the

Empress Dowager agreed

to act

as

regent

for

the

third

time

in

her life.

Contrary

to the

popular

belief

that the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor

was under house arrest and had

no

power,

the

Emperor

continued

to be

active

in

government

after this

date. For

example,

on

September

2

I,

1886,

he

began

the

practice

of

making

personal

comments

upon

secret memorials

and

he

never

stopped

doing

this

until

his

death

in

I908.

He

made

notations

on

several

secret

memorials

on

September

20,

1898

and

resumed this task four

days

later,

on

September

24,

I898.2

From

his

comments on

the

secret

memorials,

it is obvious

that

he,

like the

Empress Dowager,

was

especially

concerned

about

2

KCT

I2/I6I-6,

169-70.

The

Emperor

did not

read

secret memorials

every

day,

so

this is

not an

unusual interval

of time.

Yen-p'ing

Hao

and

Kwang-Ching

Liu,

'The

Importance

of

the Archival

Palace Memorials

of the

Kuang-hsu

Period,

I875-1908,'

CSWT

3:

I

(November

I974),

78,

have

asked

the

rhetorical

questions:

'Were

the

endorsements after the

coup

so

successfully forged

by

the

dowager

empress

that

they

look like the

previous

ones in

calligraphy?

Or

has

the

public

in

general,

and historians in particular, simply been misled by the reformers of I898, especially

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

who

over-emphasized

the

captivity

of the

emperor

after

the

coup

d'etat?' The

imperial

comments

photographically

reproduced

in the

KCT

appear

to be

from the

hand of the

Emperor. Only

an art

expert

who has

specialized

in

calligraphy

and

examined

the

original

documents

can

really

confirm or

deny

this.

I79


5/21

SUE

FAWN CHUNG

military

reforms,

such

as

those

involving

the

pao-chia

and

t'uan-lien

and

he felt the

urgent

need

to

develop

strong

military troops.3

As

a

direct

reaction

to the failure

of the

One Hundred

Days

Reform

Move-

ment, he demonstrated a great concern about 'empty talk' and worried

that

the

approved

moderate

reform

proposals

would not be

properly

instituted.4 This

anxiety

was also

reflected

in

court

edicts issued

between

late

1898

and

early

1900.

In

contrast

to the

popular image

of

his

being

weak

and

indecisive,

the

Kuang-hsi

Emperor's

comments on

the

secret

memorials

revealed a

somewhat

decisive and

firm

ruler,

who

was

more

compatible

in

ideas to

that of the

Empress

Dowager

than

traditional

historians have led

people

to

believe.

There

were

also eye-witness accounts that confirmed the fact that the

two rulers

were

on

the throne

together.

Yiin

Yii-ting,

a

court

official

and

supporter

of

the

Emperor,

commented that 'after the

coup

d'etat

the

Empress Dowager

and

Emperor

both sat

on the throne

[she

on

the

left

and

he

on the

right]

as

if

there were

two rulers.'5

During

his

court

appearance

on

November

5, 1898,

Yano Fumio

(I850-I931),

the

Japanese

Minister

to

China,

also

observed that the

two rulers sat on

the

throne.6

By

October,

1898,

Liu K'un-i

(1830-I902),

Chang

Chih-

tung

(I836-I909),

and

other

high

officials

believed that the

two were

ruling the country jointly and referred to the rulers as Liang-kung

(Two

Palaces).7

Moreover,

in

a

letter dated

November

3,

1898,

to

a

close

friend,

Liu

K'un-i

commented,

'Both

the

Empress

Dowager

and

the

Emperor

trust

each

other.

This is

really

the

happiness

of the

country.'8

Although

the

Empress Dowager,

as

regent,

held

the

greater

authority,

the

Emperor

was

not

a

puppet

at court

audiences.

During

the

times

when

he was

present

at

court

audiences,

Yiin

Yii-ting

observed

that

although

the

Emperor

said

very

little

when

officials

memorialized

to the

throne

in

late 1898, by 1899 the Emperor spoke to officials when

3

See,

for

example,

the

documents

dated October

5, 1898,

KCT

12/19I-2;

October

7,

I898,

KCT

12/214-I6;

and

December

29,

1898,

KCT

12/424.

4

Ibid.

5Yuin

Yu-ting

(I863-I918

of

Kiangsu

province),

'Ch'ung-ling

chuan-hsin lu'

[The

true

story

of

the

Kuang-hsu

Emperor],

dated I9I

I,

in

CKCPNS,

Vol.

2,

p. 463.

6

The

fact

that

the

Japanese

Minister

had

seen the two

rulers

together

on the

throne

was

quickly

circulated

throughout

the

foreign

communities.

See Rev.

J.

E.

Walker,

'China's

Dowager

Empress

and

Emperor,'

Missionary

Herald

94

(December

1898),

494.

SL

430/7a

and TH

149/I66.

7

Liu

K'un-i,

Liu

Chung-ch'eng-kung

K'un-i)

i-chi

[The

works of

Liu

K'un-i],

ed.

by

Ou-yang Fu-chih, originally published in

192

I

(Taipei:

Wen-hai

ch'u-pan

she,

1970),

telegram

to

Jung-lu,

probably

dated

October

6,

I898,

but

misprinted

as

September

6,

1898,

I/4a-b.

This is

one

of

numerous

examples

of

Liu's

reference to the

two rulers

as

Liang-kung.

8

Liu

K'un-i,

Works,

'shu-tu,'

I3/Ia.

i8o


6/21

THE MUCH MALIGNED

EMPRESS

DOWAGER

questions

were directed to

him and

by

I900

he initiated

discussions

with officials.9

During

this

period,

the

Emperor

also

personally

issued

edicts on several different

topics,

including

the condemnation

of

K'ang

Yu-wei and his followers and the

encouragement

of men of talent to

enter

government

service.

Consequently,

the

image

of

a

hapless

Emperor

at

this

time

does not

seem

to

be

an

accurate

perception.

However,

the radical

reformers

were

anxious that the

Chinese

people

and

the

foreigners

believe

that

the

Emperor

had

nothing

to

do

with

the

present

administration

and

that

the

Empress

Dowager

was

in

complete

control.

K'ang

Yn-wei and

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao

quickly

learned

the

power

of

propaganda

and used

it

to

their

advantage

by spreading

stories against the Empress Dowager. As soon as Liang Ch'i-ch'ao

learned

about

the

September

2ISt

change

of

government

and

edict

charging K'ang

Yu-wei

with

being

connected

with

a

clique

that

was

scheming

for its

own self-interest and

using

'rebellious

words' that led

to

misgovernment,

he sent

a

telegram

to

the

radical

reformers in

Shanghai

about the

situation.10

These

Shanghai

followers,

who

were

close to the British and

other

foreigners

in

the

city, probably

began

to

circulate

the

rumor

that

the

Empress Dowager

had taken over

the

government

by

force and that the

Emperor

was

dead. British

Acting

Consul-general

Brenan,

believing

the rumor to be fact,

telegraphed

the

news to Lord

Salisbury

in

London

on

September

23,

i898.11

On the

next

day,

the

NCH

and

other

foreign

newspapers

picked

up

the

story.12

By

the

time

K'ang

Yu-wei

arrived

in

Shanghai

on

September

24th,

an

atmosphere

of

great

sympathy

for

K'ang

and

the

'deceased'

Emperor

had

been

created. As a

result,

a

British

official,

John

Otway Percy

Bland,

decided

to

help K'ang escape

to

safety

in

Hong Kong.

During

the

voyage,

K'ang

revealed

his

first version of

the

coup

d'dtat

to

his

sympathetic, but slightly skeptical, British travelling companions,

claiming

that the

Empress Dowager

took

advantage

of

the

discontent

9

Yiin

Yii-ting,

'Ch'ung-ling,'

p.

463.

10

K'ang

Yu-wei,

'Chronological

Autobiography

of

K'ang

Yu-wei

(Nan-hai

K'ang

hsien-sheng

tzu-pien

nien-p'u),'

trans.

by

Jung-pang

Lo,

in

K'ang ru-wei,

ed.

byJung-pang

Lo

(Tucson,

Arizona:

University

of

Arizona

Press,

I967),

pp.

136-7.

1

Brenan to

Salisbury,

China

Blue

Books,

September 23, 1898,

China No.

I

(1899),

Doc.

237,

p-

254.

12

NCH

(September

24

and

28,

1898).

Court

eunuchs often

provided

information

about

the court to

NCH

informants and to

foreigners

such

as Bland and

Backhouse.

The

NCH writers

often

admitted this and Sir

Edmund

T.

Backhouse

revealed

this in

a posthumous work, see 'Their Mortal Hour,' ed.

by

R.

Hoeppli,

AsiatischeStudien

Etudes

Asiatiques,

28:

I

(1974), 1-48.

On the

unreliability

of

eunuch

information,

see

Robert

Crawford,

'Eunuch Power

in the

Ming

Dynasty,'

TP

49:3

(196

),

I

115-48,

and

Howard

J.

Wechsler,

Mirror

o

the Son

of

Heaven:

Wei

Cheng

t

the

Court

of

T'ang

T'ai-tsung

(New

Haven,

I974),

8

I-2.

I8i


7/21

SUE

FAWN CHUNG

among

the

higher

officials

caused

by

the

sweeping

reform

edicts to

oust

the

Emperor.13

While some

Britishers,

including

Henry

Cockburn,

the

Chinese

Secretary

to

the

British

Legation

in

Peking,

doubted

this interpretation, many Chinese and foreigners accepted the idea

that

the

coup

d'etat

was,

as

K'ang

asserted,

a

power

struggle

between

the

Empress Dowager

and the

Emperor.

The

most

widely

believed

rumor

stemming

from the brushes

of

the

radical

reformers asserted

that the

Emperor,

as

a

result

of

the

power

struggle,

had been

imprisoned

on

Ying-t'ai

from

around

September

24,

I898

until

the court

left

Peking

for Sian

in

late

I900.

Ting-t'ai,

which has

been

described

as

an

island

paradise,

the

former

study

and

library of the Kao-tsung Emperor, and the designated retreat for the

Empress Dowager,

who had been

improving

the

buildings

and

grounds

for her

anticipated

comfort,

was

a

palace complex

surrounded on

all

sides

by

the

waters

of the

Nan-hai

(South Sea)

and located

just

outside

the

southwestern walls of

the Forbidden

City.14 Although

three

bridges

originally

led

to

the

island,

only

one

footbridge

was

in

existence

in

late

I898

and

thus

the

Emperor

could

be

easily

guarded

while he

was

confined

to

a

bare room

on

the

island.

Many

versions of

this rumor

have

been

perpetuated through

the

years.

The most

widely

accepted

version

was that the Empress Dowager had thrown the Emperor into a bare

room there

shortly

after

her

return to

power, assigned

twelve to

twenty

local

eunuchs to

guard

him,

prohibited

him

from

moving

about

freely,

provided

him

with

inedible food or

poisoned

his

daily

food,

separated

him

from

Chen-fei

('Pearl

Concubine,'

I876-I900),

his true love

and

only

close

companion,

and forbade

any

visitors other

than

his

wife

the

Empress Hsiao-ting

(I868-I913,

later

known

as the

Empress Dowager

Lung-yii)

whom

the

Emperor

reportedly

despised

but who

was

very

loyal

to the

Empress Dowager,1s These stories evoked much sympathy

for

the

Emperor.

The

radical reformers

used the

tales

to

rally

the Chinese

13

MacDonald to

Salisbury,

China

Blue

Books,

October

13,

1898,

China No. I

(I899),

Doc.

40I,

p. 303.

14

Osvald

Siren's

The

Imperial

Palaces

of Peking

(Paris

and

Brussels,

1926), 3

vols,

contains

some

lovely pictures

of

Ying-t'ai.

See also

Frank

Dorn,

The

Forbidden

ity:

The

Biography f

a

Palace

(New

York,

I970)

and

Chin

Liang,

Kuang

Hsiian

hsiao-chi

[Insignificant

remarks about

the

Kuang-hsii

and

Hsiian-t'ung

reigns] (n.p., 1933),

78,

for

gossip

about

Ying-t'ai

and

the

Emperor's imprisonment.

15This is

a

summary

of the

highlights

of

the

various

versions.

See,

for

example,

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

Wu-hsii

heng-pien

hi

[Notes

of

the

I898

coup

d'etat],

reprint

of

1957

edition, Taipei (Taiwan: Wen-hai ch'u-pan she, I970), (also in WHPF, Vol. I,

pp.

249-314),

hereafter

abbreviated

WHCPC,

chuan

2;

Su

Chi-tsu

in

WHPF

1/252

and

348,

Ch'iu

Tsung-chang,

'Tsai-t'ien wai-chi'

[On

the

(Kuang-hsii

Emperor)

Tsai-t'ien],

I-ching 29

(May

5,

I937), 34-43,

and

Yao

Hsin-nung,

The Malice

of

Empire,

rans.

by

Jeremy Ingalls (London,

1970).

I82


8/21

THE

MUCH MALIGNED

EMPRESS

DOWAGER

people

and the

foreigners

to the

cause

of reform and the

establishment

of a

constitutional

monarchy

and to denounce the

present

regime.

The

radical reformers also discredited

edicts

signed by

the

Emperor

by saying that the

Empress

Dowager coerced him to sign them.

In

September

1898,

the radical reformer

Wang

Chao

told the

Americans

who

helped

him

escape

to

Japan

that the

Emperor

was forced

to

request

the

assistance

of

the

Empress

Dowager

in the

governing

of the

country.l6

This

explanation

was

applied

to later

edicts,

especially

those

which

denounced the

radical reformers. The

JVCH,

or

example,

often

labeled

the

Emperor's

edicts of

this

period

as 'What the

Emperor

Was

Forced

to

Say.'17

These

interpretations

of

the facts

formed the foundation

of

the helpless, docile image of the imprisoned Emperor.

The

inconsistencies of the

news

reports

stemming

from

the radical

reformers

and their

supporters

were noted

by

a small

minority

of

foreigners.

For

example,

in

late

I898,

J.

E.

Walker,

a

missionary

wrote :18

A

few weeks

ago

we were

informed

that

Kuang-hsu,

the

Emperor

of

China,

had been made

way

with.

Next we heard that

he had been

deposed

and

was in

poor

health,

and that

the

empress dowager

had

appointed

another

person

in

his

place.

A

little later we heard

that

the

empress

dowager

had

married Li Hung Chang and now we hear that the Japanese minister has

been

granted

an

audience with

the

emperor

and

empress

dowager,

and that

he

found the

former in

good

health,

but

the latter

occupied

the

higher

seat.

All

this

goes

to

show

that...

news

from

Peking

is

very

unreliable.

Most of

the

foreigners

were not

privy

to

the

information that the Em-

peror

continued his

practice

of

making

notations on

secret

memorials,

still

sat on

the throne

with the

Empress

Dowager

during

court

audiences,

and

initiated

discussions

with officials in

court.

Although

the

Empress

Dowager

was

a

domineering

and

authoritative

woman,

it

seems

highly

unlikely

that she would coerce the

Emperor

to

sign

the edicts issued in

his

name if

he

was

actively

participating

in

government.

Moreover,

according

to

Liu

K'un-i,

who

often

met with

the

two

rulers,

the

Emperor

and

Empress

Dowager

trusted each

other. It

seems more

likely

that

the

radical

reformers

invented these

stories

in

order

to counter

the

charges

against

them

that

were issued

by

the

Emperor.

In

fact,

it

was the

Emperor,

not the

Empress

Dowager,

who issued

16

Mr

and Mrs

Isaac

Taylor

Headland

assisted n

Wang

Chao's

escape

rom

China,

buttheyalsogreatlyadmired he EmpressDowager.Court ife nChina:TheCapital,

Its

Officials,

nd

People (New

York:

Fleming

H.

Revell

Company,

I909), p.

159.

See

also

K'ang

Yu-wei,

Nien-p'u,'

p.

I34.

17

See,

for

example,

ANCH

April

4,

1900).

18

Walker,

China's

Dowager

Empress,'

. 494.

I83


9/21

SUE

FAWN CHUNG

all of the

edicts

against

the

radical reformers. On

September

29,

1898,

the

Emperor

signed

an

edict

charging K'ang

Yu-wei with

advocat-

ing

heterodox

theories,

deluding

the

people,

planning

to

confuse the

laws,

plotting

to restrain the

Empress

Dowager

in the Summer Palace,

betraying

the

Emperor,

and

founding

a secret

society,

the Pao-kuo

hui

(Society

to

Preserve

the

Nation),

'which

proclaimed

to

protect

China

but not

protect

the

great

Ch'ing dynasty.'19

Several

days

later,

on

October

8th,

the

Empress

Dowager

issued her own

edict

on the

subject

of

conspirators

who

had

secretly planned

and

advocated

misgovern-

ment,

but she did

not

mention

anyone specifically.20

In

another

personal

edict issued

on October

I

Ith,

Tz'u-hsi

denounced

the

establishment of

societies and associations of any sort.21 She believed that such organiza-

tions,

while

declaring

that their

primary

objective

was

to exhort the

people

to

be

good

and

virtuous,

usually

ended

up by

disturbing

the

peace. High

officials

were ordered to

search

diligently

for

members of

these

societies and

to

punish

them

accordingly.

Because

there were

many

active

secret societies at that

time,

this

was not

a

direct attack

upon K'ang

and his

followers,

but the

timing

of the

decree

may

have

indicated that it

was directed at

K'ang's organization.

Support

for the

court's

position

against

the radical

reformers was

immediate.

Among

those who

telegraphed

the court about the rebelli-

ous

plot

of

K'ang

and the

subsequent

disturbance of

the

people

were

Chang

Chih-tung

and Liu K'un-i.

Liu

was

among

those who asked for

amnesty

for the

radical

reformers

as a

gesture

of

good

faith

in

order to

quiet

the

people

and

permit

them to resume

peaceful

activities. Liu

felt that since

K'ang,

Liang,

and

other radical

reformers had

fled to

other

countries,

there

was not

much

that could be

done,

so the

court

should turn

its

attention to other

pressing

matters and

adopt

a

'very

tolerant' attitude toward the radical reformers.22 At first, the court

seemed

receptive

to

these

suggestions.

The

tolerant

attitude

of

the

court was stressed

in

two edicts of

De-

cember

1898.

On

December

5th

the

court

issued an

edict to

the Grand

Council

accusing

K'ang

and others

of

conspiring

to incite

a

rebellion

and

announced that

because of the

court's

tolerance,

the

court

was

unwilling

to act

upon

these

charges.23

However,

the

court

had

received

19

SL

427/5b-7a

and TH

i48/8a-b.

20

SL

428/5b-6b

and

TH

I48/I8a.

21

Liu

K'un-i,

Works,

'telegrams,'

dated October

13, 1898,

I/44b-45a.

See also

Chang

Chih-tung,

(i837-1909), Chang

Wen-hsiang kung

ch'iian-chi

[The

complete

works of

Chang

Chih-tung],

ed.

by Wang

Shu-nan

(Peiping:

Wen-hua

chai,

I928),

I57/Ia-b

and

selection in

WHPF

2/617.

22

SL

432/9b-ioa.

23

SL

434/ia-b.

See

also

Yang T'ing-fu,

T'an

Ssu-t'ung

nien-p'u

[Chronological

biography

ofT'an

Ssu-t'ung] (Peking,

I957),

II2.

I84


10/21

THE MUCH

MALIGNED

EMPRESS DOWAGER

information that the

rebels

were

trying

to return to the

country

and

that

their associates were

planning

to cause trouble

in the

country.

Thus

the

court

warned

the

high

provincial

officials

that

they

should

investi-

gate the situation and

capture

the rebels if

possible.

On December 28th

the

court

announced that

more

evidence

against

K'ang

Yu-wei

had

been

brought

to

light by

T'an

Chung-lin,

the

Governor-general

of

Liang-Kwang,

who

had found

some

very damaging

letters

in

K'ang's

Canton

residence.24 One

letter stated that

T'an

Ssu-t'ung

(1865-1898)

was

to be

chosen as the

president

of

a

republic.

Moreover,

the

letters

did not

use

the

traditional

'Kuang-hsii

dating

system,' indicating

the

radical

reformers'

revolutionary

aims. The

court reiterated that it

would 'remain tolerant and did not wish to examine deeply the

implications

[of

these

letters],'

but

the serious nature of the

ideas

expressed

in

these letters

indicated

that

K'ang

was

guilty

of more

than

just

spreading

heterodox theories.

Eventually,

the

court

took

a

less

tolerant

view of radical

reform activities

in

China.

Reports

of more

subversive activities of the radical reformers

prompted

the

court

to

change

its

position.

One

factor

was the

appearance

and

growing

circulation

of the

CIP,

edited

by Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

published

in

Yokohama,

and distributed

in

China

by underground

supporters

in port cities such as Shanghai. The radical reformers'

journal

published

its

first issue

on

December

23, 1898,

and

by

late

February

1899, Chang

Chih-tung,

as

well

as

other

high

officials,

had read

a

copy.

On March

2,

1899,

Chang

informed

the

Tsungli

Yamen

about the CIP and its

corrupting

influence on the

minds

of the

people.25

Lo

Tun-jung,

a

well-

known

historian

from

Kwangtung

and

colleague

of

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

claimed

that

the

court official

Kang-i

presented

the

Empress

Dowager

with a

copy

of

the

CIP

some

time after

June

1899

and

that the articles

criticizing her caused her to be 'very angry.' Nevertheless, the court

did

not take

any

direct action

against

the

journal's

circulation at

this

time.

This

task

was

in

the

hands of

high

officials,

particularly

Liu

K'un-i

and

Chang

Chih-tung,

who

personally

attempted

to

stop

the

importation

of

the CIP.26

Their

efforts

were not

very

successful.

The

24

Chang

Chih-tung,

Works,

80/16.

25

Lo

Tun-jung,

'Ch'uan-pien

yu-wen' [More

tales of the

Boxer

uprising],

in

CKCPNS,

pp.

555-7.

This

work

was

also

serialized in

Tung-yen

I:2

(December

I6,

1912),

i-i6;

1:3

(January

I,

I913),

I-i6;

1:4

(January

16,

1913),

1-16.

Lo

claimed

that the Empress Dowager extended her

anger

to the

foreigners,

who

permitted

the

publication

and

circulation of this

journal

and who

protected

the radical reformers.

26

Chang

was

particularly

incensed

by

the

'slanderous lies' of

K'ang

Yu-wei.

Chang

Chih-tung,

Works,

I59/27-28

and

I03/15-I6.

See

also,

Esherick,

Reform

and

Revolutionn

China.

185


11/21

SUE FAWN

CHUNG

radical

reformers

continued to

agitate

in

the

Chekiang-Kiansu-Hunan

areas,

so the court ordered

the

respective provincial

officials to

take

precautionary

measures

against

these rebels and offered rewards for

the

capture

of the leaders. The court also took the drastic

step

of

pressuring

the

Japanese

government

to force

K'ang

to

leave

Japan,

which

he

did

with funds

from

the

Japanese

officials.

Then on

October

28,

I899,

the

court received information

that

K'ang

had sailed

from Canada

to

Yokohama on

October

27th.27

The

court

warned

officials

in

Hong Kong,

Shanghai,

and

other

port

cities

to watch for

K'ang's

possible

secret

arrival. Thus

the court

became

increasingly

concerned

about

the

activities of the

radical reformers and

their

supporters

both at

home

and abroad.

Finally

the

court took

concrete

action

to

dispel

some of the

pre-

vailing

rumors.

On December

20,

I899,

the

Kuang-hsii Emperor

issued

a

personal

edict

denouncing K'ang

and his followers.28

The

Emperor began

this edict

by

praising

the

Empress

Dowager

for her

boundless

energy

and

numerous

years

of instruction

in

the

art

of

governance.

Then he

condemned

K'ang

Yu-wei

for

seeking

to incite

a

rebellion,

gathering

selfish men

around

him,

and

planning

to

inaugurate

a

republican

form

of

government.

The

Emperor

also

claimed that

he

did not realize what was

going

on until

very

late and at that

point

he

sought

the

protection

of

the

Empress Dowager

and

requested

her to

resume the

reins of

government

as his

regent.

Furthermore,

he

chastised

K'ang

and

Liang

for

continuing

their

efforts to

incite

a

revolution

from

abroad

and

for

trying

to create discontent with their treasonable

publications,

which had

influenced

adversely

'one or

two

in a

hundred or

a

thousand of our

people.'

He

closed

this

long

edict

by ordering

the

high

provincial

officials to

use

every

means in

their

power

to

capture

K'ang and Liang, either dead or alive. By issuing this edict, the Em-

peror

reiterated his

closeness to the

Empress Dowager

and

his

opposition

to

K'ang

Yu-wei and his

supporters.

The

court

continued its

attack

against

the

radical

reformers,

partic-

ularly

because

the radical reformers

were

trying

to

undermine

the

establishment of

the

heir

apparent.

On

January

i,

I900,

the court

charged

Li

Hung-chang

(I823-I901),

who had

just

assumed the

post

of

Acting

Governor-general

of

Liang-Kwang-the

home of

K'ang

and

Liang

and the

center of much

radical

reform

agitation-with

the

responsibility of stopping the spread of the heterodox ideas of K'ang

and

Liang.29

The

court

also

warned

all

high

provincial

officials,

particularly

those

in

Fukien,

Chekiang,

and

Kwangtung,

to

be

alert

27

SL

451 /5b-6a.

28 SL

455/3a-4b.

29

SL

458/9a.

I86


12/21

THE

MUCH MALIGNED EMPRESS

DOWAGER

for

radical reform

agitation,

to

investigate

and

stop

the

circulation

of

the

CIP

and other

subversive

literature,

and

to

be

on the

lookout for

the

radical reform

leaders.30 Then

on

February

I4,

I900,

the

Emperor

issued another

personal

edict

offering

a reward ofTls I

oo,ooo

to

anyone

who

captured

K'ang

or

Liang

dead or alive.31 The

Shanghai

Taotai

was

given

the

money

to hold for

immediate

dispensation

to the

success-

ful

captors.

At

the same

time,

the

high

provincial

officials

were ordered

to

accelerate their

investigation

of

the sale

of the radical

reformers'

writings

and to arrest

and

severely

punish anyone

found

buying

or

reading

these materials.

The

Emperor

felt

that

in

this

way

the

spread

of

sedition could be

controlled and the minds of the

people

would be

quieted. Thus again the Emperor took the lead in the attack on the

radical

reform leaders and the

Empress

Dowager

publicly

remained

silent.

The

political

acumen of the

Empress

Dowager

was

clearly

demon-

strated

by

the

way

in

which

she

dealt with

the

radical reformers.

At

no

time

did

she

personally

attack

K'ang

and

his

friends

in

any

of her

i-chih

('empress

edicts').

This task

was left

in

the

hands of the

disillus-

ioned

Emperor.

He

personally

issued the edicts

(shang-chih,

'emperor's

edicts')

condemning

K'ang

Yu-wei and his

supporters.

This

permitted

the

high

provincial

officials,

for

example, Chang

Chih-tung,

to act

with

great

vigor against

groups

which he believed

to be associated

with

K'ang

Yu-wei.32 The

great

failure of the

court was

in

not

recognizing

the

power

of the

press

until it

was

too

late.

The court should

have

vigorously

halted

the

circulation of the radical reformers'

writings

or

countered

them

with its

own

publications,

but the

court did

neither.

Plots to Depose the Kuang-hsii Emperor

The

most

damaging

rumor

which the

radical

reformers

circulated

through

their

publications

was

the

plots

by

the

Empress Dowager

to

depose

the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor.

Dethronement

was

a

key

issue

by

which

the

radical

reformers

could

rally

support

from

the

Chinese

and

foreigners

in

China

and

the

Chinese in

foreign

countries,

so this

was

constantly

stressed

in

their

writings.

The

rumor of

these

plots

also

undermined

the

establishment of

the heir

apparent

in

January

I900,

30January

14,

I900,

SL

458/I

Ia-b.

31

SL

458/I

Ia-b.

32

Chang

Chih-tung,

Works,

51/24a-26a

on his

suppression

of

the

Tz'u-li hui

(Independence

Society).

I87


13/21

SUE

FAWN

CHUNG

created

doubts

in

the

minds

of

the uninformed about

the

harmony

between

the

two

rulers,

and led to continual

interference

by

foreigners

in

internal court matters.

From the

very

first issue of the CIP, dated December

23, 1898,

the

radical

reformers

revealed

plots

to

dethrone the

Emperor.

In

order

to

make

the

present

threat

more

convincing, Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao

asserted

that there

had

been

efforts as

early

as

I895.33

Tz'u-hsi

was accused

of

plotting

to

place

a

certain

Prince Sun on

the throne but her

plans

were

thwarted

by

the

reformer Wen

T'ing-shih (I856-I904),

who

was able

to

persuade

Liu K'un-i and

other

high

officials

to

protest against

the

dethronement.34

The

story

gained

much credence. Years

later,

the

anti-Manchu revolutionist Chang Ping-lin (1868-1936), in a letter to

K'ang

Yu-wei

trying

to

persuade

him

that the

Emperor

was

'a

public

enemy

of the Chinese

race,'

treated

this

rumor as

fact:35 'Since

the

2Ist

year

of

Kuang-hsii

(I895),

the

Emperor

has

lived

in

nervous

dread

of

his dethronement

by

the

Empress

Dowager.

Nervously

de-

pressed by

this

prospect,

he

laid

his

plans

.

.

.' Other

writers also

accepted

the

tale

and

perpetuated

it without

questioning

how

Liang,

who

was

working

on

a

newspaper

in

Shanghai

at that

time,

got

his

information or

why

the

collected

writings

of Liu K'un-i

made no

mention of Wen

T'ing-shih

or this

plot

during

the

period

from

1895

to

1896.

Nevertheless,

the

'fact' that there was

a

plot

in

I895

lent

credence to the rumor

that

there

was another

plot

in

1898.

The

plan

to

depose

the

Emperor

in

1898

was

called the

'Tientsin

Plot'

because

the

Emperor

was to be

deposed

during

a

military

review

at

Tientsin.

According

to

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

the

Empress Dowager

and

Jung-lu

(I836-I903)

had worked out the details

long

before the

One

Hundred

Days

Reform,

but

they

did not initiate the

plan

until

June

15, 1898.36

On that day two significant edicts were issued: one appoint-

ing Jung-lu

as

Governor-general

of Chihli and

commander-in-chief

of the

Pei-yang

Army

and the

second

announcing

that the

Emperor

and

Empress

Dowager

would be

present

at

a

military

review of

the

Pei-yang

Army

in

Tientsin

in

October or

November

of

that

year.

During

this

review,

Tz'u-hsi

and

Jung-lu,

backed

by

the

military

33

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

WHCPC,

chiian

2

and in WHPF

1/256-9,

lists

six

issues,

but

these two

are the most

significant

and

the

ones

usually

cited

by

later

historians.

34

Arthur

W.

Hummel,

Eminent

Chinese

of

the

Ch'ing

Period,

I644-I9I2,

2

vols

(Washington,

I943-44), 855.

35

This

letter

was

published

in the

Su-pao

and

NCH

(July

I7, 1905).

See

Y.

C.

Wang,

'The

Su-pao

Case:

A

Study

of

Foreign

Pressure,

Intellectual

Fermentation,

and

Dynastic

Decline,'

Monumenta erica

24

(1965),

102.

36

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

WHCPC,

chiian

2 and

in

WHPF

1/260.

I88


14/21

THE MUCH MALIGNED

EMPRESS

DOWAGER

forces,

would

depose

the

Emperor.

Liang

also claimed

that the

Emperor

and

radical reformers knew about

this

plot

months

before the

coup

d'etat.

When,

on

August

24,

1898,

the

date of

the

inspection

was

set

for October 19, I898, the Emperor reportedly became very agitated

and

swore to

I-k'uang

(Prince Ch'ing,

1836-1916),

that

he

would

never

go

to Tientsin.37

However,

the

actual

execution

of this

plot

was

canceled because

the

Empress

Dowager

resumed

power

on

September

21,

1898,

and

thereby

made it

unnecessary

to

depose

the

Emperor.

The

fact that the

coup

d'etat could

be

accomplished

with such ease has

caused

many

scholars to

question

the

validity

of this

story,

particularly

the

necessity

for Tz'u-hsi

to

depose

the

Emperor

in

Tientsin.

The general conclusion of most historians was that this story was

not

true.

Su

Chi-tsu,

a

contemporary

historian,

raised

the

issue

of

why

Tz'u-hsi

and

Jung-lu

should

take

the

trouble

to

leave

Peking,

where

the

Empress

Dowager

had tremendous

power

and

influence,

and

go

to Tientsin

in

order to

depose

the

Emperor.38

Moreover,

Su

realized

that the

outcry

from

officials

and

foreigners

would

have

been

great

and

questioned

whether

the

Pei-yang

Army

would

have been

powerful enough

to resist the

dissension

in

the

empire

and the

adverse

reaction of

the

foreigners,

who were

looking

for

any

excuse to

gain

more power in China. Yano Jin'ichi simply denied that there was any

truth to the

tale.39

Liu

Feng-han

demonstrated that

it would have been

strategically

unwise for the

military

forces to

attempt

to

depose

the

Emperor

in

Tientsin and therefore doubted the

validity

of the

Tientsin

plot.40

Nevertheless,

there

were some who

believed this rumor or

other

variations

of this rumor.

Foreigners

in

China

were

particularly

gullible.

The

editors of

the

Shen-pao

politely

commented

that

the

foreigners

did

not understand

the situation in China and therefore spread erroneous stories.41 One

such

rumor

was

created

by

a

Japanese correspondent

in

Peking.

He

probably

learned

about the Tientsin

plot,

but

had his

facts

slightly

mixed

up.

He

reported

that

on October

23,

1898,

the

Empress

Dowager,

37

Hsiao

I-shan,

like

many

others,

believed this tale. See

Ch'ing-taiT'ung-shih

[A

comprehensive

history

of

the

Ch'ing

dynasty],

Taiwan:

Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan

(Commercial

Press), I963. 4

vols,

4/2126-2127.

Edict

announcing

inspection

date SL

423/

oa-b.

38

Su

Chi-tsu,

'Ch'ing-t'ing

wu-hsii ch'ao

pien

chi'

[Notes

on

the

1898 Ch'ing

court

rebellion],

in

WHPF,

1/336.

39

Yano Jin'ichi,

'Bojutsu

no

hemp6 oyobi

siehen'

[The

reform and

coup

d'etat of

1898],

Shirin

(Kyoto,

8:

I-3

(I923),

456.

40

Liu

Feng-han,

iian

Shih-k'aiyii

Wu-hsii

heng

ien

[Yuan

Shih-k'ai

and

the coup

d'e'tat

of

1898] (Taipei:

Wen-hsing

shu-tien,

I964).

41

Shen-pao (October

24,

1898).

I89


15/21

SUE FAWN CHUNG

with the

assistance of the

military

forces

under the

command of

I-k'uang

and

Tsai-i

(Prince

Tuan),

would

depose

the

Emperor

in

the

Forbidden

City.42

The

story

was

published

in the

Jii

Shimbun

[Current

Events

Newspaper] around October

I9,

I898, and later quoted by Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao as

further

evidence

of

the

danger

which surrounded

the

Emperor.

Although

these earlier

plots

had

very

dubious

points,

the

I899

plot

to

dethrone the

Emperor

was

generally

regarded

as

being

truthful

because a

successor

to

the

throne was established.

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

in

his

articles

in

the

CIP,

was adamant about the

danger

to

the

Emperor's

life and

position

and

together

with

K'ang

Yu-wei,

he

sponsored

a

Pao-

huang

hui

[Society

to Protect the

Emperor] among

the overseas

Chinese

as

early

as

July, I899.43

K'ang

and

Liang regarded

the

announcement

of

the

establishment of the

heir

apparent

as

proof

of

their

allegations.

Their

position

that there

was

a

plot

was confirmed

by

three

pro-radical

reform

writers,

Yiin

Yii-ting,

Wang

Chao,

and

Lo

Tun-jung,

whose

publications

have

greatly

influenced later historians

and

writers.

Yiin's

account

has

been

accepted by

later historians

because

he

was

a

member

of the Hanlin

Academy

and

present

in

court at

the

time.

However,

his

reliability

must be

questioned.

For

example,

Yiin

quoted

Jung-lu as saying to the Empress Dowager that the new heir apparent

would

be

'regarded

as the-heir

to both

the

late

T'ung-chih

(Mu-tsung)

Emperor

and

the

present Emperor.'44

In

his

edict

ofJanuary

24,

1900,

the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor clearly

stated that the heir

apparent

was to

continue

only

the

T'ung-chih

line.45

This kind

of

glaring

error should

not have

been

made

by

a

person

actively

involved

in

court matters.

Moreover,

Yiin,

an

ardent

supporter

of

the

Kuang-hsii

Emperor,

wrote

this

account

in

I9II

and

had

it

published

in

I9I4

in

Tung-yen

[The Justice],

a

journal

edited

by Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao.

This

indicates that

Yiin

probably

was

active

in

the

K'ang-Liang

faction.

He

certainly

supported

their

anti-Manchu

and

anti-Empress Dowager

position.

Wang

Chao's

version of the

dethronement

plot

has

some

variations

from

Yiin's

story.46

Jung-lu

is

given

a

more

active role because

the

42

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao,

WHCPC

2/113

and

WHPF

1/265-6.

Text of

article in Hsiao

I-shan,

Ch'ing-tai

'ung-shih,

4/21

65-6.

43

On

the

society,

see Hellmut

Wilhelm,

'The

Poems

from the

Hall

of Obscured

Brightness,'

in

K'ang

ru-wei,

ed.

by

Jung-pang

Lo

(Tucson,

Arizona,

I967), 329-30.

See

also

Ch'ing-ipao

rom late

1899

to

early

1900;

see

especially

the

following

editions:

29 (October 5, 1899), I7a-b; 37 (March I, i9oo), Ia-3b, and 38 (March II, I900),

9a-I2b.

44

Yiin

Yii-ting's

account

is

from

'Ch'ung-ling,'

pp.

464-5.

45

SL

457/Ioa-I

Ib.

46

Wang

Chao,

Fang-chia

yian

tsa-yiin

chi-shih

[Miscellaneous

memoirs of

Wang

Igo


16/21

THE MUCH MALIGNED

EMPRESS DOWAGER

Empress Dowager, realizing

the

need for

support

of the

military

in

such

a

matter,

gave

him

the

responsibility

to

decide

about the

dethronement.

Jung-lu,

in

doubt

as to

what to

do,

sent

a secret

telegram

to

Liu K'un-i

to ascertain his opinion. In his reply dated early

1900,

Liu supposedly

stated that

the

negative

public

opinion

of the

Chinese and

foreigners

would

be difficult to

suppress

and

suggested

that an heir

apparent,

rather than

a

new

emperor,

be established.

Jung-lu

relayed

the

message

to

the

Empress Dowager,

who

reluctantly

followed

this course of action.

Wang

Chao,

an

active

participant

in

the radical

reform

movement,

fled to

Japan

in

late

1898

and did not return

to

China

until

mid-1900.47

At best

his

information had

to

be second-hand.

Moreover,

Liu's

collected writings do not include such a telegram, but in October

I898,

Liu did send the

Tsungli

Yamen

a

telegram

which

read:48

It has

been unfortunate

for

the

country

that

there

had been this drastic

reform

[movement]

...

We

must beware

of

public

opinion

inside

and

outside

of

the

country...

The

people

feel afraid.

The

foreign

powers

are

seeking

an

opportunity

to

take

advantage

[of

the

situation]

...

I

support

the

Empress

Dowager

and

the

Emperor...

Others,

such

as

the

writer Hu

Ssu-ching,

also

misquoted

this

telegram

to

support

the notion

that

Liu

opposed

the

dethronement

plot.49

If Liu was

truly

a

leading

critic of the

plot,

his career

certainly

did not

suffer

from

his

active

opposition

to the

January

24, I900

edict because

one month

later he

was honored

with

extraordinary

rewards

for

his

services and

in

March,

1900,

he

was

appointed

to the

prestigious

position

of

Junior

Guardian to

the Heir

Apparent.

Wang

Chao's

story

was

probably

fabricated

or

reflected

Wang

Chao's

propensity

for

repeating gossip,

a

trait

clearly

revealed

in

his

collected

writings.

Chao], preface

dated

I913, reprinted

n

Shui-tung

h'iian-chi

The

complete

works

of

(Wang Chao

of)

the Eastern Waters]

(Taipei,

1964), 7a-9b.

47

Wang

Chao,

Hsiao-han,

3/42a.

He

stated that

he

left

Japan

in the fourth moon

of

1900.

48

Liu

K'un-i,

Works,

telegrams,'

dated October

13, I898,

I/44b-45a.

See

also,

Wang

Chao,

Fang-chia,

7a-b,

and

Shen

Yiin-lung,

'Wan

Ch'ing

kung-t'ing cheng-

ch'ih

yii

I-ho-ch'uan

hih-chien'

Late

Ch'ingpalacepolitics

and

the

Boxer

uprising],

Min-chu

p'ing

lun

8:22

(November

I6,

I957),

524.

Liu K'un-i

actually

did send the

Empress

Dowager

and the

Emperor

separate

memorials

congratulating

hem on

their

decisionto

select

an

heir

apparent.

See Liu K'un-i -chi

[The

writings

of Liu

K'un-i],

ed.

by Chung-kuo

k'o-hsueh-yuan

i-shih

yen-chiu

so

(Peking, 1959),

memorial dated

February

9,

1900,

3/1206-7.

49

Hu Ssu-ching,Kuo-wenei-ch'engRecordof nationalaffairs],n T'uiluch'iianhi

(Taipei,

1970), 3/2a-3b.

Hu

dates the

quote

as

i898,

but

changes

some of

the charac-

ters

of

the

telegram

and

thus

changes

the entire

meaning

of

Liu's

message.

Other

writers

often state

that Liu

sent this

telegram

as

misinterpreted y

Hu)

in late

1899

and

thereforewas

a leader n

the

opposition

o dethrone

he

Emperor.

I9I


17/21

SUE

FAWN

CHUNG

Like

Yiin and

Wang,

Lo

Tun-jung

wrote his variation of

the

account

from

hindsight.50

Unlike the

others,

he

included Li

Hung-chang

in

the

plot.

Li,

who

had been

appointed

to the

post

of

Governor-general

of

Liang-Kwang, privately asked the foreign ministers in Peking whether

they

would

congratulate

an heir

apparent.

When

the ministers

refused,

Li told

Jung-lu,

who,

in

turn,

told the

Empress

Dowager.

She

was

enraged by

the

news and became more

xenophobic,

thus

causing

her

to

support

the

anti-foreign

Boxer rebels.

Lo,

a

noted

historian,

was on

the

regular

staff

of

rung-yen,

which indicates his close

ties with

Liang

and the radical

reform

goals.

As

a

native

of

Kwangtung,

he

or his

family

may

have been

adversely

affected

by

Li

Hung-chang's

governor-

generalship,

hence

his

negative portrayal

of

Li.

Consequently,

it is

not

surprising

that

neither

the

records

of

the

foreign

ministers nor the

writings

of Li

Hung-chang

contain

any

data to

verify

his tale of

the

dethronement

plot.

The

JVCH

also

published

several

accounts of

dethronement

plots

and efforts. The sources of

much of

their information

were

court

eunuchs, who,

in

one

case,

claimed that

Li

Lien-ying

and

I-k'uang

(Prince

Ch'ing)

had

engineered

the forced

'abdication' of the

Emperor

on

January

24,

g9oo.51

The

NCH

consistently

supported

the radical

reformers and opposed the existing 'reactionary' government. These

foreigners

believed that the

reformers

respected

the

foreigner's

skill and

capital,

upon

which China's

prosperity

depended.

Consequently,

most

of

the

foreign

readers of the

NCH

wanted

to believe

that

the

Emperor

was

on

the

verge

of

being

deposed

because

such an

interpretation

could

serve as

a

justification

for

future

imperialistic

actions

against

the

Empress Dowager

and

in

the name

of the

unfortunate

Emperor.

Succession

Crisis

A more

rational

explanation

for the

establishment of

an

heir

apparent

is

that

a

succession

crisis

existed in late

899.

The

fact

that

the

Emperor

had no

son and

was in

poor

health

precipitated

the

succession crisis.

The

interference

of

foreigners

in

court

affairs,

the

development

of

rival

court

factions,

the

failure

to

achieve moderate

reforms

in

many

critical

areas,

and the

growing

unrest

among

the

populace

during

a

period

of natural calamities also contributed to the necessity to select an heir

to the

throne as

a

precautionary

measure.

Thus

if

the

Emperor's

50

Lo

Tun-jung,

'Chu'iian-pien,'

555-7.

51

NCH

(March

14,

900o).

See

also,

JCH

(January 30,

Igoo

and

May

2,

I9oo).

I92


18/21

THE MUCH

MALIGNED

EMPRESS DOWAGER

illness

proved

to be

fatal,

the

next

ruler

would

have been selected

so

that there could be

a

smooth

transition

in

leadership.

Many

were

concerned about the

Emperor's

state

of health.

When,

on

September 25, 1898, the Emperor first informed the Grand Secretariat

that he had

been ill since the fourth

moon

(May

20 to

June

I8,

1898)

and asked for

recommendations of

physicians

to cure

him,

all kinds

of

rumors

arose.52

Liang

Ch'i-ch'ao

quickly

denied

that

anything

had

been

wrong

with the

Emperor

because

he

did not

want

the

radical

reform

edicts

discredited.53 He

also claimed

that

the

Empress

Dowager

had

forced the

Emperor

to send a

telegram

to each

province

stating

that

K'ang

Yu-wei

had

given

him the

drug

hung-wan ('red

pills'),

which

caused

his

illness.

Liang

asserted that

it

was

actually

the

Empress

Dowager

who was

administering

this

drug.

Years

later,

the

revolution-

aries

publicly

pointed

out that the

Emperor

could not

have

lived

for so

many

years

if

anyone

had

forced

him

to

take

this

drug.54

Nevertheless,

the radical reformers

raised

enough

concern for

the

Emperor's

welfare

that

the

foreign

ministers

decided

to intervene.

On

October

13, I898,

the

British

Minister

Sir Claude

MacDonald,

in

response

to these

rumors,

warned the

Ch'ing

authorities

that the

Western nations

would take a dim

view

of

any

attempt

on

the

Emperor's

life.55The British insisted that a foreign physician examine the Emperor.

With much

reluctance on

the

part

of the

court,

the French

Legation's

physician

was

allowed

to

examine

the

Emperor

on October

18,

I898.56

He

reported

that

the

Emperor

was

afflicted with

Bright's

disease,

which

caused his

physical

stamina

to be weak

at times and

normal

at other

times. This was

not

the

kind

of

report

which

the

British

and

other

foreigners

wanted to hear.

National

antagonisms

and other factors

entered into the

picture

and

as

a

result,

the French

physician's

skills

were

regarded

as

incompetent.

The

British were

not completely satisfied

about the

Emperor's

condition

until the British

Legation's

physician

returned from

England

and

periodically

examined

the

Emperor

throughout

1899.

Among

the

high

officials

who did

not

favor this kind of interference

52

SL

426/13b

and

TH

I48/6a.

53

Liang

Chi'-ch'ao,

WHCPC,

chuan

2

and

WHPF

1/262.

54

Min-pao

I

(i905), 85.

55

MacDonald to

Salisbury,

China Blue

Books,

October

I6,

1898,

China No.

I

(I899),

Doc.

358,

p.

264.

56

MacDonald to Salisbury, China Blue Books, October 29,

1898,

China No. I

(I899),

Doc.

373,

p.

275.

Hosea

Ballou

Morse,

International

Relations,

3/145,

stated

that 'It

is

certain that

the

emperor's

life

was

only

saved

by

the

fear of

foreign

adverse

opinion

and

by

the

difficulty

of

immediately

finding

a successor.'

This

is an

exaggeration

of

the

situation. See

also,

NCH

(September

4, I899).

I93


19/21

of

foreigners

in

court

affairs,

Liu K'un-i was the most

explicit.

He

speculated

that

the

foreign

powers

might

want to take

advantage

of

the

present

situation and on the

pretext

of

assisting

the

ailing

Emperor

use military force.57 He also felt that if the rumor was true that K'ang

and others had been

poisoning

the

Emperor,

the court should

officially

announce this to the

foreign

governments.

Like

several

other

officials,

Liu decided to send his own

physician

to treat the

Emperor

and

he

was

overjoyed

when

he

heard that

by

late December

I898,

the

Emperor's

health

had

improved.58

Liu's

physician

continued to

care for

the

Emperor

until around

January

1899,

when

he

announced

that if the

Emperor

lived

to

see Chinese

New

Year's

(February

Io,

1899),

he

would

regain

his

strength by spring.

The

Emperor's

health

continued to

wax

and

wane

throughout

1899

and

this caused

alarm

in

court.

The

poor physical

condition

of

the

Emperor, together

with

the fact that

he

had no son

and

probably

would

not

have

one,

triggered

a

potential

succession crisis. Succession crises

were

not

new

to

the

Ch'ing

imperial

family

nor to

the

Empress

Dowager.

All

ten of the

Ch'ing

emperors

rose to

power

out

of

succession

crises,

such

as contention between the

princes;

armed

revolts;

deposition,

restoration,

and

redeposition

of

an

heir;

liquidation

of

brother-princes;

delay in naming an heir-successor; intruding into the imperial proces-

sion;

and

various other

power struggles.59

Theoretically,

women were

not

supposed

to meddle

in

state

affairs,

but

throughout

Chinese

history,

Empresses

and

Empress

Dowagers

have

been

active

in

desig-

nating

the

successor

to

the

throne

as

well as

ruling

as

regent

to

an

infant,

child,

or

teenage

emperor.60

Tz'u-hsi was

very experienced

in

the

problem

of

succession because

her

young

son had

died

without

an

heir.

When the

possibility

of another

succession crisis manifested itself

in

late

1899,

the

Empress Dowager undoubtedly

wished to avoid

the

difficulties

which

had

occurred when she

adopted

her

nephew

and

placed

him

on

the throne. The

Kuang-hsii

Emperor,

being fully

aware

of

the

past

succession

problems,

probably

concurred

with the

Empress

Dowager

and with this

in

mind,

he

implored

his

'Imperial

Mother

to

select

from the

close relatives a

person

who would be the descendant

57

Liu

K'un-i,

Works,

'telegrams.'

October

I3,

1898, 1/44b-45a;

'shu-tu

(letters),

November

3, I898,

I3/Ia.

58

Liu

K'un-i, Works,

'shu-tu

(letters),'

dated

KH

24/II

(December

13,

I898

to

January

II,

I899), I3/7b-8b.

59

Dison

Hsiieh-feng

Poe,

'Imperial

Succession

and Attendant Crisis in

Dynastic

China-An

Analytic-quantitative

Study through

the

Five-element

Approach,'

Tsing

Hua

Journal of

Chinese

Studies,

n.s. 8:

I-2

(August I970),

I42-3.

60

Ibid.,

94

and

ioI.

I94

SUE

FAWN

CHUNG


20/21

THE MUCH

MALIGNED

EMPRESS DOWAGER

of

the

Mu-tsung [T'ung-chih]

Emperor.'61

Thus

P'u-chiin,

the

eldest

son

of Tsai-i

(Prince Tuan),

was

selected.

There were

indications that court factionalism was

reaching

a

critical

point by the fall of I899 in anticipation of a succession crisis. From

August

to October

1899,

the CIP

reported

that

there had been

attempts

to

poison

the

Empress Dowager

and

that,

as

a

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