Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T06:45:37.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Much Maligned Empress Dowager: A Revisionist Study of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi (1835–1908)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Sue Fawn Chung
Sue Fawn Chung
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Clio, the Muse of History, has not been kind to the Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi (1835–1908). 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 (1858–1927) and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (1873–1929), the two leaders of the radical reform movement, and other pro-Emperor radical reformers, most notably Wang Chao (1859–1935), Yün Yü-ting (1863–1918), Lo Tun-jung (d. 1923), and Li Hsi-sheng, for their information about the workings of the Ch'ing court during the period 1898 to 1900. 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 as J. O. P. Bland, Sir Edmund Backhouse, 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 North 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.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , April 1979 , pp. 177 - 196
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 For more information, see Hsiao, Kung-ch'üan, A Modern China and a New World: K'ang Yu-wei, Reformer and Utopian, 1858–1927 (Seattle and London, 1975)Google Scholar, and Esherick, Joseph W., Reform and Revolution in China: The 1911 Revolution in Hunan and Hubei (Berkeley, 1976).Google Scholar

2 KCT 12/161–6, 169–70. The Emperor did not read secret memorials every day, so this is not an unusual interval of time. Hao, Yen-p'ing and Liu, Kwang-Ching, ‘The Importance of the Archival Palace Memorials of the Kuang-hsü Period, 1875–1908,’ CSWT 3:1 (11 1974), 78, have asked the rhetorical questions: ‘Were the endorsements after the coup so succesfully 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 1898, especially Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, who over-emphasized the captivity of the emperor after the coup d'état?’ 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.Google Scholar

3 See for example, the documents dated october 5, 1898, KCT 12/191–2; October 7, 1898, KCT 12/214–16; and December 29, 1898, KCT 12/424.Google Scholar

4 Ibid.

5 Yün Yü-ting (1863–1918 of Kiangsu province), ‘Ch'ung-ling chuan-hsin lu' [The true story of the Kuang-hsü Emperor‘ dated 1911, in CKCPNS, Vol. 2, p. 463.Google Scholar

6 The fact that the Japanese Minister had seen the two rulers together on the throne was quickly circulated throughout the foreign communities. See Walker, Rev. J. E., China's Dowager Empress and Emperor,’ Missionary Herald 94 (12 1898), 494. SL 430/7a and TH 149/166.Google Scholar

7 K'un-i, Liu, Liu Chung-ch'eng-kung (K'un-i) i-chi [The works of Liu K'un-i], ed. by Fu-chih, Ou-yang, originally published in 1921 (Taipei: Wen-hai ch'u-pan she, 1970), telegram to Jung-lu, probably dated October 6, 1898, but misprinted as September 6, 1898, 1/4a-b. This is one of numerous examples of Liu's reference to the two rulers as Liang-Kung.Google Scholar

8 K'un-i, Liu, Works, ‘shu-tu,’ 13/1a.Google Scholar

9 Yüting, Yün, ‘Ch'ung-ling,’ p. 463.Google Scholar

10 Yu-wei, K'ang ‘Chronological Autobiography of K'ang Yu-wei (Nan-hai K'ang hsien-sheng tzu-pien nien-p'u),’ trans. by Lo, Jung-pang, in K'ang Yu-wei, ed. by Lo, Jung-pang (Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1967), pp. 136–7.Google Scholar

11 Brenan to Salisbury, China Blue Books, 09 23, 1898, China No. 1 (1899), Doc. 237, p. 254.Google Scholar

12 NCH (September 24 and 28, 1898). Court enuchs 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 posthmous work, see‘Their Mortal Hour,’ ed. by Hoeppli, R., Asiatische Studien Études Asiatiques, 28:1 (1974), 1–48.Google Scholar On the unreliability of eunuch information, see Crawford, Robert, ‘Eunuch Powe in the Ming Dynasty’ TP 49:3 (1961), 115–48Google Scholar, and Wechsler, Howad J., Mirror to the Son of Heaven: Wei Cheng at the Court of T'ang T'ai-tsung (New Haven, 1974), 181–2.Google Scholar

13 MacDonald to Salisbury, China Blue Books, October 13, 1898, China No. 1 (1899), Doc. 401, p. 303.Google Scholar

14 Siren's, OsvaldThe Imperial Palaces of Peking (Paris and Brussels, 1926), 3 vols, contains some lovely pictures of Ying-t'ai.Google Scholar See also Dorn, Frank, The Forbidden City: The Biography of a Palace (New York, 1970) and Chin Liang, Kuang Hsüan hsiao-chi [Insignificant remarks about the Kuang-hsü and Hsüan-t'ung reigns] (n.p., 1933), 78, for gossip about Ying-t'ai and the Emperor's imprisonment.Google Scholar

15 This is a summary of the highlights of the various versions. See, for example, Ch'i-ch'ao, Liang, Wu-hsü cheng-pien chi [Notes of the 1898 coup d'état], reprint of 1957 edition, Taipei (Taiwan: wen-hai ch'u-pan she, 1970), (also in WHPF, Vol. I, pp. 249–314), hereafter abbreviated WHCPC, chüan 2; Su Chi-tsu in WHPF 1/252 and 348Google Scholar, Tsung-chang, Ch'iu, ‘Tsai-t'ien wai-chi’ [On the (Kuang-hsü Emperor) Tsai-t'ien], I-ching 29 (05 5, 1937), 34–43Google Scholar, and Hsin-nung, Yao, The Malice of Empire, trans. by Ingalls, Jeremy (London, 1970).Google Scholar

16 Mr and Mrs Isaac Taylor Headland assisted in Wang Chao's escape from China, but they also greatly admired the Empress Dowager. Court Life in China: The Capital, Its Officials, and People (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1909), p. 159.Google Scholar See also Yu-wei, K'ang, ‘Nien-p'u,’ p. 134.Google Scholar

17 See, for example, NCH (April 4, 1900).Google Scholar

18 Walker, , ‘China's Dowager Empress,' p. 494.Google Scholar

19 SL 427/5b-7a and TH 148/8a-b.

20 SL 428/5b-6b and TH 148/18a.

21 K'un-i, Liu, Works, ‘telegrams,’ dated october 13, 1898, 1/44b-45a.Google Scholar See also Chang Chih-tung, (1837–1909), Chang Wen-hsiang kung ch'üan-chi [The complete works of Chang Chih-tung], ed. by Wang, Shu-nan (Peiping: Wen-hua chai, 1928), 157/la-b and selection in WHPF 2/617.Google Scholar

22 SL 432/9b-10a.

23 SL 434/la-b. See also T'ing-fu, Yang, T'an Ssu-t'ung nien-p'u [Chronological biography of T'an Ssu-t'ung] (Peking, 1957), 112.Google Scholar

24 Chih-tung, Chang, Works, 80/16.Google Scholar

25 Tun-jung, Lo, ‘Ch'üan-pien yü-wen’ [More tales of the Boxer uprising], in CKCPNS, pp. 555–7.Google Scholar This work was also serialized in Yung-yen 1:2 (12 16, 1912), 1–16; 1:3 (January 1, 1913), 1–16; 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.Google Scholar

26 Chang was particularly incensed by the ‘slanderous lies’, of K'ang Yu-wei.Chih-tung, Chang, Works, 159/ 27–28 and 103/15–16. See also, Esherick, Reform and Revolution in China.Google Scholar

27 SL 451/5b-6a.

28 SL 455/3a-4b.

29 SL 458/9a.

30 January 14, 1900, SL 458/11a-b.Google Scholar

31 SL 458/11a-b.

32 Chih-tung, Chang, Works, 51/24a-26a on his suppression of the Tz'u-li hui (Independence Society).Google Scholar

33 Ch'i-ch'ao, Liang, WHCPC, chüan 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.Google Scholar

34 Hummel, Arthur W., Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, 1644–1912. 2 vols (Washington, 1943–1944), 855.Google Scholar

35 This letter was published in the Su-pao and NCH (July 17, 1905).Google Scholar See Wang, Y. C., ‘The Su-pao Case: A Study of Foreign Pressure, Intellectual Fermentation, and Dynastic Decline,’ Monumenta Serica 24 (1965), 102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36 Ch'i-ch'ao, Liang, WHCPC, chüan 2 and in WHPF 1/260.Google Scholar

37 Hsiao I-shan, like many others, believed this tale. See Ch'ing-tai T'ung-shih [A comprehensive history of the Ch'ing dynasty], Taiwan: Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan (Commercial Press), 1963. 4 vols, 4/2126–2127. Edict announcing inspection date SL 423/10a-b.Google Scholar

38 Chi-tsu, Su, ‘Ch'ing-t'ing wu-hsü ch'ao pien chi’ [Notes on the 1898 Ch'ing court rebellion], in WHPF, 1/336.Google Scholar

39 Jin'ichi, Yano, ‘Bojutsu no hempō oyobi siehen’ [The reform and coup d'état of 1898], Shirin (Kyoto, 8: 1–3 (1923), 456.Google Scholar

40 Feng-han, Liu, Yüan Shih-k'ai yü Wu-hsü cheng pien [Yuan Shih-K'ai and the coup d'étal of 1898] (Taipei: Wen-hsing shu-tien, 1964).Google Scholar

41 Shen-pao (October 24, 1898).

42 Ch'i-ch'ao, Liang, WHCPC 2/113 and WHPF 1/265–6. Text of article in Hsiao I-shan, Ch'ing-tai t'ung-shih, 4/2165–6.Google Scholar

43 On the society, see Wilhelm, Hellmut, ‘The Poems from the Hall of Obscured Brightness,’ in K'ang Yu-wei, ed. by Jung-pang, Lo (Tucson, Arizona, 1967), 329–30. See also Ch'ing-i pao from late 1899 to early 1900; see especially the following editions: 29 (october 5, 1899), 17a-b; 37 (March 1, 1900), 1a-3b, and 38 (March 11, 1900), 9a-12b.Google Scholar

44 Yü-ting's, Yün account is from ‘Ch'ung-ling,’ pp. 464–5.Google Scholar

45 SL 457/10a-11b.

46 Chao, Wang, Fang-chia yüan tsa-yün chi-shih [Miscellaneous memoirs of Wang Chao], preface dated 1913, reprinted in Shui-tung ch'üan-chi [The complete works of Wang Chao of) the Eastern Waters] (Taipei, 1964), 7a-9b.Google Scholar

47 Chao, Wang, Hsiao-han, 3/42a. He stated that he left Japan in the fourth moon of 1900.Google Scholar

48 Liu K'un-i, Works, ‘telegrams,’ dated October 13, 1898, 1/44b-45a. See also, Wang Chao, Fang-chia, 7a-b, and Yün-lung, Shen, ‘Wan Ch'ing kung-t'ing cheng ch'ih yü I-ho-ch'üan shih-chien’ [Late Ch'ing palace politics and the Boxer uprising], Min-chu p'ing lun 8:22 (11 16, 1957), 524.Google Scholar Liu K'un-i actually did send the Empress Dowager and the Emperor separate memorials congratulating them on their decision to select an heir apparent. See Liu K'un-i i-chi [The writings of Liu K'un-i], ed. by. Chung-kuo k'o-hsüeh-yüam li-shih yen-chiu, so Peking, 1959), memorial dated 02 9, 1900, 3/1206–7.Google Scholar

49 Ssu-ching, Hu, Kuo-wen pei-ch'eng [Record of national affairs], in T'ui lu ch'üan chi (Taipei, 1970), 3/2a-3b. Hu dates the quote as 1898, but changes some of the characters of the telegram and thus changes the entire meaning of Liu's message. Other writers often state that Liu sent this telegram (as misinterpreted by Hu) in late 1899 and therefore was a leader in the opposition to dethrone the Emperor.Google Scholar

50 Tun-jung, Lo, ‘Chu'üan-pien,’ 555–7.Google Scholar

51 NCH (March 14, 1900). See also, NCH (January 30, 1900 and May 2, 1900).

52 SL 426/13b and TH 148/6a.

53 Chi'-ch'ao, Liang, WHCPC, chüan 2 and WHPF 1/262.Google Scholar

54 Min-pao 1 (1905), 85.Google Scholar

55 MacDonald to Salisbury, China Blue Books, October 16, 1898, China No. 1 (1899), Doc. 358, p. 264.Google Scholar

56 MacDonald to Salisbury, China Blue Books, October 29, 1898, China No. 1 (1899), Doc. 373, p. 275.Google ScholarMorse, Hosea Ballou, 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, 1899).Google Scholar

57 K'un-i, Liu, Works, ‘telegrams.’ October 13, 1898, 1/44b-45a; ‘shu-tu (letters), November 3, 1898, 13/1a.Google Scholar

58 K'un-i, Liu, Works, ‘shu-tu (letters),’ dated KH 24/11 (December 13, 1898 to January 11, 1899), 13/7b-8b.Google Scholar

59 Hsüeh-feng, Dison 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. 8:1–2 (August 1970), 142–3.Google Scholar

60 Ibid., 94 and 101.

61 January 24, 1900, SL 457/10a-11b.Google Scholar

62 Ch'ing-i pao 20 (August 8, 1899), 16b and 29 (October 5, 1899), 17a.

63 For a detailed study of the Court's efforts at moderate reform during the period September 1898, to mid-1900, see my doctoral dissertation, ‘The Much Maligned Empress Dowager: A Revisionist Study of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi’ (unpublished dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1975), Ch. IIIGoogle Scholar

64 November 5, 1899, SL 452/5a-6b is one of many edicts describing the worsening conditions in the countryside.Google Scholar