Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/56

 CHAPTER II.

THE EMPRESS REGENT.

is safe to predict that in the future history of China the name of Tz'ŭ Hsi Tuan Yu Kang I Chao Yü Chuang Chêng Huang T'ai Hou will be prominent as that of one of the most remarkable sovereigns who ever guided the destinies of the "black-haired people." And, in fact, there are many features of special interest in the personality and antecedents of the lady about whom we have lately heard so much in connection with the Franco-Chinese campaign, and whose indomitable force of will has been alone instrumental in securing for her the unrivalled position she now occupies. To begin with, it is a remarkable thing for a woman to hold the reins of empire for so long a period as that enjoyed by her present Majesty. The Salic law is rigorously enforced in China, and although a woman may be Regent, she can never become the acknowledged equal of an Emperor in his own right. She may be de facto Empress of China, governing as well as reigning; but there must always be an Emperor, in whose name and as whose representative she wields the supreme power. Under no circumstances is a female ever permitted to succeed to the Dragon Throne in her own person; and while this law was undoubtedly the result, in the first instance, of the same just conviction on the part of the