I. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER EARLY LIFE II. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER YEARS OF TRAINING III. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A RULER IV. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REACTIONIST V. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A REFORMER VI. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS AN ARTIST VII. THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--AS A WOMAN VIII. KUANG HSU--HIS SELF DEVELOPMENT IX. KUANG HSU--AS EMPEROR AND REFORMER X. KUANG HSU--AS A PRISONER XI. PRINCE CHUN--THE REGENT XII. THE HOME OF THE COURT--THE FORBIDDEN CITY XIII. THE LADIES OF THE COURT XIV. THE PRINCESSES--THEIR SCHOOLS XV. THE CHINESE LADIES OF RANK XVI. THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE WOMAN XVII. THE CHINESE LADIES--THEIR ILLS XVIII. THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF A DOWAGER PRINCESS XIX. CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS XX. PEKING--THE CITY OF THE COURT XXI. THE DEATH OF KUANG HSU AND THE EMPRESS DOWAGER XXII. THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION I The Empress Dowager--Her Early Life All the period since 1861 should be rightly recorded as the reign of Tze Hsi An, a more eventful period than all the two hundred and forty-four reigns that had preceded her three usurpations. It began after a conquering army had made terms of peace in her capital, and with the Tai-ping rebellion in full swing of success.... Those few who have looked upon the countenance of the Dowager describe her as a tall, erect, fine-looking woman of distinguished and imperious bearing, with pronounced Tartar features, the eye of an eagle, and the voice of determined authority and absolute command.--Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore in "China, The Long-Lived Empire." I THE EMPRESS DOWAGER--HER EARLY LIFE One day when one of the princesses was calling at our home in Peking, I inquired of her where the Empress Dowager was born. She gazed at me for a moment with a queer expression wreathing her features, as she finally said with just the faintest shadow of a smile: "We never talk about the early history of Her Majesty." I smiled in return and continued: "I have been told that she was born in a small house, in a narrow street inside of the east gate of the Tartar city--the gate blown up by the Japanese when they entered Peking in 1900." The princess nodded. "I have also heard that her father's name was Chao, and that he was a small military official (she nodded again) who was afterwards beheaded for some neglect of duty." To this the visitor also nodded assent.