Directory_and_Chronicle_1908 — Page 721

CHINA

REIGNING SOVEREIGN AND FAMILY

Kuang Sü, Emperor of China, is the son of Prince Ch'un, the seventh son of the Emperor Tao Kuang. He succeeded his cousin, the late Emperor Tung Chi, who died without issue on the 12th January, 1875, from small-pox.

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The proclamation announcing the accession of the present sovereign was as follows:-"Whereas His Majesty the Emperor has ascended upon the Dragon to be a guest on high, without offspring born to his inheritance, no course has been open but that of causing Tsai Tien, son of the Prince of Ch'un, to become adopted as the son of the Emperor Wêng Tsung Hien (Hien Fung) and to enter upon the inheritance of the great dynastic line as Emperor by succession. Therefore, let Tsai Tien, son of Yih Huan,. the Prince of Ch'un, become adopted as the son of the Emperor Wên Tsung Hien, and enter upon the inheritance of the great dynastic line as Emperor by succession. The present sovereign is the ninth Emperor of China of the Manchu dynasty of Ta-tsing (Sublime Purity), which succeeded the native dynasty of Ming in the year 1644. There exists no law of hereditary succession to the throne, but it is left to each sovereign to appoint his successor from among the members of his family. The late Emperor, dying suddenly, in the eighteenth year of his age, did not designate a successor, and it was in consequence of palace intrigue, directed by the Empress Dowager, in concert with Prince Ch'un, that the infant son of the latter was declared Emperor. The Emperor Kuang Sü was born in 1871, assumed the reins of Government in February, 1887, was married on the 26th February, 1889, to Yeh-ho-na-la, niece of the Empress Dowager, and his enthronement took place on the 4th March following. On the 21st September, 1898, a palace revolution took place and the Empress Dowager again assumed the regency, nominally on the ground of the Emperor's ill-health, and she has since ruled in the Emperor's name.

GOVERNMENt and Revenue

The fundamental laws of the Empire are laid down in the Ta-tsing Huei-tien, or Collected Regulations of the Great Pure Dynasty, which prescribe the government of the State as based upon the government of the family. The Emperor is spiritual as well as temporal sovereign, and, as high priest of the Empire, can alone, with his immediate representatives and ministers, perform the great religious ceremonies. No ecclesiastical hierarchy is maintained at the public expense, nor any priesthood attached to the Confucian or State religion.

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The administration of the Empire is under the supreme direction of the Interior Council Chamber, comprising four members, two of Manchu and two of Chinese origin, besides two assistants from the Han-lin, or Great College, who have to see that nothing is done contrary to the civil and religious laws of the Empire, contained in the Ta-tsing Huei-tien and in the sacred books of Confucius. These members are denominated Ta Hsio-sz, or Ministers of State. Under their orders until recently were the Boards of Government, each of which was presided over by a Manchu and Chinese. establishment of constitutional Government having been decided upon, and the reform of the official system being recognised as a necessary preliminary measure, these admini- strative Boards have been re-arranged and increased from seven to twelve in accordance with an Imperial Edict promulgated on November 6th, 1906. The Chun Chi-chu or Grand Council of State and the Grand Secretariat were undisturbed by the Edict, but the Boards or Ministries are now constituted as follows:-(1) The Wai Wu Pu, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; (2) Li PuMinistry of Civil Appointments; (3) Min Cheng Pu, Ministry of the Interior; (4) Tu Chih Pu, Ministry of Finance; (5) Li PuMinistry of Rites and

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