The imperial Woman
In 1852, a Manchurian girl, Orchid, clan name Yehonala, was summoned to be viewed by the Emperor of China. On the twentieth day of the sixth moon, the last Empress of China was chosen. By right, her cousin, Sakota, was the Emperor's consort, but she gave birth to a girl. Yehonala gave birth to a boy and became the Empress, Tzu Hsi. Once the Son of Heaven dies, Tzu Hsi and the consort, Tzu An, became the Empress Mother and Regent. Since Tzu Hsi was the stronger of the two, it seemed as if she was the only Empress. Her son grew up to be the Emperor of China. All his decisions were still made by his mother, but he died young. Tzu Hsi had to find the next heir before any trouble started. She took her sister and the sixth prince's son to be raised as the next Emperor. Once the Heir grew up, Tzu Hsi retired to the Summer Palace. Again, she was called back to be the ruler of China since her nephew had made foolish decision. The people of China called her Old Buddha. According the novel, Yehonala was a beautiful woman with a fierce heart. Since she was a virgin, she was called to be viewed by the Dowager Mother and the Son of Heaven. She could not disobey the command. Yehonala wanted to marry her third cousin, Jung Lu, but the Emperor
The Dowager Mother did not want foreigners taking over her country, so she forbade any sort of foreign object in her court. She believed the people were trying to ruin China without her "sister's," Queen Victoria, knowledge. China was divided into two halves. One half believed in the old customs, while the other wanted to become more like the mysterious Western world. Tzu Hsi believed in the old traditions. She expected her son's first duty was to his mother. However, when it came to choose the Emperor's consort, the Emperor would not listen to his mother and married Alute, a daughter of Duke Chung Li. Alute had the same ambitions as Tzu Hsi had when she was chosen. The Empress Mother was scared of Alute replacing her. Tzu Hsi allowed a concubine, Jasmine to be near the Emperor while Alute was gone. Jasmine was a perfect foil to Alute in body. Because of the competition between Alute and Jasmine, Tzu Hsi still had power over her son. For some unknown reason, the Emperor fell ill and died. Jasmine was sent to the palace of Forgotten Concubines and Alute, out of duty, swallowed opium. In order to save the throne, Tzu Hsi went to the son of her sister, the wife of the Prince Ch'un. She claimed him as the new Emperor. As the new Emperor grew, he became curious about the "white men". Once the Empress left her title and retired, many attempts were made on her life. The way Tzu Hsi lived was very extravagant and money was taken out from the military. Tzu Hsi did not think of herself as a burden. As an Elder, she believed she had the right to be respected. The Emperor did not believe in the old traditions. He did something that shocked Tzu Hsi back into the throne. He slept with his concubine, Pearl, but his wife stayed a virgin. The Emperor was still the Emperor, but he was like a puppet. His strings were being pulled but Tzu Hsi. The last Empress lived so long
Some common words found in the essay are:
Tzu Hsi, Dowager Mother, Emperor China, Prince Kung, tzu hsi, Sakota Emperor's, Yehonala Sakota, Emperor Emperor, Feng Yehonala, Grand Councilor, Queen Victoria, dowager mother, emperor china, girl yehonala, grand councilor, imperial woman, son heaven, tzu hsi heir, yehonala birth, sakota bore, empress mother, tzu hsi son, tzu hsi power,
Approximate Word count = 1259
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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