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, bu
Before her life was simple, now she has to defend her life and her son’s life from the younger brothers of the Emperor. Prince Cheng, Prince Yi, and the Grand Councilor plotted to kill Tzu Hsi and the Heir while the son of Heaven was dying. Tzu Hsi very cunningly persuaded the dying monarch to declare the child the heir and the two Empresses as Regents. As a supreme ruler and more dominant than Sakota, Tzu Hsi ordered the Three Traitors to die. The Grand Councilor Su Shun was sliced into one thousand pieces and his whole family was killed. Prince Yi and Prince Kung were ordered to hang themselves in order to save face, or die with dignaty. Other than protect herself from power greedy politicians, the Chinese distrusted female rulers, specially the females from Manchu race, so there were many rebels ready to overthrow the dynasty. Foreigners were trying to take over businesses and convert China to a more Western lifestyle. All of this was her burden to take of and she was only twenty-six years old. As her son grew up, there was some speculation about the little emperor’s paternity. Tzu Hsi had made Jung Lu the new Grand Councilor and there was talk about who was the real father. Once the little Emperor was in his teens, he became the Emperor of China, but Tzu Hsi still had power behind the throne. The Imperial Woman shows a side of the last Empress that the western world could not believe. In many novels, Tzu Hsi was noted as a cruel tigress, but because of her stubbornness to the old traditions and burdens, she tried to make China for her son. Once her son died, she did not care how China was, but to fulfill a duty to find a new Emperor and train him. Yehonala did not care for her nephew, but it was her duty to train him. There are many history mistakes in Imperial Woman. For example, Yehonala and Sakota were never cousins. As property o
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1259
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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