KUANG-HS

born Aug. 14, 1871, Peking, China died Nov. 14, 1908, Peking Pinyin Guangxu (reign name), personal name (hsing-ming) Tsai-t'ien, posthumous name (shih) Ching-ti, temple name (miao-hao) (ch'ing) Te-tsung ninth emperor (reigned 18751908) of the Ch'ing dynasty, during whose reign the empress dowager Tz'u-hsi (18351908) totally dominated the government and thereby prevented the young emperor from modernizing and reforming the deteriorating imperial system. When the previous emperor died, his mother, the empress dowager Tz'u-hsi, chose her four-year-old nephew as emperor. She adopted the boy as her son so that she could act as regent and dominate the government as she had since 1861. Although this action broke the sacred dynastic law of succession, opposition to the move was squelched, and on Feb. 25, 1875, the young prince ascended the throne, taking the reign name of Kuang-hs. Although the emperor came of age in 1887, he had to wait two more years before taking over the government from Tz'u-hsi, who continued to influence policy. In 1898, at the age of 27, he finally tried to assert himself. During what has come to be known as the Hundred Days of Reform, he collected a group of progressively oriented officials around him and issued a broad series of reform edicts. Conservative officials were outraged. With the aid of the top imperial military commander, Jung-lu, Tz'u-hsi returned to the capital, confined the emperor to his palace, and spread rumours that he was deathly ill. Foreign powers, who let it be known that they would not take kindly to the emperor's death or dethronement, saved his life, but thereafter he had no power over the government. On Nov. 15, 1908, Tz'u-hsi died, and, under highly suspicious circumstances, the theretofore healthy Kuang-hs emperor was announced as having died the previous day. Tz'u-hsi's final decree passed the throne to the emperor's three-year-old nephew, who reigned as the Hsan-t'ung emperor.