1908, on her death bed, Empress Hsiao-ch'in chose as heir to both Tsai-t'ien and Tsai-ch'un the child P'u-i (see under Tsai-t'ien) who was a gradson of I-huan and thus her own grandnephew.
Tsai-ch'un was aged nineteen (sui) when he died. He was on the throne for more than thirteen years but actually ruled less than two years, and even in those years he was always under the influence of his mother. Nevertheless the history of his reign is recorded under his name, with the title Mu-tsung I Huang-ti shih-lu (實錄), 374 + 4 chüan, a work completed in 1879. The edicts issued in his name were edited under the title, Mu-tsung I Huang-ti shêng-shün (聖訓), 160 chüan. He left a collection of poems, entitled Mu-tsung yü-chih shih (御製詩), 6 chüan, and one of prose, entitled Mu-tsung yü-chih wên (文), 10 chüan.
As officially announcd, Tsai-ch'un's death was due to smallpox. Many stories arose, however, as to the immediate cause of his last illness, following as it did closely upon the celebration of his return to health. According to one account the Emperor, while still weak from the effects of the disease, was talking one day with his wife when his mother unexpectedly appeared and berated him with such fury that he never recovered from the shock. According to other accounts, mostly unverified, his death was hastened by diseases contracted in brothels. Certain critics blame corrupt officials for leading him astray, and after his death several officials and eunuchs were cashiered on the ground that they had been his companions. Whatever the cause of his untimely end, the Empress Dowager did nothing to prevent it, and did a great deal to promote it. She disliked the young Empress who, from many accounts, was then expecting a child. Had the child been a son the young Empress would automatically have become Empress Dowager—a situation which the reigning Empress Dowager doubtless wished to prevent. It was a matter for much unfavorable comment that seventy-four days after Tsai-ch'un died his young Empress committed suicide—this being the sole remaining protest she could make against the cruelties of her mother-in-law. According to the official announcement, she died of a serious illness. In 1876 a censor memorialized that she be given high posthumous honors, on the ground that she had committed suicide after her husband's death. The censor was severely reprimanded for submitting a memorial based only on "rumor."
[1/21/1a; Li Tz'ŭ-ming [q. v.], Yüeh-man-t'ang jih-chi, vols. 17, 21, 22; Wêng T'ung-ho [q. v.], Wêng Wên-kung kung jih-chi; Ch'ing Huang-shih ssŭ-p'u (see under Fu-lung-an); Chin-shih jên-wu chih (see under Wêng T'ung-ho) p. 203; The Life and Letters of S. Wells Williams (1888) pp. 401–406; Chin-liang (see under Wêng T'ung-ho), 清帝后外紀 Ch'ing ti hou wai-chi; Ch'ing-pai lei-ch'ao (see bibl. under Liu Lun), kung-wei pp. 22–24; Liu Tun-chên, "On the Reconstruction of the Yüan-ming Yüan in the T'ung-chih Period" (in Chinese), Ying-tsao hsüeh-shê hui-k'an (Bul. of Soc. for Research in Chinese Architecture) vol. 4 nos. 2, 3, 4 (1933–34).]
TSAI-t'ien 載湉, Aug. 14, 1871–1908, Nov. 14, ninth Emperor of the Ch'ing Dynasty, was a grandson of Emperor Hsüan-tsung (Min-ning, q.v.), a nephew of Emperor Wên-tsung (I-chu, q.v.), and a cousin of Emperor Mu-tsung (Tsai-ch'un, q.v.). He was the second son of Prince I-huan [q. v.]; his mother was a younger sister of Empress Hsiao-ch'in [q. v.]. At the age of two sui he was given the decorations of a first grade official. Early in 1874, at three sui, he was allowed to wear the peacock feather. Late in 1874 he was given the salary of a prince of the sixth degree.
On January 12, 1875, Emperor Mu-tsung died and Empress Hsiao-ch'in chose her nephew, Tsai-t'ien, as successor to the throne, adopting him as her son. This selection violated the dynastic laws of succession (see under Hsiao-ch'in) and was made solely in order to maintain her power. Of all the princes, he was the nearest to her by blood; since he was still a child she could mould his career at will. Foreseeing the objection that this arrangement would leave the deceased Emperor Mu-tsung without an heir, she promised that Tsai-t'ien's first son would be Mu-tsung's heir (see Tsai-ch'un and Wu K'o-tu). Thus, at four sui, Tsai-t'ien became the pawn of an ambitious, unscrupulous woman who undertook to control his whole life, even to depriving him, in advance, of his rightful heir.
The decision making Tsai-t'ien heir to the throne was taken in the evening of January 12, 1875. Shortly after three o'clock the next morning the child arrived at the Palace. On January 15 it was announced, in his name, that the
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