Leslie Shirkey
Christopher Holcom
History 112-CO1
Due November 7, 2015
Princess Der Ling I fancy the sweet scent of sandalwood and clove that is lingering in the air. I love when Ma ma lights the censer when Ba ba has left. It reminds me of the time I was living in Paris. It seems like yesterday. We haven’t been in Shanghai very long and it has rained nonstop. Travelling has not been very pleasant. We were greeted by Taotai, stoically as if we were royalty. They offered us the Tien Ho Gung (Temple of the Queen of Heaven), but Ba ba insisted we not. Instead we stayed at the Hotel des Colonies in the French Concession. The Hotel was acceptable, but we were to stay there long. Our family had to leave to Peking at once. The houses in Peking seemed to go on forever. The gardens were Chinese style, flowing gracefully with vines of flowers. Bridges seemed to rise here or there, but there was a hurried problem. We did not have a home in Peking. Father sent a telegram to a friend to find us a house and one was found. It was a famous house, indeed, it was the house where Li Hung Chang signed the treaties with the Foreign Powers after the Boxer Rising and also …show more content…
When Cixi was not entertaining guests, she would be attempting to forge government logic to her best knowledge. Which I must state was a weak one at that. Cixi often had many relations with the men of the Palace and the Emperor Xianfeng was one of the men. Cixi had become pregnant. It was a boy. She named him Zaichun. This was the only boy that the Emperor would have. Cixi made the boy new Emperor after the Emperor died. He was called Emperor Tongzhi. She used his power to her position. Cixi was a rather clever lady, you see, always bending truths and taking prisoner her own statue. Cixi would have us listen in to arrangements being made. If one of us was caught she would deny any participation, we were on our own. If we kept silent, she would provide us benefits. It was in our best