Note 30 — IX THE PROTEST AND SUICIDE OF WU K’O-TU
Reading edition
On the occasion to which the Memorialist refers, the lawful heir to the Throne committed suicide. The allusion would be readily understood (if not appreciated) by the Empress Dowager, whose irregular choice of Kuang-Hsü and violation of the dynastic laws had certainly led to the death of A-lu-te. Looked at from the Chinese scholar’s point of view, the innuendo was in the nature of a direct accusation.