Note 37 — Chapter XXXIII · THE OUTCOME.

Kwanghsu, being first cousin to the deceased Emperor Tungchih, could not, according to Chinese usage, be his heir. In adopting him, therefore, as posthumous heir to the previous Emperor Hsienfêng, his uncle, the Regent left her own son, the Emperor Tungchih, without an heir, promising to supply the want from the future offspring of Kwanghsu, or by some other adoption; but against this procedure strong protests were made. The arrangement, however, conferred upon the Dowager-Empress, as the widow of Hsienfêng, the authority of a mother over his heir, a circumstance which to a large extent accounts for the filial deference the reigning emperor has always paid to his adoptive mother.