China, The Self-Strengthening Movement

Upon the Hsien-feng emperor's death at Cheng-te in 1861, his antiforeign entourage entered Peking and seized power; but Tz'u-hsi, the mother of the newly enthroned boy emperor Tsai-ch'un (reigned as the T'ung-chih emperor, 1861 - 75), and Prince Kung succeeded in crushing their opponents by a coup d'�tat in October. There emerged a new system in which the leadership in Peking was shared by