Tze-His was Dowager empress of China. She was born in 1835 at Beijing and died in 1908. She entered the seraglio of the emperor Hien-fung at the age of fifteen, and by her beauty and wit soon rose to be second to the empress Tze-an. On the death of Hien-fung in 1861, her son, Tung-Chih came to the throne, but during his reign and that of his successor, Kwang-su, Tze-His wielded the imperial power. Assisted by Li Hung-chang she ruled wisely and successfully until the war with Japan in 1894-1895, after which she sought to introduce western reforms and succeeded in suppressing the opiumtrade. Research Tze-His