CHARLES DENBY
(Charles Denby Jr.)
She was ruling the largest country in the world and Denby’s opinion was held by most who knew China. What made her all the more remarkable was that, as a Chinese lower middle class women, she had no formal education, had rarely been allowed to travel out of her home or interact with men. As a young teen she was made a concubine to the Emperor and rarely left the harem. Like Abraham Lincoln she was self-taught and not only was able to seize power in China without any male advisor or patron, but she ruled as well as any world leader. In her later years she was pushing her country too fast and far, and the Western Powers had caused much domestic difficulty and to maintain power, she had to ally with the anti-West Boxers causing her reputation amongst Westerners to sink dramatically and thereafter was never much acknowledged for her remarkable political skills and accomplishments.
In China, the religious activities of the Missionaries never really lead to the many troubles between the missionaries and the Chinese. It was their activities in the non-religious arenas articulated here by Denby.