I the Empress Dowager Tze-hsi-tuan-yn, ete., being filled with pity and anxiety at the same time; pity for the repeated famines and sufferings of my subjects in the vicinity of the Yellow River, caused by the frequent breaking away of its banks of late years and the flooding of immense tracts of land; ana anxiety lest there be greater disasters in the future unless some means be devised for the permanent conservation of this River. I consider that to do so, there must be a staff of men well-versed in river conservation placed in charge of the Yellow River, and I hereby command that should any of my Ministers and high provincial authorities know of such men who really possess this ability, to recommend them to the Throne in order that measures for the permanent conservation of the Yellow River may be devised without"loss of time. Let this decree be made known to the whole Empire, 21st October.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.