Empress Dowager Cixi

[Randy W]

This story is in the SCMP today. The story of the Empress Dowager is a long and complicated one and had a major effect on Chinese history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading up to China's Last Emperor Puyi, who was selected by Cixi on her deathbed. Rather than try to summarize it, I'll just try to point out some interesting points, and leave the article for you to read, if you're interested.

 

A dowager is defined as "a widow holding property or a title from her deceased husband". In particular, an Empress Dowager is one who has retained the power behind the throne, while her infant son is ruling as a figurehead Emperor. As in the case of Cixi, they are sometimes able to retain power for much longer, including controlling the rules of succession to the throne.

 

 

 

The woman who ‘ruled’ China: what you didn’t know about Empress Dowager Cixi

The former concubine, who effectively controlled country during late Qing dynasty for nearly five decades, still divides opinion 109 years after her death

 

 

 

So, what was Cixi’s privileged life within the walls of Beijing’s Forbidden City really like?

To mark the anniversary of her death, aged 72, we take a peek into her private world by looking at photographs, lavish robes and other belongings, and examine some of the stories about her life, including the demolition and reconstruction of a tomb featuring a lavish series complex of temples and pavilions – 12 years before her eventual death – as her fitting resting place.

Cixi was a fashionista Cixi had her own exclusive railway in the royal park

Cixi ensured her dogs were served by their own eunuchs

 

Cixi was laid to rest with jewellery and other luxury items worth 1.2 million taels of silver

 

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[True Blue]

Perhaps you have seen the Marble boat that the Dowager Emperess had built for herself to party on at the Summer Palace in Beijing. The story is that she embezzled the money appropriated for the Chinese Navy to build her party boat. With no Navy, the Chinese empire suffered a humiliating defeat. It certainly didn't look to be of any use other than to host dinner parties.

 

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/summer/boat.htm

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Boat

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294212-d311538-i202514168-Summer_Palace_Yiheyuan-Beijing.html

[Randy W]

from the Shanghaiist on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/shanghaiist/posts/10158115366326030

 

Quote

121 years ago today, on June 11th, 1898, the ill-fated Hundred Days Reform period was kicked off by the young Guangxu Emperor.

In response to China’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War and previous defeats to Western powers in the Opium Wars, the 27-year-old emperor proclaimed a new policy of “reform and self-strengthening” with goals that included abolishing China’s traditional exam system, building a modern education system, and transforming the empire into a constitutional monarchy.

These kinds of changes did not sit well with the emperor’s aunt, Empress Dowager Cixi, who considered them too radical. Cixi would engineer a coup d'état that forced the Guangxu Emperor to live in seclusion until his death a decade later while his principal progressive supporters were either executed or fled to Japan.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[True Blue]

She is one scary and stern looking woman!

[Allon]

There are many empress dowager's, especially in the early dynasties and they are especially cutthroat as well. In those times though, the dynasties were separate disparate kingdoms. The life of a concubine is consumed in trickery and cleverness. In many royal households in China, emperor's had thousands of concubines. And many of those thousands lost their lives over simple whim.

 

Madame Mao was a former concubine. Says it all....

 

http://www.kojewel.com/odd/concubine-to-the-emperor-4-horrific-stories-from-chinese-history.htm

 

 

 

So horrific and undeserved is Concubine Qi’s fate that it stands out in Chinese history as an example of petty revenge and terrible cruelty. She was one of the favorite concubines of Emperor Gaozu, the founder and first Emperor of the Han dynasty. That alone was enough to raise the anger of Gaozu’s ambitious, powerful, cruel wife, Empress Lu Zhi. When a few years before the his death the Emperor began showing favoritism towards her son, her fate was probably sealed, as although gaining the Emperor’s favor was probably survivable, becoming the mother of an Emperor was not. So when Gaozu died in 195 BC and Lu Zhi’s son became Emperor Hui of Han, she held the power, and although she was merciful with her husband’s other concubines, she had a special plan for concubine Qi and her son. Emperor Hui tried to convince his mother to forgive and forget, he went as far as not to let his half brother out of his sight. It was useless. On a morning in the winter of 194 BC the Emperor went hunting and the Empress dowager had her chance: the son, Liu Ruyi was force fed poisoned wine. But for his mother a more terrible ending was reserved: her limbs were chopped off, ears were sliced, eyes were gouged out and she was thrown into a latrine. The Empress would walk around it calling Qi a “human swine” and after 2 days she even brought the Emperor to show him the barely alive concubine. The Emperor, sickened and depressed, spent the rest of his reign with concubines in a drunken stupor.

 

[Randy W]

Some old pictures of Empress Dowager Cixi

from China Highlights on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/24100187963/posts/10159376121247964/

[Randy W]

 

The BIZARRE Lifestyle of Cixi , China's Empress

Because of her reputation for being harsh and manipulative, Empress Dowager Cixi is considered one of the most despised ladies in the annals of Chinese history. But was this her truth? Or is it just another sad story of a woman wrongfully painted by society due to her position of power? And how was she able to navigate the perilous halls of the Chinese imperial court and get to the position of being the most powerful lady in the annals of Chinese history?