Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi
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Tenure As Concubine:
September, 1851 - August 22, 1861
As Empress Dowager:
August 22, 1861 - November 15,
1908
Spouse Xianfeng Emperor
Father Huizheng
Born
November 29, 1835(1835-11-29)
Died
November 15, 1908 (aged 72)
Empress Dowager Cixi1
(Chinese: ????;
pinyin: Cíxǐ Tàihòu; Wade-Giles: Tz’u-Hsi
T’ai-hou) (November 29, 1835 – November
15, 1908), popularly known in China as the
West Dowager Empress (Chinese: ???), was
from the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan. She was a
powerful and charismatic figure who became
the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dyn-
asty, ruling over China for 48 years from her
husband’s death in 1861 to her own death in
1908.
Coming from an ordinary Manchu family
and having been selected by the Xianfeng
Emperor as a concubine, she exercised
almost total control over the court under the
nominal rule of her son the Tongzhi Emperor
and her nephew the Guangxu Emperor, both
of whom unsuccessfully attempted to rule in
their own right. She was largely conservative
during her rule and refused reform of the
political system. Many historians considered
her reign despotic, and attribute the fall of
the Qing Dynasty to her rule. Many Chinese
consider her a villain who is responsible for
the fall of China to foreign powers.
Early years
Noble Consort Yi’s portrait
The exact origins of Empress Dowager Cixi
are unclear, but most biographies claim that
she was the daughter of a low-ranking Man-
chu official named Huizheng (Chinese: ??) of
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Empress Dowager Cixi
1
the Manchu Yehenara clan, and his principal
wife, who belonged to the Manchu Fucha
(Chinese: ??) clan. Huizheng was a member
of the Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight
Banners, who served in the Shanxi Province
and later became Commissioner of Anhui
Province.
Cixi was born on November 29, 1835 as
"Lan Kueu" (Little Orchid), or "Yu Lan" (Jade
Orchid), in popular legend. Genzheng Yehen-
ara, one of Cixi’s brother’s descendants, in-
sists the name was "Xing’er", and the name
she u