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
Although it has been 109 years (today) since the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi – also known as the “dragon lady” and the “old master Buddha” – who effectively ruled China during the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911) for nearly five decades, she still divides public opinion.
Born on November 29, 1835, she was chosen as a concubine for the Emperor Xianfeng when she was a young girl. She gave birth to the emperor’s son – the future Emperor Tongzhi – in 1856 and went on to live an extravagant and privileged life in the imperial court without concerning herself with the hardships facing ordinary people.
Yet later, after consolidating control over the dynasty, she supported the Self-Strengthening Movement – a period of institutional economic and military reforms, which helped transform China from a medieval society into a more modern power on the global stage.
Historians, in China and abroad, have weighed up her achievements, with some depicting her as cruel and oppressive person, who was to blame for the end of the dynasty, but others have highlighted the changes and reforms that she introduced.
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.