The Dowager Empress

    ("Empress Dowager Cixi")       

    The Dowager Empress, Cixi was a concubine of the Xianfeng emperor; the only concubine, in fact, that gave him any sons. She had one son, the imperial heir, who would go on to become the Tongzhi emperor. Cixi came to power when the Xianfeng emperor died because her son was still too young to rule. Cixi was named co-regent with the Empress CiAn. Xianfeng’s brother, Prince Gong, helped them rule. The Empress CiAn was far better liked than Cixi, perhaps because she was considered very nice. (“Empress Dowager Cixi). As a result, Empress CiAn is also not as well known as Cixi. Cixi, after all, is famous for her ruthless protection of Qing power.

            This triumvirate ruled until the Tongzhi (tong2zhi4) emperor was of ruling age. The Tongzhi emperor is responsible for the Qing Restoration after the Opium wars and the Taiping rebellion, but his mother’s presence lurked at the background of everything he did. He dies rather young of smallpox, and it is primarily Cixi who decides on his successor – a cousin that will come to be known as the Guangxu emperor (guang1xu4).

            This is where we really start to see Cixi show her ruthless side. During the time of the boxer rebellion, she has the Guangxu emperor’s favorite concubine pushed down a well, all because the concubine requested that the emperor be allowed to remain in Beijing and negotiate with the foreign powers for an end to the war the Boxers started. (Fairbank)

            Cixi supported the Boxers during the Boxer Rebellion. Her political views were xenophobic to an extreme, and she was always was the first to destroy reform movements. The Guangxu emperor tried to institute the 100 days Reform, and turn China into a more modern state with a constitutional monarchy (which at this point was necessary for survival), but the Dowager Empress forced him into seclusion and continued to rule herself. (“Hundred Days’ Reform)

            The empress died the day after the Guangxu emperor (some say she poisoned him), but not before she could have the last word on the Guangxu emperor’s successor. She put a toddler on the throne – the last emperor of China – Xuantong. It’s no wonder the Qing dynasty fell when its only forward thinking leader, and its only other adult leader die within a day of each other. No two year old can hold together a failing dynasty.

            Cixi’s decision to name Xuantong emperor is just one example of the way she thought throughout her reign as Dowager Empress. She was determined to see the Qing dynasty stay in control in a thoroughly Confucian manner, just the way it always had, and without outside interference. Needless to say, in a volatile, global political climate, this was a death sentence for China. The Empress is the perfect example of how Qing leaders (except for a select few) were unable to change the way they ran their country as the world changed the way it thinks. I believe that the only Qing ruler who might have had a chance at reforming China into a state that would function in the modern world was Guangxu, and he was overpowered by is egoist aunt.