Empress Dowager Cixi

Empress Dowager Cixi (Chinese: 慈禧太后; pinyin: Cíxǐ Tàihòu; Wade-Giles: Tz'u-Hsi T'ai-hou) (29 November 1835 -- 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.

Selected by the Xianfeng Emperor as a concubine in her adolescence, she climbed the ranks of Xianfeng's harem and gave birth to a son who became the Tongzhi Emperor upon Xianfeng's death. Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed regency over her young son with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi then consolidated control and established near-absolute rule over the dynasty. She installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor in 1875. A conservative ruler who refused to adopt Western models of government, Cixi rejected reformist views and placed Guangxu under house arrest in later years for supporting reformers. However, after a humiliating clash with the Eight-Nation Alliance, external and internal pressures led Cixi to attempt institutional changes and appoint reform-minded officials. Ultimately, the Qing Dynasty collapsed a few years after her death.

Historians from both Kuomintang and Communist backgrounds have generally portrayed her as a despot and villain responsible for the fall of the Qing Dynasty, but in recent years professional historians have suggested that she was a scapegoat for problems beyond her control, a leader no more ruthless than others, and in fact an effective if reluctant reformer in the last years of her life.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Empress dowager
• Cixi
• Qing
• royalty
• manchu
• china
• forbidden city
• regent

[tctc12579]

What the song ?

[novaskosia]

@tctc12579 I Dont Owned Anything.- Susanna Kwan; Moonlight Resonance.ost

[HistoryBuff75]

Why take a picture of her skeleton? @3:35

[novaskosia]

@HistoryBuff75 from wikipedia

[shirusubemonaku]

is this some Tibetan queen?

[novaskosia]

@shirusubemonaku not queen of tibet

[2morrow1]

I'm not trying to offend anyone, but personally i think she messed up China. She spent millions on her own luxury which was supposed to upgrade the navy and remained ignorant of Western powers who were putting enormous pressure on China. When her son tried attempted reform to industrialize, she imprisoned him in his own palace. When she finally worked out how much trouble she is in, she attempted too little too late. In my opinion, she is the reason why Western powers defeated China back then.

[Firebomber7]

@JubileeMarcus123

Not actually a queen. She was the mother/aunt of various child emperors. She kept children as emperors so she could easily manipulate them (and have possible competition killed), and therefore the country, in order for her to deceitfully keep power. She ignored the real needs of China and instead pampered herself with luxuries. She was basically a very selfish and arrogant lady who should never have had puppet control of the country, and is the reason China ended up messed up.

[DragonOfQin]

@thekingofmoney2000 lol are you kidding? 10% GDP growth each year. Biggest economy by the year 2018(Zakaria GPS and The Economist). CCP is doing way better than what Dowager ever did. Don't compare Dowager with CCP. CCP is leagues above her.

[thekingofmoney2000]

@DragonOfQin It's not as if the Chinese communist party is doing any better...

[DragonOfQin]

Bitch made China collapse. Fuck this.

[NicoleProdz]

THE FUCKING WOMAN IS THE REASON OF WHY QING DYNASTY WILL COLLAPSE.

[iamslknick78]

@DixonMillerRN probably on the rag....women

[DixonMillerRN]

The skeleton image shows what became of her after the imperial tombs were dynamited by members of the Kuomentang. Her body was stripped of it's jewels and hurled to the floor. She does not look happy about it at all.

[bentlykitty26]

In my own opinion to be noticed by the King that can have as much as hundreds of women in the palace, the girl must be very pretty to be noticeable. I am surprised that the pixtures of the Empress shown in History books and such is always when she was already old.

[tctc12579]

@novaskosia Thanks : )