Introduction
In the annals of Chinese history, few figures loom as large or cast as long a shadow as Empress Dowager Cixi. For nearly half a century, Cixi was the most powerful woman in China, ruling over the twilight years of the Qing dynasty as regent and de facto sovereign. Born into a noble Manchu family in 1835, the young Cixi rose from obscurity as a low-ranking consort to become one of the most formidable and controversial female leaders in history. Ruthless and canny, Cixi held onto power through court intrigue, manipulation, and deadly force, governing as the true "Emperor" behind the throne. Her reign saw China battered by foreign invasion, internal rebellion, and pressures to reform, as well as efforts to modernize the ancient empire. Today, Cixi remains a polarizing figure – admired by some as a capable leader who held her own in a man‘s world, and reviled by others as a scheming despot who hastened the downfall of the Qing. But few would dispute that Cixi was one of the most influential rulers in modern Chinese history, whose extraordinary life and reign continue to fascinate historians.
The Making of an Empress Dowager
Cixi‘s path to power was an improbable one. Born into the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, she entered the Forbidden City at age 16 as a concubine to Emperor Xianfeng, one of many consorts vying for the emperor‘s favor. But Cixi quickly distinguished herself with her intelligence, political acumen, and ability to bear a son, Zaichun. When Xianfeng died in 1861, Cixi joined forces with Empress Dowager Ci‘an and the eunuch An Dehai to stage a palace coup known as the Xinyou Coup. They overthrew a group of regents who had been named by Xianfeng to rule on behalf of his heir, and instead installed themselves as co-regents with the support of Manchu imperial clan members and Han Chinese officials in the Grand Council.[^1]
This audacious power grab showcased Cixi‘s skills as a political operator and set the stage for her long reign. Over the next 47 years, Cixi would serve as regent and power behind the throne for two emperors – first her son Zaichun (Emperor Tongzhi), then her nephew Zaitian (Emperor Guangxu). Even after the emperors nominally came of age, Cixi remained firmly in control of the levers of government, aided by a network of loyal officials like Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang.[^2]
Challenges of a Regent‘s Rule
Cixi‘s reign unfolded during a period of immense domestic and international challenges for China. The once-mighty Qing dynasty was beset by problems on all fronts – a weakening imperial center, bureaucratic dysfunction, economic strain, social unrest, and growing threats from Western and Japanese imperialism.
Internally, China faced a series of devastating rebellions that nearly brought the Qing to its knees. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, a civil war and religious uprising led by a Christian convert who proclaimed himself the brother of Jesus Christ. The rebellion engulfed much of southern China, caused massive devastation, and left over 10 million dead before Qing forces finally crushed it.[^3] Other major uprisings included the Nian Rebellion (1853-1868), Dungan Revolt (1862-1877), and Panthay Rebellion (1856-1873), which all challenged Qing control in different parts of the empire.[^4]
On the international front, China found itself at the mercy of technologically advanced and industrialized foreign powers. The country suffered a string of humiliating defeats in the Opium Wars and was forced to sign unequal treaties granting foreign concessions, trade privileges, and spheres of influence to Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, and other powers. These incursions chipped away at Qing authority and sovereignty. An 1860 Anglo-French expedition sacked the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, a searing disgrace for the once-proud empire.[^5] Disputes with Japan over influence in Korea led to the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), another crushing defeat that ended with China ceding Taiwan to Japan and acknowledging Korean independence.
Amid these mounting crises, many Chinese statesmen and intellectuals recognized the need to reform China‘s outdated imperial system and strengthen the country to meet the challenge of foreign imperialism. The Self-Strengthening Movement of the 1860s-1890s sought to blend Chinese and Western learning, adopting Western technology, industry, and institutions to bolster the Qing dynasty. Proponents like Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Prince Gong spearheaded projects to construct railways, telegraph lines, and shipyards, establish military arsenals, and open schools teaching Western subjects.[^6]
As a regent, Cixi had to navigate these competing pressures and chart a course for China‘s future. She was no reformer by nature, but recognized the need to pursue limited modernization to uphold Qing power. Cixi backed Self-Strengthening initiatives and the Tongwen Guan, a government school teaching Western languages and sciences.[^7] At the same time, she remained a staunch conservative opposed to fundamental changes to China‘s imperial system and Confucian ideology. Cixi sought a difficult balance of using foreign knowledge to stave off foreign domination.
The Hundred Days and the Boxer Uprising
This tension between preserving tradition and embracing change came to a dramatic head during the Hundred Days‘ Reform of 1898. A group of radical reformers led by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao convinced Cixi‘s nephew, the Guangxu Emperor, to issue a sweeping series of edicts aimed at transforming China into a constitutional monarchy. The edicts envisioned political, legal, and educational reforms on the model of Meiji Japan, which had successfully modernized and resisted colonization.[^8]
Cixi saw these measures as a mortal threat to Manchu rule and her own authority. Furious at being sidelined, she launched a coup, rallying conservative Manchu elites and placing the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest. The Hundred Days‘ Reforms were abruptly reversed after just 104 days, with six leading reformers executed. Kang and Liang narrowly escaped and fled to Japan.[^9]
In the aftermath, Cixi continued to crack down on reformist and revolutionary sentiment. She threw her support behind the anti-foreign and anti-Christian Boxer Uprising of 1900, which attacked foreign embassies and missionaries. Cixi declared war on the foreign powers, only to suffer another humiliating defeat when an Eight-Nation Alliance army captured Beijing.[^10] The Boxer Protocol of 1901 imposed more indemnities and concessions on China.
Chastened by this fiasco, even Cixi grudgingly accepted the need for more substantive reforms in her final years. The dynasty established a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent students abroad, and announced plans for an elected assembly and constitution. But these eleventh-hour measures proved too little, too late. With Cixi‘s death in 1908 and the abdication of her chosen heir Puyi in 1912, the Qing dynasty collapsed, ending over two millennia of imperial rule and ushering in the Republic of China.
A Polarizing Legacy
Today, Empress Dowager Cixi remains one of the most controversial figures in modern Chinese history. To her critics, she was a ruthless and reactionary tyrant who cared only for her own power, resisted much-needed reforms, and hastened the downfall of the Qing through misrule. Even as China faced grave external threats, Cixi was more focused on court intrigue and factional struggle, purging her enemies and packing the government with sycophants. Most infamously, she is widely suspected of ordering the murder by poisoning of her nephew Emperor Guangxu to prevent him from continuing his reform agenda after her death – although this crime has never been definitively proven.[^11]
Other historians paint a more nuanced portrait of Cixi as a leader who did her best to uphold the dynasty during challenging times. She was an adept politician who outmaneuvered her male rivals in a Confucian system that relegated women to subordinate roles. Cixi also recognized the need to engage with the West and pursue modernization, even as she tried to safeguard Manchu power. Some credit her with laying the groundwork for the end of the imperial system and China‘s evolution into a republic and nation-state.[^12]
Cixi‘s personal life and character also defy simplistic labels. She appreciated many aspects of Western culture and technology, from photography to the telephone. An connoisseur of Beijing opera, she had ornate theatres built in her palaces and gardens. She issued edicts banning foot-binding and establishing a women‘s newspaper, suggesting a protofeminist streak.[^13] At the same time, she was notorious for her lavish spending, building a lavish pleasure boat with funds earmarked for the navy.[^14]
Perhaps British correspondent George Morrison offered the most evenhanded assessment: "Empress Dowager Cixi long possessed and still retains to an extraordinary degree the respect and veneration of the Chinese people. She is fully informed of everything that goes on…She is a woman of absolute courage…It is difficult not to feel a certain amount of sympathy for the aged ruler who has fought hard all her life for her country."[^15]
In the end, there is no denying that Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the most powerful and influential women in Chinese history. For better or worse, she guided the Qing dynasty through its twilight years, making her mark on the course of modern China. Her extraordinary life and complex legacy continue to inspire research and debate among historians seeking to understand this fascinating figure and the tumultuous times she lived through.
[^2]: Sue Fawn Chung, "Empress Dowager Cixi" in "Eminent Chinese of the Qing Period," edited by Arthur W. Hummel (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943), 295.
[^3]: John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman, "China: A New History" (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2006), 206-210.
[^4]: Philip A. Kuhn, "Rebellion and Its Enemies in Late Imperial China: Militarization and Social Structure, 1796-1864" (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970), 35-93.
[^5]: Peter Hays Gries, "The Koguryo Controversy, National Identity, and Sino-Korean Relations Today," in "East Asia" 22, no. 4 (Winter 2005), 7.
[^6]: Benjamin A. Elman, "Political, Social, and Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service Examinations in Late Imperial China," in "Journal of Asian Studies" 50, no. 1 (February 1991), 13-14.
[^7]: Ruth Hayhoe, "China‘s Universities and the Open Door" (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1989), 12-14.
[^8]: Luke S. K. Kwong, "A Mosaic of the Hundred Days: Personalities, Politics, and Ideas of 1898" (Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1984), 57.
[^9]: Meribeth E. Cameron, "The Reform Movement in China 1898-1912" (Stanford University Press, 1931), 43-51.
[^10]: Joseph W. Esherick, "The Origins of the Boxer Uprising" (University of California Press, 1987), 289-301.
[^11]: Pamela Kyle Crossley, "The Wobbling Pivot: China Since 1800" (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), 137.
[^12]: Keith Schoppa, "Revolution and Its Past: Identities and Change in Modern Chinese History" (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002), 119.
[^13]: Marina Warner, "The Dragon Empress: The Life and Times of Tz‘u-hsi 1835-1908 Empress Dowager" (New York: Macmillan, 1972), 163.
[^14]: Sterling Seagrave, "Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China" (New York: Vintage, 1993), 262.
[^15]: George Ernest Morrison, "The Correspondence of G. E. Morrison 1912-1920," edited by H. H. Robbins (Cambridge University Press, 1978), 63.
