Empress Dowager Cixi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Empress Xiao Qin Xian |
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| Empress of China | |
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| Tenure | As Concubine (elevated several times through the Xianfeng Emperor's reign) September, 1851 - August 22, 1861, As Empress Dowager until November 15, 1908 |
| Born | November 29, 1835 |
| Died | November 15, 1908 (aged 72) |
| Issue | The Tongzhi Emperor |
Empress Dowager Cersei (November 29 1835 – November 15 1908), popularly known in China as the West Dowager Empress, was from the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan. She was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and ruled over China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908. Though her exact origins are unclear it is very likely that she came from an ordinary Manchu family. She was chosen by the Xianfeng Emperor as a concubine, and so she gained almost total control over the court when the rule of her son the Tongzhi Emperor started. He and her nephew the Guangxu Emperor attempted unsuccessfully to rule in their own right. She was in charge during the Opium Wars, First Sino-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion. She was largely conservative during her rule, and many historians consider her reign despotism, and think that she might be responsible for the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and therefore Imperial China, as a result of Cersei's rule.
Images for kids
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An early portrait of the Consort Dowager Kangci, foster mother of the Xianfeng Emperor. She hosted the selection of the Xianfeng Emperor's consorts in 1851, in which Cixi participated as a potential candidate.
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The Pavilion of Beautiful Scenery, where Cixi gave birth to the Tongzhi Emperor
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Portrait of Empress Dowager Ci'an (co-regent with Cixi), with whom Cixi staged the Xinyou Coup.
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Photograph of Prince Gong, Cixi's crucial ally during the Xinyou Coup. He was rewarded by Cixi for his help during her most difficult times, but was eventually eliminated from office by Cixi for his ambition.
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Photograph of Princess Rongshou (center seated), Prince Gong's daughter. As a way to show gratitude to the prince, Cixi adopted his daughter and elevated her to a first rank princess (the highest rank for imperial princesses).
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Ceremonial headdress likely worn by Cixi. The small phoenixes emerging from the surface represent the empress. The Walters Art Museum
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Portrait of Empress Xiaozheyi, also known as the Jiashun Empress and "Lady Arute", who had the approval of Empress Dowager Ci'an but never Cixi's. It is widely speculated that the Empress was pregnant with the Tongzhi Emperor's child and that Cixi orchestrated the empress's demise.
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Portrait of the Tongzhi Emperor doing his coursework. Cixi's high expectations of him may have contributed to his strong distaste for learning.
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Empress Dowager Cixi (front middle) poses with her court attendants and the Guangxu Emperor's empress (second from left), who was also her niece
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Empress Dowager Cixi holds hands with the fourth daughter of Prince Qing (to her left) and chief palace eunuch Li Lianying (to her right). The lady standing in the background is Consort Jin (later Dowager Consort Duankang).
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Consort Zhen, the Guangxu Emperor's most beloved consort, was initially liked, but eventually hated by Cixi.
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Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor holding court, drawing by Katharine Carl
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Empress Dowager Cixi and women of the American legation. Holding her hand is Sarah Pike Conger, the wife of U.S. Ambassador Edwin H. Conger.
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Empress Dowager Cixi, by Katharine Carl, 1904, commissioned by the Empress Dowager Cixi for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis World's Fair) and later given to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, transferred to the Smithsonian Museum of American Art collections and later the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.
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Entrance to the burial chamber in Cixi's tomb
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Memorial tower of the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi
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Photograph of Cixi
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Katharine Carl oil portrait painted for exhibit at St. Louis World's Fair of 1904
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The plaque hanging above Cixi is inscribed with her title in full
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The Empress Dowager was a devoted Buddhist and seized every opportunity to dress up as Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin), the goddess of mercy. This photograph shows her sitting on a barge on Zhonghai. The white smoke forms the character for longevity, and on top of the smoke was her Buddhist name "Guangrenzi" (literally Universal Benevolence).
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