Dowager Queen

Brianna R. Smith
Modern China
Final Paper
11/05/2013
Cixi the Empress Dowager
A major fault the country of China continuously experienced was having poor leaders at critical times. For years the leaders of China thrived from the self-sustaining country, but the pretentiousness led to the idea China was the center of the world. This false ideology caused a lag in the full development of the country, and China fell far behind the rest of the world in terms of military, technology, and government. By far one of the most devastating, but influential people who contributed to the history of the Chinese was a woman by the name of Cixi.
Before we delve into the rule of Empress Cixi we have to understand her life and how she became a woman of such prestige and influence. Cixi was a product of a marriage between a lowly ordinary official Yehenara Huizheng and Lady Fuca. Born on November 29, 1835 no one could ever imagine this baby would be considered the most strategic and formidable women in history and to be famed for her beauty, femininity, and charm. Her parents were a part of the ruling minority in Manchu society, and although this meant a nice lifestyle, she wanted so much more in her future.
As the eldest daughter Cixi recounts her early life as hard and enduring, she is quoted “Ever since I was a young girl, I had a very hard life. I was not happy with my parents, as I was not their favorite. My sisters had everything they wanted, while I was, to a great extent, ignored altogether.” Cixi longed for attention and approval from other around her. The treatment she endured as a young child was the motivation to rise above her peers and become a woman of power and substance. Made to work in the house and watch after her younger siblings Cixi took to her studies very seriously. She was almost always alone and knew she had to leave home as soon as possible.
Around the age of thirteen, Cixi’s parents decided it was a good idea to offer their daughter for marriage. Society seemed very pleased with how poised and elegant Cixi presented herself to be, and by the age of fourteen she was nominated to be a candidate for concubine of the emperor. Charming her way through the emperor Xianfeng’s stepmother, Cixi was brought to court, the beauty she exuded and her amazing singing voice captivated Xianfeng, so much that he picked her continuously to visit his bedroom. As a newcomer and only a fifth rank concubine, her name changed to “Magnolia”, although she was beautiful, the emperor initially could not trust Cixi. As a part of the emperor’s harem when he eventually decided to lay with her as his concubine she was escorted by guards, stripped of her clothing, and placed at the foot of his bed to await his arrival. This procedure was to ensure no weapons could be brought into the room, and no harm would come to the emperor. After two years the guards gave her slightly more freedom when it came to her interaction with the emperor. She became a fourth rank concubine and the “Virtuous lady” of the court. Planning to take her cousin’s place as emperor Xianfeng’s primary wife and concubine she knew she must move up in ranks quickly. Cixi’s main goal while living in the imperial palace was to become pregnant with an heir. Almost all of the emperor’s concubines had produced multiple children but none could produce a male heir. Whoever was the first to accomplish this task would be an automatic favorite at court, and have their luxurious lifestyles maintained. Cixi managed to keep the majority of the emperor’s spare time to herself so she could make the concubines envious and ensure her first pregnancy.
Cixi eventually conceived her first child and produced the first and only male heir of emperor Xiangfeng. Her role in court was immediately promoted, and she was taken from the ranks of concubine to a wife of the emperor. The relationship between the emperor and Cixi became pleasant and he trusted her now more than ever, she became both his confidant and advisor. The emperor’s relations to Cixi very heavily affected the affairs of state.
The arrival of Tong zhi was amazing news in the court, and finally there would be a male heir to succeed Xianfeng. Tongzhi was born the twenty-seventh of April in 1875. Although the child was born very sickly and weak he was the only boy to survive from the offspring of the emperor’s harem. The child was treated more like a pawn than a child; his mother often brought him around the emperor anytime she wanted to have her way. The child’s very presence was a way to lord over the emperor for anything she desired. Eventually the emperor’s advisors caught on to the strategies of Cixi. The relationship between the emperor and his wife became more strained than ever. Once such a beautiful, charming, and fair mannered woman, Cixi was showing herself to be formidable, cunning, and power hungry in the eyes of the Chinese people.
The relationship between Xianfeng and Cixi became a never-ending power struggle. Cixi thwarted every attempt made by the emperor to assert himself and exercise his authority. The power struggle soon came to and end when emperor Xianfeng died in the year 1861 during the first Opium War in China. At the tender age of five Tongzhi was placed on the throne as the new emperor of China. This was the perfect situation for Cixi to become the woman she was destined to be. After the death of Xiangfeng a series of misfortunate events occurred that would forever rock the very foundations of China.
The adequacy of the leaders in power is the biggest factor in the success of a country. At the young age of five there was no way Tongzhi could run a country, he didn’t even know the meaning of being a leader. Like many young leaders before him a regent was appointed to run the country until he became old enough to learn and apply politics. When this occurred Cixi herself was named as empress dowager and appointed to the role of regent along with a small group of other court officials. Empress dowager Cixi was actually only one of the eight regents appointed. Each regent had the legal power to remove any other regent from power if he or she saw fit. The allies and friends made by Cixi during her time at court came in very handy, seeing this power she held at court no other regent would dare go against her.
This time period was the official beginning of Cixi’s reign as empress. The loyalties she began to set up with the military, court officials, Banner corps, and eunuchs were all she needed to officially run China behind the scenes. She let Tongzhi grow up as an emperor with all the luxuries of life he could ask for, but when it came to matters of the state all power and authority went to his mother.
Upon reaching maturity Tongzhi did not possess any of the qualities of a great leader, but decided to rid himself of all regents. The control that Cixi had over her son meant her power would always go beyond his. She was stripped of her regency power and privileges when the boy turned seventeen. Her plan was to keep the young boy so preoccupied with woman and luxury he would not even concern himself with the country’s welfare.
Cixi continued her work in Qing dynasty to prevent uprisings against her government. She began the process of revitalizing schools bringing in instructors to teach foreign languages to appease the people of China who called for modernism. The empress had no issue with westernization of military and education but she refused to give up ways to run the government. Realizing her son threatened everything she had worked for she began his habit of drinking heavily and consorting with his many concubines and prostitutes. The young emperor was subjected to many harmful addictions and a lifestyle not conducive to success.
One of the contributions Cixi began making at this time defined her reign was a period of institutional reforms initiated during the late Qing Dynasty known as the Self strengthening movement. This action followed a series of military defeats and concessions to foreign powers. This was an attempt to make peace with the Western powers in China, The self strengthening movement in China was an attempt to restore value, and as implied by the name strength, to the weakened country through the application of Western technology and learning. Students, at home and those sent abroad, studied Western thought, languages, and science. Factories, shipyards, and arsenals were based on Western models.
Cixi supported the Self strengthening movement because she had concerns in protecting China's sovereignty from Western imperialism. This is shown by theprogressives limited vision of modernization, which they saw in terms only of acquiringWestern military technology, and not in terms of the reform of Chinese institutions. Norcould they overcome conservative Confucian opposition, which feared that the changeswould bring only social disharmony. The Self-strengtheners concern to protect China'ssovereignty, led them to reject foreign loans and to rely on domestic resources only. Thisforced them to rely on a policy of 'slow' modernization, which ultimately failed when putto the test twenty years later. Finally, their lack of technical knowledge, combined with a'blind faith' in Western experts, created a fundamental contradiction between desires andactions, whereby the Self-strengtheners actually destroyed the very technology they sodesperately needed.The Self-strengthening movement in nineteenth century China was the direct outcome of China's humiliation from the 1860 peace settlement The emperor eventually did find a wife between his wild antics, and her name was Lady Alute from a Mongol clan. Lady Alute was known for her beauty around the country side, and was perhaps the only positive influence in the young emperor’s life. Cixi was not particularly happy with her at this point in time. The empress dowager took Lady Alute aside to say she should not educate her husband. She also explained that her husband was an emperor and would not be faithful so do not expect him to. Cixi tried her hardest not to keep the two from studying by occupying the man with sex and romance. Eventually Empress Alute became pregnant and Cixi begun to panic. When Emperor Tongzhi’s wife, Alute, gave birth to a baby boy, Empress Cixi, realizing that her power was threatened once again she, ordered the baby killed. It was said that not long after, Emperor Tongzhi contracted smallpox and died. His wife, after her husband died, committed suicide by swallowing opium. But there was a rumor that Empress Cixi might be the one who was responsible for the young emperor and his wife’s death. Seeing that the throne was empty, Empress Cixi began her search for a new emperor. With the help of the army, she violated the succession laws and placed her nephew on the throne. Guangxu, at the age of three, became the new emperor. Again, Empress Dowager Cixi positioned herself as regent to the young emperor. After Guangxu became emperor, his mother (Empress Cixi’s sister), died mysteriously. In 1881, Empress Cixi’s co-regent, Empress Dowager Xiao Chen, also died the same death. During the first fourteen years of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1876-1898), Empress Cixi acted as regent. In 1889, she left the throne to Emperor Guangxu and resided at the summer palace. Unlike Emperor Tongzhi, Emperor Guangxu was not corrupted. He had a mind of his own. He proved himself to be worthy of his postion by searching for new ways to modernize and better China’s condition. He was very much open-minded and not at all like Empress Cixi, who was very conservative. Emperor Guangxu busied himself with trying to find new ideas on how to go about changing China. In 1898, he found his answer in Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. Kang Youwei was a man in his forties and a man of Confucianism. His idea of going about changing China was to go back and learn from the past. Liang Qichao, on the other hand, opposed the idea of looking back to the past. He favored opening up China and learned from the West. However, both Kang and Liang did emphasis the need for new government and favored the abolishment of the examination system. In 1898, Emperor Guangxu launched a New Reform Movement. The idea was to learn from the West and to use what they learned from the West to control the West. Emperor Guangxu initiated his Hundred Days of Reform. He issued decrees ordering railroads to be built, modernized the military, and ordered reform of the legal system and many more. He also dismissed hundreds of Manchu officials who opposed his reforms. As a result, upset officials called on Empress Cixi for support. He ordered his army to surround the palace and place Emperor Guangxu under arrest. Emperor Guangxu was actually placed under house arrest for the rest of his life. This time, instead of finding a new emperor, Empress Cixi took over the throne herself.
Beginning in 1898, groups of peasants in northern China began to band together into a secret society known as the ("Righteous and Harmonious Fists"), called the "Boxers" by Western press. Members of the secret society practiced boxing and calisthenic rituals (hence the nickname, the "Boxers") which they believed would make them impervious to bullets.
At first, the Boxers wanted to destroy the Ch'ing dynasty (which had ruled China for over 250 years) and wanted to rid China of all foreign influence (which they considered a threat to Chinese culture). When the Empress Dowager backed the Boxers, the Boxers turned solely to ridding China of foreigners.
By late 1899, bands of Boxers were massacring Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. By May 1900, the Boxer Rebellion had come out of the countryside and was being waged in the capital of Peking (now Beijing). To help their fellow countrymen and to protect their interests in China, an international force of 2,100 American, British, Russian, French, Italian, and Japanese soldiers were sent to subdue the "rebellion."
On June 18, 1900, the Empress Dowager ordered all foreigners to be killed. Several foreign ministers and their families were killed before the international force could protect them. On August 14, 1900, the international force took Peking and subdued the rebellion.The Boxer Rebellion weakened the Ch'ing dynasty's power and hastened the Republican Revolution of 1911 that overthrew the boy emperor and made China a republic.
In 1908, Cixi suffered a severe stroke and realizing she was dying, she began to think about who she wanted to succeed her. She chose her three year old nephew, P'u Yi. Upon her death she was buried in splendor, covered in diamonds. In 1928, revolutionaries dynamited her tomb and looted it while desecrating her body.
The legacy of the Empress Dowager Cixi was one that will forever be infamous in history. She is the very reason that China’s chances of modernization are at a stand still. Being so far behind western society, Cixi made it nearly impossible for any redemption. Whether the people liked her or not does not take away the pivotal role she played in the history of China. Cixi’s narrow-mindedness and ultra-conservatism in government policy delayed what China needed to do to keep pace with the rest of the world in the late 1800's. By the time she realized, it was too late. Possibly the best thing the empress had done for the country of China was to die.