Empress Dowager Ci Xi was created in 1835. She possessed two more radiant brothers. Her daddy Hui Zheng was an associate of the Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners. Bordered Blue Banner was descendant of royal, so she got a fantastic family's background. Relating to annals, she spent her early life in Anhui Province. The sooner period of childhood, she started to learn books, painting and handwriting. She have been training hard for several years before she changed to Beijing. Ci Xi needed apart in a range program for concubines for the new Xian Feng Emperor. She was a talented gal, so she was mostly of the girls selected to be Preparative Concubine. After that, she was marketed to Noble Person after she was preferred to provide the Emperor's lifestyle. She was pregnant for the first time in 1855, and she gave beginning to Tong Zhi in 1856. Tong Zhi was the only kid of the Xian Feng Emperor. So Ci Xi was advertised to Noble Imperial Consort Yi. The Xian Feng Emperor became lazy because of his bad health, and Ci Xi was good at handwriting, so Xian Feng Emperor looked over the political documents, and asked Ci Xi to write comments on it. So at that time Ci Xi started to connection with politics.
British and French troops attacked Beijing in 1860, Xian Feng Emperor needed his son and Ci Xi fled Beijing to a safe practices place called Re He. However Xian Feng was very seriously ill at that time, his son Tong Zhi was only 6 years old; it's too young to manage the whole country, so Xian Feng Emperor summoned eight of his most esteemed ministers to help his child to manage the united states. Xian Feng Emperor died in 1861. After the death of the Xian Feng Emperor, both of his Empress Consort and Noble Consort Yi were enhanced to the empress dowager. Tong Zhi became the new emperor and the Eight Regent Ministers attempted to lessen the right of the new emperor, but Ci Xi had not been satisfied with the Eight Regent Ministers. So she made an idea to arrest them, and killed them with the aid of Prince Gong. From then on, Ci Xi began to combine in politics. In breaking with custom, Ci Xi became the first and only Qing Dynasty Empress to rule from "behind the curtains".
Tong Zhi Emperor died in 1875, Ci Xi's nephew Guang Xu became the new Emperor. However, Ci Xi still ruled from "back of the curtains".
The first Sino-Japanese Conflict was break out in 1894, the result of the defeat the Qing federal was compelled to hint the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Empress Dowager Ci Xi's policy to the conflict was negative, so after some the wars of invading China, we lost our dominion slowly and gradually. Empress Dowager Ci Xi died in the Hall of Graceful Bird on 15 November 1908.
Empress Dowager Ci Xi, as an emperor got governed the Qing Dynasty for approximately forty years. If the Qing Dynasty was bought at start, the emperor not Empress Dowager Ci Xi experienced set a ban that the imperial harem or seraglio shouldn't participate in the international affairs. When it was Ci Xi's turn to govern the complete country, everything looked like changed.
She used her beauty to make Xian Feng imagine her plus they soon got child called Tong Zhi. When Tong Zhi emperor managed the country, it was a bad time. Britain and France united military went through Beijing and attacked and occupied Beijing. Then Xian Feng emperor escaped to a summer months retreat. That was absurd that the high status emperor escaped when facing violence. How could the people take a look at him? The only thing they responded was laughing at Xian Feng emperor. Just at that time, Empress Dowager Ci Xi grasped this chance to become herself a psychologist. She came up to comfort Xian Feng emperor. But as a pity, he died soon. However Xian Feng emperor recognized well about how precisely good or bad Empress Dowager Ci Xi was. So he remaining an imperial edict to Empress Dowager Ci Xi to avoid her in case she done something hazardous. But out of Xian Feng's prediction, Empress Dowager Ci Xi made the imperial in her own hands by using some kind of means. She made herself to be the emperor. How contemptible she was! When Tong Zhi was died at age 21 with erotic disease, it was apparent that Empress Dowager Ci Xi should dominate the political ability when Guang Xu was too young to take charge of the country. Empress Dowager Ci Xi always insisted on centralism. She suppressed the Taiping Rebellion that was an charm for peasants` right. But she managed to get down. She kept the situation that was called centralism. Making the military services power carry in her hands, she would unlike anyone else to crab anything from her.
In 1904, Japan and tsarist Russia made a war because of the territory of China and Korea. It took place in the northeast of China. To everyone's delight, Empress Dowager Ci Xi performed the position standing in the centre. Thus made people resided in northeast of China endured in great pain. She even could bear that the people who had been under her control were in pain not only in physic but also in mental. She made all rights participate in herself.
She designed and snared the ministers, judged them with blank commitments. She smashed others` electric power into ash. She insisted in possessing the main power and making everyone who was simply under her control pay attention to her. She made a rule that was that anyone cannot task her position or doubt her capacity because all she required was the complete nation and the whole power. As being a leader, she failed to care about the folks` feelings and even did not know very well what they really needed and what they concerned. She just realized that she acquired the responsibility to safeguard her position from being usurped.
Not only in her politics aspect experienced she something that made people dissatisfied with her but also in the life aspect.
For example, Empress Dowager Ci Xi had a behavior that was: where she went, where the meals went. So she did not have a specifically restaurant that was made to eat. Incidentally, the bowls she used were shaded in dazzling yellow, covered with silver lid, plus some of these were furnished with dragon patterns, while others branded the Chinese character "shou ‡".
The each food of Empress Dowager Ci Xi was contained about 150 meals. All the food were neatly assemble in rows. One row was a large type of bowls, and another row was a type of small dishes, followed by a row of a little bowl, in cases like this order. When the two female officers came into the bedroom and put the stand, they were possessing a big yellowish food box. Her tea cups were created by 100 % pure white jade, and tea trays and lids were precious metal.
Empress Dowager Ci Xi wouldn't normally eat with other folks. When she began to consume, she always ordered the eunuchs to brought metallic chopsticks, spoons, etc. , and then said: "I'm sorry you have to operate when you are having your meal, but they are the rules place by our ancestors. I can not break the guidelines, even the Queen cannot sit in front. I'm sure if the foreigners know how we treat the woman in the palace, they might certainly think that our company is barbarians. But you'll soon find that I practice before them is completely different, they don't see just who we could. "
Many people feel that Empress Dowager Ci Xi was a bad female in the Chinese record. However, she also got her success.
First of all, Ci Xi's struggles are worth for us to learn. In Qing Dynasty, no one can be higher than her. When she was a child, she had already known that using money to bribe eunuch to be near to emperor. After she resided in the palace, she could offer with a great deal of complicated things in accurate and experienced ways. Then, she gave a labor and birth to a child who was the only child of her husband----Xian Feng emperor. She was an extremely clever woman that no other concubines might have infants for the emperor.
Secondly, Empress Dowager Ci Xi could deal with things without hesitation. Before Xian Feng emperor dead, he informed 9 ministers to regulate Ci Xi's rights. However, Empress Dowager Ci Xi didn't fearful of them. She used the hatreds between the ministers to carefully turn the range. Finally, she got helm of the state and she managed her son, which was called taken care of state affairs. Furthermore, she usually handles things without hesitation, such as 1898 Reform period.
Thirdly, Empress Dowager Ci Xi concluded feudal society in an instant way. The feudal modern culture in China acquired lasted for more than 2000 years. It was too long and serious to China to build up capitalism, which made China poor and fall season behind other countries in Qing Dynasty. However, Empress Dowager Ci Xi was a luxurious woman and she leaded a lavish phenomenon around the united states. She reduced the money of the government, which leaded to the feudal society in China was concluded almost 30 years in advance. In the position of Qing government, Empress Dowager Ci Xi was a guilty person, but in the positioning of the introduction of history, she helped China to end the feudal world in a quick way.
Fourthly, Ci Xi's luxurious hobbies----the Chinese language feast and Peking opera, which developed Chinese language culture. She treasured both things and many foreigners were interested in imperial banquet. The Chinese language feast finally set many different varieties of cooking food. It's unique in the world. She enjoyed Peking Opera and she often noticed opera in her palace. In this manner, many foreigners might well have chances to touch Peking Opera. The secrets and culture of Peking Opera could be disperse. So that, Empress Dowager Ci Xi made efforts to Chinese culture.
Fifthly, interests of Empress Dowager Ci Xi improved the society in the process of modernization of China. Was Empress Dowager Ci Xi an old-fogy? If we find the solution from the Chinese language history book, we might say she was, because she suppressed the Chinese reform. However, the time she was in power was a high communicated period with european countries. During this period, she certainly learned a lot from american countries. She imported many new things from foreign to China. Electric equipment and lighting, automobiles, photos, movies etc. We feel that most of them were completed by courage from Empress Dowager Ci Xi, so we must say that she was a sensible woman.
At previous, Empress Dowager Ci Xi brought us a famous world culture heritage----the Summer Palace. When we travelled in the summertime Palace, guiders usually told us that Empress Dowager Ci Xi spent the trouble of navy in building the summertime Palace in1888, which leaded that China possessed failed in the Sino-Japanese Conflict. Who recognized that the Summer Palace would be a famous imperial garden where must be visited by foreigners. So, Empress Dowager Ci Xi had not been only a guilty person all the time, she also had her ability and success.
There is no perfect male or female on earth. Anybody has good aspect in the meantime she or he has the bad side. No-one is definite bad or good. So, is Empress Dowager Ci Xi good or bad? Everyone has his / her own idea.
