Abstract This paper studies that Dowager Empress Cixi came of modest origins and entered the court as a low concubine. The writer examines that she learned how to manipulate the court, produced a male heir and exploited her position as Dowager Empress for more than 50 years, most of it remembered for misrule. Further, the writer discusses her as a treacherous woman who was much written about.
From the Paper "Chinese women tend to be stereotyped as quiet, demure creatures, shaped by their culture to not give offence, or as people using their feminine ways, in a society controlled by men. In the example of Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) is found someone rather different. Like her contemporary, Queen Victoria of England, she was comfortable wielding power. Unlike Queen Victoria, she rose from an official concubine of the lowest rank to have tremendous power and a ruthlessness that remains legendary. Indeed, Empress Cixi has a full chapter in a popular volume, The Most Evil Women in History."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the life and rule of Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908). The paper asserts that, like her contemporary, Queen Victoria of England, she was able to wield power and insisted on doing so. But unlike Queen Victoria, the paper points out that she had risen from a concubine of the lowest rank at the Beijing court and is popularly remembered as a ruthless woman. The paper concludes that Cixi's rigid and backward views let the Western powers take advantage, quite easily, of China's low development and that she was a human disaster for China and for the Chinese.
Outline:
Introduction
Ordinary Origins
The End of Emperor Xianfeng
A Narcissist at Court
An Empress of Early Warlords
Rumours and Observations
A Revised Empress
Last Remarks
From the Paper "In 1861, Xianfeng died and as the mother of his heir, Tongzhi, Cixi was given the title of Empress. Several other regents were appointed to run the Chinese empire and before long there was intrigue. Two of the other regents were accused of crime against the state and were permitted to commit suicide to avoid execution. A third regent was beheaded and his property went to Cixi as a virtual civil war raged in five provinces where millions died in the fighting or of starvation, large parts of the interior laid waste and several cities destroyed. Rather than responding to the crisis, the empress continued to meet with the previous emperor's uncle, Prince Kung (q.v), an experienced courtier in order to learn the arts of politics."
