Cixi
Cixi
Cixi (November 29, 1835 - November 15, 1908) was empress xiaoqinxian, yehenala, the concubine of emperor Xianfeng, and the biological mother of emperor Tongzhi. He was an important political figure in the late Qing Dynasty and the actual ruler in the late Qing Dynasty.
He entered the palace in 1852 and was given the title of LAN Guiren (recorded in the Qing History), and was granted the title of concubine in the next year; he was born in 1856, his eldest son Aixinjueluo Zaichun (emperor Tongzhi), and was granted the title of concubine in the next year; after Emperor Xianfeng died in 1861, he was honored with empress xiaozhenxian, and was named empress dowager of the virgin emperor, and was given the title of Cixi; later, he joined empress Ci'an (namely Xiaozhen) and Prince Gong Yixin to launch Xinyou In the coup, eight ministers were killed to seize power, forming a pattern of "two palaces hanging curtain, Prince discussing politics". The Qing government temporarily entered a quiet period, which is known as the resurgence of Tongzhi in history. In 1873, the empress dowagers of the two palaces rolled up the curtain and returned to power.
In 1875, when Emperor Tongzhi died, his nephew Aixinjueluo zaitan was chosen to follow emperor Xianfeng's rule, and his name was Guangxu. In 1881, Empress Dowager Ci'an passed away, and in 1884, Cixi launched "Jiashen Yishu" to remove Prince Gong, and began to take power alone. In 1889, he returned to Guangxu and retired to the summer palace. In 1898, after the imperial party conspired to encircle the palace, Cixi launched the 1898 coup, In 1900, after the Boxer Rebellion, the new policy of the late Qing Dynasty was carried out to reform the military and commercial official law.
In 1908, Emperor Guangxu died. Cixi chose Puyi, who was three years old, as the new emperor, and was honored as the Empress Dowager. She died in Yiluan hall at about 2 p.m. on October 22 (November 15) and was buried in the dingdong Mausoleum of putuoyu.
Life of the characters
Xianfeng Period
On February 11, 1852 (February 1852, 17 years old), yehenara was selected to enter the palace and was given the title of LAN GUI Ren. On February 2, 1854 (at the age of 19), Jin became a concubine. In March of the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), Zaichun, the only son of emperor Xianfeng, was born. At the beginning of the first month of the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857, 22 years old), Jin was granted imperial concubine Yi. Emperor Xianfeng was weak and ill, and the invasion of Beijing by the British and French allied forces in the north and the anti Qing peasant movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the south of the Great Qing Dynasty made him languish at the time of internal and external troubles. Princess Yi was skilled in calligraphy, so emperor Xianfeng often dictated and asked her to read the memorials, and allowed her to express her opinions. Therefore, most of the ministers were dissatisfied with yehenara.
Tongzhi period
In 1860, before the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing, yehenara fled to Rehe with emperor Xianfeng. In August 1861, Emperor Xianfeng passed away in Rehe. On his deathbed, he appointed Prince Yi Zaiyuan, Prince Zheng Duanhua, Jingshou, assistant bachelor Secretary SUSHUN, muyin, Kuangyuan, Duhan and Jiao Youying as ministers of zanxiang government to assist emperor Zaichun in dealing with the government affairs. He also gave the queen and the crown Prince two seals representing the imperial power, hoping that they would lead each other System. After the death of emperor Xianfeng, Prince Zaichun ascended the throne and was named Qixiang. Yehenala and the empress niuhulu (then empress Ci'an of the central palace) were both honored as empress dowagers. Cixi, who had a strong desire for power, was very dissatisfied with the eight ministers' attempt to monopolize power, so she united with Prince Gong Yixin, the younger brother of emperor Xianfeng, who presided over the peace talks in Beijing, to launch the Xinyou coup by taking advantage of the opportunity of Empress Dowager and Emperor Xianfeng's Zi palace returning to Beijing. She designed to arrest the eight ministers, sentenced Prince Yi Zaiyuan and Prince Zheng Duanhua to self determination, executed SUSHUN, and dismissed others. Yi Xin was appointed the king of politics. On December 2, 1861, it was renamed "Tongzhi". The empress dowagers of the two palaces held the imperial palace of Yangxin and listened to the government from the curtain. In the early days of her reign, with the assistance of Wang Yixin, she straightened out the official administration, made use of Han officials, relied on the armed forces of Han landlords such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, and suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Nien army and Miao people successively with the support of foreign powers, alleviated the ruling crisis of the Qing Dynasty and made the Qing Dynasty temporarily stable. In order to maintain the feudal autocratic rule, she attached importance to the Westernization Movement, developed some military and civil industries, trained the Navy and army to strengthen the power with the policy of "self-improvement" and "seeking wealth". Objectively, it played a positive role in the modernization of China. During this period, the domestic uprising was calmed, the two Opium Wars temporarily satisfied the greed of the great powers, and the Qing Dynasty did not suffer a great loss in diplomacy. After the Westernization Movement, the military strength of the Qing Dynasty was improved, and the industry and Commerce had a preliminary development, known as "Tongzhi Zhongxing". In 1872, Zaichun was 17 years old. Cixi had no choice but to elect him. In the following year, the empress dowagers of the two palaces rolled the curtain to return to power. However, it was still difficult for Tongzhi emperor to get rid of Cixi's intervention. In order to have fun, Cixi instructed Tongzhi emperor to repair Yuanmingyuan for him to live in. Tongzhi emperor also wanted to take this opportunity to let the Empress Dowager leave the palace to get rid of Cixi's interference in the government. However, at that time, due to the financial shortage, Yuanmingyuan was seriously damaged and cost a lot of money to repair. Tongzhi emperor insisted on starting work, which caused many opposition from Yi Xin and other princes and ministers. Tongzhi emperor dismissed all of them. Cixi came forward to stop Tongzhi emperor's decision.
Guangxu period
In January 1875, Emperor Tongzhi died of illness. Cixi made her nephew (her husband's nephew) and nephew, 4-year-old Aixinjueluo zaitan, emperor, and changed his name to "Guangxu". The empresses dowagers of the two palaces listened to the government from behind the curtain again. From 1865 to 1870, akuba, the aggressor of the Central Asian Haohan khanate, invaded and occupied most of Xinjiang; in 1871, the tsarist Russia sent troops to occupy Ili. In 1875, Cixi adopted the advice of Zuo Zongtang, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and sent troops to Xinjiang. In January 1878, the Qing army recovered Xinjiang. In 1881, through negotiations between China and Russia, China recovered most of Ili. On April 8, 1881, Empress Dowager Ci'an collapsed suddenly. She died at the age of 45. The official saying is that she suffered from cerebral hemorrhage. The folk unofficial history thinks that it was Cixi who killed her. From 1883 to 1885, the war between China and France broke out, and the two sides won and lost each other militarily. However, the Qing government headed by Cixi advocated "taking advantage of the victory to close" and signed the new Sino French treaty with France, which made France obtain a lot of aggressive interests. On April 8, 1884, Cixi launched the change of Jiashen Yishu Dynasty, removed the whole class of military and aircraft Department ministers headed by Gong Qin and Wang Yixin, and began the dictatorship of the Western Palace. In February 1889, Guangxu got married and was nominally under the control of Emperor Guangxu. Cixi had been in charge for several years. After the end of the political training, all the personnel and administration in the court were still in their hands. "The Emperor Guangxu is the empress dowager, and the great government of the court must ask for orders." In 1894, taking advantage of Cixi's 60th birthday, Prince Chun planned to "receive congratulations in the summer palace, following the example of the Kangxi and Qianlong dynasties, to go to the palace from the inside, to pass by the road, to set up a painted shed and a sutra altar, and to hold a celebration.". The Norwegian Navy spent money to repair the summer palace, decorate the scenery and collect contributions. It was the year when Japan launched the Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895. Guangxu was in charge of the battle, Cixi was also in charge of the battle, "no sign of weakness.". However, when someone proposed to stop the summer palace project, stop the scenic spots and transfer them to military spending, Cixi was furious and said, "those who make me unhappy today, I will make them unhappy all my life.". Later, the Qing army lost one after another in the Korean battlefield, and the Beiyang Navy suffered serious setbacks in the Yellow Sea war. In order not to affect her celebration of sixty, Cixi hoped that foreign countries would intervene and end the war as soon as possible. She supported Li Hongzhang's policy of avoiding war and seeking peace, and used various excuses to crack down on the main warring factions headed by Guangxu. due to the increasingly tense situation and the heavy pressure from the government and the field, she can no longer go her own way, and has to change her original plan and reduce the scale of the birthday celebration. Cixi spent her 60th birthday in ningshou palace in the Forbidden City when Jinzhou and Dalian fell one after another and Lushun was in great danger. On February 7 of the following year, the Weihaiwei Japanese warship and the fort attacked Liugong Island, and the Beiyang navy was completely destroyed. Both the sea and land battlefields of China were defeated, and the moderates headed by Cixi were determined to seek peace from Japan. In March, Cixi sent Li Hongzhang as plenipotentiary minister to Japan to beg for peace. On April 17, China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, an unprecedented humiliating treaty in Chinese history. China gave up its status as the sovereign state of Korea, paid 200 million taels of silver, ceded Liaodong Peninsula (under the intervention of Russia, Germany, France and other Western powers, and then redeemed 30 million taels of silver), Taiwan and Penghu Islands, opened four trading ports, and allowed Japan to open mines and factories at trading ports. after the failure of the Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895, the great powers set off a frenzy to carve up China. In order to save the nation from subjugation and survive, the bourgeois reformers launched the reform movement (known as the reform movement of 1898 in History). For the reform, Cixi hoped to become a powerful country, but worried that Guangxu would take advantage of the reform to break away from her control. At first, she expressed her support, but then she grasped military power and human rights in her own hands. In June 1898, Emperor guangyuexu issued "mingdingguo is Shangyu" (that is, mingdingguo is an imperial edict) to implement the reform. Emperor Guangxu's reform touched the interests of the old aristocracy and many feudal bureaucrats in Manchuria. They gathered together to fight against the reform. When it was heard that Emperor Guangxu wanted Yuan Shikai to send troops to kill Ronglu, Cixi and others launched the 1898 coup, detained Emperor Guangxu and killed six people, Tan Sitong.
Political training in old age
After the coup of 1898, there was an uprising and regiment movement in northern China. At first, Cixi led the suppression, but the suppression failed repeatedly. The boxers developed rapidly and entered Beijing. Cixi hoped to suppress and pacify the boxers and treat them differently, but the great powers demanded that the Qing government completely exterminate the boxers and insisted on sending troops to Beijing despite the opposition of the Qing government. Cixi had always been dissatisfied with foreigners, so she came up with the idea of using the boxers to fight against the foreign powers, and declared war on them (without an imperial edict). Cixi's decision was met by Liu Kunyi and Zhang Xiaoming
Chinese PinYin : Ci Xi
Cixi
