What was Empress Dowager Cixi known for?
Cixi was one of the most powerful women in the history of China, active from the 1860s into the 1900s. As mother or adoptive mother of two Chinese emperors, she acted as regent before they were of age and continued to wield considerable influence over China after they formally assumed power.
What happened to Empress Dowager Cixi?
The Dowager Empress of China died on 15 November, 1908, after ruling the country for almost 50 years. Three centuries after Elizabeth I, at the other side of the globe, another formidable woman breathed her last.
Was Cixi a tyrant?
For decades, the Empress Dowager Cixi was described as a devious and depraved tyrant, based largely on the writings of people who did not even know her, including J.O.P. Bland and Edmund Backhouse.
Did Cixi support the boxers?
Support for the ‘Boxers’ In 1900, Cixi sided with the Boxer uprising, hoping it would force foreign powers from China and strengthen her own regime. The move failed after the Boxers attacked Beijing but were crushed by troops of the Eight Nations Alliance.
Why did Dowager Empress Cixi support the boxers in their rebellion?
The empress saw the Boxer Rebellion as her solution to getting rid of the foreigners so she secretly supported them. In 1900, Empress Cixi declared war on the foreigners and called on all the Qing officials to support the Boxers.
Was Cixi poisoned?
Fearing that revolutionary elements would gain power by manipulating him, Cixi kidnapped Guangxu and kept him prisoner in the Sea Palace, an island villa in the middle of a lake; the day before she died of old age, she poisoned him.
Why was Cixi called the Dragon Lady?
She has been portrayed as the ‘Dragon Lady’: a cunning, manipulative and often spiteful ruler, and an arch-conservative who resisted and sabotaged reform, even though it hastened the end of the Qing dynasty.