History knows several examples of how ordinary concubines not only became sultans, empresses or empresses, but also ruled with their spouses or even individually. One of these legendary women is Xiaoda Lanhua. She is better known as Empress Cixi, whom the people nicknamed the Dragon for bloodthirstiness and cruelty.
Childhood
The future Empress of China, Cixi, was born in November 1835 in the family of one of the Manchu mandarins. Her mother was Tong Jia, whom others called Ms. Hoi. At the age of 8, Xiaoda Lanhua left Beijing with her family for her father’s new duty station. Moreover, due to the status of her parents, the girl, upon reaching adulthood, was registered as a candidate for the emperor’s concubine. According to the custom of that time, she could not get married until the ruler of the Celestial Empire decided that she did not want to see her in her palace.
"Precious people"
In January 1853, the court of Emperor Xianfin, who at that time was already 22 years old, announced a competition for concubines. In total, it was necessary to select 70 girls aged 14-20, whose fathers belonged to the first three ranks of the bureaucratic hierarchy. At the same time, preference was given to those girls in whom 8 hieroglyphs of the date of birth were recognized as favorable.
Xiaoda Lanhua successfully passed the competition and entered the "Closed City" in Beijing. In the palace, she ended up in the 5th, lowest rank of the concubines of Guizhen (Precious People), and she began to be called by the name of her Manchu clan Yekhenar.
Career in the palace
In 1854, the future Empress Cixi received the title of Concubine of the 4th class, and in 1856 - the 3rd. Being by nature an extremely smart and ambitious girl, Yekhenara made friends with the young Empress Qian. According to legend, this was facilitated by the fact that, having learned about the impending assassination attempt on the wife of the Son of Heaven, the concubine prevented her mistress from drinking from a glass in which there was poison.
The empress was barren, which caused a lot of anxiety to the whole court. According to the palace customs, her husband suggested that she choose for herself a concubine for procreation. Qian, without thinking twice, called the name of her faithful confidant. Thus, Yekhenara received the status of “Precious Concubine” and began to frequently meet with the lord of the Celestial Empire.
"Family life"
Such a concept in the palace did not exist at all. Moreover, it is known that the emperor preferred the Chinese servants to the Manchu, so Yekhenara, who had nothing to fear from the competition of Empress Tsyan, vigilantly watched the girls he liked disappear without a trace from the palace. According to legend, after the disappearance of one of the Chinese women, the angry emperor called the Precious Concubine to her, as they say, on the carpet. However, she staged a performance with tears and prayers, and in the end she said she was pregnant. This news pleased the court, but many doubted it, since the Son of Heaven suffered from severe opium addiction and, according to doctors, only a miracle could help him conceive a child.
Birth of a son
In 1856, Yekhenara gave birth to a boy named Zaichun. It was rumored that in fact she had played a pregnancy and imitated childbirth, passing off the child of the maidservant Chuin as the imperial son.
Be that as it may, becoming the mother of the heir, Yekhenara gained enormous weight at court, especially since over time, the seriously ill emperor began to transfer more and more powers to her. Thus, she gradually became the de facto ruler of the Middle Kingdom.
Dowager Empress Cixi
On August 22, 1861, the Son of heaven gave up his spirit. Immediately, a fierce struggle for succession to the throne unfolded. The childless empress Qian was considered the main wife. According to the existing custom, she automatically received the high title of Huantai-hou. However, the very day after the death of Xianfeng Yekhenar, during a stubborn backstage fight, she ensured that she was also given the title of Dowager Empress, and chose the new name Cixi, which translates as "Merciful." Moreover, Qian was not a competitor for her, although she belonged to a formal championship.
Regency
Political power under the law equally belonged to both empresses. Soon, however, Qian passed the reins to her former concubine girlfriend and began to lead a secluded life. Despite this, in 1881 she died of poisoning. Immediately there were rumors that Cixi was involved in her death, as it became known that a couple of hours before her death she sent the Empress Dowager Empress rice cakes.
Even if they were baseless, the death of senior widow Xianfing made Cixi the sole ruler-regent. Moreover, in this status, she could remain until the 17th anniversary of Prince Zaichun. By the way, her son was of little interest to her, and she did not devote time to his upbringing. As a result, the teenager indulged in orgies, and at a very young age he was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.
“Voluntary resignation”
When the son reached adulthood, the Chinese Empress Cixi behaved extremely cautiously. This wise and prudent woman issued a decree in which she notified everyone that her regency was over, and she transferred all the power in the state to the heir. However, she was not going to retire at all, especially since she was well aware that the young ruler was not able to rule the country, and he had big health problems.
Death of the heir
Empress Cixi, whose photo is presented above, was briefly out of work. A year later, Zaichun informed the people that he had contracted smallpox. In those days, in China it was believed that the survivor of this disease receives the blessing of the gods, so the message was received by everyone with joy. However, the body of the young man was already weakened by a venereal disease, and after 2 weeks he died.
Second Regency
It would seem that the death of her son should make the former concubine retire and mourn her grief, especially since her pregnant daughter-in-law also "unexpectedly" died long before the birth. However, Empress Cixi was not going to let the reins out of her hands. She did everything so that the 4-year-old Zaitian, the son of Prince Chun and her sister Wanzhen, was chosen as the new heir. Thus, the future emperor was Cixi's nephew, to whom she also became the adoptive mother. As one would expect, the dowager empress ruled the country all the time until the boy came of age, and no important issue was resolved without her participation.
Beginning of Guangxu reign
Unlike the son of Cixi, the heir was ambitious enough, and the woman understood that she would have to work hard to keep in her hands the power over the court and China.
However, Cixi tried not to violate traditions, and when in 1886 the emperor, who chose the august name Guangxu, was 19 years old, announced that he was now free from guardianship and retired to his palace. At the same time, she vigilantly followed the affairs of the country and the court, and also controlled the actions of the Son of heaven. To facilitate this task, in March 1889, the Dowager Empress of China, Cixi, personally chose the daughter of her brother, General Gui Xian Lun-Yu, as his wife. Thus, its Manchu clan became the most powerful in the Closed City and had no competitors.
Conflict with the young emperor
At the beginning of 1898, it became clear that Guangxu sympathized with the supporters of reform. At first, the Dowager Empress considered this mischief. However, she was soon informed of the rapprochement of Guangxu with the famous scientist and politician Kang Yuwei and familiarization with his memoranda. The result of communication between the young ruler and the leader of the reformers was the so-called "One Hundred Days of Reforms." For three months with a little emperor issued 42 decrees on the modernization of the education system and the army, on the purchase of new agricultural machinery abroad, on the construction of railways, the improvement of cities, etc.
Failed conspiracy
Moreover, the emperor received the famous General Yuan Shikai in the palace . Cixi felt herself smelling of a military coup in the air, and began to take steps to keep the situation under control.
Her suspicions were not groundless, since the young emperor really shared with Yuan Shikai a plan according to which, the reformers were going to arrest the dowager empress and execute her most faithful associates. Although the general promised to serve Guangxu by faith and truth, feeling the danger of arrest, he revealed the plans of the conspirators to Cixi's relative, General Zhunl, who holds the post of commander of the troops of the capital district. The latter reported the whole empress. Enraged, Cixi went to the palace and demanded the abdication of Guangxu.
On September 21, 1898, the emperor was taken to Intai Island, which was located within the borders of the Forbidden City, and was imprisoned under house arrest. Cixi forbade access for all his close associates, including his beloved concubine Zhen Fei, and the eunuchs serving the emperor had to be replaced every day so that none of them began to sympathize with the royal prisoner.
Ihethuan rebellion
Events taking place inside the Forbidden City temporarily distracted the empress from the explosive situation in the country. And there was nothing to worry about, since the Ihe-Tuan rebellion began in China . Its leaders demanded the preservation of patriarchal life and the expulsion of Europeans, which was in full agreement with the views of Cixi. At the same time, they fought against the Manchus, who had ruled China for more than a century.
At the beginning of the Ihetuan uprising, the empress issued a decree supporting the rebels. She even nominated a reward for every foreigner killed. In addition, when the so-called Siege of the Embassy quarter began on June 20, 1900, the Empress did not take any steps to protect the diplomats and 3,000 Chinese Christians who were there, and the next day she openly declared war on the Alliance, which included the Russian Empire.
Escape
The open challenge posed by the 8 most powerful military powers of the planet at that time (the Kingdom of Italy, the USA, France, Austria-Hungary, Japan, the German Empire, Russia and Great Britain) was an unreasonable step. Immediately after this, the intervention of foreign troops began, and on August 13, 1900, they approached Beijing.
These were the most difficult days in the life of Empress Cixi. She immediately forgot about her vows to never leave the capital and began to prepare for flight. Realizing that Emperor Guangxu could be used by enemies against her, Empress Cixi, whose biography is read as an interesting novel, decided to take him with him to the city of Taiyuan. The cunning woman decided to stay there until the situation in the capital normalizes, and begin negotiations with the winners. She also had a plan in case of impossibility to find a common language with the leaders of the Alliance. It consisted of fleeing to Xi'an, where, with the beginning of autumn, due to weather conditions, intervention troops could hardly have reached.
To freely enter Taiyuan, Cixi ordered to cut her nails and the most faithful concubines, dress everyone in simple clothes, and tie her hair in bundles, like common people.
Since the main concubine of Guangxu too begged to leave her with her beloved in Beijing, the Dowager Empress ordered the young woman to be thrown into a well near the Palace of Tranquility and Longevity.
Conversation
While the empress's motorcade was moving towards Xian, Li Hongzhang was negotiating on her behalf in the capital. He told the leadership of the Alliance that a misunderstanding had occurred and Cixi was asking European countries to help her in suppressing the rebellion of the Ietuan. Already on September 7, 1901, the Final Protocol was signed, and the empress set off home. She was so glad that everything was settled that, having arrived in Weifang, she celebrated her 66th birthday with great fanfare.
last years of life
After returning to the capital, Empress Cixi began to live a familiar life, although she could no longer have a special influence on the life of the Chinese outside the Forbidden City. Until her last gasp, the cruel dictator hated Emperor Guangxu. When the woman felt that her days were numbered, she ordered her to be poisoned with arsenic. Thus, the penultimate emperor of China passed away on November 14, 1908, and the next day the world learned that Cixi (empress) had died.
Empress sex life
Despite rumors of her relationship with men, Cixi's favorites are not known. Thus, either the woman skillfully hid her connections, or she had other interests. The only more or less believable story is related to the birth of Guangxu. In particular, some historians believe that he is the son of Cixi from one of the courtiers, whom she gave to her sister to raise.
In art
The first film about the Chinese Empress Cixi was shot in 1975 in Hong Kong. The main role in the film was played by American actress Lisa Lou. Then another film of the same name was released (1989). The history of the Dragon Empress formed the basis of several literary works. Moreover, books about her life were published in our country. In Russian at the moment, the novel by Jun Cham "Empress Cixi. The concubine who changed the fate of China. " Her adventures are also described in the works of Anchi Ming and Pearl Buck.