History knows several examples of how ordinary concubines not only became sultanas, queens or empresses, but also ruled together with their spouses or even alone. One such legendary woman is Xiaoda Lanhua. She is better known as Empress Cixi, who was nicknamed the Dragon by the people for her bloodthirstiness and cruelty.
Childhood
The future Empress of China Cixi was born in November 1835 in the family of one of the Manchurian mandarins. Her mother was Tong Jia, known to the people around her as Mrs. Hoi. At the age of 8, Xiaoda Lanhua left Beijing with her family for her father's new job. At the same time, due to the status of her parents, the girl, upon reaching the age of majority, was registered as a candidate for the emperor's concubine. According to the custom of the time, she could not marry until the ruler of the Celestial Empire decided that he did not want to see her in his palace.
Precious People
In January 1853, the court of Emperor Xianfeng, whomoment was already 22 years old, announced the competition of 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 whose 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 concubines "Guizhen" ("Precious People"), and she was called by the name of her Manchu clan Yekhenara.
Career in the palace
In 1854, the future Empress Cixi received the title of concubine 4th class, and in 1856 - 3rd. Naturally smart and ambitious, Yehenara befriended the young Empress Qian. According to legend, this was facilitated by the fact that, having learned about the impending attempt on the wife of the Son of Heaven, the concubine prevented her mistress from drinking from a glass that contained poison.
The Empress was barren, which caused a lot of anxiety throughout the court. According to palace customs, her husband invited her to choose a concubine for herself to continue the family. Qian, without thinking twice, named the name of her faithful confidante. Thus, Yehenara received the status of "Precious Concubine" and began to meet with the ruler of the Celestial Empire often.
Family Life
Such a concept did not exist at all in the palace. Moreover, it is known that the emperor preferred Chinese servants to the Manchus, so Yehenara, who had nothing to fear from the competition of Empress Qian, vigilantly watched thatthe girls he liked disappeared from the palace without a trace. According to legend, after the disappearance of one of the Chinese women, the angry emperor called the Precious Concubine to him, as they say, on the carpet. However, she staged a performance with tears and pleas, and at the end announced that she was pregnant. This news delighted the court, but many doubted, since the Son of Heaven suffered from a severe opium addiction and, according to doctors, only a miracle could help him conceive a child.
Birth of a son
In 1856 Yehenara gave birth to a boy named Zaichun. It was rumored that she actually faked a pregnancy and faked childbirth, passing off the child of the maid Chuyin as the imperial son.
Be that as it may, having become the mother of the heir, Yehenara gained enormous weight at court, especially since over time, the already seriously ill emperor began to transfer more and more powers to her. Thus, she gradually became the de facto ruler of the Middle Kingdom.
Empress Dowager Cixi
August 22, 1861 The Son of Heaven gave up his spirit. A fierce struggle for succession immediately unfolded. The childless Empress Qian was considered the chief wife. According to the existing custom, she automatically received the high title of "Huntai-hou". However, the very next day after Xianfeng’s death, Yehenar, in the course of a stubborn behind-the-scenes struggle, ensured that she was also awarded the title of Empress Dowager, and chose the new name Cixi, which translates as “Merciful”. At the same time, Qian was not a competitor for her, although she owned the formal championship.
Regency
Political power by law equally belonged to both empresses. However, Qian soon handed over the reins of power to her former concubine friend and began to lead a secluded life. Despite this, in 1881 she died of poisoning. Rumors immediately spread about Cixi's involvement in her death, as it became known that a couple of hours before her death, she sent rice cakes to the Empress Dowager.
Even if they were groundless, the death of Xianfeng's eldest widow made Cixi the sole ruler-regent. Moreover, she could remain in this status until the 17th birthday 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 venereal disease.
Voluntary resignation
When her son came of age, the Chinese Empress Cixi behaved extremely cautiously. This wise and prudent woman issued a decree in which she informed everyone that her regency was over, and she was transferring all power in the state to her heir. At the same time, she was not at all going to retire, especially since she was well aware that the young ruler was not able to govern the country, and he had big he alth problems.
Death of the heir
Empress Cixi, whose photo is shown above, did not stay out of work for long. A year later, Zaichun told the people that he had contracted smallpox. At that time in China it was considered thatthe survivor of this disease receives the blessing of the gods, so the message was accepted by everyone with joy. However, the young man's body 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 force the former concubine to 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 go of the reins of power. 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 turned out to be Cixi's nephew, to whom she also became an adoptive mother. As expected, the dowager empress ruled the country all the time until the boy came of age, and not a single important issue was resolved without her participation.
Beginning of Guangxu reign
Unlike Cixi's son, the heir was ambitious enough, and the woman understood that she would have to work hard to keep power over the court and China in her hands.
However, Cixi tried not to break traditions, and when in 1886 the emperor, who chose the august name Guangxu, turned 19 years old, she announced that he was now free from guardianship and retired to her palace. At the same time, she vigilantly monitored affairs in the country and at the court, and also controlled the actions of the Son of Heaven. To facilitate this task, in March 1889, Empress Dowager Cixi of China personally chose his daughterhis own brother, General Gui Xian Lun-Yu. Thus, her Manchu clan became the most powerful in the Closed City and had no competitors.
Conflict with the young emperor
In early 1898, it became clear that Guangxu sympathized with the supporters of reform. At first, the dowager empress considered this to be pampering. However, soon she was informed of the rapprochement between Guangxu and the famous scientist and politician Kang Yuwei and familiarization with his memorandums. The result of the communication between the young ruler and the leader of the reformers was the so-called "Hundred Days of Reforms". Within three months, the emperor issued 42 decrees on the modernization of the education system and the army, on the purchase of new agricultural equipment abroad, on the construction of railways, the improvement of cities, etc.
Failed Plot
Moreover, the emperor received the famous general Yuan Shikai in the palace. Cixi sensed the smell of a military coup in the air and began to take steps to keep the situation under control.
Her suspicions were not unfounded, as the young emperor had indeed shared a plan with Yuan Shikai, according to which the reformers were going to arrest the empress dowager and execute her most loyal associates. Although the general promised to faithfully serve Guangxu, sensing the danger of arrest, he revealed the plans of the conspirators to Cixi's relative, General Zhonglu, who was commander of the capital district. The latter reported everything to the Empress. Enraged, Cixi went to the palace anddemanded Guangxu's abdication.
On September 21, 1898, the emperor was taken to Yingtai Island, which was within the boundaries of the Forbidden City, and was placed under house arrest. Cixi forbade access to him for all those close to him, including Zhen Fei's beloved concubine, and the eunuchs serving the emperor had to be replaced every day so that none of them began to have sympathy for the royal prisoner.
Yihetuan uprising
The events taking place inside the Forbidden City temporarily distracted the Empress from the explosive situation in the country. And there was something to worry about, since the Ihetuan uprising began in China. Its leaders demanded the preservation of the patriarchal way of 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 centuries.
At the beginning of the Yihetuan uprising, the empress issued a decree supporting the rebels. She even placed a bounty on 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 Christian Chinese who were there, and the next day she openly declared war on the Alliance, which included the Russian Empire.
Escape
An open challenge to the 8 most powerful military powers of the planet at that time (Kingdom of Italy, USA, France, Austria-Hungary, Japan, German Empire, Russia andUK) was an unwise move. 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 never to leave the capital and began to prepare to escape. Knowing well that Emperor Guangxu could be used by enemies against her, Empress Cixi, whose biography reads like an interesting novel, decided to take him to Taiyuan City with her. The cunning woman decided to stay there until the situation in the capital normalizes and start negotiations with the winners. She also had a plan in case it was impossible to find a common language with the leaders of the Alliance. It consisted in fleeing to Xi'an, where, due to the weather conditions, the troops of the interventionists would hardly have been able to reach with the beginning of autumn.
In order to get to Taiyuan without hindrance, Cixi ordered that she and her most faithful concubines cut their nails, change into simple clothes for everyone, and tie their hair into buns, like commoners.
Because Guangxu's main concubine begged too actively to leave her with her beloved in Beijing, the empress dowager ordered the young woman to be thrown into a well near the Palace of Tranquility and Longevity.
Negotiations
While the Empress' motorcade was moving towards Xi'an, Li Hongzhang was negotiating in the capital on her behalf. He told the leadership of the Alliance that there was a misunderstanding and Cixi asked the European countries to help her in suppressing the uprising of the Yihetuan. Already on September 7, 1901, the Final Protocol was signed, and the Empress went home. She was so happy that everything was settled that she arrived in Weifang City and celebrated her 66th birthday with great pomp.
Last years of life
After returning to the capital, Empress Cixi began to live her usual life, although she could no longer exert much influence on the life of the Chinese outside the Forbidden City. Until her last breath, the cruel dictator hated Emperor Guangxu. When the woman felt that her days were numbered, she ordered him to be poisoned with arsenic. Thus, the penultimate emperor of China died on November 14, 1908, and the next day the world learned that Cixi (empress) had died.
The sex life of the Empress
Despite the rumors about her affairs with men, no favorites of Cixi are known. Thus, either the woman skillfully concealed her connections, or she had other interests. The only more or less plausible story is connected with 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 filmed in 1975 in Hong Kong. The main role in the film was played by American actress Lisa Lu. Then another film with the same name (1989) was released. The story of the Dragon Empress formed the basis of several literary works. Moreover, books about her life were published in our country. Currently available in Russian is Jun Cham's novel Empress Cixi. The concubine who changed China's fate. About heradventures are also told in the works of Anchi Ming and Pearl Buck.
