When it comes to the history of the late Qing Dynasty, we have to talk about a figure who had a major impact on the trend of history - Empress Dowager Cixi.
Empress Dowager Cixi was originally just a nobleman in the Qing palace who was not noticed, but it only took a few years to become a noble concubine, and then gave birth to the Tongzhi Emperor. She quickly became the empress dowager, eradicated her political enemies, assumed sole power, and later raised the Guangxu Emperor. As a woman, her life is legendary.
The road from the noble concubine to the queen mother
Cixi was from the Yehenara clan, and her father was a Taoist named Hui Zheng who did not hold a high official position. Since she was a child, Cixi has been born with clear eyebrows and touching eyes, and her family calls her "Lan'er". At the age of 17, Cixi was elected to the palace and received the title of a Lan nobleman.
Most of the Qing Dynasty drafts were selected from the Eight Flags women, and Cixi's origin can be described as "root and seedling". In addition, because the Baqi women rarely intermarried with the Han family, most of them looked relatively ordinary, and Cixi was outstanding among these women, and naturally quickly became favored by the Xianfeng Emperor.
Princess Yu Deling once said in her book recalling the past that when Empress Dowager Cixi was young, she had a graceful and bright appearance, and even if she was old, she could still vaguely glimpse her past demeanor. Yu Dahua's "Xianfeng Emperor" also records that Cixi was born with thick eyebrows and a national character face, and had a beautiful demeanor.
In addition, Cixi loved to read since childhood, was versatile, proficient in both Manchu and Chinese, and was also very interested in history. She can write cursive and draw orchid bamboo, and although she may not be enough compared to the well-known talented women in history, she has stood out among the Manchu women who cannot read a large word.
The Xianfeng Emperor was a good emperor who was diligent in government affairs, and he used virtuous and vigorous rulers throughout his life, and also reused the Han official Zeng Guofan. Unfortunately, Xianfeng was not in good health since he was a child, and he also loved to drink, covet beauty, and even smoked opium, and died at the age of only 31. In the entire harem, only Cixi gave birth to a prince, so it was logical that she became the empress dowager.
Poor luxury, indulge in enjoyment
At the beginning of Cixi becoming the Empress Dowager, according to the divine decree of Xianfeng before his death, it was originally to ask Empress Dowager Cixi and the eight ministers of government of Xiangzan to govern the imperial government together, but Cixi was an ambitious woman, how could she be willing to be subordinate?
Xianfeng died just over two months ago, and through the "Xin You coup", she dismissed three of the eight ministers and interrogated them, and then dismissed the remaining five to punish them.
Through this fierce method, Cixi successfully seized power. Looking at Cixi's various political decisions, it is not without merit, such as her positive measures such as supporting the foreign affairs movement, opening a girls' school, and ordering a ban on foot binding.
However, in her private life, there is also a side of extreme luxury, extravagance and waste. According to records, Cixi had to be served by dozens of palace maids and eunuchs once he took a bath, and a handkerchief for wiping his body needed to be carefully woven by embroiderers for a long time, but it was abandoned after using it once. Legend has it that Cixi needed 40,000 taels of silver for a day's living expenses.
Cixi's treasure
As the de facto ruler of the late Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi's status was even more noble than that of the real emperor, and she possessed countless treasures.
According to legend, the Qing palace treasured many of Cixi's treasures, such as jade watermelon, jade cabbage and jade lotus. Among the various gold and silver jewelry, Cixi loved jadeite and jade, and it is said that her collection of jade can fill more than 3,000 large wooden boxes, many of which officials collected from all over the country to please the old empress. After Cixi's death, the gold silk quilt on her body alone was set with more than 10,000 pearls, which shows how rich Cixi really was.
Today, the jadeite cabbage is in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, China, and it is said that this jadeite cabbage was a funerary object from Cixi, which was looted by his soldiers when Sun Dianying excavated Tangling. Among them, there was also a night pearl, which passed into the hands of Chiang Kai-shek and was given to Song Meiling by Chiang Kai-shek. Song Meiling set this night pearl on her shoes, and after turning off the light, the light of the night pearl could illuminate the whole room.
Among them, Cixi also has a very favorite jade lotus, which he has to hold to sleep every night. This jade lotus was offered by her favorite old eunuch Li Lianying, who was a long-sleeved dancer who had served by Empress Dowager Cixi for many years and had long understood the old master's intentions. He knew that Empress Dowager Cixi liked jewelry and jade, and was very obsessed with beauty and beauty, so he found this jade lotus, and it was really liked by Cixi.
As the saying goes, "jade can nourish people", Cixi holds this jade root in her arms and rubs it all the time, which can play a role in conditioning the body and nourishing beauty. It is said that when foreigners came to see Cixi, they all felt as if she was 20 years younger than her actual age, not only had bright eyes, a round face, but also a very kind and kind demeanor. Perhaps, this is because of the role played by jade root!