Although there may not be an extremely extensive amount of knowledge about the Empress Dowager Cixi, she is often considered one of the most powerful women in history. She ruled for almost fifty years, maintaining and expanding her own power. During her ‘behind the curtain’ reign, she made all decisions and always had the final say. Though she was very sharp and understood and executed politics well, she was (what some might consider today) corrupt. She was insistent on keeping her power in the Qing dynasty, to the point of (being suspected of) killing others. Though this seems despotic, recent reports say that she was just like any other ruler, and was blamed for events that would also have occurred under any other’s rule. Perhaps the saying …show more content…
As stated previously, she was the first to produce a male heir to the Emperor. In 1861, the Xianfeng Emperor died. Cixi’s son (who would become the Tongzhi Emperor) was only five years old. Under these strange circumstances, the Empress Dowager Ci’an (who was the Empress Consort before the Xianfeng emperor’s death) and Cixi were named co-regents. Ci’an’s “rank gave her a traditional right to authority” but since Cixi was the heir’s birthmother, she was given “precedence over the eight seasoned regents…[of] the Board of Regents that Xianfeng created on his deathbed.” On November 1, 1862 Cixi, with the help of Prince Gong (Kung) and his brother Prince Chun (Ch’un), “stripped the regents of all their offices, blamed them for the recent troubles of China and arrested them” : a successful coup. This was known as the Xinyou Palace Coup. Although the Empress Dowager Ci’an had precedence traditionally, she did not like to involve herself in politics. This left much room for Cixi to thrive, especially because, during this time, “no one saw anything more in the twenty-six year old mother of the T’ung-chih [Tongzhi] Emperor than a pleasant, quite pretty, quite bright …show more content…
Many foreign powers ravaged China in search of wealth, brutally destroying land and violently fighting people. After much of the devastation, the Dynasty was ‘forced’ to acquiesce to the foreign powers (-only after they assured Cixi that her position and power would be held in place). The results of these was called the Boxer Protocol – which would later be considered one of the “Unequal Treaties.” Among the stipulations of the Boxer Protocol, China would have to pay an enormous amount of money, for indemnity, to about 14 countries (in different proportions). Furthermore, foreign powers were given the right to seize and inhabit certain places in China. Moreover, they had to formally apologize to the foreign powers. These apologies were especially painful to the Chinese, who believed that they were the ones who held utmost power – and might have even considered themselves divine. This was a blow to their ego and their reputation. They also had to suspend violence against foreigners (and those who did not would be punished). Empress Cixi began some of the other reformations after the Protocol, including the elimination of examinations. “Ironically, Cixi sponsored the implementation of a reform program more radical than the one proposed by the reformers she had beheaded in 1898” (including the Reforms created by her arrested nephew). She had so much power, that no one disputed
Some of the more fascinating documents of the Han period in ancient China were arguably those written by women. The writings were at once contradictory due to the fact that they appeared to destroy the common perceptions of women as uneducated and subservient creatures while simultaneously delivering messages through the texts that demonstrated a strict adherence to traditional values. Those are the paradoxical characteristics of prominent female scholar Ban Zhou’s work called Lesson for a Woman. Because modern opinions on the roles of women in society likely cloud the clear analysis of Zhou’s work, it is necessary to closely examine the Han’s societal norms and popular beliefs that contributed to establishing the author’s perspective and intent.
Chapter 1: The Wan-Li Emperor, begins by explaining the major premise of the work: The concept of looking at a single year in the history of the leadership of China and evaluating the implications for understanding other aspects of history, including the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In this initial chapter, Huang provides an anecdotal history of some of the events that occurred, and includes within it a discussion of the set up of the leadership, the repercussions that occurred in the event of certain actions, including the prospects of an audience with the emperor. Huang reviews these issues as he considers that actions taken by the Wan-li emperor, who was only twenty-four in 1587 and who had been a veteran of ceremonial proceedings, and considers his history as an element of understanding the progression of leadership.
Smarr, Janet. “Emperor Wu”. Making of the Modern World 12. Ledden Auditorium, La Jolla, CA. 17 Feb. 2012. Lecture.
Because they did not have a traditional role in government, women had work their way around the system to gain any type of political leverage. Empress Lu violated every cultural and social norm by retaining power as a regent throughout the reins of her son, grandson and adopted grandson. Tradidtionaly regents ruled from behind the scenes while the emperor himself was unable to make decisions, usualy due to age or heath complications, however Empress Lu eradicated any competitors for the thrown. As the end of her reign was nearing, she expected her nephews to succeed her. Even as the first empress, not unfamiliar with disrupting tradition, she left the emperorship to the next male in her bloodline (Doc. 5) not a female. Though Empress Lu defied all expectations of women, her power as an Empress was still undisputed due to the Mandate of Heaven, an idea originating in the Shang dynasty....
Twitchett, Denis, and J. Wechsler Howard. "Kao-tsung (reign 649–83) and the Empress Wu: the Inheritor and the Usurper". In The Cambridge History of China. 242-89: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
...naries, Cixi’s death was a cue for reformers to act quickly and make the transformation to a democracy quicker, especially while the little 6 year old Puyi was made Emperor. Therefore, the backward ideologies of Cixi and the reluctance to reform did not go down well with the people and their national pride, especially at a time when China was being carved up by foreigners.
Graham, Hutchings. Modern China; A Guide to a Century of Change. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,2001
The China depicted in New Woman features a progressive veneer, replete with bustling urban centers and a glamorous elite, but a Confucian social structure underlies this cosmetic modernity. In New Woman, the most pervasive aspect of this structure is its rigid gender hierarchy. Confucianism, as a religious philosophy and cultural tradition, relies on a system of familial and communal obligations; this system mandates the subservience of the female gender, requiring women to obey, in turn, their fathers, husbands, and sons. A youthful Wei Ming’s conflict with this structure, occasioned by an illegitimate pregnancy, illustrates its tendency to objectify women and reduce them to the status of family heirlooms. Educated in a Chinese university’s “department of music,” Wei Ming possesses a keen intellect and, as New Woman illustrates at periodic intervals, a gift for teaching. But Wei Ming’s father, a man so traditional that he convenes his family atop the “sacred ground of the Wei family,” hands her a rope, instructing her to commit suicide. Endowed by his society with such great authority over his daughter, he easily objectifies Wei Ming, viewing her not as a talented, beloved heir gone astray but as spoiled goods that must be discarded. By linking this breakdown of paternal love to Confucian cultural mandates, New Woman indicts the social order that permits such
Lü Zhi (241–180 BC), commonly known as Empress Lü and Empress Dowager Lü, was the empress consort of Emperor Gaozu (256–195 BC), the founder and first ruler of the Han Empire. The consort earned her title by bearing Liu Ying (210–188 BC), who would later become Emperor Hui of Han. As such, Lü Zhi was the first woman to assume the title Empress of China, a title for which there had been no prior precedence. The later death of her husband in 195 BC resulted in the empress holding her power as a dowager, or a widow with a title from her late husband. Since Lü Zhi did not hold formal power through an office, and instead wielded a ceremonial position in the ruling household, her ability to manipulate the court without legal ramifications was amplified, and due to both her age and her sway over the ...
Chapter 4: China's Qing Dynasty & Its Collapse." East-Asian-History Home. Penn State. Web. 06 Apr. 2011..
Wu Zhou’s childhood was educated but short as she became a junior concubine at a short age. “Wu was given a good education [and] was taught to read, write, and to play music” (“Empress Wu Zetian”). In that time, it was not common for women to gain an education. Her father urged her to gain an education, and living in a wealthy family, Wu could become well educated. “Wu Zhou entered he palace of the Tang Emperor Taizong, at the age of 14, as a junior concubine” (FitzGerald). Being very beautiful in her youth, Wu caught the eye Emperor
Fairbank, John King. The Great Chinese Revolution 1800-1985. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1986.
Furthermore, Han officials were especially adept at rhetoric and used hyperbole to criticize and restrict the power of consorts and their interference in state affairs. Han historians commenced blaming women for the downfall of each dynasty. [5] 2063. With the passage of time, this rhetoric of woman as evil heightened to the point where women were caricatures. Mo Xi a beauteous consort of Emperor Jie was reputed to have led the dynasty to its ruin due to her overindulge and extravagance. It was claimed that she allowed the common people starve while they hanging meat, from trees, as decoration. [6]
Baker, Caroline. "Position of Women in Chinese History - Chinese Culture." BellaOnline -- The Voice of Women. 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.
13. Twitchett, Denis. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 3. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England, 1979; 56-59.