Empress Dowager Cixi – Part I
It seems like rather a big career leap: one moment you are the emperor’s concubine of the Fifth Rank, the next, Empress Dowager of China. Such a transformation requires ambition, a steel grip and the ability to manipulate any situation to your advantage. Young girl Lan Kueu (Little Orchid) turned out tough enough to do the job.
One could suspect that humble origins made her strive hard for power and success. Lan, later known as Cixi, came from a background veiled in anonymity. Nobody knows for sure where she came from, and her past is turned to legend and hearsay. However, she lived the rest of her life in a wa
y that made it memorable, to say the least.
At a very young age, as was customary, Lan was ‘lucky’ enough to be selected by the Xianfeng Emperor to be a concubine. She progressed in this endeavour, and before long was promoted several ranks. More importantly, in 1856 she gave birth to Tongzhi, the only male heir to the throne. Thanks to this, she was advanced to “Noble Imperial Consort Yi”, making her the second most important woman in the Emperor’s life after Empress Ci’an.
Turbulent times followed. The Second Opium War was coming to a climatic ending, in which the Emperor’s Summer Palace was burned to the ground by the British and French. The Xianfeng Emperor fell into a depression, and turned to heavy alcohol and drugs to relieve the pain. He died in 1861, in the City of Rehe (now Chengdei).
The power was suddenly in the hands of eight ministers – and the two empresses, Ci’an and Yi, now Cixi. The Xiangeng Emperor had hoped that they would all reign together in harmony, along with Cixi’s son. But alas, Cixi had other plans.
While everyone else was busy mourning the Emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi plotted and schemed a way to take over China. Her son was still way too young to be a problem; but the other Empress, Ci’an, reall
y annoyed Cixi.
Ci’an was naïve and good-hearted, so Cixi decided that the best course of action was to manipulate her from a position of close friendship, and then, alliance. Once that alliance was formed, the two Empresses together had much more power than the Eight Regent Ministers. Cixi proceeded to cause disputes and anger between the Ministers, lessening their power even more. Empress Ci’an grew frustrated and emotional every time the ministers argued, and finally refused to attend their meetings, leaving Cixi effectively the ministers’ only advisor. Cixi gleefully began to make ties with the more clever and powerful ministers.
