Empress Dowager Cixi on Historical Issues

Abstract

The article aims to study the life and legacies of the Empress Dowager Cixi during the turbulent period in feudal Chinese history, where patriarchal structure was dominant and females were inferior. Firstly, it will delve into the important roles and duties she undertook after embarking on the inner court - as a wife to Emperor Xianfeng, as a mother of Emperor Tongzhi, and as a queen regent to Emperor Tongzhi and Emperor Guangxu. Secondly, it will analyze relevant factors pertaining to the courage required to break the status quo of her time and her eventual ascension to the throne. Thirdly, it will present the views - positive and negative - of Chinese historians under the notion "During her lifetime, Empress Dowager Cixi performed both good and bad deeds; and we must accept and criticize them accordingly”. Lastly, it will offer analyses of nistorians' of historians' views about her last command, forbidding females to participate in any political endeavors, which invoked surprise and an historical conundrum that still remains unanswered today.