She then issued imperial edicts "from behind the curtains" that she and Dowager Empress Cian would rule China jointly until her son, Tongzhi, was of age. She began overhauling the country's ...

Toward the end of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi arrogated all powers onto herself. This period, called the Guangxu Xuantong Reign, was China's darkest and most corrupt political period.

That was Empress Dowager Cixi’s life story; the woman who ruled China in the 19th century and arguably the most important Chinese woman in history. Born in 1835, Cixi was brought in as a ...

The Eastern Qing Mausoleums, located 125 kilometers northwest of Beijing, are among the finest and largest extant Mausoleum complexes in China ... (1862-1875), and Empress Dowager Cixi (died ...

The Diplomat’s Justin McDonnell spoke with author Jung Chang about her latest book, Empress Dowager Cixi, a biography of the “most important woman in Chinese history.

It was broadcast as a Book of the Week on Radio 4. Like Wild Swans it is banned in China. 2013 saw the publication of Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China. Here Chang ...

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Despite Kuang Hsu's enthronement as the last reigning Emperor of China, his ability to rule effectively is overshadowed by the ever-present power of the Dowager Empress. When his attempts to ...

the Manchu Qing dynasty empress who rose from the ranks of Emperor Xianfeng's many concubines to become the de facto ruler of China for nearly 50 years.