CHINA’S SHADOW EMPRESS

Empress Dowager Cixi is unquestionably one of the most formidable and divisive figures in Chinese history. Cixi, a contemporary of Queen Victoria, was only the second woman to rule China after Empress Wu Zetian in the 7th century. So how did Cixi, the Emperor’s lowly mistress, become the ruler of nearly a third of the world’s population?

Cixi was born in Beijing on 29 November 1835. She was from a Manchu family, the ruling ethnic minority in China, and it is thought that her relatives were government employees. As a Manchu girl, she was spared the fate of having her feet bound, a practice that was performed on Han Chinese girls.

Unfortunately, little is known about Cixi’s life prior to her entering the imperial court, although it is believed that she was taught how to read and write a little as well as sew. It’s also been argued that her father would frequently seek her advice and valued her opinion just as much as a son’s.

When she was 16 years old, Cixi was chosen as a concubine for the Qing dynasty’s Xianfeng Emperor, who was four years her senior. With hundreds of candidates, being chosen was a great honour, and Cixi arrived in the Forbidden City in June 1852 to join the imperial harem. The