The Dragon Lady-Empress of China !!

One of the most powerful women in Chinese history was Cixi. She controlled China for more than 40 years in the late 1800s.Cixi was so ruthless, heartless, cruel and greedy tyrant that people called her the Dragon Lady. In western countries such as Great Britain and the Unites states, Cixi was also known as the Empress Dowager. But in reality she wasn’t an empress; she was the mother of the emperor’s only son. After her husband’s death , she raised her son to rule China. She still had power when her son was old enough to rule but himself. After his death, the Dragon lady made sure her 4yr old nephew becomes the nest emperor, which was against the law but she helped him too.

She lived in a group of palace buildings called the Forbidden City, within the city of Beijing. Only the servants who lived in the palace saw Cixi. She used to speak to all her visitors from a large red throne shaped like a dragon that was hidden behind a silk screen. Her every order ended with “Hear and obey”. (Source: encyclopedia).In 1908, when this Dragon Lady was dying, she had her nephew, the emperor poisoned. She wanted to make sure that he died first and thus would never rule without her.

The lady ruled China for many decades. The nation was fairly stable under her influence, but the government was dishonest and didn’t take steps in favor of the people and their benefits. Empress Dowager Cixi was largely conservative and represented the conservative political faction at court. The interesting and strange fact about the Dragon lady was she used to wear gold shields on her very long fingernails to keep them from breaking. Moreover, the name by which she is most frequently known is simply Cixi, which is neither her birth name nor family name. It is an honorific name given to her in 1861 after her son ascended the throne. Empress Dowager Cixi's name at birth is not known, although a recent book published by one of Cixi's brother's descendants seems to suggest that it was Xingzhen. (Source: Wikipedia).All writings show that she was certainly a bright, ambitious and powerful woman in history, but her life was anything but a fairy tale.

If you are interested to know more about Cixi and her history; Read more....

Posted by:Jaspreet