We visited the Summer Palace in Beijing to be told about one of the very few women in Chinese history to hold power. She effectively ruled the country in the Qing dynasty for 4 decades. She was the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), but earned the title ‘ The Dragon Lady’ due to her ruthless manipulation of those around her. But was it true?
She began her ascent to power as a low ranking concubine to the Yianfeng Emperor in 1852 and seized regency control when she bore his only surviving son. She essentially controlled his empire, and those of his successors, from behind the scenes. Our guide described her as a puppeteer. And indeed the British writer Sir Edmond Backhouse described her as a sadistic nymphomaniac who had those who annoyed her executed. This was found to be largely untrue and based on forged court documents.
In fact recent historians paint her in a different light, suggesting she was a pragmatist trying to hold together a fracturing empire in the face of foreign imperialism. In her later years she introduced a range of reforms such as the abolition of foot binding, established the first foreign service and introduced educational and bureaucratic reforms. Despite this our guide enthusiastically painted her as a powerful and evil woman who murdered her husband’s successors to retain power. So what is the truth? That she was a formidable strategist and manipulator is not in dispute- she had to be to survive in a regime unaccustomed to women in power. But was she evil, or even any worse than the emperors before her? Or was she just the victim of the misogynistic interpretation of male historians and commentators? Frankly I think she sounds admirable. I sometimes wish I could have those who annoy me assassinated.
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