A Concubine Rises to Rule China

Summary

HISTORY This Week: A Concubine Rises to Rule China

Episode Release Date: April 21, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of HISTORY This Week, host Sally Helm delves into the extraordinary rise of Empress Dowager Cixi, a low-ranking concubine who ultimately wielded unparalleled power over China's last dynasty. Through insightful discussions with historian Yun Chong, author of Empress Dowager: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, and Professor Ying Chen Peng, author of Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager's Strategy and Image Making in Art, the episode unravels the intricate web of palace politics, personal ambition, and groundbreaking reforms that defined Cixi's nearly half-century reign.

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Cixi's Entry into the Forbidden City

The story begins on April 27, 1856, when Cixi, then a 16-year-old concubine, gives birth to a son, Tongje, ensuring her rise in the imperial court. Sally Helm narrates, “Cixi gives birth to a baby boy. The Emperor finally has an heir. The birth also changes Cixi's fortunes dramatically” (05:44). This pivotal event catapults Cixi from a lowly concubine to the second most important woman in China.

Professor Ying Chen Peng provides context on Cixi's background, highlighting her Manchu heritage and the relatively progressive status of women in the Qing Dynasty. “The Manchus were more respectful about women's rights. They could actually inherit the property of their deceased husband or their fathers” (06:36).

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Navigating the Imperial Court

Despite her elevated status, Cixi remained a low-ranking concubine for years, partly due to her involvement in palace politics—a rare and frowned-upon move for women at the time. Yun Chong explains, “Cixi thought she loved the emperor, her husband, and was trying to give him advice. But this only annoyed the Emperor because women were not supposed to be involved in politics in court” (11:00). This tension sets the stage for Cixi's eventual ascent to power.

When Emperor Xianfeng’s health deteriorates, Cixi steps in to assist with his official duties. “But the preteen Tongje shows little interest in ruling. Professor Peng says he has no knack for it” (35:47). As the emperor becomes bedridden, Cixi's influence grows, alarming his male advisors who view her political involvement as a threat.

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The Coup Against the Eight Regents

Upon Emperor Xianfeng’s death in October 1861, power ostensibly transfers to the eight regents appointed to govern on behalf of the young Emperor Tongje. However, Cixi and Empress Se'an orchestrate a daring coup to eliminate these regents.

Cixi collaborates with Se'an, turning potential rivals into allies. Yun Chong recounts, “With the edict destroyed, so she and Se'an are officially a two-woman rebellion” (26:52). Together, they leverage their positions to accuse the regents of misconduct, rallying court support and ultimately removing key figures through strategically issued edicts.

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Consolidating Power and Implementing Reforms

After the coup, Cixi and Se'an divide their responsibilities to maintain control. “After the coup, Se'an takes on the daily administrative tasks of the court and Cixi controls foreign policy” (35:11). Cixi initiates modest modernization efforts, such as opening foreign language schools and expanding Shanghai's trading port, laying the groundwork for more extensive reforms.

Despite initial resistance, Cixi's vision for a stronger, more open China begins to take shape. Officer Yun Chong notes, “Cixi knew that if they continued to give the same advice to her son, China would keep on suffering defeat” (23:57). Her pragmatic approach contrasts sharply with the regents' isolationist policies, positioning her as a forward-thinking leader.

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Ascending to Regentship and Further Reforms

In 1875, the death of Emperor Tongje from smallpox thrusts Cixi into a more prominent role as regent for her adopted nephew. This transition marks the beginning of an era of significant transformation under her leadership. Cixi champions industrial development, introducing railways, telegraphs, and modernizing the military. “She introduced railways, telegraphs, telegrams, modern army and navy, and opened mines, building factories, sending ambassadors abroad” (37:40).

Her policies reflect a delicate balance between maintaining traditional power structures and embracing necessary reforms to navigate the challenges posed by Western imperialism and internal strife.

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Legacy and Historical Perspectives

Cixi's long reign until her death in 1908 left a complex legacy. While some view her as a ruthless power player responsible for the Qing Dynasty's eventual decline, others argue she was a pragmatic leader who sought to modernize China amidst immense external and internal pressures.

Yun Chong observes, “Her, she had been maligned for more than 100 years and is still maligned today” (39:12), highlighting the enduring debate over her role in Chinese history. Professor Peng adds, “Looking at Cixi as a complicated historical figure is like looking through a kaleidoscope” (39:48), emphasizing the multifaceted nature of her influence.

Cixi's tomb serves as a symbolic representation of her dual legacy—externally adorned with phoenixes, symbolizing female power, while internally featuring golden dragons, denoting imperial authority. This dichotomy encapsulates the essence of her reign: a blend of traditional power and innovative leadership.

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Conclusion

Empress Dowager Cixi's rise from a concubine to the de facto ruler of China is a testament to her political acumen, resilience, and ability to navigate and manipulate the intricate dynamics of the Qing court. This episode of HISTORY This Week not only chronicles her journey but also invites listeners to reconsider the traditional narratives surrounding one of China's most influential and controversial figures.

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Notable Quotes

• Professor Ying Chen Peng: “The Manchus were more respectful about women's rights. They could actually inherit the property of their deceased husband or their fathers.” (06:36)

• Yun Chong: “Cixi thought she loved the emperor, her husband, and was trying to give him advice. But this only annoyed the Emperor because women were not supposed to be involved in politics in court.” (11:00)

• Professor Ying Chen Peng: “She was decorated by hundreds of golden dragons, the symbol of monarchy. She had the ability, but I feel that she kept that ambition of becoming a true monarch in her heart.” (41:04)

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Further Information

For more insights and episodes, visit historythisweekpodcast.com or contact the team at [e-mail].

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Special thanks to guests Yun Chong and Professor Ying Chen Peng, as well as the production team including Corinne Wallace, Morgan Givens, Brian Flood, Jim O'Grady, Ben Dickstein, Julia Press, Emma Fredericks, Makame Lynn, and Jesse Katz.

Transcript

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[Sally Helm]

The History Channel Original Podcast history this week, April 27, 1856 I'm Sally Helm. There's a pregnancy in the imperial palaces of Beijing's Forbidden City, and preparations have been underway for months. Not because of the mother, she's a low ranking concubine named cixi. But because of the father, Qing Emperor Xianfeng, he's a sickly man who has not yet produced a son. So he and the royal court have done everything they can think of to ensure the birth of a healthy boy who will one day be the leader of the Qing Dynasty. Cixi's mother has been summoned to the Forbidden City to care for her daughter. The court astrologer is leaving nothing to chance. He's arranged for a ceremony to be held behind the concubine Cishi's apartment. Someone has dug a hole in the ground and placed inside a pair of chopsticks wrapped in red silk. The word for chopsticks sounds similar to the phrase to produce a son quickly. And today, April 27, it all pays off. Cixi gives birth to a baby boy. The Emperor finally has an heir. The birth also changes CIXI'S fortunes dramatically. As the mother of the Emperor's only son, she's immediately awarded a higher rank in the list of imperial women. At the Forbidden City, CIXI is now second only to the Empress. Harmony reigns, but this is the imperial court. The top prize is ultimate power, so that harmony will not last forever. By the time this baby boy is five and a half years old, his father will be dead and his mother will be plotting a couple. Today, the Empress Dowager cixi. How did a low ranking concubine rise to power and end up serving a 50 year reign at the head of China's last dynasty? The Forbidden City, 1852 Outside the back gate of this 178 acre palace, there's a line of wooden carts, hundreds of them, each decked out with blue silk drapery. Inside each cart is a sleeping teenage girl. And beyond the gates of that palace is the man they've come here to see. Chinese Emperor Xianfeng, who at 21 years old is finally ready to choose his royal consorts. Professor Ying Chen Peng told us girls from all around China have been called to Beijing to present themselves as part of a massive selection ceremony.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

It was a ritual that was held every three years. The scale was just mind blowing because all the single Meng Chu teenage girls had to be presented to the court.

[Sally Helm]

One of these girls is a 16 year old who will come to be known as Cixi. We don't actually know her birth name, that was only recorded for boys. She'd grown up in the maze like districts around the Forbidden City at this time, the Han are the majority in China. They emphasize Confucian principles like higher Learning for men. But CIXI and the Emperor are Manchu, an ethnic minority that makes up the Qing Dynasty's ruling elite. Manchu girls like CIXI are allowed some education.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

The Manchus were more respectful about women's rights. They could actually inherit the property of their deceased husband or their fathers. And they did not have to bind their feet. They had more say in the family.

[Sally Helm]

CIXI'S family was fairly well off, and she'd been allowed some say in family matters. She's intelligent and confident, which she's going to need when at first light, the palace gates open and CIXI along with other noble Manchu and Mongol girls from all around China is called. Before the young emperor, CIXI and the other girls enter a hall in the palace harem. They're dressed in simple gowns, while the Emperor Xian Feng sits in judgment on an ornate throne.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

For those good looking or those with a special talent, they would be kept in the court for a couple of years. And among them, the lucky few would be favored by the Emperor and received their first formal title as the Emperor's concubine.

[Sally Helm]

The girls have just a few moments to make an impression. They're supposed to show beauty, grace, class, brains, all while standing in front of the Emperor. And some girls don't cut it. They're sent home to their regular lives. They can marry someone else, but CIXI is one of those chosen to stay. She's not a royal concubine, but she has a foothold inside the Forbidden City. And with that, she has just moved much closer to the center of Chinese political life. Emperor Xuanfeng is trying to maintain the strength of the Qing Dynasty, which, remember, is ruled by Manchus, the ethnic minority. Previous dynasties have mostly been Han. And author Yung Chong told us at this moment in 1852, things aren't exactly going well for the Emperor.

[Yun Chong]

The Emperor was in trouble at the time. You know, there were foreign invasions, there were peasants uprisings, and the dynasty was really wobbling.

[Sally Helm]

China is only recently and tentatively coming out of a long period of isolation. They're responding to Western powers who have been beating down their doors, demanding access to trade. China has recently also fought and lost a war against the British. And the Qing Dynasty is facing internal divisions, anti Manchu rebellions and uprisings. It's a lot to deal with. The situation really demands a statesman, but.

[Yun Chong]

Emperor Xianfeng was not a statesman. If he had been given the choice, he probably would not have wanted to be the Emperor. He was basically an artist. He painted quite beautifully and what he really loved was Chinese opera.

[Sally Helm]

The Emperor is preoccupied with the arts, so she takes note. She knows that she needs to stand out to have any chance of being promoted to royal concubine, which would allow her to remain at court. And so Dr. Peng says Cixi gives the emperor what he art.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

She once painted a painting, and Xian Feng seemed to be very happy with that painting and even ordered his unit to mount the painting.

[Sally Helm]

And he loved painting, so that was a big deal for him.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

Yeah, exactly. So you can say that CIXI was a very clever girl. She knew how to please the Emperor and she also knew her strength very well.

[Sally Helm]

It works. Emperor Xuanfeng officially chooses CIXI as a royal concubine in the Forbidden City. But she's sorted into the lowest ranking group of consorts.

[Yun Chong]

CIXI for many years, remained a lowly concubine.

[Sally Helm]

Yun Chong speculates that CIXI might have done something to earn the Emperor's disfavor. She might have tried to involve herself in politics.

[Yun Chong]

CIXI thought she loved the emperor, her husband, and was trying to give him advice. But this only annoyed the Emperor because women were not supposed to be involved in politics in court. And so the emperor didn't promote her to higher rank of the concubine.

[Sally Helm]

Instead, he promotes a woman named Se'an. Sa'an and CIXI know each other well.

[Yun Chong]

They went into court together in the same group.

[Sally Helm]

They'd been in blue curtain carts outside the palace gates on that same momentous night. But Se'an quickly outstrips cixi. She becomes the highest ranking consortium, which makes her the Empress. She gets more servants, more food, and more time with the Emperor.

[Yun Chong]

It was not because she was particularly beautiful, it was not because she was particularly energetic, but because she had the quality to make peace in the court. To administer the court, that was the job of the Empress.

[Sally Helm]

Se an is magnanimous towards the other consorts, including cixi. Both women are ultimately at court for the same reason. Once all 17 consorts are in place, the Emperor begins calling them one by one, to his bedroom to produce a healthy son who would continue the Qing Dynasty. The court anxiously awaits the results. And to everyone's surprise, the big news comes from cixi. She's the second consort to be pregnant by the Emperor. The first gave birth to a girl, so there is rejoicing when Cixi gives birth in 1856 to a boy. His name is Tongje. And as the mother of the emperor's son, Cixi gets promoted very quickly.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

She advanced to the second rank when she was only 22 years old.

[Sally Helm]

Cixi is now the second most important woman in all of China. But Dr. Peng says when it comes to baby Chong Zhi, the first most important woman in China, Empress Xi an is very much a part of the picture.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

Per the Mengshu law, she was the foster mother of Tong Zhi because she was the Empress.

[Sally Helm]

Cixi and Se an are kind of like co parents, Dr. Peng says. They took different roles. Se an was caring. CIXI was tough.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

She hired the best scholars to be his tutor. And she interrogated those tutors constantly, wanting to check on the progress of Tongji's learning.

[Sally Helm]

The boy might need to learn fast. His father, Emperor Xianfeng, is in his late 20s, but he's not doing well. He's been sickly since birth. His frailty has earned him the nickname Limping Dragon. In winter, he shivers through his days in the cold palace. In the warmer months, he spends time at his vast summer palace on the outskirts of Beijing, listening to opera and trying to ignore the increasingly chaotic world outside. In 1860, the British and the French invade China to force a further opening of trade. Emperor Xianfeng resists. He and his advisors believe that submitting to what these foreign powers want would weaken China. They end up torturing some captured British officials, and in response, Yun Chong says the British burn the beautiful summer palace.

[Yun Chong]

The court fled to the north, and Emperor Xianfeng was heartbroken. He didn't want to go back to Beijing to see this burnt out summer.

[Sally Helm]

Palace in the North. His health worsens. He coughs up blood and loses consciousness at unexpected expected moments. By 1861, he can barely leave his private rooms, so they become his office.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

Because of this arrangement, Cixi had the opportunity of helping Xianfeng with his work.

[Sally Helm]

Dr. Peng says that the Emperor asks Cixi to begin reading and writing official communications. He had once demoted her, perhaps for offering political advice. Now she's by his side as he conducts imperial business.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

This was already a very big deal because in Chinese tradition, women were forbidden from participating in any form of politics. And Xian Vong definitely knew that.

[Sally Helm]

But he relies on her help. Or maybe he's just too weak to put up his usual resistance. Soon, soon, he's bedridden, which means that CIXI takes on an even greater role in politics. This change is not lost on the emperor's advisors, who are working closely with him on these crucial policies, especially whether and how much China should open to the West. They believe it shouldn't, and they're not happy that the dying emperor has brought this female interloper into such Sensitive discussions.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

During his last days. All these men agreed that CIXI was clever, but she was also dangerous.

[Sally Helm]

The advisors take their concerns to Emperor Xianfeng. She's a woman, they say she should have never gotten involved in politics. And they're also fixated on the transition of power that will happen when the emperor dies. His son Tong zhi is only five years old. He'll have to wait 11 years before he can officially rule. And during that time, he'll need a regent to act for him. The advisors try to block CIXI by ensuring that one of their own will become the regent, not her. They say she's too cunning, too ambitious. The emperor agrees, and he makes a plan for what will happen after his death.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

What he arranged was a very subtle balancing of power.

[Sally Helm]

He appoints not one, but eight of his advisors to act as regents for the young Tongje.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

All the edicts would be drafted by these eight advisors, which means that no.

[Sally Helm]

One man can become too powerful. And the emperor adds another check and balance.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

These edicts would not become valid unless they bore two seals.

[Sally Helm]

These seals bear the emperor's insignia. They can be used as literal seals of approval on official edicts or as vetoes. They carry a lot of power. So the question becomes, when the emperor dies, who will hold these seals? Jianfeng makes his decision. He loops in one woman that he trusts, not CIXI but Se'an.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

One seal would be kept by Si An. The other would be held by the young emperor.

[Sally Helm]

But neither of those is cixi, Right. So one of them is Se an, and the other is the emperor himself. The young five year old emperor.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

Yeah, that's the tricky part. So who's gonna hold that seal for him? Right. He was only five years old.

[Sally Helm]

Exactly.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

So that definitely gave CIXI the opportunity to plot something.

[Sally Helm]

Emperor Xianfeng suspects that she might start plotting, and so he goes to the Empress Xian. Yun Chong says there's a famous story about what happens next. He tells her, if CIXI tries to grab political influence, you can take drastic measures.

[Yun Chong]

The Emperor actually also said to the Empress and gave the Empress an edict which said that if after I die, she goes on doing this, you can show this edict and have her killed.

[Sally Helm]

In the autumn of 1861, Emperor Xian, father Feng dies in the northern wilderness without ever having returned to see the shell of the summer palace where he loved to watch opera and paint. By this time, CIXI has been privy to the workings of China's imperial government for nearly a decade, and she has some opinions about policy, about the direction of the country, but she has no formal say in any of that. Still, the new emperor, Tong Zhi, is her son. She knows that she might be able to wield power through him. What she doesn't know is just how dangerous that might be. Because her co parent, the Empress Se an, holds the Emperor's last secret edict. At any time, she can have Sashi killed.

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[Sally Helm]

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[Sally Helm]

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[Sally Helm]

Autumn 1861 News of Emperor Xuan Feng's death spreads throughout China. The direction of the country is now in the hands of the eight regents, the same men who had advised the late emperor to close China off to the world. Now they're telling Tongje, the young emperor in waiting, that it's better to make no deals with the Western powers at China's doorstep. Better to Keep them at bay by force. But CIXI feels very differently. She thinks this is one of the policies that is weakening the Qing Dynasty.

[Yun Chong]

CIXI knew that if they continued to give the same advice to her son, China keep on suffering defeat, defeats like.

[Sally Helm]

The burning of the Summer Palace. She thinks that the country will be weaker if they continue to forego diplomacy and trade.

[Yun Chong]

She could see that the Chinese Empire was in trouble because of the wrong policies.

[Sally Helm]

CIXI believes that now is the time to increase China's trade with the west slowly and on favorable terms. But to make that happen, she'll need an ally. So CIXI approaches Se'an, this woman who started as a fellow teenaged concubine. And so she lays out for her a program of modern reform, one that would encourage strategic contact with the West. Then CIXI makes a bold make me co empress with you. Together we'll stand up to these regents. It is exactly the kind of moment that the late Emperor's last edict was designed for. Se an could, with a snap of her fingers, produce that edict and sentence her former rival to death. But that's not what she does.

[Yun Chong]

She agreed with cixi's vision for the future.

[Sally Helm]

Not only that, Se an agrees to Cixi's proposal. Soon enough, the two become the co dowager empresses of China. The regents accept the women's ceremonial roles, but keep them shut out of politics. So CIXI raises the stakes. She approaches Sa'an with another proposal. Work with me, she says, to rid China of these regents and lead it into the future. It is breathtakingly risky. She's talking about deposing the most powerful men in the empire. And again, Se an has an easy way out. She can pull out the edict. And she does. Se an shows CIXI the document that can end her life.

[Yun Chong]

She showed this piece of edict to CIXI and then burned it.

[Sally Helm]

This crucial piece of leverage. She tosses it into the flames. Yun Chang says Se an reveals herself in this moment.

[Yun Chong]

She had guts and she also had brains.

[Sally Helm]

With the edict destroyed, so she and Sa'an are officially a two woman rebellion.

[Yun Chong]

Two women, both in their 20s. I think they took advantage of the fact that the officials didn't think much of them because they were women.

[Sally Helm]

Chong imagines the women quietly plotting as they stroll through the palace gardens, sitting near the koi pond, lounging in the shade of a ginkgo tree.

[Yun Chong]

People assume they were just doing girl stuff, but in fact, they were plotting a coup for this country, which then had a third of the population in.

[Sally Helm]

The world plotting a coup. A Move that CIXI and Sa'an must keep secret.

[Yun Chong]

If the coup failed, the punishment would have been death by a thousand cuts. You would be cut to death alive, knife after knife. I mean, they were afraid of that.

[Sally Helm]

If the coup is going to work, the women will need allies, especially the officials who control the palace guard. So they come come up with a plan. They have a court official propose that the empress should serve as Tong Zhe's regent.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

That proposal was immediately turned down by the eight advisors.

[Sally Helm]

Dr. Peng says Cixi and Sa'an never actually thought the proposal would go through. It was just a way to gather intelligence, observing the reaction, seeing who is an enemy and who might be a potential friend.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

That plan was very clever in the sense that it gave the two women an opportunity to see who could be the potential alliance in the court. Because during the process of debate, you had voices from both sides, right?

[Sally Helm]

Some members of the court did argue in favor of this change. And afterwards, the women quietly approach them to gain their support. Then they move on to the next stage of their plan.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

The second step of the coup was to create this kind of opinion in the court about how the aid advisors were acting dominantly, not showing the due respect to the young emperor.

[Sally Helm]

They have to provoke this sense that the regents are overstepping. So one day, when CIXIH and Ce'an are caring for the young Tangje, they lure the regents into a room with them. And then they pick a fight, needling the men until the regents are yelling and stomping around in anger, creating a loud scene, so loud that the child emperor Tong Jie wakes up and starts crying. Tongje may have been just a kid, but he's still the emperor, the most respected official in all of China. Upsetting him, as the regents have just done, is a grave offense. CIXI makes sure that everyone knows about it. She writes an edict condemning the regent's behavior and calling for their removal from power. She says they should be arrested. Her allies in the court agree, and the palace guards take the regents into custody. The coup is almost complete. The dowager empresses begin writing royal edicts and making them official with Emperor Xianfeng's seals. They hold the power now, and to solidify it as the last stage in their coup, they decide to get rid of the eight regents altogether. CIXI issues a series of orders.

[Yun Chong]

Out of the eight, she sentenced the one man to death, public execution, and ordered two others to commit suicide by sending them each a long white silk scarf to hang themselves with.

[Sally Helm]

Of the regents not sentenced to death.

[Yun Chong]

A few co regents were dismissed, missed once, and into exile. But there was no other ways. Upheaval.

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[Sally Helm]

Over, told I'd never be a golfer with just one arm. But the only Thing that feels better than proving people wrong is is out driving them. I'm 14 year old golfer Tommy Morrissey and I want to be remembered for my ability as a champion partner of the Masters.

[Yun Chong]

Bank of America supports everyone determined to.

[Sally Helm]

Find out what's possible in golf and in life. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America bank of America NA Member FDIC Copyright 2025 bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. Yoon Chong says that by the standards of the time, taking power with only three deaths is pretty restrained. So she doesn't go mad with revenge. Five of the eight regents are left alive. But in the palace, the two women are in charge.

[Yun Chong]

The division of work was very interesting.

[Sally Helm]

After the coup, Sa'an takes on the daily administrative tasks of the court and CIXI controls foreign policy. She controls all major government decisions on behalf of her son.

[Yun Chong]

Of course, when she first took power, she was not even supposed to see her officials face to face. She had to sit behind the screen. In front of the screen, there was a chair for the child emperor and she was sitting behind the screen.

[Sally Helm]

But the preteen Tongj shows little interest in ruling. Professor Peng says he he has no knack for it.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

Tongzhi was definitely not fit to be an emperor, just like his father, right? So we can't really comment on him as an emperor because he did so little.

[Sally Helm]

The person really calling the shots at the top of the Qing Empire is cixi, who was once the bottom tier concubine. She authorizes small steps toward the west, like opening for foreign language schools and expanding Shanghai's trading port. Meanwhile, the passage of time is moving Tangzhi toward the throne. He comes of age at 16, which means Cixi must retire as his regent. But just before Tangje turns 19, he died prematurely.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

In 1875, he died of smallpox.

[Sally Helm]

Emperor Tangj dies without an heir, leaving a power vacuum that CIXI rushes to fill. She adopts her three year old nephew, installs him on the throne and becomes his regent. Yunchang says it's at this point that CIXI begins to pursue a policy she's long favored of more fully introducing China to the world.

[Yun Chong]

China had been isolated, had self imposed the isolation and closed its door. About 100 years ago. She then asked a question. Why can't we open the door and have trade with the west and benefit our country?

[Sally Helm]

She also launches an ambitious program of industrial development.

[Yun Chong]

She introduced railways, telegraphs, telegrams, modern army and navy, and opened mines, building factories, sending ambassadors abroad, established diplomatic relations with the West. Foreign trade, you know everything.

[Sally Helm]

When her Nephew comes of age in 1889, Cixi officially retires as regent again. But she's still consulted on all important government matters. In fact, CIXI leads or advises China's final dynasty until her death in 1908, a period of nearly 50 years. Those years since see enormous change. The end of China's ancient civil service exam, an official foreign affairs office, a new constitution, and China's first popular election. CIXI has a hand in all of it. Today. Her legacy is still very much debated. Some see her as greedy and despotic. The Chinese Communists who came after her and who still rule the country see her as a pawn of the Western imperial powers. Others say she's a scapegoat, blamed for all of the Qing Dynasty's problems. Despite the decades of misrule that preceded.

[Yun Chong]

Her, she had been maligned for more than 100 years and is still maligned today. I mean, nearly all Chinese still think of her as this evil, a wicked woman who was responsible for dragging China behind for, you know, the problems the old China had.

[Sally Helm]

Dr. Peng says Cixi was in power so long, she oversaw so much change, that it's hard to boil her down to just one thing.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

Looking at sushi or Annie complicated historical figure is like looking through a kaleidoscope. If you turn your angle, then you have a completely different picture.

[Sally Helm]

CIXI herself tried to control her image throughout her life, and you can't separate that from the fact that she was a woman in a man's role. She upended the extremely restricted view of what women were and are capable of. And when she died, that is the symbol that she wanted on the outside of her tomb.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

From the outside, you see a lot of decorations of phoenix flying here and there on the column or on the floor. The phoenix is a symbol of female power in Chinese symbolism.

[Sally Helm]

But inside, CIXI gave expression to something else. The part of her that was unapologetically in charge and at times, ruthless. She made herself into one of the most powerful people in the world, even if she began her rule from behind a curtain. And inside her tomb, you can see that sashi.

[Professor Ying Chen Peng]

It was decorated by hundreds of golden dragons, the symbol of monarchy. She had the ability, but I feel that she kept that ambition of becoming a true monarch in her heart.

[Sally Helm]

Thanks for listening to history this week. For moments throughout history that are also worth watching, check your local TV listings to find out what's on the History Channel today. If you want to get in touch, please shoot us an email at our email address. Historythisweekhistory.com or you can leave us a voicemail. 212-351-0410 Special thanks today to our guests Yun Chong, author of Empress Dowager the Concubine who Launched Modern China and Professor Ying Chengpeng, author of Artful Subversion, Empress Dowager's Sashi's Image Making in Art. This episode was produced by Corinne Wallace and co produced by Morgan Givens. It was sound designed by Brian Flood and story edited by Jim O'Grady. Our senior producer is Ben Dickstein. History this Week is also produced by Julia Press and me, Sally Helm. Our Associate Producer is Emma Fredericks, our Supervising Producer is Makame Lynn and our Executive Producer Producer is Jesse Katz. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review History this week wherever you get your podcasts and we will see you next week.