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The Worst Woman in China’s History
During the 19th century, the Qing Dynasty of China was a declining nation. Corruption was rampant and it was being constantly preyed on by Western Imperialist nations. Despite its problems, many efforts were being made by Chinese officials and citizens to revitalize the empire. However, with the rise of a tyrannical dictator, Qing fell into an irreversible groggy state, later to be replaced and divided up by warlords and foreign powers. Empress Dowager Cixi was possibly the worst woman to exist in China’s history.
Her Rise to Power
Xianfeng, who was Qing’s 9th emperor, lost his first wife to illness before he became an emperor. After taking the throne, he took in two wives: Cian and Cixi. His first wife had died without bearing a child and Empress Cian could not bear a child either. When Cixi gave birth to Tongzhi, who was to become the 10th emperor of Qing, her power within the empire increased rapidly. Xianfeng only reigned for 11 years and Tongzhi became the next emperor at the age of five in 1861. With Tongzhi’s rise to the throne, Cixi gained a pathway to absolute control of the empire as the emperor’s mother.
Cixi was power-hungry and a ruthless psychopath, who was willing to do whatever it took to bring the empire under her control. Qing, which had lost…
