In the field of historiography, Cixi is known as the "actual ruler of the late Qing Dynasty", and has controlled the government for more than 40 years by hanging curtains and training the government, which can be described as a household name. So the question is, why did Cixi, who was in full control of real power, not emulate the empress Wu Zetian of a generation and ascend the throne as an emperor to change dynasties? The reasons for this are mainly attributed to the combined influence of objective factors such as the specific environment and subjective factors such as Cixi's own personality.
Cixi stills
Gorgeous counterattack with humble origins
In 1835 (the fifteenth year of Daoguang), on the tenth day of October (3-5 a.m.), a woman who would influence the national fortunes of the Qing Dynasty for nearly half a century was born, and she was the famous Empress Dowager Yehenara of cixi.
Empress Xiaoqinxian, of the Yehenara clan, was the daughter of Huining Chi Guangtai Dao, Anhui. In the first year of Xianfeng, he was later elected to the palace and was called a nobleman. For four years, he was a concubine. In March of the sixth year, Gengchen, Mu Zongsheng, entered Yifei. Seven years, into the Concubine.
Regarding her family lineage, it is recorded in historical materials such as the Four Genealogies of the Qing Royal Family and the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, that her father Hui Zheng was only a Zheng Bapin penmanship (secretary), although he was born in the banner of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er (superior to the wrapping), but he only lived under the Five Banners (with blue flags). Therefore, in the first few years of Yehenara's birth, the family was still relatively poor.
In 1851 (the first year of Xianfeng), the Xianfeng Emperor, who had just succeeded to the throne, made his first public draft, when the Yehenara clan was 17 years old (imaginary age), which had reached the criteria for entering the palace draft, so under the organization of the household department, the Yehenara clan entered the palace to participate in the draft. In February of the following year, receiving the good news from the palace with the title lan guiren (which further reflected his low origin), the Yehenara clan was taken into the Yuanmingyuan as a nobleman on the ninth day of May in 1852 (the second year of Xianfeng).
Portrait of the Xianfeng Emperor
Although the starting point was not high, with her own appearance, she quickly won the favor of the Xianfeng Emperor. In 1854 (November 25), yehenara was canonized as a concubine; two years later, on March 23, he gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor Zaichun, the xianfeng emperor who had been childless for a long time, and now made her a concubine; in December 13, 1857 (xianfeng seven years), he was crowned a concubine.
From entering the palace as a nobleman to entering the noble concubine, the Yehenara clan only took five years, and the speed was amazing. Thinking about it carefully, in addition to his own appearance being deeply loved by Xian Feng, the birth of an imperial heir was also a great achievement, and it was even more meritorious under the thin heirs in Xian Feng's life (two sons, the second son died on the day of birth).
In July of the eleventh year, Emperor Wenzong collapsed, and Muzong ascended the throne, and was honored with Empress Xiaozhen as empress dowager.
In the early morning of July 17, 1861 (the eleventh year of Xianfeng), Xianfeng, who was only 31 years old, died in the Yanbo Zhishuang Temple. Zai Chun became Emperor Si and officially ascended the throne at the Taihe Hall on the ninth day of October of the same year, and the Yehenara clan was also promoted by Emperor Yigui's concubine to Empress Dowager, with the title of "Cixi". Because the new emperor was young (6 years old), Cixi and Ci'an jointly bowed to the government. But what people did not expect at the time was that cixi began the road to power for 47 years.
Images of The Emperor Doji
The matriarchal clan is weak and still needs to rely on the royal family
Although he held power for half a century, under the surface of seemingly monopolizing everything, Cixi never became emperor in his lifetime. The first reason why she failed to ascend to the throne like Wu Zetian was that she still needed the support of the Qing Dynasty royal family.
From Cixi's life deeds, we can easily see that although after she became the empress dowager, the Yehenara family was raised from the blue banner to the yellow flag (the first banner of the three banners), her father was also posthumously awarded the title of third-class Cheng'en Duke, and the younger brothers and sisters also had a good development, but in the final analysis, no mother's family can really be independent (with real talent and hard work), compared with Wu Zetian's matriarch, the difference is obvious, and the matriarchal clan is weak, which directly leads to Cixi's only being able to ascend to the throne through her own efforts.
In September, Emperor Wenzong returned the capital to the capital, that is, he issued an edict to zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Sushun, all of whom died, and deposed the ministers who praised the government ministers. The King of the Council was appointed to the king, and the king's ministers were ordered to bow the curtain ceremony.
So, is there any external force for her to monopolize power? The answer is yes, from the "Xin You Coup" in 1861 to the later curtain listening to the government and the two times of discipline, Cixi's success was inseparable from the support of the clan relatives within Ai Xin jueluo. If there is no Prince Gong Yi? and Regent Guarga. Katsuho, presumably, with her and Ci'an alone, would definitely not be able to compete with the "Eight Ministers", let alone the situation of obeying the government. Even if Yi? In 1884 (the tenth year of Guangxu), he was forced to withdraw from the Military Aircraft Department (甲申易書), but was immediately followed by the ascension of Prince Yizhen of Alcohol. Therefore, even if there were various struggles within the center of the late Qing Dynasty, the change of specific power was only a transfer within the Aixin Jueluo royal family, and in the final analysis, it still needed the support of the clan relatives, which was completely two levels of concept that Wu Zetian could completely get rid of the self-reliance of the Li Tang imperial family.
Prince Gong Yi?
Therefore, while Cixi was in power, he did not forget to give the imperial clan relatives some important positions to reassure them and assist them, which well protected the interests of the clan relatives. If, under the premise that the mother clan has no one to use, rushes to the throne, it will inevitably lose the support of the Ai Xin Jue Luo family, and cixi, such a shrewd person, naturally understands this truth.
Internal and external troubles are self-conscious, and the pressure of public opinion on all sides has doubled
In the late Qing Dynasty, Cixi's rise to power was in a period of internal and external troubles, with the continuous intrusion of foreign powers and the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion. As the actual supreme ruler, he was still too busy to take care of himself in the face of such a dilemma, let alone have the energy to think about the matter of ascending the throne, which was a great obstacle in terms of time abundance and energy limitation.
Pu Juan, the son of Zaiyi the Prince of Duoluoduan, succeeded him as the son of Emperor Muzongyi. Qin Chengyi's will, I feel inexplicable. He should honor cixun and seal Pu Yan, the son of Yi, as the crown prince, so as to unify Xu.
Second, the change of dynasty is bound to be condemned by public opinion from many sides. On January 12, 1875, with the death of his only son, Emperor Tongzhi, in order to continue to bow to the government, Cixi chose his sister's son Zai Xiang (the son of Prince Yizhen of Alcohol) to succeed to the throne as emperor of the Xianfeng Emperor, although this move violated the ancestral system (according to the ancestral system, the Tongzhi Emperor had no heirs, and should choose a person from the Puzi generation to inherit the Tongzhi Emperor) only for his own selfish purposes, but at least he was the heir emperor who was chosen after Tongzhi's death. However, as the contradictions between Cixi and Guangxu continued to intensify, under her careful planning, the farce of "changing Yuan Baoqing" (li Pu was made the eldest brother and forcing Guangxu to abdicate) scheduled to be on the first day of the first lunar month in 1900 (the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu) was condemned by many public opinions as soon as it was introduced. Among them, the gentry merchants, the reformers, the royalists, and even foreign ministers put pressure on Cixi by refusing to join the palace, and in this case, Cixi could only give up, abolishing the title of Grand Brother of Pu Yan and expelling him from the palace.
Guangxu Emperor stills
The same dynasty Yi Chu is still full of difficulties, not to mention that Cixi herself changed dynasties like Wu Zetian, and it is even more unidentified by the world. Moreover, according to the specific era in which the two lived, the Tang Dynasty was open to the public, and the status of women was relatively high, while the Qing Dynasty has always adhered to the standards of "male superiority and female inferiority" and "three principles and five constants", so even if Cixi is strong and arrogant, if she wants to be called emperor, the background of the times is not allowed.
Greed for stability, content with the status quo
After talking about the objective factors of Cixi's failure to claim the emperor, let's look at the subjective aspects of herself. From a humble nobleman to a noble concubine and even an empress dowager, he was able to control the government for more than forty years, and the glory of a lifetime was indeed beyond his reach. From the trajectory of her life, it is not difficult to see that with the innocent girl at the beginning and the deep belly at the end, she has a very significant feature from beginning to end, that is, to seek steady progress in the existing environment, but she will never go beyond the thunder pool.
Such a personality allows her to grasp the power of the DPRK in real time, and she does not need to do everything herself (reusing Han chen and relying on the royal family), especially at critical moments, she does not need to rush to the front to assume all the responsibilities by herself, and she can both take power and win the support of the clan relatives and important subjects. It is precisely because she is so greedy for stability and content with the status quo that she will always only be the person behind the scenes.
Empress
Shi Haijun said:
Throughout her life, Cixi had glory and desolation (she fled west twice), and she was also scolded by people for being favored. 47 years of holding heavy power, although there is no emperor's name, there is also an emperor, so the world often calls her "the uncrowned empress of the Qing Dynasty". The reason why he is not called an emperor stems from the objective multi-faceted limited and subjective character cultivation and multi-dimensional thinking. As for how to praise and denigrate, it is left to future generations to comment.
Resources:
The Four Genealogies of the Qing Dynasty
Zhao's "Miscellaneous Records of the Shouting Pavilion"
Records of Emperor Wenzongxian, Records of Emperor Muzongyi, Records of Emperor Dezongjing
Zhao Erxun's Draft History of the Qing Dynasty. Wenzong Benji", "Qing History Manuscript. Muzong Benji", "Qing History Manuscript. Dezong Benji", "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty. Volume 214. Column 1
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