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Empress Dowager Cixi1 (also romanised as Empress Dowager Tzu-hsi; ; ; Manchu: Tsysi taiheo; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a Chinese empress dowager and regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for 47 years from 1861 until her death in 1908. Selected as an imperial concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor in her adolescence, she gave birth to a son, Zaichun, in 1856. After the Xianfeng Emperor's death in 1861, the young boy became the Tongzhi Emperor, and she became the Empress Dowager. Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed regency, which she shared with Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi then consolidated control over the dynasty when she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor at the death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875, contrary to the traditional rules of succession of the Qing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644. Although she refused to adopt Western models of government, she supported technological and military reforms and the Self-Strengthening Movement. Although she agreed with the Hundred Days' Reforms of 1898, Cixi rejected them as detrimental to dynastic power and placed the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest for supporting radical reformers, who had tried to assassinate her. She subsequently covered up the Emperor's support of the assassination attempt and the reformers, as it was a breach of filial piety, a pillar of Chinese society at the time. Any perceived weakness in the Imperial Court would have been pounced upon by the Japanese, who had the ultimate goal of annexing China and forming a "East Asian Merger"; Cixi's interests had always been the preservation of her country and dynasty. After the Boxer Rebellion and the invasion of Allied armies, Cixi returned to Beijing from Xi'an, where she had fled to during the invasion of Beijing, and upon her return, she immediately began to effect the institutional changes of she had always wanted; on arrival one of her first decrees was the banning of foot binding.〔"(Cixi Outlaws Foot Binding )", ''History Channel''〕 Cixi was also responsible for the legislation that began the process of turning China into a constitutional monarchy. Many historians both in China and abroad have portrayed her as a despot responsible for the fall of the Qing dynasty. Others have suggested that her opponents among the reformers succeeded in making her a scapegoat for problems beyond her control. Furthermore, they claim that she intervened decisively to prevent political disorder, was no more ruthless than other rulers of her time, and that she was an effective reformer in the last years of her life, even if she was reluctant to take on this role.〔Sue Fawn Chung, "The Much Maligned Empress Dowager: A Revisionist Study of the Empress Dowager Tz'u-Hsi (1835–1908)," Modern Asian Studies 13.2 (1979): 177–196.〕 ==Early years== Empress Cixi was born in the winter of 1835. According to the information listed on a red sheet (File No. 1247) in the "Miscellaneous Pieces of the Palace" (a Qing dynasty documentation package retrieved from the First Historical Archives of China), Cixi was the daughter of Huizheng, an ordinary official from the Manchu Yehenara clan. Palace archives also show that Huizheng was a member of Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners and was working in Beijing during the year of Cixi's birth, an indication that she was born in Beijing. The file records the location of Cixi's childhood home: Firewood Alley of West Sipailou, Beijing (Chinese: 西四牌楼劈柴胡同). In 1851, Cixi participated in the selection for consorts to the new Xianfeng Emperor alongside sixty other candidates. Cixi was one of the few candidates chosen to stay. Placed in the 6th rank of consorts, she was styled "Noble Lady Lan" (Chinese: 蘭贵人). Among the other chosen candidates were Noble Lady Li of the Tatala clan (later Consort Li), Concubine Yun of the Wugiya clan, and Concubine Zhen of the Niuhuru clan (later Xianfeng's empress consort). In 1854, Cixi was elevated to the 5th rank of consorts and given the title "Imperial Concubine Yi" (Chinese: 懿嫔). In 1855, Cixi became pregnant. On 27 April 1856, she gave birth to Zaichun, the Xianfeng Emperor's only surviving son. Soon afterward, she was elevated to the 4th rank of consorts as"Consort Yi" (Chinese: 懿妃).〔Laidler, Keith (2003), "The Last Empress" (p. 58), John Wiley & Sons Inc., ISBN 0-470-84881-2.〕 In 1857, when her son reached his first birthday, Cixi was elevated to the 3rd rank of consorts as "Noble Consort Yi" (Chinese: 懿贵妃). This rank placed her second only to the Empress Ci'an among the women within Xianfeng's household. Unlike many of the other Manchu women in the imperial household, Cixi was known for her ability to read and write Chinese. This skill granted her numerous opportunities to help the ailing emperor in the governing of the Chinese state on a daily basis. On various occasions, the Xianfeng Emperor had Cixi read palace memorials for him and leave instructions on the memorials according to his will. As a result, Cixi became well-informed about state affairs and the art of governing from the ailing emperor.〔http://www.56.com/u11/v_MjYwNjk3NjI.html〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Empress Dowager Cixi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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