Cixi

1835 – 1908

Empress Dowager Cixi was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively controlled the government of late Qing China as empress dowager and regent from 1861 until her death in 1908, ruling through three child emperors. Her reactionary court resisted the political and constitutional reforms attempted by the Hundred Days' Reform of 1898, which she crushed by ordering the imprisonment of the Guangxu Emperor and the execution of leading reformers. Her support for the Boxer Rebellion against foreign legations in 1900 brought the Eight-Nation Alliance into Beijing, the sacking of the Forbidden City, and a crushing indemnity that helped seal the Qing dynasty's collapse.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM