page_title: Empress Dowager Cixi
section_title: Xianfeng era
hierarchical_section_title: Empress Dowager Cixi / Life / Xianfeng era
context_page_description: Empress Dowager Cixi, of the Manchu Yehe Nara 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 a 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.
  Cixi supervised the Tongzhi Restoration, a series of moderate reforms that helped the regime survive until 1911. Although Cixi refused to adopt Western models of government, she supported technological and military reforms and the Self-Strengthening Movement.
context_section_description: In 1851, Cixi participated in the selection for wives to the Xianfeng Emperor alongside 60 other candidates. Cixi was one of the few candidates chosen to stay. Among the other chosen candidates were Noble Lady Li of the Tatara clan (later Consort Li) and Concubine Zhen of the Niohuru clan (later the Xianfeng Emperor's empress consort). On 26 June 1852, she entered the Forbidden City and was placed in the sixth rank of consorts, styled "Noble Lady Lan".
  On 28 February 1854, Cixi was elevated to the fifth rank of consorts and granted the title "Concubine Yi". In 1855, Cixi became pregnant, and on 27 April 1856, she gave birth to Zaichun, the Xianfeng Emperor's first and only surviving son. On the same day, she was elevated to the fourth rank of consorts as "Consort Yi". In 1857, when her son reached his first birthday, Cixi was elevated to the third rank of consorts as "Noble Consort Yi". This rank placed her second only to the Empress Niohuru among the women within the Xianfeng Emperor's harem.
  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.
caption: An early portrait of the Consort Dowager Kangci, foster mother of the Xianfeng Emperor. She hosted the selection of the Xianfeng Emperor's consorts in 1851, in which Cixi participated as a potential candidate.
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