Plot summary
The story begins with the death of Orchid's mother. Empress Orchid's son Tung Chih is also beginning to hate her, much to her despair.
In 1849, the Selection of Imperial begins for him is completed. The chosen Empress is a "cat-eyed, eighteen-year-old beauty" called Alute. Orchid's preferred selection for Empress was the daughter of a provincial governor named Foo-cha. It was only due to Empress Nuharoo's rank as the higher wife that Alute was chosen.
The Selection of Imperial is followed by the suspicious death of Orchid's close friend and eunuch An-te-hai. His death had a great emotional impact on Empress Orchid.
Around one year later, tension begins to mount between Orchid and Alute. Orchid becomes irritated at Alute's lack of co-operation, and is further annoyed with Alute's rude attitude towards her. Her annoyance soon turns to happiness when Alute claims that she is pregnant with Tung Chih's first child. Tung Chih's illness worsens and in 1875 he dies with his mother beside him. Empress Orchid refuses to give up her power, as she believes that Alute only sees the "glamour and glory" of being an Empress. As well as this, she also believes that Alute has little experience with political and court matters – thus rendering her unsuitable for the role as Empress of China.
Orchid also realises that Alute may have been mentally disturbed. Yet these possibilities had no effect on foreign journals describing Orchid as a violent character who contributed to the death of her son – whilst portraying Alute as the protagonist of the event. Many foreign reports and articles soon begin printing false reports of Orchid's actions as ruler of China, suggesting that she is solely responsible for China's decline due to her cruel regime. However, such stories are seemingly published only to justify further invasions of China.
After the death of Tung Chih and Alute, Orchid adopts her sister Rong's son Tsai-t'ien. Orchid then renames her nephew Guang-hsu upon his succession to the Dragon Throne. Initially, Orchid felt no motherly love for her nephew as she only adopted him to prevent his death at Rong's hand. However, a mother-son bond eventually forms between the two.
Shortly after the appointment of Guang-hsu as Orchid's successor, her love Yung Lu announces that he is planning to marry and move away to faraway Sinkiang. Soon after Orchid realises that she is no longer at full health, she receives information that Empress Nuharoo has collapsed from illness. Nuharoo dies, and rumours suggest that Orchid is responsible.
Several years later (after increasing attacks by foreign countries), Orchid and Guang-hsu move to Ying-t'ai. An assassination attempt is made on her life. After Guang-hsu learns of the mistake he made that almost cost Orchid's life, he becomes deeply shamed and loses the will to live. His attempted reform of China also fails, and he too succumbs to illness. Attacks by a rebellion group named the Boxers soon force Orchid, Guang-hsu and their servants to flee. They return to the Forbidden City after the attacks subside.
From this point, Orchid's health deteriorates further. During this time, she meets with Robert Hart, an important contributor to the stability of China's economy. On November 14, 1908, Emperor Guang-hsu dies. Orchid also dies the following day, after appointing her grandnephew Puyi as her successor.
Empress Dowager Cixi, of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later 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 assumed the role of co-empress dowager, alongside the Emperor's widow, Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed the regency along with Ci'an, who later died under mysterious circumstances. Cixi then consolidated control over the dynasty when she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor at the death of her son, the Tongzhi Emperor, in 1875. This was contrary to the traditional rules of succession of the Qing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644.
Emperor Guangxu, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, without Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898. He initiated the Hundred Days' Reform, but was abruptly stopped when the empress dowager launched a coup in 1898, after which he became powerless and was held under house arrest until his death. His era name, "Guangxu", means "glorious succession".
The Tongzhi Emperor, born Zaichun of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the eighth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, from 1861 to 1875, which effectively lasted through his adolescence, was largely overshadowed by the rule of his mother, Empress Dowager Cixi. Although he had little influence over state affairs, the events of his reign gave rise to what historians call the "Tongzhi Restoration", an unsuccessful modernization program.
The Xianfeng Emperor, or by temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing (清文宗), given name Yizhu (奕詝), was the eighth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigned from 1850 to 1861. During his reign the Qing dynasty experienced several wars and rebellions including the Taiping Rebellion, Nian Rebellion, and Second Opium War. He was the last Chinese emperor to have total executive ruling power. After his death, the Qing dynasty was controlled by Empress Dowager Cixi.
Empress Xiaozhenxian, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and empress consort of Yizhu, the Xianfeng Emperor. She was Empress consort of Qing from 1852 until her husband's death in 1861, after which she was honoured as Empress Dowager Ci'an.
Yixuan, formally known as Prince Chun, was an imperial prince of the House of Aisin-Gioro and a statesman of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China. He was the father of the Guangxu Emperor, and the paternal grandfather of Puyi through his fifth son Zaifeng.
Anchee Min or Min Anqi is a Chinese-American author who lives in San Francisco and Shanghai. Min has published two memoirs, Red Azalea and The Cooked Seed: A Memoir, and six historical novels. Her fiction emphasizes strong female characters, such as Jiang Qing, the wife of chairman Mao Zedong, and Empress Dowager Cixi, the last ruling empress of China.
"Princess" Der Ling, also known as Elisabeth Antoinette White, was a Hanjun bannerwoman, the daughter of Yü Keng and Louisa Pearson, the half-Chinese daughter of a Boston merchant working in Shanghai. Although not a member of the Qing royal family, Der Ling was given the title of Princess while serving as the first lady-in-waiting for Empress Dowager Cixi. She was a writer of several memoirs, books, and magazine articles.
Jingfen, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Yehe Nara clan, was the wife and empress consort of Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor. She was Empress consort of Qing from 1889 until her husband's death in 1908, after which she was honoured as Empress Dowager Longyu. She was posthumously honoured with the title Empress Xiaodingjing.
Gurun Princess Rong'an was a princess of the Qing Dynasty, and the only daughter of the Xianfeng Emperor and his Consort Li. She was born in the fourth year of the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor. She married Fuzhen of the Gūwalgiya clan in August 1873, on the order of Empress Dowager Cixi in accordance with Manchu imperial customs. She was pregnant when she heard news of the death of her half brother, the Tongzhi Emperor. The emotional stress caused her to suffer a miscarriage. She died a month later at the age of 19 without any children.
Empress Dowager Hu, formally Empress Ling (靈皇后), was an empress dowager of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (515-528). She was a concubine of Emperor Xuanwu, and she became regent and empress dowager after her son Emperor Xiaoming became emperor after Emperor Xuanwu's death in 515. She was considered to be intelligent but overly lenient, and during her regency, many agrarian rebellions occurred while corruption raged among imperial officials. In 528, she was believed to have poisoned her son Emperor Xiaoming after he tried to have her lover Zheng Yan (鄭儼) executed. This caused the general Erzhu Rong to attack and capture the capital Luoyang. Erzhu threw her into the Yellow River to drown.
Empress Xiaozheyi, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Arute clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and empress consort of Zaichun, the Tongzhi Emperor. She was Empress consort of Qing from 1872 until her husband's death in 1875, after which she was honoured as Empress Jiashun.
Empress Xiaojingcheng, of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner Borjigit clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to a consort of Mianning, the Daoguang Emperor. She was honoured as Empress Dowager Kangci during the reign of her step-son, Yizhu, the Xianfeng Emperor. She was the only Qing empress dowager who was neither her husband's empress consort nor emperor's mother.
The Tongzhi Restoration was an attempt to arrest the dynastic decline of the Qing dynasty by restoring the traditional order. The harsh realities of the Opium War, the unequal treaties, and the mid-century mass uprisings of the Taiping Rebellion caused Qing officials to recognize the need to strengthen China. The Tongzhi Restoration was named for the Tongzhi Emperor, and was engineered by the young emperor's mother, the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908). The restoration, however, which applied "practical knowledge" while reaffirming the old mentality, was not a genuine program of modernization. Academics are divided as to whether the Tongzhi Restoration arrested the dynastic decline or merely delayed its inevitable occurrence.
Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress is a Singapore musical that tells the story of China's Legendary Empress Dowager Cixi. It was staged by the Singapore Repertory Theatre originally on 17–19 October 2002 at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, as part of its opening festival, and back again in 2003 by popular demand and in 2006 as part of the IMF meetings in Singapore. Forbidden City was developed by Stephen Clark, Dick Lee and Steven Dexter. It was staged once again in August 2017 at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.
Empress Orchid (2004) is a novel by Anchee Min which was first published in Great Britain in 2004. It is written in first person and is a sympathetic account of the life of Empress Dowager Cixi - from her humble beginnings to her rise as the Empress Dowager.
Sigh of His Highness is a Chinese historical television series based on the life of Prince Gong, an influential Manchu prince and statesman of the late Qing dynasty. The series was directed by Li Wenlong and starred Chen Baoguo as Prince Gong. It was first broadcast on Sichuan TV in China in 2006.
The Confidant is a Hong Kong biographical fiction television drama produced by TVB under executive producer Marco Law, and stars Michelle Yim as Empress Dowager Cixi, and Wayne Lai as imperial eunuch Li Lianying. The drama depicts how a group of eunuchs survive in the weakening Qing empire, and closely traces Li's early life from the first day he entered the imperial palace to becoming one of the most powerful political figures in the latter years of the Qing Dynasty. The drama also follows Li's relationship with Cixi, and how he eventually becomes her closest confidant.
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China is a 2013 biography written by Jung Chang, published by Alfred A. Knopf. Chang presents a sympathetic portrait of the Empress Dowager Cixi, who unofficially controlled the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years, from 1861 to her death in 1908. Chang argues that Cixi has been "deemed either tyrannical and vicious, or hopelessly incompetent—or both", and that this view is both simplistic and inaccurate. Chang portrays her as intelligent, open-minded, and a proto-feminist limited by a xenophobic and deeply conservative imperial bureaucracy. Although Cixi is often accused of reactionary conservatism, Chang concludes that Cixi "brought medieval China into the modern age."
Empress Fu was an empress consort and empress dowager during the Later Zhou dynasty. She was a daughter of general Fu Yanqing and a younger sister of Empress Xuanyi, who was married to the Later Zhou emperor Guo Rong from 951 or so to 956. Guo Rong had been without a wife ever since Empress Xuanyi's death in 956, and he married the younger Fu in July 959 when he fell critically ill. The marriage was clearly political and most likely not consummated: Guo Rong died 10 days later and was succeeded by his 6-year-old son Guo Zongxun. Empress Dowager Fu as his guardian became the regent.
