Introduction

Ni hao! (: My name is Empress Dowager Cixi born in China on November 29^th 1835. Fortunately, I was not a favorite of my parents during my childhood and was treated unfairly compared to my siblings. It worked in my benefit as I became older though, which is the reasoning to why my childhood inspired me to rise above my peers and head towards my dream of prowess. As a result at the age of sixteen I was chosen to be one of the concubines to Emperor Xianfeng, and on turning eighteen, I completed the ritual preparations necessary to become a royal concubine. Although many of Emperor Xianfeng had many wives and concubines, I was the only one who gave birth to a son by the name of Tongzihi. Because of my son I quickly advanced from third level concubine to a secondary consort, one of the emperor’s wives. When Xianfeng died in 1861, my son at the time 5 became emperor. Many believe because of greed I took the throne, but in my opinion because of my concern I did. During my years in power, the Western nations gained great influence in China. Many people thought that the best way to stop the outsiders from taking over completely was to strengthen China with modern inventions like trains and telegraphs. However, I did not agree one bit nor did advisors we remained conservative and resisted these changes. Some would say I took more than I gave from China, but what can I say? I like the finer things in life, especially my jade cup and golden chopsticks. On accident, I unfortunately caused the decline of the Qing Dynasty because I was “greedy” for power and would use unscrupulous means to seize it. In 1898, I staged another coup against Guangxu and imprisoned him when I found out he was introducing reforms without my approval.  Tisk Tisk! I soon began to rule the country behind the curtain. Sadly I passed away at the age of 78 on November 15, 1908.