A once glorious dynasty came to its final decline in her hands; two young emperors were manipulated by her into nothingness. How could Cixi, who was so power-hungry, manage to control the Qing Dynasty for nearly half a century in a world ruled by men? Professor Sui Lijuan, the keynote speaker of "Hundred Schools Forum", washed away the layers of paint on Cixi's face. What she talked about was not only a "political figure", but also Cixi as a wife, mother and woman. How beautiful is Cixi?
Cixi did not have a noble bloodline or a prominent family background, but she had beauty. She was selected into the palace by virtue of winning a beauty pageant "contest" called "The Talent Show".
How beautiful is Cixi? To use her own self-satisfied description, "the people in the palace regard me as beautiful", and my appearance is so beautiful that I am jealous of others. We can now see some sporadic portraits of Cixi in her later years. Even from today's aesthetic point of view, Cixi can still be called dignified. There were two women who had close contact with Cixi in her later years: one was De Ling, who became the Queen Mother's first female maid because she was proficient in foreign languages. She commented on Cixi's appearance: "The Queen Mother, when Yi Zai was in her prime, she was really a graceful, bright and bright girl, which was often praised by people in the palace; it was because Yi Zai was gradually squeezed out by her years and entered the old age. , and she still retains quite a bit of her charming looks.”
The other was an American female painter named Carl, who entered the Qing court in August 1904 to paint a portrait of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and stayed with her day and night for nine months! , recorded his personal experiences in "Portraits of Cixi". In the book, she wrote: "I saw that the empress dowager in front of me was a very beautiful and kind-hearted woman. I guessed her age to be no more than forty years old (actually Cixi was nearly seventy years old), and her temperament She is so beautiful that people feel joy at the sight of her. "Every part of the Empress Dowager Cixi's body is in perfect proportion. Her beautiful face, her soft and graceful hands, her slender figure and her black and shiny hair, combine harmoniously to complement each other." ... A charming smile, full of gestures, which makes people naturally happy."
However, all the beauties in the harem are outstanding, and all of them are carefully selected beauties. The emperor is among them, and he falls in love with others. It is common for people to change their minds when they see different things. For Cixi, maintaining and consolidating the emperor's special favor also requires having potential that cannot be replaced by others. Among them, Cixi had an ability that no one in the harem could match - the ability to read and write Chinese, which was extremely valuable among Manchu women at that time. Therefore, Cixi was a "bilingual" model among the concubines in the palace who could master both Manchu and read and write Chinese. The godson's hand-picked reading companion became a companion
Cixi's strict requirements for Emperor Tongzhi did not make him fully understand his mother's good intentions. Instead, he developed a strong rebellious mentality towards his mother. Seek adventure and excitement outside the confines of the palace's discipline. There were two people who had a huge influence on Emperor Tongzhi during this period. One person is Prince Gong's eldest son Zai. After the death of Prince Hui, who managed the emperor's studies, the two companions, Yi Xiang and Yixun, also ended their study life with the emperor. Later, Cixi appointed Prince Gong's eldest son to accompany Emperor Tongzhi to study. Cixi only saw Zai's smart and cheerful personality, but what she didn't know was that Zai's life was bohemian and he was always good at everything. Cixi's carefully selected "companion reading" eventually became Emperor Tongzhi's "accompaniment".
The other is Wang Qingqi, a student at the Hanlin Academy. Wang Qingqi, a native of Shuntian, grew up in the capital and was a child of an aristocratic family. Wang Qingqi was a "beautiful" man, "gongduqu", and good at the art of flattery. When he first arrived in the South Study Room, the emperor fell in love with him and awarded him a fifth-grade official plus a second-grade title. He traveled to Yuqing Palace (should be Hongde Hall) "Wang Qingqi's knowledge must be good, because he can enter the Hongde Hall - the place where Emperor Tongzhi studied as a Hanlin scholar. His beauty and grace, as well as his ability to flatter, were naturally more tempting to Emperor Tongzhi, who was not experienced in the world. Under his guidance, Emperor Tongzhi actually slept and stood up with Wang Qingqi, maintaining an extremely ambiguous relationship. Ladu offered the Pox Goddess to the Yangxin Hall
When Cixi learned that Emperor Tongzhi was ill, and the symptoms of the illness were fever and rash, Cixi was worried. After a night of observation, the next day, Emperor Tongzhi began to show obvious symptoms of a rash: "the rash shape was exposed, and it was mixed with acne" and "the particles were exposed." From this, the imperial doctor judged that Emperor Tongzhi was infected with smallpox.
Cixi did not dare to neglect. While she ordered the imperial doctors to do their best to diagnose and treat the disease, she also followed the rules handed down from her ancestors and followed them carefully, for fear that there would be oversights and mistakes that would be detrimental to her son's ability to survive smallpox.
First, offer an offering to the Pox God. Cixi ordered that the Goddess of Pox, who had been enshrined since Emperor Tongzhi fell ill, be brought to the Yangxin Hall. Red carpets and red couplets were spread everywhere in the palace, creating a festive atmosphere in the hope that the God of Pox would recover the smallpox she had scattered as soon as possible. After worshiping for three days, a grand ceremony was held to send the Goddess of Pox outside the gate of the Qing Dynasty. Dragon boats tied with paper, gold, silver and jade were burned in the fire, so that the Goddess of Pox ascended to the sky in the flying flames. This took away the chicken pox all over Emperor Tongzhi's body and survived the disaster safely.
Secondly, pray to the ancestors and spirits. Cixi and Ci'an went to the Shouhuang Hall in Jingshan, where ancestors were enshrined, which had been designated as a hall for worshiping "gods" since the Qianlong period, to pray for the blessings of their ancestors and the safety of their sons.
After that, Emperor Tongzhi continued to have acne particles, and the scabs began to form and fall off. It seemed that everything was developing in the direction Cixi expected. However, after November 20th, Emperor Tongzhi's condition suddenly worsened. He began to develop malignant sores. The sores festered like holes on his waist, with pus constantly flowing out, pain incessant, cheeks swollen and hard, and foul odor coming from his mouth. "Dampness and toxins gather in the waist, redness, swelling, ulceration and pus leakage. ... The residual poison and dampness after acne is abundant." After that, although "all the acne and scabs fell away, there were ulcers on the waist, and holes on the left and right hips..."
On the fifth day of December in the 13th year of Tongzhi, Emperor Tongzhi said that "six meridians had been extinguished." He died of illness in Dongnuan Pavilion of Yangxin Hall. Mother Cixi lost her son. The mausoleum is not willing to be on the same level as Ci'an
In the hierarchy of Chinese feudal society, Cixi should be slightly inferior to Ci'an based on her identity and status, and this will also be reflected in the regulations of the mausoleum. reflect class differences. However, given Cixi's special status, the originally designed mausoleum was indistinguishable from Ci'an in terms of specifications and quality, and she should have been satisfied. However, Cixi was not satisfied. Her infinitely inflated arrogance and uncontrollable greed prevented her from being willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ci'an. Since we have to submit to Ci'an in the choice of burial place, we must surpass Ci'an in the architecture and decoration of the mausoleum to show her difference.
The reconstruction project of Cixi’s Mausoleum lasted for thirteen years and was not completed until her death. The rebuilt Long'en Hall and the East and West Side Halls rank first among the Qing Dynasty empress' mausoleums in terms of precious building materials, exquisite craftsmanship, and luxurious decoration. Even compared with the imperial mausoleums of the Qing Dynasty, some imperial mausoleums are much inferior to her. The luxury of her funeral objects is also jaw-dropping and astonishing. Cixi's funerary objects are divided into two parts: the treasures placed in the golden well in the tomb during her lifetime and the funerary treasures when she was buried.
According to the Qing Palace archives "Chronicle of the Ascension of the Empress Dowager Daxing", Cixi put six batches of treasures into the golden well during her lifetime. And how many treasures were buried with him? His confidant eunuch Li Lianying personally participated in the ceremony of burying the treasure in Cixi's coffin. According to the "Notes of Aiyuexuan" written by him and his nephew: Before Cixi's body was placed in the coffin, three layers of gold-wire beaded brocade mattresses and a layer of pearls were laid on the bottom of the coffin, which was one foot thick. On the head are green lotus leaves; at the feet are pink tourmaline lotus flowers. Wearing a pearl phoenix crown, the largest pearl on the crown is as big as a chicken egg and is worth ten million taels of silver. Beside him are twenty-seven Buddha statues carved with gold, precious stones, jade and green. On both sides of the feet were placed emerald watermelons, melons, cabbages, and more than two hundred peaches, plums, apricots, and dates made of precious stones. A jade lotus is placed on the left side of the body, and a jade carved coral tree is placed on the right side of the body. In addition, there are eight jade horses and eighteen jade arhats, totaling more than 700 pieces. After the burial, four liters of pearls and 2,200 pieces of gems were poured into the coffin. According to the "Books of the House of Internal Affairs", the number and types of jewelry and jades buried in the coffins are extremely amazing, almost a "complete collection of jewelry and jades".
Nineteen years after her death, her "ten thousand years auspicious place" was blown up by the warlord Sun Dianying. Not only were her bones exposed and humiliated, but all the rare treasures buried with her were also looted. The "Lafayette" who enjoyed all the glory and wealth in the world left only a lonely grave for future generations to comment on. Cixi's luck and misfortune
As a woman, Cixi was both lucky and unfortunate.
Her luck was that she achieved a status that was difficult for women of that era. Cixi was not born into an aristocratic family with generations of hairpins and bells and dishes. She was just the daughter of a mid-level flag official at that time. If she hadn't entered the Forbidden City by chance at the draft when she was seventeen, thus setting up a political platform for her to turn things around, how different would her fate be from that of thousands of ordinary girls? Empress Dowager Cixi worked her way up from noble to concubine, and was lucky enough to give birth to Emperor Xianfeng's only prince. As a result, "mother is more valuable than son," and she was named a concubine, noble concubine, and even the empress dowager. "Listening to politics behind the curtain" for forty-seven years.
Cixi was unfortunate again. Her misfortune was that as a wife and mother, she lost her husband when she was young and her son when she was middle-aged. Although she has supreme power and has countless princes and ministers kneeling at her feet to worship her, she cannot get the love from men and women that an ordinary woman can get, nor can she get the children that a normal mother can have, including her children and grandchildren. of happiness. It is difficult for us to imagine how she spent those long days and nights alone in the forbidden palace surrounded by high palace walls.
Just after the New Year in the 16th year of Guangxu (1890), the Empress Dowager Cixi, with a heavy heart, posthumously named the late Horqin Beilenarsu a prince in the name of Emperor Guangxu. When it comes to power, the 55-year-old Empress Dowager Cixi has become the first person in the Qing Dynasty. Countless dignitaries crawl at her feet and do their best to flatter her. Emperor Guangxu is almost a puppet. However, as a woman, Empress Dowager Cixi was unfortunate. Her husband, Emperor Xianfeng, died first when she was 26 years old. During the long and lonely years, she dealt with and struggled with men, living and doing things more and more like men. She dominated the entire China, but lost the happiness and emotions of ordinary women.
However, after many years of silence, a young Mongolian man caused ripples in the backwater of love.
In 1888, it was an early spring day. Empress Dowager Cixi was walking in the Imperial Garden as usual, and Emperor Guangxu also came to greet her as usual. Everything is an all-too-familiar rule. Suddenly, a high-spirited and handsome guard behind Emperor Guangxu caught Cixi's attention.
This person is Narsu. He is the grandson of the famous Zhong Prince Seng Gelinqin.
Senggelinqin was a loyal and brave Mongolian prince in the late Qing Dynasty. He made outstanding contributions to the Qing Dynasty in pacifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army. He also died in the battle to suppress the Nian Army. The Qing court treated Seng Gelinqin's descendants very favorably. Seng Gelinqin's eldest son, Boyannamohu, not only inherited his father's throne, but also served as imperial minister and other positions. He held a high and powerful position. At that time, there was a saying of "Boban Dynasty". Narsu is the eldest son of Boyannamohu. He has lived in Beijing since he was a child. Because of his ability in both civil and military affairs and his handsome appearance, he was first spotted by Emperor Guangxu and selected as his personal bodyguard.
From this chance encounter, Empress Dowager Cixi's dead heart began to stir, and she fell in love with Narsu at first sight. At this time, the Empress Dowager Cixi was at the pinnacle of power. As long as she could get whatever she wanted, Narsu was what she needed. The Empress Dowager Cixi was already in her early fifties, but she still had outstanding feminine charm.
People rely on clothes, and Cixi’s supreme status allowed her to have the most luxurious clothes in China to increase her brilliance. De Ling once recorded in her "Two Years in the Qing Palace": "The yellow satin robe worn by the Queen Mother was embroidered with large red peonies, and the jewels were hung all over the Queen Mother's crown. There were pearl flowers on both sides, and a string of beads on the left. There is a phoenix made of the purest jade in the center. Outside the embroidered robe is a shawl made of 3,500 pearls. The pearls are as big as bird eggs, round and shiny, and they are all the same color and size, with edges. In addition, the Queen Mother also wears two bead bracelets, a pair of jade bracelets and several gemstone rings. On the middle finger and little finger of her right hand, she wears a three-inch long gold finger guard. She wears a jade finger guard of the same length, and there are also necklaces on her shoes, with various gemstones inlaid in the middle."
More importantly, the fact that she stood out among the many concubines of Emperor Xianfeng proved that Cixi was originally a woman. Beautiful women, even as they age, still have a charming aura. An American female painter who came to China in 1903 and painted a portrait of Cixi recalled this: "Cixi's head and shoulders were well-proportioned, and her figure was well-proportioned. Her hands were very beautiful, small and elegant, her facial structure was harmonious and accurate, and her delicate forehead was The black hair is laid flat and divided into two halves, the eyebrows are curved and slender, the bright black eyes are neatly set on the face, the nose is high and wide and vertical to the forehead, the mouth is slightly big, but still beautiful. When the two flexible red lips parted on the strong white teeth, her smile had a rare charm. If I hadn't known that she was nearly 69 years old, I would have regarded her as well-maintained. A 40-year-old woman." Narsu first met Cixi nearly twenty years earlier than this American.
Two men and women with very different ages and identities quickly fell into an emotional whirlpool. The many rules and regulations of the Qing Dynasty court were full of obstacles, and every second of separation between lovers in love was like a year. In order to see her lover more often, the Empress Dowager Cixi first promoted Narsu to the rank of Minister of Internal Affairs and found various reasons to make it easier for him to enter and leave the palace. For example, when it didn't rain for a long time in Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi asked Narsu to pray for rain at the Dragon God Temple in Qingyi Garden where she lived. When the rain came, Narsu was asked to come back to fulfill his wish. However, there are too few such "official affairs". How to stay together more is a huge problem. The clever eunuch Li Lianying understood the pain of the Empress Dowager Cixi's lovesickness and came up with an ingenious way. He declared that in order to nourish her body, the Empress Dowager must drink water from Yuquan Mountain in Beijing. Every night, Li Lianying and several eunuchs personally escorted the water into the palace and brought the water to the palace. Two large water tanks were brought into Cixi's palace. One tank contained water, and the other tank contained Narsu. Li Lianying was the number one celebrity around Cixi, and the palace guards did not dare to check too seriously, so the Empress Dowager Cixi and her young lover could see each other every night. Although no one dared to say anything because of the power of the Empress Dowager Cixi, as time went by, such a major love story soon spread through various channels, and the whole city of Beijing was filled with uproar.
Narsu's father Boyannamohu also heard the news. He also discovered that his son was often away from home at night in the name of being on duty in the palace, and he had long been suspicious, but what happened was so shocking that he couldn't believe it. Later, one time when he went to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi, he saw Narsu sitting and drinking with Cixi. Only then did Boyannamohu realize that those rumors were true, and fear began to surround him.
Boyannamohu’s family has been married to the Aixinjueluo royal family for generations. Senggelinqin’s adoptive mother is the biological sister of Emperor Daoguang. Senggelinqin is the nominal cousin of Emperor Xianfeng and the Empress Dowager Cixi. She is the cousin-in-law of Seng Gelinqin and the ancestor of Narsu. If such an abnormal love that goes against ethics and laws continues to develop, the whole family will inevitably be in disaster.
In early 1900, just as the New Year was approaching, the frightened Boyannamohu finally thought of a solution to the problem. He asked Cixi to give Narsu three months of leave so that he could accompany him back to the country. Horqin grassland worships Seng Gelinqin and other ancestors. Although she was reluctant to give up, Cixi could not refuse such a legitimate reason and had to let Narsu go. After returning home, Boyannamohu forced Narsu to commit suicide because of the safety of the entire family. So after hunting for three days, Narsu broke off the gold bracelet given to him by the Empress Dowager Cixi in front of Seng Gelinqin's tomb. Half of them were thrown in the direction of his lover in Beijing, and the other half of them were swallowed and committed suicide. He was 35 years old at the time.
After a brief period of joy, Cixi once again fell into boundless emotional pain.
The price of having power is that no matter how hard you try, you can never truly have the ordinary feelings of an ordinary woman.
In memory of her lover, Empress Dowager Cixi posthumously awarded Prince Narsu the title of Prince Narsu. A year later, Prince Boyannamohu also died mysteriously. It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi poisoned him to avenge Narsu.
This ambiguous palace secret will naturally not appear in official history. We can only reconstruct such a story based on the simple narrative of Narsu's life in official history, as well as legends from Horqin Grassland and Beijing, as well as the records in "Inner Mongolia Literary and Historical Materials" and "Ankang County Literary and Historical Materials". But in the official history, there are indeed some clues that can confirm that this relationship probably really existed. It is clearly recorded in the "Records of Dezong of the Qing Dynasty" that Narsu was posthumously named a prince after his death. Such treatment was very rare in the Qing Dynasty and did not comply with regulations. The Qing court was very strict in awarding titles. Even someone like Fukang'an, who had outstanding achievements in civil and military affairs, and was even rumored to be the illegitimate son of Emperor Qianlong, was only posthumously named "Prince Jiayong" after his death. As for Narsu, who had not yet achieved any meritorious service, and whose title was only Baylor during his lifetime, he was inexplicably promoted to a prince of infinite honor by leaping through two ranks, which made people suspicious. Perhaps even the Empress Dowager Cixi felt that something was wrong. She meaningfully added at the end of the imperial edict, "This will not be used as an example in the future."
In addition, according to common sense, if the eldest son of a hereditary prince dies before his father, the other sons of the prince will inherit the throne. Narsu died first, and the title of Prince Boduolegatai of Boyannamohu was supposed to be inherited by his other son Wendusu, but was directly inherited by Narsu's son Amullinggui, which is really contrary to common sense.
Perhaps, these are the only compensations Cixi can make to her lover.
Cixi was widowed at the age of 26. In her subsequent life, she experienced power struggles in the former harem, the pain of losing her son, and the threat of national disaster. It is difficult to call her a truly "happy" time. From the time she listened to politics behind the curtain, to today, more than a hundred years later, people have never stopped speculating about this woman's emotional life. From the eunuch Li Lianying and others, to the powerful minister Ronglu, and even the hotel clerk and "crooked nuts", there is almost no trace of this woman's emotional life. There is no foundation, but they are all performed lifelikely, giving Cixi a face distorted by power and desire. But after combing through the official history, the only relationship that can be seen is with this young Mongolian young man who has no meritorious service and is still young. The Cixi in this story is less arrogant and more helpless after struggling hard. After all, she couldn't even save her lover's life.
Why even after becoming a woman at the pinnacle of power, love is just a lie for her.