I don’t know when Cixi was called "Old Buddha" by the eunuchs, which showed her highest status. From here we can see that in a harem where a woman is in power and in a country where a woman is in power, the dignity of this woman is no less than that of the male emperor. It can be said that Cixi's power level has been compared with Wu Zetian's strength. In addition, Wu Zetian also has his own name, Lafayette.
It is recorded in the field records: "One day, the Empress Dowager Cixi was in a bad mood because of a small matter. The eunuch Li Lianying was very anxious, but he was very good at going to Cixi, so he said that our ancestors were not anxious and did not Being angry is not in a good mood. Don't be angry, don't be angry. I called you Lafayette." In this way, Cixi was amused. Later, "Lafayette" became the proper name of Empress Cixi. Not only the eunuchs and servants in the palace were called this, but later it spread to the palace, and everyone else was the same.
Another theory is that Cixi prayed for Tathagata Buddha. Due to the lack of rain in the capital, Cixi mobilized priests to pray for rain like the Buddha. Cixi prayed for rain for three days, and then the rain came, so Li Lianying took the opportunity to flatter Cixi and said that Cixi was really the "old Buddha." Cixi was very happy, so the old Buddha became the "Old Buddha". Cixi was the only woman who dared to use the title "Old Buddha" in the Qing Dynasty because Cixi was in power. So the ministers were asked to name her "Lafayette".
Based on the Empress Dowager Cixi's "great contribution" to the country, the ministers jointly fulfilled the request of joint memorial and gave the title of Lao Buddha to Empress Cixi, calling it "Cixi's The old Buddha, or the Queen Mother’s old Buddha”. So Emperor Guangxu approved it, and Cixi became the "Old Buddha".
In fact, no matter what the term is, Cixi likes the title of "Old Buddha". It can be seen from the fact that she asked the ministers to call her "Lafayette" that she actually wanted to be the emperor and Wu Zetian. But in many cases it was different from the Wu Zetian dynasty. So she gave up and only used the emperor's nickname to give herself some psychological comfort.