The relationship between Cixi and the five emperors Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Puyi can be described in one sentence: Cixi is the daughter-in-law of Emperor Daoguang, the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng, and the biological mother of Emperor Tongzhi. , the aunt of Emperor Guangxu, and the aunt of Emperor Xuantong Puyi. Although the relationship is very simple, in fact the relationship between them is very complicated.
1. Emperor Daoguang
Emperor Daoguang was the 8th emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The decline of the Qing Dynasty began with Emperor Daoguang. During the reign of Emperor Daoguang, the famous incident occurred in 1840 AD During the Sino-British Opium War, the Qing Dynasty was defeated, and the European and American powers began to open the door to the Qing Dynasty. It also meant that the Qing Dynasty began to enter a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
In the same year, Emperor Daoguang’s queen Niu Colu passed away. Niu Colu was the third queen of Emperor Daoguang. She gave birth to a son for Emperor Daoguang, named Aixinjueluo Yi. He was the later Emperor Xianfeng. In 1850, the 69-year-old Emperor Daoguang died of illness. According to the secret establishment system of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Daoguang during his lifetime appointed his fourth son Yi Chi as his successor.
One year after the death of Emperor Daoguang, the largest uprising in the history of the Qing Dynasty broke out - the Taiping Rebellion. Two years after the death of Emperor Daoguang, Yehenala (Cixi) entered the harem of Emperor Xianfeng through a draft. , the rule of the Qing Dynasty is that all Eight Banners women must go through a draft before they can get married. The emperor will first choose one. Those who are selected can enter the harem, and those who are not selected can marry others.
Although Cixi is the daughter-in-law of Emperor Daoguang, the two have no direct relationship. Cixi's entry into the harem has nothing to do with Emperor Daoguang. The two have not even met.
2. Emperor Xianfeng
Emperor Xianfeng was the 9th emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and also the emperor with the worst luck. Emperor Xianfeng's ability was no worse than that of Emperor Jiaqing and Emperor Daoguang, and Xianfeng The intensity of reforms in this dynasty was also stronger than that of the Jiaqing and Daoguang dynasties. However, during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, he not only experienced the largest Taiping Rebellion in the Qing Dynasty, but also the Second Opium War broke out, led by the British and French forces. In Beijing, they looted and burned the Old Summer Palace, and then forced the Qing government headed by Emperor Xianfeng to sign a series of unequal treaties.
In addition to a series of internal and external turmoil during Emperor Xianfeng's reign, more importantly, he favored the Yehenala family, which changed all subsequent history of the Qing Dynasty and made all Qing emperors after Xianfeng without real power. , politics are all controlled in the hands of the Yehenala clan, which is probably something Xianfeng would never have thought of.
In 1852, the 17-year-old Yehenala entered the harem due to a draft. Two years later, the 19-year-old Yehenala was named a concubine by Emperor Xianfeng. This shows that Xianfeng had a deep love for Yehenala. In the Qing Dynasty, there were 8 levels of concubines in the Qing Dynasty, namely: queen, imperial concubine, concubine, concubine, concubine, noble, permanent, and official daughter. As soon as Yehenala entered the palace, she was given the title of noble. She was promoted to concubine in two years. Four years later, she gave birth to Emperor Daoguang's only son Aixinjueluo Zaichun. Five years later, she was promoted to Concubine Yi, second only to Emperor Xianfeng's favorite queen Niu Hulu (later Empress Dowager Ci'an).
Starting from Emperor Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, it became the norm for emperors to have no children. Emperor Xianfeng’s father, Daoguang, had seven adult sons. By the time Emperor Xianfeng had only one adult son, there was no need to choose an heir. However, Xianfeng The emperors after him, including Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Xuantong, had no sons.
Precisely because Emperor Xianfeng had only one son, and this son was Yehenala, and the mother was more valuable than the son, Emperor Xianfeng paid special attention to Yehenala. Not only that, Emperor Xianfeng was frail and sick in his later years. Allowing Yehenala to participate in politics and approving memorials on her behalf increased Yehenala's (Cixi) desire to enter politics and laid the fuse for her harem to interfere in politics.
In a sense, Emperor Xianfeng is somewhat similar to Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty. They both allowed the queen or his favorite concubine to participate in politics, and then he was frail and sick, providing the harem with the conditions and platform to interfere in politics. , although their original intention was not so, it provoked Cixi's ambition to become a political official.
Cixi is the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng. What is even more special is that Cixi is the biological mother of Emperor Xianfeng’s only son and the biological mother of the next emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Although Xianfeng’s Empress Ci Empress Dowager An was still alive, but compared with Cixi, Ci'an's status was still inferior to Cixi.
3. Emperor Tongzhi
Emperor Tongzhi was Cixi’s biological son, named Aixinjueluo Zaichun. A few days after Emperor Xianfeng’s death, Empress Dowager Cixi joined forces with Empress Dowager Ci’an. , Prince Gong Yixin, and Prince Chunjun Yixuan launched the Xinyou Coup, overthrowing the eight ministers Gu Ming selected by Emperor Xianfeng during his lifetime, and overturned Emperor Xianfeng's last order. Starting from the year of Xianfeng's death in 1861, until Cixi 1908 After his death in 2001, Empress Dowager Cixi controlled the Qing Dynasty for 47 years.
After the success of Xinyou's coup, the empress dowagers of Cixi and Ci'an began to listen to politics behind the curtain. At this time, Emperor Tongzhi, who had just succeeded, was only 6 years old. Until Emperor Tongzhi was 17 years old, the empress dowagers of the two palaces would let Tongzhi The emperor got married and took charge of the government. However, just over a year later, Emperor Tongzhi died of illness at the age of 19. It is said that the cause of death was smallpox.
Cixi has such a son, so of course she attaches great importance to it. When choosing a wife for Emperor Tongzhi to get married, Cixi and Ci'an chose different candidates. Cixi also specifically let Tongzhi choose by himself, which can be regarded as giving Emperor Tongzhi a certain right to choose. autonomy, but at the same time Cixi and Ci'an also intervened in some politics. For example, Emperor Tongzhi wanted to build the Old Summer Palace and dismissed all the important officials who opposed him. However, the Queen Mother of the Canyon Palace came forward to stop this.
But Cixi never thought that Emperor Tongzhi could only live 19 years old, and Emperor Tongzhi did not have a son at this time, which meant that he had to choose another successor. The successor chosen by Cixi was the later Emperor Guangxu.
4. Emperor Guangxu
The name of Emperor Guangxu is Aixinjueluo Zaitian. His father is Prince Chun Yixuan, who also assisted Cixi in the Xinyou coup. One, Emperor Guangxu’s mother was Yehenara Wanzhen, who was Cixi’s biological sister. Cixi was also Emperor Guangxu’s aunt. Cixi has a younger sister and three younger brothers, of whom she is the eldest.
Why did Cixi choose Zaitian as his successor?
There are three main reasons: First, Zai Tan’s father, Prince Chun Yixuan, is the seventh son of Emperor Daoguang. Zai Tan and Emperor Tongzhi are both grandsons of Emperor Daoguang and are authentic royals; second, Cixi Cixi's sister is Zai Tian's mother. Cixi is related to Zai Tian. After all, it is better for her relatives to be the emperor than for outsiders. Third, Cixi wanted to continue to control the government and wanted to establish a young emperor for easier control. At that time, Zai Tian Chan is only 4 years old.
Cixi personally selected Zai Tan, and the objections of the military minister were in vain. Even Zai Tan's father, Prince Chun Yixuan, burst into tears after hearing the news, and still could not stop Ci Xi. It was settled that Zai Tan (Emperor Guangxu) legally became the son of the Empress Dowager Cixi.
After Guangxu ascended the throne as the emperor, the affairs of the government were still controlled by the two queen mothers. After the death of Empress Dowager Ci'an in 1881, the affairs of the government were controlled by Empress Dowager Cixi alone. Cixi had very strict control over Emperor Guangxu, and Emperor Guangxu almost Equivalent to Cixi's puppet, she has no independent power. Although in name, Emperor Guangxu took charge of the government at the age of 17 in 1887, but unlike the period of Emperor Tongzhi, Empress Dowager Cixi still "tutored the government" after Guangxu took charge. Interfering in government affairs is naked interference.
So even though Emperor Guangxu wanted to implement a series of reforms, as long as they were not in line with Cixi's wishes, they almost always failed. For example, the famous Reform Movement of 1898 failed because of Cixi's intervention. Cixi controlled Guangxu almost In all respects, Guangxu's queen was also chosen by Cixi, who was later Empress Dowager Longyu. This Empress Dowager Longyu was the daughter of Cixi's younger brother, who was also Cixi's niece.
The death of Emperor Guangxu was also related to Cixi. After subsequent research, Emperor Guangxu was confirmed to have died of arsenic poisoning. Who would use arsenic to kill Guangxu? Everyone knows that Emperor Guangxu and Cixi both died in 1908. The dates of their deaths were only one day apart. Moreover, Emperor Guangxu died first and Cixi died later.
5. Emperor Xuantong
Before her death, Cixi selected Aisin Gioro Puyi as the successor after Emperor Guangxu. Puyi was the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Xuantong. Puyi's father is the regent Zaifeng. Zaifeng and Guangxu Emperor Zaiyan are half-brothers. Puyi is the nephew of Emperor Guangxu.
Pu Yi’s mother is Su Wanguarjia, his grandfather is Prince Chun Yixuan, and his grandmother is Liu Jia. Empress Dowager Cixi’s sister Wanzhen and Liu Jia are both Yixuan’s wives and concubines. Cixi was Puyi's nominal aunt. After Guangxu's death, Puyi was adopted to Emperor Tongzhi and Emperor Guangxu at the same time. Legally, Puyi was the identical son of Emperor Tongzhi and Emperor Guangxu, and he was also Cixi's grandson.
This relationship seems quite complicated, which was artificially complicated by Cixi. The most important thing is that Cixi made her niece Longyu the legal mother of Puyi, and then asked Longyu to follow her example and listen to politics behind the curtain. Let his relatives continue to control the Qing Dynasty after his death. The final abdication of the Qing Dynasty was also promulgated in the hands of Queen Mother Longyu.