The Rise of a Reluctant Ruler
At 46 years old, Empress Dowager Cixi found herself in a position unprecedented for a woman in Chinese history – wielding imperial power from behind the throne of a child emperor. By this point in her political career, she had effectively become indistinguishable from the emperors who preceded her, though her authority faced unique constraints both from tradition and from the Qing dynasty’s governing structures.
The Qing imperial system, while appearing absolute to outsiders, actually contained numerous checks on the emperor’s power. Even as Manchu ministers addressed the throne with the self-deprecating term “nucai” (slave), governance required cooperation between the monarch and ministers. This interdependence created space for officials to share power through institutions like the Grand Council, the dynasty’s highest decision-making body.
For Cixi, the greatest obstacle to her political ambitions stemmed not from institutional barriers but from her gender. Traditional Confucian values that confined women to domestic roles created invisible walls around her authority. Unlike previous emperors who could openly assert their will, Cixi had to navigate these cultural restrictions carefully. Her approach was gradual – slowly acclimating the court and bureaucracy to female leadership. Only in 1898, after the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform, did she break with precedent by receiving ministers face-to-face rather than from behind the traditional screen. Four more years would pass before she dared receive the wives of Western diplomats at the Forbidden City.
The Fall of Prince Gong and the Rise of Prince Chun
Cixi’s consolidation of power involved the careful removal of potential rivals, most notably Prince Gong (Yixin), who had been instrumental in helping her secure power after the Xianfeng Emperor’s death. Their relationship, spanning 23 years of cooperation and tension, reached its breaking point in 1884 when Cixi dismissed Prince Gong from all his positions. The official pretext – his failure to report French military movements in Tonkin – masked deeper power struggles.
Prince Gong’s quiet acceptance of his dismissal contrasted with his earlier political prominence. Historians remember him as an enigmatic figure who only revealed his true self during crises in 1865 and 1874. His diplomatic skills had stabilized the Qing government during the tumultuous period following the Xianfeng Emperor’s death, and he had worked harmoniously with the empress dowagers – except during rare moments of tension. The disappointment of seeing his son passed over for the throne in favor of his nephew (the future Guangxu Emperor) may have spared him greater political dangers, as Cixi would likely have viewed a father-emperor as a threat.
Prince Gong’s removal paved the way for Prince Chun (Yixuan), Cixiu’s brother-in-law through his marriage to her sister, to rise in influence. Where Prince Gong had been cosmopolitan and reform-minded, Prince Chun initially appeared conservative, particularly after his strong anti-foreign stance during the Tianjin Massacre. Yet his seven years of political ascendancy before his death saw remarkable transformation – he became an advocate for railways, introduced electric lighting to the Forbidden City, and supported Western learning. Cixi praised his supposed humility, but contemporaries saw an ambitious politician consolidating power, including control of the Beijing garrison and imperial tours that expanded his influence.
The Sino-French War and Its Consequences
The complex power dynamics at the Qing court unfolded against the backdrop of growing French imperial ambitions in Southeast Asia. By the 1880s, France had established itself in Tonkin (northern Vietnam), a region historically troubled by refugees from Chinese rebellions like the Taiping. The Black Flag Army, composed of former rebels and outlaws, operated along the border, prompting periodic Qing military interventions.
In 1883, France occupied Tonkin and Vietnam’s capital, forcing the Vietnamese king to turn against his Qing overlords. When Qing protests went unheeded, Cixi used the crisis to purge Prince Gong and several officials, though she stopped short of declaring war. The conflict escalated in 1884 after a disputed agreement between Li Hongzhang and French Captain Fournier led to clashes at Lang Son. In a surprising turn, the usually hawkish Prince Chun advocated restraint, while France avoided its typical naval demonstrations along China’s coast.
The war’s most dramatic moment came at the Fuzhou Shipyard, where French Admiral Courbet destroyed nine Qing wooden warships and coastal batteries in August 1884 with minimal resistance. Western observers like Reverend George Smith condemned the French action, describing how “the corpses floated up and down with the tide…bearing witness to French brutality.” Yet despite public outrage, the Qing government maintained remarkable composure, refusing to declare war even as fighting continued in Tonkin and Taiwan.
The conflict ended in 1885 with the Treaty of Tientsin, where China recognized French control over Vietnam in exchange for a modest indemnity. While considered a diplomatic victory by some, the treaty was widely viewed as humiliating in China. Li Hongzhang faced intense criticism but retained Cixi’s support, as did his protege Zhang Peilun, whose military failures were lightly punished before he married into Li’s family.
Cixi’s Governing Style and Late Qing Challenges
Cixi’s reign during the Guangxu Emperor’s minority saw her relying increasingly on a circle of trusted officials. With Prince Gong removed, she turned to Prince Chun, Li Hongzhang, and the rising star Yuan Shikai, along with powerful provincial officials like Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi. This period (1887-1894) represented a relative high point for late Qing governance – domestic rebellions had been suppressed, foreign wars avoided, and reform-minded officials pursued military modernization.
Yet tensions simmered beneath the surface. Anti-missionary sentiment, visible since 1883, would erupt violently in later years. In Korea, Qing influence under Yuan Shikai’s capable management faced growing challenges from Japan and Russia. Yuan’s bold move of detaining the Korean king’s father (the Daewongun) temporarily stabilized Qing suzerainty, but the geopolitical situation remained precarious.
The Legacy of Cixi’s Rule
Cixi’s political career defied traditional gender roles while simultaneously being constrained by them. Her gradual assertion of authority reflected both the cultural limitations on female power and her own traditional worldview. The removal of Prince Gong demonstrated her willingness to eliminate rivals, yet her cultivation of officials like Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai showed pragmatic recognition of talent.
The Sino-French War revealed the Qing dynasty’s difficult position in the age of imperialism – capable of limited resistance but unable to match Western military technology. Prince Chun’s unexpected moderation and the court’s restrained response to the Fuzhou disaster suggested growing, if reluctant, recognition of geopolitical realities.
Ultimately, Cixi’s reign during the Guangxu era’s early years represented both the possibilities and limitations of late Qing governance. While more stable than previous decades, the empire faced mounting internal and external pressures that would culminate in the disastrous Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) and the Boxer Rebellion. The political system Cixi navigated so skillfully proved increasingly inadequate to meet the challenges of the modern world, setting the stage for China’s revolutionary transformations in the coming century.