A Sanctuary from National Trauma
The Summer Palace stood as Empress Dowager Cixi’s cherished retreat, a haven from the painful memories of the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) and the subsequent invasion by the Eight-Nation Alliance. The devastation of the Forbidden City during these events left an indelible mark on the Empress Dowager, who reportedly wept at their recollection. To avoid these painful reminders, she spent most of the year at the Summer Palace, only returning to the Forbidden City during the bitterest winter months when the cold became unbearable.
The Summer Palace’s architecture included an advanced heating system—underground flues that distributed warmth evenly through the chambers without smoke or fumes. Yet Cixi preferred small braziers over this system, leaving the vast halls chilly. Remarkably, she seemed unaffected by the cold, clad in heavy furs and protected within the palace walls. For court officials, however, the winter journeys to the Summer Palace were arduous. Many rose before dawn to travel from Beijing through freezing winds, prompting Cixi’s seasonal return to the Forbidden City as an act of mercy toward her ministers.
The Imperial Procession: A Display of Power
The Empress Dowager’s return to the Forbidden City in December 1903 was a meticulously orchestrated spectacle. The day dawned clear and bright—a phenomenon courtiers called “the Empress’s weather,” akin to Britain’s “Queen’s weather.” The procession included over a hundred eunuchs, imperial guards, and dignitaries, all moving in solemn silence until Cixi’s open palanquin (she disliked enclosed litters) arrived at the gates. The Forbidden City, with its triple walls and towering gates, symbolized cosmic order. Its layout mirrored the celestial Purple Forbidden Enclosure in Chinese astronomy, reinforcing the emperor’s divine mandate.
Notable details:
– Gate Nails: The 81 nails on each gate (9×9, the highest yang number) signified imperial supremacy.
– Guard Quarters: Spartan rooms with heated brick beds (kang) reflected the austere lives of the palace guards.
– Throne Halls: The Hall of Mental Cultivation (养心殿), where Cixi held court behind a yellow silk screen during her regencies, featured innovations like glass windows—a rarity in the 19th century.
Cultural Contrasts: East Meets West
Cixi’s private spaces revealed her eclectic tastes. Her lavishly decorated Buddhist chapel, adorned with gold statues and Tibetan thangkas, contrasted with a surprising portrait of Queen Victoria in her quarters. The Empress Dowager admired Victoria’s longevity and widowhood rule, even comparing their reigns. When her American painter mentioned meeting Victoria, Cixi laughed at the casual accessibility of British royalty—a stark contrast to her own secluded existence.
The Forbidden City’s rigid symmetry and crimson pillars differed sharply from the Summer Palace’s landscaped gardens. As one observer noted, the former embodied state power, while the latter offered “a living painting” of harmony. Yet both shared a paradox: opulence alongside discomfort. Cixi’s portrait studio, initially too dark for painting, required replacing paper windows with glass—a minor modernization that nonetheless demanded her personal approval.
Legacy: Between Tradition and Transition
Cixi’s seasonal migrations underscored her dual role as tradition’s guardian and a reluctant modernizer. Her insistence on ritual—like rejecting a “symbolically inappropriate” dragon bed for her portrait—clashed with pragmatic adaptations, such as adopting glass windows. The Forbidden City, with its beggars fed by palace leftovers and its walls shielding imperial mysteries, mirrored late Qing China: outwardly majestic but straining under internal contradictions.
The Empress Dowager’s final years in these palaces encapsulated an empire at a crossroads. Her Summer Palace escapes and winter rituals preserved imperial dignity even as global forces eroded its foundations. Today, both sites endure as UNESCO World Heritage landmarks, their stones whispering tales of a woman who ruled an ancient realm while gazing—through a Victorian portrait—at a world beyond her grasp.
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