The Turbulent Origins of the Boxer Movement The Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) emerged from the volatile intersection of rural discontent, anti-foreign […]
A Throne of Shadows: The Rise and Fall of Emperor Guangxu The late 19th century marked one of the most […]
The Precarious Throne: Qing Dynasty at the Crossroads The late 19th century found China’s Qing Dynasty in a state of […]
The Dawn of Reform in Late Qing China The summer of 1898 marked a pivotal moment in China’s long imperial […]
The Delicate Balance of Power in Late Qing China In early 1898, the Qing dynasty stood at a crossroads. The […]
The Reluctant Retreat of a Reigning Empress In 1887, the 17-year-old Guangxu Emperor reached the age at which Empress Dowager […]
The Fragile Balance After the Tongzhi Emperor’s Death The death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875 marked a critical juncture […]
The Crisis of Succession in the Late Qing Dynasty The death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875 marked a pivotal […]
The Twilight of the Tongzhi Reign In November 1872, a pivotal moment arrived for China’s Qing Dynasty. The two empress […]
The Qing Dynasty at a Crossroads By 1873, the Qing Dynasty found itself caught between centuries of Confucian tradition and […]
The Origins of China’s Eunuch System The eunuch system in China traces its roots back over two thousand years to […]
The Fragile Throne: Qing China in Crisis The mid-19th century marked one of the most turbulent periods in Qing Dynasty […]
The Coup of 1861 and the Foundations of Power The suppression of the Zaichang rebellion marked a pivotal moment in […]
The Ailing Emperor and the Rise of the Regents In the spring of 1861, the Xianfeng Emperor contemplated returning to […]
A Nation in Crisis: The Road to the Second Opium War The mid-19th century marked a period of profound upheaval […]
The Ancient Roots of the Yehenara Clan The Yehenara tribe stands as one of the oldest lineages within the Manchu […]
A Brush with History: The St. Louis Exposition Commission In the wake of the successful St. Louis World’s Fair of […]
A Historic Commission: Painting the Empress In the spring of 1904, an extraordinary cultural exchange unfolded within the walls of […]
A Portrait Steeped in Cosmic Timing In the spring of 1904, within the marble pavilions of Beijing’s Three Seas (Sanhai) […]
A Reign of Contradictions: The Historical Context of Cixi’s Rule Emerging from the shadows of the Xianfeng Emperor’s death in […]
From Noble Birth to the Forbidden City Contrary to popular myths portraying Empress Dowager Cixi as a low-born Han Chinese […]
The Historical Roots of Heaven Worship in China China’s religious landscape has long been shaped by three dominant traditions: Buddhism, […]