Empress Dowager Cixi Research Paper
The Demonization of Empress Dowager Cixi
Empress Dowager Cixi effectively ruled over the Qing Dynasty (modern day China) for 47 years, from 1861 until her death in 1908. In a time when the Celestial Empire was crumbling, she pulled the strings of her puppet emperors and held it together as best she could but has been made a scapegoat by historians for matters that were out of her control. Republicans have also used the Empress Dowager as a scapegoat to discredit the dynasty after its fall. In reality, the Empress Dowager had many successes during her reign; China had its first victory in modern diplomacy at the Treaty of Saint Petersburg in 1881, modernisation of the Imperial Army and founding a national naval force, she set out a plan to combat
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For over 2000 years, China had operated under strict Confucian doctrines. In Confucianism, women are seen as inferior to men and the sexism that was rife in China can be clearly seen in the traditional characters of Chinese, where the characters for “greedy” (貪婪) , “dislike” (嫌), “evil” (妖) and “slave” (奴隸) all include the character for “female” (女). In 2000 years, 20 imperial dynasties and 557 emperors, only three women have ruled; Empress Lu in the 2nd century BC, Empress Wu in the 7thcentury AD and Empress Dowager Cixi in the 19th century AD. Like Empress Dowager Cixi, Empress Wu experienced extreme vilification after her death. Alicia Little of The Times believed that “future ages will hold the Empress Dowager in even greater horror than Empress Wu”. For the first 41 years of her reign, she was required to sit behind a yellow silk screen during the royal audiences because of Confucian teachings promoting the segregation of genders. Empress Dowager Cixi could be seen as an early feminist as she started the women’s liberation in China. In 1902 she issued a decree banning the barbaric tradition of foot binding which had been deforming women’s feet for centuries and in 1907 she decreed that women should, for the first time in China’s history, officially receive an
Empress Wu Influence On Government
2409 Words | 10 PagesIn contrary previously, “the government officials and officers were chosen from the families of nobility, and generally through official recommendations” and Empress Wu carried on the tradition of the Tang Dynasty of skill over connection when receiving a job or a promotion. This proved that she believed in merit of a government and wanted the best for the Chinese government and the Chinese people. The ideas of merit within a government were an honorable act of a leader. However, many nobles did not like the ideas of meritocracy in the government, especially when the orders on how the government was going to run was coming from a woman. Many of the noble people believed that Empress Wu was trying to crush families with a good name, money, and connections.
Queen Nefertiti Research Paper
1008 Words | 5 PagesWhat were some of the historical events associated with your individual? Queen Nefertiti was a very powerful woman and she ruled Egypt as queen with her husband Pharaoh Akhenaten from 1353 to 1336 BC. Queen Nefertitit was also known as chief wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten She ruled for 12 years and was queen in the 14th century BC. She was born in Thebes, Egypt and she is said to have died around 1331 BC.
Grand Duchess Anastasia Research Paper
895 Words | 4 PagesBorn on the 18th of June, 1901. The Grand Duchess Anastasia was the fourth daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. She had three older sisters and one younger brother, Anastasia was a well known trickster and troublemaker and she stood out amongst her family her kind nature and wild heart showed during World War I helping out the injured soldiers by keeping them company, through reading and games. Her personality is why she was believed to have been the survivor of the Romanov family line.
Han China Dbq Analysis
1148 Words | 5 PagesWomen in both cultures were considered subordinate. They were expected to follow after their husbands, all while being respectful, executing wifely orders/duties and overall, playing their role in society. While the preceding traits varied slightly between the two countries, women in the Han Dynasty, unlike Athenian women, were granted the gift of humility if they were to abide by their husbands wishes and commands. “…if a woman lacked these three traits, she will have no name to preserve and will not be able to avoid shame” (Document R). If a woman in the Han Dynasty were to follow the traits and values, as presented in Ban Zhao’s “Admonitions for Girls” then she would be able to avoid shame and achieve a state of
Han China Dbq
760 Words | 4 PagesIn document Q, Aristotle is quoted saying “[t]he courage of a man is seen in commanding, of a woman in obeying.” This is a very similar idea that the Han empire employed, with the women simply being a helper to the man. Document R kind of agrees with document Q, saying “[t]here has never been a woman who had [humility, industriousness, and the ability to continue the sacrifices] and yet ruined her reputation or fell into disgrace.” Both of these documents agree on the fact that a woman is only a part of a man’s life to serve him and keep his house and family in order. The two empires did not give women many rights and believed they were there to serve the
Queen Liuokalani Essay
800 Words | 4 PagesThroughout history there have been many Queens. All over the world, many monarchies had an influence on their people. Such was the same during the 19th century in Hawaii. Before the United States took over, was Queen Liliuokalani. Queen Liliuokalani may be called a hero if we define the term as a person who, endowed with extraordinary qualities of heart and mind, determined to achieve a near impossible goal to restore monarchy powers and succeeds in the face of serious opposition against the United States.
Han Dynasty Gender Roles
845 Words | 4 PagesThroughout our ancient history, women have portrayed various different roles in different ancient civilizations. Whether it was taking care of their children and men at home, working in the fields, or doing hard labor, these women shaped the way women act, and the roles they portray today. The Han Dynasty was one of those ancient civilization where women portrayed different roles. During the Han Dynasty, which lasted from about 206 BCE to 220 CE, women led very limited lives as compared to men, similarly to many other ancient civilizations (Bowman). They were viewed as the bottom of the power hierarchy in addition to the gender hierarchy.
Summary Of Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters Of China
1083 Words | 5 PagesIn the book Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang, the author talks about the stories of her grandmother and mother as well as herself during their journeys as women in China. The book discusses how gender roles, political ideology, and economic ideology in China change over time. During the entirety of Chinese history, many changes and continuities transpired and had crucial impacts on China. However, a great amount of change occurred during the time period from the 1900s to present day. These changes and continuities incorporate happenings in areas concerning the treatment of women, political structure, and economic capacity.
Women In The Song Dynasty
1192 Words | 5 PagesConfucian ideas highlight the need to have a heir, thus the Emperor need to be sexually active, which explains the very large number of women in the inner court. However, according to Confucian ideals, the Emperor was not supposed to retain any pleasure from this encounters. therefore leading to a paradox hard to overcome by the Emperor and even harder to enforce by the outer court officials depute their moral concerns. Song women were also granted for the first time considerable legal rights. In fact, Song Dynasty is seen as a high point for women property point in China, further challenging Confucian traditional patrilinality.
The Woman Warrior Quotes With Page Numbers
647 Words | 3 PagesIn The Woman Warrior, it states that “Women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil” (6). This quote shows the interpersonal relationships that enforce the ideology of women being inferior to men. Women in China didn’t get to choose their paths. They were forced into adultery if a man wanted them, which could even be along the lines of rape.
Similarities Between Tang And Song Dynasties
1151 Words | 5 PagesThroughout Chinese history before the Tang and Song dynasties, the daily lives of women and issues from their perspective have not been adequately recorded, due to a male dominated society. However, from the Tang to the Song dynasty, visual and material sources appear which further explains the status of women in society, cultural values, but most importantly, examples of acts of courage, selflessness, and strength. The discussion of women starting with the Tang dynasty is especially important since this is the start of open-mindedness and liberal ideas resulting in women in politics, a woman as empress, and even freedom of expression through poetry and art. However, once shifting to the Song dynasty, the status of women declined further in
China's Last Empire William Rowe Summary
1046 Words | 5 PagesChina’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. William T. Rowe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 360 pages including Emperors and Dynasties, Pronunciation Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index, Maps and Figures.
Comparison Of Women In Mesopotamian Society
1261 Words | 6 PagesDifferent societies view women in different lights. Therefore, a woman’s position is greatly different from one society to the other. The societies in question do not necessarily have to exist at the same time. Even in the same time frame, two societies could exist, where one treat women as equals to men, and another that treats women differently than men, whether better or worse. The societies in question are: Mesopotamia, Greece, China, Rome & Europe, and this essay aims to study different societies’ viewpoints on women, and to compare and contrast them against each other.
China's Self Strengthening Movement
1191 Words | 5 PagesAnalyse the reasons for, and the consequences of, China’s attempt to modernise and overcome its weaknesses in the period 1862 to 1864. From 1861 to 1895, China began a self-strengthening movement to modernise by adopting foreign ideas to improve their political, military, and economic state. The main reason for this was to defend themselves against future threats, from both external and internal forces. In addition, the Tongzhi Restoration from 1860 to 1874, was also a part of the self-strengthening movement, put in place with the purpose of reviving the Qing dynasty’s fading powers and halting dynastic decline. However, the movement met with limited success, due to the entrenched social-cultural ethos of the Chinese people, and the failure
Virtuous Women In Ancient China
1542 Words | 7 PagesChinese women suffer from the unfair notion for thousands of years. The basic requirements of being virtuous women are “Three Obediences and Four Virtues (三从四德)”. The “Three Obediences” were “obey your father before marriage (未嫁从父); obey your husband when married (既嫁从夫); and obey your sons in widowhood (夫死从子)”. And the “Four Virtues” were “Female virtues (妇德)”, “Female words (妇言)”, “Female appearances (妇容)” and “Female work (妇功)”. (Sun, 2015).
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