empress
The Empress was the official spouse of the emperor.
Empresses were usually chosen by the precedent Emperor and his advisors, not by the Emperor himself. The choice was made on the base of political and economic advantages. The future Empress would be the daughter of one of the most noble and rich clans of the Chinese aristocracy.
Usually the process of selection happened when the girl was in a very young age, if not even before her birth. As soon as the choice was made, the future Royal Spouse would move to live in the Forbidden City to be raised and educated by the Ladies of the palace, until she would be of age to marry.
After the marriage her most important role would be that of provide a successor to the dynasty. Her son would usually become the Crown Prince and future Emperor, with some exceptions, since many Qing emperors decided to designate as successor any of his many male sons. In any way, even if her natural son couldn't become emperor, she would became Empress Dowager, since all children of the emperor were said also to be the children of the Empress, regardless of birth mother.
The Empress didn't have any decisional power regarding the state affairs, but was the Head of the Inner Palace. She would dictate the rules of the life in the Palace and have a prominent role above the other Emperor's wives, the royal concubines.
It was generally not possible for a woman to succeed to the throne and in the history of China there has only been one reigning Empress, Wu Zetian (624–705 CE) who usurped power under the Tang dynasty.
Many women, however, did become de facto leaders, usually as Empress Dowager. A prominent examples is the Empress Dowager Cixi, mother of the Tongzhi Emperor (1861–1874), and aunt and adoptive mother of the Guangxu Emperor (1874–1908), who ruled China for 47 years (1861–1908).
Who were the most powerful Empresses in the history of China?
Empresses were usually chosen by the precedent Emperor and his advisors, not by the Emperor himself. The choice was made on the base of political and economic advantages. The future Empress would be the daughter of one of the most noble and rich clans of the Chinese aristocracy.
Usually the process of selection happened when the girl was in a very young age, if not even before her birth. As soon as the choice was made, the future Royal Spouse would move to live in the Forbidden City to be raised and educated by the Ladies of the palace, until she would be of age to marry.
After the marriage her most important role would be that of provide a successor to the dynasty. Her son would usually become the Crown Prince and future Emperor, with some exceptions, since many Qing emperors decided to designate as successor any of his many male sons. In any way, even if her natural son couldn't become emperor, she would became Empress Dowager, since all children of the emperor were said also to be the children of the Empress, regardless of birth mother.
The Empress didn't have any decisional power regarding the state affairs, but was the Head of the Inner Palace. She would dictate the rules of the life in the Palace and have a prominent role above the other Emperor's wives, the royal concubines.
It was generally not possible for a woman to succeed to the throne and in the history of China there has only been one reigning Empress, Wu Zetian (624–705 CE) who usurped power under the Tang dynasty.
Many women, however, did become de facto leaders, usually as Empress Dowager. A prominent examples is the Empress Dowager Cixi, mother of the Tongzhi Emperor (1861–1874), and aunt and adoptive mother of the Guangxu Emperor (1874–1908), who ruled China for 47 years (1861–1908).
Who were the most powerful Empresses in the history of China?
Wu Zetian (624-705)
Was the only female in Chinese history to rule as emperor. To some she was an autocrat, ruthless in her desire to gain and keep power. To others she, as a woman doing a "man's job," merely did what she had to do, and acted no differently than most male emperors of her day. They also note that she managed to effectively rule China during one of its more peaceful and culturally diverse periods. The Tang dynasty (618-906 AD) was a time of relative freedom for women. So it is no surprise that Wu, born into a rich and noble family, was taught to play music, write, and read the Chinese classics. By thirteen years of age she was known for her wit, intelligence, and beauty, and was recruited to the court of Emperor Tai Tsung. She soon became his favorite concubine. But she also had eyes for his son, Kao Tsung. When the emperor died and Kao Tsung took over, Wu was now twenty seven years old. In time she became a favorite concubine of the new emperor, giving birth to the sons he wanted. As mother of the future emperor of China, she grew in power. She managed to eliminate Kao Tsung's wife, Empress Wang, by accusing her of killing Wu's newborn daughter. Kao Tsung believed Wu, and replaced Empress Wang to marry the up and coming Wu Zetian. Within five years of their marriage, Emperor Kao Tsung suffered a crippling stroke. The Empress Wu took over the administrative duties of the court, a position equal to the emperor. She created a secret police force to spy on her opposition, and cruelly jailed or killed anyone who stood in her way, including the unfortunate Empress Wang. With the death of Emperor Kao Tsung, Wu managed to outflank her eldest sons and moved her youngest, and much weaker son, into power. She in effect ruled, telling him what to do. In 690, Wu's youngest son removed himself from office, and Wu Zetian was declared emperor of China. In spite of her ruthless climb to power, her rule proved to be benign. She found the best people she could to run the government, and treated those she trusted fairly. She reduced the army's size and stopped the influence of aristocratic military men on government by replacing them with scholars. Everyone had to compete for government positions by taking exams, thus setting the practice of government run by scholars. Wu also was fair to peasants, lowering oppressive taxes, raising agricultural production, and strengthening public works. |
Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908)
Mother of the Tongzhi emperor (reigned 1861–75), adoptive mother of the Guangxu emperor (reigned 1875–1908), was a towering presence over the Chinese empire for almost half a century. Ruling through a clique of conservative, corrupt officials and maintaining authority over the Manchu imperial house (Qing dynasty, 1644–1911/12), she became one of the most powerful women in the history of China. Cixi was one of the Xianfeng emperor’s low-ranking concubines, but in 1856 she bore his only son. On Xianfeng’s death, the six-year-old boy became the Tongzhi emperor, and state business was put in the hands of a regency council of eight elder officials. A few months later, after Gong Qinwang (Prince Gong), the former emperor’s brother, was victorious in a palace coup, the regency was transferred to Cixi and Xianfeng’s former senior consort, Ci’an.
Under this triumviral rule (but largely under Prince Gong’s leadership), the government entered a temporary period of revitalization. Schools were created for the study of foreign languages, a modern customs service was instituted, Western-style arsenals were constructed, and the first Chinese foreign service office was installed. Internally, an effort was made to end governmental corruption and to recruit men of talent. Although the regency was terminated in 1873 after the Tongzhi emperor attained maturity, Cixi’s involvement in state affairs continued. Following Tongzhi’s death, Cixi’s three-year-old nephew (whom she had adopted) was named the new heir. The two empress dowagers continued to act as regents, but after Ci’an’s sudden death in 1881, Cixi became the sole holder of the office. In 1889 Cixi nominally relinquished control over the government to retire to the magnificent summer palace she had rebuilt northwest of Beijing. However, in 1898, a few years after the shocking defeat of the Chinese forces in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), the young Guangxu emperor, under the influence of a group of reformers, put through a number of radical proposals designed to renovate and modernize the Chinese government and to eliminate corruption. But conservative officials, who again used the military to institute a coup, collected around Cixi. The new reforms were reversed, and Cixi resumed the regency. Most historians believe that China’s last chance for peaceful change thus ended. The following year Cixi began to back those officials who were encouraging the anti-foreign Boxer rebels. In 1900 the Boxer Rebellion reached its peak; some 100 foreigners were killed, and the foreign legations in Beijing were surrounded. However, a coalition of foreign troops soon captured the capital, and Cixi was forced to flee the city and accept humiliating peace terms. Returning to Beijing in 1902, she finally began to implement many of the innovations that had been reversed in 1898, although the Guangxu emperor no longer participated in the government. The day before Cixi died, Guangxu’s death was announced. Since then, it was generally believed that the emperor had been poisoned, but that fact was not substantiated until 2008 when a report was issued by Chinese researchers and police officials confirming that the emperor had been deliberately poisoned with arsenic. Although the report did not address who may have ordered his death—and there never has been any hard evidence of culpability—suspicion long has pointed toward the Empress Dowager. |