Dowager Empress Cixi: The Matriarch of Pre-Modern China
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มิ.ย. 2024
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Source/Further reading:
Britannica, overview: www.britannica.com/biography/...
Great History Chicks podcast on Cixi: thehistorychicks.com/episode-1...
NY Review of Books, detailed review of biography on Cixi: www.nybooks.com/articles/2013...
National Geographic, overview: www.nationalgeographic.com/hi...
Smithsonian Magazine, some details: www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
If you'd like to try out Brilliant for free and get 20% off a year of STEM learning, click the link in the description down below or visit: www.brilliant.org/biographics
Greetings from Canada 🇨🇦
Hey love your work and listen to daily while working. I’m not sure if you’ve been asked before but I was hoping you’d consider doing longer videos on historical figures. Can’t get enough of your videos and the only thing I’m left wanting is even more information on these great individuals
@@NickCADA jjh
How about a biographics episode on Emily Pankhurst???
4:36 you sound like you malfunctioned
“Absurd face to face game of ‘Hot or Not’” 😂 Simon, I always look forward to your hilarious commentary. I love learning from your channel! 😊
That's why Simon makes the big bucks :)
1:30 - Chapter 1 - Chaos empire
5:25 - Chapter 2 - Imperial games
9:35 - Mid roll ads
11:00 - Chapter 3 - Battle tendency
15:15 - Chapter 4 - The great reformer
19:30 - Chapter 5 - Farewell my love
23:05 - Chapter 6 - The righteous & harmonious fists
Does anyone go straight to the mid roll ads?
“Whoever makes me unhappy for a day, I will make suffer a lifetime”
Cixi
mood
Great Britain, France, Japan, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, italy: Challenge accepted sweetie 😘
she held the empire together with her bare hands, but her grip was so tight no one could get in to patch the cracks
I loved this! I did a term paper on her in my Chinese & Russian History class when I was a high school senior, 78-79. She was quite intimidating!
Great schooling. I learned about her much later. Years after an history degree.
Where/in what country did you attend highschool??
In the summer of 1905, Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice was part of a American Diplomatic Delegation touring the Far East. When it reached China, Miss Roosevelt was granted a private audience with the Dowager Empress who looked upon the young woman as a fellow royal due to her status as the daughter of America's "Ruler" Impressed by the self assuredness of her guest, Cixi decided to demonstrate her power by having an underling prostrate himself before them under pain of death. Miss Roosevelt was said to have been suitably impressed.
People just had more swag back then.
Alice was a badass in her own right. Power respects power it seems
Well, turns out women are just as nauseating as men when it comes to power.
Less and less reason to vote for them.
Alice would like that, now wouldn't she?
Sorry I don't get the story. An empress got an underling to prostate themselves? Why is that extraordinary?
Hey Simon, can you please *PLEASE* cover the life of Guillaume Legentil? French amateur scientist in the 18th Century, he had a hilarious series of bad luck in his life and in his avid quest to contribute to science: He missed the biggest collective scientific event in history out of sheer bad luck, spent years abroad to wait for the next iteration of this event, which he missed AGAIN, came back to France after decades only to find out none of the letters he sent home since he left ever arrived, that he had been declared dead in abstentia and had to go to trial to prove that he was actually himself, WHICH HE LOST! And still his name is written on the Eiffel tower, along with the most prominent scientists in history.
That would be a really cool lighter episode!
For an excellent biography of Cixi, read “Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China” by Jung Chang. It covers everything presented in this video but with more detail.
I am fascinated with Cixi. Thank you for the recommendation
@@bayernfanladyl1879 You’re welcome. She was a fascinating lady.
Was was a backwards smooth brain goon.
@@saltedslug7954 lmao what
Except that she (Empress Cixi) didn't "launch modern China"; she was opposed to all things modern, as she feared that modernity would sideline her hold onto power!
That was a super interesting an inspiring video. In my opinion ppl of power are often judged without taking enough of the many variables that can come into play with decision making. Like the times they lived in, being human an how dealing with emotions can have a effect on how you make decisions, and how you can never know what was going on behind the scenes that can play a huge role in how someone may feel. It’s easy to look back an judge. It’s harder to look back an empathize trying to understand to put urself closer to the situation and being in that person’s position. Thanks for the content!
One thing is for sure though, if the ruling Manchu Elite didn't treat the Han Chinese so poorly maybe the Qing dynasty could've survived a little longer...many of those uprisings such as the Taiping Rebellion were a result of how poorly the Manchus treated all the other ethnic groups in China
Just a heads up, "May you live in interesting times" was once believed widely to be Chinese, now it's pretty well confirmed it was always an English saying, and attributed to Chinese within the time when everyone was in love with Confucius.
The concubine selection reminds me of an opening sequence in the film, "The Emperor's New Groove;" i.e., the emperor reviewing a line-up of girls and quoting: "Ummm, not likely; hate your hair; yikes; yikes; yikes; and, let me guess, you have a great personality." 😄
I’ve been waiting for more people to talk about this very important figure in Chinese history.
Love the work guys! Any chance of a video about Angus MacAskill, Queen Victoria's strongman? Guy was crazy strong
You should do an episode on Carmena Burana, the 12th century collection of naughty songs written by monks. It was discovered in the 19th century. Despite being written by monks, the songs are about sex, drinking, dancing in the forest, gambling, Pagan gods, and one about a 10-hour lovemaking session with Venus. Why the monks would have written such songs is a mystery, but certainly a intriguing and rather fun mystery. The composer Carl Orff put 25 of the 254 songs to music, including “O Fortuna,” the ominous song that has been featured in many movies and TV shows. It would make a fun episode, and we would get to hear Simon say, “The Christian monk wrote about having sex with Venus for 10 hours, because of course he did!”
I'm wanting the Donner Party or The Donner Pass. He has a few cannibal and that story is one of the best!!!
That sounds hilarious.
But this is a biographical channel.
Fr. I love the Carmina Burana. The song "Caupona" by Tanzwut is based on it. That got me interested and I finally got to download it and read the original context.
@@steveweinstein3222I think they just mean Simon himself in one of his bazillion channels.
For some reason I always thought this was like centuries ago, but it was only 120 something years ago. It’s crazy how far China has come in a short span of time!
There are people alive today born when China was a colony. It really has. And no country has changed so much in 40 years. Remarkable for a country with an history so long.
Well, Empress Cixi had reigned between 1861-1908; then came Empress Longyu (on behalf of Puyi), between 1908-1912; then, China became a republic (between 1912-1949), with Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and Chiang Kai-shek, as its most prominent figures; and, finally, the People's Republic of China (since 1949), at first, with Mao Zedong (1949-1976), and then, since 1976, with Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping, and others; China that exists today, has only emerged in the 1980s!
@@shakiMikiexcept that China has never (entirely) been "a colony"; throughout the 1800s, and up until the 1940s, various colonial powers had occupied (and settled) various parts of China, but, as a whole, China has never become "a colony" (in the same way/sense that Vietnam, or Burma, or India were)!
@@mariusmatei2946 A shame if you ask me that Chiang Kai-shek's vision of China did not prevail. China would have been better off in the long-term under his rule and today, not a potential enemy.
@@madgavin7568 that Chiang Kai-shek had not prevailed (in China), could only be blamed on Chiang Kai-shek (& entourage)! As for "China would have been better off in the long-term under his rule...", well, that's the American view; obviously, (the vast majority of) the Chinese people had disagreed (and continue to disagree) with that assessment/point of view. Remember, just because a certain state of affairs in one county is good for the United States/serves (well) the American interests (in that country), it absolutely does not mean that, automatically, that certain state of affairs is/will also be good for that country/the people of that country; the Americans never seem to learn that basic fact/reality, but continue making assumptions that end up costing them dearly!
The Austrians had Empress Sissi, the Chinese had Empress Cixi.
If you'd like to try out Brilliant for free and get 20% off a year of STEM learning, click the link in the description down below or visit: www.brilliant.org/biographics
Wow I’m early. Love your videos! I’ve learned so much through them.
I love that this channel does videos on world figures. I'm a history buff and it's interesting to see the path to current events one life at a time.
Another fascinating and enthralling video, Simon.
thank you for the video 👍🏻
I need a biographic of Simon Whistler... From scrawny British schoolboy to the guy who does the top ten lists to undisputed regent of the TH-cam empire.
I saw an exhibit on her in Orange County not long ago… she had a great story and such beautiful things
Please do one about William of Orange
2 min..... ah yes not late for Simon video
I would love to see you talk more about Chinese figures.
Ones like Sun Yat-Sen, Ai Weiwei, Zhang Zongchang, Yan Yishan, Feng Xuxiang, or even Yuan Shikai.
All very interesting topics in my opinion.
I would go with Yuan Shikai, it will be very difficult to talk about him in a positive way without angering the glass hearts.
Chinese history is so extensive, I feel like I can never get it all. It's so fascinating to learn about.
Honestly, i am leaning towards "Cixi murdered everybody". There is just too much "suspicious circumstances" and Cixi always benefits the most. Actually, it would be cool to see both Agrippinas and Agrippa.
Maybe not everyone but she probably had her hands in some of the deaths. Or stayed hers to prevent them. Why do it yourself if there are enough other factions who want to do it?
Pretty much the same thing regarding Hitler and the Reichstag fire that he blamed on the communists. I've never been able to buy that when he stood to gain _so much_ by their villification and subsequent removal from the German government. It seems much too convenient that he gets exactly what he wants, when he wanted it, by seemingly no act of his own
@@kaltaron1284 well, she (Empress Cixi) was, certainly, behind the death of her young nephew-emperor, Guangxu (I mean, he/Guangxu had died by a lethal dose of arsenic, the day before she/Cixi died); despite this video's attempt to portray Empress Cixi as a "reformer", she (the Empress) had been a very conservative ruler, and none of that is more evident than her reaction/response to Guangxu's attempt at reform: he/Guangxu would spend the rest of his life under house-arrest, by the orders of (none other than) Cixi (and then, he/Guangxu was not even allowed to survive her/Cixi)!
@@mariusmatei2946 I think you can call her a reformer but not by heart but by necessity. A bit like Bismarck who would have really liked to keep the old ways but saw that some reforms were needed to keep the country at peace. Talking about the social reforms here, he was totally behind military reforms.
@@kaltaron1284 well, that's the thing, Empress Cixi wasn't a reformer, either "by heart", or by necessity; I mean, her actions speak loudly & clearly. Reformers show intent; personally, I don't see any intent (at reform) in Empress Cixi's actions! For 40 years (between 1861-1901), the only thing Empress Cixi cared about, was her stranglehold onto power; it took the complete & total annihilation of the Boxers' Rebellion (by the colonial powers), and the brink that she (Empress Cixi) and her (Qing) Dynasty found themselves on, that stimulated the Empress (at all) in the direction of reforms (and, by finishing off her young, and reform-minded nephew-emperor, Guangxu, the day before she died, Empress Cixi made sure that any & all attempt at reforming, and modernizing China died with her/the Empress)! Where is the intent (at reform) in that?
Good video 👍
Really enjoyable video.
Really don’t know what I used to watch on TH-cam before I found the Egg Daddy and his channels , love the differing tone of the channels too , enjoy all of them but you just can’t beat the absolute fuckery of brain blaze , AM I RIGHT PETER !!!!!!!
thank you for sharing
To be more specific, the Emperor's mother had probably even more "say" as to who got chosen. It had as much to do with power & family connections as anything else.
omg another channel? :D
I remembering reading a bio about her - she was absolutely the Mulan of her time.
Shushon was actually not part of the funeral procession but in bed with several women - Prince Gong was one of the people who arrested him. It was crime disrespecting not only the current emperor but also the past emperor who wasn’t even buried which sealed his fate. He was beheaded, his death by a thousand cuts being commuted by the two queens as an act of mercy. The other princes, if I remember correctly, were offered suicide - being presented with the sashes of state they had once worn to display their power to be their tools.
Thank you! I am fascinated with Cixi and loved this perspective
Come on after the hit show Yellowjackets, your have to do a segment on the Donner Party or the Donner Pass!!! I swear I think you'd get a ton of views for it. it's absolutely fascinating
One thing to know in Chinese history is women's name is usually not recorded, no matter how famous this women are, it is not common for female's name to be recorded in official history, usually just by their surname, in Cixi's case, official history refer to her only by her surname which is Yehenara, but in unofficial history, her full name is Yehenara XinZhen. Ci'xi is not her real name, it's only a name specially for her as a Empress Dowager.
The original Tiger Mom of China
Please do an episode on Artemisia I of Caria! 🙏
He said sex robot! As Smokey and Craig would exclaim, "DDAAMMNN!"
Thanks
Warographics..... ok so another day, another Simon channel. I can't keep up and I love it.
Hi Simon I'm glad you're brushing up on your Chinese history, could you do Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty the only woman to rule in her own name as Emperor of China. Her life is full of intrigues that makes the Game of Thrones look like a Disney playhouse.
I'm pretty sure he did one on her a while ago
Yesss listened to a looong audio book about her!
That was interesting !!
4:11 i lol'd hard at this. My wife asked me what i was laughing about. I just shooked my head
I literally just finnished a school Paper about her lmao
Another channel?! I think the Simonverse is ready to give Disney’s MCU a proper challenge!
Please please do a video on King Maha Vajiralongkorn and also a video on Chinese foot binding
🤝thank You
wow, that was quick)
That the problem of following this channel for 5 years : often i see a name for a new Bio and i tell myself "Wait : Didn't they already treat this character ??"
Cixi gave clothes and other items to them and they ended up at the Denver Art Museum. They are beautiful.
Love Chinese history
My name has changed with my ranks in life as well. As a child I was called "Twerp". Now, as an adult I'm called "D***"
Here we are once more
Simon! I don't see the new channel link 😔 I need to subscribe for more legendary legend information!
Also your Into the Shadows channel isn't listed in the description, you should add it!
Have you done a biographics on Eleanor of Aquitaine?
Great actress Flora Robson played Cixi in 55 Days In Peking 👍
saw that movie last week, it was a good entertainement
Yup, my views on Cixi have surely changed a lot. During my secondary school history lessons, she was depicted as a useless conservative. However, as I grow up, I learnt more about her reform efforts, and do find her truly a stabiliser of the realm during the late Qing period. I also find Cixi blocking Guangxu and his advisors has a point. Timothy Richard (or Li Timotai), a missionary suggested to the reformist leader Kang Youwei that they should consider forming a commonwealth with Japan, British empire, and US to complete against Russia, and hire foreign advisors to deal with all economic and military issues. While ridiculous in the eyes of anyone with a basic geopolitical mindset, the reformers actually bought the idea. Reformers Yang Shenxiu and Song Bolu suggested this to Guangxu on 20th Sep and 21st Sep… and Cixi stopped the Hundred Reforms stopped right on 21st Sep. Cixi’s reforming steps are too small, but the reformers also have no idea what kind of dangerous game they are playing.
If there was one thing the Dynasty failed to do that could have honestly knee-capped the revolutionaries somewhat; was outright abolishing the Queue Law. If you know anything about it, it was the sole reason why so many Chinese males back then wore pigtails and had strangely crop-shaved heads. It was a medieval Manchu custom ruthlessly imposed on the Han majority and almost every other male (with certain exceptions) throughout China under penalty of death. The law remained in place albeit with certain modifications over the years up until the Dynasty was overthrown, it was extremely unpopular as you might imagine and why so many Chinese would eventually support the Republican revolutionaries later on.
I'm reading Seagrave's book on Cixi and this documentary seemed to be a good overview.
I wonder if the Chinese are still angry with the English for the century of humiliation.
Most likely
What we did to China was certainly never one of our finer moments. Sometimes I cannot blame them for holding bitter feelings.
She didn’t outsmart Sir Harry Flashman, though!
Can you do a video on the Borgia family? Thank you!
I am new to this channel but I have been watching mega and side projects for a year now. I searched for it but forgive me if I missed it. I would love to see Simon do Sir William Stevenson, The man they call Intrepid. The Canadian father of modern espionage responsible founding Camp X in Ontario and training Sir Ian Flemming. Many think he was the inspiration for James Bond.
Hey Simon, why haven't you guys covered Manuel Noriega yet?
Please do an episode on Nannie Doss.
Hello,
Can you make a biography about Peter Hagendorf?
A mercenary who wrote a diary during the 30 year war and thus presented the life of the mercenary during this time.
How many more channels does Simon need lol
Do Sun Yet Sen please.
Simon I would like to address a few things with your video.
First, while it is undeniable that Cixi was strong in will and character and immense in ability to call her admirable would be like saying that despite his many mistakes Franz Joesph was a admirable figure despite the fact he killed the Imperium of House Hapsburg and ended the long list of Hapburgs political entities.
Cixi is the Qing equivalent to Franz Joseph’s as while she put forth some reform she ultimately prevented going forth with the logical conclusion of such reforms.
Both her and Franz Joseph’s also refused to listen their pragmatic and reform minded Heirs and ultimately took actions both intentional and/or unintentional that lead to their morbid fates.
Secondly if you are looking for a truly amazing Chinese Basilissa then Wu Zetain (Which you did a Biographics on her) is a far better example of a extremely competent Female Ruler in a very mysogynistic society.
In fact I’d argue she is a weird but aweing mix of Tiberius and Marcus Aurelius as like Tiberius she was effective but has had their image corrupted by those wrote history during their times.
She’s also like Marcus Aurelius in the Sense that she was incredibly effective but her Heir ultimately destroyed everything (Her by the way was responsible for the fall of the current dynasty of her day that lead to the splitting of China into North and South that ended with the Mongol Invasions and the founding of the Yuan Dynasty who funfact were not the only “Barbarian” Chinese dynasty as the Qing (That Cixi was a part of) were Jurchens who were considered by the Han as “Barbarians”. Like the Ustate faking a Germanic origins of the Croatian people to suck off the Nazis the whole Manchu identity was created without Historial precedent and consequently lead to the Jurchenland being annex by China and to suffer a cultural genocide under Japan and PRC filth.
Can you do a wargraphics video on the Taiping Rebellion perhaps?
YOU SHOULD DO A VIDEO ON BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID.
id love to learn about the american old west around this decade.
Hi, could you do one of Isabel Martínez de Perón?
Please do a bio on, Emmett Dalton, of the Dalton Gang.
Could you do a biographics on Nakano Takeko
Please consider doing one on Karen Silkwood!
I don’t see a link to a new channel either
Can we get a video about Miklos Horthy? Everybody says he’s just “Hitler’s ally” and a “Nazi ally” when it’s not the simple. He was trying to steer his country a course between two juggernauts and not be absorbed by either of them.
He noticeably exercised zero tolerance towards his own country's fascists, even though he was aligned towards the Nazis. Horthy comes across a little more like a Salazar type figure to me; both authoritarian conservative dictators with extreme anti-communist stances and some fascist leanings, the divergence being Portugal's good relations with Britain.
The Boxer Rebellion is one of my favorite wars.
One of your favorite wars? Really? I've always been partial to the War of Jenkins' Ear myself. But actually I think they both have to take a backseat to the Whiskey Rebellion.
Wargraphics didn't appear in the links below.
It's one of those smash or pass traps low-key with her😂
Please cover the 8 nation war in war graphics
Will we ever get Gebhardt von Blücher?
21:55 please do. It's a very interesting read.
Clyde Bellecourt the founder of AIM and pioneering activist would make a very compelling and interesting subject for a Biographics video.
A whirlwind tour of China's final Imperial period. The Chinese civilization is ancient, & its influence has been felt around the world for 1000's of yrs. It continues to be a major player on the world stage, not necessarily due to its "flavor-of-the-month" politics, but because the Chinese people are intelligent, creative & resourceful. I've never seen a better opening ceremony to the Summer Olympic Games than the 1 in Beijing. That was just 1 example of what these people are capable of. Cixi was a strong woman, born of a strong people. She directed a great empire, & her legacy is still found in today's Chinese population - a people who build on their past, working toward a successful & innovative future.
I agree, I have a lot of respect for Chinese culture due to the innovations they gave the world, as well as how they are adaptable to most other cultures despite their own strong traditional history.
The Chinese drama The Firmament of the Pleiades is based on Cixi.
This would make an interesting Netflix series.
I can't be sure but I think the book 'Empress Orchid' is based on her. I read it in school and while it was a bit of a chore to read, it was still very interesting
Yes, but the second part is even better. The Last Empress
@@nachcam I was actually going to read that but our library didn't have it.
I must be obsessed with your voice Simon. Your on 4 of my subs without even realising. Love the voice. Thank you
Please do an episode of King Arul Mozhi Varman a.k.a Raja Raja Cholan I
Henry VIII would have sympathized with Xianfen here. Especially with his struggles to get an heir.
Though the early life of Cixi was kinda detailed, Cixi did not westernize China indeed, she was only agreeing reforms due to sustaining the rule for the royal family , indeed the messed up both reforms that happened in China
Is this a reupload or am I thinking about a diffrent female ruler.
EDIT. Seems I was thinking about Wu Zeitan.
the curse is may you live in changing times......
I live in Mainland China and many women here view Cixi (and concubine turned empress Wu Zetian) as templates for success simply by changing "palace intrigue" into "office politics." These women seem not to have aspirations for any type of reform, but simply money, power, and status.
🤣
Or they dont want to kiss a mans ass to live.
"A little dude with a peepee". 😂😂😂
"Cackling like Dick Dastardly..." I love this British bloke's expressions.