EMPRESS DOWAGER CIXI

Two senior Chinese officials Yuan Ch`ang and Hsu Ching-ch`eng, realizing the implications and the vengeance the Western Powers would take on the Empress and China if the order were carried out, rewrote it to require that all foreigners be “protected.” This version went out to all governors except that of Shansi who had received a previous execution order {612690} . When the Empress discovered the change, Yuan Ch`ang and Hsu Ching-ch`eng were both summarily beheaded. However they saved thousands of Western lives and China from an even greater disaster.

During her adult life, she was the de facto ruler of China.

During her adult life, she was the de facto ruler of China.

Indeed she did. In actuality, she was the ruler of the largest nation on Earth. However, she was not a very clever ruler and actually was responsible for keeping China very backward and weak because she was convinced that China was the most advanced of nations and very strong. Therefore nothing should be changed. Over 5 decades with no change is sure to make a nation backward, even if it started as advanced. See {620090}.

During her adult life, she was the de facto ruler of China. This quotation is very important because it gives us an important insight into Chinese motives and historical drivers. The first reason is something almost all countries and cultures can identify with, but the second--to avoid being looked down—was just as important. Americans are relatively uncaring what the citizens of other countries think about them, but the Chinese do. So do other nationalities and cultures like the Arabs, the Iranians, many of the South American cultures. Often it takes on a different world like “dignity” or “respect”.

During her adult life, she was the de facto ruler of China. Officials then did little or nothing to curb the attacks on the various foreigners and foreign power that occupied and exercised some control over parts of China. The Government itself could do little as it was too weak militarily with many key officials bribed by the foreign powers. The Boxers were a grass roots xenophobic movement devoted to getting the foreign powers out of China by violence.

During her adult life, she was the de facto, all powerful ruler of China. This is one of the very rare times in history that an absolute ruler, issued an official document showing their errors and mistakes with respect to some government policies. To some, this is an indicator of how powerful a hold that she had on the empire, that she could afford to do this with no fear for her prestige and power. To others it was an example of honest acceptance of responsility.

the Western Powers & Japan

Cixi had been one of the many concubines of the Emperor and she bore a son who was first in the line of succession. The Emperor’s wife, Empress Zhen had no children but was the senior official of the Empire when her husband died. Instead of being rivals, Cixi and Zhen were very close friends so when it had to be decided who was to rule until Cixi’s son became of age, the women agreed that Zhen would see to the education and the training of the child and manage the court, and Cixi would manage the government and the Empire as regents for the child. However, in 1875, the boy died and there was no clear successor. Cixi with Zhen’s approval then issued this edict and in effect seized control of the entire empire of China.

She had read reports that Chinese faced in several lands of the West. The worst of these were Peru and Cuba where Chinese emigrant labor were kidnapped and worked in slave conditions. Prior to Cixi, Chinese Emperors had little or no concern for the laborers and peasants in their own country much less those Chinese who had gone abroad in search of a better life.

This model has been used by many counties even into the 21st century to get the benefits of foreign know how and capital while preventing the foreign businesses to control parts of the nation and the economy. In this case, Cixi had allowed a telegraph company and two modern coal mining areas. The system works well provided the foreign interests do not bribe the native administrators who are appointed to oversee the activity. It takes two for bribery and other forms of corruption to work and unfortunately, Cixi ruled a culture where corruption, petty and large, was pervasive and traditional.

Every major Western power and Japan were looking to control parts of China for their own mercantile advantage. The Emperor, her adopted son, had stated that under no circumstances would the Chinese fight, but Cixi issued this decree, in effect, overruling the Emperor—a remarkable occurrence.

The Italians backed down and gave up their demand for territory, settling for a favorable trade treaty.

While other nations have occasionally adopted laws and legal approaches of other countries and sometimes after being conquered have had their legal code rewritten to be more like that of the conqueror, this may be the only example of a nation having a major legal reform driven by compatibility with the major powers of the day.

See {641838} for a quote about the policies that she came to regret.

This absolute ruler concluded that single person judgment with advisors has not as sound as a system of open discussion and institutions affecting policy decisions and administration. She herself had made errors and admitted it—see {641730}.

This is a remarkable quotation. Cixi attributed the great success of the Western nations and their power to their democracy, This was a time that many in England and Europe were still struggling with the degree that democracy was desirable and even in America there were many who thought American success was in spite of democracy, not because of it. Ironically, this view was rejected after Cixi by the rulers of China who concluded that heavy central rule was required to keep China stable, Sun Yat Sen and Chiang Kai Chek gave lip service to the desirability of long range democracy but maintained dictatorial rule and in Chiang’s case a very cruel and corrupt dictatorship as well. When Mao and his Communists ousted Chiang, the too rejected political democracy, and a century after this Chinese Empress pointed the way, China had still not “connected the ruled with the ruling”.

The Empress at that time had never interacted with Westerners as Chinese culture regarded them as barbarians and it would be an insult to the Empress to even be in their presence. All she knew of the British was what her nobles had reported to her. A British army, under General “Chinese” Charles Gordon had been assigned by London to aid the Chinese Government to suppress the Taiping Rebellion, which it did. The Empress began to see for herself some of the behavior of the British—see {641821} and was developing and independent view of the foreign barbarians. After Gordon was successful in defeating the rebels, the Empress ordered that he be rewarded with 10,000 silver Taels—a small fortune. Her commanding general who had offered the reward had to report that Gordon refused stating that he was not a mercenary but a general commanding British Forces in service to Queen Victoria. Cixi was not only impressed by Gordon’s integrity and loyalty to his country, but was beginning to learn that the “facts” about the foreigners had not been reported accurately.

China, which had been one of the strongest and most modern nations in the world for 1000 years had lapsed into decay and though a huge nation, rich in resources, with more people than any other had been eclipsed by Japan, America and Europe. Cixi was determined to remedy that, and to a great extent started China on the road to modernization which would take over 100 years more.

The “Boxer Rebellion” was a very strong, populist, violent movement in China at the turn of the Century. The hostility was not directed against the Empress or the Government, but against the non-Chinese foreigners who were, theoretically and by treaty, under the protection of the Chinese Government. Cixi and the government had to decide to Crack Down on the Boxers, Support them, or remain passive. The movement was so strong and the government so weak, that is was not clear that the government could prevail in what would amount to a civil war. The Empress in effect vetoed the crackdown option on the grounds stated. With this quotation she made a fateful decision for China and the Foreigners and for her own legacy. She had been considered by Westerners one of the great rulers of the world of not of all time, and she was in many ways. But she made the wrong choice from the Western point of view; thousands of Westerners became casualties of the Boxer irrational xenophobic violence with the government doing little to stop it. Soon, she herself came to regret this policy decision--{641730}.