https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk By: Sterling Seagrave en-us 2019-11-12 22:03:42 UTC 2025-12-05 11:12:44 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f409.png harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427786582 A key to this padlet, red means there is a quote, green is a outside source and yellow is just information. Just a warning, the Last Empress goes by many names, which I will use throughout this project. To make it less confusing I will list her names,  she is first known as Lady Yehenara, then when she becomes Empress she is called Tzu Hsi, not Tzu An. The Westerners interpret her name as Cixi, but I will use Tzu Hsi. There are more used in the book, but I will stick with those two. Also, it may look like everybody's name is spelled wrong, but I assure you, they are spelled correctly.

]]> 2020-01-06 01:46:13 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427786582 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427786651 Not much is known about the last Empress of China, most facts about her are fake and depict her as a monster, but that is not the case at all. She was just trying her best to survive in a world dominated by men. It all started the day she was born. "She was born on November 29, 1835, the same year as Robert Hart, somewhere in China, but where exactly we do not know"(Seagrave, 18).]]> 2020-01-06 01:46:30 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427786651 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427787097 The reasons are unknown why Yehenara entered the Forbidden city becoming a concubine, but what is known is that she did enter and was not well educated, she learned everything after being chosen. "One of those chosen in 1851 was sixteen-year-old Yehenara. After a year of outside preparation, she entered the Forbidden City in 1852, to spend another year learning court protocol within its rose walls"(Seagrave, 32).]]> 2020-01-06 01:49:51 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427787097 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427787408 Lady Yehenara's child was the only male heir to the throne and thus she was elevated in status. Even though the child was her, she was not the legal mother, the other mother was the empress. Yehenara did not get to raise her child at all, she was only the person who gave birth to him, yet she still felt very attached to her son and loved him deeply. "Her child was delivered on April 27, 1856, a boy, the first and so far only male heir"(Seagrave, 37).]]> 2020-01-06 01:52:07 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427787408 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427802981 During this time there were many, many foreign enemies, the British, French, Russia, the U.S and lots more all looking to exploit China and makes tons of money. Due to this there are many wars between China and everybody else. The Chinese are very old fashioned and like traditions and customs that the westerners do not understand, because of that the westerners think they can do whatever they want, but they are insulting China and its thousands year history. One very important rule is that the Forbidden Palace is very sacred and the Emperor only sees a select few, but the westerners demanded to speak with the Emperor, ignoring all customs that the Chinese have. The foreigners started to close in on Peking, the Emperor, being a coward decided to flee to the Jehol, a different palace about a 10 day walk away. ]]> 2020-01-06 04:12:24 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427802981 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427803026 1861, the emperor died in Jehol, but was to be buried in Peking, when the Emperor died there was a huge power struggle, because the next in line was not of age yet, the question was who was to rule next. On his deathbed he said that the two mother's of his son would be Co Empress Dowagers, but other's did not like that two women would be ruling. The entire party was to depart for Peking for the ceremony of the Emperor's death, which included many haters of Yehenara]]> 2020-01-06 04:12:46 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427803026 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427803044 Because Su Shun wanted to rule China, he prevented the two Empresses from becoming Empresses, in doing so he got lots of backlash because that wasn't what the Emperor wanted. Su Shun gave in and appointed Empress Tzu An as Dowager, he got more backlash from that too. Su Shun had no choice but to also give Yehenara the same status. "The following morning, August 23, 1861, the court at Jehol was assembled and Su Shun announced without expression that Lady Yehenara, known as I Kuei Fei the Concubine of Feminine Virtue, was now elevated to the rank of empress dowager with the widowed Empress Niuhuru(Seagrave, 74)"]]> 2020-01-06 04:12:53 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427803044 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427804053 In 1860, a force made up of British and French soldiers came to Beijing. The Emperor fled and abandoned the palace, bringing along with him everything that they could carry. The foreign enemies pillaged and tore the summer palace about, then finally burning it so there was nothing left. The Summer Palace had some of the most beautiful and amazing artifacts, it had so much history and knowledge that is was irreplaceable. The westerners did not understand this either, burning it without thinking about how much was going to be lost.]]> 2020-01-06 04:21:43 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/427804053 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/428747960 The day the the Empress died was on November 15, 1908, at age 72. She died after ruling China for nearly 50 years, she was the last Empress of China, because China become a republic 3 years after her death. Lady Yehenara outlived the life span of three emperor's and ruled along each one of them. Most historians depict her as a monster, a person who inflicted great harm on others, a person who clawed her way up and killed anyone who got in her way. People believed these lies for a very long time, and still believe them to this day, but the truth is much different. Yehenara was a girl who just wanted to be loved, but her husband left her. A girl who wanted her child's affection, but wasn't allowed to raise him and watched him grow into a terrible person. A girl who wanted to enjoy retirement, but couldn't because the court wanted to manipulate her and get her back. A girl who was forced to hold China together, but couldn't due to her lack of knowledge about the outside world and the skewed information she was getting. A girl who wasn't allowed to do anything in the court, but all the blame and hate was forced on. The true life and story of the Last Empress of China has few ups and many downs and the truth about her needs to be known.]]> 2020-01-08 02:07:34 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/428747960 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/428750227 After moving to Jehol, the Emperor's health declines drastically, after a long time in there, the court officials announced that the Emperor was dying. The Emperor was at his last day on this Earth, but he has yet to claim who would succeed him. Which is a big deal in Chinese customs, so Su Shun, who was aiming to be the next Emperor was hoping that he could rule China. Yehenara was scared for her child's life, knowing that if Su Shun was to rule, her son and herself would be killed. So, as the Emperor was lying there taking his final breaths, Yehenara bursts into the chambers holding her son and begging him to make his son the next Emperor. The Emperor, who hadn't spoken a word in days looked at his son and said, yes, he also said that his two mothers will watch over him as Co-Empresses.]]> 2020-01-08 02:21:31 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/428750227 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432030029 Yehenara's son was very rebellious and troublesome for everybody. At a young age he found out that nobody could oppose him because he was the son of heaven. As he got older he became even more of a problem, he would sneak out and he wouldn't do any of his work. Everybody feared when he would take the throne, the Empress's delayed it for as long as they could, he took the throne at age 17. He still snuck out, so the court wanted him to get married, this way he wouldn't want to sneak out. After getting married he still did, he neglected all of his duties as Emperor and things were looking bad. Due to sneaking out all the time he contracted a disease, they are unsure what is was, but he become very ill. He died at the young age of nineteen, it should have been very sad, yet everybody blew a sigh of relief knowing he wouldn't be Emperor anymore. "The following day, January 12, Tung Chih died. He was only nineteen years old(Seagrave, 134)"]]> 2020-01-15 18:30:52 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432030029 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432051446 As China wad dealing with all of these foreign problems they also had to deal with all the problems within. Including, rebels that disrupted the civilians lives. After the Emperor's death and such matters, the next big thing to deal with was the rebels. Never before in the Manchu history of ruling was a Chinese appointed any high position, but that changed when Prince Kung appointed Tseng to be the general and stop the rebels. "But in 1862, at Prince Kung's urging, the two dowagers put the fate of the dynasty in the hand of Tseng Kuo-fan, the man who later judged them both to be unexceptional, and left the resolution of the Taiping Rebellion to him(Seagrave, 104) The rebels were finally defeated on July 19, 1864.]]> 2020-01-15 19:00:04 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432051446 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432051576 China needed an Emperor to function, so they choose Tzu Hsi's sister's son. He was abused as a child and was only 3 years old when he entered the palace. To not have a repeat of what happened with Tung Chih, the scholars and teachers disciplined him like his mother did, so growing up, even in the palace he was abused. He was a frail boy, but he was very smart. He was also taught Western concepts, which has never been taught before. "There was a positive side to his years of suffering. For the first time the education of an emperor of China was broadened to include more than just the Confucian classics(Seagrave, 166)" ]]> 2020-01-15 19:00:16 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432051576 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432052655 Empress Tzu Hsi finally thought she would be done from the political part of China, even though she never really had any say in ruling China. She wanted to live out the rest of her life peacefully in the Summer Palace, which was rebuilt buy her own son so he would have a place to run off to. Tzu Hsi was 54 when she gratefully retired. She even gave rewards to a great many of people to mark her retirement.  Sadly, the worst war ever to happen since 1860 broke out between China and Japan, the Chinese court needed her. She was propelled back into the role of regent in 1894, for only a short time though.]]> 2020-01-15 19:01:43 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432052655 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432052735 The most hateful of Yehenara was the Gang of Eight, with Su Shun as their leader. He was aiming for the throne and the fact that Yehenara didn't let that happen made him very upset. Luckily for Yehenara, Prince Kung, the Emperor's half-brother didn't like Su Shun and didn't want him in the court anymore. Prince Kung devised a plan to get rid of him. When the party got back to Peking Prince Kung arrested the Gang of Eight on the spot. "They took the Gang of Eight by surprise at the town of Panpitien below the Great Wall. Prince Chun, who was traveling with the funeral cortege, then revealed his part in the plot and was given the honor of personally arresting Su Shun(Seagrave, 79)"]]> 2020-01-15 19:01:49 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432052735 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432053371 The Boxer Uprising is easily the most misunderstood Asian event. It started in China, but it ended with the foreigners who claimed that it wasn't their fault. The Ironhats, which was the most influential group in the Chinese court was humiliated with the defeat from Japan, and all other past defeats. They wanted to fix what was wrong with China, they looked at someone to blame, so they pointed it the foreigners, they wanted to purge China of all outsiders. Because of their influence, the plan they were plotted for years started to take action. Missionaries were viewed as spies and evil beings, from 1891 to 1895 there were many riots to get rid of them. After more conflicts with the foreigners, the more the Chinese started to dislike them. People stared to build militia to get rid of the foreigners, then to get more people trained in martial arts there was a method called boxing. They tricked people into believing they were invincible, the numbers started to grow. They were called spirit boxers, they made their first move in 1896. "Here was instant Wushu, that anyone could perform with minimum effort. Boxing was less important than spirit possession, for it was this collective assumption of invulnerability that made the Boxers feel irresistible(Seagrave, 297)"]]> 2020-01-15 19:02:36 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432053371 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432061817 Li Hongzhang, to get her support in railways for the country, he decided to give the Empress her own railway. 1886 was when the construction of the first railway in China began. It was finally finished in 1888, resulting in a 1,510 meter long track. It started near her residence at the time and ended near her dining hall. ]]> 2020-01-15 19:14:27 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432061817 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432245407 During this time Empress Tzu Hsi was semiretired, she was still staying at the Summer Palace, which was still not fully rebuilt. Most of the money that was earned was thought to be used by her to rebuild the palace, but it was actually princes trying to get on her good side that spent lots of money to give her gifts and rebuild parts of of it. The Emperor, after another defeat fell into depression again so he stayed with his aunt at the summer palace, there were many problems that needed to be resolved, so the semiretired Empress was put back on duty officially. ]]> 2020-01-16 04:33:40 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/432245407 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/433473013 During the teaching of Kuang Hsu, the soon to be Emperor, Empress Tzu An died of a viral flu. Many people believed that Tzu Hsi was the one to kill her, but that is not true, she died of natural causes. Because of her death this made Tzu Hsi the only Dowager Empress and the only ruling regent. Tzu An was of higher status than Tzu Hsi, so she never really had any say in any matter, including her own son, but that all would change. The soon to be Emperor was not of age yet, so she to the outside world, looked like she was the sole ruler of china for that period of time. When Kuang Hsu came of age, she retired from the regency.]]> 2020-01-19 23:58:40 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/433473013 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/433501841   Despite all of the squabbles with the boxers, they only ever attacked other Chinese who converted, the entire death toll of foreigners was up to 8, which isn't a very big number compared to the hundreds of boxers dead from the foreigners shooting them. The boxers only carried swords, while everybody else had guns. The court was split in half, because half of them liked foreigners, while the others hated them, the Emperor and Empress were caught in the middle. Well, except they were being held hostage in their own palace, one of the princes had gained control of the entire inner palace guard and had a lot of power. He started to threaten the Empress to go to war, which she never wanted, but she was frightened beyond compare. She couldn't stop him. The only real battle that happened was for Fort Taku, which was taken very easily. As the war was pretty much over, and the Chinese lost, the foreigners wanted to go back, but couldn't due to the boxers all around, they thought they were under siege, but the Empress had forbade any person from attacking a foreigner. It was only the foreigners who attacked the Chinese. After that, most of the boxers were drafted into the imperial military or sent far away. "No direct assault on the foreign community had yet taken place. In Peking only Chinese had been attacked by Boxers. No Boxer or imperial soldier had yet fired a single shot into the legations. Nobody in the legations had been killed or wounded. All the shooting was going in the opposite direction: foreigners were shooting the Chinese(Seagrave, 322)]]> 2020-01-20 02:53:59 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/433501841 harrikiy000 https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/433501865 During these last few years, the Emperor Kuang Hsu and Empress Tzu Hsi's health have both been declining. Kuang Hsu died on November 14, the day before the Empress died. Because the Emperor died the Empress's grieve and stress of the successor added to her rapid decline. She promised one of the prince's son that she would make him emperor, so she did. Many people viewed the Emperor and her relationship as a bad one, but she truly loved him, she thought of him as her son, even though he was her nephew. The Emperor also viewed her as his mother, they ruled China together for a long time.]]> 2020-01-20 02:54:08 UTC https://padlet.com/harrikiy000/snennju0l7sk/wish/433501865