preface

Of the great empires that have ever existed in the history of the world, every country, with its exception, has had a ruler with a distinct personality. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Therefore, an era is often represented only by a few people's "faces".

China in the 20th century can also be expressed through the "faces" of Sun Wen, Chang Kaishen, Emperor Taizu and others. Further, there was only one "face" in the first half of the century, and that was the Empress Dowager of the West (1835~1908), who was a rare heroine.

She was the concubine of Emperor Xianfeng of the Qing Dynasty (reigned in 1850~1861), gave birth to an heir to the throne, and took power after the death of Emperor Xianfeng. As a result, during the reign of two generations of emperors under her son Emperor Tongzhi and her nephew Emperor Guangxu, she continued to hold power as the empress dowager. In Chinese history, the only female rulers who could match the Empress Dowager of the West were Empress Lu of the Han Dynasty and Empress Zetian Wu (Wu Zetian) of the Tang Dynasty. However, Empress Lü's dictatorship lasted only fifteen years, and Empress Tianwu also lost power in the fifteenth year of her reign. In contrast, the Empress Dowager ruled the Qing Empire, which had a population of 400 million, for 47 years, and did not step down in the end. It is rare in the history of the world to have such a long period of real power, including those in power held by men. Moreover, her reign was a turbulent era of internal and external troubles. As for the secret of her rule over China, this book would like to try to analyze it.

The reign of the Empress Dowager coincided with a period of transition in world history.

She came to power in 1861, a year in which Vittorio Emanuele II led the unification of Italy. In Prussia, Wilhelm I, who had completed the unification of Germany, ascended the throne (Bismarck became chancellor the following year); In Russia, Tsar Alexander II issued a decree on the emancipation of serfs; In the United States, Lincoln succeeded to the presidency and the Civil War broke out; Wait a minute. The great powers were catching up with Britain and France, which were at the forefront, and stood side by side at the starting line for the construction of a national state.

In Japan at the same time, the storm of the Emperor and King Ken had arrived, and major events such as the Sakurada Gate Rebellion (1860), the marriage of the imperial daughter and the Imperial Shrine to the shogun Tokugawa Ieshige (1861), and the Imai Incident brought about a rapid change in the first year of the Meiji era.

From then until 1908, when the Empress Dowager died 47 years later, the world situation changed dramatically. The United States and Germany, as emerging powers, saw a tendency to surpass Britain and France, and Japan was able to achieve a "first-class power" in the language of the time due to its narrow victory in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. The Qing Dynasty struggled in semi-colonial conditions due to the invasion of foreign powers and was on the verge of extinction.

If one compares it to Japan during the Meiji era, the reign of the Empress Dowager of the West looks like a failure. In fact, contemporary Chinese's evaluation of the Empress Dowager Xi is generally very low. However, if one compares it with the tragic fate of the Mughal and Ottoman empires, the Qing dynasty can be evaluated as very hardworking. In that era of fierce imperialism and world division and competition, India was completely colonized, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved and disappeared, but the Qing barely managed to hold on to most of the territory. In order to confront political opponents and Western European powers, the Empress Dowager created a variety of strategies, which had both positive and negative effects on today's China.

The purpose of this book is to dispel previous false folklore and prejudices, and to portray her life in a true way. In this process, the depth of Chinese society and the characteristics of the Chinese people related to contemporary times naturally become clear.

I hope that this book will play a role in realizing that Japanese people in the 21st century can understand the nature of their neighbors and build good relations with them.