Ep. 24 - Chinese Revolution Podcast Episode 22: Dowager Empress Cixi Part 3

Host Lauren Schill joins Paul Hesse for part three in a series about Dowager Empress Cixi. We discuss her takeover from her adopted son the Emperor Guaqnxu following the 100 days of Reform and her role arming the Boxer Rebellion. Cixi and the Emperor fle3e to Xian and then return to Beijing. Cixi starts a charm offensive, institutes further reforms including for women's education and to end foot binding. She and the Emperor Guanxu die within a day of each other, him with high levels of arsenic. Within 3 years of her death, the Puyi Emperor abdicates and the Qing Dynasty ends. Cixi rules China for decades without ever stepping in the front part of the Forbidden City, which was off limits to women.