Empress Dowager Cixi: From Concubine to China's Most Powerful Woman

In 1852, a 16-year-old girl named Cixi entered the Forbidden City as a low-ranking concubine to Emperor Xianfeng. By 1861, she had orchestrated a palace coup, eliminated her rivals, and seized control of the Chinese empire. For the next 47 years, she was the real ruler of China, manipulating three emperors (including her own son) and making decisions that shaped modern Chinese history.

Cixi's rise was ruthless. When Emperor Xianfeng died, she allied with Empress Zhen, staged a coup against the regents, and had them executed or forced to commit suicide. She allegedly poisoned her co-regent Empress Zhen by having her thrown down a well. When her son the Guangxu Emperor tried to modernize China without her permission, she had him imprisoned on an island  ...