Reform and Reaction: 1898 and the Boxer Rebellion

Cixi (1835-1908) entered the imperial court as a low-ranking concubine, and after the death of Emperor Xianfeng in 1861 she orchestrated a palace coup with Prince Gong, establishing a regency that, after the death of her co-regent in 1881, left her the undisputed authority at the Qing court for nearly three decades, ruling chiefly "from behind a silk curtain" on behalf of her son and then her nephew, the Guangxu Emperor.