Photo archive
Empress Dowager Cixi
Qing dynasty political figure and Empress Dowager of China; lived 1835–1908.
Revolution & Modern Icons
Based on surviving lifetime photographs
Polishing the portrait...
Powerful figure at the center of late Qing politics.
Life and work
Cixi exercised enormous influence over the Qing court for decades, navigating rebellion, foreign pressure, reform, and imperial crisis.
Why it matters
Her court photographs are an unusually strong visual record for an imperial ruler of her period.
Visual source note
Based on surviving lifetime photographs
Image basis: Xunling photographic series.
Sourcesshow
Smithsonian, Cixi, Empress Dowager of China, Photographs
strong appearance evidence / photographic archive
Open sourceSmarthistory, Xunling, The Empress Dowager Cixi with foreign envoys’ wives
image context / political staging
Open source