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EMPRESS AND HEADS
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EMPRESS AND HEADS
The dowager empress Tz u-Hsi shows the emperor Kuang-Hsu the heads of mandarins suspected of sympathising with the Russians, whereas she supported the Boxer Rising Date: 1904
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Media ID 23030630
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Boxer Dowager Empress Heads Kuang Mandarins Rising Russians Supported Suspected
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This striking image captures a pivotal moment in Chinese history during the late Qing Dynasty, as Empress Dowager Cixi (Tz'u-Hsi) presents the heads of suspected mandarins to her young nephew and emperor, Guangxu (Kuang-Hsu), in 1904. The mandarins, who were high-ranking government officials, were accused of harboring sympathies towards the Russians, whose influence in China was growing at an alarming rate. The Empress Dowager, who held the real power behind the throne, supported the Boxer Rebellion, a popular anti-foreigner uprising, and saw these mandarins as a threat to her authority. The Boxer Rising, which began in 1898, was a violent and chaotic period in Chinese history, marked by anti-foreign sentiment and superstitious beliefs. The Boxers, a secret society, believed they had the power to expel all foreigners from China through supernatural means. The rebellion led to a brutal conflict between the Boxers and the foreign powers, resulting in the Eight-Nation Alliance's intervention and the subsequent humiliation of China. In this photograph, the Empress Dowager, dressed in traditional Chinese robes and wearing a jeweled headdress, stands sternly behind a table laden with the severed heads of the accused mandarins. Her expression conveys a sense of determination and resolve, while the young Emperor Guangxu looks on with a mixture of shock and disbelief. The image is a poignant reminder of the political power struggles and the far-reaching consequences of foreign influence in China during this tumultuous period in Asian history.
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