What is the life experience of Cixi?

Empress Dowager Cixi was in charge of the affairs of the Qing Dynasty for nearly half a century, and she was an important figure in the modern history of China. However, it is such a household name. For a long time, people have said that she is a Manchu who is a declining official, and that she is a Han woman ... Her life experience and childhood experience have always been a mystery.

Empress Dowager Cixi was in power for 48 years in the Qing Dynasty and was an important figure in the modern history of China. However, it is such a famous figure that her life experience and childhood experience have long been a mystery.

According to folklore, Cixi was born in Xipo Village, Changzhi County, Shanxi Province on 1835, and was named "Wang Xiaolian". At the age of four, she was sold to Song Siyuan, a woman in Shangqin Village of this county, and changed her name to Song. Later, due to natural and man-made disasters, the Song family suddenly became poor, and Song, who was eleven or twelve years old (thirteen or fourteen years old), was sold to the magistrate in Lu 'an (now Changzhi City) as a maid. Soon, Yulan was elected to the palace as the daughter of Ye Henala Zheng Hui in Xianfeng for three years because of her delicate appearance, agility and noble, and gradually became the empress dowager.

Photo of Cixi So, what is the basis for saying that Cixi was originally the daughter of Han Changzhi?

First, for more than 100 years, villagers in Xipo and Shangqin villages in Changzhi County and the elderly in nearby villages have said that Cixi is a local. There are more than 150 people who express this idea in written materials alone. 1993 Professor Yang from the Department of History of China Renmin University also thinks that the historical materials passed down by word of mouth for nearly a hundred years are the most worthy of attention in the article "The childhood of Cixi should be clear in texture". In those two villages in Changzhi, Shanxi, there are so many universally recognized people. Cixi is a local and is not forgotten by her bad reputation or previous political criticism. This is indeed a problem worthy of attention.

Second, Changzhi County has the birthplace of Cixi and her descendants, as well as the Empress Dowager Cixi. According to a survey conducted by China Academy of Social Sciences, 88-year-old Tian Hua said that the site of Cixi's birthplace is located in the west of Tian Huaze's former residence in Xipo Village. Tian Hua also said that her grandmother was as old as Empress Dowager Cixi. Grandma often said that Empress Dowager Cixi and her family were close neighbors, and the old lady was born in the shabby house next door. Cixi's "Niangniang Courtyard" is located behind the Guandi Temple in Shangqin Village and is now well preserved. According to the introduction of the old man in Shangqin Village, since Song Linge (Little Cixi) entered the palace and became the "Imperial Empress", the villagers have called this house (the old house of six brothers in the Song Dynasty) "Empress Cixi", which has been passed down from generation to generation and has been passed down to this day.

Thirdly, Changzhi County has the tomb of Cixi's biological mother, which is located on the barren beach bank at the western foot of Yangtou Mountain outside Xipo Village. 1989, Liu Deqing, a retired veteran cadre, said, "The mother of the Western Empress Dowager is buried in this small tomb, and all the old people in my village know it. It is the year of building a grave, and the grave has not moved. "

Fourthly, the backyard of the former Lu 'an Yamen in Changzhi City has the "Study Courtyard of Empress Dowager Cixi" and the "Cultural Relics and Monuments Protection Sign" set by Changzhi Municipal People's Committee on March 20th. 1963. The existence of "signs" shows that there is indeed a "study courtyard of Empress Dowager Cixi" in the backyard of Lu 'an House. Changzhi has the "study courtyard of Empress Dowager Cixi", which naturally shows that Cixi studied in the backyard of Lu 'an House when she was a child.

Fifth, there are many related clues in Cixi's words and deeds. For example, Cixi likes to eat foods that Changzhi people often eat (such as steamed buns, jiaozi, millet porridge, corn miscellaneous porridge, radish, Qinzhou millet, Huguan vinegar, Xiangyuan black sauce, etc.). ), love to watch the party bangzi opera, care about Changzhi people and local construction, treat Changzhi people as chefs, wet nurses and forbidden troops, favor Changzhi criminals, and promote and reuse them. If Cixi was not originally the daughter of the Han Changzhi family, how could she behave like this?

Sixth, there are many related records in ancient books, but there are also some doubts.

First, about the clan of Cixi-the secret history of Yuanmingyuan written by Manchu Lin Tan, Cixi may not be a standard bearer at all ... According to Levin, a famous historian in Taiwan Province Province, Cixi only knows Chinese, but not Manchu. Yu Deling, the former female official of Cixi, wrote a record of the private life of Empress Dowager Cixi, saying that "Lafayette really knows very little about Manchu, so it can be said that he knows nothing", so he always reads only Chinese, not Manchu. "One Day of Empress Dowager Cixi" also said that Cixi "is a descendant of Yehenala in Manchuria, but she only knows Chinese characters and doesn't know Manchu, so she writes comments in Chinese characters". If Cixi lived in the Manchu circle since she was a child, how could this happen?

Secondly, regarding the family background of Cixi, Ms. Carr, an American painter who painted Cixi, wrote in "The Portrait of Cixi": "It is said that the family background of Cixi is extremely humble. At first, it was just his maid, and later she moved to Otouchi and became a treasure." Although Carl said "Sri Lanka is not trustworthy", there is no smoke without fire. There is such a "biography" in Outer Room, of course, it has its own reasons, not to mention that Cixi herself frankly admitted that her family had been embarrassed in the past when she recalled the past. The new posthumous work "Memories of the Old Eunuch" says that Empress Dowager Cixi sometimes recalls the past and often tells people that in the past, she "lived a very difficult life at home. She used to make socks for others and take some change to supplement her family ... ". It can be seen that "Cixi's family background is extremely humble" is indeed an indisputable fact. Yu Deling wrote in "Two Years of Qing Palace": "The Empress Dowager said I like to see rural scenery". Cixi has her own "grange" and usually goes to the fields every four or five days. She also wrote, "The Queen Mother said,' I like country life, and I think it is much more natural than life in the palace'". If Cixi didn't grow up in a poor peasant family, but was a well-bred, well-off official family in the city since childhood, how could she like the "rural scenery"?

However, although there is a lot of evidence to prove that "Cixi was originally the daughter of Han Changzhi's family", most people think it is basically credible, but some people have raised doubts, mainly including two points: First, whether Cheng Wai ever worked as an official in Lu 'an; Second, the draft system in Qing Dynasty was strict. If Cixi is a Chinese woman, can she be elected to the palace?

On whether Cheng Wai is an official in Lu 'an. Some people say that Cheng Wai has never been an official in Lu 'an, so she can't adopt Song Linge (Little Cixi). Mr. Yu Bingkun, who holds a negative opinion on the description of Cheng Wai's experience in the Study of Cixi's Family, has never worked in Lu 'an House.

Whether Song Linge (Little Cixi) can be selected for the Qing Palace. Some people say that the household registration system in the Qing Dynasty and the flag bearer's draft female system are more complicated and strict; If Cixi was a Han woman, even if she came to the Zheng Hui family of Manchu, she could not be elected to the palace as a Manchu.

In a word, "Cixi was the daughter of Han Changzhi family" is true or not, and the evidence provided is only a rough outline, which is not complete and accurate, even leaving gaps and weaknesses, full of doubts, and it is still an unsolved mystery.