On his deathbed, what three wishes did Cixi leave behind that will be questioned by future generations?

Whenever we talk about China’s modern history, we inevitably feel sad. In addition to the incompetence of the Qing government, the cause of grief is also related to one person. This person is the Empress Dowager Cixi who ruled the Qing Dynasty for more than 40 years. Cixi did many things that were harmful to the interests of the country before her death. It is said that a person's words are good even when he is about to die, but this sentence does not apply to her. When Cixi was about to die in 1908, she left three last wishes. These three wishes not only accelerated the fall of the Qing Dynasty, but also vividly demonstrated Cixi's shamelessness.

The first last wish: to establish Puyi as emperor and Zaifeng as regent.

This last wish seems ordinary, and it was an internal affair of the Qing royal family. Why was it reviled by future generations? In fact, this seemingly simple last wish concealed the selfishness of the Empress Dowager Cixi, which indirectly accelerated the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

First, let’s take a look at the aspects in which his selfishness is reflected:

We all know that the day before Cixi’s death, Emperor Guangxu died mysteriously. The Qing Dynasty ushered in a short period of "no king". As the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, Cixi should be in charge of the power to abolish and establish the emperor. In terms of candidates for the throne, she designated the son of Guangxu's half-brother Zaifeng: Puyi. Puyi was only three years old at the time, and Zaifeng, as the father of the new emperor, was named regent.

The reason why Cixi appointed the young Puyi as emperor was because of Cixi’s thoughts about what happened after her death: Zaifeng was older and was the younger brother of Emperor Guangxu. Zaifeng had always buried the issue of Cixi’s imprisonment of his brother Guangxu. The hatred was in his heart, and the mysterious death of Emperor Guangxu deepened Zaifeng's resentment towards Cixi. If Zaifeng was made emperor, not to mention whether Cixi would be liquidated after her death, but at least she wouldn't have such a grand burial, right? Furthermore, in terms of temple food and incense, Zaifeng would not have made perfect arrangements for Cixi, right?

Of course, Cixi has always been a selfish person, but this time her selfishness in establishing her position indirectly cheated the Qing Dynasty:

We mentioned earlier that although Zaifeng did not He was made emperor, but was given the position of "Prince Regent" as compensation. As regent, Zaifeng did not have exclusive power, but he was still the main person in charge of national military and political affairs. Zaifeng's subsequent political actions were tantamount to pushing the Qing Dynasty into the abyss:

For example, when the Qing Dynasty was facing a crisis of survival and adoption of the New Deal, Zaifeng's actions were extremely ridiculous. First of all, the constitution was still not settled from the beginning of the administration to the later "preparatory constitution", and it was not easy to get it done. A cabinet whose members were all Manchu royal families. What was even more fatal was that he seized Yuan Shikai's military power, which directly caused the Beiyang Army to no longer have hope for the Qing Dynasty. It was due to Zaifeng's operations that the Qing Dynasty collapsed within three years of Cixi's death.

So, it is reasonable to say that Cixi's first last wish was made out of selfish motives and contributed to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. It is reasonable for her to be reviled.

The second last wish: eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics

The Qing Dynasty has always been considered a dynasty without eunuchs to interfere in politics. In fact, this is not the case. There were still cases of eunuchs interfering in politics in the Qing Dynasty, but it was less serious than in the Ming Dynasty. This was mainly due to the warnings of the monarchs of the Qing Dynasty. For example, Emperor Shunzhi specially ordered someone to make a sign saying "Eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics." The iron plates are nailed outside the Jiaotai Hall, the Shenxing Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Any violation will be punished by death.

However, when Cixi came to power, there were still signs of eunuchs interfering in politics. For example, Cixi's favored eunuch An Dehai directly participated in the Xinyou coup and informed Prince Gong Yixin on behalf of Cixi, which ultimately enabled Cixi to win the coup and take power. After taking power, Cixi favored An Dehai even more, and An Dehai relied on this relationship to become domineering in the court.

So Cixi’s last wish not to allow eunuchs to interfere in politics is really unpredictable and has a sense of self-irony.

The third last wish: No women are allowed to participate in politics

Yes, you heard it right! Cixi's third last wish was that women should not be allowed to participate in politics. I even wonder, is this because Cixi has been the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty for forty years and has forgotten her gender? Think of yourself as an emperor? She was a model for women in politics in China's feudal history, and she controlled the Qing Dynasty for more than 40 years.

Of course, this is just a joke!

So why did Cixi make such a last wish to slap herself in the face? I think this is still the selfishness of Cixi. She believed that in the entire history of the Qing Dynasty, I, Cixi, was the only woman who was the phoenix among people, and this phoenix was still higher than the dragon, so no woman in future generations should be able to compete with her in power.

Therefore, this kind of overbearing idea of ??"I can only do it, no one else can do it" will definitely be criticized by future generations once it is proposed.

Summary:

Throughout the life of Empress Dowager Cixi, her three last wishes from the beginning of taking power to the moment of her death all reflected her domineering and authoritarian nature. These three last wishes also reflect that the death of the Qing Dynasty was indeed inseparable from Cixi.