Why did Cixi pass the throne to Puyi? Why not pass it to Zaifeng?

Because the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted her son Tongzhi to have an offspring, she chose the young Puyi to adopt the name of Emperor Tongzhi, and Zaifeng was older, so Puyi was directly excluded from the candidates to inherit the throne by Cixi. Both in age and seniority, Puyi was very suitable for Cixi's candidates, so he was selected by Cixi as the new emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

Cixi fell seriously ill in her later years. Cixi knew that she was going to die soon. The day before her death, Emperor Guangxu happened to die. Emperor Guangxu had no heirs, so Cixi and others began to choose a new heir. According to Puyi The autobiography in his later years said that Emperor Guangxu died very strangely. At that time, they all speculated that Guangxu was executed on the order of Cixi. According to later tests, Guangxu might have been poisoned. After all, Guangxu's death happened in the past, and there was no evidence. It became an unsolved case.

The first requirement for the Empress Dowager Cixi to choose an heir is that he is young, because she wants the new emperor to inherit the lineage of her son. Cixi's son is the Tongzhi Emperor, who has always been controlled by Cixi, and is heroic. He died young and left no descendants. Emperor Guangxu who succeeded Tongzhi was the younger brother of Comrade Cixi, so Cixi wanted to arrange a descendant for her son. So although the relationship was relatively close, the older Zaifeng would not As for the choice of the throne, although the ministers wanted to choose an older emperor, the Queen Mother was not satisfied and they had no choice.

Cixi chose Zaifeng’s son Puyi based on his bloodline. Puyi’s grandfather was Guangxu’s father, Puyi was Guangxu’s nephew, and Guangxu’s grandfather’s direct descendant Fujin was Cixi’s sister. With such a relationship, in Puyi is the person closest to Cixi. Even though Puyi was adopted into the name of Emperor Tongzhi to inherit the throne, but because Emperor Guangxu had no descendants, Puyi was asked to pass under the name of Emperor Guangxu at the same time, and one person inherited two. So before her death, Cixi let Puyi inherit the throne of emperor and let Puyi's father serve as regent. This arrangement satisfied all parties. It not only fulfilled their own requirements, but also gave the Qing Dynasty an older ruler.