Cixi (慈禧, 1835-1908) — "motherly auspicious" — was the **Qing Dynasty Dowager Empress** who **effectively ruled China for 47 years** (1861-1908) through her son Tongzhi and nephew Guangxu emperors. **Nicknamed "the Old Buddha"** (Lao Fo Ye), she presided over the late Qing through the Boxer Rebellion, the Hundred Days' Reform, and the dynasty's twilight. **One of the most consequential and controversial figures in modern Chinese history.**
Subject of biographies by Jung Chang and films by Li Hanxiang.
Cixi reduces to seven — the number of Qing Dowager Empress.