Home » CPA0030457

China: Official portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) by court photographer Yu Xunling, c. 1895

Empress Dowager Cixi (Wade–Giles: Tz'u-Hsi, 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) of the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.