Empress Dowager Longyu

Empress Dowager Longyu(private name:??) of the Yehonala clan (????) (1868 - 1913) was the Empress Consort and also a cousin of the Guangxu Emperor (r. 1875-1908), and a niece of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Related Topics:
Yehonala - Clan - 1868 - 1913 - Guangxu Emperor - R. - 1875 - 1908 - Empress Dowager Cixi

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She was chosen as the Empress because her aunt Cixi wanted to strengthen the power of her own family. She married Emperor Guangxu on February 26, 1889 and granted the title of 'Xiao Ding Huang Hou'(????).

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She was extremely detested and ignored by the Emperor, who favoured the Imperial Concubine Zhenfei of the Tatala clan (??????). She used to undermine the Concubine Zhenfei by reporting bad incidents about her to the Dowager Empress Cixi, whom grew more and more hostile to the Imperial Concubine and eventually had her drowned in a well.

Related Topics:
Zhenfei - Tatala

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After the Emperor Guangxu's attempt to gain power from the Cixi's hand failed, he was imprisoned by the Dowager Empress in a lagoon inside the former Imperial Residence. Empress Longyu would frequently spy on the Emperor and report his every actions to the Dowager Empress. When both the Emperor and the Dowager Empress died within 3 days, Empress Longyu was made the Dowager Empress.

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Empress Longyu adopted the Xuantong Emperor Puyi as her son after Guangxu's death in 1908. Cixi had maintained before her death that the Qing Dynasty would not ever again allow the regency of women, but that the Empress Dowager remains the leading respected figure, and therefore must be consulted on all major decisions. This decision was in many ways contradictory, and when Longyu assumed the title of Empress Dowager, in theory she was in a position to make all the highest decisions, but in practice, because of her inexperience in politics, in the first few years court was dominated by the young regent Zaifeng, and then by Yuan Shikai; she was dependant on both.

Related Topics:
Puyi - Qing Dynasty - Zaifeng - Yuan Shikai

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Under Yuan's advice in the fall of 1911, Longyu agreed to sign an abdication of Puyi, while providing the conditions that the Imperial Family will continue to live in the Forbidden City, and will keep its assets, titles, and servants. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty was abolished, making way for the new Republic of China.

Related Topics:
1911 - 1912 - Republic of China

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A few months after the fall of the Qing dynasty Empress Dowager Longyu died of ilness in Beijing. She was 46 years old.

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