Empress Dowager Cixi

Empress Dowager Cixi1 , of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a Chinese empress dowager and regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for 47 years from 1861 until her death in 1908.

Cixi was born in the winter of 1835. According to the information listed on a red sheet in the Miscellaneous Pieces of the Palace , Cixi was the daughter of Huizheng, an ordinary official from the Manchu Yehenara clan. Palace archives also show that Huizheng was a member of Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners and was working in Beijing during the year of Cixis birth, an indication that she was born in Beijing. The file records the location of Cixis childhood home Firewood Alley of West Sipailou, Beijing .

Source: Wikipedia