Empress Dowager Longyu - The End of A Dynasty

The End of A Dynasty

Immediately after Emperor Guangxu's death, Empress Dowager Cixi appointed Puyi, a nephew of Guangxu, as the new emperor. Longyu had no children of her own, and thus as Empress Dowager adopted Puyi. The Empress Dowager Cixi had decreed before her death that the Qing Dynasty would never again allow the regency of women, but that Longyu was to remain the leading figure and was to be consulted on all major decisions. When Longyu assumed the title of Empress Dowager, she was, theoretically, in a position to make all important decisions. However, because of her inexperience in politics, in the first few years the Imperial Court was dominated by the young regent Zaifeng, Prince Chun, the father of the new emperor and Longyu's brother-in-law, and then by Yuan Shikai; Longyu was dependent on both.

On Yuan's advice in the fall of 1911, Empress Dowager Longyu agreed to sign an abdication on behalf of the six-year-old Xuantong Emperor. She agreed only if the Imperial family were allowed to keep its titles. Other agreements were these:

• The Imperial family could keep its possessions.
• They could stay in the Forbidden City temporarily, then would eventually move to the summer palace.
• They would receive an annual stipend of 4,000,000 silver yuan.
• The Imperial graves would be protected and looked after.
• The new government would pay for the funeral and tomb of the late Guangxu emperor.

In 1912, the Qing Dynasty was abolished, making way for the new Republic of China.

Within a few months after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, on 22 February 1913, Longyu died in Beijing after an illness. She was 45 years old, and was the only Empress of China whose coffin was transported from the Forbidden City to her tomb by train. At her funeral, the Vice President of the Republic of China, Li Yuanhong (黎元洪), praised Empress Dowager Longyu as the "most excellent among women".