Career
When Emperor Xianfeng died in 1861, her five-year-old son ascended the throne as Emperor Tongzhi, she became the real power by keeping court from behind a screen.Cixi relinquished the regency when her son turned 17, but Tongzhi died two years later and in 1875 Cixi became a regent again, this time for her three-year-old nephew Guangxu.
In 1889, 17 years old Guangxu initiated his famous 'Hundred Days of Reform'(imperial attempt at renovating the Chinese state and social system). Since 1898 she launched a coup against Emperor Guangxu's Wu Hsu Reform. After that, she again concentrated all power in her hands, until her deth in 1908