Empress Cixi

Empress Hui Zhang

Wife of Shunzhi.

Empress He Rui

Wife of Jia Qing

Empress Long-Yu

Wife of Guangxu. She signed the act of abdication for the last emperor, in 1911.

Empress Xiaosheng

Wife of Yongzheng, mother of Qianlong.

Xiao-ke-min, Empress of China

Cixi, Dowager Empress of China

Qianlong, Emperor of China

Kangxi, Emperor of China

Puyi, Emperor of China

Shunzhi, Emperor of China

Xiaosheng, Empress Dowager of China

Cixi, Empress of China

Yongzheng, Emperor of China

Shunzhi, Emperor of China

Kangxi, Emperor of China

Qianlong, Emperor of China

Cixi, Dowager Empress of China

She loved mugging for the camera.

Consequently, there's an enormous number of pictures of her.

She was spared the knowledge that the last photograph taken of her would show a badly decomposed corpse. I'm not posting that one. It was taken after her tomb was robbed as part of the complete collapse of order that usually follows a switch to a republican form of government. As my grandmother always said, democracy is like boiled chicken. The scum rises to the top.

Cixi, Dowager Empress of China

The woman was a hoot and a half, and she loved mugging for the camera. This one was taken in 1903. You'll be seeing a lot of her.