In the late Qing Dynasty, the most representative figure was Cixi. Although she is not an emperor, she is a person with real power. Even Emperor Guangxu was under her control for many years. I don’t know if you have paid attention to one thing. There are many photos of Cixi handed down. We can see Cixi’s appearance and the furnishings of her palace. However, as the emperor at that time, Guangxu didn’t even have a frontal photo of him. Not found.
Later, after looking for many old photos, people have speculated which is Guangxu. But later for various reasons, many suspected photos were overturned.
For example, in this earliest photo, a child on a horse, with a cute head, looks like the child is only about two years old at this age. Some people say that this child is Guangxu, and that standing beside him, the one on the left is Li Hongzhang. However, someone later overturned this claim, saying that regardless of clothing or age, this person is not Li Hongzhang, so the real time of the photo is unknown.
But the supporter beside the child can't see his legs. I don't know if it is due to the photography technique or what, but when I look closely, it is scary.
In the photo of the two below, some people say that the standing teenager is Guangxu. This photo was collected in the Library of Congress in the United States. At that time, the introduction to this photo was that it was a group photo of Prince Qingchun and Emperor Guangxu. But judging from the time at that time, Guangxu, who has ascended to the throne, should not take a group photo in this posture. Therefore, it is not credible. This young man should be someone else.
This single recent photo is actually a separate photo from the group photo above. At that time, the British Tobacco Company printed pictures of the Eastern Monarchs on cigarette cases in order to achieve the goal of making cigarettes popular. But obviously, this photo is not the real Guangxu. The British only used this young man to fool people, or even they were taken by the American library.
This is also a late Qing photo published in a foreign magazine. At that time, this French publishing house introduced this photo as the first half of 1901. The emperor of Qing Dynasty took a group photo with foreign military officers. But in terms of time, Guangxu and Cixi should be in Xi'an at this time. The person in the photo is probably a certain prince and court minister.
This recent photo of the profile is said to be a real photo of Guangxu. But this is only a creation of a foreign painter, not a real photo, but this image is widely used in history books. But the images drawn are not as realistic as sketches, and people still can't imagine what the real Guangxu looks like.
Now, only this photo from the top view is left. In this photo, Guangxu has just got off the sedan chair, and there are officials in front of him pressing the sedan chair. This is a photo left by Guangxu when he went to Guandi Temple to offer incense in 1902. Since I have lived in Xi'an for more than a year, after returning to Beijing, I will drop incense and pray for blessings and thank the gods for their blessing.
The angle of this photo is very awkward, no one can see the face, only the top of the head. But judging from the respect of people, the authenticity of this photo is very high. Many people are puzzled. At this time, the camera technology has been spread to China. Why did Cixi and his concubines leave photos, but the emperor did not?
To answer this question, we must first consider that Emperor Guangxu collapsed before Cixi. How could he suddenly die in his prime of life? According to historical data, Cixi abused and killed Guangxu. Why did Cixi murder Guangxu? This was mainly caused by the Reform Movement of 1898.
At that time, Guangxu launched the Reform Movement of 1898, and the conflicts between the emperor and the queen intensified. Tan Si and others had a plan to assassinate Cixi and launch a coup. Unfortunately, the plan failed. Cixi held the military power and completely culled the main personnel of the Reform Movement of 1898. Emperor Guangxu was put under house arrest, which lasted more than ten years. When Cixi was about to return to the West, what Cixi feared most was that Guangxu was in his prime of life. When he re-ruled, he would rehabilitate the events of that year and make him stinking for thousands of years.
So Cixi chose to act first, get rid of Guangxu and re-train obedient successors to safeguard her own interests. At the same time, destroying the photos of Guangxu is to completely destroy the image of "Emperor Guangxu", to weaken the oppression of Emperor Guangxu during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi, and establish her as the ruler of the Qing Dynasty.
What did Emperor Guangxu look like and why was he tortured and killed by Cixi? The reason is very simple
References: [1] "Qing History Draft"
