Was Empress Dowager Cixi the original cosplayer – over a century ago?
Known as the dragon lady, the cruel ruler of China who marked the closing years of the Qing dynasty granted herself the saintly title of ‘old master Buddha’, and dressed up in lavish costumes for photos to promote her godlike position
Regarded as the dragon lady, Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) was the virtual ruler of China for almost the last half-century of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
Cixi was arguably a household name, notorious for her extravagant lifestyle and autocratic leadership. Without concerning herself with the hardships facing the general populace, she was always depicted as cruel and oppressive, and was to blame for the end of the dynasty.
Within the Forbidden City, everyone had to be absolutely loyal to Cixi, even Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908) – who was put under house arrest by her for a decade until his death in 1908 – and needless to say the royal household, eunuchs and attendants.
To show her supreme ranking in the Qing court, and at the same time portray herself as a benevolent immortal, Cixi even unabashedly granted herself a saintly title on her 60th birthday – the “old master Buddha” or “lao fo ye” (老佛爺) in Chinese.
In the Qing dynasty, Tibetan Buddhism believed that all the Qing emperors were actually the embodiment of Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Therefore, it was no surprise that “old Buddha” was used to refer to the emperors at that time.
Although Cixi was not the emperor, she was the centre of power. This made her believe that she well deserved the title.
Besides addressing her as the old Buddha, Cixi promoted her godlike position. In photos, she liked to cosplay (a portmanteau of costume and play to depict a character) as the Goddess of Mercy or Guanyin.
