Cixi considered nails as treasures, the secret inside made people shiver

Empress Dowager Cixi was known as the most powerful woman in China during the Qing Dynasty. Inside her armor made of gold and encrusted with precious stones, there is a terrible secret hidden.

Empress Dowager Cixi was born in 1835 and entered the palace as a concubine of King Ham Phong at the age of 17. She was ordained a noble concubine and enjoyed wealth and honor thanks to giving birth to her husband's only son, Tai Thuan, later Emperor Dong Tri.

After King Ham Phong died, Cixi dominated the Qing court for more than 40 years. As Queen Mother, she took advantage of every opportunity to seize power and commit countless crimes.

The old Buddha is also famous for having an extremely luxurious lifestyle. The historical documents recording her life surprised later generations. Because not only do they have countless sumptuous gold and silver jewelry and wear sumptuous silk and velvet outfits, but their quality of life requirements are also very high.

Empress Dowager Cixi used huge amounts of money to organize parties right when the royal treasury was exhausted. Typically, more than 400 taels of gold are used to hold a banquet for a delegation from the West. The menu that day included 140 dishes with 1,750 waiters and chefs selected from across the country and lasted for 1 week.

She is also famous for her love of dressing up and taking photos. The Palace Museum in Beijing still preserves more than 100 photos of the queen mother wearing more than 30 splendid silk dresses with high-quality pearls.

Not stopping there, Tu Hi also wore precious jewelry and jade. Hair tools have up to 25 items, used to curl and comb many different styles. Her hair is often decorated with flowers and gold brooches.

The old Buddha built a private kitchen in the Forbidden City, called the Western Kitchen. According to the book Empress Dowager Cixi by author Tu Triet, a scholar and expert in Qing Dynasty research, each meal she was served 120 different dishes.

However, only eat a few dishes, one to two pieces of each dish for fear of being poisoned. There are historical records that Cixi only smelled 400 apples a day but did not eat them. When the fruit lost its smell, she would throw it away and a new one would be offered.

Another special eating habit of Empress Dowager Cixi is to only drink pure spring water because it contains many minerals. Worth mentioning, the spring water offered must also be boiled with tea scented with roses. She requested that freshly picked flowers be mixed with dried tea, to ensure that when brewed, the tea would have the fragrance of the flowers.

In addition, every morning when he wakes up, the old Buddha will have to use morning dew to rinse his mouth. That's why the palace maids often had to stay up at midnight to collect the purest drops of dew for the queen mother to gargle with, if they didn't want to be punished.

Even after her death, Empress Dowager Cixi was buried with jewelry and luxury items worth 1.2 million taels of silver. In 1928, her grave was looted by warlord Ton Dien Anh and his army.

The queen mother's coffin was destroyed, causing all her wealth, gold, silver and gems to be taken away. Ton Dien Anh even used Empress Dowager Tu Hi's mouth to take away the night pearl worth thousands of billions of dong.

According to historical records, Cixi had the habit of growing her fingernails, but each hand only grew three nails on the thumb, little finger and ring finger. Each of her nails has a palace lady in charge of taking care of it.

To protect the nails, the Buddha used protective armor - small tubes like pen towers that cover the tips of the fingers. In addition, she also recommended a special conditioner for the royal physician to prepare, helping the nails become soft and difficult to break.

Furthermore, Empress Dowager Cixi also brought modern tools from the West such as hooks, brushes, and small scissors to take care of her nails. Thanks to this special care, her nails can grow to more than 15cm long.

However, as he aged, the color of the Buddha's nails became lighter. At first, she blamed her nails for losing good condition because she was worried about other things, but then she realized she couldn't fight natural changes over time. At this time, Empress Dowager Cixi regularly trimmed her nails to maintain them in good shape.

The old Buddha wore gold armor on his right hand and pearl armor on his left. Legend has it that the doctors in the palace often looked at the nails to predict the health of the queen mother.

Notably, in addition to protecting her nails from dirt, the Empress Dowager Cixi's armor also hid a type of self-defense poison. Any officials who plot to harm her will be given it to drink. History books record that when she died, she clutched a brocade bag containing her own fingernails in her hand.

As the woman holding the highest power of the Chinese empire and an important historical figure, that is why Empress Dowager Cixi is the object of exploitation by filmmakers.

It's easy to see the image of the powerful Empress Dowager Cixi on the small screen through historical films. Among them, many roles have left a deep impression on the audience.

Many Chinese beauties have successfully played the role of this old Buddha, including: Me Tuyet, Liu Xiaoqing, Luong Tieu Bang, Tu Cam Ca Oa, Vien Lap...

In particular, the infamous tomb theft of Empress Dowager Cixi was also portrayed in the 2008 movie "Dong Ling Treasure". The film is based on the character's history of famous tomb robberies in China. Ton Dien Anh is played by actor Truong Dieu Duong. The film also quickly made a big splash.

What rank did Cixi rank on the list of the most famous figures of the late Qing Dynasty? Phượng Vũ20:52:08 03/01/2024The last period of the Qing Dynasty in China happened many large and small events associated with the names of many famous figures. The following is a list of characters that almost everyone knows.