Cixi (慈禧太后), Empress Dowager of China, 1835-1908, Photographs. Forty-four glass plate negatives depicting the Empress Dowager of China, Cixi of the Qing dynasty, taken between 1903 to 1905 by the photographer Xunling (勋龄; ca.1880-1943). Scenes include the empress dowager on the imperial barge, in the Summer Palace (颐和园) with attendants, and individual portraits of Cixi in varieties of court attire. Other important figures of the royal court depicted are Empress Longyu (隆裕皇后; 1868 - 1913), Jinfei ((瑾妃; 1874 - 1924), Princess Der Ling (德龄公主; 1885 - 1944), Rongling (容龄;1882-1973), Lady Yugeng (裕太太), first chief eunuch Li Lianying (李連英; 1848 -1911), and second chief eunuch Cui Yugui (崔玉贵). The negatives were at one time in the possession of Xunling's sister, Princess Der Ling, who used many of them to illustrate her books on Cixi and the imperial Qing court. The collection includes thirty-five original glass plate negatives by Xunling and nine glass plate negatives copied from various sources, likely made for illustrations in Princess Der Ling's books and articles. Included in the acquisitions file is a 4 page typed essay by Lydia Dan (d. 2005), Xunling's niece, which identifies Xunling as the original photographer and describes the history of the photographs and anecdotes relating to Xunling and his family.
Arrangement:
The photographs are divided into four groups:
1. Twenty-four large negatives, 24.1 x 17.8 cm (SC-GR-243 to SC-GR-265; unnumbered). Original photographs by Xunling taken in the Forbidden City or the Summer Palace .
2. Eleven smaller negatives, 12.7 x 10.2 cm. (SC-GR-270-272; 276-277; 279-284). Mostly informal portraits of Cixi and the court taken with a more portable camera.
3. Nine smaller negatives, 12.7 x 10.2 cm. (SC-GR-266-269; 273-275; 278; 285). These are copies of prints from other sources, possibly taken for Xunling's sister, the Princess Der Ling to illustrate her English language books and magazine articles. SC-GR-275 is a copy from a worn, damaged print of a famous Xunling photograph. SC-GR-285 is copied from a poor print of SC-GR-265. SC-GR-278 is a detail copied from SC-GR-261.
4. SC-GR-285a is a print of a group of Han Chinese women.
A photograph received by Alice Roosevelt in September 1905 following an audience at the Summer Palace with the Emperor Guangxu and the Empress Dowager Cixi for members of the Taft Mission to Asia.
北京 慈禧 慈禧太后 勋龄
Biographical / Historical:
Alice Roosevelt visited Beijing in September of 1905 as a member of the William H. Taft Mission to Asia. According to her autobiography, the afternoon following an audience at the Summer Palace with the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, a troop of Manchu horsemen delivered the photograph on an imperial yellow chair.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2009.02 04
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
The Alice Roosevelt Longworth Collection of Photographs from the 1905 Taft Mission to Asia, FSA A2009.02. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1 Glass plate negative (glass plate negative 1, 24.1 x 17.8 cm.(9.5 x 7 in.))
Type:
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Place:
China
China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Beijing (China)
Yihe Yuan (Beijing, China)
北京
Date:
1903-1905
Scope and Contents:
From left to right: Lady Yugeng (Louisa Pierson), Princess Der Ling (Deling), unidentified eunuch, Cixi, Rongling. The group is standing before the Fuyinxuan behind Leshoutang on Wanshoushan.
1 Glass plate negative (glass plate negative 1, 24.1 x 17.8 cm.(9.5 x 7 in.))
Type:
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Place:
China
China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Beijing (China)
Yihe Yuan (Beijing, China)
北京
Date:
1903-1905
Scope and Contents:
From left to right: Lady Yugeng (Louisa Pierson), Princess Der Ling (Deling), unidentified eunuch, Cixi, Rongling. The group is standing before the Fuyinxuan behind Leshoutang on Wanshoushan.
1 Glass plate negative (glass plate negative 1, 24.1 x 17.8 cm.(9.5 x 7 in.))
Type:
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Place:
China
China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Beijing (China)
Yihe Yuan (Beijing, China)
颐和园
Paiyunmen, Yihe Yuan
排云门
Date:
1903-1905
Scope and Contents:
From right to left: Empress Longyu, Junsho, Princess Der Ling (Deling), Cixi, Second Chief Eunuch Cui Yugui, Fourth Princess, Yuanda Nainai, Lily, Lady Yugeng (Louisa Pierson), Rongling.
1 Glass plate negative (glass plate negative 1, 24.1 x 17.8 cm.(9.5 x 7 in.))
Type:
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Place:
China
China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Beijing (China)
北京
故宫
Zhonghai (Beijing, China)
中海
中南海
Date:
1903-1905
Scope and Contents:
From left to right: Rongling (蓉龄), unknown eunuch, Cixi (慈禧太后), unknown lady in waiting holding gourd, unidentified eunuch, Fourth Princess (四格格) holding a bamboo pole
1 Glass plate negative (glass plate negative 1, 24.1 x 17.8 cm.(9.5 x 7 in.))
Type:
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Place:
China
China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Beijing (China)
北京
故宫
Zhonghai
中海
中南海
Date:
1903-1905
Scope and Contents:
From left to right: Three unidentified eunuchs (Possibly Second Chief Eunuch Cui Yigui in center), Yuanda Nainai, Fourth Princess (daughter of Prince Qing), Empress Longyu, unidentified attendant (possibly Third Princess), Cixi, unidentified attendant, unidentified attendant, First Chief Eunuch Li Lianying, Jinfei, Princess Der Ling (Deling), Lily, Junshou, Lady Yugeng (Louisa Pierson), Rongling
1 Glass plate negative (glass plate negative 1, 12.7 x 10.2 cm.( 5 x 4in.))
Type:
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographs
Place:
China
China -- History -- Qing dynasty, 1644-1912
Beijing (China)
Scope and Contents:
A reproduction taken from a print. The statue, made from flawless Burmese jade was presented to Cixi in 1893. Damaged by foreign troops in 1900 following the Boxer Rebellion.
