Empress Dowager Cixi: from concubine to ruler of China

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 11.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in 19th-century China by historian Professor Yangwen Zheng and comedian Sophie Duker to learn about the Qing dynasty ruler Empress Dowager Cixi.

A contemporary of Queen Victoria, Cixi rose from low-ranked concubine to de facto ruler of China for nearly half a century, and lived through a dizzying array of events in China’s nineteenth-century history, including the Taiping Rebellion, the Opium Wars, and the Boxer Rebellion. Ruling through her son and then her nephew, Empress Dowager Cixi dominated late Qing dynasty China, and oversaw a variety of economic and military – if not political – reforms. This episode charts her life, from her entry into the Forbidden Palace as a teenager all the way to her death in 1908, taking in the politics and traditions of the Qing imperial court, her relationship with Emperor Xianfeng and her rival turned co-ruler Empress Dowager Ci'an, and her determined attempts to gain and maintain power.

If you’re a fan of Chinese history, ruthless court politics, and complex women characters, you’ll love our episode on Empress Dowager Cixi.

If you want to learn more about the history of China, listen to our episodes on the history of Kung Fu and the Terracotta Warriors. And for more fascinating characters with Sophie Duker, check out our episode on Ramesses the Great, naughty nun Benedetta Carlini and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Emma Mitchell Written by: Emma Mitchell, Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Transcript

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0:48.7	Sounds.
0:51.0	Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:56.2	My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today, we're bouncing back to the Chinese Imperial Court and bowing our heads in deference, as we learn all about, one of the 19th century's most formidable rulers, Empress Dowager So-She. And to help us, we have two very special guests.
1:12.6	In History Corner, she's Professor of Chinese History at the University of Manchester,
1:16.1	where she specialises in Ming and Qing-era trade and economic history. She's the author of
1:20.8	numerous books, including the recent Railway Imperialism in China, a political biography,
1:25.7	is Professor Yang Wen Jung. Welcome Yang Wen. Thank you. And in Comedy Corner, she's an award-winning comedian and writer. You'll recognise her from loads of TV, including her glorious victory on Taskmaster, and maybe you've seen her recent set-out stand-up show. But Daddy, I love her. And you'll certainly remember her from our back catalogue, including episodes on Ashanti Garner, the naughty nun, Bened Carlini and The History of Coffee, it's Sophie Jouca. Welcome back Sophie. Yay, thank you. Shishu? Oh God, I didn't want to say it because I was like gearing up to it, like a horse up to a jump and I was like, you're going to brutalise the most basic word in Chinese. Shishu? Shish it, yeah. Shish it. That's pretty good.
2:01.6	Yeah.
2:02.5	Thank you, Yank Wen. Thank you.
2:04.7	Sophie, your seventh appearance on the show.
2:06.8	Oh, boy.
2:07.7	Yeah.
2:08.2	Wow.
	...

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