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Brief: This article traces Empress Dowager Cixi’s rise. During the Second Opium War, Anglo‑French forces burned the Old Summer Palace. After Emperor Xianfeng died, Cixi allied with Prince Gong in the 1861 Xinyou Coup to overthrow the eight regents. She then began her nearly 50‑year rule behind the curtain, dominating the late Qing Dynasty.
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Brief: This article tells the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Hong Xiuquan, inspired by Christian ideas, launched a massive peasant rebellion against the Qing in 1851. His forces captured Nanjing as their capital. However, a brutal power struggle – the Tianjing Incident – split the movement, leading to its collapse. It…