In 1884, Cixi was 50 years old. It was a tumultuous year. The year before that, in December 1883, the Sino-French War broke out, but Cixi celebrated her birthday in 1884, which was a good thing, at least for her. On her 50th birthday, she launched a second coup, dismissed the Minister of Military Aircraft, and started her dictatorial career. In other words, it was not until 1984 that she truly took control of the country's military and political power.
The 50th birthday is a happy day, but the 60th birthday is different. In 1894, Cixi celebrated her 60th birthday. In the minds of Chinese people, the 60th birthday is of great significance and unprecedented grand occasion. To celebrate the ruler's birthday, the Qing Dynasty's budget was 30 million taels of silver. The first was the misappropriation of military funds, mainly from the navy at the time. The second is to borrow money from foreign banks, such as the Bank of England, which borrowed 10 million taels and paid it back in ten years.
Unexpectedly, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 took place in that year. In August, China and Japan officially declared war. In order to concentrate on preparing for war, the Qing Dynasty stopped several projects that were originally prepared to celebrate longevity. Cixi was also helpless. In order to avoid criticism, she agreed to stop and just have a simple birthday. But she added an "eternal saying": Whoever makes me unhappy today, I will also make him unhappy for the rest of his life. If you make me feel bad today, I will make you feel bad for the rest of your life. Although many birthday projects were not started, according to records, about 100,000 taels of silver were spent on his 60th birthday.
The two birthday experiences caused a psychological shadow to the Empress Dowager Cixi. On her 70th birthday in 1904, she might have had a good birthday, but Japan and Russia declared war in Northeast my country, so this time She still wasn't in the mood to celebrate her birthday. Even the birthday gift that the minister prepared to give her, she asked for everything to be simple.