Mourning During the Tongzhi Regency

The Tongzhi Regency (1861–1875), historiographically marked as the beginning of the Qing dynasty's (1644–1912) decline, also saw the emergence of a new political alliance between the Han Chinese grand councilors / Hanlin academicians and the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi, who ruled from behind the curtains with the former's support. The Hanlin academicians gained their high positions partly from their allegiance to the empress dowagers but largely through patron–client networks, which were based on native-place associations and scholarly interests. Using the case of Li Hongzao (1820–1897), the chief tutor of the Tongzhi Emperor, this article argues that, to him, such networks mattered more than the empress dowagers’ favor and recognition, and that his situation reveals the dynamics of late Qing court politics. In particular, the article focuses on how Li was able to use his appointment as Tongzhi's chief tutor to defy the wishes of the court and mourn his adoptive mother, showing the limits of late Qing imperial power in the realm of Confucian discourse.