Empress Dowager Cixi lost her favorite jewel when she passed away

Empress Dowager Cixi is almost obsessed with pearls, no matter how precious she wants to possess.
Empress Dowager Cixi held power for 48 years during the late Qing Dynasty. While the Qing Dynasty was weakening, her life became more and more luxurious. During that time, she collected countless treasures from all over the world, of which her number of pearls was innumerable. Most of her life, Empress Dowager Cixi was crazy about pearls, it was reported that she also used pearl powder to maintain her beauty. Until her death, Empress Dowager Cixi was buried with many precious pearls.

According to records in the book “Ai Nguyet Hien Pen Ky”, before the body of Empress Dowager Cixi was put into the coffin, the bottom of the coffin was covered with a layer of jade and ivory including 12,604 pearls, 85 rubies, 2 emeralds, 203 white rubies and sapphires. Not stopping there, above this layer of treasure is also covered with a cushion embroidered with 2,400 pearls. Particularly, the shroud of Queen Mother Cixi was studded with 420 large-sized pearls, 1,000 medium-sized pearls, 1,500 small-sized pearls and 1,135 gems of all kinds. In addition, she also wears 2 jewelry chains with 800 pearls, 35 pieces of precious stones and wears a pearl crown on her head. On the coffin is attached a pearl as big as a chicken egg, weighing 4.125 taels, worth 20 million taels of silver, which is an extremely rare treasure in the world. The blanket that covered the body of Empress Dowager Cixi was also studded with 820 pearls. Not only that, the mouth of Empress Dowager Cixi at the time of burial also held an extremely precious night pearl. However, this night pearl did not make her eternal sleep peaceful, but left a seed of disaster later. The Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1929, Phung Ngoc Tuong – a general of the Nationalist period ordered Ton Dien Anh to dig up the burial places of the Manchu emperors, including the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi. This is a scandalous gravedigging case that shocked the Chinese people and the world. According to one report, gravediggers unearthed around 26,400 pearls after that incident. The fate of these pearls was completely against the wishes of Empress Dowager Cixi when she was alive, because later they were scattered all over the world, falling into the hands of different classes of society. . Particularly, the giant pearl attached to the phoenix coffin that Empress Dowager Cixi wore when she was buried also carries a thrilling story. The giant pearl was called the “Asian Star” and was the pearl that Empress Dowager Cixi loved most when she was alive. Originally, it belonged to the Qianlong Emperor, who was also very fond of this gem. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the “Asian Star” had belonged to Empress Dowager Cixi. It is known that the “Asian Star” comes from the Persian Gulf. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, it was presented to him by messengers. Since then, the pearl has become a treasure of China. The “Asian Star” has a special shape, resembling an eggplant. After obtaining this pearl, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the artisans in the palace to add more gems. At first, “Asian Star” was located in Vien Minh Vien, then there was a court lady who was greedy to steal this treasure. Empress Dowager Cixi discovered this plan, so she ordered the palace maid to be beaten to death. Since then, the pearl has been directly preserved by Empress Dowager Cixi. When she died, her descendants also wore a jewel with this pearl attached to her before burial. After being taken by Sun Dien Anh from the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi, this pearl was lost everywhere. According to Japanese media reported on February 10, 1993, this natural pearl appeared once in the country of Phu Tang and was displayed at the 100th anniversary of successful culture of artificial pearls. During the past time, “Asian Star” is considered as a derelict gem, displayed around the world but not fixed in a museum at all. According to a latest report, the pearl once enchanted by Empress Dowager Cixi is in the hands of a collector in London (England) and its current value is immeasurable.