Mattel - Barbie doll Chinese Empress (Empress Dowager Cixi) - Great Eras Collection - 1996 - U.S.

The story of the Chinese Empress Barbie doll is an authentic representation of Chinese history.


This doll is a tribute to Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi 西太后, who reigned from 1861 to 1908 during the Qing Dynasty, a period marked by major upheavals and attempts at modernization in China.

From head to toe, each piece of the Chinese Empress Barbie doll's costume deserves a description. Let's start with her hat, called a Manchu Cap or Chao Guan, which was once adorned with an item indicating the wearer's rank; it could be made of bronze, crystal, or jade. Jade, particularly prized in China, symbolizes purity, morality, and immortality. Her elaborate satin cloak, Chao Pao, is decorated with a four-clawed dragon, symbolizing her rank as a female member of the Chinese royal family; only men were permitted to wear the five-clawed dragon. The sleeves of the cloak are long enough to cover the tips of the empress's fingers, keeping her hands covered as a member of royalty.

Under her dress, she wears a jacquard dress with a mandarin collar, Chao Qua, in yellow, a color reserved for Chinese royalty. She wears red slippers fitted on molded platforms, typical of the period. Her jewelry is made of imitation jade, the official "precious stone" of the royal family. She wears dangling earrings in imitation jade and a "jade and gold" necklace, the Chao Zhu, whose length also indicated her rank.

This beautifully designed costume is typical of the turn-of-the-century dresses worn by Empress Dowager Cixi, who, towards the end of her reign, attempted to align China more closely with its European neighbors by establishing schools for boys and girls, where Chinese and Western subjects were taught.

Box dimensions: 35x27x7.5 cm

Doll: approximately 30 cm

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