Ci·xi or Tzu Hsi (tso?o? sh??) 1835-1908. The dowager empress of China (1861-1908) who was hostile to foreign influences in China and supported the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1900).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.