The two empresses dowager were appointed joint "de facto" regents for the Tongzhi Emperor. Because women were not allowed to be seen during imperial court sessions, they had to sit behind a curtain while attending such sessions together with the child emperor. Although in principle she had precedence over Cixi, Ci'an was in fact a self-effacing person and seldom intervened in politics, unlike Cixi, who actually controlled the imperial court. As "de facto" ruler, Ci'an had to learn about politics, so she and Cixi studied history. In November 1861, in keeping with the imperial custom, they began to consult the records of their Manchu predecessors. In June 1863, they had the contents of "Tong Jian Ji Lan" (通鑑輯覽) explained to them. About a year earlier, an earlier compilation by scholars from the Hanlin Academy, entitled "A Valuable Mirror for Excellent Governance" (治平寶鑑), became the text for a series of lectures by scholars and officials that the empresses dowager attended for over two years, the last lecture given in November 1866.