Abstract: After the 1861 Coup, in order to justify the prince’s regency and the empress dowagers’“ reign behind the curtain,” which violated laws handed down from forefathers of the Qing dynasty, Prince Gong and both empress dowagers, following the example of the“ Shunzhi” emperor, chose“ ruling together” as the reign title to establish their own legitimacy. The key figure in the “ruling together” discourse was Prince Gong, who was regarded as the contemporary Prince Dorgon. However, after the middle of the“ ruling together” period, as the authority of the two empress dowagers (pecially Cixi) was increasing and the“ Clear Stream” faction was rising in Beijing, a new explanation of legitimacy began to appear. Hoping to establish a new pattern in which the inner court ruled with the bureaucracy, the“ Clear Stream” faction followed the example of Yuanyou” in the Song dynasty, regarding the two empress dowagers as the queen mother of emperor Shenzong of Song, and themselves as the“ wise men of Yuanyou.” This discourse provided legitimacy for the two empress dowagers and the“ Clear Stream” faction that exceeded the norms handed down from forefathers of the Qing dynasty, however, after the 1880s, as emperor Guangxu grew older, and new scholarship, such as Gongyang Studies, became popular among the political elites in Beijing, the new generation of the“ Clear Stream” faction began to hold a more positive attitude toward the Xifeng Reform of the Song emperor Shenzong. The“ Clear Stream” faction expected to“ rule together” with emperor Guangxu, like Wang Anshi with the Song emperor Shenzong. Therefore, their relationship with Cixi became increasingly tense, which eventually led to the termination of the 100 Days Reform by Cixi, meaning that“ ruling together” based on limited cooperation among political elites in Beijing since 1861 had failed. Since then, discourses such as“ ruling together” and“ Yuanyou” became increasingly formalized and hollowed out in the actual political processes, and alternative discourses such as civil rights and constitution began to emerge.