Born during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, Zaixun initially held the title of a fuguo gong.

[citation needed] In 1900, Zaixun strongly advocated making use of the Righteous and Harmonious Society (or "Boxers") to counter foreign aggression.

[citation needed] When Beijing fell to the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an in western China.

In 1901, he was impeached and stripped of his titles, and on February 21 he committed suicide by hanging himself in Puzhou (present-day Yongji, Shanxi).

[1][2] Zaixun's residence previously belonged to Liu Jin, a court eunuch of the Ming dynasty.