Though her exact origins are unclear it is very likely that she came from an. Utopia, mao and the empress dowager cixi an swf 20 lecture by jung chang duration. An impassioned defense of the daughter of a government employee who finagled her way to becoming the longreigning empress dowager, feminist and reformer. Daniele vares book, the last empress, says yehenara he calls her yehonala rose to the top of. A new york times notable book empress dowager cixi 18351908 is the most important woman in chinese history. The woman behind the throne history smithsonian magazine.
Empress dowager cixis name at birth is not known, although a recent book. Empress dowager cixi biography facts, childhood, rule. A new york times notable bookempress dowager cixi 18351908 is the most important woman in chinese history. Empress dowager cixi 1 an aa romanised as empress dowager tzuhsi. Although having abandoned the throne for her son frederick ii, holy roman emperor, empress constance widow of henry vi, holy roman emperor remained her title. In this groundbreaking biography, jung chang vividly describes how empress dowager cixi the most important woman in chinese history brought a. Empress dowager cixi by jung chang overdrive rakuten. She ruled china for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. She studied previous rulers failures and achievements, and especially followed the example of wuhou, who had elevated herself from concubine to empress some 1200 years earlier. Empress cixi female dragon, empress dowager cixi, asian history.
Noble consort placed yehenara second only to the empress consort zhen. She ruled china for decades and brought a medieval. Immediately after the guangxu emperors death, cixi appointed puyi, a nephew of the guangxu emperor, as the new emperor. There are few leaders in modern chinese history more layered with prejudice begging to be stripped away than cixi, the dowager empress who ruled china for almost half a century until her death in. Past the smoke and screens, she lived as a powerful ruler behind two of the last emperors, and had a hand in imperial court policy in the last several decades of the qing dynasty. A new york times notable book empress dowager cixi 1835 1908 is the most important woman in chinese history. The empress dowager cixi 1835 1908 brought destruction to the qing dynasty, the last feudal dynasty in the long history of china. Her books have been translated into over 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside mainland china where they are banned. This book will appeal to both those seeking history and those wanting just a good read. Empress dowager cixi project gutenberg selfpublishing. An imperial concubine of xianfeng emperor, who gave birth to his only son zaichun, she gradually emerged among the most powerful women in chinese history. In this groundbreaking biography, jung chang vividly describes how cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change china.
Discover the extraordinary story of the woman who brought china into the modern age, from the bestselling author of wild swans. All of this adds up to make empress dowager cixi a powerful read. Empress dowager cixi was a chinese empress dowager and regent of the qing dynasty who through an exclusive group of corrupt and conservative officials controlled china for around halfacentury. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like death by a thousand cuts and put. When he died in 1861, their fiveyearold son succeeded to the throne. Political history of china, 18401928, and chinas last empire. By the time of the death of the xianfeng emperor, empress dowager cixi had.
Empress dowager cixi simple english wikipedia, the free. The daughters of china, 1991 strongly argues for a fresh look at this muchmaligned monarch, who presided over china at a challenging period, when it was on the cusp of. Read an extract from jung changs empress dowager cixi here. The manchu empress dowager cixi 18351908 is generally thought of as a conservative figure in chinese history, incapable of defending chinas interests in the second half of the 19th century. Cixi, consort of the xianfeng emperor reigned 185061, mother of the tongzhi emperor reigned 186175, adoptive mother of the guangxu emperor reigned 18751908, and a towering presence over the chinese empire for almost half a century. In this article, i will talk about the early years of empress dowager cixi as well as her reputation and how she helped modernised china. Empress dowager cixi also recalled that when the guangxu emperor was brought to the forbidden city for his coronation, he was a very sickly child, and could hardly walk, he was so thin and weak. Simon sebag montefiore, bbc history magazine if there is one woman who mattered in the history of modern china, it is the empress dowager cixiher conventional image is queried in this detailed and beautifully narrated biography, which at long last restores the empress. Fighting to maintain her power base, empress cixi struggled with the need to modernize the painfully backward empire she had inherited while honoring ageold traditions. The guangxu emperor and cixi died one day apart in 1908, after which empress xiaodingjing was promoted to empress dowager, with the honorable title longyu, meaning auspicious and prosperous. Certain to become the standard by which all future biographies of the dowager empress are measured. People say that she ruled behind the screens somehow, and people. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, cixi was chosen as one of the emperors numerous concubines.
The empress dowager cixi ruled china, mostly directly, from the death of her husband, emperor xianfeng, in 1861 to her own death in 1908, an era when foreign powers gnawed away at. In april of 1881, empress dowager niuhuru suddenly died at the age of 44, possibly of a stroke. As with her damning mao exegesis, chang hasnt only a gut conviction about her subject. Empress dowager cixi of the manchu yehe nara clan, was a chinese empress dowager and. The author is clearly sympathetic to her subject, fearlessly defending cixi to critics, yet boldly detailing her flaws, forcing you to look at the empress dowager as she was, liking her at first, recoiling from her near the end and finally finishing with a newfound respect for her, this book has an eloquent balance of light and shade and is a. Discover the extraordinary story of the woman who brought china into the modern age, from the bestselling author of wild swans in this groundbreaking biography, jung chang vividly describes how empress dowager cixi the most important woman in chinese history brought a medieval empire into the modern age. To say her life was difficult is a gross understatement, but the detail in this book reveals a person who always tried to improve china and the lives of its people. Extensive research, often into previously unexamined sources, produces hard evidence of both cixi s formidable gifts as a. Naturally, rumors quickly spread through the foreign legations that cixi had poisoned her, although cixi was herself.
Thus, empress dowager cixi is undoubtedly one of chinas most elusive figures of the day. Lady yehenara was given the title of imperial concubine yi. The dowager empress cixi was humane and far seeing. Empress dowager cixi is one of chinas most controversial figures. In addition, i highly recommend the following additional books for reference which are dirt cheap used here on amazon. The portrait of the qing dynasty cixi imperial dowager empress of china in the. His parents seemed to be afraid of giving him anything to eat. Chinese history dowager empress tzu hsi or cixi royalty. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, cixi was chosen as one of the. Empress dowager cixi by jung chang penguin books australia. The history of empress dowager cixi is an essential part of understanding modern china and provides the hows and whys behind this great nations relationship with the wider world. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state. Bette bao lord s novel spring moon starts in the days of cixi. Chang writes with verve, energy and evident concern for the country in which her books are proscribed and her family was made to suffer during the.
Empress dowager cixi was born on 29 november 1835 to the yehenara clan. Jung chang is the internationally bestselling author of wild swans. Empress dowager cixi empress dowager cixi audiobook, by jung chang. Empress dowager cixi her early years part one history of. The daily beast jung chang has written a pathbreaking and generally persuasive book. A new york times notable book an npr best book of the year in 1852, at age sixteen, cixi was chosen as one of emperor xianfengs numerous concubines. Eleonora gonzaga was empress dowager from 16571686 although never referred to as a dowager, empress matilda was controversially the holy roman empress and continued to be referred to as empress long after her husbands death. Jung changs empress dowager cixi the new york times. Empress dowager cixi 18351908 is the most important woman in chinese history. Cixi stands out as infamous in qing dynasty history ruling 18611908. At this time, cixi was often bedridden with a liver ailment. Dowager empress cixi of china posted 30 april 2018 by the history chicks the true story of a woman who, essentially, ruled china for almost 50 years is cloaked by years of inaccurate read. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available.