Author: Jung Chang Publisher: Random House Canada ISBN: 0307363120 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 431
Book Description
From the beloved, internationally bestselling author of Wild Swans, and co-author of the bestselling Mao: The Unknown Story, the dramatic, epic biography of the unusual woman who ruled China for 50 years, from concubine to Empress, overturning centuries of traditions and formalities to bring China into the modern world. A woman, an Empress of immense wealth who was largely a prisoner within the compound walls of her palaces, a mother, a ruthless enemy, and a brilliant strategist: Chang makes a compelling case that Cixi was one of the most formidable and enlightened rulers of any nation. Cixi led an intense and singular life. Chosen at the age of 12 to be a concubine by the Emperor Xianfeng, she gave birth to his only male heir who at four was designated Emperor when his father died in 1861. In a brilliant move, the young woman enlisted the help of the Emperor's widow and the two women orchestrated a coup that ousted the regents and made Cixi sole Regent. Untrained and untaught, the two studied history and politics together, ruling the huge nation from behind a curtain. When her boy died, Cixi designated a young nephew as Emperor, continuing her reign till her death in 1908. Chang gives us a complex, riveting portrait of Cixi through a reign as long as that of her fellow Empress, Victoria, whom she longed to meet: her ruthlessness in fighting off rivals; her curiosity to learn; her reliance on Westerners who she placed in key positions; and her sensitivity and desire to preserve the distinctiveness of China's past while overturning traditions (she, as Chang reveals--not Mao, as he claimed--banned footbinding) and exposing its culture to western ideas and technology.
Author: X. L. Woo Publisher: Algora Publishing ISBN: 0875861660 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
In all the history of China, only two women ever conquered and held the heights of power. Both enjoyed long reigns characterized by ruthless intrigue; they maintained an iron grip at the center while the vast country was torn by rebellions and caught up i.
Author: Anchee Min Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 1408828995 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 402
Book Description
'Vivid and entertaining ... this is history as it plays upon the emotions. Empires crumble, hearts are broken' THE TIMES From the bestselling author of Red Azalea comes the much-anticipated sequel to Empress Orchid At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman, Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid, who must face the perilous condition of her empire and devastating personal losses. In this sequel to the bestselling Empress Orchid, Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who sacrifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.
Author: Jung Chang Publisher: Knopf ISBN: 0385350376 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 448
Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled China for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor’s numerous concubines. When he died in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China—behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male. In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, the telegraph and an army and navy with up-to-date weaponry. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like “death by a thousand cuts” and put an end to foot-binding. She inaugurated women’s liberation and embarked on the path to introduce parliamentary elections to China. Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot. Cixi reigned during extraordinary times and had to deal with a host of major national crises: the Taiping and Boxer rebellions, wars with France and Japan—and an invasion by eight allied powers including Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States. Jung Chang not only records the Empress Dowager’s conduct of domestic and foreign affairs, but also takes the reader into the depths of her splendid Summer Palace and the harem of Beijing’s Forbidden City, where she lived surrounded by eunuchs—one of whom she fell in love, with tragic consequences. The world Chang describes here, in fascinating detail, seems almost unbelievable in its extraordinary mixture of the very old and the very new. Based on newly available, mostly Chinese, historical documents such as court records, official and private correspondence, diaries and eyewitness accounts, this biography will revolutionize historical thinking about a crucial period in China’s—and the world’s—history. Packed with drama, fast paced and gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world’s population, and as a unique stateswoman.
Author: Jung Chang Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1439106495 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 592
Book Description
The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history—a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author. An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving—and ultimately uplifting—detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.
Author: Natasha Yim Publisher: Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames ISBN: 9780983425656 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 28
Book Description
This series of historical accounts profiles strong women who took extraordinary measures to achieve and maintain power—including murder, deception, and black magic—examining the women's reputations in the context of their eras. Just how wicked were they? The books allow readers to decide for themselves if these infamous ladies were indeed heartless and evil or simply out of touch and making the most of their circumstances.The last empress of China, Cixi fought ruthlessly to isolate her country from the West while cloistered inside her lavish Forbidden City, ignoring the needs of her people. Her extravagant lifestyle, bouts of bad temper, and brutal punishments earned her a reputation as a cruel and ignorant leader. An exploration of Cixi's daily life—including what she ate and how she dressed—this story explains how she became one of the most notorious figures of the Qing dynasty.
Author: Yehenara Lixue Publisher: epubli ISBN: 3759864007 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 837
Book Description
In a world dominated by men, one woman rose from the shadows of the Forbidden City to become the most powerful figure in the Qing Dynasty. Empress Dowager Cixi—a name synonymous with intrigue, ambition, and unparalleled political acumen—steered China through one of its most turbulent eras. Yehenara Lixue delves deep into the life of Cixi, the woman who transformed herself from a low-ranking concubine into the de facto ruler of China. With deft maneuvering, Cixi overcame formidable challenges, including internal rebellions and foreign threats, while initiating reforms that would set the stage for modern China. Yet her legacy is shrouded in controversy—was she a ruthless tyrant or a visionary leader who sought to preserve and strengthen her nation? This meticulously researched biography unveils the complexities of Cixi's character, exploring her strengths, flaws, and the intricacies of court politics that she navigated with exceptional skill. Discover the untold story of a woman who defied the norms of her time and left an indelible mark on the history of China.
Author: Grant Hayter-Menzies Publisher: Hong Kong University Press ISBN: 9789622098817 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 454
Book Description
"Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling, the first biography of one of the twentieth century's most intriguing cross-cultural personalities, traces not only the life of Princess Der Ling, in all its various transformations, but offers a fresh look at the woman she lionized and, ultimately, betrayed - the Empress Dowager Cixi, to whom, like Der Ling, many legends have been affixed over the past century. The book also depicts the changing worlds of Paris, Tokyo and the other international stages of Der Ling's development as woman and as mystery, and deals with the many teachers who made her who she was." --Book Jacket.
Author: Jung Chang
Author: X. L. Woo
Author: Anchee Min
Author: Katharine Augusta Carl
Author: Jung Chang
Author: Jung Chang
Author: Natasha Yim
Author: X. L. Woo
Author: Yehenara Lixue
Author: Grant Hayter-Menzies