This book reads more like a pulp novel and should only be read for entertainment, NOT historical value. Even as Empress Dowager, she could only do so much because China was very much a Confucian/patriarchal society, and she was surrounded by princes and male courtiers who often kept knowledge and news from her, due to the sequestered nature of the Forbidden City.

It was all too easy to use her as a scapegoat and point the finger at her for the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, when in fact, the Qing was under attack well before Cixi was even born, from the Western powers. How did she climb from the bottom rung of the ladder as an ordinary ambitious girl to the top rung of power as an empress dowager? How did she grow from an inexperienced girl to a mature politician who managed to maintain her sovereign status for half a century?Įven before Cixi died, there were many rumors and speculations floating around her. Written with charm and verve, this book is a delightful exploration of the history of her extraordinary life and reign, relating both historical facts and apocryphal anecdotes. In the end, the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 1908) brought destruction to the Qing Dynasty. But all her craft and guile were not enough to repair the internal divisions and preserve traditional China against the onslaught of modernity, of Europe, and of her Asian neighbors. She fended off every adversary, prolonging her reign for 48 years and proving that a woman could be a successful ruler.

Popular rebellions, foreign wars, devastating floods and drought-induced famines killed tens of millions in the 19th century. The stories that follow, some legendary, offer a glimpse of life during the declining days of the last Chinese dynasty. She studied previous rulers' failures and achievements, and especially followed the example of another Chinese woman leader, Wu-Hou, who had elevated herself from concubine to empress some 1200 years earlier. Fighting to maintain her power base, Empress Cixi struggled with the need to modernize the painfully backward empire she had inherited while honoring age-old traditions. Through their policy decisions as well as their personal foibles, both left a deep imprint in history and in the minds of the Chinese people, fueling literature and legend. 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 in foreign wars. In all the history of China, only two women ever conquered and held the heights of power.

Empress cixi book