![]() ![]() 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 the invasion by 8 allied powers including Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States. Jung Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a die-hard conservative and cruel despot. ![]() She inaugurated women's liberation, and embarked on the path to introduce parliamentary elections to China. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like 'death by a thousand cuts' and put an end to foot-binding. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, telegraph, and an army and navy with up-to-date weaponry. In this ground-breaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. 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. ![]() When he died in 1861, their 5-year-old son succeeded to the throne. At the age of 16, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor's numerous concubines and sexual partners. She ruled China for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. ![]() Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. ![]()
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