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Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

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Revolutionizing China through an unlikely empress.

This biography gives us a fresh look at a figure often shrouded in infamy and mystery. Empress Dowager Cixi's journey from concubine to reformist ruler encapsulates a turning point in Chinese history. Jung Chang's meticulous research dismantles long-standing myths, offering an engaging and enlightening story that deftly combines the complexities of governance with the intimacies of court life. If you're a history buff interested in powerful women who've shaped the world, this book adds a dramatic yet factual layer to the understanding of China's evolution.

  • James Tait Black Memorial Prize Nominee for Biography (2013)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
New

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

Regular price ₱787.05
Unit price
per
ISBN: 9780224087445
Authors: Jung Chang
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Date of Publication: 2013-01-01
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: History, Politics, Biographies & Memoirs
Goodreads rating: 3.89
(rated by 9676 readers)

Description

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
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Revolutionizing China through an unlikely empress.

This biography gives us a fresh look at a figure often shrouded in infamy and mystery. Empress Dowager Cixi's journey from concubine to reformist ruler encapsulates a turning point in Chinese history. Jung Chang's meticulous research dismantles long-standing myths, offering an engaging and enlightening story that deftly combines the complexities of governance with the intimacies of court life. If you're a history buff interested in powerful women who've shaped the world, this book adds a dramatic yet factual layer to the understanding of China's evolution.

  • James Tait Black Memorial Prize Nominee for Biography (2013)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.