Empress Dowager Cixi

The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

De: Jung Chang

Narrado por: Jolene Kim

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Based on newly available, mostly Chinese, historical documents such as court records, official and private correspondence, diaries and eyewitness accounts, this biography will revolutionize historical thinking about a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.

Magnificent

This book was an absolute joy for me. Cixi was a remarkable woman who hasn't gotten ANYWHERE NEAR the credit she deserves for steering China into the modern age. While she was certainly no Saint, I think her biggest flaw was that she came a generation too early. I can't recommend this book highly enough - even if one has no interest in Chinese history whatsoever this work WILL totally captivate the reader, for it truly flows as a novel rather than a history book.

Wonderful historical narrative

History buffs and those who are curious about China will benefit from this obviously well researched narrative of one woman’s amazing role in China’s development in the world.

Interesting subject, unpleasant narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would have hired a different actress for the narration. Jolene Kim's reading is dreadfully amateurish, and her use of a Chinese-ish accent for direct quotations from the empress is grating.

What did you like best about this story?

Jung Chang does an excellent job providing historical background and context for the constraints and traditions of the monarchy in China.

5 star story. 3 star narrator.

5 stars for the fascinating and engrossing story. 3 star for the narrator: generally pleasant to listen to, but 1) DREADFUL pronunciation for the Chinese names, which are very confusing, and 2) ridiculous English accent when quoting Cixi.

Power

A bit hagiographic in the first two thirds Toward the final chapters the book became more critical and objective and appeared to be historically correct
Excellent narration
An enjoyable read and informative