• Imperial Woman

  • The Story of the Last Empress of China
  • By: Pearl S. Buck
  • Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
  • Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (641 ratings)

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Imperial Woman  By  cover art

Imperial Woman

By: Pearl S. Buck
Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
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Publisher's summary

The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last empress in China. In this audiobook, Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rulers during a time of intense turbulence.

Tzu Hsi was born into one of the lowly ranks of the Imperial dynasty. According to custom, she moved to the Forbidden City at the age of 17 to become one of hundreds of concubines. But her singular beauty and powers of manipulation quickly moved her into the position of Second Consort. Tzu Hsi was feared and hated by many in the court, but adored by the people. The Empress’s rise to power (even during her husband’s life) parallels the story of China’s transition from the ancient to the modern way.

Pearl S. Buck’s knowledge of and fascination with the empress’s life are contagious. She reveals the essence of this self-involved and infamous last empress, at the same time she takes the listener through China’s struggle for freedom and democracy.

©1971 Pearl S. Buck (P)2011 Oasis

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The Last Empress and the Destruction of China

This is the story of Tzu Hsi, a woman who rose from obscurity to rule first as regent to her son, the boy emperor, then ultimately as the last Empress of China from 1861 to 1908. Her death heralded the end of the old China. The empire collapsed only three years after her death, in 1911.

First chosen as one of many concubines to the young emperor – no more than a child himself – she manipulates herself into position as his favorite, cultivates his favor until he depends on her completely. Still in love with her childhood sweetheart, a single night of love produces a son, the next emperor.

Intelligent, highly (self) educated Tzu Hsi makes herself essential to her debauched, physically weakened, opium-addicted husband. His early death leaves her regent to her son. She is forced to preside over the destruction of Chinese culture. Her fight against white imperialism is hopeless. As the representative of the last Dynasty, she tries to find her way while the China she has known is assaulted by wave after wave of western imperialist pirates under the guise of missionaries, traders, and ambassadors.

Once the rape of China begins, she is powerless to stop it. Even the rare victory is no more than a holding action. Despite all evidence, she cannot believe China can lose to these invaders and she never loses her unyielding belief in the superiority of Chinese culture … the ultimate irony given the unyielding belief of the Western powers of their superiority. The unstoppable force meets the immoveable object and the result is – as might be expected – tragic.

In a way, she was more right than she knew. The old China collapsed but from its ashes, the new China has gained more power than the old ever had.

There are a number of ways to read this book. It’s a brilliant, detailed picture of a vanished civilization … beautiful and to modern minds, bizarre. Certainly it’s the story of Tzu Hsi, her life, her deeply flawed, complex personality. Her bad decisions based on the logic of a world already gone where the rules no longer applied.

You can also read Imperial Woman as a much larger story, how the western nations took the oldest culture on earth and destroyed it so we could plunder it for opium.

How we destroyed thousands of years of art and treasures so each country from the west — who had no right to any of China — treated the Chinese people as if they were the barbarians because they did not want to become just like us.

The European powers with the help of the United States transformed China into a monster. Then we have the gall to complain we don’t like the way it turned out. China would never have become what it is today or taken the path it did without the brutality and devastation wrought by European imperialism. And of course, look what opium and all that has followed in its wake has done to improve our society? Karma is a nasty bitch.

Written in 1956, the story is probably more relevant today, 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent to the transformation of Communist China into the world’s biggest, baddest economic superpower. On many levels, for a lot of different reasons, it serves us right. We destroyed China. Now, in its own way, China is destroying us. One good turn deserves another.

I read Imperial Woman a few years after it first came out. I was in my early teens and it was just a story. An interesting, even fascinating story, but at the time, it meant no more than that.

Listening to it today had a lot more impact. Not only has my perspective, knowledge and interest in China’s extraordinary history expanded a huge amount, but the world has changed in way that were unthinkable when I read the book in 1960.

Written at the peak of the Communist witch hunts in the U.S. and the hottest part of the Cold War, we live in an entirely different world today. If you have knowledge of history, a sense of destiny and fundamental belief in Karma, you will find Imperial Woman contains many layers of meaning. It’s elegantly written, not even slightly dated.

Imperial Woman is available on Audible.com. Beautifully narrated, it's a perfect balance with enough feeling to make the story live, but not so overdone that it distracts from the telling. That's the best kind of narration.

As for the story, it's a classic, even more meaningtul today then when it was first published.

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26 people found this helpful

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China - a new look

Would you listen to Imperial Woman again? Why?

Certainly. It is completely enjoyable listening. You are swept along thru Chinese culture and its people.

What other book might you compare Imperial Woman to and why?

All Pearl Buck's books. She is the enchanter of Chinese story telling.

Have you listened to any of Kirsten Potter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes I have. Ms Potter's style and voices are so perfectly suited to cary the english speaking listener into China that it makes you feel like YOU are the "Old China Hand".

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. The chapters were arranged so as to present perfect stopping points.

Any additional comments?

Don't miss this book. And that goes for all of Pearl Buck's stories. With good readers, you are swept INTO the story, you become one with the story. It makes you feel as though you belong.

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22 people found this helpful

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Beautiful - I loved it !!

I was so drawn in to the story and life within the Imperial Palace that I was quite at a loss when the book finished. I loved my daily visits to the Empress. Buck's beautiful descriptions of the robes, palace, gardens and even the food painted such vivid pictures it was almost like being there. It may not be historically acurate, but it gave a pretty good indication of what life was like then and afterall if you want factual history you can always read a text book.
I loved everything about this book, the way it was written, the characters and the story itself. Kirsten Potter's excellent narration only helped to increase my enjoyment of the book.
This was my second Pearl S. Buck book, my first being Peony, and I was not disappointed. I look forward to discovering more of her books.

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9 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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History made interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, interesting peroid in Chinese history, fasinating culture and people.

Any additional comments?

Went out and rented "The Last Emperor" just to see the clothing described in the book.

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7 people found this helpful

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Wonderful journey!

I read most of Pearl S. Bucks' books in my youth. She was one of my favorite writers back then. I feel that reading her work deepened me and gave me so much to think about at the time that I may not have otherwise.

This was one of her books that I had not read before and I am so glad to have discovered it now in my older years. The woman definitely had an amazing talent for bringing the reader into another interestingly different time and place in an authentic manner.

The narrator was wonderful and I will be searching out her other performances.

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6 people found this helpful

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Exquisite

Colors and times of Imperial China in the palm of a strong willed girl, who nurtured and educated herself to be an Empress: whatever it take, she followed what she believed was her destiny. Another jewel of a book from Pearl S. Buck.

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3 people found this helpful

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Spectacular in every way!

Pearl Bucks grand , epic novel, the extraordinary and impeccable reader and the production all combined to a remarkable audible experience! If there was an Oscar for readers this reader ought win! Thank you Audible for a truly memorable experience.

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Great historical insight

Love that they gave this haughty woman such a personality and the voice over was perfect!

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Great story read perfectly. Really enjoyed it.

The reader was wonderful. A classic book. can't wait to listen to another by Pearl Buck.

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There's nothing like a woman scorned!

There's nothing like a scorned woman. This heart broken woman stopped at nothing, even murder to fulfill her so called destiny. This is basically what happens when you rely on your ego to guide you and people who have no clue. The blind leading the blind. I enjoyed the story and the description of the jewelry and the scenery, felt like I was right there. I could have done without the interlude music but I got use to it. If you have time to listen to this you won't regret it.

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