Keith Laidler

The last Imperial dynasty to rule over China was the Manchu, and the last Empress was Yehenara (Yehonala) who is better known as Cixi (Tzu Hsi). From an obscure provincial Manchu family she became 3rd-grade Concubine of the young Emperor Xianfeng (Hsien Feng) and after giving birth to a son she was elevated to 1st-grade concubine. When the Emperor died in 1861 aged 30, Cixi's five year old son became Emperor and she became Empress/Regent and her rule of dictatorial power began. She was absolutely ruthless, disposing of rivals by having them bumped off, and members of her own family were not spared. She reigned for 50 years, out-living successive Emperors, and dealing with major crises such as the Tai Ping Rebellion and the Boxer Rebellion. She was known as the "She-Dragon of China" and within three years of her death in 1909 the Manchu Dynasty collapsed and China entered a period of chaos.
A frightening despot, her life is absolutely fascinating but I found this book difficult to read. My first quibble is that the author has used the now defunct Wade-Giles system of Romanisation of the Mandarin language rather than using Pinyin, which makes it hard to remember the names and their pronunciation. This means that the reader is continually having to stop and check who it is that the author is talking about and what their relationship is to others. I thought it could have been better edited. Whilst this book is factually very authorative, there are other books which give a better understanding of the personality and power of this dominating woman.… (altro)