Imperial Woman
by:
Pearl S. Buck (author)
Imperial Woman is the fictionalized biography of the last Empress in China, Ci-xi, who began as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor and on his death became the de facto head of the Qing Dynasty until her death in 1908.Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rulers during a time of...
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Imperial Woman is the fictionalized biography of the last Empress in China, Ci-xi, who began as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor and on his death became the de facto head of the Qing Dynasty until her death in 1908.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 seventeen 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.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9781559210355 (1559210354)
Publish date: December 1st 2004
Publisher: Moyer Bell and its subsidiaries
Pages no: 384
Edition language: English
Category:
Classics,
Novels,
Literature,
Cultural,
Adult Fiction,
Historical Fiction,
Literary Fiction,
Adult,
Asian Literature,
Asia,
China
My friend sent me this book without warning. She thought I might like it, and she was right. Imperial Woman was a fascinating story of the Chinese Dowager Empress Cixi, or Tsu-Hsi as she's called in the book. Cixi joins the court of the Emperor as a concubine and manages to become the main influe...
Good and evil mingled in her, but always in heroic dimensions. 3.5 stars. This is the story of Empress Tzu-hsi, who ruled the Manchu dynasty in China for 47 years. In 1852 she was selected as a concubine for the Emperor. She was extremely strong-willed and decided that she would become the Emperor's...
Read this as a teenager after The Good Earth, and found it fascinating. The scene in which she is chosen as a concubine is still clear in my head 30 or so years after reading the book. Along with The Good Earth, this book is one that convinced me I had to see China.
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