About book The Last Empress: The She Dragon Of China (2004)
This is a non-fiction book about the Empress Ci Xi (also called Empress Yehonola) and I picked it up because I was intrigued after reading a novel about this same woman (The Empress Orchid).It was fun to read the fictionalized version first and then go to the history book next to get more context and the "real story". I now understand that the novel has QUITE a sympathetic take on this woman and her actions + motives. The Last Empress (the non-fiction book) - which I will say felt a little sensationalized at times - sticks to what I think is the more typical narrative of Ci Xi: she was obsessed with power and was willing to go to great diabolical lengths to keep that power, i.e. killing her own son and also her co-regent. And in the process, causing the fall of the 200-year old Manchu Dynasty.Who really knows what Ci Xi was like - and I don't think we can under-estimate the cut-throat kill-or-be-killed environment in the Forbidden City. Probably safest to say that she is misunderstood. Whatever the case, it was really interesting to read about life in the Forbidden City (the whole eunuch thing still just fascinates/ horrifies me!) and also about China's diplomatic relations with the West in the late 19th century. I have very limited Asian history knowledge, and this is my first small step into that vast arena - hope to keep getting into it.
Do You like book The Last Empress: The She Dragon Of China (2004)?
