Tzu Hsi
Average customer rating:
- Same old stereotypes and lies.....
- Very informative
- Superbly written, very perceptive.
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The Dragon Empress: Life and Times of Tz'U-Hsi, 1835-1908, Empress Dowager of China
Marina Warner
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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- Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China
ASIN: 0689707142 |
Customer Reviews:
Same old stereotypes and lies............1999-07-29
Any book which purports to use information having been supplied by the well known liar Sir Edmund Backhouse, is just the same old rehash of lying and deceit that so called "China scholars" have used for far too long. There is nothing new here to shed new light to an old mistake. Tzu Hsi was not the trerrible ogre that both Western and Eastern scholars to have been. Do we really need to keep up with the relentless stream of Tzu Shi bashing? If you want the same ill informed nonsense please read this book but if you want to learn something new you would do well to look elsewhere.
Very informative.......1999-06-09
I was doing my report my Tz'u Hsi and this book has a lot of information, probably more information than people need. Half of the time, it tells about war and China's situation at the time instead of Tz'u Hsi herself. For me I'm very interested in Chinese history and this book really satiated my thirst for it. This book can be a bit boring at times, but for the most part, it's interesting. It gives people an insight about chinese traditions and of course, the empress dowager herself. I recommend reading it!
Superbly written, very perceptive........1999-02-12
The best-written and most accurate biography of the Empress-dowager Tz'u-hsi. Although Marina Warner never studied Chinese, her account almost always tallies with the vernacular sources. She offers a shrewd, plausible and perceptive analysis of Tz'u-hsi's character. Her appraisal of the period has more insight and balance than Sterling Seagrave's jaundiced politically correct approach. An excellent introduction to the late Ch'ing dynasty.
Average customer rating:
- As good as it gets....
- the wicked woman as the last empress who caused a bancruptcy
- Mr Seagrave shoots himself in the foot.
- Comprehensive yet dry.
- Debunks many popular myths about the Last Empress
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Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China
Sterling Seagrave
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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- Red Azalea
ASIN: 0679402306
Release Date: 1992-05-05 |
Book Description
The author of The Soong Dynasty gives us our most vivid and reliable biography yet of the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, remembered through the exaggeration and falsehood of legend as the ruthless Manchu concubine who seduced and murdered her way to the Chinese throne in 1861.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
As good as it gets...........2007-02-20
Like many other reviewers pointed out, this book deals with general 19th century Chinese History instead of being a pure biographical account of Empress Tzu-Hsi.Carefully researched, it explores the events and myths that surounded this utterly mysterious figure.Futhermore, Seagrave explains how The Empress Dowager has been vilified by racist,looting, lying mediocre pseudo "writters"; Edmund Backhouse and George Morrison.They forever destroyed Tzu-Hsi's image with false accounts of her life, influenced by their own ignorance and Victorian hypocrecy.
Very little is known about Tzu-Hsi's actual role in the Chinese government since the English, in their endless stupidity, burned the Manchu Court Archives.Indeed, Seagrave describes the disgraceful and shameful role the British had in China, from the destruction of the priceless Han Libraby,the completely unjustified Opium Wars, the looting and destruction of the Summer Palace, the looting of the Forbiden City, to the killing of thousands of innocent Chinese civilians, victims of racist Imperial bigotry.
Seagrave spends too much time giving biographical information on secondary characters which makes the book tedious at times.Other than that, his book is very interesting and brings light to certain myths about the last years of the Manchu Emperors of China.I wish the Hardcover edition of this book was not out of print, Vintage uses horrible paper quality and this book deserves a better editorial treatment...
the wicked woman as the last empress who caused a bancruptcy.......2006-11-05
she was a great evil woman that had appeared in the last Qing Dynasty.
For instance: Like she still had done and used a "Death by a thousand cuts" for all prisoners for 120 years ago, China is one of the highest cultures and oldest civilizations in the world, but the chinese acted like the Barbarians. China is becoming a top record of human right violation until today.
Iam happy cause I was born in Bali not in China.
Mr Seagrave shoots himself in the foot........2006-07-08
I gather Mr Seagrave is a journalist, and not a trained historian. His sloppiness shows on the cover (She was not China's last Empress) and in the author's note which claims China had three 'reigning empresses'. This last shows clearly that Mr Seagrave doesn't understand the subject. It's difficult to know what exactly he means by the term. Ci Xi was an Empress who had an remarkable degree of influence. Other Empresses had varying degrees of influence. Ci Xi was not a 'reigning empress' if that means she was formally the monarch. Only one woman, Wu Zetian, ever held that position, and she should rightly be called Emperor, not Empress, as there was no concept of 'Empress' in imperial China other than as the consort of an Emperor. Writing a special note in the front of the book to lump these three together and imply that they all held the same position, presumably in order to emphasise the remarkable power that Ci Xi held, irreparably undermines Mr Seagrave's credibility.
Comprehensive yet dry........2006-03-30
I am not a student of Chinese history but love history in general. I am an American who has visit China and have enjoyed the hospitality of the Chinese people. This volume is less a study of Tsu Tsi (spelling is varied), than a good primer for westerners to learn a history of China from 1865ish to 1910ish. It repudiates a lot of the early "comprehensive accounts" that were based on fictuous reporting from westerners on the scene at the time who had their own agendas. It is somewhat dry, voluminous and not a light read, however it is a worthwhile book for westerners looking to learn more about the struggles China experienced in the 19th century before Sung Yat Seng and Kiang Kai Check and the Communists really established themselves. Would I read it again? No. Was it worth reading? Yes, if you want to learn more about what China has experienced.
Debunks many popular myths about the Last Empress.......2005-08-07
This book is one of the more readable and accessible books by Sterling Seagrave which I have read (the others being Lords of the Rim and The Yamato Dynasty), and much more enjoyable and interesting to read as well. Dragon Lady is a biography of the Last Empress of China, Tzu His. In a highly readable fashion, Seagrave debunks the popular history of Tzu Hsi as a highly sexed, manipulative and ruthless woman. Instead, Seagrave portrays the Dowager Empress as a mere tool, being manipulated by powerful Manchu Princes and other figures behind the throne of the China for their own ends.
The general and popular view of Tzu Hsi has its origins in reportings and books by JOP Bland and Sir Edmund Backhouse. In particular, Backhouse, in the late 19th and early 20th century presented himself as an expert in Chinese Royalty, with particularly close ties to the throne. Of course, Backhouse has long been exposed (since 1974) as a historical fraud, but this has not changed the general and traditional view of Tzu Hsi as being a particularly ruthless and unpleasant character in Chinese history. In fact, in my recent trip to Beijing (formerly Peking) last month, as I toured the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, my tour guide during her narration of the sights mentioned several "facts" about the Empress and her activities which have been debunked by Seagrave as lies and fabrications from the pen of Backhouse.
Seagrave easily and deftly fills in the background to the history of China in the 18th and 19th century leading up to Tzu Hsi acceding to the throne as Regent, at the time of an increasing foreign interest in China. Characters are vividly sketched out, ranging from the perceptive Prince Kung, the Empress's brother-in-law who played a significant role in shaping the direction of China for the first decade of Tzu Hsi's rule to Viceroy Li, reputedly at one time China's wealthiest man to the stirrer and malcontent Kang, who played a key role in establishing a negative perception of the Empress in the eye's of the Western world, a perception which many hold to today. Dragon Lady is as much the tale of the myths and legend makers of Tzu Hsi as Tzu Hsi herself, and how they (Backhouse in particular) achieved what they did.
Dragon Lady is recommended for those interested in Chinese history, particularly the 19th and early 20th century, and the characters, both Chinese and foreign that played key roles in the downfall of the last Chinese dynasty. Dragon Lady draws upon many sources, some of which is Chinese. As discussed by Seagrave, popular histories of China by Western authors have tended to rely directly on the writings of Backhouse, or rely on books which relied on Backhouse for source material. By avoiding these, Seagrave manages to achieve a much more interesting, and balanced, account of a fascinating period in Chinese history.
Average customer rating:
- A very interesting novel
- One of those novels that remains in your mind forever...
- Behind Every Great Woman...
- Equal to "The Good Earth" --a dramatic saga
- Ruthless Ambition
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Imperial Woman (Buck, Pearl S. Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck, 3rd,)
Pearl S. Buck
Manufacturer: Moyer Bell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1559210354 |
Book Description
The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last Empress in China. In the novel Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rulers during a time of intense turbulence.</p>
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.</p>
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.</p>
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 reader through China's struggle for freedom and democracy.</p>
Customer Reviews:
A very interesting novel.......2007-06-08
A novel about a very interesting transitory part of the Chinese history. A fascinating main character, a rich story with a lot of things going on throughout the book. Very absorbing, highly recommended.
One of those novels that remains in your mind forever..........2006-02-19
Powerful prose & imagery from a writer who learned to write, it is said, from the Bible. It reads much like the story of Esther from the old Testament. Pearl Buck's characterizations are built up layer by careful layer with simple words and in spare phrases. This is a lovely book.
Behind Every Great Woman..........2005-05-12
IMPERIAL WOMAN is the fictionalized biography of the great Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, the real power behind the throne during the reins of the last four emperors of China. The story starts with her as a beautiful Manchu teenager who, along with her cousin Sakota, is picked for the emperor's crop of concubines. Through guile and ambition, Tzu Hsi bears the male heir to the emperor she comes to control. When the emperor dies young, Tzu Hsi makes sure she and Sakota are named regents for the young child emperor.
Through keen intelligence, intrigue, and whatever other means necessary, Tzu Hsi holds the imperial throne through her son's childhood. Buck portrays a woman split between feelings of love for her family and what is the best for the empire, rather than what I gather is the historical feeling - that Tzu Hsi was some sort of evil spider spinning schemes from the center of her web in Forbidden City. Through all the machinations and years she is aided by Jung Lu, her former betrothed and the love of her life.
The Dowager Empress has the ultimate power, but Buck shows she is a servant of the opinions of her court advisors and in reality only rules the eunuchs and court ladies in the Forbidden City. She is a relic of the past in a time of great change and cultural upheaval in China, when it is besieged by western nations and ideas. The infamous Boxer Rebellion is the beginning of the end for Tzu Hsi, and she loses her spirit and resolve after this defeat and the death of her beloved Jung Lu.
Equal to "The Good Earth" --a dramatic saga.......2003-12-30
The story of Tzu Hsi, last Empress of the Manchu empire of China, is dramatic and reads like a novel. Pearl Buck, who grew up in China and was there as a child while the Empress was alive, draws from the attitudes of the country people towards their almost mythical ruler "Old Buddha." While Buck takes liberties with some of the history, the story is essentially correct while giving an imperial-eye-view of how the times must have seemed to the woman who ruled for decades in turbulent times. The language is exquisite, the story is exciting. One of Buck's best novels and an enjoyable read for anyone who loves historical novels.
Ruthless Ambition.......2003-12-02
All about Tzu-Hsi, last empress of China, who reigned from the 1860's until her death in 1908. She reigned during a period of great transition in China, as the book goes on there is increasing pressure from outside - the nations of England, France, Russia, United States and others demand from China increased trade and the rights to allow their citizens to live in China and their priests & missionaries to travel wherever they please. Japan too is an ever present threat. The empress was unable to adapt to modern times, and rather than building modern ships and arms that would have enabled China to defend itself, all the taxes collected were spent on luxuries and palaces for her, only at the very end of her days after defeat did she accept the idea that China could not keep itself isolated from all the other peoples of the world and finally opened to the idea of sending Chinese abroad to study foreign ways.
The story begins with the teenager Yehonala, betrothed to Jung-Lu, she and her cousin Sakota are chosen to be royal concubines of the Emperor, a sickly and weak man who so far has been unable to produce an heir. Through sheer guile and ambition, Yehonala becomes the favorite, and produces a son for the Emperor (or is it his son?). When the emperor dies, she becomes Empress mother, regent for her still young son, and upon his death she seizes the throne and becomes Empress in her own right, first sharing the throne with her cousin Sakota, then finally alone. As Empress of China, Tzu-Hsi has absolute power and can raise people up or down, have them beheaded or bestow mercy according to her whim, but she is unloved and deeply lonely as the extremely powerful often are.
This is a great novel, there is never a dull moment or wasted word and I found it hard to put down, this is a fascinating look at Chinese history and Tzu-Hsi herself is unforgettable. Selfish and sometimes foolish as she is, the reader is compelled to like her. I remember first reading about Tzu-Hsi in a novel called the Forbidden City by Muriel Jernigan and I never forgot her, it was a real treat to discover this book, a really great work of historical fiction.
Customer Reviews:
Tz'u-hsi.......2005-11-06
The Dragon Empress Dowager of China.There are pictures of her, her court her time as well as eunuchs.There are some rare pictures, that one does not normally see in other books.If you are interested in reading about this strange person and like who she was, or fascinated by her time and history read this book.
Average customer rating:
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La vallee des roses: [roman]
Lucien Bodard
Manufacturer: B. Grasset
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 2246004810 |
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Die Kaiserin-Witwe Cixi
Manfred Just
Manufacturer: Duncker & Humblot
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Binding: Perfect Paperback
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ASIN: 3428089812 |
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With the Empress Dowager of China (Pacific Basin Books)
Katherine A. Carl
Manufacturer: Kegan Paul
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ASIN: 0710302185 |
Book Description
1907. Illustrated by the author and with photographs. Contents: My Presentation and First Day at the Chinese Court; Personal Appearance of Her Majesty-A Chinese Repast-Boating; The Palace of the Emperor's Father; Her Majesty's Throne-Room; The Young Empress and Ladies of the Court; Continuation of the Portrait; Festivities at Court; His Majesty the Emperor; The Emperor's Birthday; Peking-The Sea Palace; Some Characteristics of Her Majesty-Second Visit to the Sea Palace; Return to the Summer Palace; The Steam-Launch-Semi-Annual Sacrifices to Confucius; The Palace Eunuchs; Literary Tastes and Accomplishments of the Empress Dowager; The Great Audience Hall; The Summer Palace; Festival of the Harvest Moon; A Garden Party; Beginning a Second Portrait of the Empress Dowager; A European Circus at the Palace; Palace Customs; Her Majesty's Anxiety-Her Birthday; The Winter Palace; Peking-Beginning the Portrait of St. Louis; Some Social Customs; Present-Giving; Some Winter Days at the Palace; Religious Rites; Her Majesty the Empress Dowager; The Chinese New Year; Continuation of the St. Louis Portrait; Finishing and Sending Off the Portrait; and Return to the Summer Palace.
Customer Reviews:
Inside a Lost World.......2007-06-11
This reproduced "out of print" book is a must have for anyone interested in a first person account of time spent with the Empress and the royal court. A foreign female artist, who was invited to paint a portrait of the Empress Tzu Hsi for the St. Louis Exibition, Miss Carl originally wrote in order refute untrue newspaper accounts of her visit to the "Dragon Lady." The book reads like a charming and interesting personal diary and gives the reader an unprecidented look inside the royal court by the working artist who was treated like an honored guest. It was interesting to me how the Empress, taking into consideration her time and place, seemed not unlike the current Queen Elizabeth with regard to public decorum and adherence to tradition. I feel this book helps to give a more rounded view of the Empress as all humans have many aspects to their personality. The book is nicely bound in a hard cover and includes some photos and drawings by the author. I would have liked the cover to be more artistic instead of a generic "text-book" type cover but overall the quality of reproduction is good. As a side note, it was while reading Pearl Buck's historical fiction Imperial Woman (also about the Empress) that I came upon this book.
Product Description
An introductory biography of the powerful empress, followed by the life of the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi in the form of a Drama. One of the most admired books of the distinguished Far Eastern expert.
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