Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China Paperback – Illustrated, September 9, 2014

I read 'Wild Swans' and 'Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister' by this author (Jung Chang) before picking this book up.I love this author's voice. It is neutral, states the facts as they are without pulling any punches.This book is the biography of a woman who was never destined to be a ruler on China, but stepped up to it because of the circumstances of her times. Her life covers from early Western involvement in China (a few shockers in there) on through the end of Dynastic China and to the advent of the vote for the people of China.Cixi dies just a little too soon to carry it all through smoothly, but has still opened many doors for the hope of a Republic for the people of China. China started to become a republic before communism came into power.Well written, as easy to read as a novel. Thoroughly researched, many footnotes and pages of references at the back of the book - should you choose to peruse them. Enjoyable even if you don't.I would recommend starting with 'Wild Swans' to get a feeling for the people of China, especially the women.Then pick up this book about Cixi and follow up with 'Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister'. Historically Cixi comes first, and Big Sister, etc... fills in the times between her death and the Mao era.If you are not particularly interested in the historical aspects, no problem. This book (as well as the other two) is a fascinating story of women changing their world while still confined by the cultures of the day.

I don't know how history is taught these days, but in my generation, the term "history" in the schools was largely European history - and that usually meant British, French and Italian. Northern European history was not taught, presumably because I was a post-WWII baby and we didn't want to know about THEM, nor was Asian history. As a result, most of what I know about Chinese history is what I've read, and I don't really have a sense of whether what I read is accurate or not.Thus, I can't tell you whether Jung Chang's history of Empress Dowager Cixi is factual, or if - as some reviewers say - revisionist and inaccurate. What I can tell you is that this is an interesting book about a very interesting period and a fascinating woman who ruled China for many years in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Is it a perfect book? Not really. It's well written and interesting, but I wouldn't necessarily call it gripping and a page-turner. The author also prompts one of my pet peeves in history and biography - she has a point to prove and insists upon making it over and over and over again. As a result, she never misses an opportunity to tell us that Cixi wasn't the bitch on wheels that some say she was, a reactionary determined to preserve the ruling Manchus at any cost and opposing modernization wherever it reared its ugly head; instead, we're constantly reminded that Cixi really led the way for modernization. I wish I knew the truth, but I suppose even history (or capital-H History) doesn't know the right answer, so I'll have to be content with a good read if not a great one and a lingering question whether the author protests too much.It's not as bad as it is in some works (for example, Meacham's biography of Jefferson), and it doesn't detract from the fascinating life Cixi led, but it is irksome at times.That said, it's definitely a worthwhile read, and one I recommend pretty highly, if not at the 5-star level.

Empress Cixi was an amazing woman and leader. This book is also amazing in its historical details and political and personal insights into China during the many decades of Empress Cixi’s reign.It is a fascinating and educational study of not only China but its interactions and machinations with many countries, I.e. Britain, Japan, Russia, France, the United States, etc. The book left me wanting to understand and learn more about this time in history not only about China but more in depth knowledge of all the countries involved.I highly recommend reading “Empress Dowager Cixi”. It won’t disappoint.

Like many, I was partly attracted to this book by the fact that the author, Jung Chang, previously wrote Wild Swans, which I still consider one of the finest and most powerful historical books ever written. Since the Empress Dowager Cixi died more than 100 years ago and the author has no family history to draw on, the narrative is somewhat more conventional than I remember from her earlier triumph, but still effective.The fact that Jung Chang is not a careerist writer, having completed only three books, is important in that she clearly holds the subject of the book in very high regard and presents an account of her life that is imbued with the author's personal feelings. This becomes increasingly evident in the later chapters, in which the narrative blossoms into a compelling account of a most extraordinary woman. It is made clear though that this slightly rose-tinted assessment is at odds with many other accounts: I am in no position to judge but you do end up trusting Chang's views and wanting them to be accurate.What Empress Dowager Cixi achieved in her life, given the enormous handicap of being a women in 19th century China, is phenomenal. She had luck, immense fortitude, ruthless determination, generally faultless intuition and yet was capable of compassion and intense feeling. But the book is not just about her life, it also provides much insight into the functioning of the Qing dynasty and the geopolitics of competing and acquisitive sovereign states. A really worthwhile read.

Lectura excelente

Cixi's fashion, her relatives, her Imperial Household management style, and the important History of China from the 1st Opium War until the year the last emperor of China Puyi died in 1967.

Intriguing read, although at places, Jung Chang sounds too attracted to/ inclined with Cixi and trying to save her from her mistakes. Albeit the criticism raised on this work, a compelling account of one of the important historical figures!

I choose this high rating because of the thoughtfulness and readability .if you read this book completely you will understand the beginning of modern China and how it evolved into what it is today. I highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in this fascinating country that a quarter of the population of the world calls home.