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Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China
 
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Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China (Paperback)

by Sterling Seagrave (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 624 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Books; Vintage Books ed edition (1 Jan 1920)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0679733698
  • ISBN-13: 978-0679733690
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 552,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
"An all-out revisionist assault on the established perception of Tzu Hsi...Seagrave provides as sad and outrageous a record of imperialism as can be found anywhere in the world."
--The San Francisco Chronicle

Synopsis
Reappraises the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi and portrays a strong, complex woman struggling to keep her country from unraveling.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Readable and Immensely Interesting Book, 20 Nov 2008
By Dr. R. Brandon (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China (Hardcover)
This remarkable book chronicles the full life of Lady Yehenara, a concubine chosen for the Ching (Manchu) Emperor of China Hsien Feng, who survived the many upheavals in the dying days of the dynasty to become the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi, the Dragon Empress. Seagrave writes with an easy style to explain the many rules and customs practised by the Imperial Court and paints a vivid picture of life in the Forbidden City. The subtitle of this book refers to the 'Life and Legend' of the last Empress and the author carefully unpicks the misinformation and outright untruths that have been published about the Empress in leading Western newspapers and books over a period of many years, most of this false information having been produced by Edmund Backhouse, a China resident at the time, and uncritically regurgitated by countless authors up to relatively recent times.
The writer carefully takes the reader through the palace intrigues, the disaster of the Western invasion of Beijing in 1860, the death of Emperor Hsien Feng, the promotion of Lady Yehenara's natural son to be Emperor Tung Chih and the consequential increase in power that accrued to Tzu Hsi. The possible murder of the Emperor in 1875, the resulting succession crisis and the establishment of Emperor Kuang Hsu and the pivotal role of Tzu Hsi in these changes are retold very well. The treatment of the Boxer Rebellion and the Siege of Peking in 1900 is certainly the best that I have read, and quite superior to other books available dedicated to this subject. Again Seagrave convincingly debunks much of the mythmaking that was generated to cover Allied atrocities and grave acts of vandalism such as the burning of the priceless Hanlin Library.
This is a very readable, immensely interesting and well constructed book of great scholarship and an invaluable antidote to much silliness written about the Dragon Empress which I have no hesitation in recommending to those interested in the subject. (English Macmillan hardback edition.)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Evil Empress Dowager is a myth, 29 May 2009
By Mr. Leong Wai Hong (Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As at May 2009 this is still the latest substantial biography on the Empress Dowager. Sterling Seagrave in this very thoroughly-researched biography of the Empress Dowager has presented compelling evidence that the traditional view that the Dowager was all powerful and evil was based on false facts mainly concocted by Sir Edmund Backhouse. The evidence he presented was that the Dowager was powerless and surrounded by powerful men who had their own agenda and aims.

The strength of this book is that it is not confined to the life of the Dowager. This is understandable as so little is known of her life. We do not even know her name. When she became Empress Dowager, she was known by the title Tzu Hsi, meaning Empress of the West, because she lived in pavilions on the west side of the Forbidden City. (see p18-19 )


This book also described the events of Manchu China from the two infamous Opium Wars carried out by the English to the Boxer Rebellion/ Uprising (a misnomer as there was no rebellion/ uprising. The Boxers' aim was to exterminate all Chinese Christians and the foreign missionaries and not to overthrow the Manchu Empire).

This book also described in detail the lives of Sir Robert Hart and Dr George Ernest Morrison in China. Hart came to China age 19. He was an Irishman who loved China. He rose to become a trusted confidant of the Manchu court and was the Inspector General of Chinese Customs from 1861 age 26 till 1908 age 73 when he finally decided to leave China forever. He died in England in 1911 while preparing to return to China to finish his life in his beloved China. (See pages 146, 419 and 453). Dr Morrison was the correspondent for the Times of London.



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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting..., 17 Feb 2007
By Chocoholic (Australia) - See all my reviews
I really enjoyed this book. I have read a few books on Tzu Hsi and it was really interesting to read a view that counteracts the current beliefs on the Dowager. The author does a good job of dispelling the myths and backing up his arguments. I highly recommend this book.
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