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Imperial Woman

by Pearl S. Buck

First published 1956

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4.2(12,928)

Tzu Hsi enters the Forbidden City as one of many young women selected for the Xianfeng Emperor's household. Intelligent, observant and determined not to disappear among the concubines, she secures the emperor's attention and bears his surviving son. His death places her at the centre of a regency in which court ritual, rival dowagers, princes and officials conceal a continuous struggle over who will rule in the name of a child.

As Empress Dowager Cixi, she survives rebellions, foreign invasion and repeated crises of succession while extending her authority across nearly half a century. The novel interprets her bond with Jung Lu, her resistance to reform and her use of the inner court as parts of a single effort to preserve both dynasty and personal power. Qing splendour is shown beside military defeat, fiscal strain and the mounting pressure that will eventually destroy the imperial system.

Historical Periods

Opium Wars1839–1860 CE Taiping Rebellion1850–1864 CE Boxer Rebellion1899–1901 CE

Genres

Biographical Fiction Court & Political Fiction Historical Sagas

Historical people

Xianfeng Emperor1831–1861 Empress Dowager Cixi1835–1908 Guangxu Emperor1871–1908 Prince Gong1833–1898

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