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A review by builtonbooks
Empress Dowager CIXI: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang
challenging
informative
slow-paced
2.75
It starts fast with interesting accounts about Cixi's early court life. The middle part starts to slow down as the author starts tackling the laborious politics and bureaucracy of running a country. The last third is an even slower read as things unravel for Cixi and the Qing dynasty.
Overall it was an informative read. It took a month though because it gets dry at times as it covers the different aspects of her life and rule, as well as the changing landscape China at the turn of the century. I had the good fortune of some background knowledge of Cixi and the later Qing dynasty because I took it up briefly in school and that helped a lot. It is not an easy read but it is informative.
It is very important to note though that the book overwhelmingly showcases Cixi in a positive light. While it does make mention of many of her heinous acts, it will sweep it away with reason of culture, traditions, political machinations etc… The back of the book has around 10 pages of bibliography, but I do wonder about the conclusions the author made while writing this work. Some of them are only conjectures pulled from letters or second hand sources, but it has been presented as a fact of the life of Cixi.
TL;DR: If you are interested in reading this book, by all means; but I do recommend after finishing it to research further and look at other sources and experts.
Overall it was an informative read. It took a month though because it gets dry at times as it covers the different aspects of her life and rule, as well as the changing landscape China at the turn of the century. I had the good fortune of some background knowledge of Cixi and the later Qing dynasty because I took it up briefly in school and that helped a lot. It is not an easy read but it is informative.
It is very important to note though that the book overwhelmingly showcases Cixi in a positive light. While it does make mention of many of her heinous acts, it will sweep it away with reason of culture, traditions, political machinations etc… The back of the book has around 10 pages of bibliography, but I do wonder about the conclusions the author made while writing this work. Some of them are only conjectures pulled from letters or second hand sources, but it has been presented as a fact of the life of Cixi.
TL;DR: If you are interested in reading this book, by all means; but I do recommend after finishing it to research further and look at other sources and experts.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death