{"product_id":"empress-dowager-cixi-the-concubine-who-launched-modern-china-jung-chang-2013","title":"Empress Dowager CIXI: the concubine who launched modern China. Jung Chang. 2013.","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt the age of sixteen, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the Emperor’s numerous concubines and sexual partners. When he died in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China - behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, telegraph and an army and a navy with up-to-date weaponry. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like ‘death by a thousand cuts’ and put an end to foot binding. She inaugurated women’s liberation, and embarked on the path to introduce parliamentary elections to China. Jung Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCixi reigned during extraordinary times and had to deal with a host of national crises: the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions, wars with France and Japan - and the invasion by eight allied powers including Britain, Germany, Russia and the United States. Jung Chang not only records the Empress Dowager’s conduct of domestic and foreign affairs, but also takes the reader into the depths of her splendid Summer Palace and the harem of Beijing’s Forbidden City, where she lived surrounded by eunuchs - with one of whom she fell in love, with tragic consequences. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Browse Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ 9780224087445 \/ Large","offer_id":40079525019730,"sku":"CHANG1","price":8.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2696\/2492\/files\/125CB72F-1E1F-4568-877B-25F6D8052227.jpg?v=1786594510","url":"https:\/\/browsebooks.com.au\/products\/empress-dowager-cixi-the-concubine-who-launched-modern-china-jung-chang-2013","provider":"Browse Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}