If you have read any of my books, it’s pretty easy to see that China’s last empress, the Dowager Empress Cixi, is a recurring character. Who was Empress Cixi and why do I write about her? Empress Cixi was born in 1835 to a poor and unimportant Manchu family, but she didn’t remain in obscurity for Read More
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Liu Cixin's Big Hugo Win That Almost Wasn't
By now, almost everyone in China has heard that Liu Cixin was the big winner at the 2015 Hugo Awards, becoming the first Chinese novelist to win science fiction’s highest honor of best novel for his book “The Three-Body Problem.” What many have not heard, however, is about how Liu almost didn’t win thanks to a Read More
Book Review: Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang
Earlier this month, I was pretty harsh on Anchee Min’s The Last Empress. And rightly so. Her boring, flat characterization of one of China’s most controversial leaders was hugely disappointing. Jung Chang succeeds where Min failed. Even though Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China is a non-fiction account, the story of Cixi’s Read More
Threads of Silk
When I was a child, I thought my destiny was to live and die on the banks of the Xiangjiang River as my family had done for generations. I never imagined that my life would lead me to the Forbidden City and the court of China’s last Empress. Born in the middle of nowhere, Yaqian, Read More
100 Things I Love About China
I usually look forward to the 4th of July, but I don’t think America deserves to be celebrated right now. And while there is plenty to criticize China about, there is a lot to love about this country too. So here is a list of 100 things I love about China – in no particular Read More
Who Writes History – Conversations With Jung Chang
I have written and spoken many times about how wonderful her book is, but I am often met with skepticism. Cixi has a reputation, in the East and the West, of being a controlling, manipulative, traditionalist who held China back and is blamed for many of China’s problems during the 19th century. Yet in Empress Read More
Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck – Book Review
Why, yes, this is my fourth review of a book about Cixi. I’m a little obsessed. (You can read my take on Anchee Min’s books here and here and Jung Chang’s here.) When I saw that Pearl S. Buck had a novel about Cixi, I just had to read her version of this fascinating woman. While Read More
Book Review: The Last Empress by Anchee Min
I like Anchee Min; I’ve read and reviewed several of her books and I own most of them, which I will read in the future. However, The Last Empress is possibly her worst book and I would not recommend it. I’m not sure what happened here. I really enjoyed Empress Orchid, and The Last Empress is Read More
Book Review: My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse
Writing a book is hard. As a writer, I know how difficult it is to put the pen to paper and put what you have to say out there for the world to see and then be ripped apart. I try to be fair in my reviews and, even when they aren’t very good, look Read More
Book Review: Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
Next year, I am planning to write the biography of a very dear friend of mine from LiXian who has led a fascinating life. To get myself ready, I have decided to start reading more life stories, fiction and non-fiction, of Chinese persons to get more familiar with the writing style. So, since I am reading them, I thought Read More