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
Search Results for: jung chang
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
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
Behind the Story – Empress Cixi
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
Buying (Banned) Books and Getting Published at the Hong Kong Book Fair
This past weekend, Seth, Zoe, and I made our way to the Hong Kong Book Fair. The Hong Kong Book Fair is the largest book show in Asia, with over 500 vendors from over 30 countries and over 1 million guests. We had two purposes for our trip: finding a publisher and buying banned books. 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