Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled China for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age. At the age of sixteen, in a nationwide s
Wild Swans is the story of three generations in twentieth-century China, and is a record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale
They were the most famous sisters in China. As the country battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the center of
Selected when she was fifteen as one of Emperor Xianfeng’s 3,000 concubines, she rose rapidly through their ranks, cementing her position by producing an heir, Tongzhi. When Xianfeng died in 1861, Ton
