Aku adalah peony merah merona, pohon berayun, angin berdesir ...

Jujur, saya harus membuka wikipedia untuk mengetahui, sejenis apakah peony itu? Ternyata, akhirnya bertemu makna. Peony adalah sejenis bunga yang sering digunakan oleh bangsa Tiongkok untuk pengobatan. Juga sering menjadi simbol pada seni ornamen. Terbata-bata, saya mencoba mencari benang merah yang menghubungkan antara peony merah merona dengan pribadi Maharani Wu, Sang Kaisar Suci Roda Emas Cahaya Nirwana.
Cahaya Nirwana, lahir da More...

This book took on a whole new take of Chinese History. It portrayed an important historical figure in a personal and never before seen way. Empress Wu was the first woman emperor to ever take the throne. It was traditionally carried on by heirs of the previous emperor, but during the Tang Dynasty, the emperor lacked the capability to successfully control the nation without the help of Wu Ze Tian (the empress). And when the emperor passes away, the only person that the nation could be entrusted t More...

This book was lushly written, with a meticulous eye for detail, but it was little impersonal and distant for me. Although the twisted politics were interesting, I wasn't engaged at all with any of the characters. It was a bit like being underwater, hearing a conversation from another room.

There was actually far too much detail about certain ceremonies - I started thinking about the paraodic detail in The Princess Bride while I was reading - and not enough information on the people involved. I di More...

"Abundance" in 7th Century China. The rigid palace protocol and machinations to gain power were virtually identical. Apparently the French peasants took a page from the Chinese book during the Reign of Terror, as parading heads on sticks was much in vogue during both eras. Other similarities include the outrageous hairstyles and over-the-top dressing. But the randy Bourbon kings had nothing on the emperors of China, who kept as many as 10,000 concubines at one time!

In sum, the underlying theme o More...

The author Shan Sa is a native Chinese woman. She wrote this book in French, and it was then translated into English (and other languages). What amazed me was the beauty of the language Sa used to describe the opulent scenes in an ancient Chinese palace in the 7th century A.D. The historical detail was amazing, including descriptions of life within the palace, rituals and beliefs, day to day life in ancient China, how commoners outside the palace survived, how the government was run, and so on. More...

I read this book in French a couple years ago but re-read it in the English translation. It's a good historical fiction. It has all the main events of Wu Zetian's life, though an interesting interpretation on the reasons behind the events and whether she did or didn't do certain things. I thought it was interesting that she came across as such a sexual creature, and that all the rumors about her sex life were confirmed (and more that were never said were admitted to) but that all the claims abou More...

I was very excited to see that someone had written a novel about Empress Wu, 武则天 my favourite Chinese historical figure. Empress Wu is the only woman to reign China as an Emperor ruling from 690-705AD as head of her own dynasty. It is my hope to be able to write a popular history book about Wu Zetian. Last year I wrote a very long essay about her use of religion in legitimising her rule and I was thrilled to see that all these events were mentioned in this novel! This book was only the fourth bo More...

Hmmm... You know, being Taiwanese (Yes, there is a difference between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China - which, in case you haven't noticed, is not democratic at all - so there!) yet living in Canada means that I have access to both Chinese history and Western history. I have no problem finding people whom I can discuss Western (European... The sad thing is, I have no interest in "Taiwanese" history - where I prefer to it to be the same as Chinese history until the year o More...

Empress has regal flowing prose and is beautifully written. Unfortunately, the content is anything but beautiful; and the main character, a woman known as Empress Wu, who became the first (and, I believe, only, female emperor in China), metamorphoses from a caterpillar that flaunts the strict female conventions of her time, to a twisted and malicious butterfly with a stinger of pure, lethal venom.

At first, I really liked this book a lot. But then, as Ms. Sa got into the court intrigues, I began More...

This was an interesting read, at worst. At best, it was a great insight into the mind of a historical figure that until now has been known primarily as a manipulative, arrogant, greedy woman whose every move (mostly immoral in nature) were geared toward getting to the throne. Not knowing anything about the history of this time period or the woman herself, I can’t say myself which version is closer to the truth, though I’d be interested to know just what Sa discovered when she was doing the exten More...

What an awful book! I am so disappointed, because I read The Girl Who Played Go a few years ago and thought that was fantastic.

The writing in this book is just far too lush and overwrought. It feels like the author put so much effort into crafting each dramatic sentence that she forgot to put in any kind of plot or sympathetic characters. Granted, the main character was a pretty horrific person in her lifetime, so Shan Sa didn't have much to work with there as far as making her likeable. But the More...

There's a story behind my reading this book. I am, by habit a reader of 'genre fiction' which means stories about Spaceman Gort and the Flying Death Pygmies of Planet Bimbotron and things like that. At the Barnes and Noble I typically shop for books at, the Spaceman Gort section is crammed far into the back, covered in cobwebs, and filled with a droning voice that tells you how ashamed you should be for reading this drivel.

Perhaps I exaggerate.

On the way to Spaceman Gort and the lovely ladies o More...

This book is based on the life of the Empress of China, Empress Wu, the only reigning female in the history of China (c.625-705). The book started and ended rather interestingly, with the Empress telling the story of her own birth and death. The rest of the book was a bit disappointing.

I think the following quote from p. 317 of the book sums up the story quite well

"Time passed. The wheel of fortune turned. Skills vanished in the flames of war, and men no longer knew how to build palaces tall eno More...

i learned a lot reading this book. it was fascinating in my foreign eyes.

but empress Wu was a scary character. you can almost say that no matter how.much she had, she always wanted more, and that's dangerous.

although being historically interesting,the book was also full of drama and at times drag on. too long. and none of the chatacters was actually likable.

Wu was amazing- power driven, smart, calculative, and once in a while showing emotions- emotions that were fake in my eyes. she was a str More...

I didn't actually finish the book. I got about halfway through and should have stopped way earlier. I was interested in her story. The meat of the book begins when she is 14 and considered an old maid because she isn't married yet (Not her fault she had a brain and refused to be pigeon holed like all the other women of the time!). Then she gets sent to the palace to be one of the emporer's 10,000 wives or concubines. Yes really 10,000 even though he never "chooses" them all. Just a select few. O More...

Wow. Empress is one of those books that completely takes over your thoughts until you are finished reading it. Shan Sa is an amazing writer who manages to portray the comings and goings of the ancient Chinese court with interesting and uplifting language. Empress is a mixture of romance, truth, and politics. The novel follows the life of Empress Wu, a woman famous for becoming the first Emperor in a line of male predecessors. Through cunning and strength she managed to secure a position of rulin More...

You'd think by the face i finished this book in one day would mean i found it suburb... well... not really. I found the premises of the book really interesting and was looking forward to reading about China's first female emperor. The writing was beautiful, unfortunately the character was not so. The character of Wu is a complicated one and i think i was supposed to form some sympathy with her. Instead she came off a bit harpyish. Though in her position where woman are regarded less than horses More...

This book literally brings to life Empress Wu and the Forbidden City. The language is poetic and flows, and the mood captures the changing stages of the Empress's life. While the first-person narrative helps us to understand the Empress's justification of her actions from her point of view, and is therefore extremeely subjective, we do not know, except indirectly, how he was perceived by those around her. Her reign was majestic, as she was depraved. The Empress's seemingly cruel actions are just More...

I adored Shan Sa's "The Girl Who Played Go" and immediately rushed to get this book afterwards. Unfortunately, it is a very different read. Though the amount of historical detail is lush and impressive, the book becomes increasingly bloated as the narrative gets bogged down in endless intrigues. I think the real issue for me was a lack of connection with the main characters, particularly Empress Wu who lurches from one poisonous plot to another in a strangely impersonal manner. Perhaps it is bec More...

Das Buch verlangt von seinem Leser Interesse und Geduld, Verständnis und Hingabe, denn es ist sehr detailliert und teilweise blumig (im dreizehnten Jahr des Großen Ziels, d.h. 611 n.Chr. oder im ersten Jahr der Ära des Höchsten Elements, d.h. 674 n. Chr.) geschrieben. Die Namen werden immer mehr und sind zum Teil ungewöhnlich (Wertvolle Gattin, Zukunft, Gedanke, Kleiner Stier usw.) und dadurch etwas schwer den Dynastien zu zuordnen. Aber man bekommt Hilfe durch Grafiken und Erläuterungen am Ende More...

I was unimpressed by this novel. The narrator's voice seemed very authentic, as though she actually wrote it back in AD 680, but unfortunately that meant that it was exceedingly dry, mostly consisting of lists of what was in her many parades, how much gold she used building monuments, who she decided to have exiled or beheaded, etc. The most sexy parts (where characters get seduced and so forth) was sullied by the fact that the narrator seemed to have no emotions.

Actually, the lack of emotion wa More...

[Empress] is about a Heavenlight Wu, who, in the 7th century as the daughter of a minor official and his more highly placed wife, would normally look forward to a life of marriage and drudgery. However, as a child she is noticed by a passing great General, Li Ji, who takes her under his wing and when he ascends to the Imperial Forbidden City he sends for her to join him there. She enters this very restrictive society as a mid-level lady, but she has much greater ambitions. Through some luck and More...

well-researched and well-written account of an empress whose family made the Borgias look like the Bradys. You actually feel empathy at times for this egocentric, power-hungry monster of a woman, which is a bit scary considering she did poison her own sister, banish her sons and order the murder of her grandson.

Even though according to the Confucian beliefs having a woman rule would be as unnatural as having a "hen crow like a rooster at daybreak," during the most glorious years of the Tang dynasty a woman did rule, and ruled successfully. She was Wu Zetian, the only female in Chinese history to rule as emperor. To some she was an autocrat, ruthless in her desire to gain and keep power. To others she, as a woman doing a "man's job," merely did what she had to do, and acted no differently than most male More...

Set in seventh century China, this historical fiction novel poignantly and powerfully and artfully describes the life of the first and only, and quite controversial, empress of China. Brilliant! I hear Shan Sa's book "The Girl who Played Go" is also a great read.

I remember that I read this book and finished within 2 or 3 days. I was lacking sleep because I couldn't sleep. This book is so breath taking and exciting. It's very well written. I am also impressed how the writer wrote with her own perspective completely different from the stereo typical ideas about the empress who actually exists in Chinese history. She was the most influential to history of China but not only .... she influenced the history of the world! Chinese conservative historians have More...

Empress is a true story of a woman who ruled in China. She had to be pretty special to achieve that title. Women were meant to follow behind the man and serve his sexual needs. When they weren't needed for that purpose, they sat around learning how to embroider. Empress is full of ancient Chinese politics of slaves and concubines, and people all trying to make their way to the top inside the Forbidden City. Each child born is given a name with special meaning to guide his or her life. The color More...

What a beautiful book! Think of the writing style of Anita Diamant if you want a comparison.

I knew nothing about Empress Wu when I began reading, but I was so captivated by Sa's writing that I forgot I was reading about a major historical figure! It did take me several pages to get over the fact there is a spelling mistake on page 9, "..for others, who were already loosing their minds.." this is actually my biggest pet peeve in the English language when people spell lose as "loose" - but never m More...

I'm giving up on this one 100 pages in. I have an old ARC of this book (obviously old - the book was published in 2003) and so I expect some typos and the like. But there have been a noticeable number of times the wrong word was used ("peel of laughter," for example) and it's just driven me crazy. The writing is not nearly good enough to make up for the editing problems. Repetition of words in a sentence ("all of them are all like beasts of burden....") and other mistakes just pull me right out More...