Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China

by Sterling Seagrave

The author of The Soong Dynasty gives us our most vivid and reliable biography yet of the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, remembered through the exaggeration and falsehood of legend as the ruthless Manchu concubine who seduced and murdered her way to the Chinese throne in 1861.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Biography, Asian Literature, Asia, Historical

601 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 1992

About the author

Seagrave was an American writer, investigative journalist, and historian, his particular focus being topics of the far east.

Reviews

[Issendai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird, poorly cited revisionist history in which the author draws strange conclusions from selectively interpreted evidence. For example, he argues that Tzu Hsi couldn't possibly have been behind certain political actions because she was at her summer palace when the actions took place. Er... yes, she was at her summer palace for the summer, just like the long line of male rulers before her. Does the author think they ceased to rule while they were away from the Forbidden City, too? Or did only male rulers get to use this mysterious invention called a "messenger"?

The examples of strange interpretations and paradoxical acceptance and rejection of sources accumulate over the course of the book. Dragon Lady culminates in an account of Tzu Hsi's death and the suspiciously timed death of her protege, the Kuang Hsu Emperor. Kuang Hsu had always been sickly, but his death at age 37--one day before Tzu Hsi's death--was sudden and, according to some sources, not due to symptoms of any of his known illnesses. The symptoms in fact match those of arsenic poisoning. The author recounts Kuang Hsu's symptoms, then spends several pages shooting down evidence of poisoning. He dismisses rumors of poisoning as political intrigue, and claims that "[s]imply put, after his lifelong illness became worse, the emperor died of exhaustion." An interesting hypothesis, and, like so many of the author's hypotheses, contrary to the conventional version of events.

Scientific evidence that emerged in 2008, after the book was published, confirmed that Kuang Hsu died of a single massive dose of arsenic.

The author proposes some fascinating hypotheses that might resolve lingering questions about Tzu Hsi's life, but the hypotheses are mired in so much bad, poorly cited research that it's impossible for a casual reader to tell what to consider and what to reject out of hand. Given that one major, testable hypothesis turned out to be completely wrong--and wrong in the face of contemporary evidence that the author had to go through contortions to reject--I suggest that readers avoid Dragon Lady until they're sufficiently well versed in Chinese history to argue with it.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Update: after reading Jung Chang's outstanding biography Empress Dowager Cixi, I can heartily recommend that readers head straight to that one instead. It's infinitely superior to this one.

I dunno, I don't think I'll finish it. I'm all for revisionist history when it's true and well written, but this one didn't grab me. It is voyeuristic while condemning voyeurism (did we REALLY need samples of the mediocre Victorian porn written by this biographer's chosen "bad guy?"), and seems so anxious to prove that the charges against Cixi (and what's with the funny Wade-Giles/Pinyin hybrid spelling?) were fabricated that it goes too far and tries to deify her.

It may be (probably is) true that she wasn't as crazy as she was painted (though I refuse to disbelieve the throwing-the-concubine-in-the-well story because it's too much fun), but every Chinese monarch at this time period was a crazy, power-hungry despot, period. Too over the top and defensive for me, though some of the scene setting was interesting.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading Empress Orchid, a historical novelization of the life of Tzu Hsi, the last empress of China, I wanted to know more, so I picked this up.

I was already aware that Anchee Min's version was revisionist history and I'm not qualified to evaluate whatever the "true" version is, but I was coming in with an open mind (and the knowledge that most of the prior history I would have been exposed to was a colonial narrative.)

Still, I only made it halfway through this book. It's hard to take historical research seriously when the "new" villains are presented as being villains just because they're eunuchs.

Also, it's very academic in tone, so not a great choice for leisure reading.

[Kevin Ashby · Rating 1 out of 5]

About as good as most revisionist histories. He is so eager to prove that his subject is misunderstood he refuses to allow that any negatives are true. He paints her as China's Mother Theresa. Simply silly. Avoid at all costs.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Seagrave's biography exemplifies the often forgotten fact that history isn't always as black & white as many people make it out to be. Lady Yehonala, better known as the Dowager Empress Ci-Xi, was by any measure an enigma even to her ladies-in-waiting & eunuchs who served her. However, historians & the "biographers" J.O.P. Bland & Edmund Backhouse, as well as the self-styled "reformer" Kang Youwei turned Ci-Xi, instead of a woman who sat calmly behind her silk screen, into a tyrant, a woman who did terrorized the Forbidden City by having enemies conveniently killed & did anything she could to retain her power. This view has been taken by most scholars & it's assumed that her corruption & extravageance brought imperial China to it's death in 1911. However, Seagrave's reexamination of her life shows that she had little or nothing to do with many events that she was blamed for such as the deaths of her daughter-in-law, the Empress Alute in 1875 & her co-regent, Dowager Empress Ci-An in 1881; her alledged embezzlement of $50 million worth of funds meant for the Chinese navy that she used to rebuild the Summer Palace & the Marble Boat; her role in the 1898 "Hundred Days' Reform" & the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Seagrave makes compelling arguments, based on sources written by those who were in China during that time period & who knew the dowager personally, that Ci-Xi had nothing to do with the deaths of the two empresses & she had little to do with the events such as the reform movement & the Boxer Rebellion & surprisingly, backed reforming the empire & distrusted the Boxers & that the imprisonment of Emperor Guangxu in 1898 never happened & Emperor Guangxu died a natural death in 1908, despite the fact that he died less than 24 hours before the dowager herself. Instead, Seagrave aruges, much of these events were committed by others who had more to gain & that Ci-Xi ultimately got the blame because she was a woman in a Confucian state & that she bacame an institution, similar to the position of her contemprary, England's Queen Victoria. Seagrave illustrates that history isn't often as simple & "black & white" as it is portrayed & that in the case of Ci-Xi, as in many other cases, sensationalism sells.

[LATOYA JOVENA · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prologue is wordy and circuitous. A lot of talk to say that Empress Tzu Hsi was maliciously slandered for the personal gain of individuals and the justification of nations. Just skip it the rest of the book makes this all too clear.
Dense with historical information as well as noninformation and where it came from. Honestly the fictional tales about the empress are much more entertaining, which is probably why it's so widely believed.
A very well written account about somewhat boring subject matter.

[Jane Routley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, Read it years ago when it was the most up to date version and it was a relief not to have The last Empress portrayed as an evil woman but just as someone not suited to the historical period she lived in. There are more up to day biographies out there now by people who can read Chinese. I'm not sure how this holds up against them.

[Andrew Guthrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the thousands of years history of dynastic China, this is a good place to start - at the end. Seagrave is a historical revisionist as he proves that the "Dragon Lady" in question, Tz'u-Hsi, previously was burdened by a spurious, yet historically accepted, biography, one fabricated by Westerners, making her out to be a nymphomaniacal, blood-thirsty, power-monger, when in fact she was a mild mannered political figurehead. While Seagrave casts the European powers in a most unfavorable light, his case did not elicit much sympathy from me for the Empress Dowager - she clearly played her cards right to maintain her position.

On the other hand, the political game of casting a female power as a wanton out-of-control woman, no matter what the actual facts are, is depressingly familiar - an easy card to play when you want to focus xenophobic disgust for the purposes of Western imperialism. But no one, Western or Chinese, comes off very well here, as the centuries old corruption and cultural arrogance of the Manchu aristocracy was a major factor in the collapse of the imperial dynasty, and the European (and Japanese) powers, while purporting a high ethical standard, only cooperated with each other as long as they eventually got the biggest slice of China.

The juicy part of the story is the story behind the historical fabrication of Tz'u-Hsi biography, created by a few well-placed Western "experts" in Beijing - types with their own colorful and transgressive inclinations - some so arrogant as to never learn Chinese while being lauded as authorities on Chinese affairs. Nevertheless, their version of history was well ingrained in academia for many decades.

It is really these characters, and their Chinese counterparts (the powers behind the power) that this book is about, as the Empress Dowager was, through protocol, off limits to prying eyes and ears, and thereby left little in the way of historical record - not to mention the wanton (and now that description is all too apt) looting and destruction of the Forbidden City once the dynasty fell and the European powers had their way. Read this one as another cautionary tale about the specious righteousness of imperialist nations and the stupidity of war.

[Emily Carroll · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had been excited to read this book for years, but unfortunately I was rather disappointed by it. The book is titled, "Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China", giving one the impression that it is about the life and reign of Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi. What this book should have been titled is, "The political and military history of China during the reign of Tzu Hsi", because she was hardly the primary topic of this book. She is mentioned so infrequently that at times I forgot she was the one I was intending to read about. If it is a political history of China during her life you are looking for, then this book is perfect, it is very detailed about that aspect, but she is rarely mentioned or involved in it. You learn a lot about the men who were powerful while she ruled, as well as those who wrote about her and who created and released all of the false information that is known about her. The author is consistently pointing out how wrong Edmund Backhouse was in nearly everything he has written about the Empress and China and defending her character, making her out to be an innocent, kind individual. I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt that she was kinder than the legends and existing histories claim she was, which often liken her to the vicious, earlier Empress Wu, but it is hard to know for sure because Sterling Seagrave mentions frequently that there is little information known about her. There are a few interesting bits of information about the Dowager Empress found in this book, but the most interesting figure who is consistently described is Backhouse, who is made out as a crazy, overly sexed, hermit who was extremely intelligent and made a living from making crap up and feeding that information to the unknowing masses overseas in the guise of other journalist, which is significant because he is often known as one of the leading experts on China at the time. I am pleased that I stuck with it and can say I finished reading this book, but I would never read it again because it felt almost like torture at times, and I would only recommend it to those looking for political/ military histories, not someone looking to learn about Empress Tzu Hsi specifically.

[Michael Flick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time reading this silly, sorry screed, polemic failing to masquerade as history. Written in a constant rage with a huge chip on the shoulder and many, many axes to grind. The author loses all credibility as he goes along: eunuchs are not "man-made hermaphrodites," iron-cap (not "ironhat") princes were not named after their headgear nor their politics, an ethnic majority doesn't live in a ghetto, there's no "e" in tiffin (and no call for the word), lying did not bring down the Manchu dynasty, Lyndon Johnson did not replace John F. Kennedy in a "palace coup," there's no evidence whatsoever that Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse was "insane," no one ever died of spermatorrhea and neurasthenia…. I could go on and on, but why bother. A sorry screed. Or to use one of the authors' words: codswallop. Worse: tedious and boring. About the only interesting thing that comes out of this mess, not noticed by the author, is how the death throes of the Manchu foreshadowed the death throes of Mao, for example the business of the "Gang of Eight" and the "Hundred Days' Reform." In China, maybe the more things change, the more they stay the same. Meanwhile, if you're curious about Empress Dowager Cixi (who was never a "reigning empress"), look to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_... for pretty much most of what's known stripped of fury and fantasy.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome book! Everything you know about Cixi and the late Qing dynasty is wrong, and it reaffirms the crucial lesson about being careful where a person gets their information. That being said, Seagrave certainly tells it the way he thinks, and I would be interested in reading a critique of his many claims. The only part of the book that did not keep me on the edge of my seat was the extremely long-winded account of the Boxer Rebellion. It made me think that Seagrave wrote a book on the Boxer Rebellion and then later expanded it to "Dragon Lady."

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally, I don't rate biographies harshly. Frankly, this was not a true biography. There was so much conjecture thrown in by the author that I never trusted that was I was reading was a heavily researched bit, or something that the author pulled out of a hat. There was a lack of focus given to the subject that even after completing the book, I don't have even a nearly complete portrait of either the life or legend of "The Last Empress of China."

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seagrave’s Dragon Lady is an example of well-written and researched historiography. Seagrave does great justice trying to reshape the narrative around the Empress Dowager Cixi. The typical historical portrait of her is of a woman who brought China to ruin, and Seagrave unpacks how that narrative was created to suit the political ends of the time, and at the same time provides an incredibly well-researched history of one of the most enigmatic rulers of modern history.

[Whitaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great book shows us how everything is great and worth to die for

[Lauralee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Empress Dowager Cixi was one of the last empresses of the imperial dynasty. She is attributed to the fall of the dynasty. She is often portrayed as a cunning, manipulative, and power-hungry figure. However, in this biography of the Empress Dowager, the authors claim that the rumors surrounding Cixi are false. The people who started the rumors were foreigners who blackened her name for personal reasons. Thus, the authors conclude that Empress Dowager Cixi was more of a figurehead like Queen Victoria rather than a woman who held absolute power like Catherine the Great.

Empress Dowager Cixi was the concubine of Emperor Xiangfeng. During her time as concubine, Empress Dowager was often neglected. Emperor Xiangfeng spent most of his time with his favorite concubine, Li Fei. When Li Fei became pregnant, Emperor Xiangfeng turned his attention to Cixi. Cixi was a favorite for a short time until she became pregnant. Emperor Xianfeng then abandoned her for the rest of his life because Li Fei became his favorite again. Empress Dowager Cixi would have been a forgotten person in the harem, except that she gave birth to Emperor Xiangfeng’s only son.

Empress Dowager Cixi was regent for her son and nephew. She did not have any knowledge about China outside of the palace. She was also illiterate and did not have any knowledge in politics. The authors claim that during Cixi’s reign as regent, she was often powerless. The ones that held the true power were the ministers, in particular Prince Kung and later Viceroy Li. Many of the scandals surrounding Empress Dowager Cixi, for instance the rumor that she poisoned most of her own family, were false. They claim that these rumors were started by Edmund Backhouse. Edmund Backhouse forged many of his documents when he created his biography on the Dowager Empress. Thus, the story that we have known for years has been wrong. The reason why the story created by Edmund Backhouse has been ingrained in our minds for decades is because the malicious gossip surrounding the Empress are more fun to read about than the truth.

Overall, this was a very sympathetic biography of Empress Dowager Cixi. Rather than a tyrant, she is depicted as a survivor. Because the authors spent most of their book contradicting the malicious rumors surrounding the empress, they largely focus on how Edmund Backhouse is a con that has created one of the greatest hoaxes in history. For me, the attention spent on Edmund Backhouse was a bit disappointing because it often takes the attention away from their subject. Because of this, the ending was a bit of a letdown. There were also a few inaccuracies that I noticed while reading the book. However, this is really not the fault of the authors. The evidence of these inaccuracies came out after the book was published. For instance, the authors claim that Emperor Guangxu did not die of poisoning. However, scientists in 2008 concluded that he did die of arsenic. I would really like for the authors to have a new edition on the empress to read what they thought about the scientists’ conclusion. Despite these minor details that bothered me on this book, Dragon Lady is compulsively readable, and it gives us a different portrait of the Empress Dowager Cixi. She may not have been the evil and power-hungry empress that we have been lead to believe.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If at times a little ponderous and repetitive (particularly around the roles of Bland and Backhouse in establishing Cixi's infamy), I found this a quite refreshing revisionist history of the Empress Dowager's life and times. However, I do agree with other reviewers that if you're looking for a biography, rather than an opinionated broader political and social history, then this book is not for you.

At the very least it made me challenge my presuppositions about Cixi, which were clearly based on the dominant historical narrative disingenuously foisted upon the world by many of the characters who stalk the pages of this book.

While more recent scholarship - not to mention the scientific tests done on Emperor Guangxu's remains in the 2000s - necessitate a rethink of some of Seagrave's conclusions, it remains an engaging and worthwhile read for people with an interest in this period of Chinese history (albeit with an argumentative guide who sometimes falls prey to the same impulses/unquestioning assumptions he derides others for - I did not need yet another unsubstantiated reference to Song Meiling's (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) shoes being decorated with pearls looted from Cixi's tomb).

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. It took the author 11 years to write this book and seems like it took me that long to read it. Non-fiction about the last Empress of China-Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi (1835-1908) who as a concubine ruled the Dragon Throne for half a century. The book is interesting but DRY...many facts about the Chinese and the rape of their civilization both from other Chinese and the main countries of the world pilfering their treasures. The book is less about the Empress but more about the power struggle that was constantly going on around her. Over thousands of years of Chinese history, there were only three reigning empresses, of which she was the last.

[Emily Race · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly detailed, as is necessary for what the author hoped to be a revision of the way the Dowager Empress and her circumstances are described. Sometimes, though, it felt as if that mission caused whole chapters to meander away from the main subject, describing people and events who’s connection to the Empress and her story were difficult to link. Overall, it seemed a thoughtfully researched with a compelling thesis on how the way history paints one of the only female rulers in China’s lineage may need more information.

[David Winston]

I loved this book,
The story of one person in history written by someone trying to correct the impression left by another writer feeding misinformation to the masses back home.
China has been so undeservedly misrepresented and taken advantage of by foreign interests for so long. Allows me to view our relationship with China in a very different light.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great, but not bad. Made it halfway through and then accepted that I just didn't care enough to finish.

[PJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating

I was completely unaware of the Chinese history. I want to read more. What an amazing time in the beginning of the century.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less a biography than an attack against her other biographers. No real use of Chinese sources either

[Tifnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had placed off reading this book for some time simply because I thought the text would be dry and I didn't think I would be whole-heartedly interested. Well, my mistake. I did enjoy this book and while at times the content was monotonus,it was a riveting read filled with an extreme amount of sadness.

I did enjoy Sterling Seagrave's style of writting. He address all the forklore regarding Dowager Empress Tzi Hsu and then filled you in on what really transpired.

Dragon Lady is basically about the last dynasty in China and how one woman, a former concubine, rose to become Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi and ruled over China for well over 40 years. But it wasn't just about her life, the lies and how various men tried (and did) to control her and rule over her it became more about the end of an era in China.

Though I took away a lot of historical facts regarding China and the Manchu Dynasty, the one more poignant message while reading this book was that technology came to China and that no matter how much they tried to stop it...evolution was coming. For example, one of the many uprisings against Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, a renegade arm was created to force China to Westernize. The Imperial Army under the Empress still held onto the "old ways"...traditions and created an army of it's own to protect those traditions and block Westernization. One way they fought was to meditate, envisaging a force field around themselves of their favorite super hero and thus they would then channel those powers. The renegade army called, Boxers, killed many because they had guns. The Imperial Army quickly said that their own army didn't focus enough and that is why they died. At one point when the Imperial Army did acquire guns (at another battle to overthrow the Empress) they carried the guns into battle but forgot the ammunition. OK...OK...so it was the late 1800's and early 1900's, but still.

Sterling Seagrave wrote about the fall of the Manchu Dynasty when troops invaded The Forbidden City, looted, killed, and then gave a false account of what really happened. It was unfortunate to me because China's history was forever changed. Men brought back artifacts, stolen artifacts (jade, scrolls, silks, precious gems, ect...), from China and represented them as a life-long collection and sold them to musuems in Europe and New York. China's history that was stolen. But then again it was the early 1900's. All anybody had was their word.

Anyway...a long read but definitely worth it.

[Edward LeMay]

Love the book. Seagrave ehabilitates the Last empress of China --- Tzu Hsi (also XiCi) The Empress of the West (as she lived in a Pavilion on the West Side of The Summer Palace or The Forbidden City. An amazing woman who as regent for at least 3 Emperors, she held the last years of the Manchu in China... The West, especially Morrison of the London Times did a real number on Tzu Hsi -- more fantasy (and sexual fantasy to boot) and fiction... with himself as hero! Along the way Seagrave paints a great picture of China -- the internal conflicts that kept the country from seeing the wolf at the door... the wold in sheeps clothing at that. HUGE insights in the BOXER REBELLION -- which was really a flash in the pan -- enlarged to epic proportions so the British -- and French and Americans btw -- could use it as a huge excuse to eat up even more of China. Most if not all of the Biographies of this period rely on Backhouse! Even books that claim Backhouse was a fraud -- and he was -- even those draw on Backhouse... He's still their SOURCE!!! Including, btw the DK Tuide on China --- Morrison claimed at the time in his stories for the London Times that the great Hanlin Libary was committed by the Chinese in a fit of suicidal pique! In fact Morrison admists in his diaries that it was the British who burned the library -- a huge loss... It's great reading this book here in Bejing, Hong Kong (it's in the book), and Shanghai (although Shanghai doesn't appear in the book -- it was probably still a small town in the 19th century -- well, a port, and a trading port!

[Gianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-researched book, in which Seagrave painstakingly refutes what the West has believed about Empress Tzu Hsi for a century. The outrageous myths about her life were invented and disseminated by both western and Chinese propaganda and had been accepted at face value even though the people responsible for their invention did not have access to the intricate traditions of the court and especially the empress. Seagrave also claims that Lady Yehenara has been a victim of mistaken identity, and it was actually another wife, Li Fei, who was the crafty favorite.

The true story emerges, and it is of a woman who didn’t really have much influence on politics. She was not so much of a ruler (male advisors made the important decisions in this strongly Confucian state) as she was a figurehead. Her life was neither scandalous nor glamorous; it was isolated, lonely, and even tragic. Seagrave draws some interesting parallels between Tsu Hsi and famous female monarchs in Europe, for example, Elizabeth I, but while Elizabeth was born a princess and, thus, highly educated, Tsu His was almost illiterate.

Those who expect an up-close-and-personal account of her life may be disappointed, but the book traces the larger historical background of events and people of this era in China very well.

[Anne Thessen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew!
I don't normally read biographies, but this 500+ page tome covered more than just the life of the last Empress of China. This book describes Chinese history from about 1860 to 1910 and demonstrates how easy it is for a handful of individuals to hijack history. The author claims to be writing the correct version of events and giving an accurate representation of the Empress Tsu Hsi, unlike every other author who has perpetuated a reptilian image of the Empress. I'm not sure why he can get it right while everyone else is wrong, but with 100 pages of notes he certainly is thorough. The book is well written and very interesting. It took me a while to read it, but I think it was well worth the effort. I feel as though I have gained perspective on China by reading this book.

[Rom Gayoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author did a great job with this book! I tend to like historical novels, and even more so those that work to bring the reader into a position to peak into the world vie of that time. As I sought to learn more about Asian Studies in college, I came across he intriguing personality of empress CiXi. Initially it was difficult to understand her behavior in a time of great crisis for China, so I decided to read more about her and Seagrave's book helped me better understand her perspectives as I understood the context around her.

[Tiemu · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to Sterling Seagrave, established biographies and information about Cu Xi are based on dubious, if not blatantly forged, sources. Nobody bothered correcting or pointing out these anomalies because Cu Xi has been a convenient scapegoat for everyone: her own Court, European colonisers, nationalists, communists, and lazy commentators.

Sterling Seagrave's revisionist biography claims to be based on reliable sources, setting the record straight.

[Andrew Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing look into a period of China's history that I knew nothing about. This is probably one of my first forays into a non-fiction/biography and found it incredibly insightful how the author was able to piece together information to give a well rounded view of the Last Empress of China.

Sterling Seagrave has managed to put together a book full of information and facts and yet it reads like a fiction novel, keeping the reader hooked from one chapter to another.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not get too far in this book. It's not that I am averse to reading deep, non-fictional, technical stuff. It's just that the subject matter, although very interesting, is so dark with nasty intrigues, evil intentions, and ridiculously incompetent governance. I find myself siding with the Chinese Communists and indeed Mao Tse-Tung. That is actually a compliment to the author's rendering of the subject matter but it's too dark for me to stay stepped in the subject matter.