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The Last Empress
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Empress Dowager Cixi: Book 2

The Last Empress (2007) (edit title/settings)

by Anchee Min (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

The last decades of the nineteenth century were a violent period in China’s history marked by humiliating foreign incursions and domestic rebellion, ultimately ending in the demise of the Ch’ing dynasty. The only constant during this tumultuous time was the power wielded by one person, the... read more

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “My sister was no longer slim and beautiful. Folks back in Wuhu used to say, 'When a woman is  married and gives birth, she turns from a flower to a tree.' Rong was a bear.”
  • “Yung Lu stood before me in his purple satin court robe. My heart's ice began to melt in the spring sun. Like ghost lovers, our meeting places had been in our dreams. At dawn we would slip back into our human skin, but the dreams continued. In my costumes and makeup, I would imagine my head against his chest and my hands feeling his warmth. I walked the steps of a gracious empress, yet I felt the passion of a village girl.”
  • “I hadn't opened any doors since becoming an empress. In a dream I opened a door. I was surprised to see that red and pink flowers covered my entire courtyard. A heavy rain had fallen. The flowers were whiped down, but they still appeared full of vitality. Their wet heads drank the water from puddles. One by one the flowers began to rise like court officials. Their fragrance was strong, a mixture of gardenias and rotten vegetables.”
  • “I could only say that it was exactly what life was about: a mystery in which one can never know where one truly is.”
  • “I had little confidence in our military might. The court wasn't wrong in describing me as one who 'got bitten by a snake ten years ago and has since been afraid of straw ropes'.”
  • “I made sure that Lan would not let her feelings of frustration run away with her. 'We are the ladies of masks,' I told her. 'Cloaking ourselves in divine glory and sacrifice is our destiny.'”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • 'Learn to be the soft kind of wood, Orchid,' Mother taught me when I was a young girl. 'The soft blocks are carved into statues of Buddha and goddesses. The hard ones are made into coffin boards.'
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • 'Good living needs no reasoning, convincing or explaining, while bad requires plenty.'
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

First Sentence edit see section history

MOTHER'S EYES WERE closed when she died.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 2 in Empress Dowager Cixi. (standard series)

Preceded by Empress Orchid.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Anchee Min (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Country: United States
Publication Date: March 21, 2007
ISBN: 0618531467
Page Count: 320

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: Ps3563.146141 L37 2007
  • Dewey: 813.54

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