Xī Tàihòu Yànshǐ Yǎnyì 西太后豔史演義
Romance of the Scandalous History of the Western Empress Dowager by 李伯通 (撰)
About the work
Xī Tàihòu Yànshǐ Yǎnyì 西太后豔史演義 is a Republican-era historical novel in 71 chapters (huí 回) by 李伯通 (Lǐ Bótōng), covering the life of Empress Dowager Cíxī 慈禧太后 (1835–1908), the “Western Empress Dowager” (xī tàihòu 西太后, so called because her apartments in the palace were in the western section). The narrative begins with the Nálā 那拉 clan’s pre-dynastic origins and Cíxī’s birth (ch. 1, “Those who respond to the world’s calamities — the Nálā Empress Dowager is born; the bearer household meets the bandit 承恩公遇匪”), proceeds through her selection as imperial concubine and entry into the court during the Xiánfēng 咸豐 reign period, the Tàipíng Rebellion, the birth of the Tóngzhì Emperor, the flight to Rehe, the Xīnyǒu Coup (1861) in which Cíxī seized power, and continues through her long political dominance.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
Empress Dowager Cíxī was one of the most written-about figures in Republican-era popular fiction, as both villain (in nationalist and Western accounts of China’s modernization failure) and complex political figure. Xī Tàihòu Yànshǐ Yǎnyì belongs to the gōngtíng yànshǐ genre treatment of Cíxī, presenting her life from birth through her political dominance in the lurid-romantic format of the yànshǐ novel. The treatment of her pre-palace family origins (the Chéng’ēn Gōng 承恩公 family), her entry into the Xiánfēng court, and her manipulation of the regency after the Xīnmǎo Coup (Xīnyǒu Zhèngbiàn 辛酉政變, 1861) are all standard features of Cíxī biographical fiction.
李伯通 is identified from the source file. No detailed biographical data has been located.
Translations and research
- Chang, Jung. 2013. Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China. Knopf. Popular biography.
- Seagrave, Sterling. 1992. Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China. Knopf.