历史真相
古今中外历史政治
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.
Editorial Reviews
This book is one of the more readable and accessible books by Sterling Seagrave which I have read (the others being Lords of the Rim and The Yamato Dynasty), and much more enjoyable and interesting to read as well. Dragon Lady is a biography of the Last Empress of China, Tzu His. In a highly readable fashion, Seagrave debunks the popular history of Tzu Hsi as a highly sexed, manipulative and ruthless woman. Instead, Seagrave portrays the Dowager Empress as a mere tool, being manipulated by powerful Manchu Princes and other figures behind the throne of the China for their own ends.
The general and popular view of Tzu Hsi has its origins in reportings and books by JOP Bland and Sir Edmund Backhouse. In particular, Backhouse, in the late 19th and early 20th century presented himself as an expert in Chinese Royalty, with particularly close ties to the throne. Of course, Backhouse has long been exposed (since 1974) as a historical fraud, but this has not changed the general and traditional view of Tzu Hsi as being a particularly ruthless and unpleasant character in Chinese history. In fact, in my recent trip to Beijing (formerly Peking) last month, as I toured the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, my tour guide during her narration of the sights mentioned several "facts" about the Empress and her activities which have been debunked by Seagrave as lies and fabrications from the pen of Backhouse.
Seagrave easily and deftly fills in the background to the history of China in the 18th and 19th century leading up to Tzu Hsi acceding to the throne as Regent, at the time of an increasing foreign interest in China. Characters are vividly sketched out, ranging from the perceptive Prince Kung, the Empress's brother-in-law who played a significant role in shaping the direction of China for the first decade of Tzu Hsi's rule to Viceroy Li, reputedly at one time China's wealthiest man to the stirrer and malcontent Kang, who played a key role in establishing a negative perception of the Empress in the eye's of the Western world, a perception which many hold to today. Dragon Lady is as much the tale of the myths and legend makers of Tzu Hsi as Tzu Hsi herself, and how they (Backhouse in particular) achieved what they did.
Dragon Lady is recommended for those interested in Chinese history, particularly the 19th and early 20th century, and the characters, both Chinese and foreign that played key roles in the downfall of the last Chinese dynasty. Dragon Lady draws upon many sources, some of which is Chinese. As discussed by Seagrave, popular histories of China by Western authors have tended to rely directly on the writings of Backhouse, or rely on books which relied on Backhouse for source material. By avoiding these, Seagrave manages to achieve a much more interesting, and balanced, account of a fascinating period in Chinese history.
Seagrave tells the story of Tzu Hsi, the celebrated Empress Dowager who dominated the Qing court for almost half a century. He goes entirely against the views of earlier biographers, who have labeled Tzu Hsi as an evil genius, to give a story of a fairly ordinary woman overwhelmed by the nearly impossible task of trying to reform a failing dynasty against intense opposition from the reactionary Manchu noblemen.
Familiar events to students of Qing dynasty history, such as the Tung Chih era, the Hundred Days Reform, and the Boxer Rebellion are all here, but these events, especially the last, are treated quite differently by Seagrave, who tells a story entirely different from most accounts.
Seagrave also goes into some detail regarding the lives and characters of George Morrison and Edmund Backhouse, China experts and correspondents for the London Times, who are the primary creators of the traditional accounts of Tzu Hsi's crimes. Backhouses's extravagantly pornographic accounts are particularly bizarre - it's incredible that he could have ever been taken seriously as a historical source.
There are some problems with the book. Every source listed in the bibliography is in English, raising the question of how much Seagrave has studied the Chinese literature, even if he knows the language. Seagrave does make some statements of fact which are obviously speculation, such as "Tzu Hsi pushed for her nephew's selection as the new Emperor in part to rescue him from his mother's abuse." (p 161) And the endnotes are also occasionally off, referring to the wrong page in the text. These flaws are fairly minor, but they are troublesome in a book which revises traditional understandings so radically.
One subject which Seagrave touches on briefly, but really could have expanded further, is the consistent demonization of women in traditional Chinese history. Women were blamed for the collapse of the three earliest dynasties. Empress Wu, in the Tang dynasty, was also described as a tyrant and nymphomaniac, often compared to Tzu Hsi, but it seems probable that this account also was exaggerated if not altogether false. Another imperial mistress was blamed for sparking a civil war that ended the Tang's glory days. Nor has this ended in the modern era - the attempt to blame the disasters of the Cultural Revolution on Mao's wife shows that Chinese tradition is still strong in the Communist age.
Seagrave's account of this important era, and of how mythology and pornograph
y were turned into history is an amazing story, full of colorful incidents.
Important, explosive account of how "history" was created, November 7, 2003
Seagrave has made a brilliant career of exploding sacred cows and correcting historical falsehoods and lies, and exposing the criminality and propaganda upon which so much of "history" is built. In this epic account, drawing on overlooked and previously unpublished sources, Seagrave destroys longheld myths (that are still touted as "fact" by most western and Chinese scholars) and presents a startling and critical "flip side" reappraisal of the collapse of the Ching dynasty and the life of the eternally demonized Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi. The demented British propagandists, Edmund Backhouse and J.O.P. Bland, are finally exposed as liars and frauds whose blatant propaganda unfortunately helped define world opinion, and in turn agitated further western atrocities upon China and the Ching regime. Chinese operatives Kang Yu-Wei, and the legion of corrupt ultra-reactionary princes behind the throne (the true power in the late Ching), are also spared no quarter. Tzu Hsi herself is shown to be a somewhat ignorant hostage and figurehead, caught between Ironhat Manchu operatives wreaking havoc internally, and imperialist foreign powers intent on using all pretexts to carve open China and plunder it. More importantly, Seagrave provides evidence that virtually none of the hellish acts attributed to Tzu Hsi ever happened, and backs it up with convincing evidence. She was not the all-powerful and evil murderess and animal as depicted by scores of "world class" intellectuals and East Asian scholars (even Jonathan Spence) and generations of books and films glorifying Tzu Hsi's "reptilian evil". This, along with "Soong Dynasty", is an essential read for anyone who wants a starlingly clear view of late Ching-early Republic era China. Highest possible recommendation.
Indeed, in this era of bizarre "true" tales, it is fascinating to read this well crafted and outstandingly researched account of the inner workings of the Forbidden City in the final years of the Chinese Empire. If you were tantilized by Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (movie), then I highly recommend you read this book. Seagrave has a way with the language, with a deft turn of phrase every page or two, that makes one want to take notes. Yet while his account is exhaustive in detail, it rarely drags, with interjections of the slanderous history by Backhouse, Bland and Morrison, contrasting the strange fiction with often even stranger fact. The fascinating backgrounds of each of the characters could easily have sprung from a James Clavell novel. Yet the exhaustive notes and documentation make it clear that it all is fact. Highly recommended reading for anyone contemplating a career in the corridors of power. But as a well crafted scholarly study that reads like an historical novel, highly recommended for anyone with an interest in things oriental.
The Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, ruling from behind the silk curtain, held extraordinary power during the last decades of China's tottering empire. Her name has always been linked with unflattering adjectives like ruthless and cunning. Now, Seagrave explains why the woman has had such a bad press. In this quite irresistible history, the author argues that it was a trio of Englishmen who were ruthless and cunning, and it was through their flawed and distorted reporting on the court that Tzu Hsi received the bum rap from which she has never recovered. Seagrave's revisionism is based on the earlier revelations of Hugh Trevor-Roper's Hermit of Peking ( LJ 4/1/77), itself a lively book, but Seagrave is matchless when it comes to turning avid research into engaging history. Wonderful for the general reader (a helpful cast of some 200 characters is provided) but the book also has the notes and bibliography of a scholarly study.
- John H. Boyle, California State Univ., Chico
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Spectacularly told debunking of myth and legend surrounding China's last empress--the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi (1835-1908)--by Seagrave (The Marcos Dynasty, 1988, etc.). Born the obscure daughter of an obscure Manchu officer in 1835, Tzu's notorious ride to fame and power began in the imperial concubinage in 1856, when she gave birth to a boy heir. Seagrave's aim here is primarily to destroy longstanding myths about this most powerful of Chinese women, myths created by Western imperialist adventurers of pen and sword who painted her as the Wicked Witch of the East. The author's primary target and culprit is the infamous British literary agent Edmund Backhouse. Living in China at the turn of the century, Backhouse apparently culled gossip and rumor and fabricated evidence in order to coauthor, with J.O.P. Bland, the influential 1910 book China Under the Dowager Empress--which, according to Seagrave, presented a ``bloodthirsty caricature'' of Tzu that mixed ``Western fantasy and Chinese pornography.'' Backhouse reported that Tzu's ascent to power included killing off enemies with poisoned cakes, keeping hordes of false eunuchs close at hand, and choreographing wild sexual escapades in the Imperial Palace--escapades to which Backhouse claimed invitation. Seagrave relies partly on Hugh Trevor-Roper's Hermit of Peking (1974) to expose Backhouse as a prurient fraud who willfully set out to create a fictitious empress who would satiate Western stereotypes of sex-starved Asian women and justify British adventuring inside China. Seagrave also exposes other Western writers--including Pearl Buck--who perpetuated Backhouse's seamy portrait. An engrossing, fact-filled read and masterful debunking of a troubling distortion of Chinese history. (Sixteen pages of illustrations--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
This book is less a biogrogaphy of "the dragon empress" Tzu-Hsi of China than a revison of 19th century Chinese history.
This work is important because the author has rechecked the validity of the usual sources on 19th cent history and found them very wanting - and very biased to boot. It shows the worth of double checking your sources when doing research and questioning 'experts'. Mind you, this could also apply to this book to some extent as it could have been improved with more chinese sources.
This is a worthy biography of Tzu Hsi, the Last Empress of China. While some people criticize the history, the distortion over the events and character of Tzu Hsi still rage today. I have read the Backhouse account that Seagrave attributes to besmirching the Empress's reputation and I agree, it's imaginative, inflammatory rot. The Backhouse bio attributes some sexual exploits of the author so is completely suspect. But it was taken as gospel for years. This biography is more balanced, and shows the various sides of the despotic but venerated ruler who tried to stem the tide of modernism in Old China, and failed. The onslaught of the Western culture broke down centuries of stable peasant culture, making way for the Revolution. An interesting look into the last remnants of Imperial China.
Like many other reviewers pointed out, this book deals with general 19th century Chinese History instead of being a pure biographical account of Empress Tzu-Hsi.Carefully researched, it explores the events and myths that surounded this utterly mysterious figure.Futhermore, Seagrave explains how The Empress Dowager has been vilified by racist,looting, lying mediocre pseudo "writters"; Edmund Backhouse and George Morrison.They forever destroyed Tzu-Hsi's image with false accounts of her life, influenced by their own ignorance and Victorian hypocrecy.
Very little is known about Tzu-Hsi's actual role in the Chinese government since the English, in their endless stupidity, burned the Manchu Court Archives.Indeed, Seagrave describes the disgraceful and shameful role the British had in China, from the destruction of the priceless Han Libraby,the completely unjustified Opium Wars, the looting and destruction of the Summer Palace, the looting of the Forbiden City, to the killing of thousands of innocent Chinese civilians, victims of racist Imperial bigotry.
Dragon Lady 是“神秘的女人”
权威的韦氏辞典里，dragon lady 的意思是：an overbearing or tyrannical woman; also : a glamorous often mysterious woman。即：傲慢专横或残暴的妇女，或富有魅力的、常常是神秘的妇女。（http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/dragon）
一本描写慈禧的书，“Dragon Lady, The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China”（龙女皇：中国最后一位皇帝的生活和传奇）。中国的象征是龙，中国皇权的象征也是龙，龙被翻译成 Dragon，慈禧是一个女人，描写慈禧的书以“Dragon Lady”为书名真是再恰当不过了。在中国，龙具有尊贵、吉祥等含义，如果把该书名直译成“龙女士”不能准确传达原书名的意蕴，因此笔者把它翻译成了“龙女皇”。
http://www.longitudebooks.com/find/p/53544/mcms.html
西方艺术家笔下的 Dragon Lady ：http://kd.dynip.com/WoE/images/Lady_Dragon_Face.jpg
幽绿的眼光、冷酷的表情，令人不寒而栗。 这位 Lady Dragon 面带微笑、身穿性感的连衣裙、手端酒杯，看上去很浪漫，但是旁边的文字写的是“Don't mess with Lady Dragon”，意思是“别去惹 Lady Dragon 的麻烦”。http://gallery.r3v3ng.net/album62/LadyDragon http://www.bombergirl.com/noseart/dragonlady.htm
Dragon Lady 经常和“复仇”联系在一起。下图是“Revenge of The Dragon Lady”一书的封面（revenge：报仇，复仇。书名可以中译为“魔鬼老太的复仇”）。戴着珠宝、抹着口红的 Dragon 显然代表着“Dragon Lady”。在她的追逐下，孩子惊恐万分，拼命奔逃。http://www.amazon.com
Dragon Slayers' Academy 2: Revenge of the Dragon Lady
Kate McMullan, Bill Basso
该书是系列小说“Dragon Slayers' Academy”（屠龙士学院）中的一本。Dragon Lady 这么可怕，孩子们当然要进“屠龙士学院”，学习屠龙术了。值得说明的是：在中国文字中，“屠龙术”有贬义，其含义是不切实际的手艺、技术。但是在西方神话中，“屠龙”（to slay a dragon）却是武士英雄业绩的最高标志，能够杀死 Dragon 的武士，是被西方人视为英雄的。中国人在西方人面前自称“Dragon 的传人（后代）”，显然是很傻的。
“Everyone has a dragon to slay”（每个人都有一头 Dragon 等着他去杀）是西方父母激励孩子克服困难时说的话。“Dragon Slayers”（屠龙勇士）www.dragonslayers.org的标志和口号。它是一个帮助残疾儿童恢复健康的网站。 戏剧“Dragon Lady's Revenge”的海报。http://www.nyu.edu/nyutoday
电影“Lady Dragon”DVD 的封面。该片介绍是：An old master heals a left-for-dead widow and teaches her how to kickbox for revenge.（一个老师傅救治了一个濒死的寡妇，并教会她跆拳道，然后去复仇）http://www.realityvoid.com
一个网站，域名是“电影里的坏姑娘”（http://www.moviebadgirls.com），网站的标题是“Girls With Guns In Cinema And Television”（影视剧中带枪的姑娘）。它收集了一千五百多部包含有女性角色使用枪械进行暴力活动情节的电影和电视剧的剧照。其中一部是“Lady Dragon II”。它可能是 Lady Dragon 一片的续集。下面是它的两张剧照：
Girls With Guns In Cinema And Television：Lady Dragon II
http://www.moviebadgirls.com/Lady_Dragon_II_3.html
