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|title=Empress Dowager Cixi

|author=Jung Chang

|publisher=Jonathan Cape

|date=September 2013

|website=http://www.jungchang.net/

|video=

|summary=Jung Chang presents an extensively researched account of the life and times of Dowager Empress Cixi, a monumental figure in both Chinese and world history, responsible for instigating China's transition from medievalism to the modern age.

}}

It’s easy to see why Jung Chang selected Cixi as the focal point for her study of China’s tumultuous modern history. Cixi is a truly fascinating woman, one of few human beings whose existence can be honestly said to have shaped the course of history. Cixi’s biography is not only a fascinating read due to her own political machinations, but also because of the immense transformations that occurred in China during her lifetime. Jung Chang offers a detailed exploration of the period from Cixi’s entrance to court in 1852 to her death in 1908, during which time the ancient dynastic customs of China gave way to the advent of the industrial age.