Min, Anchee - Empress Orchid

[oyceter]

This is a fictional retelling of the young Empress Dowager Cixi's life and how she gained power in the court. In the book, Min calls Cixi "Orchid," which Wikipedia says is speculation ("Cixi" is one of the official names bestowed on her). The book reads a lot like Judith Krantz's rendition of Qing Dynasty China; though the story arc has Orchid growing more and more adept, the focus is still on her romances, her romantic rivals, and her son. It's also an odd read after reading the first three volumes of Ooku: while both works are about concubines of powerful rulers, Ooku examines the gender constraints involved in the shogun's harem, whereas Empress Orchid seems to only use such gender constraints to portray the story of a woman who is the exception that proves the rule.

I do like that Min is retelling the story of Cixi, who is almost universally maligned in Chinese history books as being the one who brought down the Qing Dynasty. While I am fairly sure that the Qing Dynasty was already collapsing by the time Cixi came into court—the Taiping Rebellion is already underway, and China has already lost the first Opium War—most history books accuse Cixi of passing more and more conservative measures when it comes to dealing with the increasing demands from the Europeans, Americans, and Japanese, as well as siphoning off tons of money from the royal treasury to build luxury gardens. Again, not sure how accurate this is, given the strong bias against women in government in Chinese history. I also appreciate that she retells the story of Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao's much-scorned wife and supposedly the cause of the Cultural Revolution.

On the other hand, Orchid sees all the other royal concubines as rivals, and while she comments that the system makes this so, the book doesn't help much. All the influential characters are men, outside of Orchid and Empress Nuharoo, and it's particularly frustrating reading about Orchid and Nuharoo's relationship. The opening chapter implies that the two are friends, but they're more rivals brought into an uneasy alliance. Nuharoo's also singularly uninterested in the political machinations that Orchid finds necessary for survival, and Orchid's attitude toward her is often tinged with contempt and fear, as Nuharoo is still more powerful than Orchid.

These are all complaints about situations that are historically accurate, as far as I know, but given the artistic license Min takes with other aspects, she probably could have changed this as well. Either that, or she could have kept it as is and made the book much more of a commentary on the system of imperial concubines and how women had to manipulate men to do anything, but she didn't.

That said, I did like the book's critique of European and American imperialism; you get a very good sense of just how painful each concession was as it was made, and how much was demanded, over and over and over again.

Overall, I think this could have been a fascinating reimagining of a powerful woman who worked her way up despite the system, as well as a sharp critique of that system, but instead, the emphasis on Orchid's love life and the decision to stay firmly in her first-person POV undermines the retelling.

Comments

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

I recall not liking this book as I read it around the same time I read several other books that have a narrative of "women's friendships can't work because of jealousy." I'm thinking of Empress Orchid, Memoires of a Geisha and Snowflower and the Secret Fan. Orchid & Geisha also seemed to have the bonus commentary of "they can't work because other women are jealous of my awesome success."

[redrose3125.livejournal.com]

What I got from Snowflower was an appreciation of why a woman would hurt her daughter so, binding her feet.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

*nodnod* I saw that, too. Which explained a lot. But I was more thinking about the later parts of the novel, where the friendship between the POV & Snowflower falls apart.

[oyceter]

Well, I sort of figured it was like corseting in Europe—if you didn't do it, you were penalized by society.

[oyceter]

Aiiiieeee, yes. That's the exact reason why I haven't been able to pick up Snowflower yet. I mean, yes, jealousy does happen, but I am so sick of reading stories about female jealousy.

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Eeek. I remember seeing this book in the bookshop and giving it an emphatic miss. Are there not enough re-tellings of imperial concubines and wrangling in the 'back palace'? Cliched--and with 'artistic' license, even more so.

(Sorry, I'm ranting even though I haven't read this book. But I've read similar books?... ) As for the European and American imperialism, eh, you get that in nearly every book you read about 19th century Asia anyway.

I'd rather go for Xiaozhuang Empress (grandmother of Kangxi) who, by all accounts, seems to be much more interesting. Of course, the Qings were on the ascendant then; it's more cheerful reading.

[oyceter]

Oooo, that would be a really neat read! There were also a lot of biographies of Wuzetian out in Chinese when I was in Taiwan, which I wanted to read but was too lazy to because they were in Chiense.

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Heh. History is a bit condemnatory on Wuzetian, which I attribute to Male (Confucian) Historians.

Wiki-link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Dowager_Xiaozhuang

Though if you don't mind a bit of historical manipulation, there are a couple of tv dramas (made by CCTV, I think) on her.