Jaipur, Jan 21 (IANS) China's Dowager Empress Cixi has been long reviled as a despotic ruler who rose to power by harem intrigue, but it was she who transformed a medieval country into a modern nation, gave rights to citizens especially women and opened and facilitated China's engagement with the world for its own benefit, says a Chinese author.
"Unfortunately, her contribution has not been acknowledged as much as Deng Xiaoping who also opened the country to the West," said writer Jung Chang at a session on the opening day of the Jaipur Literature Festival Wednesday.
Sketching out the career of this remarkable woman who was at the helm of China for the better part of half a century, Jung, author of "Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China", said Cixi was born in 1835 and at the age of 16, chosen as a concubine to the Xianfeng Emperor (reigned 1850-61).
Originally of the sixth rank, she rose up on the birth of a son in 1856 and eventually was only second to the empress.
She took power in 1861 after the death of the heart-broken emperor following an Anglo-French force's advance to then Peking and destruction of the Summer Palace.
In alliance with the empress, she slowly forced out the eight regents and the two women took over power.
But Cixi's coup was popular as she was for opening China to foreign powers and learning ways of the West, said Jung.
Chinese were sent abroad to study, the army and navy were reorganised and the country got benefit of new inventions and symbols - even its first-ever national flag, she said.
"She emancipated woman and banned the barbaric custom of feet-binding, which was not just binding of woman's feet to keep them small and dainty, but crushing the four smaller toes under a stone and then binding them to the bones could not knit back," said Jung, adding that when she grew, the history that they studied told them that the Communist rulers took this step!
Jung, who has also written a biography of Mao Zedong (for which she and her husband scoured archives including in Moscow, interviewed the Dalai Lama and several associates of Jawaharlal Nehru), noted that the press was freer in Cixi's period then under Mao - during whose rule she and her own family had also suffered, especially during the "Cultural Revolution".
In 1872, when her son came of age, Cixi withdrew from power but as he proved incompetent and died within two years, she was back as the power behind the throne, said Chang.
This time, she adopted her nephew who became the next emperor, but she was not a very good parent, and the new titular ruler grew more close to his tutor who was extremely xenophobic.
"It was this which eventually led to the Boxer Rebellion (or the Society of Harmonious Fists) against Western interests and symbols, especially missionaries. Cixi initially favoured the rebels but later repented and apologised after returning to the imperial capital after fleeing as armies of eight nations landed and attacked," said Jung.
Cixi, however, did not relax the rigid court etiquette - though becoming the first Chinese ruler to respond to people's greetings and be seen by them - and therefore never rode a motor car she had been gifted as the driver could not drive it standing or kneeling but would sitting in her presence, quipped Jung.
Cixi, recognising the rulers were Manchus comprising only one percent of China's population while the majority Han Chinese were chafing, planned to transform her rule into a constitutional monarchy, but died in 1908 before the interim preparation period was to begin, she added, noting China's modern history might have been different if her plans had come to fruition.
"At the same time, Cixi was mindful of Chinese culture. For quite some time, she was not open to the idea of railways because their construction would disturb tombs (important for the ancestor-worshipping Chinese)," she noted.
Jung said her view of Cixi was drawn on extensive research.
"In the Chinese archives, there are 10 million documents on her reign testifying to her activities and my book is drawn on these," she said.
Pakistan: Pakistan is showing the arrogance of being a nuclear power to India by mistake of the economic plight
To save the country from bankruptcy, Pakistan, standing in front of the IMF with a bowl, is not desisting from showing India the arrogance of being a nuclear power. Pakistan's PM Shahbaz Sharif has
BJP appointed Sunil Bansal as National General Secretary, was also made in-charge of three states
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda has appointed Sunil Bansal as the national general secretary of the party. He was earlier the General Secretary of BJP UP. In addition, he has
Terrorists planning to kill Imran Khan, anti-terror department warns
Terrorists are planning to assassinate former Pakistan PM Imran Khan and have sought assistance from an assassin in Afghanistan for this. According to Pakistan media reports, the Anti-Terrorism
Remote Electronic Voting Machine: Now you can vote sitting from any state of the country, what is the difference between EVM and RVM?
In a country with a population of more than 130 crores, whether it is a general election or a state election, both matter a lot. In a democracy, each person's vote is very valuable. Every year crores
Government to continue with Aadhar scheme, SC told
New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) The central government Friday cleared all the doubts on the future of Aadhar scheme as it told the Supreme Court that it would continue with the unique identification
Maharashtra Political Crisis: 'What will happen at most, power will go', said Sanjay Raut on the political crisis
Amidst the political crisis in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut once again appeared in front of the media. Addressing the media, he said that what will happen most, is the power will not go
The confusion deepens over the origin of Corona: America's intelligence agencies raised their hands, said in the report - it is difficult to say anything with the claim
Where did the coronavirus originate? Did this virus spread from animals to humans or was it leaked from a lab? The answer to this question has not yet been found. US intelligence agencies say that
Shah's special dialogue: Amit Shah saw Prithviraj with their wife Sonal, after 13 years came out after watching the film and said - let's go Hukum
Akshay Kumar starrer film Samrat Prithviraj had a special screening on Wednesday. The special guest at this screening in Delhi was Home Minister Amit Shah, who went to see a film after 13 years with
5G spectrum services reached 50 cities in the country, 84 thousand organizations got recognition as startups
The government said on Wednesday that telecom service providers have started providing 5G services in the country from October 1, 2022, and by last month 5G services have started in 50 cities. In a
'No decision yet on tourist visa on arrival to Chinese'
New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) There has been no final decision yet on extending tourist visa-on-arrival (TVoA) to the Chinese nationals even after a meeting between the ministries of tourism and home