Artful Subversion: Empress Dowager Cixi's Image Making

This revelatory book shows how the influential and controversial Empress Dowager Cixi used art and architecture to establish her authority

Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908), who ruled China from 1861 until her death in 1908, is a subject of fascination and controversy, at turns vilified for her political maneuvering and admired for modernizing China. In addition to being an astute politician, she was an earnest art patron, and this beautifully illustrated book explores a wide range of objec...