Celestial women : imperial wives and concubines in China from Song to Qing / Keith McMahon.

"This volume completes Keith McMahon's acclaimed history of imperial wives and royal polygamy in China. Avoiding the stereotype of the emperor's plural wives as mere victims or playthings, the book considers empresses and concubines as full-fledged participants in palace life, whether as mothers, wives, or go-betweens in the emperor's relations with others in the palace. Although restrictions on women's participation in politics increased dramatically after Empress Wu in the Tang, the author follows the strong and active women, of both high and low rank, who continued to appear. They counseled emperors, ghostwrote for them, oversaw succession when they died, and dominated them when they were weak. They influenced the emperor's relationships with other women and enhanced their aura and that of the royal house with their acts of artistic and religious patronage. Dynastic history ended in China when the prohibition that women should not rule was defied for the final time by Dowager Cixi, the last great monarch before China's transformation into a republic"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: After Wu Zetian -- Part 1. The Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, 960-1368 -- The Song dynasty -- The Jin and Yuan dynasties, 1115-1368 -- Part 2. The Ming dynasty, 1368-1644 -- From founder to 1505 -- Three intemperate rulers, 1506-1572 -- The last Ming emperors, 1573-1644 -- Conclusion: Giving reign to imperial will -- Part 3. The Qing dynasty, 1644-1911 -- The founding of the Qing, 1636-1722 -- From Yongzheng to Xianfeng (1722-1861) -- Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) -- Conclusion: The lack of good sons -- Conclusion to part 3 -- Appendix.

Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

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