But the newly named Empress Dowager Cixi quickly ousted them ... under a new Han general, defeated the Taiping army in 1864. Cixi knew that China's long isolation had made it backward and vulnerable.

That was Empress Dowager Cixi’s life story; the woman who ruled China in the 19th century and arguably the most important Chinese woman in history. Born in 1835, Cixi was brought in as a ...

Best-selling author Jung Chang’s newest work, Empress Dowager Cixi ... but the parallels remain striking. Cixi certainly made her share of mistakes. Perhaps the most disastrous was supporting the ...