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With the Empress Dowager of China

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First published: 1905
Pages: 243

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Read by Gail Timmerman Vaughan · 7 h 56 min · 36 parts

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Introductory
9:56
Chapter I. My presentation and first day at the Chinese court
21:56
Chapter II. Personal appearance of Her Majesty -- A Chinese repast -- Boating
13:53
Chapter III. The palace of the Emperor's Father
10:20
Chapter IV. Her Majesty's throne-room
12:41
Chapter V. The young Empress and ladies of the court
12:28
Chapter VI. Continuation of the portrait
9:58
Chapter VII. Festivities at court
11:08
Chapter VIII. His Majesty the Emperor
14:05
Chapter IX. The Emperor's birthday
22:08
Chapter X. Peking -- the Sea Palace
20:39
Chapter XI. Some characteristics of Her Majesty -- second visit to the Sea Palace
16:59
Chapter XII. Return to the Summer Palace
8:14
Chapter XIII. The steam-launch -- semi-annual sacrifices to Confucius
8:55
Chapter XIV. The palace eunuchs
9:49
Chapter XV. Literary tastes and accomplishments of the Empress Dowager
18:39
Chapter XVI. The Great Audience Hall
10:38
Chapter XVII. The Summer Palace
9:54
Chapter XVIII. Festival of the Harvest Moon
13:36
Chapter XIX. A Garden Party
9:11
Chapter XX. Beginning of a second portrait of the Empress Dowager
9:47
Chapter XXI. A European circus at the palace
11:22
Chapter XXII. Palace customs
14:01
Chapter XXIII. Her Majesty's anxiety -- her birthday
9:32
Chapter XXIV. The Winter Palace
16:57
Chapter XXV. Peking -- beginning the portrait for St. Louis
12:15
Chapter XXVI. Some social customs
17:09
Chapter XXVII. Present-giving
10:39
Chapter XXVIII. Some winter days at the palace
12:01
Chapter XXIX. Religious rites
12:36
Chapter XXX. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager
26:31
Chapter XXXI. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager (continued)
15:03
Chapter XXXII. The Chinese New Year
12:41
Chapter XXXIII. Continuation of the St. Louis portrait
10:38
Chapter XXXIV. Finishing and sending off the portrait
9:32
Chapter XXXV. Return to the Summer Palace
11:07

With the Empress Dowager of China (1905) is a public domain work.

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About this book

In 1903 the American painter Katharine Carl was invited inside the Forbidden City to paint Empress Dowager Cixi, and she stayed on at the Qing court for the better part of a year. This memoir records what she saw there: the rituals of a closed imperial household, the gardens and pavilions, the ladies in waiting and eunuchs, and above all the aging ruler herself, whom Western newspapers had cast as a scheming tyrant. Carl offers a warmer and more curious portrait, attentive to manners, dress, and daily routine rather than palace intrigue. Written soon after she left China and published in 1905, it remains a rare firsthand look at Cixi's court from an outsider granted unusual access. Free PDF and EPUB.

About the author

Katharine A. Carl

Katharine Augusta Carl (1865-1938) was an American portrait painter trained in Paris. In 1903 she became one of very few Westerners allowed extended access to the Qing court, where she painted Empress Dowager Cixi. That portrait was later shown at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

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