1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910821158503321

Autore

McMahon Keith

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Lanham : , : Rowman & Littlefield, , 2016

ISBN

1-4422-5502-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (313 p.)

Disciplina

951.009/9

Soggetti

Emperors' spouses - China - History

Mistresses - China - History

Polygamy - Political aspects - China - History

Concubinage - China - History

Emperors' spouses - China

Mistresses - China

Women - Political activity - China - History

Sex role - China - History

China Politics and government 960-1644

China Politics and government 1644-1912

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

"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.