Dragon of Heaven: The Memoirs of the Last Empress of China [Hardcover]

David Bouchard (Author), Zhong-Yang Huang (Illustrator)

Book Description

Astonishing in their lush realism and symbolic depth, the color images in this book by award-winning artist Zhong-Yang Huang draw readers into the mysterious Forbidden City. This fictionalized memoir of Cixi, a former Imperial concubine who ruled behind the throne for nearly half a century, includes intimate details about daily court life and presents a sympathetic look at how this strong woman thrived in a male-dominated world.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Raincoast Books (August 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551925257
• ISBN-13: 978-1551925257
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 10.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,698,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An artful marriage of image and text, March 26, 2004

By 

F. J. Powell (Chester, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dragon of Heaven: The Memoirs of the Last Empress of China (Hardcover)

This is a wide-eyed irreverant look (literally!!) at one of the most enigmatic figures in Chinese 'herstory', and while fictionalized, whets your appetite for a longer, more involved recounting of Cixi's life (for example, like that found in Pearl S. Buck's "Imperial Woman")

The playfulness of the incredibly detailed paintings draws you in and the story does as well. It's sort of like a kid's picture book for adults of a world that is almost within living memory, yet seems centuries removed even from the experience of the Chinese!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Was Cixi the last empress?, January 26, 2009

By 

Sitthiphon Kruarattikan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dragon of Heaven: The Memoirs of the Last Empress of China (Hardcover)

I am sorry to say that Cixi was not the last empress/empress dowager/female ruler of China.

The only female ruler of China was Wu Zetian, who became Emperor in 690.

The last empress dowager was Empress Xiao Ding Jing (Longyu), the Guangxu Emperor's consort who became Empress Dowager after Puyi's accession to the throne in 1908.

The last empress was Wanrong, Puyi's consort who got married with him in the early 1920s, a decade after the fall of the dynasty.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Interpretive Artwork, November 19, 2008

By 

Bear One (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dragon of Heaven: The Memoirs of the Last Empress of China (Hardcover)

I bought this book after reading Catherine Carl's true account of her work as a portrait painter for the last Dowager Empress of China and Pearl Buck's fictionalized-historical novel about the Empress. I was most interested in the illustrators work in this book rather than the text. The book is full of imaginative and absolutely beautiful artistic intrepretations of an idealized Empress and her world. I really love the artists style. The paintings are a supposed look into a hidden and privileged life. The text consists of the very brief poetical-like imaginings of the author as to what the Empress may have thought or said...and who can really know something like that? I'd refer everyone to Catherine Carl's book for an accurate account. I have this book on my shelf with the two books mentioned above. It adds beauty and refreshment and takes off the dull day-to-day edges of a real life story.