Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing [Paperback]

This volume completes Keith McMahons acclaimed history of imperial wives and royal polygamy in China. Avoiding the stereotype of the emperors 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 emperors relations with others in the palace. Although restrictions on womens 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 emperors 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 Chinas transformation into a republic.Keith McMahon is professor of East Asian languages and cultures at the University of Kansas. His books includeWomen Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to LiaoandThe Fall of the God of Money: Opium Smoking in Nineteenth-Century China.

This is the second volume of McMahons meticulous work on the history of imperial wives and royal polygamy in China. (The first was Women Shall Not Rule, 2013). Avoiding the stereotype of imperial wives as victims in royal polygamy, the author focuses on these celestial womens active participation in palace life after the dethronement of Empress Wu in the Tang dynasty. Although restrictions on womens participation in politics became severe, McMahon argues that later dynasties still included strong, active women who counseled emperors, ghostwrote for them, and oversaw succession when they died. Dowager Empreslӎ