Empress Dowager Cixi (Radio Edit)
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Who was Empress Dowager Cixi and what was her significance?
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Työssä harvoin on kyse vaan työstä. Se on aikaa, arkea. Työ on iso osa elämää. Toisella puolella mietitään, löytyykö paikka, joka sopii tähän elämäntilanteeseen. Ja toisella puolella, löytyykö tekijä, joka oikeasti istuu joukkoon. Silloin syntyy hyvää jälkeä, kun oikeat ihmiset ja työ löytää toisensa. Ja sitä tapahtuu, kun asiat oikeasti bondaavat.
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Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we're bouncing back to the Chinese imperial court and bowing our heads in deference as we learn all about one of the 19th century's most formidable rulers, Empress Dowager Zixi. And to help us, we have two very special guests. In History Corner, she's Professor of Chinese History at the University of Manchester, where she specialises in Ming and Qing era trade and economic history. She's the author of numerous books, including the recent Railway Imperialism in China, a political biography. It's Professor Yang Wenzhong. Welcome, Yang Wen.
Thank you. And in Comedy Corner, she's an award-winning comedian and writer. You'll recognise her from loads of TV, including her glorious victory on Taskmaster, and maybe you've seen her recent set-out stand-up show, But Daddy, I Love Her. And you'll certainly remember her from our back catalogue, including episodes on Ashanti Garner, The Naughty Nun, Benedetta Carlini, and The History of Coffee. It's Sophie Duker. Welcome back, Sophie.
Yay, thank you. Shushu?
No.
Shishit? Oh God, I didn't want to say it because I was like gearing up to it like a horse up to a jumper and I was like, you're going to brutalise the most basic word in Chinese. Shishit? Shishit, yeah. Shishit.
That's pretty good.
Yeah. Thank you, Yanwen. Thank you.
We've been all over the world together on the show. We've never done Chinese history with you.
No.
How are you with Chinese history?
I think it's probably bad because I was educated in the UK. Yeah, did I? I don't know a lot about China. And what I know about China has probably been like filtered through quite a problematic lens. But I did go to China recently. I actually, I say I went to China. I went through Shenzhen Airport and it was a great experience. Great. I loved it.
Does that count as going to China?
It doesn't, no. No, Shenzhen really is not China, no.
Oh, God.
And does the name Empress Dowager Sushi ring any bells?
I think I've seen it written down. I think it's like, I've probably also heard it, but I haven't connected it because of the spelling, which in Roman is like C-I-X-I.
That's right. In English, we spell it C-I-X-I.
So I think it's probably hard to connect what I've heard to the name. I feel like she's one of these like historical badass women, which maybe is slightly infantilising. She feels like she's an icon. I hope we're not going to learn that she's like a terrible villain now.
We will see. She's a terrible bird. So, what do you know? And that brings us to the first segment of the podcast, the So What Do You Know? This is where I have a go at guessing what you, our lovely listener, might know about today's subject. And Empress Dowager Suu Kyi is known throughout East Asia, where she's the subject of any number of films, books and TV shows. But despite her decades in power, she's much less famous in the English-speaking world than, of course, her contemporary Queen Victoria. Although Suu Kyi does have a brief appearance in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 film The Last Emperor. So who was this woman who ruled China for nearly five decades? How did she cling to power for so long?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who was Empress Dowager Cixi and what was her significance?
0:00–5:12
2
What was the political landscape of China during Cixi's rise?
5:12–9:33
3
How did Cixi navigate her early life in the Forbidden Palace?
9:33–12:56
4
What challenges did Cixi face in maintaining power?
12:56–16:12
5
How did Cixi influence China's reforms during her reign?
16:12–21:42
6
What were the major conflicts during Cixi's rule?
21:42–25:05
7
How did Cixi's relationships affect her rule?
25:05–31:21
8
What were Cixi's final decisions before her death?
31:21–31:24
Speakers
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