s******g
发帖数: 2318 | 1 前天听NPR里讲到晚清末年一个统治中国43年的人，一想那不就是慈禧老佛爷嘛，果然
后面播音员发音cixi还是蛮准确地...从里面学了几个词 dowager，concubine...都说
兼听则明、
偏信则暗，咱看看老外眼里的慈禧太后，hehe
link：
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/19/143796431/powerful-portraits-capt
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 249
Empress Dowager Cixi poses with the wives of foreign envoys in Leshoutang,
the summer palace in Beijing, circa 1903-04.
text size A A A December 19, 2011 Intrigue! Riches! Sex! Some violence! Not
the latest movie plot, but a story that lurks in the background of some 100-
year-old photographs of The Empress Dowager — once the most powerful woman
in Asia. The mostly black-and-white photos languished for decades in the
archives of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Now, they are on
display and give a glimpse of Old China at a time when today's China is the
picture of modern power.
Enlarge
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254
This photograph is one of a series of photos that shows Cixi seated on her
throne in front of a banner that declares her full title. Click here to see
a close-up of her "horse-hoof" platform shoes.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254 This photograph
is one of a series of photos that shows Cixi seated on her throne in front
of a banner that declares her full title. Click here to see a close-up of
her "horse-hoof" platform shoes.
Cixi — pronounced tsuh shee — ruled China for 43 years. When she died in
1908 at the age of 73, she left behind neither crown, nor scepter, nor
throne — it wasn't the Manchu way — but she did leave behind plenty of
photos of herself looking very grim.
"The notion of smiling in front of the camera would have been absolutely
unallowable at the time," says David Hogge, the Freer Gallery archivist who
unearthed the photos from the archive.
But it wasn't just the camera that made her look so dour — if her
reputation is accurate, Cixi (perhaps the original "Dragon Lady"?) was not
exactly the smiley type.
"She was blamed for murders, for killings, for greed, for graft — for all
of the problems that beset the court at the time — which were many," Hogge
says.
After a long rule — 1644 to 1912 — The Qing court (also called the Manchu
court) had become a mess. Riddled with factions, incompetence and economic,
political and military conflicts, Hogge says, Cixi's court was headed for
extinction.
"This was the last of the imperial dynasties of China," he explains. "This
was the end of 2,000 years of imperial reign."
Enlarge
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 259
Cixi, accompanied by her attendants, stands in the snowy gardens of
Wanshoushan (Longevity Hill), the central hill of the Summer Palace. The
image is one of nine similar photographs that were most likely taken for the
enjoyment of the empress and her attendants — not for any diplomatic
purpose.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 259 Cixi,
accompanied by her attendants, stands in the snowy gardens of Wanshoushan (
Longevity Hill), the central hill of the Summer Palace. The image is one of
nine similar photographs that were most likely taken for the enjoyment of
the empress and her attendants — not for any diplomatic purpose.
If anything held it together it was this shrewd sour-faced woman, who was
the de-facto ruler of 400 million subjects, from the 1860s until she died
early in the 20th century. Nobody — except maybe Cixi herself — could have
imagined what she would become when she showed up at court at the age of 17
— the daughter of country people who lived just outside Beijing.
"She was actually a very beautiful low-level concubine who caught the eye of
the emperor and got pregnant with the only son, and therefore when [the
emperor] died, she reached a position of tremendous power," Hogge says.
A very carefully worked out system brought Cixi, among others, to the
emperor's attention. "Every year, all of the select young women of the
Manchus were brought into the court as potential candidates," Hogge says.
The most politically advantageous concubines — right family, right faction
— made the final cut. Looks — and fertility — didn't hurt, either.
Not only was Cixi the only concubine to produce a son with the emperor, she
was the only concubine — out of dozens — to produce a child at all. Much
remains unknown about these ancient matters, but how she got the chance to
procreate is the subject of juicy rumor.
"The story is that she was able to bribe her way into the bedroom basically
by giving gifts to the right eunuchs who really controlled things," Hogge
says.
Enlarge
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 261
Cixi sits in a sedan chair, surrounded by eunuchs, circa 1903-04. Rumor has
it that Cixi bribed the eunuchs to get better access to the emperor. Out of
dozens of concubines, Cixi was the only one to bear a child.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 261 Cixi sits in a
sedan chair, surrounded by eunuchs, circa 1903-04. Rumor has it that Cixi
bribed the eunuchs to get better access to the emperor. Out of dozens of
concubines, Cixi was the only one to bear a child.
No matter how it happened, when the emperor died in 1861, Cixi, having given
birth to the emperor's only heir, became the power behind the throne. The
teenage concubine turned into Empress Dowager.
Now, at the Freer Gallery, her power is on display in a series of life-size
photographs, framed on gallery walls and mounted on looming stands. The
pictures were taken as part of a campaign to improve Empress Dowager's
reputation.
In the photos she's decked out in silk robes embroidered with butterflies,
dragons and flowers — and she's dripping with gems and pearls. And her
fingernails! Her pinky and ring fingers are adorned with 6-inch-long gold
nail protectors that could certainly help her make a point; they're claw-
like and scary.
Enlarge
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254
This close-up shows Cixi's gold filigreed fingernail covers, which were
traditionally worn in the Qing court.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery SC-GR-254 This close-up
shows Cixi's gold filigreed fingernail covers, which were traditionally worn
in the Qing court.
She's bedecked from head to toe: She wore a headdress encrusted with pearls
and stones. (Click here to see it up close.) Her hair was sometimes full of
jade hairpins and flowers. On her feet — which are not bound (again, not
the Manchu style) — she sports 6-inch-high bejeweled platform shoes. (Click
here to see a close-up of that fancy footwear.)
The Empress Dowager has been portrayed many times in film — from Bernardo
Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987), to Nicholas Ray's 55 Days at Peking (
1963). And there are many Chinese films as well. The stories and legends
about her have persisted long after her death in 1908 and the collapse of
the Qing dynasty in 1911. It's not difficult to see why: "She was the last
powerful figure in that whole dynastic reign," Hogge says.
The exhibit at the Freer is called "Power Play: China's Empress Dowager."
The portraits will be on view until the end of January. The exhibit also
includes some pictures made for personal use — not public display —
portraits that show a kinder, gentler ruler. | m******p
发帖数: 5393 | 2 这个Cixi老外没发成：‘死一克赛’么，哈哈
【在 s******g 的大作中提到】
: 前天听NPR里讲到晚清末年一个统治中国43年的人，一想那不就是慈禧老佛爷嘛，果然
: 后面播音员发音cixi还是蛮准确地...从里面学了几个词 dowager，concubine...都说
: 兼听则明、
: 偏信则暗，咱看看老外眼里的慈禧太后，hehe
: link：
: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/19/143796431/powerful-portraits-capt
: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, SC-GR 249
: Empress Dowager Cixi poses with the wives of foreign envoys in Leshoutang,
: the summer palace in Beijing, circa 1903-04.
: text size A A A December 19, 2011 Intrigue! Riches! Sex! Some violence! Not
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