Celestial Women (eBook)

Keith McMahon is professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Kansas. His books include Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao and The Fall of the God of Money: Opium Smoking in Nineteenth-Century China.

PrefaceList of IllustrationsPrologue: After Wu ZetianRoyal Courts, Polygamy, and the Women’s QuartersThe Polyandrous EmpressFrom the Song to the Qing, the Last One Thousand YearsWomen Rulers in Other Parts of Eurasia, Eleventh to Thirteenth CenturiesPart 1: The Song, Jin, and Yuan Dynasties, 960–1368Chapter 1: The Song DynastyNo Calamitous WomenTrends in Masculinity and Femininity in the SongThe Six Bureaus of the Women’s Service Organization and the Titles of ConsortsThe Northern Song, 960–1127The Legend of Lady Huarui, Who Tried to Poison TaizuA Different Way of Recording WivesThe Rise of Empress Dowager Liu, Former EntertainerThe Curtained DivideA Hidden MotherAn Empress Deposed for Fighting with a ConsortAn Heir Apparent Who Tried to Run Away and an Empress-regent Who Refused to Step DownGreat Empress Dowager Gao, “a Yao and Shun among Women”In Twenty Years of Marriage, the Emperor and Empress Never Had a FightA Deposed Empress Becomes a Heroine during the Fall of the Northern SongEmperor Huizong, Prolific Polygamist and Patron of the ArtsEmpress Zheng Accompanies the Emperor into Captivity, Gaozong’s Mother ReturnsA Celestial Consort and a Courtesan LoverThe Southern Song, 1127–1279Connoisseurs and Collectors of Art, Empress Wu and Honored Consort LiuWearing Clothing for Years at a TimeThe Atrocities of Empress LiAn Actress Becomes EmpressEmpress Xie Dissuades the Emperor from Moving the CapitalThirty Women in One NightConclusion: The Role of the Empress in the SongChapter 2: The Jin and Yuan Dynasties, 1115–1368The Jin Dynasty, 1115–1234Hailing, Stealer of WivesHis Stepmother Criticizes His Plan to Conquer the Song“He Became Poisoned with Lust and Infatuation”Asking a Woman to Kill Her HusbandHow Could Anyone Give Greater Pleasure?Having Sex to MusicHis Male Favorites, a Eunuch and a StorytellerA Ming Dynasty Story about Hailing and his Wanton WomenShe Killed Herself Rather Than SubmitThe Heir Apparent Marries a Smart Female StudentAn Heir Apparent Whipped by His MotherA Homily on Womanly VirtueThe Yuan Dynasty, 1271–1368The Exaltation of Widow ChastityFemale Self-sacrificeMothers Promoting Their SonsSorghaghtani, Khubilai’s MotherChabi and the Wives of Khubilai KhanPowerful Women in Later ReignsThe Korean Empress Promotes Her Son against His FatherThe Yuan TransitionPart 2: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644Chapter 3: From Founder to 1505No Woman RegentsZhu Yuanzhang, from the Bottom of SocietyZhu’s Ancestral InjunctionsThe Ranking and Organization of Ming Palace WomenEunuchs in the MingEmpress Ma, Who Wore Much Laundered ClothingModifying Ritual Tradition to Mourn a FavoriteEmpress Xu’s Household Instructions and Executions in the Inner PalaceEmpress Zhang, Unofficial RegentDeposing His Sonless EmpressThe Investiture of Empress SunA Makeshift RegencyAn Empress Deposed and Re-enthronedAn Interim EmpressA Nursemaid Becomes a FavoriteConcubine Birth Mother versus Sonless EmpressHonored Consort WanA Chance Mother and a Secret SonDiscovering His Dead Father’s Sex ManualChapter 4: Three Intemperate Rulers, 1506–1572An Emperor Who Liked to RoamNo More Keeping Track of Visitations Men Who “Slept and Rose with the Emperor”Stolen Women and Muslim DancersAn Emperor Whose Palace Women Tried to Kill HimThe Emperor’s Mother Demands RespectDeposed Empress Chen’s Jealousy and MiscarriageThe Emperor Reflects on His LibidoStrangled by His ConsortsRecruiting Virgins for Immortality“Do Not Pursue Desires without End.”The Debate about How to Mourn His MotherThe Empress Criticizes His Indulgence in Music and WomenChapter 5: The Last Ming Emperors, 1573–1644A Stern Mother and a Meddling Consort“You Were Also Born of a Palace Maid!”The Empress, the Favorite, and the Mother of the Heir Apparent“Consort Zheng Takes Good Care of Me”The Princess’s Husband Suffers a BeatingThe Man with a ClubThe Emperor and His EunuchsA Eunuch and a Wet Nurse“The Calamity of Wu Zetian Is Again Before Us”The Eunuch DictatorWet Nurse and Lifelong Companion The Selection of Empress ZhangPlotting against the EmpressFictional Stories about Wei ZhongxianOrdering His Empress to Commit SuicideThe Frugal Last Empress and a Consort Who Redesigned Palace LampsThe Last Days of the Ming PalaceConclusion: Giving Reign to Imperial WillPart 3: The Qing Dynasty, 1644–1911Chapter 6: The Founding of the Qing, 1636–1722The Manchu Social System and the Imperial FamilyThe Banner System, Succession, and Marriage PracticesRanking and Recruitment of WivesBondservants, the Imperial Household Department, and EunuchsTwo grief-stricken emperorsHong Taiji Marries the Wives of His EnemyBumbutai, Consort-mother and DowagerThe Emperor Grieves for a ConsortFifty-four Wives, Fifty-six Children, and No Chaos in the Lateral CourtsAdvice to His Sons: “Do Not Stand under a Tree When There is Lightening”Overlapping Favorites and a Preference for Han WomenGiving the Ladies a FrightDeath and BurialChapter 7: From Yongzheng to Xianfeng (1722–1861)Diligent Emperor or Evil UsurperThe Prince Drinks Deer Blood and Begets His SuccessorKilled by a Swordswoman, or by “Cinnabar Drugs”No Female Favorites, But a Male OneA Wife Who Made Him a Flint PouchThe Empress Who Shaved Her HeadThe Turkic Muslim ConsortHis Male FavoriteThe Last Emperors before the Dowager, 1796–1861The Jiaqing Emperor’s Wives in Fiction and TelevisionThe Daoguang Emperor Demotes His ConsortsThe Husband of the Last Woman RulerChapter 8: Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908)China’s Last Woman RulerWriting about the Empress DowagerThe Dowager and Her Co-rulersThe Emperor’s Incognito OutingsThe Death of Empress JiashunThe Dowager and Her EunuchsThe Guangxu Emperor, His Empress, and Favorite ConcubineThe Mystery of the Pearl Concubine’s DeathReminiscences of Those Who Served HerNo Shadows on Her Face: the Dowager in Paintings, Photos, and BiographiesThe Dowager as Goddess“The Very Embodiment of the Eternal Feminine”“May Health Be with You, Imperial Father”Fiction and Legends about Dowager CixiDelivered to the Emperor NakedHer Intimacy with EunuchsLi Lianying, the “Arch Villain”The Dowager in a 1916 NovelConclusion: The Lack of Good SonsThe Neutralization of the Position of EmpressThe Lack of Good SonsChapter 9: Conclusion to Part 3Defining the Woman RulerBedding Arrangements for the EmperorPretending There Would Be No Woman RulerAppendixSelected Bibliography