Ananas Rights

In 1900, during the Boxer Crisis, Empress Dowager Cixi fled the imperial capital under the guise of a hunting expedition. Though often treated as a standalone incident, this dramatic flight reveals deep undercurrents in the nation’s political and social transformation. With a broad historical perspective and sharply focused on narrative, the author draws on new archival sources and vivid detail to reconstruct how a private feud within the imperial household ignited a national upheaval. Weaving together political intrigue, ethnic tensions, and the larger forces of international diplomacy and folk religion, the book paints a compelling portrait of a collapsing empire and the people caught within it. 119

Author:

Tan Musheng is a young historian specializing in late Qing political history, with a particular focus on the diplomatic dimensions of constitutional reform in the final years of the Qing dynasty. He holds a master’s degree in Western philosophy from Renmin University of China and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He previously served as a senior editor at Economic Observer and was a founding partner of Jiemian Media. He is the founder of Xinya Institute of Humanities, a cultural education platform dedicated to public history and the liberal arts. His Masterclass on Chinese History series has been widely acclaimed, garnering millions of listens on platforms such as Ximalaya FM.