Memoirs of Life in the Qing Palace

After reading this memoir, I found that the depictions of people and things in the palace in some film and television works are not exaggerated at all. From the perspective of this book, even though the country is already in such a critical moment and is in a precarious situation, Cixi still thinks about trivial matters outside of going to court every day, such as eating, drinking, having fun, growing vegetables and flowers, and is very free and unrestrained. The level of daily extravagance and the complexity of the rules are staggering. When the author first entered the palace, he would express his feelings from time to time that he really liked the Queen Mother and the palace life. Everything he saw was novel. After a period of time and practice, he could hardly see similar descriptions. (Just reading the text makes me feel suffocated) I don't want to comment on Cixi, she has too much to say. Another mention: Although Guangxu's ink is very little, he usually only exists as a decoration required by ethics. Every time he appears, he looks depressed. Combined with the known facts, it is a bit sympathetic.

It really feels like reading a foreign translation

This book is very interesting! It is the first work to describe the palace life in the late Qing Dynasty. Yu Deling unveiled the mystery of the palace for us through his personal experience. I especially like her description of her mother in the book, "The responsibility for taking care of all this can only fall on the mother's shoulders, and it turns out that she is indeed a genius in coordinating and handling these troublesome things." It can be seen that her mother is very capable. This book gave me a more detailed understanding of life in that era. I recommend you read it too!

First sight of Qing Palace

The description is delicate and accurate.

See the relatively real history, rather than the distorted interpretation in movies and TV series

Through this book, I can get a good understanding of life in the Forbidden City and the daily life of Empress Dowager Cixi, which gave me a different perspective on the Forbidden City, which is just history.

This book describes a different Empress Dowager Cixi, which broke my stereotype and left me confused. However, her life is really luxurious